Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Trembling of the Earth


Sham S. Misri

The gods, demons, kings and sages had assembled at Mount Kailash for the wedding of Shiva and Parvati.
Suddenly, the earth began to tremble and shake vigorously. Everyone got alarmed and thought that the end was near. Shiva said,” All of you have assembled on Kailash, which is in the north. Because all the weight is at one point and at one place, the earth has become very heavy on one side. To solve the problem, somebody needs to go to the south and balance the earth with his weight. Only the  meditation of Agastya has such weight.” He asked Agastya to save the world. Agastya wanted to attend to attend the wedding like others. Shiva understood his dilemma and said,” Do your duty and whenever you think of me and Parvati, we will appear before you.”
Agastya was happy; he went to south and sat on top of a mountain to perform the meditation. The earth was stable again and the wedding went on smoothly.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Jokes




Sham S. Misri
A deeply religious man lived in a house beside a river, but one day the banks burst and the house was flooded. As the water level rose alarmingly, the man climbed onto the roof of the house. A boat came by. “Climb aboard,” called the captain. 
“No I shall stay here, “said the man. “God will take care of me.”
Twenty minutes later, with the waters still rising, the man climbed onto the chimney. Another boat came past. “Jump aboard,” said the captain.
“No I shall stay here; god will take care of me.”
Twenty minutes later, with the water still rising, the man climbed upon the chimney.
Another boat came past. “Jump aboard” said the captain. No I shall stay here God shall take care of me.
With the water now up to the man’s waist a helicopter suddenly swooped around. “Quick!” shouted the pilot. “Climb aboard!”
“No, I shall stay here,” insisted the man. “God will take of me.”
The water level continued to rise and soon the man was swept from the chimney and drowned. Up in heaven, he sought out God. “I thought you said you would take care of me,” he complained.
God said: “I sent you two boats and helicopter. What more do you want?” 

Friday, October 18, 2013

The Story King Jairajan



Sham S. Misri

There are many myths and legends. They are an integral part of human existence. They have been around us all the time. In one such story Betal told Vikram, "You are a brave warrior, but let me tell you the story of a brave boy." Once there lived a king called Jairajan. One day he discovered that his relatives were planning to steal his throne and kill him. To avoid bloodshed, Jairajan gave up his crown and went to live in a far-off village. Here he married a girl and started living happily.

One day, while returning home he saw a pile of human bones lying on the path. Shocked, he hurried back home and told his wife about the incident. She told him that the wicked king of the kingdom was sacrificing young boys to the eagle, Garuda. Jairajan came to know that the next time, a boy named Shankar was going to be fed to the eagle. He met Shankar's parents and offered to sacrifice his life instead, though Shankar protested.

On the day of the sacrifice, Garuda whisked Jairajan away. Shankar risked his life and ran to save Jairajan, but he was killed. When the news reached Jairajan’s wife she begged Garuda to return her husband. Seeing her devotion, Garuda gave back Jairajan's life. Jairajan now prayed to Garuda to revive all the other corpses. The eagle fulfilled his wish.

Now Betal put forward the question, "Whose sacrifice was greater, Shankar's or Jairajan's?" Vikram promptly replied, "Shankar. Though he was a mere boy he volunteered to sacrifice his own life." Since Vikram had opened his mouth again, Betal flew away.

Puzzles




Sham S.Misri

Curious Numbers

 Puzzle 1

Find out the answer to the Curious Numbers puzzle number 1
Which of the following numbers is not happy?
19, 23, 25, 28, 31
Solution(Correct answerJ
25 is the only number in the sequence that is not a so-called “happy number”.
A happy number is a positive number which, if you replace the number by the sum of the squares of each individual digit and then continue repeating the process, will eventually become 1.
For example 19:
12 + 92 = 82
82 + 22 = 68
62 + 82 = 100
12 + 02 + 02 = 1

Curious Numbers

Puzzle 2

Sham S. Misri


What is the missing number?
1259 x2 +1 =2519
839 x 3 + 2 = 2519
629 x 4 + 3 = 2519
503 x 5 + 4 = 2519
            ?

359 x 7 + 6 = 2519
314 x 8 + 7 = 2519
279 x 9 + 8 = 2519
251 x 10 + 9 = 2519


Solution: In two steps.
i)                    The next equation ,  likely to be will be
      X. 6 + 5 = 2519
Or 6.X         = 2519
Or X            = 42.

ii)                  From eq. (i)
X. 6 + 5 = 2519
6X = 2519 - 5
6X            = 2514
X               = 2514 /6
                  = 419


Therefore, Missing numbers may be 419 X 6 + 5 = 2519.



Curious Numbers

Puzzle 3

What is unique about the number 4?

Sham S. Misri

Solution

i)                    It is the only number which is spelled with the same number of letters as its numerical value.

                                                F-O-U-R


ii)                  To the nearest one, four is the average temperature of the oceans in degrees Celsius.

iii)                 Water has the maximum density at 40 Centigrade.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Columbus and the Egg




Sham S. Misri

On the 12th of October, 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America. It had taken him eighteen years in planning his first voyage which he made across the Atlantic Ocean. He had talked and argued with sailors and scholars and princes and kings, saying, "I know that, by sailing west across the great ocean, one may at last reach lands that have never been visited by Europeans." But he had been laughed at as a foolish dreamer. Some people had less faith in his projects.
It was, however, the king and queen of Spain gave him ships with which to make the trial voyage. He crossed the ocean and discovered strange lands, inhabited by a people unlike any that had been known before. He believed that these lands were a part of India.
When he returned home with the news of his discovery there was great rejoicing. He was hailed as the hero who had given a new world to Spain. Crowds of people lined the streets through which he passed, and all were anxious to do him honour. The king and queen welcomed him to their palace and listened with pleasure to the story of his voyage. No common man was ever shown such a great respect. There were people who praised him.
But there were some who were jealous of him. They were jealous of his discovery.  They were ready to find fault with him.
"Who is this Columbus?" they asked, "and what has he done? Is he not a pauper pilot from Italy? And could not any other seaman sail across the ocean just as he has done?"
One day Columbus was at a dinner which a Spanish gentleman had given in his honour, and several of these persons were present. They were proud, conceited fellows, and they very soon began to try to make Columbus uncomfortable.
"You have discovered strange lands beyond the sea," they said. "But what of that? We do not see why there should be so much said about it. Anybody can sail across the ocean; and anybody can coast along the islands on the other side, just as you have done. It is the simplest thing in the world."
Columbus was sad and disappointed. He made no answer. He thought for a while; but after a while he took an egg from a dish and said to the company, "Who among you, gentlemen, can make this egg stand on end?"
One by one those at the table tried the experiment. When the egg had gone entirely around and none had succeeded, all said that it could not be done.
Then Columbus took the egg and struck its small end gently upon the table so as to break the shell a little. After that there was no trouble in making it stand upright.
"Gentlemen," said he, "what is easier than to do this which you said was impossible? It is the simplest thing in the world. Anybody can do it—after he has been shown how."