Witty Scribble

"When was the First battle of Panipat fought?", asked Professor Sreeram in our Marketing class, during my second year of MBA. Not a marketing question definitely, but Sreeram sir, a learned man he is, had a knack of asking such questions (my perception 😊). "17th century", "16th century" and some other replies from our classmates didn’t make sir happy. "1526", came out a reply amongst the chorus of other responses. "Who said that ?", asked the professor. I, generally a backbencher, since the days height-wise seats allocation wasn’t the norm anymore, slowly raised my hand. "That is correct. What's your name?" "Prakhar". Brimming with confidence, gazing at my colleagues Shubham, Mrigendra and Ritesh, I proudly exclaimed. "That is correct. And when was the second battle of Panipat fought?" All the confidence shattered just like a mirror struck with stone. The cool expression ...

What comes to your mind when I say ‘Australia’? The mighty world champion cricket team of past few decades, and a lot of sad evenings because of Indian cricket team’s lost matches to them, right? The heart-breaking defeat of WC 2003 final is still etched in our minds, even after the WC win of 2011. Their cricketing supremacy over a span of so many decades raises no doubt. It got them a lot of haters, especially Indian cricket fans, but that’s just another testament of their achievements. But while Indian cricket team in touring England, why are we talking about Australia? The reason is not cricket. Cricket is what we know most about Australia. Many of us can talk about cricket stats for Ind-Aus encounters, in our sleep. So, we will not talk about it today. What we will talk about instead, is another world champion stuff from Australia. The Great Barrier Reef . The Great Barrier Reef located off the coast of Queensland, in the Coral Sea, is the largest coral reef system in ...

"What are you guys doing tonight? Any plans?", I queried my ex-roommates. "I am completely free. Have nothing to do. Will be just watching some TV series over the laptop", replied Aman, in his inimitable style: eyes partially closed, hands open and a wide grin on face. "Have you read my latest article on How does a painkiller works I published today? Itna time hai to bhai ka blog hi padh lo", I said with a pinch of anger.  "You write about leap second and I will for sure read your blog."  Quite curious myself to know about Leap second, I took a note of the request and hence I dedicate this blog to my dear friend and ex-roomie Aman.  Leap year. A year that comes once in 4 years. Almost certainly, you all will be aware as to why it happens. Our earth revolves around the sun in 365 days and 6 hours. So after every 4 years, this extra time adds up to 24 hours or typically one full day, which is represented by the addition of Februa...

“Let us be ready at 5 and start for Kukrail picnic spot”, announced my uncle, who is a true morning person. We were visiting our maternal place as our summer vacation routine, and both my uncles relished the Sunday family outing with all of us kids. Kukrail often used to be the obvious choice, being around 7 Km from our place. The boys, all excited about the cricket game at the picnic spot, were always ready on time but the sisters found one or the other excuse to be late. Morning sleep is the first love they say. After the cricket match and breakfast, a walk to the crocodile breeding center at Kukrail followed. As young kids, we were always excited on how the crocodiles spent most of their time doing nothing and hardly ever moved. What a life! We would wish. One thing we always noticed about them was that if one croc moved, all others around it moved as well. We would head back to home after spending few minutes on the swings. A day well started is a day well spent. Kukrail...

"I want to go to Wayanad again. The Milky Way is clearly visible in the pollution free, bright, starry night in this Kerala district during summers", said Rajarshi. We were brainstorming on the weekend getaways near Bengaluru and Rajarshi (or Raj, as we call him) came up with a unique reasoning to visit the hilly area. "I know why you want to go to Wayanad again. You betrayer", Abhirup remarked scornfully. "Bro, you have already seen our galaxy many times. See something new now. Plan for a trip to Finland for Northern lights. Right now, we aren't visiting Wayanad again", I replied. "The northern lights are definitely in my bucket list, but right now, Milky Way is my immediate goal. I will be going, with or without you guys", frowned Raj. Well this blog is about Northern lights. Milk Way will see the light of the day sometime later, probably.😉 Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". T...

“Saddy!!! Uth jao ab, warna thappad maar denge” (Translation: Get up Saddy, or I will slap you now), shouted Praveen, frustrated of Saddy’s habit of sleeping anytime, anywhere. I was visiting them after they got transferred to Chennai. It was Praveen’s birthday and we planned to go out and enjoy the evening at Thiruvanmiyur beach followed by some road side food. It was a pleasant evening, a rarity in Chennai as told by Praveen and he was in no mood to waste the evening being at home, watching tv and eating pizza: the regular weekend routine of Saddy and Praveen. Saddy was sleeping like a royal and we were getting late for our excursion. “He always does this. Sleeps in the bus, sleeps in cubicle, even sleeps in the food court queue, can you imagine that?”. I could, very well imagine that, because I have witnessed it during our training days in Mysore. Saddy’s super power is to fall asleep anywhere. Sleep is a state of mind. No Rahul Gandhi reference here, it actually is. Or, let ...

A human body is one of the most intricate designs on earth. The innumerable nerves, the super complicated brain, hundreds of muscles and so many other 'masterpieces' form a highly abstruse structure, the human body. Over time, we (read scientists/doctors) have dug deep and gained quite a lot of knowledge on the structure, but still many questions remain unanswered. With the advancements in science, people have got cure for hitherto fatal and life threatening diseases. History is abound with instances of epidemics where people were Quarantined ( Read about 'Quarantine' history here ) to control/limit the disease.  Today, we have a plethora of hospitals and emergency care units for our convenience. Surgical procedures for complex things along with small and innocuous looking tablets, bring one safely out of the danger zone. The compounds that go into making tablet/capsule/solution help fight microbes and restore the body to normalcy. There is one tablet that is us...