N.E.W.S of a Song

A maverick composer, a mellifluous voice, a maharani of grace and poise and a maestro of iconography. This song is a celebration of all four regions- Salil Chowdhury, Lata Mangeshkar, Suchitra Sen, Maharani Gayatri Devi and Raja Ravi Varma.

There are many versions of this song, including from the original rights holder. But, this one is made as a tribute to Salil-Lata combination using very rudimentary software available at that time.

Here is a Salil Choudhury classic, sung by Lata Mangeshkar in Bengali. Not satisfied with one story, I tried to weave two. The visuals to grace my video include, 1. Maharani Gayatri Devi, (born in Coochbehar, West Bengal) much above the words of beauty & grace 2. Suchitra Sen, the quintessential beauty & 3. Raja Ravi Varma's paintings. Ravi Varma, because it is Kerala where Salil da ruled his musical kingdom like an uncrowned emperor.

An interesting trivia is the ethereal guitar interludes that you hear in this immortal song are strummed by Maestro Ilaiyaraja, who was a session guitarist in Salil da's musicians then!

Some of the visuals in the first minute are from the place where I was previously working.

You are as good as your team. In a school it means your head teacher, your colleagues and your learners. Together one can weave a tapestry of collaborative learning whose tunes will be song and improvised/improved further in the next batch. To that this song is a toast.

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Of Moon beams and Twinkling stars

On that day in mid-June, in a "state of heightened reality," with all the other elements of the painting in place, Van Gogh threw himself into the painting of the stars, producing, "a night sky unlike any other the world had ever seen with ordinary eyes." write biographers Naifeh and Smith in 2011. He painted this magnum opus when he was 36, just a year before he committed suicide.

In Service of Mathematics II

Tracing our paths back to Polya story further, in 1987 the London Mathematical Society (LMS) established the Pólya Prize for "outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom." Interestingly, it is awarded in the years that are not divisible by three.

In Service of Mathematics I

The profound abstractness and enticing beauty of the 'queen of sciences' that is mathematics always deserved its spokespersons. Bhaskara II's LIlavati did it in the text form in the 12th century. Though it is the first volume of his masterly treatise Sidhanta Siromani, Lilavati introduces mathematical puzzles on arithmetic and measurement in verse form in Sanskrit. When social media consumers wake up from their stupor once in a while and share some math puzzles that helps scratch your school level understanding of mathematics, highly likely that it is a direct/derived/corrupted Lilavati puzzle.

Monkeying around Physics

Mario Miranda had his cats, R K Laxman his crows. Monet his lilies and Chaplin his tramp look. For those who seek pleasure in physics, H C Verma's monkeys were no less iconic. They were the sign of unbridled force, irrepressible energy and the epitome of work under pressure. The induce awe, reflect shifts, and propel you into a projectile where the learning graph is anti-gravity.

As Djokovic Joins them, Here is a Case When Even Seven is Not a Crowd at the Top!

They say two is company and three is crowd. Binary categorization is for lazy folks amongst us. For every Bjorn Borg there was a McEnroe. For every Karpov there was a Kasparov. with the latter having a significant edge. There were solo geniuses like Bobby Fischer with no comparable peers during their time. It is easy to engage in a debate with two protagonists and take sides. In a week when Djokovic joined the rare club of 19+ Grand slams following his win at Roland Garros, I was wondering at the instances of 'one and only's and 'first among the equals' in sports and beyond. A quick memory recall tells that in sporting circles not too long ago, world did notice, felt awed and blessed to have not three, not four but five at the same time for the same nation. I am referring to the time when Rahul, Laxman, Sourav and Sachin served their nation on a cricketing field.

Helen of Pi

"The beauty of pi, in part, is that it puts infinity within reach. Even young children get this. The digits of pi never end and never show a pattern. They go on forever, seemingly at random—except that they can’t possibly be random, because they embody the order inherent in a perfect circle. This tension between order and randomness is one of the most tantalizing aspects of pi".

R K Laxman's Science Cartoons

A chronicler of contemporary Indian pastimes & eccentricities and a keen observer of piquant humor, Laxman's brush captured the essence & effervescence of daily life in India for decades. A tiny little passport sized You Said It column (& a mute Common Man) is all he needed to put his point across where a long editorial often failed.

Image Matters for an EVS debate

Environmental Science/Biology teaching deserves an evocative starting point to rally around. Say, a moving quote, a stirring speech or an impressionable photograph.. something that even a good quality textbook misses. Kalyan Varma's treasure trove of world class images which go by a Creative Commons license. Which means he made it free to use, free to share, and free to remix in whatever way you feel like!

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A Dream Class

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Of Moon beams and Twinkling stars

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In Service of Mathematics II

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In Service of Mathematics I

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Monkeying around Physics

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As Djokovic Joins them, Here is a Case When Even Seven is Not a Crowd at the Top!

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Keeping it still shorter

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Our choices

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Life of Pie

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Helen of Pi

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Munna bhai Lectures on Education

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Rereading Dr. Seuss

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Evolution of Indian National Flag

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R K Laxman's Science Cartoons

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Image Matters for an EVS debate

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History of Science in the movies 'Baahubali I and II'

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Thinking Learning Materials 1

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Power in the sari folds

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Number, Shape and Colour Symmetry

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