From & To Sathish #6 - Page 24

There’s a well-known story about a university professor that wanted to make a point about the importance of prioritizing how we spend our time.

The professor’s stood in front of his class with a display of items, he took a large empty jar and filled it with rocks approximately two inches in diameter. He then asked the class if the jar was full and they agreed yes the jar was full.

The professor then took a box of pebbles and added them to the jar and gave it a little shake to move the pebbles into the open areas around the rocks. The professor asked the class again, if the jar was full they agreed yes it is full.

This time the professor then took a box of sand and added it to the jar, filling the spaces between the rocks and the pebbles. He asked again, now is the jar full they laughed and agreed yes it’s full.

This jar is represents your life. The big rocks signify the really important things in your life, such as health, family and friends. The pebbles are the other things that matter in your life, such as work or school. And the sand signifies the remaining small stuff, such as material possessions.

Now, if you were to reverse the order of filling the jar and add the sand first there would not be enough room for the rocks and the pebbles. The same principle applies to your life. If you spend too much time on the small stuff you won’t have enough space or time to focus on the things that are truly important, the big rocks.

Avan, Aval Adhu 495

Ravi looked at Daksha and after a few seconds of staring, ' Your logic, observations and counter arguments are perfect as always, Ducks. But, the fact remains that Meenakshi is dead and knowingly or unknowingly, I and Madhu are responsible for this tragedy that has happened again.'

He looked at everybody with anger simmering in his eyes and turned on his mother, ' Did you count the number of times, you hit me and slapped me? I did. 13 times ' and glaring at her, ' I am your son. You are my mother and so you unloaded on me and unleashed your anger and frustration on me for speaking my mind' and turning to Partha and Daksha, ' both of you rose like warriors to defend Madhu but did you stop and think that I was speaking the truth. My version of truth and my own perspective of what I feel and think about what happened around me and what is happening around me.

He spat his words harshly and bitterly, ' And you call yourself my friends and my family. No wonder, I have been reduced to this pathetic state that I find myself right now. I should have left, this place and this country and I should have done, what all my batch mates did and begged me to do all those years ago. I should have turned a blind eye and my back on the past and on broken things and broken people and I should have lived my life like a normal and average person.'

Taking a few steps towards Madhu, he stood before her and looked at her and when she slowly looked up at him and into his eyes, he apologized with tears in his eyes, ' Madhu, I am sorry for all that has happened. But, I need a little time away from all this ' and spreading his hands, ' this life, this village, this people and this pain. I need time to.... I am sorry. Please forgive me, Madhu, for this was not what I wanted for both of us.'

The tension that seemed to have dissipated after everyone had unloaded and unleashed themselves on Ravi now began to gather itself once again. All their eyes were on Madhurima and what she would say or God forbid would unleash for she had yet to speak her mind.

They all watched silently Madhu reach with out and gently grasped Ravi's hands and raised it to her face and they watched with tears as she gently kissed them and placed them around her face.

' Jaanu. You asked me to forgive you. Why? What have you done to hurt me or how have you wronged me? ' and then she slowly ran her eyes over all of them and coming to a rest on Daksha, ' Mrs. Parthiban, all your logic, observations and defensive arguments are solid and make perfect sense. But, they are meant for the courts and they are meant for ordinary people and mere mortals, like you, me and the rest of us. Not for Gods and angels like my husband and hero here.'

She gently wiped the tears that brimmed and shimmered in his eyes and said, ' Baby, you asked for my forgiveness and I ask you for what? What have you said or done to hurt me or insult me? Nothing.'

Madhurima looked at all of them and said, ' Forgiveness comes when someone has hurt you. But my hero, my friend has not hurt me. He just spoke his mind and he spoke about his version of events and of his reality. How can I judge him or feel bad about what he thinks or feels when he has all the right to do so?'

She looked at him with her big brown eyes and whispered softly, ' Jaanu, forgiving is done by those who have been hurt or who are in pain. I don't feel either of that and hence there is no need for any talk of forgiveness. The reason is because I understand you. I understand your pain, your thoughts and your need for this world to be a perfect and happy one for everyone. I understand your soul that tries its best to give the best for even those who think bad of you and try to destroy you.'

She looked at him and said, ' Jaanu, look at me ' and when Ravi looked at her, ' You are right when you said that you need some time for my feelings are the same. All of us need timeout after all these tragic events. I will leave tomorrow for Mumbai.'

Ravi's gasp was painful and one full of shock and panic, but Madhu smiled and said, ' I am not leaving you and you are not leaving me. I will wait for you there in Mumbai for you to come to me. We will take it from there. Is that okay with you?'

Ravi sighed and nodded and then he and the others turned hearing Major Param Singh's voice calling out to them, and all of them rushed towards the door and coming out saw with their own eyes the reason for the veteran commando to have called out to them in a shrill, high-pitched girly voice.

For, standing there in the middle of the compound was a huge black-maned lion.

Then just as they were staring at in terror, the lion growled and shimmered with a greenish kind of Aura and the next moment, Major Param Singh and the entire Chakravyuh commando team slowly sank to the ground fast asleep.

Music, particularly singing, is an important feature of all human societies, and we have evidence that it has been so for many thousands of years. In 2008 a team of archaeologists working in southwest Germany discovered a selection of flutes that are approximately forty thousand years old.These instruments were made from vulture bones with finger holes drilled in them and they had been very carefully crafted. Whoever drilled the holes had first cut fine scratches in the bone to show exactly where the holes should go.

Wulf Hein, a member of the archaeological team, made a copy of one of these flutes and found that it produces a pentatonic scale, the five-note scale that has been the basis of most musical systems throughout history, including the Western major scale. Many tunes are based on the pentatonic scale, including “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which is what this amiable German researcher performs on his replica flute on YouTube (search for “the world’s oldest instrument” if you’d like to hear it for yourself).

Of course, we have no direct evidence that prehistoric humans did a lot of singing, but we can be confident that they did so from anthropological studies of modern hunter-gatherers. Sometime between 1 and 2 million years ago, humans had evolved to the point where they had much bigger brains than other primates and lived in hunter-gatherer societies. Agriculture was developed only about ten thousand years ago, which means that for more than 99 percent of human history, all humans were hunter-gatherers.

This way of life has almost died out nowadays, but back in the latter half of the twentieth century, there were still enough hunter-gatherer tribes around in Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America to keep hordes of anthropologists in gainful employment. These academics discovered that the lifestyle of the majority of hunter-gatherers hadn’t changed for thousands of years. In general, they lived in bands of between twenty and fifty people and moved from place to place, hunting animals and gathering nuts, seeds, berries, and vegetables.

The anthropologists also found that, although the hunter-gatherer lifestyle can sometimes be hard, the working hours are surprisingly good.

Studies of several of these societies have concluded that their members typically spend only twenty hours a week hunting and gathering and another ten to twenty hours preparing food and doing other types of work (making or mending tools, etc.). A thirty-hour working week means that they have quite a lot of free time. Anthropologist Marjorie Shostak found that the hunter-gatherers she studied spend most of their recreational time “singing and composing songs, playing musical instruments, sewing intricate bead designs, telling stories, playing games, visiting, or just lying around and resting.”The fact that the first three items on this list involve music gives us a sense of its importance in this sort of society. Given the unchanging nature of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, we can safely assume that music has always been a very important component of human life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RQcFbjjEMM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcwqCmEi9Jc

Avan, Aval Adhu 496

It is not every day that one gets to see a huge lion outside of its cage and that too not in a forest where it rightfully belongs. But, right in front of you and outside your door. All the people who stared fascinatedly at the huge beast were brave people and people who had seen a lot in life. Yet, the sight of the commandos lying all around them like sacks full of vegetables was not a normal sight.

Stepping forward angrily, Ravi looked into the lion's green eyes and tried to talk to it through his mind. But to his disappointment, the lion shifted its eyes towards someone else that was behind him and unknowingly, and bristling in both shame and arrogance, he turned to see who the lion was looking at.

The lion slowly and majestically moved past him and went towards Madhu who asked it ' Why have you returned? What else is left here that the forest craves? Nothing. Only broken people and broken souls.'

The lion sat on its hindquarters facing Madhu looking at her with calm green eyes and she yelled, ' Buddha, speak. What does your master want from us now?'

Buddha opened his huge jaws and replied in impeccable English that would have shamed an Oxford University literature professor with its accent and diction.

' The master has requested the presence of you and the parents who have lost both their children. If you will be so kind and follow me, I will take you to him ' and getting to its feet was about to turn and move, when Ravi's voice yelled out, ' Stop. Please stop. What is going on here? What about us ' and tried to say the name that Madhu had used but found it difficult and instead looked at the large lion and asked, ' Lion, answer my questions'.

The lion slowly and deliberately walked towards Ravi Kumar and growled, ' The name is Buddha. Lord Buddha '.

Daksha sniggered to Parthiban, ' What next? This silly fat cat must be watching a lot of those English spy series where the hero says, ' Bond. James Bond '.

Buddha the lion turned and glared angrily at Daksha and whispered, ' You are right when you say that I have watched a lot of James Bond films but wrong when you call me a silly fat cat. Please, don't do that unless you want me to make you look like a duck and walk and quack like a duck, Ducks.'

Throwing a pitiful look at Parthiban, ' Your wife does quack and make a lot of gibberish noise like a duck. No wonder you call her that' and glancing ferociously at Daksha, ' Just in case, my favourite is the late Sean Connery. The newly retired Daniel Craig was a bit too short and too rough on the edges for me and Pierce Brosnan was too good-looking for me.'

Then suddenly squatting on its huge haunches, it looked at Rasaathi Ammal, ' Ma'am, do you watch this TV serial called Baakiyalakshmi that is being telecast on Vijay Tv?'

Rasaathi Ammal nodded dumbly and Mrs. Thamarai Dharmalingam raised her hand and said, ' I too watch that show'.

Buddha the lion looked at both of them and smiled with its jaws wide open and asked, ' Don't you think that the character Gopinath should have been played by someone older than him and someone who really looks like a middle-aged father in his late 40s or early 50s?' Methinks that the guy is too fit and good-looking and importantly too fair for that role. He kind of looks like an older brother to both his sons and a younger brother to both his women'.

Rasaathi Ammal raised her hand and mumbled, ' Permission to speak, sir'.

Buddha laughed with his roars and said, ' Ma'am, you don't need permission to speak. All I expect is decorum from your human species ' and looking at everybody, ' Have no fear about me. I don't eat humans. It has been several centuries since my last human meal.'

Then getting up it stood with immense grace and power and with twinkling eyes said, ' But, that does not exclude killing humans. I confess, it is scary and sad but most of you humans deserve to be killed.'

' Come now before it becomes too late for we need to be present when the master returns from his own killing mission'.

Madhurima gasped in shock and asked the question she did not even realise that she had asked.

' Who has Spartan gone to kill? Why does he do that?'

Buddha the lion smiled, ' He has gone to kill the person responsible for Meenakshi's death and who also happens to be the same person Meenakshi sought help to kill you, Ma'am.'

The lion walked out of the house and into the forest followed by Madhu, Dharmalingam and Thamarai, his wife.

Ravi, Rasaathi Ammal, Partha and Daksha stared at them as they vanished from their sight and at the same time, Major Param Singh and his Chakravyuh unit came awake from the sleep that had been cast over them by Buddha the lion and all of them got up and went about their work without a word.

https://youtu.be/FMh7s8yZSjk?si=hhui66FzGZ9NDMbX

Avan, Aval Adhu 497

“Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action'.” ― Ian Fleming, Goldfinger

The lights flickered once and Rajendra Cholan immediately whispered to his digital assistant, ' Sembi, track all camera in our peripheries and beyond and report immediately ' and his AI named after his late mother Sembiyan Mahadevi responded with a soft and discreet, ' Yes sir ' and instantly place live visuals from all around their vast compound.

Rajendra tapped a button that immediately linked him with his entire security apparatus which was both human and humanoid and commanded, ' Report ' and everyone reported and informed him that the coast was clear and there were no intruders in a five km radius.

Rajendra leaned back and asked if Hybrid 25C had reported back and Sembi informed him that it had not.

' Strange. Very strange indeed. I wonder if the hybrid is all right or if it has been compromised ' he thought aloud and Sembi, his Artificial Intelligence assistant replied, ' Master, nothing about Hybrid 25C is normal or routine and even if I have to say it, there is something going on in its head or rather in its microchips.'

' Why do you say that, Sembi? Because it flirts with me and pretends that it is a woman when around me?'

' No, master. There are certain things that have no rational or logical explanation and I think the reason for Hybrid25C's errant and deviant behaviour is due to some hardware error.'

The lights flickered once again and this time Rajendra did not whisper but jumping up screamed at Sembi his AI assistant, ' Sever all outside connection immediately and do a security check on yourself, right now.'

Then he pressed a red button and roared into a nearby mike, ' Alert. Red alert. Weapons ready, and kill anyone you don't recognize instantly. Weapons free authorized and no questions. Just kill away'.

Sitting down he stared at the large screen and at the same time yelled, ' Sembi, report status'.

' Master, Everything looks normal.'

' No, Sembi, something is wrong. Check again'.

While Sembi his AI assistant was doing another check on all their servers, Rajendra Cholan called his father, ' My lord, prepare to evacuate the moment I tell you to do so'.

His father and the King of the once mighty Chola Dynasty asked in a very grim and deliberate voice, ' What is it? Are they near us? Is it him?'

' I am not very sure about him and them my lord but I am sure something is about to happen'.

' Rajendra, my son. We knew that this day would come eventually. He has been tracking us for many decades now. I sensed that this faceoff would be upon us sooner than later once he and Raman destroyed everyone belonging to the " Sons of Gaia " and that he would finally track us down. Good. If a war has to happen then this underworld place of ours is as good as any to kill or be killed.'

The lights flickered again and his AI assistant Sembi issued a warning, ' Master, we are under attack. I sense a stranger inside my servers and i...........................'

Still connected to his Father and King, Rajendra yelled, ' Sembi. Launch the program " Extreme measures " right now ' and stared at the screen as it flickered again and again and then he heard Sembi's voice slowly crack as it tried to respond with one final effort,

' Master, it is too late................................ I have lost control............................................' and with those words of doom flickered away drowning the screen in black and drowning their entire subterranean world into darkness.

Rajendra Cholan smiled to himself in the darkness, ' So, we are going to finally meet, Azhagan. Good. Hurry up for I have a lot of goodies laid out to welcome you.'

IQ Intelligence quotient

IQ is a measure of the intelligence of an individual derived from results obtained from specially designed tests. The quotient is traditionally derived by dividing an individual's mental age by his chronological age and multiplying the result by 100. The average intelligence quotient (IQ) is between 85 and 115. But this number can vary between countries, states, and even geographical regions.

85 to 114: Average intelligence. 115 to 129: Above average or bright. 130 to 144: Moderately gifted. 145 to 159: Highly gifted.

Terence Tao is said to have the highest IQ score in the world currently, with an impressive score of between 225 to 230. If the Chinese-American mathematician scored 230 he is definitely out in front.

Effectively tying for the title, though, is Marilyn Vos Savant. Her recorded IQ in the Guinness World Records was 228, awarded between the 1986-1989 editions until the record was discontinued in 1990, with IQ scores deemed too unreliable to document.

It's tricky to judge who has had the highest IQ ever. For many great minds, the IQ test simply did not exist during their time on Earth. The validity of others who are said to have taken an intelligence test is in question, too, as official records are tough to locate.

However, this hasn't stopped some humans from being declared to have the highest IQ ever.

Said to be the smartest person who has ever lived, William James Sidis is the benchmark for child prodigies. He was reportedly able to read the newspaper aged just 18 months and entered Harvard University aged 11, graduating at 16.

He wrote various studies, including creating a constructed language in the Book Of Vendergoord (aged 8) and The Animate And The Inanimate (which covered cosmology and the reversibility of the second law of thermodynamics and predicts the black hole).

In Psychology For The Millions, Abraham Sperling detailshow he had been told by Helena Sidis (William's sister) that "a few years before his death, her brother Bill took an intelligence test with a psychologist."

Sperling explains that William Sidis' "score was the very highest that had ever been obtained. In terms of IQ, the psychologist related that the figure would be between 250 and 300."

Rajendra Cholan had tested himself once and had smiled when the results went past 500 and he had mused, ' Not bad for that makes me the most intelligent person that is currently alive on this planet'.

Well, I and you can debate with him about him and his IQ and him being alive for what was coming in the darkness was something very different and of a different origin.

For what was coming for the last of the Chola dynasty was The boy who went into the dark and came back as light.

He, it and that was coming for him.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/who-has-the-highest-iq

https://youtu.be/lkzz_ALm4TU?si=jNh6CvfQKmr85S2i

https://youtu.be/BgbafEuP8RE?si=ASAUcdBdRHW9Si2U