A can of Red Bull, a cuppa strong coffee during breaks and I normally get a quick burst of energy whenever I sit in my car for a drive. Listening to music is a certain boost.

What things give you energy?

Orange. Because the word is both the fruit and the colour. And smelling one gives a quick relief from stress, as science says.

What’s your favorite word?

I believe I can fly. But I can’t, why? A winner should flap wings, go up in the air and be able to fly.

Are you holding a grudge? About?

Bend it like Beckham.

How do you plan your goals?

Have a little compassion. That will make the world so happy.

What would you change about modern society?

When I drive long, I don’t look at the clock.

Which activities make you lose track of time?

I mostly complain when people leave a job “half done”.

What do you complain about the most?

That was “love in abundance” when I told my driving instructor in London (in the middle of classes) that I would be taking a break and visiting India for a month.

Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?

Birds don’t pose for photos! You need patience!

Take a look at the picture.

What you have seen isn’t just a photo of a bird. It’s a poem. How?

A bird diving 30 miles an hour into clean and still water to meet his twin brother. Without a splash of water wasted.

This amazing photograph was captured by a fisherman-turned-wildlife photographer called Alan McFadyen. He lives in Scotland and is now running a wildlife photography business.

This photo wasn’t taken in a day. A painstaking effort went behind creating this masterpiece.

McFadyen took six long years. 4200 hours in total. He travelled every day, many miles, seven days a week to the same spot, River Tarff woodland.

He would skip breakfast and miss his dates (missed many girls in the bargain). All for the love of wildlife photography.

He got his first camera – a Nikon D4 – in 2009 and that kicked the adrenaline in him.

He would cycle to the spot daily, set up the porch at vantage points with camouflage (birds don’t pose for photos) and click, click and click. Hours would be gone.

He clicked 600 shots a day. A whopping 720,000 clicks in all.

Patience paid him.

And the passion for photography shouldn’t be any less. This is an adventure sport. Only a superhuman effort could win laurels.

It cost McFadyen his relationships. He was engaged five times. Twice divorced.

He was six when he first fell in love with nature. His grandfather was his inspiration, as the lad was taken around on a bicycle every day to see those bird’s nests.

That was how his love of nature kick-started and his passion for wildlife photography.

McFadyen dedicated this one helluva masterpiece to the memory of his granddad.

An entire class wins laurels. How?

This week, India was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Why?

Let’s not talk about the reason, which is political. Let’s talk about one which is academic.

Yes, the NEET enthusiasts in the country have suffered a jolt when the results for 2024 showed 67 students scored full marks (720/720).

Many students have got marks, which is absolutely improbable. The authority – NTA – who is conducting the exams claim those were grace marks awarded.

Questionable as the case is in court now.

In one centre, eight students were awarded full marks. The centre is in the state of Haryana, India.

Eight scoring full marks is a rare instance and that brings to memory what happened at the University of Chicago back in 1930.

The Nobel laureate Dr. Chandrasekhar – a Tamil and a proud Indian – was a passionate teacher. He was professor of astrophysics.

While he was in the USA, he wanted to teach the subject to aspiring students, but he, unfortunately, had only two students in his class. And the venue was located too far away too. About 100 kilometers he had to travel every day to teach the pair.

He was undeterred though.

For this very reason, the professor was laughed at by his colleagues on the Chicago campus. All advised him to drop the idea. Many ridiculed him for traveling 100KM each day to teach. So embarrassing.

But the professor had seen a greater opportunity in the negativity.

He thought a small class would give him an ample atmosphere for teaching the subject well and spend a good amount of time for discussion, if any. The class went ahead as planned.

As the professor, Dr. Chandrasekhar envisaged the class consisting of T.D. Lee and C.N. Yang went on to win a Nobel each for Physics in 1957.

That’s not the end of the story.

Dr. Chandrasekhar himself got the Nobel Prize in 1983.

Thus, the world witnessed one of the rarest instances in history, where an entire class, including the teacher, has bagged a Nobel.

A proud moment in academic history!

Hope Dr. Chandrasekhar wasn’t the inspiration behind the story of eight NEET students winning big in a single exam centre in Haryana.