"சென்றிடுவீர் எட்டுத் திக்கும்"
World is a Global Village.
Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.
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.
Monowi, Boyd County, Nebraska, USA.
Meet Ms. Elsie Eiler, who is a 91-year-old solitary soul living in the town for two long decades. All alone.
She and her husband, Rudy, had been the only residents in the town, but she sadly lost her husband in 2004.
She’s the mayor, treasurer, clerk, secretary and librarian. And she owns Eiler’s Monowi Tavern Restaurant and Bar.
Tavern has been her longstanding job since 1971. She has been pulling it through despite her age.
Monowi was once a railroad town in the 1930s with farming as mainstay. There were about 120 businesses, including grocery stores, restaurants and even a prison. But people moved out seeking jobs in the cities.
Eiler hit the headlines when people read about her on the internet. They visit her for the curiosity, food and a pint of Budweiser.
She serves them six days a week. Her lonely life now is separated between just three buildings: her home, the tavern, and Rudy’s Library, a small building with 5,000 books.
She is an embodiment for simple (single) living as doesn’t even own a smartphone. All communication happen through a fixed landline phone.
Seeing her steely determination, Prudential Financial once filmed a commercial with Eiler and titled it suitably as the ‘Quintessential Independent Woman’
Source: http://www.eater.com
What is your favorite drink?
We usually choose to drink according to how the climate behaves around us.
People in India usually drink a lot of coconut water, lemon & watermelon juice, buttermilk and lassi (a thick yogurt drink).
Come winter, they drink a lot of hot beverages, such as soup, tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages.
My favorite: ‘Magners on ice’ and Mojito for the summer. And Martell when the weather chills my bones during the winter.
Red Bull to kill sleep when I drive long on the motorways.
But make sure you carry a bottle of water when you commute by Tube. Always.
"சென்றிடுவீர் எட்டுத் திக்கும்" 