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Confession season

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I’m a recovering caffeine addict. Not just any coffee, mind you, but proper filter coffee brewed to perfection. I’ve managed to cut back to two cups a day, but if I can’t get the coffee I fancy, I’ll go out of my way to find it. Yesterday was one of those days - I told my wife we will just walk 600 metres (thanks, Google) but somehow ended up walking about 2 km just to get my two shots (not just one). Luckily, I’ve got a partner in crime - my wife also loves coffee, but she’s never been hooked. It’s a well-known fact in our family. So, this is a known known.  And I do not think this is a fault of mine. Coffee can never be a fault! I’m using Donald Rumsfeld’s framework to examine my little “addictions” and “holisms”. “There are known knowns, things we know that we know; and there are known unknowns, things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns, things we do not know we don't know.”   Then there’s the “known unknown”. Apparently, everyone else knew I wa...
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Friends

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We just returned from visiting family friends. The husband reminded me that we first met in a Jharkhand village (road side) through a mutual friend three decades ago, and that we and our families quickly became close. “We clicked,” as he put it.  As a neuroscience student, I find it fascinating: despite different backgrounds, perspectives, and states - not country cousins at all - yet perhaps with similar faith and a few shared interests, why did we connect so well? Who, after all, are friends? Formal definitions say:  “Friends are people who spend time together often, have positive interactions, and treat each other kindly. They differ from acquaintances because their connection is regular and meaningful.” Yet we have hardly spent time together over the years. Our life journeys took us to different places, but we remain almost like “soul‑mate families” even after 30 years. (like a few others too). They were the first to visit us when we moved to Kottayam from 250 km away. Neu...
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Quit Overthinking

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Life is a corkscrew  Life, in all its unpredictability, has a knack for presenting us with circumstances we never anticipated. It bends and contorts, forming shapes and situations that seem to defy reason. We may attempt to unravel its complexities, only to find that our efforts create new tangles elsewhere. The more we try to smoothen the journey, the more it seems to twist back upon itself, like a vine that refuses to grow straight, always curling into new directions.   This ancient struggle to make sense of life is nothing new. Qohelet, (Solomon) the wise Questor chronicled in scripture, observed this confusion centuries ago. His words echo with a weary acceptance:  “Life is a corkscrew that cannot be straightened, a minus that won’t add up.”  Whether we look at old tales or modern times, people have always wrestled with the same questions, seeking clarity where none may exist.    If a sage like Qohelet, endowed with wisdom and insight, admitted that lif...
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Fast and Far

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Most of us know the saying, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” While it’s often called an African proverb, its true origins are uncertain.   At present, we are travelling. I’ve been keeping track of our speed at every stage of the journey, and I’ve realised that this proverb doesn’t always hold true in reality. Fast and close:  Kottayam to Kochi – 80 km by car, 2 people, 40 km per hour Fast and far:  Kochi to Vizag – 1,500 km by plane, over 200 people, 750 km per hour Fast and far:  Vizag to Lamptaput – 210 km by car, 2 people, 40 km per hour during the day, 50 km per hour early morning Slow and near:  In Delhi – 12 km, 75 minutes, 2 people, 6 km per hour Fast and far:  Delhi to Dehradun – train with a few hundred people, 100 km per hour Mostly fast and far as if you have your tail on fire! Travel these days is mainly about speed. The only time it’s slow is when there are too many vehicles on the road, as in any big city...
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Random Rambling on Ramblings…

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A member of my extended family wrote to me this – perhaps after reading my ramblings: “The core difference between reflections/ramblings and research writing at large is that one is a form of human hallucination, and the other is the creation of new knowledge. Reflections can have a fixed time but in research is where "new knowledge" emerges…” My response was, “Thank you for your diagnosis  šŸ˜Œ .”   My reason for such a response is that, for a physician,  hallucinations = major mental illness;  and if  ramblings = hallucinations , then  ramblings = major mental illnesses . Which means all those who ramble and reflect have some amount of major mental illness.   But then, with all due respect, I suppose what the person wanted to communicate was -  “ hallucinatory ramblings ”  or reflections do not last.   But then, is not research writing and scientific reasoning founded in reflection and rambling? Imagining possibilities. The hypothesis on...
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