A Song For The Waves

The boat swayed with the rhythm of the waves while the boatman hummed a tune as if to pacify an angry beast. The song intrigued me, the slow cadence of his voice was melancholy one moment and optimistic the next moment. It filled the air with a strange intoxication. He sang rustic folk-songs, lyrics I could not interpret but the tunes arrested my attention.
My father, politely trying to start a conversation said “What is that song Bhaiya?”

The boatman’s face broke into a broad grin, “It is the song I sing to my children asking them to be brave.”

“How many children do you have? Where do they live?” inquired my father.

A forlorn expression came over the boatman’s face while he said, “I have two children Saabji, a son of four years and a daughter of eleven years. We lived along the river bank. But now this river is my home.”

“How can the river be your home?” I interposed.

“Well my children are here and home is where family is...three years back I lost them to this river during the flood. I believe their souls rest in the river bottom. That is why I sing to them their favourite tales. You know how they say songs can travel far and long so I know my songs reach them. At night I sing them to sleep with the promise of a new morning. See the waves tugging at the boat? That is my children asking me to sing. Once I start singing they calm down.”

The poignancy of separation choked my voice. The boatman had already started singing to the waves and I pressed the record button on my phone to record the boatman’s song and his life in a single MP3 file.

Thank you all for reading this post. I am glad if you like this post. In life there should be some space for chances like anything happens about which we were not supposing and it just happens. Give some space in your life for this kind of chance. That's all about life.

Hope you likes it. Share this with your friends and please do comment below!

In the Chapter of life,who knows next leaf is full of surprises.

Billu was a small artwork shop owner in the street of village Tomahd. He had legacy of making tribal art on glass pieces. By assiduously working and burning the midnight oil, he managed to make both ends meet for his ménage. He had a dream of opening a big shop so that he can employ other people of village.

On a effervescent day, sun kissed the street market and weather was such that it was tranquillizing the minds. When Billu was lightning the lamp in front of lord Ganesha, a lady thronged in and started clicking photographs like paparazzi. She was in casuals but looked chic .When Billu enquired, she said ,”These are out of world designs.” Billu was showing her masterpieces and she was gingerly scrutinizing each design and interviewed Billu with her curious questions. She wrote something on notepad. Each art piece had modicum border work and had deep social message in it. The art pieces warmed cockles of her heart and to Billu’s amusement she bought about 50 pieces.

(Few months later)

A letter came to Billu’s shop.

Dear Billu,

I am the crazy photographer lady who visited your shop some months back. I am writing to inform you that I used you designs in my fall clothing line and these designs have won accolades from worldwide. I have enclosed a cheque of 25,00000 for your work and government is going to give you International Recognition soon .

Look Billu ,How the stars shine for you now!!

Emma,

Netsua Creations

Billu has a big art work store today with national and international clients. His shop is million dollar enterprise today employing about 250 people from his village. His story was published in many news-columns nationwide.

Rubik's Cube and its Mathematical Background

DISCLAIMER : This blog post is not one of those articles in which you find a step by step procedure to actually solve a rubik's cube. On the contrary, this is for helping you to figure them out.

Nowadays we find a very few number of people with interest in Mathematics. The importance of mathematics is unknown to the larger part of the Engineering crowd. Does anyone know why any of you had mathematics in at least half of your engineering curriculum?

Mathematics is the essence of everything, when people say I am an expert in physics, they have to know at least a bit of mathematics to understand and implement physics.

Likewise in programming, mathematics is important. The better you are at mathematics, better you are as a programmer. You will find this book interesting if you are a hard-core programmer. “The Art of Computer Programming” By Donald Knuth

Now lets begin with the actual topic in hand. Rubik's Cube. People tend to ask question like “what are the physical application of mathematics?”. I am sure most of you know the answer. But many also tend to ask “What is a fun way of learning mathematics?”. Most of you don't know this answer. One such way is Rubik's Cube. Has anyone heard of Group Theory? I believe this is the very core concept behind rubik's cube.

Now think of your scrambled Rubik's Cube as Television or Bike that you want to fix on your own. Imagine how you feel when you fix one of your home appliances all by yourself. Happy obviously, isn't it? I have had this experience of people asking me “You are an engineer, right? Then why can't you fix a simple machine”. But in your heart you know that is not its all about.

Ok coming back to topic, this bike or TV you need to fix, needs a set of tools. Not only you need them, but you also need to know how to use them. That basic knowledge of tools here is Set Theory. The mathematics of the Rubik’s Cube involves understanding combinatorial
ideas, such as permutations and counting arguments, functions, Mathematical Induction etc... (Ring any bells?)

A simple concept called a Cycle notation (Circular notation) will change your perception of the world around you. It is actually a form of Permutation which you might already know. Understanding this deeply gives you a deep perspective of the Rubik’s Cube.

This is really a vast topic. I think immersing ourselves deep into this topic needs quiet bit of knowledge in mathematics. I can suggest some Ebooks for full mathematical involvement in solving a Rubik’s Cube. Please let me know if you need those by leaving a comment below. I can also point you people to some very good Rubik’s Cube solutions, but that is no fun.


Rubik’s Cube is the one that started it all, now there are tens and hundreds of varieties you can find in the internet. Some of them are Pyraminx, Holey-cube, Megaminx, 4x4x4 Rubik’s cube, Professor cube and what not.

The ultimate purpose of this blogpost is to explain the importance of mathematics and puzzles like Rubik's Cube which are present in all walks of life. One cannot imagine the world as it is without the achievements of great mathematicians. If you remember Permutations and Combinations you might find this link about Rubik's Cube interesting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_Cube#Permutations.

The best reference for an in-depth knowledge of Mathematics and Rubik’s Cube is “Adventures in Group Theory: Rubik’s Cube, Merlin’s Machine, and Other Mathematical Toys” by David Joyner