Normal And Abnormal

"Therefore , if you offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there, before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother, and then you may approach and offer your gift." (Mathew 5:23-24) This is what Jesus Christ taught us to resolve the dispute with our brothers.  This Christian community split ino Jacobite and Orthodox in 1912. However they came together in Kottayam following a Supreme Court ruling for a brief period between 1958 and 1970. From 1970 they have been at war over church control. After a long trial the apex court gave its final verdict in 2017. What I would like to say is not about the history or the real causes of the dispute between the two. I wish to remind all concerned that neither any of the church nor a single member of the church nor any form wealth available with the church belongs to anyone in this world. The sole owner of all these are Lord Jesus Christ. On...

Norman Lloyd Date of birth - November 8, 1914 Age as on March 2020 - 106 years plus Birth place - New Jersey, USA Years active - 1932 to present Success - Acted in good numbers of notable films. Betty White Date of birth - January 17, 1922 Age as on March 2020 - 99 years plus Birth place - Illinois, USA Years active - 1939 to present Success - She is the oldest actor ever appeared in the TV screen with the longest span of career as TV actor. (Courtesy for data and images - oldest.org) K V George

Though the press is said to be the fourth pillar of democracy,  in the recent times it does not seem to be doing justice to the people as expected. While legislature and executive are slanted towards ruling political parties, these two pillars are removed and reerected from time to time by political ideologies and sometimes by even individual preferences, people have left faith in only one pillar, judiciary. While most of the print media were often bringing  only truth to the people until a few decades ago, atleast some of those have now silently expressed solidarity with their political parties and ignored the truth and justice of what they say. Over and above these some of them have started to express their integrity to those business group by whom they have economic gains.  There are incidences that some of these business houses when committed criminal offences, those left unreported by these media. It has also become a practice that when a criminal offence...

Asha Parekh  is one of the most prominent actress of Bollywood screen. Most of her films were commercially successful. She was the shining star during 1960s and 1970s. She is also a director and producer. Kati Patang, Teesri Manzil, Love in Tokyo, Dil Deke Dekho, Aan Milo Sajna, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Sajan, Shikar, Caravan, Do Badan, Aye Din Bahar Ke, Kanyadaan, Chirag etc are some of the ever remembered films of Asha Parekh. She could pair with all prominent heroes of her time. Asha was born in Gujarat on 2nd October 1942. She could learn classical dance at a young age. The renowned director Bimal Roy happened to witness her dance and that brought her to the screen at the age of 10 in the film Maa in 1952. That was the beginning of a most successful race. Later period of her acting career she accepted supporting roles. She stopped acting in 1995. She won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. She won the Kalakar Award in 2004 and the International ...

Nicholas Brendon and Kelly Donovan Date of Birth - April 12, 1971 Place of birth - Los Angeles, California Famous for - Popular TV serial artists Mark and Scott Kelly Date of birth - February 21, 1964 Place of birth - West Orange, New Jersey Famous for - American astronauts Jessica and Lisa Orgliasso Date of birth  - December 25, 1984 Place of birth - Queensland, Australia Famous for - renowned album Drew and Jonathan Scott Date of birth - April 28, 1978 Place of birth - Vancouver, British Columbia Famous for -  Host of reality TV show - "Property Brothers" Cameron and Tylor Winklevoss Date of birth  - August 21, 1981 Place of birth - Southampton, New York Famous for - Sued Mark Zuckerberg; First Bitcoin billionaire Camilla and Rebecca Rosso Date of birth - July 6,.1994 Place of birth - London, England Famous for - Appeared in popular TV show (Images and data courtesy to Wall St Staff) K V George

What is the expected gain of this 48 hours strike? Why it is 48 hours? Why not 12, 24 or 96 hours? Why all trade unions are not taking part in this? Honest answers to these shall certainly tell us it is a mere gimmick in front of the people. If it is not a mere gimmick but good returns are expected, why the trade unions belonging to the ruling party is not associating? With the same issues, when another goverment is in power, they may strongly involve. As such it is not the issues concerning the people that matters but merely concerned with the political parties sponsoring this strike. It is also a matter of deep concern that when many of the states have a cool response to this, it is being  made a total success in Kerala. There are reports that autorickshaws and other vehicles are damaged across the state.  While the judiciary in the state is strongly reacting against these illegal activities, no efforts are being made by the government machinery, the strikers at ...

      (Top monument in Colombo) Economic  crisis in Sri Lanka is not a sudden outburst.  It was started from 2010. By the year 2019 the foreign debt reached an alarming 88% of the GDP. The Covid 19 pandemic induced the situation to be worsened. External liability of the island country reached to 101% of the GDP in 2021. Under the 2017 agreement, Sri Lanka Port Authority created  Hambantota International Port Group which then became a joint venture after China Merchant Port brought an 85% stake in HIPG as part of the Chinese Company's US$ 1.12 billion investment into the port. This has terribly affected the Sri Lankan economy. In fact China's  intention was not to help the island country but create a naval base close to India. More than that it is a clear example of mismanagement of a country by it's own government. All that is over. Now, Sri Lanka cannot stand by it's own, but need a helping hand of someone else. Can India help Sri Lanka to...

Sigmund Freud's home When Sigmund Freud and family escaped from Austria after Nazi annexation in 1938, they came to Hampstead London. This home was occupied until the death of his youngest daughter Ann in 1982. George Washington's Mount Vernon Mansion This is the home of the first American president George Washington. The tomb of Washington and his wife Martha is situated in the compound of this mansion. Close to their tomb is the Cemetry of slaves worked for this mansion in 1700 and 1800 AD. A working distillary manufacturing whisky is situated in this compound. Albert Einstein's Einsteinhaus Albert Einstein, his wife and son stayed in the second floor of this apartment in Bern, Switzerland. from 1903 to 1905. Now it is a Museum called Einsteinhaus. The spiral staircase from first floor to the second is retained as it was.  The third floor is also part of the museum displaying the life  and all important records belong to the physicist. ...

Chateau de Trecesson in France is one of the most haunted houses in the world. A young woman who was believed to be buried alive on the premises, is alleged to be that causing horror there. For decades this place is believed to be visited by many ghosts. People even now feared to visit the mansion. Chaonei Church in Beijing, China is a terribly haunted house. Numerous people have been disappeared from this property. At the entrance of the building a notice is placed stating that there is no ghosts on the property, but the legends say otherwise. One of the most common tales about the house is that of a mistress of a government official who committed suicide in the house. Another story purports that the house was built by a British priest who wanted this building to be a church but the priest was found missing before the completion of the construction. However, the property still remains as a haunted place. K V George 

The above images are of Vande          Bharat Express (180 km/h) The government of Kerala is offering a fast train to the.people of the state. Unfortunately the people reject the offer, but the government is firm on the proposal. The estimated cost of the K-Rail project as per the rates of the Railway Engineering Department of 2019-20 is Rs 64,000/- crores. There are widespread discussion on this project for and against. Huge investment required for the project, paucity of fund in the state, large area of land required, vast number of people to be evacuated etc are shown as the negative factors against the project. Here comes a question. Can we overcome all these negative aspects, yet run the superfast train between Thiruvananthapuram and Kaseragode, that too within the expected time schedule. Now let us find the super fast trains Indian Railways have. 1. Vande Bharat Express, between New De...

          (Hakata port of Japan) The Mongols  wanted to conquer Japan in the 13th century. They arrived full fledged at the Hakata port of Japan. They were received by a typhoon and that forced them to leave. They returned in the summer season heavily prepared. Surprisingly, soon after they reached there came another typhoon. Superstitious Mongols believed that Japan is a blessed land they cannot have victory over them. They never attacked Japan again.Most shocking thing is that these types of storms do not come in summer season. It may be a divine intervention! K V George kvgeorgein@gmail.com

For quite sometime people from some corners come out with their opinions about English medium schools in India. They say we do not need any English medium schools. Prima facie it looks to be a suggestion worth considering. The English have kept us as slaves for centuries.  We have fought against them for long and earned the freedom. When we have become free, do our best and climbing fast on the ladder of progress to be a developed country why should we learn the language of our so called masters of yesterday. We Indians are in no dearth of language. About 78% of Indians speak different languages from the family of Indo-Aryan language and about 19% speak Dravidian languages. When we have our own traditional languages used for milleniums why should we adopt a foreign language. However, the youth of today not only try to learn English but also many European, American, African and Asian languages for their livelihood. We have all the resources to deploy entire youth of Indi...

(Painting of king Bindusara with his 4 wives) The  number of wives had by different Kings of India: Emperor Ashoka - around 500 wives Wajid Ali Khan (last ruler of Avadh) - around 370 wives Maharaja Ranjit Singh - 616 wives Akbar - had 9 legally married wives              and total 35 wives. His               harem had about 100              women. Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of              Patiala had 365 queens               including 10 authorised              queens. Shajahan had 7 wives. Mumtaz              was his 4th wife. Raja Uday Singh of Marwar had               27 wives. Nizam of Hyderabad had 600               wives. (Indebted to various re...

                  (Helen 2013) Helen Ann Richardson an Indian national was born in Rangoon, British Burma, in November 1938. Helen was a shining star in the Hindi cinema in supporting roles, guest appearances and as dancer in a career spanning over seventy years. She has appeared over 700 films. In her prime time people rushed to the theatres all over India irrespective of the significance of other cast. So much was her establishment as a star in Indian cinema. Helen is the winner of Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also bestowed with Padma Sri Award in 2009. Helen will be long remembered for her films. Howrah Bridge (1958), Hum Hindustani (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961), China Towen (1962),  Upasana (1971), Anamika (1973), Allahuddeenum Atbuda Vilakkum (1979 Tamil and Malayalam), Josh (1981),  One Room Kitchen (2011 Marathi), Heroine (2012), Pagli Shadi Go D...

We may find below the most disciplined countries in the world. 1.Iceland One of the most progressive nations with high level of literacy and tolerance among population, this country has low crime rate, low violence rate and low police/military expenditures. Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world. 2. New Zealand Low crime rate and police/military capability, sound political stability, respect for human rights and freedom. All these put together make this country second most disciplined and peaceful country in the world.   3. Switzerland Switzerland is the third most peaceful country in the world. In order to attain this status the country invest heavily for the people, health services, education and considerable assistance for employment for the people. When these much is done by the country for the people certainly peace will prevail in the whole country. There are more such countries  in the world. While seeing these countries  we Indians may ask o...

According  to a report by the Indian Express some time back 6.53 lakhs police cases were registered in Kerala in 2017. This must be the highest number in India at that time. As per the State Crime Records Bureau upto the third quarter of 2019 a total of 10,516 cases of atrocities against women were reported in our state of which 1,537 were rapes. Over 8100 prisinors are in Kerala jails now. These things do not sound good for the state of Kerala. Thus goes the crime in our state. Some are caught and a few are punished. Some are imprisoned for a few months and others for a few years. Finally all come out of the prison gate. But almost all are coming out as harder criminals. They all develop criminal relations with all co-prisinors and continue to commit more and more crimes. There is no result oriented efforts made by the government to reform the criminals. There was a report in the media in the recent past about a motor bike thief who had stolen a good number of bikes. F...

* The country   has large resources but the people do not find opportunity to exploit those.  *We can raise the GDP much more but we do not attempt even.  *Poverty can be eliminated but we seem to retain it. *We can be among the richest countries in the world but we do not even look at that direction. *We prefer to talk about tomorrow. Do nothing today. *Millions of people from all over the world wish to come and see our country but we do not welcome them. * We  leave everything upon the government and move around to find faults in governance. *All  that we do are conducting meeting, conference, seminar, loud talk, rally, procession holding flags, close shops, stop vehicles, down the shutters of industries and such great things. We always find pleasure in talking about our great history and culture. Without knowing the Bhagwan and His temple we keep praying in loud voice. We read the great books without knowing the meaning of what is written...

The youth of India in general and from Kerala in particular are the ones swindled by middle men to the tune of millions of rupees in their pursuit of employment abroad. In order to overcome this unhealthy practice the Government of India may consider to open an International Employment Exchange to cater the needs of organizations from all over the world at a nominal service charge. Both the employment provider and the employment seeker shall be benefited. KVGeorge

Wishing  birthday before time brings bad luck in Russia. Don't place two mirrors opposite as it makes infinite reflection and it opens way for the devil to come inside, is the Mexican belief. Whistling indoor invites demon in Lithuania. Cheers with water filled glass  brings death to the people in the party, is the belief in Germany. Getting a haircut on Tuesday cause bad luck in India. If a bird poops on someone or his property in Russia, it is lucky for him and he will become wealthy soon. It is a strong belief in Japan that writing someone's name in red ink will shorten the life of that person. In Turkey if you have itch on your right hand you will have some good money, but if it's on the left hand you will lose money. (Indebted  to Web sources for images and other description) K V George

These   may look strange but are truth. A snail can sleep for three years. A crocodile cannot stick it's tongue out. Butterflies taste with their feet. Elephants are the only animal that can't jump. The electric chair was invented by a dentist. Rats multiply so quickly, that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match. Most lipstick contains fish scales. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different. (Indebted to SAVIT Interactive) K V George kvgeorgein@gmail.com

         (Sandalwood plantation)          (Nursary plants of white                             sandalwood) Growing  sandalwood by any individuals was prohibited until 2002. Now the restrictions are lifted and people are allowed to grow sandalwood subject to the conditions that it is illegal to cut and harvest the wood, use it or sell it in the open market. Permission is required from the state forest department, which sends it's officials to cut the tree and buy the sandalwood. Now it is high time for the government to rethink to lift all restrictions for planting, using and selling sandalwood. Sandalwood must be one of the costliest wood on earth. It's cosmetic and therapeutic value have made it the most wanted wood in the world. The fragrance of the wood fetches Rs 10,000 per kg for even the small branch pieces. It is really a good s...

Here are the most popular magazines in the world. The Watchtower This is one of the oldest magazines published in United States. Jehovah's Witnesses are the publisher. It is published in more than 200 languages. The total circulation is over 50 million copies. Awake Awake has a monthly readership of 44.6 million. It is also religious magazine and published over 100 languages. Last year it completed 100 years of the publication. AARP AARP is America's third best selling magazine with 22.5 million monthly readers. This is a life style magazine. Until 2002 it was known as Modern Maturity. Game Informer Game Informer is published from America and it is one of the most popular magazines among the teenagers. It illustrates latest games which the young are interested. It has readership over 10 million copies. Better Homes and Gardens Better Homes and Gardens is the 5th best selling magazine in America  with a circulation of 7.5 million c...

          Ashrita Furman in 2011 Guinness   World   Records are held by many people all over the world. Most of these awards are won for personal achievements. Some are for physical achievements and others for mental miracles. But here we find one for winning maximum number of Guinness World Records in the world. Ashrita Furman, born on September 16, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York is the record holder of Guinness World Records. Furman is a health food store manager. He started his Guinness competition in 1979 and is active now. As on 2017 Furman held 600 Guinness World Records. At present he holds 531 Guinness World Records, thus he holds the record of holding maximum number of Guinness World Records in the world. Furman holds the records in cycling, running, jumping, under water sports etc. He is known to have added Ashrita (protected by God) to his name  with the influence of Swami Chinmaya. (Image and data courtesy to Wikipedia) K V Ge...

 According  to available data there are over 1,70,000 terrorist attacks of various intensities throughout the world during the period from 1970 to 2019 killing over 1,40,000 people. Most of the countries in the world have fallen victim to these heinous attacks. In many incidents the victims were innocent people. They were either tourists, air travellers, school children, common pedestrian etc who had nothing to do with the so called issues of the terrorists. The deadliest terrorist groups in the world are Islamic State, the Taliban, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. While this is the synopsis of terrorism, the world must consider it as only terrorism, not as any religious issue. Whatever may be the reason these groups are fighting for and killing innocent people, there are bona fide platforms within the concerned countries or centralised establishments to take up their issues within the purview of the law of respective countries. Without going for peaceful solutions, they...

Just  try to find whether these facts are strange for you. The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue. "I am" is the shortest complete sentence in English language. When the moon is directly overhead, you will weigh slightly less. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from the blowing desert sand. The name of all continents end with the same letter that they start with. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. Minus 40 degree Celsius is exactly the same as minus 40 degree Fahrenheit Women blink nearly twice as much as men. It is impossible to lick your elbow. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries. People say "Bless You' when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky. "The sixth sick sheik's...

Huge  number of people fall die on our roads year after year. Many are injured and become seriously incapacitated. We may find below the number of accidents and deaths in the recent past. Year         No. of             No. of                  Accidents      Deaths 2016          39420            4287 2017          38470            4131 2018          40181            4303 2019          41111            4440 2020          27877            2979 2021          16312            1719 The New Indian Express says that according to Sri Up...

The name Aryan denotes to the people who were said to speak an archaic Indo-European language and who were thought to have settled in prehistoric times in ancient Iran  and Northern Indian subcontinent. They were believed to have invaded and conquered ancient India and whose literature, religion and modes of social organisation subsequently shaped the course of Indian culture, particularly the Vedic religion and was eventually superceded by Hinduism. However since the late 20th century a growing number of scholars have rejected both the Aryan invasion and the use of the term Aryan as a racial designation. The Sanscrit term Arya (noble or distinguished), the linguistic root of the word was actually a social rather than an ethnic epithet. In the 19th century "Aryan" was used as a synonym for "Indo-European' and also, more restrictively, to refer to the Indo-Iranian languages. In Europe when the white racial superiority emerged, Houston Stewart Chamberlain w...