World's Toughest Crossword: Life

Quite recently, I (M) had a talk (when I was having a walk) with an elderly man (U) (though he did do the main talking). I am not going into the details of how the talk started, but gradually we ended up talking about what I am about to share with you now.

U: 'Many of us have heard our teachers/ elders telling us that there is no work in life which can be done without the help of math. Though that might arguably be true, but I am not going to harp on that point. Instead, I will talk about another important aspect in our life: CROSSWORDs (puzzle).'

M: 'What is this guy rambling about? I have better things to do than think about those silly crosswords... There are surely thousands who don't bother with such an annoying waste in time!'
U: 'True. If something along those lines (the above one) is coursing through your mind, then I am on your side.'

M: 'HA! From where to where is this talk going?'
U: 'Let me explain. Crosswords have been an integral part of our life, and there is no guarantee that a person proficient in solving the crossword puzzles on the papers (that you get to see every day), will be any better in solving the toughest crosswords experienced by us- LIFE!!!'

M: 'OKaayyyyyy!!!' -__- 'What does a dumb crossword have anything to do with Life?'
U: 'EVERYTHING! I neither know as to who introduced crosswords (the ones on the paper) nor why, but there can be a lot of similarities drawn between Crosswords and our lives.
Similar to crosswords, our life:
- Isn't a fairy tale (with smoothly curving paths, where one good thing leads to another with little or no worries).
- Has various blank (black) spaces which are outside our control.
- Has various clues as to how we proceed.
- The way we go about solving it determines as to whether we attain success or not.
- Once one is solved, there is always another to face the next day/ time.'

M: 'So, you say there are multiple crosswords in our lives, not just one symbolizing Life as whole?'
U: 'Yes and No. Yes, because as you said there are multiple crosswords we come across our lives, and no, because we can also consider our entire life as one huge crossword with all the smaller crosswords forming words as rows (across) and columns (down), something which arguably none have been able to solve. Therefore, solving few problems or overcoming certain obstacles, do not in any way guarantee a happy or successful life, as there are many more words/ crosswords to be solved. This is where, we have to prioritize, but I do not intend to discuss about priorities.'

M: 'Where else are these crosswords applicable?'
U: 'There are few other attributes which have the basis of a crossword, such as
Our DNA: There are innumerable researches working in this direction, in order to understand the importance of our DNA, though there is a general understanding, but to get a more in depth understanding, we try to make use of all the clues available.
Our character: All of us are unique in our own way, and in order to get a good understanding of an individual, once again we need to comprehend the clues we sense present in the individual.
Similarly, there are various other places where we have Crosswords ingrained.'

M: 'But we have heard similar lines, such as our life being full of puzzles...'
U: 'I agree. Crossword is only a type of puzzle and hence the same holds good. Life is a big puzzle, and those who take pains in solving it are the ones who taste sweetness at the end of their journey (even though if they haven't solved the whole thing).'

As I came back near my house, I finally said:
M: 'This has been a nice talk with you and I have learnt a lot'
While saying this I turned towards him only to find that he wasn't there...

3 wise men

This story is set in the old world. 3 men were travelling on horses, armed with swords, knives and bows and arrows, in search of (in this case) someone. There was something unique about the three; one was deaf, second was blind and the last was dumb. The weather was at its gruesome worst, with the lands all around snowed in, hence making it difficult to see. As they pass a few dead trees, the one last, hears the twang of a bow, and immediately takes avoidance action, hence saving himself. All 3 of them then set in the direction of the attack in search of the elusive foe. Due to the poor conditions, they were still in search a few hours later. Hungry and tired, they finally reach a log cabin and see some smoke coming out of the chimney.

Though it is dark inside (with just a same light source, probably a candle), they are comforted by the sight. They knock on the door, only to find an old woman being the lone resident of that cabin. The warm hospitality of the old woman leads them to lower their defenses as they enjoy a good meal and get ready to take rest. The old lady is bemused as all but one of them had not spoken a word yet. When she does ask one of them, if they are ready to sleep, she doesn’t receive a prompt response, except for a curt nod from the same man, giving her the feeling that the other 2 do not have their listening and talking senses. Seeing that they are making themselves comfortable, she assumes that they are all along the same thought pattern. After they seemingly go to sleep, she waits an extra precautionary 10 minutes before advancing to the back door and opening it. Standing in the cold outside, is none other than her son, and the same man whom the 3 were in search of. Ready with an axe, he advances to the man who supposedly had spoken and heard (pointed out by the mother), considering him to be the greatest threat. All lights are off as he raises and brings down the axe only to hit a pile of pillows. From the darkness, the twang of a bow is heard and then he falls down dead.

This story is an analogy. The 3 men depict 3 wise men that are in search of knowledge. Knowledge is not always the easiest thing to find. Many times there are obstacles to obtaining that knowledge, in this case the old lady. Sometimes, it is even tempting to forego the search, as is indicated with the comfortable ambience. At the end though, we need to learn to master the knowledge, not make knowledge the master of us, as happens at the end.
They might be the first, but not certainly the last (as seen in image)...




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Barls Cabbage, his apprentice and his Time Machine – A Parody

No one knows about what really caused Barls Cabbage to originate the concept behind a programmable computer. Since such technology wasn’t available at that point of time, it makes the story even more mysterious.

It all started in the early 1820s when Barls felt that one couldn’t depend too much on human mind for calculations because of the high error rate. He wanted to device a machine that could reduce the errors for calculations. With that in mind, he began working on a machine in the basement of his house. With the loss of three from his family in the same year, he was seen as a depressed man moaning in solitude. The only thing that kept him going was the machine on which he was working on, with him putting all his time and effort into the machine, it comes as no surprise that he got extremely engrossed and the results didn’t matter to him anymore, with improvements continuously coming into the machine. Finally, around 1865, his machine was finally ready. The functionality though was totally different when compared to the initial goal of the machine. It didn’t perform normal expected mathematical calculations, instead it was a machine which bent the time continuum, in other words, it was a time machine.

This machine was kept hidden from all others, not even his youngest son Benry. Now, as it was time to test the machine. It was 2-3 years back that he had met Vules Jerne after a long time (their first meeting was when Vules was young about 22 years back), and they became very close friends. He decided to let Vules know about his invention too and hence Vules became his apprentice. Vules took lot of interest in the machine and helped Barls to complete the machine by 1862.

Barls decided to traverse the first journey alone. He did so and travelled to the past first as he wanted to check how the world was in 2500 BC around which the abacus was invented, after several trips he finally found out that it was invented in the year 2345 BC. By now, Vules was accompanying him in his journeys.

Barls finally decided to travel to the future, in what he hoped would actually lead to the actual machine he intended to design, a machine to program calculations. This was a tense moment, because he had expected going to the past to be actually possible as people could traverse in memory and remember what had happened before, but nobody could actually tell what would happen in the future. Being a non-believer in astrology certainly didn’t reduce his doubts. Fortunately, the first mission was successful, and so were a few more. Next, he and Vules moved towards the future 100 years in advance (year 1962 that is), and he achieved a success in first attempt. Here, he got to meet some scientists and became aware of his name having achieved a status in history; he soon realized that he had managed to initiate the first concepts behind building a programmable computer. After learning the basics behind the technology, which took a few years, he decided that he could try to learn more about the technology, so it would benefit his actual own generation. Meanwhile, unfortunately he contracted a bacterial disease and became quite unwell, Vules decided for his safety, in order for Barls not to get lost to the past, to go back.

It was year 1870 now; Barls was extremely unwell and soon passed away into the void. Not many questioned their disappearance for those years as they had informed all that they were going for a trip. Barls left the basic concepts in writing for his son Benry to take over and carry it into the future, which Benry did, culminating in six working difference engines based on his father’s designs.

Vules, did not come from the journey empty handed either, he learnt about various innovations, though he spent most of his time with Barls, during their travels those years in the future, he became aware of various technological changes in the future. Always being a lover of writing and sailing the seas, he learnt of various advancements in maritime technology. This information was used by Vules and put down in writing in the form of novels which all became world famous and read for centuries beyond partly thanks to the futuristic technologies covered and his brilliant writing.

Now, we are more than 100 years past since the great many ideas that came through. One might wonder what happened to that great invention - the Time Machine. It is believed that Vules Jerne destroyed the machine on Barls Cabbage request, since it could be put into wrong use if it fell into the wrong hands, and he didn’t want others to see the suffering that was in store in the future, which he had come across on one of his many journeys.

TRAPPeD!

One day, a person was walking around his fields, enjoying the freshness in the air, and was lost deep in thought. All of a sudden, he stopped; he had just heard someone crying for help. Then he heard it again, it was coming from not far away. He went in that direction and he saw a boy trapped in a well, crying.
Being handicapped, he was unable to help, and since none of his farmhands were around, he was unsure of what to do. Then he noticed a couple of protruding stones that were present along the sides of the well. His advice to the boy to try climbing up the well using the stones as foot holds. The boy tells through his tears that he had already tried once, and the stone had dislodged causing him to fall and bruise himself more.
The man advices the boy to first check each stone with his hand before he climbs it. The boy is still scared and refuses to do so. His crying becomes louder. This angers the man and he threatens to leave the boy in the well along with ensuring that nobody else comes to his aid. This frightens the boy. Finally, he starts climbing up following the man’s instruction. After a lot of slipping and couple of dislodging stones, the boy finally comes out of the well, hurt and bruised but happy.
Does this story sound familiar to you? Consider the boy trapped in a well similar to a person trapped in his own mind and the handicapped man is similar to any presence outside that might not be able to help you in any direct way. The rest should be clear to you by now, but I will say it anyway. Once a person traps himself in his own mind, it becomes difficult for him to come out of it. Nobody else will be able to help him. It is up to him alone to come out of it. Though the route might be difficult and sometimes frustrating, but when he does come out of it, he will always be better. When changes do happen, this is when a person tends to go into a shell and it will become very difficult to come out of it. One needs to be always open to what is going on around him and should be able to adjust to certain changes that might happen.

The Predator

The beaver family was forced to flee their part of the forest due to the large fire that had burnt not only their home but a large area around. Though they saw certain humans trying to put an end to the fire, little did they know that the fire was caused by a careless human in the first place. So they went deeper into the forest in search of a proper place to live. Once they found a suitable spot, they left the young ones (assuming it to be safe as it used to be in their previous home) and just went in search of some good wood to make a home with. A crocodile which just happened to be passing by sights the infants and decides it is time to have some dinner as it was hungry. The parent beavers sense the crocodile and immediately go to protect their young ones, but the crocodile reaches them first. The beavers try to stop the crocodile in vain as the crocodile uses its tail to ward any attack. But one of the beavers manages to distract the crocodile’s attention, while the other takes the young beavers to safety. The crocodile in its anger swishes its tail and injures the beaver that had distracted it, it now goes towards that beaver getting ready to have its larger feast. It grabs hold of the beaver ready to tear its head off. The other beaver, which was thinking of coming to the aid of this beaver, goes back to its hideout as it senses some other animals around. The crocodile opens its jaws wide open, unaware of what is around it.. Suddenly there is a big bang, and the crocodile stops in its tracks. The injured beaver immediately crawls away to safety. Then they hear voices (of humans). One of the human says “Did you see there was another animal there, do we search for it?” His accomplice shakes his head in disagreement. They come slowly and carefully towards the crocodile, examine it and then take it away.
The question that comes into one’s mind is- “Who actually is the predator, the crocodile that was just fulfilling its natural instincts, or the humans? “