Wednesday 30th Jan 2013

I started making calculations for the important event scheduled for friday. I wonder what will happen? Will all the hard work go down the drain or if it will be successful or even partially so & what will work & what won't. I went for an eye checkup to a pretty expensive eye clinic for the eye floater problems which I am having for couple of months lately. The did a couple of eye tests- pressure, vision etc and cooly charged six hundred bucks, telling me i needed to come back again for some more tests as the result was not fully conclusive! The receptionist stared at my well worn shoes and looked doubtful if i could pay the fees, and two or three orderlies escorted me every step in the clinic.

Interpersonal politics

I think politics began with the creation of atoms themselves. First there was Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden living a blissful life till the ugly serpent reared its head and cajoled Eve to bite into the sinful apple. So the serpent was the first politician who swayed Eve to do something she had been forbidden. In a friendship between two people there are hardly any misunderstandings, until a third force appears, who for his own motives or even unknowingly distorts the relation between the two, be it ever so slightly. At best it can be a mutually beneficial relation for all, at worst the third person can break the bond between the two prior friends. This is the same thing which happens with molecules. Sodium and Bromine were existing peacefully as sodium bromide till chlorine came along and swept sodium off her feet to form sodium chloride to leave poor bromine standing alone. The forces at the molecular level make for an interesting study at the macro level too. We can characterise people as elements too. Very reactive male- Chlorine, Very reactive female - Sodium, Unreactive person - Noble metal like Helium and so on.

Great characters in fiction

In popular fiction there are a handful of characters who have exceeded their creators in fame and popularity. Two such who easily come to mind are Sherlock Holmes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Potter by J K Rowling. Sherlock Holmes, the original cerebral detective was created by Sir Arthur CD in 17th century, in an age where there was no visual media, yet he became the benchmark for all later authors of crime fiction. His deductions were so startling and surprising and his mannerisms and physical appearance and gestures so 'singular' that they became iconic. Harry Potter, the beloved boy wizard is so popular that almost every other child knows about him and his adventures. In the visual age, his character has been bought to life on screen very suitably by Daniel Radcliffe. Few characters are there in child fiction who are as popular as Harry. In Enid Blyton's books of course we had characters we all identified with and were interested in like George in Famous Five books or Fatty in the Five find outers and dog. But these books revolved more around the mystery or adventure the characters get into rather than the central character. What makes these characters stand out more than any other. One must be the sheer originality of the character sketch. Sherlock Holmes was THE detective on which Agatha Christie sketched Hercule Poirot's quirks and Miss Marple's character.