Monday, August 29, 2011

An Ode of English Plurals

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England .
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and
get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and
in which an alarm goes off by going on.

-is dedicated to amusing quirks, peculiarities, and oddities of the English language. Playing with words and language is both entertaining as well as educational.



























Saturday, August 27, 2011

Anna Hazare

Till yesterday I was under the dilema, In India, among our so called democracy do we 'the common man' really have any saying, forget about influencing, on happenings around the running of our parliament and government.


I am still wondering and surprised about the way gandian ways and the results achieved in the past and applicability of same concept on todays context.


Anna may own tonight with parliament resolution on anti craft, and JanLokpal bill, which is my wish also, but how about implementation and sustainability, are we people also really prepared to stop giving bribes at various levels?

Thursday, August 18, 2011

JC Travels Goa trip

Though been to Goa many times, this time it was made special by a excellent package tour booking done by JC Travels (web site jctravels.in), initially planning to avoid hussle bussles of Goa so was the plan to go to Candolim beach area and some resort near sinquirim or Candolim beach, and after various search in Trip advisor to zeroed in on Marquis due to the green landscape and on beach, Victor exotica for price and santana due to good reviews by every one, still many open queries like what is the room size, is there enough walking area and gree spaces, kid friendly place, is it near some safe beach etc...

In between various query sent through mails to vaious travel portals JC Travels responded fast and through G Talk started clarifying all the doubts from morning to evening then offered the excellent all inclusive package to go to Baga beach Nazri resort for a very attractive price, a delux room big enough to run around and play by my son, near to Tito's and Mambo's, near to East meets West and a 5 min walk to Tito lane baga beach, main road is a bit crowded but enjoyed and utilised by my wife with all the day shopping trails, comparatively more amenities and cheaper then what I spent on last two years in smaller resorts for an similar package.


All is well because of Mr Raj of JC Travels.

Monday, August 08, 2011

A teacher's story

There is a story many years ago of an elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson.

Mrs. Thompson had watched teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for teddy's.

His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume.

She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children same, teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, second in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stollard, M.D.

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson did.

They hugged each other, and teddy whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."