To riddle or not?

A good try, Manny. I expected this answer. But is it the right answer? There were a lot of questions that are hidden within the sentence. The first sentence reads, "Five frogs are sitting on a log." Ok, this is a simple fact. The second statement, "Four decide to jump off." is an ambigious statement. Are the four mentioned in the statement, a part of the five already present on the log. Or maybe there are four frogs that are ready to jump off some other log on to this log? You can never know. The same logic applies to the third statement,"How many are left?" The riddle, split up into individual sentences, makes logical sense but it does not provide any meaning. This was just a simple exercise in semantics. The phenomenon is known as intertextuality. Intertextuality, as defined by Michael Riffaterre, "depends on [a system of] limitations in our freedom of choice, of exclusions, since it is by renouncing incompatible associations within the text that we come to identify in the intertext their compatible counterparts." Those of you who are still puzzling on what the last paragraph meant, relax. I'll provide examples after the New Year. Till then send your thoughts on how the blog looks now. It is still a work under progress. It will be gradually improved in the days to come.

Answer for the riddle.

There will be five frogs left still... They have decided to jump off and they have not jumped off still. So five frogs left. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...ithu epdi irukku?

A small riddle for the new year

Five frogs are sitting on a log.
Four decide to jump off. How many are left?

Answer will be posted tomorrow.

get-together

seems a good idea. awaitng comments

Update on get-together

Considering the views of a lot of people, it seems to be more wise to have the get-together in MADURAI on 25th... Do let me know if there are any issues about this.. Most girls can make it.. and arrangements can be made for guys.. what we are going to do there is entirely up to us... Please let me know ur confirmation... so that arrangements can be made...

New Year Resolutions...

I have believed in them and probably never will. I have posted a few articles on Quod scripsi, scripsi as promised. Maybe, my new year resolution will be blog at least once a day.

this year

Kicha, you had told a few points that I wanted to convey. But I wouldn't say that my year wasn't dramatic. It was largely uneventful, but a few incidents have really touched my heart. The year began with suffering for me. I had a bout of severe cold, coupled with wheezing. To add to the mix, I was supposed to sing in the midnight mass at church. I decided to endure it through. Somehow managed to get through the first day of the year sans complications. A few major incidents that taught me about life were the Gujarat riots, Cricket World Cup and Invasion of Iraq. Each of this incident taught me a different outlook on life. The Gujarat Riots taught me about preciousness of human life. This photo is a stark reminder of its preciousness. I am not blaming anyone here but the riots are a blemish to Indian secularism. The unacceptable fact is that the perpetuators of the horrifying incidents during the dark days of the riots were people like you and me. They were not terrorists who were trained by a foreign power. They were just ordinary common people like you and me. This is what frightens me. A terrorist is a person who believes in some ideological doctrines (whether it is right or worng is another matter). Thier policy of terrorism is summed by Lenin's words,"The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize." Simple and crisp. It is easy to understand them. But violence by ordinary people is unacceptable. Amidst all this, India's performance in the world cup gave me great joy. Though we were beaten by Australia, I can feel proud that it took the best team in the world to beat us. Australia's performance was as expected. I think the last year has been really good for India in the sports arena, in hockey, chess, tennis, athletics... I believe this blog also took shape during the fag days of February amidst the riots and cricket. Though a few came to know of it by the begining of March, the blog was in its incubation much earlier than that. It has provided to be a wise investment in terms of time. I guess everyone would agree to that. The invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies was another major incident. I feel it is just an act of desperation by the US. A classic case of high school bullyism by Bush. Fortunately it did not escalate into a major war. I had mae by views on the war in several of my earlier posts. So I need not reiterate all those once more. Other than the above mentioned incidents, there were several other small incidents that had shaped my life in 2003. I may be posting them here or in Quod scripsi, scripsi later. Sri had asked last week on how the past year has been, personally and professionally. I guess this answers a few aspects of the past year. Professionally, I can't say much. Maybe, you can read it in Quod scripsi, scripsi later on. I think plans for the new year warrants another post, which will be posted later.