When our teachers have to talk a while about rights and duties, they say with pride, "they are like two sides of a coin".

The math teachers would take it a step up and say "they are two coplanar lines that are parallel". The geography teacher would point the scale to the obliquely hung chart on the board and say, "it is like the mountains and the plains".

It so happens my friends, they are all indirectly talking about understanding and mis-understanding. They are like the thin tissues that divide love and hate. My, do you understand this?

The young teenager is talking about the latest movie and the old grandma understands it as a song that makes no sense and begins to outline a lecture on the basis of "Good music, noise and the 12th century divine men".

The kid understands it as "rambling" due to over age and perhaps, boredom or fatigue or in some special cases, sleepiness. Mindless of this business, the child revels in the plot of the movie as though it was a vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate chips and honey and cashews.

The grandma thinks that the child is being "arrogant" and "rude" and "disrespectful". The lecture turns its torch light towards "how should a child behave".

The kid is now thoroughly angry, mind you, so is the grandma. Both finally understand each other, identify the anger in each other and agree to dissolve the matter into the thin air. They either move away, one to the kitchen and the other to the refrigerator. Or they talk about how the crow population has dramatically increased. Is this understanding or misunderstanding?

You are, what they call in Indian terms, "catching" an auto rickshaw. The auto uncle asks, "where to?" and you tell him the destination. He then wordlessly nods. You understand and ask, "how much?" He gets the point and says an irrational amount. You understand and say "no thank you" He understands and moves on to someone wealthier. The whole episode is a very amicable and agreeable situation. And what say, everything is understandable.

The conversation is obtuse. The talk is about politics in Iraq (where politicians are an unknown commodity). The political pundit says in a loud and clear voice, "My fellow being, you do not understand what the Americans are doing". The other person with a lesser political knowledge says "what great thing" or something equivalent. Now it's a whole heated situation.

The political pundit thinks that the other is a fool, totally ignorant of the world politics, the kid of guy who blows bubbles with his chewing gum. The other guy thinks this pundit is "acting of" as though he is the final word or authority over a country whose physical divisions he knows not and who language he never follows, whose food he never eats. But the understanding between them causes them to maintain a minute's silence, break the rapid flow of rational and irrational dialogues and start something like "want some tea?"

The aunt says "you are afraid of something".

You say, "no, I'm not with the idea. I'd know if I'm afraid".

The aunt says, "No, you're lying, I can almost recognize it in all your actions. You run away like a mouse when a violent scene occurs on television".

You say, "I don't like them. I think they're too silly and a waste of eyelid energy. So, I move away."

But the aunt doesn't think so. She thinks you do not know you're scared. You think its nonsense.

But both of you agree to maintain each other's status quo, and say "Yes. Whatever"

And then aunt asks, "You want some more curry?" and you nod amicably. The situation is now better and back to normal. The environment is friendly and curry so tasty.

The understanding between two animate or inanimate objects can differ. Both understand, but understand differently. It's a joke to a comedian, and an argument to the emotional.

The vantage-point lies in between this understanding. And the people and objects involved try to turn their cars in this U-turn. The misunderstanding is now understood and made to tread the path to peace. Understanding returns and so does peace.

Every terrorist is amicable, once they realize that the world does not understand them and their stupidities. Just as they do not understand the world. Maybe the route to peace isn't laid and maybe that's the simple trick to diffuse the bombs.

All problems and misunderstandings have a way out. And invariably, its found, used and tested and proved to be, "want some tea?" or "how is so and so?" and questions equivalent or total disarmament. The people return to do their respective original jobs and the silly misunderstanding is completely understood.

by: Saket Jain

The air is still. The birds begin to "screech" out of confusion. The water in the river (obviously polluted) for a change appears as if it is still too. The night sky is clear, with no clouds. Tiny stars twinkling away, and the moon reduced in size, looks a silent and mute spectator.

The man down the earth, on the soil is busy. Busy looking into an ancient textbook, the pages brown – almost crisp looks half-baked and ready to be eaten. But the man isn't hungry or so it seems. He looks angry, but calm and unruffled. He looks into the text with a buddi lamp (the one with a small burner of kerosene and soda glass covering. The ones the villagers run around using.)

Why the birds screech, I'm not sure. But I do know I'm feeling very sarcastic at the moment. I can tell you, what our "man" friend is looking for in that text. Have you gone through the torturous tenth standard science text? You shall find a chapter on nuclear energy, wherein the details of harnessing nuclear energy in a fission reactor are explained.

What I read today, this guy also reads. But not a nuclear reactor, mind you, but a bomb. All of us do understand the un-intricate business of this rather intricate bomb. The neutrons from the fission process aren't emitted in a regular manner, and hence cause a lot of destruction. Instead of enjoying the silence of the air around, our little man is scheming destruction. Why, I wonder, is he so without sense?

It's a wasteful process, that too at night, specially without proper light. Why waste so much of energy on something stupid? I thought I should ask our little guy, why is he acting so funny. But, why would I approach him? And how will I get back alive? So hypothetically, it's a "revenge" plan. So much of energy goes waste in this process. And there is a negative feeling all around.

When my brother hits me on the head, the irritation induced in me, wants me to punch him back five times. But hey, why should I waste this energy? Instead, I write this article about him, so well crafted and send it to NDTV. Poor brother doesn't bother to tap me nowadays. It's similar to "back-answering". The best way to back answer is to zip ones lips.

I feel sorry for our man there. He looks so intent and determined to destroy and at the same time is deep down guilty. Look at that sky, so sleepy and black its pretty much bored seeing this person do the same job again and again. Sky thought, "Hare Ram! This guy should get some better work to do. Let me switch off the light switch and pull the sun back" and did so.

Dear guy didn't let go. He thought, no light, so what? I have a lamp. No one can stop me from bombing that house. They have to go. I should kill them (incur sin, in my language) for what they did to me (didn't give him a toothbrush, or perhaps said – no money sire, earn a little on your own.) Saheb was very busy indeed. What a pity, he could have gone home, had dinner, watched a movie and gone to sleep.

Stars felt so funny after watching sky's futile effort and began to giggle. This made them twinkle. The moon felt so weary, after watching so much action take place. He said, no more nonsense fellows! Let's do our job and shined steadily watching the man battle it out.

The wind said, "Ha ha – man, you look so determined. And if you go away, the whole night, who shall entertain us?" so it stopped blowing awhile. Rainy clouds were shooed away by the wind who said – "Hey rain, run away. Little man is busy with play". Soil stood a little dry, a frown on its eyebrow – a smile so wry. What a cinema in the night!

In a couple of days young man had done his job. The hard work was over. He had to aim it on the rooftop. He then thought (wasting more energy for nothing) "if someone finds out" and made a shelter for himself. Night by night, the sky watched him play – issued tickets for the stars to stay.

Soon, the man got up in the night, threw the bomb and took his flight. The stars burst out laughing at him, and then cried to see the others in the house weep. What a movie it had been! What a foolish man was he, who left his work and played all night.

Everyday the stars saw the same thing. The same man making many bombs. The small light he used became electricity and no more he cared a thought for the sky. They began to worry, as they knew they had to weep, when more houses were on fire.

Enough they thought, he has done. Let them stop the theatre for some days and show the man their own play. The wind blew his hut away, the moon stayed away for days behind the cloud, which rained all night. The man grew angry and annoyed. The stars were wondering what to say.

This foolish thing had got brains. He made cement shelters and godowns to play. Oh, God, said all of them, the sky, rain and the wind. He got his revenge even on the sky that day. He threw so many bombs at trees. They died along with the clouds, wind and rain. Left alone were the moon and stars. Their vision was blurred away with smoke.

Ha, said the stupid man, the book in his hand. The moon looked on silently. He still made bombs and still threw them. They were more powerful and more tears they brought. The sky closed its theatre. It was not funny anymore. The funny man was too thoughtless to use his thought in a cruel way of his own, for no particularly intelligent reason.

No one comes that way anymore. No wind, no rain. The stars and moon hide behind smoke, to not witness the bombing anymore. The little man of ours, still sits down through the night, looking at more books, in dim hidden lights. A victory he won, with brains absolutely none. All of us watch his play today.

Every television set displays, the work of our little man at play. What a foolish man he is, he wouldn't even stop if you asked him to. And we aren't doing anything particularly to stop his play, so maybe – most of us are in the "watching movie" stage. We're smiling very wryly on seeing television nowadays, with kerchiefs in our hands. We might have to cry soon, you see. But he is still playing, you know who, don't you?

by: Saket Jain

There is one person who can always help u out. The philosopher says it is "you" – the inner you. Not the shallow pond that you are, but the deepest ocean that you don't know you are. You are the Supreme Being, You are the Light.

You stand in the queue to pay the electricity bill (yes, there is all this show that we can pay the bills through the net and stuff – people say this in debates and talks on the uses on the net. But face it – you'll see yourself in that office every month!) You reach the front line. You pay the bill. And then, you smile and ask the person in the counter "My meter hasn't been working well I think". He glows (glares) at you (of course, he's in the electricity department) and then says – "which counter is this?" you naively say – "bill counter". He says "don't you know the complaint counter is on the second floor?"

The journey to the second floor shall free you from any further bondage in Human Life. You are about to meet the fill-o-sopher.

A three-page form is thrust in your hand. Your eyes light up. Your body is erect – the hair on the hands begins to stand in salute position. Your brain is mesmerized and your hands write almost on their own. You become the witness to one of the most miraculous deeds, which show you that you are a mountain of patience and you are in flow. You are one with nature. You are pretty much dead and are in a re-incarnated form. This magnificent experience is not only at the "shocking" electric board, but in hospitals and clinics, Insurance offices, banks, bus stands (u need your bus pass), railway stations.

The system of education nowadays is very secular and essential for the all round development of a human being. They teach one to face life philosophically.

A child, 4-year-old girl, hair like Goldilocks Junior. Drinks Horlicks. Loves to play in water. Speaks perfect tamil that only she can understand and of course, junior English. She loves to draw curved, straight, and oblique lines on the wall. Her name she says is Tom, as in Tom and Jerry. On further reference, one would know that she is officially called Theertha. Her mother's name is Mummy and father's name is Papa. Her unlimited enthusiasm in philosophy is noticed when her parents take her to the school for the "Interview".

The interviewer places the interviewee on the junior chair. He then gives her a crayon and a book. He says – "fill the page". This will undoubtedly unleash Tom's intellectual, moral, social, economical, political, chemical and many more talents. The child looks like an angel at work. She is in glee. Then her eyes are focussed. The kid is pretty much enlightened. She takes the crayon, looks at the page. There is lots to fill. She gets down to work. After twenty minutes, the kid hands over the page to the interviewer. Indeed, when can one get a child so focussed? It is our own Fill-o-sophy at work.

I have started a new routine at home. When my mother asks me to wash tea tumblers, wash plates and all (it is truly a Hitlerian attitude Moms are adopting. They are trying to discipline us kids by getting us to wash and clean our stuff) I show her a paper and pen. She has to fill this: -

Name:

Service Required:

Period of service:

Actual Outlay:

And many more like "what you had for breakfast". Then one's mom gets pretty irritated. And the tumbler issue turns out to be a "be a good Samaritan" lecture and that tumbler is truly forgotten. This simple philosophy of fill-o-sophy makes us more amicable and willing to solve problems. This makes us more confident in our approach. And very systematic, no?

Before I proceed to tell you the pros and cons of fill-o-sophy, I'd like to tell you about the method of coming into contact with this improved state of mind. First pull a chair, that is comfortable. Sit in a position such that your charan kamal (feet) are in alignment with the floor. Put a table in front of you. Take 8 sheets of paper (minimum) and a sharp pencil. Draw columns with blocks. Start with filling in your name followed by your address, date of birth, occupation. This is the "basic" course. The advanced level includes questions like "describe your recent holiday out of town in not less than half a page".

I wish you all the success in your journey to a land of total concentration. Your efforts should be filled with total shraddha (type of sincerity). You will be a new person, a person with a broad mind and a broad vision. You, with prolonged practice, can be the highest authority in patience.

Remember every time you face a hard question – You aren't a mere mortal. You are the immortal soul. And all power shall be restored to you. You, indeed, are the most "bearing", most "sincere" and most enduring human being. You have seen the Light.