A punctured wheel and a Cycle Mechanic...

As usual, I was rushing on my two-wheeler  (which is a 20-year-old Bajaj Boxer CT!!) on a Saturday morning to office from Lawspet  and as soon as I took the right turn at the Ajanta Signal (the old Ajanta Theatre is now replaced by Aditi Hotel, but still people refer to this as the Ajanta Signal in Pondicherry), I felt there was something wrong with my bike. Another 25 meters gone (since I had to cross the signal and move to the side to stop), I could feel that my bike's back wheel was punctured.  I stopped the vehicle to see that a big nail has pierced by wheel and looking at the position (near the wheel's neck), I thought it was really bad. I got down and pushed the vehicle to a cycle shop in SV Patel Salai. Mr.Palani, the owner had just opened his shop and was still arranging his tools to start the days' work. A couple of cycle riders came in to check the air.

I told Mr.Palani, that my back wheel was gone. He had a look and immediately said: "Sir, the neck of the tube seems to be torn, Let me anyhow check-up".  Having no other option but to wait, I told him to go ahead. As soon as he opened up the wheel, I could see that the tube was completely torn at the neck. He asked me to get a new tube and offered his cycle to me so that I can go and buy the same. I did that, cycled half a kilometre to Akka's shop (this is a famous auto-spares shop in SV Patel Salai, Pondicherry), and got the tube.  While he started his work, we also got into a discussion about his work. He was doing quite okay with his cycle shop where he has regular customers (cyclists) especially the Aurobindo Ashram devotees, where a majority of whom still use cycles. He also repairs/reconditions cycle rikshaws. Plus some occasional customers like me as well. On an average he earns about Rs.300-400 a day and some days if he is lucky more also and some days less too... Rainy days (though they are quite less), is bad business he says.

In about half an hour, my job was done. I paid Rs.70 for the job, which I thought was very reasonable for the labour. Thanks to people like Palani, cycles still ply on the road. Cycle shops like his are becoming rare these days, but Palani thinks that in future, more people may start using cycles and he hopes that he will have a business too. But at the same time, he says that the young generation does not want to take up works like his as it is not a "styley" one.. Again more expensive cycles are coming which do not come to shops like his as they are more specialised and are serviced only by the shops themselves who charge exorbitant rates, says Palani.

Anyhow, cycle shops like Palani's are a fascinating world where we can learn many things. A visit to a cycle shop will teach more science to children than any other means !!!

The Moon Science...

The Moon - Earth's only natural satellite has always fascinated the human being. The mythical stories that we have been hearing from our childhood where Moon has been thought of as an Uncle, (Male) or as a beauty (various goddesses in various cultures across the world), or even as some big delicious food items like a Pappadam (or Papad) or a dosa or other popular items. In India, moon has always helped mothers to feed their reluctant children with stories and songs and lullabies around moon and its charm. 

One of the beautiful celestial events that have always fascinated us has been the lunar eclipse. Again, there are several stories and mythical events built around how a lunar eclipse happens and ancient cultures thought that the lunar eclipse - or for that matter any eclipse - also solar eclipse - was a bad omen. Cultures around the world have strange traditions built around the eclipses.

Times have changed. Now we have sent several probes and even human beings to our nearest celestial body. Now we know a lot more about the moon than our ancestors did. Now we know that moon is just another tiny planet which goes around our earth and that it gets its lights and shades from our own light source which is the Sun. The Sun along with its other planets, their moons, even smaller celestial bodies called exp-planets make what we now call as the Solar System. A tiny family of planets and their moons revolving round the little star which is the Sun.

Interestingly, even in this 21st century, a lot of people are still reluctant to shred their belief systems that revolve around the eclipses. Many still are comfortable in believing that the eclipses have much severe negative impacts on our health, the food, the life forms etc. Many people still think, one could not observe the eclipses or travel or eat or drink anything during an eclipse. Anyway, it may still take more time for people to come out of their safe comfort zones and as religion and its strong linkages loosen further with more education, scientific information being reached to the common man, before such superstitions are done away with.

Anyhow, another lunar eclipse is coming. A super moon which would be about 14% bigger than the normal moon we see (since the moon is a bit closer to the earth due to its elliptical orbit) and a red moon (some times also called copper moon or blood moon -see the different terms used - though it has nothing to do with either copper or blood) on the 31st January 2018. Some also call it as a Blue moon as it is the second full moon day in the same month of January 2018 which is again some what rare and hence called as a blue moon - as used in the literary sense where we say once in a blue moon - meaning happens only once in a while. But this is also not very correct.  Two full moons in a single month happens quite often - something like once in every 2.5 years or so, but may be because all such moons we may not see..

Anyway, dont miss out the opportunity to watch the lunar eclipse of 31st January 2018 as it would be a beautiful event with the red coloured moon rising just after about 6 pm that day. Do watch it and continue to wonder about the beauty of the universe, being part of an infinite universe, how each of us are not even a dust particle size compared to the vastness of the universe. How short lived we are, and how we due to our ignorance and arrogance, are destroying our own home, the Earth.. Keep appreciating and wondering and start respecting our infinitesimally tiny life spans and how we can come together and cultivate peace, love, friendship and all good things..

March 9, 2016: A partial solar eclipse fully eclipsed by the clouds..

March 9, 2016 had a partial solar eclipse which was partially visible from the east coast of India and we at Pondicherry Science Forum had hoped to catch a glimpse this which was supposed to have 24% obscuration from 6.20 to 6.47 am. We had informed the Science Centre attached to the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of Puducherry and Mr.Sathish and Sivakumar had also come to the Puducherry beach by about 6AM in the morning. We could see that the Thanthi TV had already set up their camera for uplinking to their channel.

The Gandhi Statue was a beautiful spot for all those who have visited Puducherry and against the morning sky, the silhouette of the statue was a beautiful site.






We could see thick clouds at the horizon but we hoped that by the sunrise time, they would move away or at least as the sun rises, we will be able to get at least a partial glimpse of the partial eclipse.  Though there were only about 20 minutes left for the sun to rise, the wait seemed to so long. The clouds stayed still thick at the horizon.








People seeing the TV camera, the telescope and the PSF team which included Aravindraja, Dakshinamurthy, Meena, Sengodethevan, Hemavathi, Maran etc started gathering near the beach front.


Looking at the sea and the clouds, I took a couple of shots which was interesting patterns of clouds.

I could also see a couple of catamarans which has started their fishing activity early in the morning totally oblivious of the eclipse going to happen. For most people, there are not much superstitions around the eclipse. Interestingly it is the religious middle class who give too much importance to these eclipses and the superstitions around them. For ordinary labourers, I dont think, they have the luxury of keeping themselves closed in their homes, or deciding to cook only after the eclipse is over etc. For them, even a day's wages lost is a huge loss.

It was already 6.20 am, then 6.21 am..and still there was no sign of the Sun emerging from the clouds. The eclipse was already on and was its maximum of 24% but the clouds would not oblige. Finally by 6.45 am, the top portion of the Sun emerges from the clouds but we knew that the moon would be blocking only the bottom hemisphere of the Sun's disc. THere was just 2 minutes left for the eclipse to get over and the chances were very meagre to catch a glimpse.

Anyhow, there was already a long que at  telescope to view the emerging sun and with a solar filter fitted, it was of course an amazing visual to watch the sun through the telescope which everybody do not get a chance...

And there, at 6.48 am just when the eclipse was completed and the moon would have moved out of the earth-sun line, the Sun emerged out of the clouds and here is the photo on the left side.

Anyhow, solar eclipses are still going to occur many more times, and I may still get chances to view them and even photograph them.. IT was a good day, to interact with lots of people, public and explain to them that it was the moon just crossing in between the sun and the earth and there was nothing to worry as proclaimed by the temple authorities all over India. IT is indeed an occasion to be cautious since viewing the eclipse with naked eyes could take away your precious eye sight..

A memorable day, though the clouds did the eclipsing , the one hour spent on the Puducherry beach road was satisfying and a couple of photos made my day too..

St John's Church, Puducherry

I was at the CSI Hall of the St.John's Church located near the General Hospital, Puducherry today evening as part of a science communication programme debunking the so called Mid Brain Activation Training Programmes. The programme had the illustrious science communicator, Prof.Narendra Nayak attending.  As I was attending the programme I noticed the beautiful architecture of this church which resulted in a few photographs. Of course, it was getting dark, but still could manage a few clips. 

Puducherry: Playing with the future of students

This is a reflection of a recent news item in the Puducherry newspapers that the Department of School Education is planning to stop the pure science stream in the Higher Secondary stream. Now what is this pure science? Interesting though, it simply means students can take Botany, Zoology, Physics and Chemistry as their elective when they seek to do their higher secondary education (or +2 as it is commonly called). Let us set aside whether these are pure science or what the other streams like Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics are "pure" science or not.

It seems the private schools in Puducherry have already done away with this pure science stream. Only a few government schools have this stream now and that too, the government is planning to close. What are the implications for this on the students?

Obviously, this "pure" science stream does not have mathematics. That makes a lot of sense to students who are scared of maths as a subject, though, it is one of the most interesting of the sciences, it is seen, firstly not as science and secondly as very dry and abstract. Let us again avoid the issues as to why lot of children see maths as a scary subject as also science to lot of other children.

Now the students who had the option of taking the pure science has a lot of opportunities which the other streams do not have. One even average or below average students can get into this stream very easily as the most competitors would like a Medical or an Engineering career and for them pure science is not a good choice, because scoring in this is not that easy. Secondly, those students who could opt for Nursing, Paramedical science courses find this as an attractive choice. In Puducherry, this was always the choice of rural and poor students who can get an fairly easy admission to one of the rural government schools or even a couple of urban schools. Now the government stopping this, the future and dreams of a lot of low income students and their parents would be shattered.

Another matter which also is worry is the complete neglect of the social sciences at the higher secondary level. Studying History or Economics is seens a high profile career in leading universities like the Delhi University etc, here in Puducherry these are being wiped out ..

We should definitely start worrying...

Make Science Competitions 2015: New set of students, new projects..

This is the 9th year that I have been working with students from government schools in Puducherry in a programme called Make Science Competitions or "faites de la science" as the French call it..This is part of an international science project programme for children to carry out innovative science experimental or exhibit based projects on any theme they want to carry out.

The programme is being organized by the Pondicherry Science Forum in collaboration with the University of Paris, South 11, Orsay, Paris, France. This is the latest edition and the 9th year..

Nine years is a considerable period for any project ... It is a very challenging project - taking into account, the limited resources that children studying in government schools have, lack of interested teachers (especially in a government job) to guide the children etc.

This year too, I have a variety of projects to handle mostly from rural Pondicherry - from Sellipet, to Karayamputhur to Bahour, Koravallimedu to even schools in the Pondicherry town and Mudaliarpet.. More regarding the project ideas and the work related to this - later..

Now I am busy in video-documenting these projects into small documentary films with their Tamil voice subtitled to English for the Jury of the University of Paris, ORSAY to understand and evaluate..

So, wait.. I will be back shortly with more details regarding the 2015 Edition of the Make Science Competitions ....!!!..

The Make Science Programme

For the last eight years, I have been involved in a unique programme on Science Education front. This is called the faites de la science (in French) which the French translate as "Make Science Programme", but which I think is more appropriate to be translated as "Let's do/celebrate science".

The Programme is unique in many means. First of all, it is limited to students of Government schools of Pondicherry district alone. Affluent private school children can not participate and thus can not out-smart the poor, rural children who study in the government schools. Secondly, it is about exploring science around the school and have lot of scope for the school children. Thirdly, it is run by the University of Paris, South 11, Orsay, France where the project are evaluated and certified by an Expert Jury of the University and where certificates are issued to them, which itself is a very prestigious educational institution with a number of Nobel laureates and Field Medalists to claim.  Fourth, every project done by the Indian student are video-documented in Puducherry and sent to France with sub-titles in English (for Tamil voice), and later the Jury members interact with the School kids through a live video conferencing before they announce the prizes.

We, from Pondicherry Science Forum started this programme eight years ago with help from Dr.Santhroubane who is a Pondicherrian settled in France and along with his friend Prof.Pierre Fontes who himself is an accomplished Science Communicator and who has the habit of conducting science experiments in street corners and shopping malls etc. A number of people have been involved in this programme.

This year's video editing was completed just now and the films have been despatched to France. Eight years - indeed a long time ... and a large number of children have been benefited already, a large number of school teachers have been trained in project research methodology... and for Pondicherry Science Forum, it has been a great programme. But the entire exercise of videography, editing, sub-titling, DVD authoring is becoming a huge task for me...and I wonder how long I can continue to do this ....Another year? Let us hope ...

A betel vine and some memories...

We have a small betel vine in our house, which my wife got from her school ignored by the school watchman, it was going to die off. She brought it and planted in our house and now it is fresh and with lot of beautiful tender leaves.

Some scientific facts: Betel leaf consist of moisture 85.4 percent, protein 3.1 percent, fat 0.8 percent, minerals 2.3 percent, fiber 2.3 percent and carbohydrates 6.1 percent per 100 grams. Its minerals and vitamin contents are calcium, carotene, riboflavin, niacin, thiamine and vitamin C. Recent studies have shown that betel leaves contain tannins, sugar and diastases and an essential oil. The essential oil is a light yellow liquid of aromatic odor and sharp burning in taste. It contains a phenol called chavicol which has powerful antiseptic properties. The alkaloid arakene in it has properties resembling cocaine in some respects.


Betel leaves are also a household remedy for cough and cold for small children. The juice of betel leaves can be given to infants if they have cough and used to be prescribed by even doctors from JIPMER. Chewing betel leaves with lime used to be a good cosmetic practice by women in olden days, though the practice is now limited to marriage functions etc. Chewing betel leaves also is supposed to be good for the teeth provided you dont add tobacco leaves along with betel leaves.

I still remember my grandmother's sister who used to regularly chew betel leaves with her specially prepared areca nut preparation. As children, we used to compare our red tongues as to whose tongue was more red.

Betel leaves also have a spiritual place in Indian tradition and we offer the same to elders as a mark of respect. May be it was known to our ancestors that this herb had such wonderful medicinal values, it was made part of the traditions ! But sadly, the herb is becoming less cultivated these days, as very few people use it now a days.