Mind Jan-Mar 2003

Editorial

This fourth issue introduces us to what is probablythe most unique feature of Mensa India RuralMensa. Much work has been silently going on foridentifying gifted children and others in interior partsof India. Spearheading these efforts currently is Mr.Subhash Deshpande. Do not miss the first in a seriesof articles by him.

We also have two interesting accounts from theAstroSIG field trip titled The Starry Eyed Mensa Meetand SportSIGs maiden trip on a vintage car rally inBeauty Sport.

Do not miss the announcements on page No. 10,12, 15 and 16.

In the past few years, one cannot help noticing thatMensa activity in India is seeing a great resurgence ona sustained basis after years of the roller-coasterpattern of hyperactivity and dormancy. I hope everynew member who has joined us in 2002 makes themost of this opportunity to express her/his views andideas all through this year to enable the much essentialassimilation of those who have just arrived with thosewho have been here.

Nirav Sanghavi

Editor

[email protected]

Contents

The Starry Eyed Mensa Meet ............................ 2

Rural Mensa ..................................................... 3

March Into Astronomy ...................................... 4

Linux at Home ................................................. 5

The Seven (Bad) Habits of HighlyIntelligent People .............................................. 7

Readers MInd .................................................. 8

The Body and Soul of MInd ............................. 9

The Top 1 Percentile ........................................ 10

Its a customer prerogative ................................ 11

Beauty Sport ................................................... 12

Breaking Into Mensa Social Life ....................... 13

Games People Play .......................................... 14

Lensa : The Photography SIG .......................... 16

1

Send in your articles / contributions in plain text

format to : [email protected]

Next Issue Deadline : February 28, 2003

Your letters, ideas, feedback, brick-bats and bouquetsare all very welcome at

:[email protected] OR

at Readers MInd

Mensa India (Mumbai)184/87, S. V. Road, Jogeshwari (West),Mumbai 400 102.

DISCLAIMER : All contents in this magazine are

opinions of the individual authors and

contributors. Neither Mensa India, the society, its

office-bearers nor the Editors are responsible for

any content and views expressed.

VOLUME-I JAN. - MAR. 2003

www.indianmensa.orgwww.mensa.org

We had decided to meet under the Sion flyover, Iwas quite disappointed to note that the MensaStandard Time outbeat the Indian Standard Time.Anyways the 19-member team finally started off fromthere (well I later learned that it was the highestnumber for AstroSIG - the previous record being 14,quite a resurgence by the way the things turned out). Iguess the numbers will rise (after all arent recordsmeant to be broken!). We had a short dinner break atVashi and proceeded to Vangani. The whiff of thefresh countryside air enabled us to breathe away thedays exhaustion.

On reaching the resort (Woody Acres) we quicklyunpacked our belongings and enthusiastically dividedourselves into small groups. Sky charts weredistributed and we learnt how to read stuff like Messiernumber, magnitude of brightness of stars, theirrelative positions and the like. Some surefooted,others hesitant (the first timers) managed to reach thepoolside where the clear sky looked rather promising.Rishi and Ravi efficiently assembled their telescopeswhile the rest of us tried to acquaint ourselves to theforeign surroundings using red-cellophane-coveredtorches. With the help of our mentors (Ravi and Rishi,of course) we observed the famous Orion, thenebulae, the blue tinged Sirius, open and globularclusters of stars, the two red trails on Jupiter and arising Big Dipper. But it was Saturn with its prominentrings that stole the show- it looked like it was straightout of the textbook. The celestial bodies seemed toimpress upon us - the vastness of this universe and ourephemeral existence.

Our excited squeals disturbed the silence of thenight whenever any one of us spotted a star peepingthrough the cover of the clouds. Unfortunately we hadto retreat at about 2:30 a.m. when streaks of lightningand bolts of thunder danced across the still sky.

Next morning we trekked down to the crystal clearlake cradled in the bosom of Mother Nature, framedby the golden hue of winter leaves and overlooked bythe steadily rising sun. This provided a feast not onlyto our eyes, but also the Lensa team who wouldarrange their tripods, adjust their cameras and capture

the wonderful moments enshrined in our memorieson photo paper.

Over tea the team gave us a short informal talk onthe principles of optics, lenses and the SLR cameraand patiently entertained our rather amateurishquestions. In a nutshell, we learnt that the three fundasto a good photo are-

(1) Decide how much to zoom in/out i.e. composethe picture

(2) Adjust the focal plane as per the requirements

(3) Determine the desired distance in front andbehind the focal plane, which would preferablybe in the focus i.e. depth of field.

I was of the belief that a good photo involvessomebody yelling CHEESE and somebodyimpatiently clicking, but I know realize that to learnphotography is an art by itself.

An interactive session followed with the Mensansenjoying golf and later actively participating inthought provoking activities(read games session)organized by Manisha, Asif and Ravi and catering to areceptive and willing audience comprising of Madhavi, Mrugank , Kiran , Amar, Anurag , his dad , Shrikantand several others.

Happy hours flew past quickly and before weknew it, it was time to bid adieu followed by the usualMensa promises to stay in touch.

Cheerio Ravi and Rishi. Keep the good work going

Thanks !

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Nishaki Mehta and the Mensa team.Mensa [email protected]

The Starry Eyed Mensa Meet

DID YOU KNOW ?How does one differentiate between a normal

delivery and a Caesarean operation by

observing the new born?

Simple. The normal delivery child had to face

the stresses of negotiating the birth canal and

therefore immediately after birth , its head is

markedly elongated ( looking like a Jewish cap )

whereas a caesarean will have a perfectly

normal looking round head.

The GenesisIt was in the early 50s that an educationist by

name V. V. Pends used to move around theSahyadri mountain ranges quite regularly. At thesouthern foot of Fort Sinhagad, he came across villageKalyan, a small habitat of less than 500 people thetime. A farmer who was grazing his cattle came acrossand wondered what this urban and fair-skinned fellowwas doing in his village.

Whom do you want? the farmer asked.

None. I was just relaxing after my studythroughout the day on the fort, said Mr. Pends. Bythe way, what is your name?

They call me Sada Dimbl - came the reply.

Are these your cattle?

Then whose they could be?

No, I just wanted to ask what are you doingnow?

What a farmer like me does every day? The sameroutine. We illiterate ones do only this work, alongwith some seasonal farm work. Come, let us go to myhouse.

Your house? What shall I do there?

Come, dont hesitate. I will be obliged to receive aperson like you in my humble house.

Mr. Pends followed Sada Dimbl. Astraw-thatched roof and mud masonry walls made hishouse. The cow dung smell had filled in thesurroundings. Some children loitering half-naked hereand there who made quite a noise. After pacifyingthem, Sada unfurled his Ghongadi (rural mattress)on the floor and requested Mr. Pends to sit on it.

Oh, you have got a good house ! said Pendsjust to keep up the conversation.

What better a poor farmer can have Sadareplied.

How many children do you have?

Four daughters and two sons.

How old are the sons?

The elder is nearly fourteen and the younger is akid of two.

Since you have got two sons, give one to me!said Pends for a joke.

Take this naughty boy Ram! Sada exclaimed.

Not now! There is nobody at my home to lookafter the kid. But after he completes his primaryeducation, I will take him to Pune.

The conversation went on and covered manyother topics. Pends returned. The incident became apart of history.

Mr. Sada Dimbl was a man of perseverance. In1957, he brought his son Ram at the age of 10 toPendss house in Pune. By looking at the smartnessof the boy, Pends wondered whether he was thesame boy whom he had seen as a kid. Ram still lookedrustic though dressed in clean clothes.

Ok, done! Pends exclaimed, I will have thisboy in my house, will send him to a good school. If hedoes well, all right. Otherwise, I will send him back!

I will study well, Ram said with confidence. Sadawas happy to see him off. The contact with Mr. Pendscontinued for quite long.

Mr. Pends was a psychologist. He did his Ph.d.on devising tests for identification of intelligence andleadership potentials across various socio-economicstrata. A battery of tests including the standardisedintelligence tests developed by the advancedcountries were used to identify talented students fromdifferent schools. Ram performed very well on thesetests.

Dr. Pends founded the institution JnanaPrabodhini in 1962. Supplementary enrichmentprogrammes were started by him later whereinselected students who ranked above the 99 percentilescore were admitted.

Ram was one of them. He passed his schooling in1964 with flying colours in Sanskrit. By then, this sonof a rural cattle grazer Sada had turned into a brightscholar. He ranked first at his intermediate collageexam and won a gold medal in Sanskrit at his M. A.

Continued on page 4

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Subhash Deshpande, Director - RuralMensa (Mensa India), Mensa [email protected]

Rural Mensa

Its a good time to March into Astronomy

March, March, March as a deep-skyastronomer, it is the most awaited month of the yearfor me here in India. It is one month of the year when itis possible to observe ALL the Messier objects. It is agreat time to conduct a Messier marathon. Also, for usobservers in Mumbai, it is the last month of theastronomy season since skies start getting cloudy andstay so till almost November.

OK, less talk about all else, getting back toastronomy. What is so exciting about that oneobservation session in March? The fascinatingdeep-sky objects in Scorpius and Sagittarius. There isa large group of closed star clusters in that part of thesky. Since the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, liesin the direction of Scorpius we are looking at a hugeconcentration of proximal stars. The Milky Way at it isdensest forms a pretty sight. See for yourself why it isjustifiably called the Milky Way.

Some things definitely worth observing in March:

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy near Ursa Major (the BigDipper a.k.a. Iridium logo)

Any amount of praise for this one isnt enough. It isa set of two colliding galaxies. Looks like a largergalaxy trying to consume the smaller neighbour. Ifyouve ever seen a picture, let me tell you the realthings just looks like that. Go see it!

M57 Ring Nebula in Lyra (a.k.a. theparallelogram)

Have you ever seen a smoke ring? Thats all I needto say.

M81-M82 Spiral Galaxies in Ursa Major

A little tough to find; but definitely worth trying.Where else would you get to see two galaxies in asingle binocular field-of-view?

Omega Centauri of constellation Centaurus

It is really hard to find because it appears very lowin the sky, a little above the horizon (commentlocation specific to Mumbai). If you can find it, its agreat catch. Its a large diffuse globular cluster.

Confusing description? It looks like a glowing ball ofdiffused light.

M4 Globular Cluster near Antares (constellationScorpius)

Definitely the easiest globular cluster to find. If youcan see Scorpius, youll easily recognize Antares, thebright red star in its tail. M4 is right next door toAntares.

M6-M7 Open clusters between Scorpius andSagittarius (a.k.a. the Teapot)

Once again, it is relatively easy to find. They areexcellent sights at higher magnification.

M8 Lagoon Nebula near Sagittarius

M8 is a fine object to see on a dark night. Includesa star cluster and a bright diffuse nebula. Low powerneeded to cover the large field.

There are plenty of star clusters around Scorpiusand Sagittarius; observable even with binoculars.

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Ravi Shroff, Co-ordinator - AstroSIG,Mensa [email protected]

March Into Astronomy

Rural Mensa ( contd. from page 3)All this was not a mere co-incidence. Only the first

meeting of Pends and Sada Dimbl can be called so.The rest was skillful nurturing and encouragement.Insights into human potential and empathy with thedeprived rural multitude in India were mainlyresponsible.

Ram was not the only one who was spotted anddeveloped. There were many others who could belocated as Jnana Prabodhinis work expanded invarious rural areas. In fact, in 1972, when Dr. Pendsmet Mr. Victor Serebriakoff at London to start MENSAin India, it was already in his mind, that there could bemany more Mensans in rural India. It was the birth ofRural Mensa in India as long back as that. It tookdifferent shapes in the course of time.

The number of microorganisms residing

in a normal healthy human is 8-9 times

the number of cells in his body.

In an earlier article on GNU and Linux bySayamindu Dasgupta we read the pros of Linux overWindows. Linux is the best server platform (wellexcluding other UNIX based ones like freedbs) interms of security as well as stability but what does itoffer for the home user?

Well, let us take a little peek into Linux and itsvarious flavours and what we as normal home userscan hope to expect from the system.

Flavours :Linux has many distributions and they are known

as flavours as each distributor adds their own personaltouch to the operating system(OS) though the kernel(core) is the same and if you use one Linux it wonttake you too long to get used to another (Quite like amove from Win98 to Win2000).

Heres a little listing of the main distributors

Red Hat: By far the most popular Package ofLinux and the one to set industry standards.

Mandrake: Highly recommended for ease ofInstallation.

SUES : Good and Affordable

There are a lot of other flavours that could take upan entire article but there is on noteworthy one isWinLinux (http:// www.winlinux.net/) that is made togive windows users a taste of Linux.

Where do I get Linux free?

Linux can be freely downloaded from numerousftp mirrors. (Basically a remote computer full of filesconnected to the Internet through hi-speedconnections so that users can download their files viathe web).

Try Cute FTP and search mirrors or there is alwaysLycos FTP Search.

A cable or LAN connection is recommended causethe downloads range from 500 MB to 1.2 GB

Installation:Installing Linux on a PC already running windows

is by no chance a mean feat, you have to partition

your hard disk into as many as 5 partitions two ofthem being exactly twice your RAM size (known asswap space in Linux circles) 1 small one for somemiscellaneous data and two drives known as / and/home (Interestingly when accessing files in the LinuxFile system /home is a subfolder of /)

But things have changed with the advent of X-diskpartitioning where you merely have to tell the setupprogram how much space you can afford to spareLinux and the rest is taken care of.

Hardware Detection :Linux detected all my hardware (all the

configuration it needed was my IP, DNS and gatewaybecause I am on LAN). It was able to auto detect myHP DeskJet 640C and install a driver for it that worksfine. In fact my recently installed Windows 2000 hasproblems with the printer and I had to use the 660Cdriver.

I have a problem with the mouse where I cannotuse the wheel to scroll (well, back to good oldscroll-bars) so its not that Linux has all the drivers butif you thought hardware drivers were made only forWindows you are sorely mistaken.

Graphic Mode :Lets take a trip back to the early 1990s when

Linux was just a geek OS with shell scripts but theemergence of Graphic mode Desktop interfaces hasrevolutionized the way Linux is looked at all over theworld. Now Linux has a desktop, start menu, e-mailclient, web-browser you name it. This is the greatestfactor contributing to the growing success of Linux isthat it retains the robust kernel while contiouslyevolving and becoming more and more user friendly

Two noteworthy packages are KDE and Gnome.

KDE is by far the most used and most advanceddesktop with numerous applications like a e-mailclient, a web browser, Office suit (Im using it), and lotsmore.

Gnome concentrates more on each thing theymake. The desktop looks much better, their E-mailclient (Evolution) is great and the browser (Galleon)

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Urvaksh Rogers, Mensa [email protected]

Linux at Home

too is much better than Konqueror (the KDE browser).However, the number of applications here are limited.

Additional Must haves:Star Office from Sun Microsystems is something

that most of us would love. It has a desktop and even aStart Menu it also supports MS Office extensions. Italso includes a browser and an e-mail client so if youjust dont like Linux (for some mysterious reason) youcan always feel at home in Star Office.

Gaim(http://gaim.sf.net/) is a Linux IM thatsupports ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Napster,Gadu-Gadu, Jabber and IRC protocols so switching toLinux wont be the end of your chatting it just getsbetter. This project is open source and is hosted bySourceforge.net

Apache, Perl, PHP, MySQL, TCL, Python,PostgreSQL, SSI and SSH make and unbeatablecombination for any web server and all theseapplications/programming languages are developedon Linux and for Linux and then ported to Windowsand other OS.

Apache is today the most used web-server andPHP is quickly climbing the graph too. MySQL is theworlds most used database and more and morepeople wake up everyday and take notice of this.Yahoo! To is moving to PHP from their own scriptinglanguages because of its ease of programming.

Perl (an acronym for Practical Extraction andReport Language,) is now an integral part of theLinux system that was developed by Larry Wall (whoclaims that perl really stands for PathologicallyEclectic Rubbish Lister.) and has borrowed heavilyfrom C, sed, awk, and the UNIX shells to become thescripting language it has today. (Did you know thatperl scripts can even check your Yahoo! Mail, Hotmailand put tem right in your Inbox? That is just one of thethings; with the help of just perl people have been ableto completely install Linux. With Perl the possibilitiesare endless)

TCL and Python are programming languages toobut havent quite caught on with the developercommunity quite yet, while PostgreSQL is a well

recognized product it somehow always has beenoperating under the shadow of MySQL.

Linux is so superior to Windows in web serversthat Microsoft had to release their FrontPageExtensions for Linux platforms too or they werethreatened by the fact that they may just not be used.(Imagine this MS FrontPage extensions can be usedon Linux -All flavours- UNIX freedbs but not onWindows 95,98,ME)

The Cons:Well in Windows we have complete access to our

computers (except Win2000) and all the data on it butLinux has only one root user (higher versions ofwindows have multiple Administrators) and only thisuser has access to all directories. If we were on thesame computer with different profiles and I am notroot then I cannot access any file from your profile.

Of course Linux does allow a lot of applications tobe run by a non root user if he/she provides the rootpassword but at times for windows users it becomesquite frustrating.

Conclusion:Linux is a great Operating System that is for

anyone and everyone. It is as user-friendly as thepenguin is cute and that is a fact.

Resources:Linux.com : http://www.linux.com/ (Great resource

for Linux Downloads, Help etc)

Sourceforge : http://sf.net (Ultimate resource for freeOpen source GNU software for Linux andWindows alike)

6

Linux at Home (contd.)

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Are there any Star Trekkies or Star Wars fans inthe Mensa Mumbai? I have an extensivecollection of many episodes and was interested inknowing if any of youll wanted to get together forMarathon Episode Sundays?

Contact Ravi at [email protected]

Years of observing the behavior of highlyintelligent people has led me to develop the followinglist of seven mistakes which only very intelligentand/or very educated people are guilty of:

HARDNESS OF LISTENING : The moreintelligent you are, the more likely it is that you will nothear most of what other people are saying. Theoperative theory here seems to be I already knowwhat you are going to say, so I dont need to actuallyhear you say it before I disagree with you. Toparaphrase an old-time program, I believe that I canName That Thought after hearing three words orless of what you have to say.

MENTAL TELEPATHY : Intelligent people areso used to talking to themselves that they often forgetto actually say their part of a conversation out loud.Later on, of course, they distinctly rememberexpressing an idea, but they have forgotten that theyonly THOUGHT of saying it to the other person. Thisleads to many interesting instant replays ofimaginary conversations, since this type of person canalways recall the exact words, not only of what theysaid, but especially of what they intended to say.

VERBAL PARANOIA : This disease ischaracterized by feeling persecuted wheneversomeone disagrees with you. Since it is obvious thatyou are so smart, the thinking goes, no reasonableperson could disagree with you unless they weredeliberately and maliciously trying to get you angryand hurt your feelings. This habit becomes especiallyinteresting when two highly intelligent persons arearguing, since both feel that the other person shouldbow to their (obviously superior) intelligence.

RAMPANT CROSS-CONFIDENCE : This isthe automatic assumption that expertise in one fieldautomatically makes you an expert in any othersubject that comes up in a conversation. This habitcan also take the form of asserting that education isnot really necessary, since any intelligent person canunderstand anything instantly, if they just put theirmind to it. I once heard a Mensa member statecategorically that he could become an expert inatomic physics just by reading a couple of books, andthe only reason he knew nothing about the subject

was that he didnt happen to have the time to sparejust then.

OMNILOGOMANIA : This severe maladybegins with a wide-ranging interest and curiosityabout everything, but turns into the idea that a reallyintelligent person should know all there is to knowabout everything. The result is person who runs off inall directions, with no depth of knowledge in any onearea. There is a lot to be said for using yourintelligence to become an expert in something, lettingthat one thing be the focal point for investigating otherfields. Besides, nobody is going to pay you very muchfor knowing a little bit about a lot of things. Or asDavids Law #1 states, you can do anything you putyour mind to, but you cant do EVERYTHING youput your mind to.

BOUNDARY-BLUNDERING : It seems thatthe smarter you are, the harder it is for you toremember where the boundaries are between mentaland physical reality, for instance, or betweenimaginary and real universes. For this type of person,mathematics or social science may become moreabsorbing than the real world of human emotions, or,conversely, the highly intelligent person might bemore prone to be caught up in the grip of powerfulstories, myths, or complicated belief systems. Forinstance, every educated person knows that there arean infinite number of points on any line segment, buthow many of these same people are really clear on thefact that there are NO POINTS AT ALL on thephysical representation of a line?

SUPERIOR SURVIVORSHIP : This is theconviction that intelligence is a survival factor forhuman beings. Actually, intelligence may even becounter-productive for survival. Most of the time,conformity is much more useful for bonding people toa group, and groups are the highest need for survival.Most behavior that seems unintelligent to an outsidermakes perfect sense to those inside a group. As oneanthropologist puts it, stupidity might just be moreimportant for survival than intelligence, as long asnothing new comes along to upset the status quo.Intelligence is sort of held in reserve for very unusualtimes; in the meantime, you can always use it to havea lot of fun in your life, or to make up terrible puns.

7

Reprinted from Graffiti, newsletter of ClevelandArea Mensa, April 1997; Mary Ann Terrigno, Editor]

David R. Jacquet

The Seven (Bad) Habits of

Highly Intelligent People

Dear Nirav,

In this issue of Mind I read this article aboutGNU/Linux & I think that you should carry sucharticles on a regular basis that make our membersaware of the presence Linux and Open sourcesoftware are making. I would be glad to contribute ona somewhat regular basis.(Unless u think readers willget bored with similar crap) I run Mandrake Linux(Previously used to run SUES) along with Win98 andWin2000. I also have an open-source project atSourceforge.net (Phperl http://phperl2.sf.net/) andhave worked with Linux servers running on apachethough this project (though the project aims atinstalling a webserver Apache package for Windows) Ialso do programming in PHP & am grasping thebasics of perl. Attached is an article on Linux forhome users (you will probably have to re-write thewhole thing though)

Another thing the problem of the 13 balls problemprinted earlier:

I think I found an easier solution.

Weighing 113 balls = 6 balls(left pan) + 6 balls(right pan) + 1

(kept aside) Take 6 balls in each pan & keeping 1aside, if the pans balance then the ball that has beenkept aside is the heavier one.(Lucky your puzzle endshere)

If not empty the lighter pan and transfer any 3 ballsform the heavier pan

Weighing 26 balls = 3 balls + 3 balls One side will Obviously

be heavier (if you reach this step) Empty the balls fromthe lighter side. Now take one of the balls from thispan and put it in the other emptied pan and keep 1aside

Weighing 3If one pan is heavier that is the heavier ball. if both

are showing equal masses then the ball that iswithheld is the heavier one.

Well is it right? Its much simpler. Really liked thenews letter however I have a small suggestion. Pleasekeep announcements like the meeting one on the

Front or back page. I completely missed the section &my dad saw it while reading through the newsletter.

Yours sincerely,Urvaksh Rogers.Mensa Mumbai

Hi again, Nirav.

Thanks for the pdf of your newsletter! Wow, whata great publication your group enjoys! I am envious ofyour work, Nirav.

Baton Rouge Mensa has about 135 members,spread across the bottom portion of the state ofLouisiana (except for New Orleans Mensa, which hasits own group). We have lots of members that wenever see because they live in outlying areas anddont get to come to events. However, two cities inour group have their own monthly events, which helpsthe members there feel included.

Thanks again for the pdf, and I hope you have agreat weekend.

Heather MillerLocsec - Baton Rouge Mensa

Editor MensAcadian, the Baton Rouge Mensanewsletter

Hi Neerav,

First of all I would like to congratulate you on theexcellent work that you have been putting in forMensa, India and MInd in particular.The last issue ofMInd was a joy to read !

I am a life member of Mensa India, Pune chapterbut based in Delhi therefore missing most of the funand live activities. I would be more than eager tocontribute in spreading the cause and activities ofMensa, India in and around Delhi. Do let me know if Ican be of any help in this regard.

I would also love to get my hands on some Mensamerchandise if possible, please do let me know if I canorder some of stuff and how to get it ?

Best Regards,

Mohit GroverMensa India (Delhi).

Continued on page 13

8

Readers MInd

Good Day Mensans,

Today we shall broach the subject of Serendipity -a break from medicine and a bold venture into thewide field of science. Well, are some of us wonderingwhat serendipity is?

Its literal meaning is a happy coincidence. Forthose who need a more detailed analysis here comesits definition"it is the faculty of making happy andunexpected discoveries by accident".

The most classic example of serendipity was in thediscovery of penicillin the wonder antibiotic by thevery famous Alexander Fleming . Let me recount thestrange discovery .

During the world war Fleming in France treatedwounded soldiers with an antiseptic named phenol(for those interested diluted phenol, chemically, iscarbolic acid) . It was soon discovered that phenol notonly killed bacteria but it also destroyed WBCs (ourbodys defence system)-often it did more harm thangood.

One day his tear-drop fell into the petri-dishcontaining bacteria and the next day he observed thatthere was a clear patch in the petri-dish at the spotwhere the tear had fallen . A clear patch indicates thatthe bacteria had been destroyed in that patch.Therefore he concluded that his tear drop contained apotent substance that caused rapid destruction ofbacteria but was harmless to the human tissue. In thechaos of the war he quite remarkably forgot this andthis incident was relegated to the back of his mind Butthis prepared him for the events which occurredlater

After the war when he was working in hislaboratory and mould inadvertently fell in a petridishwhich incidentally contained bacteria and killed thestrain of staphylococcus bacteria . The genus of themould was penicillium and hence the drug hedeveloped from it was named penicillin. For hisexcellent contribution he received the Nobel Prize in1945.A chance accident led to such a useful discoverybut the serendipity isnt all that simple in fact afavourite quote of mine applies remarkably to explainthis

In fields of observation , chance only favours theprepared mind

Another interesting example is when somescientists were working on polyacrylnitrate (PAN) anapparel fiber that was really difficult to dye because ithad no free chemical binding sites. They proposed toovercome this difficulty by making a copolymer ofacrylonitrate and vinyl acetate to make a compoundthat could be easily dyed. In order to find the densityof this polymer it was placed between two prisms. Totheir greatest astonishment they observed that the twopieces of prism could not be separated from thepolymer which they had created. Their analyticalminds quickly realized that a reaction had occurred inthe presence of moisture and SUPERGLUE was born.This also illustrates that the accident or should I call it amishap had led to a new discovery which wouldnthave been identified , were it not for the perceptiveminds of those scientists.

A simple rather amusing incident that could beserendipitous by nature was that of a young choirsinger who used to encounter the difficulty of findinghis place in the hymn book. So he used to keep loosepaper in his book but to his dismay they would fall offwhen he would stand up to sing. It was one day thatan idea struck him - one of his friends had inventedglue but the idea was not received with a lot ofenthusiasm because it didnt stick strongly - our choirsinger pondered over this and developed the idea fPost-its which have now become a very popularconcept.

Two of extremely well known serendipitiousincidents were the law of buoyancy by Archimedes.Neither can we forget his joyous cry eureka nor thedevelopment of the smallpox vaccine by EdwardJenner based on the simple observation that themilkmaids never contracted smallpox. This wasbecause they had suffered from a milder versioncowpox which built up their immunity and theapplication which helped in curbing the killer diseaseof the eighteenth century.

A quick recapitulation would be :

Discovery consists of seeing what everyone hasseen and thinking what nobody has thought.

9

Nishaki MehtaMensa [email protected]

The Body and Soul of MInd

1. On Nov. 15, 1945, which conspirator washanged along with Nathuram Godse for theassassination of Mahatma Gandhi?

2. Antipater of Sidon compiled what famous listbased on accounts of travelers in 2nd centuryB.C.?

3. Which Indian bowler claimed a record 9 wicketsin a test innings against the West Indies atKanpur in the 1958-59 series.

4. Which is the only bird that can fly backwards?5. What does an involuntary spasm of the

diaphragm and respiratory organs with thesudden closure of the glottis called?

6. In the 1998 general elections, which SamajwadiParty candidate stood against Atal BehariVajpayee in Lucknow?

7. Which actor won successive Oscars for BestActor in 1994 and 1995?

8. What colloquial English phrase for hierarchycomes from the dominance and submissionbehaviour of chicken?

9. Apart from Shiva, Mount Kailash is the abode ofwhich God?

10. In 1992, which cricketer became the first andonly player to have played for the losing side inthree World Cup finals?

11. Which Indo-Iranian language written in Arabicscript is the official language of Afghanistan?

12. Which is the only country not named on itsstamps?

13. Which harmful drug did the pharmaceuticalcompany Bayer patent after tests on itsemployees made them feel heroic?

14. Which actress won a record fourth Oscar at theage of 74 in 1981?

15. In 1922, which kindergarten teacher andjournalist published her first book for children, acollection of verse, titled Child Whisper?

16. Which Marathi word for cow protector wasused as a title by the princely rulers of Baroda?

17. Which prolific playback singer first sang solo forfilms in Jagdish Sethis 1949 film Raat kiRani?

18. By what name are the series of 15 metallicelements, from Lanthanum to Lutetium, in theperiodic table also known?

19. To which sport did Mark Twain refer to as agood walk spoilt?

20. Which country holds the negative record ofscoring 26 runs in an innings in 1954-55, thelowest ever in test cricket?

10

Sanjeev Mohta, Mensa [email protected]

The Top 1 PercentileAnswers:

1.NarayanApte.

2.TheSevenWondersoftheWorld.

3.SubhashGupte.

4.Thehummingbird.

5.Ahiccup.

6.RajBabbar.

7.TomHanks.

8.Peckingorder.

9.Kubera.

10.GrahamGooch.

11.Pushto.

12.GreatBritain.

13.Heroin.

14.KatherineHepburn.

15.EnidBlyton.

16.Gaekwad.

17.AshaBhonsle.

18.Rareearths.

19.Golf.

20.NewZealand

Please Dont MInd

After having relaunched the MensaIndia magazine in April 2002, it wasdecided to send a copy to allMensans irrespective of theirmembership expiry status for aperiod of one year (4 issues).However, all may please note thatfuture issues of MInd will not bedespatched to those whosememberships have expired. Pleasecontact your local Mensa office ifyour membership has expired andrenew the same.

There has always been an innate need to shoulderthe latest in technology, if only to remain ahead in therat race and to be better (or at least not worse) thanyour competitor. In a quest to be updated, it has beenseen that an organization usually dives head first toprocure a system, which might not at all be relevantfor the current requirements faced. A point in case waswhen my organization decided to buy a solutionwhich has the repute of being the market leader, butcould not be customized to meet our needs. Thus, wecame up with our own solution, which thoughextremely effective, could not be pushed among theresident managers as being the best product! They arestill stuck up on how we still fall short of the qualities ofthe market leader, in spite of the best efforts toconvince them otherwise. After all, if you cantconvince yourself, how can you convince yourcustomers?

One needs to keep in mind that similarapplications are available for different prices thetechnology in all of them being more or less the same.The product differentiation emerges in consideringthe difference, in the quality of the deliverables andthe assurance of that quality being there when youwant it. Quality as defined by the marketing guruPhilip Crosby stands for Conformance torequirements. If you deliver what your consumerdeems fit, you have quality it is as simple as that!

Now, there are cars and there are cars. You, as acustomer, have a wide range to select, right downfrom a Maruti 800 to a Jaguar or a flashy sports car. InIT parlance, we can group them all in the class of fourwheelers. I would immediately proceed to make abase class consisting the main features four wheels,fuel consumption, the ability to transport from point Ato B. The difference then, lies in the quality oftransport provided and the comfort therein.

The same applies to computing. You can get agiven solution at different price points. Every financialsoftware would cater to more or less the samefunctionalities Debit, Credit, Cash Book, Balancesheet etc. It is the budget and the quality of thesoftware that varies. Take for example, an ERP*

solution. There are accounting packages with a fewfeatures that allow you to implement a rudimentaryERP on a shoestring budget. But then there arefull-blown, built-from- scratch,all-conceivable-features - inclusive ERP packages,that can set you back quite a bit on the budget front.The good thing of course is that there are solutionsthat fit almost every budget. Thus, if an internationalproduct cannot be harnessed, because it is too featurerich or impossible to comprehend by mere mortals, itwould definitely be a wrong buy for you.

Another pitfall that one requires to avoid is thecattle attitude towards buying. The bottom line you need not be deprived of a given technology orsolution just because you are not a rich MNCCompany. The trick is to correctly match your needs,budget and what the solution in question offers andspend some time considering your requirementsbefore plunging in to buy that oh-so-good product,that the adjacent software giant has bought and claimsto be the next in-thing! This goes to all you managersout there the next time you require to purchase asolution, be sure of what you want and whether yoursolution is really an end to your problems or is abeginning to an entirely new set of headaches.

*ERP stands for a technology, that attempts to integrate andprovide a one point solution. Such a central data store, facilitatesMIS and Data Warehousing.

11

N. Anantharaman, Mensa [email protected]

Its a customer prerogative

FOOD FOR THOUGHTOn consuming the well marketed baby food

products , the babies tend to look healthier ( byIndian standards -plumper) and the parents arecontent. But recent studies show that thesefood products cause retention of theosmotically active sodium ions which leads towater retention and the swelling is mistakenlyperceived to be a sign of health. In fact , thisswelling may have adverse effects on thekidney function and the hormonal axis of thebody . Therefore breast-feeding will always bethe best means of nourishing a baby.

On Jan. 19, 2003 Mumbai saw a sight that madecities all over the world green with envy! Held on thisday was a vintage-car rally - a veritable melting pot fordifferent breeds of cars that pronounce old is goldwith an accent none other can match.

This event was paid homage to by a lot ofcelebrities. Mr.Vivek Oberoi was present and so weresome Mensans and Mr. Jackie Shroff - presenting his1939 Jaguar S.S.100. Here was a car that showedthere is a bigger star than its owner!

Proud and charming, the graceful beauties leftsome of the latest models speechless including aSkoda-Octavia, a Honda-city and beauty pageantqueen Neha Dhupia, who incidentally, flagged off the1919 FIAT - the oldest entrant in the rally.

Neha Dhupia, as a matter of speaking, was takenin by my charms and was just requesting for a picturewith me. As I was complying with her wishes, Ravi gotso jealous that he ran away with the camera leavingme looking very red-faced and embarrassed! Pity ourrelationship had to end she was really pretty!

Speaking of pretty creatures, all the cars present - acouple of Rolls-Royces, a Bentley, a Chevrolet, anAlfa-Romeo, a few Austins and an overwhelmingmajority of Mercedeses and Fords - all achieved whatwomen have been trying to for ages. None of themlooked their age.

The cars were in prime condition and sparklingclean. They were looking so inviting that weimmediately wanted to be seated in one of the cars.The car that chose to house us Mensans was a 1935biscuit-coloured Dodge-brothers, a car that hasboasted of travelling in a rally from Delhi to Mumbaiwithout a single stop for pampering or repair. A rareaccomplishment, that. The veteran took us from Fortvia Marine Drive, Palm Beach Marg and theMumbaiPune expressway to Amby valley, Lonavala a 5500 acre plot developed by the Sahara groupwho were incidentally the hosts of the event.

The Dodge gave us a ride to remember. It was anice smooth ride with just occasional jerks, enginefumes and water breaks. This is one car that you

would like to own today. It consumes more water thanpetrol. Two buckets is what we gave it. It was a hot dayand the car is almost human.

I also rode in a 1952 silver Jaguar-SK120, atwo-seater sports model that was more powerful thana Honda City!

All these cars conquered the mountains climbing45 inclines with ease - a feat yet to be matched by thecity taxies.

We reached Amby-valley for lunch that offered aspread that would even make the cars wish they couldeat. The prize-distribution followed the lunch wherethe best amongst the best and the first amongequals were honoured.

The valley as such is a scenic place with tallfountains and vast green fields. Lensa had a field day.Be sure to see the pictures!

After tea, we were brought back to Mumbai in aMercedes-Benz. The day was a one-in-a-million and Iwas almost jealous of myself for having such a goodtime. If you havent been in a vintage car rally yet, Irecommend SportSIG the next time around. That iswhere we compound fun.

12

Ashish PatwardhanCo-ordinator [email protected]

Beauty Sport

AstroSIG + SportSIG(Mini-golf competition)

Hi fellow Ms

For those who missed out attending the lastfield trip, the next ones coming on February 1,2003. This field trip has an added incentive. AGM(Amateur Golfing Mensans) is organizing amini-golf competition. Yes, you heard me right.The winner of the competition will not pay usualcharges incurred at the resort. The format for thecompetition will be announced at the venue.Also, if interested in use of the swimming poolplease carry swimming costume. Lensa will alsoconduct photography session.

Clear skies,

Ravi ShroffMensa [email protected]

Our local Pen Dragon says a lot of members feel

its really hard to break into Mensa social life. Ive been

in and out of it since 1965, so maybe a few tips from a

Golden Oldie will help the people who worry about it:

Dont worry about it.

Dont rush it, dont push yourself, dont push anyone

else. Being laid back is key. (Being laid BACK, I said.)

Go to every party in the calendar for at least six

months. Never mind, just go. One of the big

advantages of Mensa parties is that you dont have to

talk to anyone. You dont even have to know who the

host/ess is. Here is your script:

Drink some wine, eat some cheese, look around

the apartment for ideas you could use yourself, pat the

cat, check out the books anything familiar?

Listen. Just eavesdrop on other peoples

conversations. When you hear a remark that interests

you, move closer. Being interested does nice things to

your face. The speaker will respond to an appreciative

audience, the group will let you in to listen. Keep

listening. When you absolutely cant stand keeping

quiet any longer, interrupt. If your idea has merit (of

course it has, look who YOU are), you are launched in

that conversation. CAUTION: Dont lecture. As a new

kid on the block, your purpose is to size them up and

pick THEIR brains, not spill yours!

Dont stick in one group. You dont yet know who

these people are, and you dont CARE.

(IMPORTANT.) They dont know you, yet, either.

Move around again. Your strategy is to make yourself

visible in a subliminal way.

Thats all. After two or three hours, go home.

By the time you have done that at six parties, you

will see some of the same people again. They will

begin to recognize you. Hi. Hi. Thats the best

cheese, over there.

It also helps if you go to business meetings,

because that is the ONLY place you ever find out who

is who, or what is really going on. It doesnt correlate

with the social life, but you will know what the others

are talking about.

If you stick it out in the party circuit for six months,

somebody will know enough about you to ask you to

DO something, and youre in.

From them on, the secret of Mensa social life is to

make yourself visible, and occasionally to say

interesting things. (Especially good if you write

interesting things for the local newsletter.) You get a

wider audience that way. People you meet for the first

time will say, Oh, YOURE the one. I read something

you wrote, one time. Instant in-group.

The magic key to break into Mensa social life is

propinquity, propinquity, and more propinquity.

Whats hard about that?

13

[Reprinted from Intelligencer, newsletter of SanFrancisco Regional Mensa, January 1997; TerryCalaway, Editor]

Polly Pitkin Ryan

Breaking Into Mensa Social Life

Readers MInd (... contd. from page 8)

Nirav,

I am very impressed with your new Mensa Indiamagazine. Your publication certainly shows whatMensans are capable of producing when they are attheir best! Thank you for uploading it to the Global-Mforum.

Barbara

P.S.: I tried to contact you directly during theholidays, but my mail just bounced back to me.

Hello Nirav,

I just read the article below about how the brains ofIndia are now an influential political factor. I thoughtyou might want to see it, and it might even be aninteresting idea for an article in your Mensa MIndmagazine :http://www.Iht.com/ihtsearch.php?id=67380&owner=&date=20020812155341

Christian HaerleZurich, Switzerland

Genius is present in every age, but the mencarrying it within them remain benumbed unlessextraordinary events occur to heat up and melt themass so that it flows forth.

Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784)

Kalah, Mancalah, Pallanguli, Dakon, Sunca,Awari, Adi, Wari. These names may not mean muchto you, although perhaps our chapters foster child,Akwasi Attah, has heard or will learn of some of themas he grows up. They are all the names of gamesplayed on what is perhaps the worlds oldest gameboard. The game board, or variations of it, have beenfound in all of Africa, southern Europe, the ArabianPeninsula, India, and Southeast Asia. It has beencarved into rock in the ancient Syrian city of Aleppo,the columns of the temple at Karnak, and theTheseum in Athens, as well as numerous caravanroutes. It appears in paintings in the Valley of the Nileas well as on Grecian urns, and has been used withplaying pieces ranging from common pebbles torubies and sapphires.

Long lost, the game was rediscovered in 1905 byWilliam Champion, who spent years researching thegame board and its history. He eventuallyproduced a modern version of the game board, usingthe name Kalah after the Kalahari desert. Thegameboard may be found today on the playgroundsof Boston, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles andis currently, marketed under the name of Mancalahor Mancala, derived >from the ArabicMankalah, meaning game of intelligence. (Acircular version of the game board was marketedunder the name Oh-War-Ee, derived from theAfrican Awari.)

The basic board consists of two rows of six roundpits, with a long pit at either end. Pebbles are placed ineach of the small pits to start the game, then sownaround the board. The object of the various gamesplayed on it is to end up with more pebbles than onesopponent. Following are rules for four of the gamesplayed on the board: Kalah, Dakon, Wari, and Adi.

KalahIn Kalah, from one to six pebbles, usually three or

six, are placed in each of the small pits. A player takesthe pebbles from one of the small pits and sows themone by one counterclockwise around the board, intohis long pit and his opponents small pits if he hasenough, but not into his opponents long pit. If the last

pebble lands in his long pit, he gets another turn. If itlands in an empty pit on his side, he captures anypebbles in the opponents pit opposite it; the capturedand capturing pebbles go into his long pit.

A game continues until all the small pits on oneside are empty; the winner receives one point for eachpebble he has beyond those he started the game with.The players then play additional games, until onereaches the designated score for the match, usually40.

Kalah is played in most of Africa, usually under thenames Mancala or Awari, and in India as Pallanguli.

DakonDakon is usually played with six pebbles in each

pit. The rules are almost the same as for Kalah, exceptthat when a players last pebble lands in a small pitthat has pebbles in it, the pebbles are taken upand sown until the last pebble finally lands in eitherthe players long pit or an empty small pit.

Dakon is played in Indonesia and the Philippines.Variations of the game board use rows of seven, eight,nine, or ten small pits in between the long pits, with thesame number of pebbles in each small pit to start thegame as there are small pits in each row. (Anothervariation of the game, Sunca, differs from Dakon inthat pebbles are sown clockwise around the boardinstead of counterclockwise.)

WariWari is usually played with four pebbles in each of

the small pits. Unlike Kalah, pebbles are sown only inthe small pits during a move, never the long pits, norare pebbles sown back into the pit from which themove was started. Captures are made by makinggroups of two or three pebbles on the opponents sideof the board; each time such a group is made, eitherduring a move or at its end, the group is placed in thelong pit. Play continues until all the small pits on oneside are empty.

The winner receives one point for each pebble inthe long pit beyond the number of pebbles eachplayer started with. Unlike Kalah, pebbles in the smallpits after the game is over do not count; if neither

14

Rodney Ruff

Games People Play

player has captured more pebbles than he startedwith, the game is a draw. As with Kalah, players playto an agreed match score, usually 40. Wari is played inmany parts of Africa.

AdiAdi is usually played with four pebbles in each of

the small pits. Unlike the other games, its object is notto capture pebbles from the opponent, but pitsinstead.

Pebbles are sown counterclockwise through thesmall pits only. Every time a pebble makes a group offour, that group is placed in the long pit of the playerwhose pit the group was made in. If the last pebble ofthe move makes a group of four, it goes in the long pitof the player who made the move and the turn ends. Ifthe last pebble makes a group of more or fewer thanfour pebbles, those pebbles are sown around theboard until either the last pebble makes a group offour or lands in an empty pit, ending the turn.

Play continues until one players pits are empty;whoever has the most pebbles wins the game and, foreach group of four he has beyond what he startedwith, he wins one pit from his opponent for the nextgame. The player with fewer pits starts the next game;a match continues until one player wins all the pitsfrom his opponent.

Adi is played mostly in West Africa. In a variationof the game, known as Dara, when a group of four ismade during a move, the player makingthe group wins it, and when the group is made at theend of the move, the player owning the pit wins it (theopposite of how groups are won in Adi).

My own interest in the games began with a collegetextbook, Games and Puzzles for Elementary andMiddle School Mathematics, published by theNational Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (Thearticle about Kalah, written by John B. Hagerty, wasreprinted from the May 1964 issue of The ArithmeticTeacher and was based on an article in the June 14,1963 issue of Time.) I wrote a program to play Kalahon the Apple IIe, and later programs to play the othergames when I discovered them. I had hoped to market

the games as a software package; unfortunately, I wasnot able to do so.

(There are a number of other games which can beplayed on the mancalah gameboard; however, thegames described in this article are the only ones Iknow the rules to.)

[Reprinted from The Brainiac, newsletter ofNebraska-Western Iowa Mensa, November /December 1997; Jon Silver, Editor]

15

Games People Play (contd.)

Mensa Pune AnnoucementWe are at a profound junction in the history of

the earth where human decision-making will makeall the difference. Holistic Personality Developmentis a dynamic process that shows people how tomake decisions that are socially, economically,intellectually and environmentally sound.

We are looking for special people who areself-motivated, focused, creative, dedicated, able tomake commitment willing to challenge themselves,receptive to new ideas and proactive. Do you havea desire to make a difference in your life and theworld around you through Holistic PersonalityDevelopment?

Please come to Mensa-India (Pune Chapter)Meeting and MEGA Exhibition.

Meeting and Exhibition Venue :Jnana Prabodhini, 510 Sadashiv Peth,Pune 411 030. Tel: 447 7691 / 8095

Date : 22nd February 2003Day : SaturdayTime : 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm

Please inform other Mensans about the Meetingand Exhibition.

Yours truly,

Dr. Narayan R. DesaiCoordinator, Mensa-MEGAExecutive Council Member, Gifted Child ProgramOffice-In Charge, Mensa-India (Pune)Email: [email protected]

Hello Ms. Welcome to another edition of thewonderful world of LENSA articles. This month weshall be revisiting the wide-angle lens. In the previousarticle we have defined what constitutes a wide-anglelens. Lets get more technical on this.

The area size captured by a lens can be expressedas a diagonal angular field called the Angle of View.The focal length that provides a similar perspective tothe human eye is in the range between 40 60 mm.For matter or convenience, we take it as 50 mm. Thelenses with shorter focal lengths are called wide-anglelenses and those lenses with focal length greater than50 mm are termed telephoto. The shorter the focallength, the wider the angle of view and vice-versa.

Looking at the world through a wide-angle lensgives you a different perspective in photography. It isfascinating to see the results when the lens capturesalmost all that the eye has seen.

Wide-angle lenses have uses in varied fields architectural photography to name one. In a crampedspace, where there is little or no room for thephotographer to move, the wide-angle lens comes invery handy to capture the entire subject.

In places where perspective is important,wide-angle lenses are used. For example, in asituation where one wants to get close to the subjectand at the same time, include the background to showmore of the scene. This gives the viewer a betterpicture of the actual scene.

The wide-angle lens is also used in situations whenyou take pictures in narrow city lanes or scenic spots.

Another situation where it comes in handy is inpublic places when people or other objects arebetween you and your subject. You may be able toeliminate them by getting closer to the subject andframing the picture the way you want it to be framed.

Handling perspectivePerspective is determined by the camera to subject

distance. The perspective of the normal, wide-angledor telephoto lens is the same if the camera to subjectdistance remains the same. If you get close to a subjectwith a wide-angle lens, the nearby objects look larger

than normal and the distant objects look far and away.This is so because the distance between the near andfar subjects is great compared to the distance from thecamera to the near object. The wide-angle lensexaggerates the space relationships by expanding theapparent distance between the near and distantobjects. The lens is also used while showing the sizecomparison by including a nearby foreground object.

While clicking entire buildings or similar subjectswith prominent parallel vertical lines, you must takecare not to tilt the camera up or down. This will makethe vertical lines converge in the picture. This is calledkeystoning.

Generally, this keystoning is undesirable, theremay be times when you want to give this effect, forexample, to make a building look taller or toexaggerate perspective.

The wide-angle lens also increases the depth offield. This depth of field is actually the same for alllenses, no matter what their focal length, if you adjustthe subject distance to give the same image size.However, for a particular camera and particularsubject distance, we say that the depth of fieldincreases as the focal length of the lens decreases.

Rishi Lal, Co-ordinator LensaMensa [email protected]

16

GastroSIG + MovieSIGHi Ms

GastroSIG is meeting on Sunday February 16,2003 at Pot Pourri, Bandra(W). Pot Pourri servesvariety of international cuisines & has been the alltime favourite hang out for GastroSIG members.Time 12:45PM. Hungry Mensans may not wait, noguarantees for those who show up late. This outingwill also serve as an informal meet for Ms. Lunch atPot Pourri will be followed by movie screening (StarWars: Episode III) at Excel Jogeshwari. I intend toscreen over coming months Episodes IV, V, VI, I & IIin that order. Pay for what you eat, movie screening atRs 15 per head. Sorry, Mensans only.

See you soon.

Ravi [email protected]

Lensa : The Photography SIG

Mind Jan-Mar 2003

Documents

Transcript of Mind Jan-Mar 2003