Sampath-Musings

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:       SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN (22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920)     Indian magical math legendary SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN was born in Erode, Tamil Nadu, (South India), on 22.12.1887.   His heart and mind were always inclined towards Mathematics only. Even though he once had a scholarship from the University of Madras as he was a bright student, it was subsequently withdrawn because he loved and gave too much attention and concentration to Mathematics only to the exclusion of other subjects. Such was his passion and penchant for Mathematics .   In fact, Ramanujan had almost no formal training in pure mathematics. However, he was a child math prodigy. With mathematics naturally ingrained in him, he developed it and made substantial contributions to mathematical analyses - number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions besides solutions to mathematical problems thitherto considered unsolvable. According to Hans E...

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:   ELONGATE and SILHOUETTE:    ELONGATE: (both Transitive and Intransitive Verb, and also adjective) Pronunciation: Elongate (or) Ilongate – எலாங்கேட் (OR) இலாங்கேட்   Meaning:   Extend - lengthen - to become longer by being extended - pull/stretch far off - to move to or place at a distance (from someone/something) - get/make longer - draw too far so as to make it slender - expand - enlarge - to draw out to greater length - to increase the length - long and thin   (Although ‘ELONGATE’ is a simple word (not a jargon), still we don’t use it much, as traditional and conventional words carrying the same meaning like – extend, expand, lengthen, enlarge, etc. – usually come in handy for use. However, it is necessary to get oneself keep abreast of how the word can be used).   Example sentences:    The cells ELONGATE as they take in water.   When you lengthen or extend something, you ELONGATE.   A Yoga teacher might enc...

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK: FLY IN THE OINTMENT and EAT YOUR WORDS:    FLY IN THE OINTMENT:   Meaning:   A slight flaw that detracts from value, completeness, or enjoyment – anything, especially a little thing, that reduces or destroys the value, effectiveness, or usefulness of something – a fault-line, drawback, imperfection, defect, deficiency or blemish that detracts from something positive – a small unpleasant matter that spoils   If someone or something is a FLY IN THE OINTMENT, they prevent a situation from being as successful or happy as it would be without them.   A person or thing that stops a situation, an activity, a plan, etc. from being as good or successful as it could be.   A trifling annoyance that spoils one’s enjoyment.     Example sentences:   The filling up of this form is the one FLY IN THE OINTMENT at the moment because it takes too long.   A real FLY IN THE OINTMENT, however, is the lack of progress in bringing decis...

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:     PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822)   (  (p) பெர்ஸி (b) பிஷ் ஷெல்லி  )     The name and fame of one of the greatest English poets of the world PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY can well be gauged by the fact that India’s Mahakavi Subramania Bharathy ( மகாகவி சுப்ரமணிய பாரதியார் ) did his work with the pen-name SHELLY DAASAN ( ஷெல்லி தாசன் ) . He was a radical in his poetry, and in his political and social views – the like of whom could only be found in George Gordon Byron - 6 th Baron Byron - in short LORD BYRON (22 January 1788-19 April 1824) and, JOHN KEATS (31 October 1795-23 February 1821). Ironically, Shelly didn’t achieve popularity during his lifetime.   Shelly’s first major poem ‘Queen Mab’ (1813), was a utopian political epic revealing his progressive social ideals. In 1818, he moved to Italy. Away from British politics, he became less intent on social reforms and more inclined towards ...