fish school !!

In a meeting of people, there was cacophony – everyone was shouting their thoughts !!  then there was this school, in Unison and harmony !!

 

I realized a bit late that – ‘do you like fish’ can have different meaning depending on the person to whom it is posed !   Are you attracted to ‘fish’ as pets ? – have you raised aquarium at home ?? – it is stated that  smaller fish have shorter lives. Some have less than a year ! It is  so enchanting looking at fish swimming whether in a pond or in an aquarium.  Fish keeping is a popular hobby which sure would provide one  lot of mental peace and tranquility. 

In a pond – where water is clean and there is no disturbance, one could observe large school of fish moving in unison, in so well coordinated pattern, moving together as if under radio control, performing movements both simple and complicated. Schools turn, contract, expand, even part and come back together all without missing a beat. When a Cormorant or some other predatory bird lands in the water, the fish contract and then billow in fractions of a second, changing shape and pattern. This split-second teamwork isn't just entrancing—it's a matter of survival for the fish. Swimming together helps them evade hungry predators, spot rich feeding areas, find mates, and even makes swimming easier by letting them slip through the water using less energy. Scientists are so fascinated by how fish work together that they're using their findings to unlock mysteries beyond the ocean—from how our brains work to how crowds of people make decisions together. 

Fishes swim by using their streamlined bodies and fins to move through the water, with the tail fin providing the primary thrust and other fins aiding in steering and stability.  Fish primarily propel themselves through water by contracting muscles on either side of their bodies, generating waves of flexion that travel from head to tail.  

Schooling saves the fish energy — lots of energy.  Sometimes they move slowly and gracefully. Other times, they will dart quickly in one direction, then another. How do hundreds  of fish move together as fluidly as dancers, knowing when to turn or react to danger in an instant? Fish have a superpower for sensing their underwater world: a line of special cells along their bodies that feel pressure changes, called the lateral line.  Fish use their lateral line to maintain the perfect distance from their neighbours -- a “sweet spot” where they can sense each other’s movements without bumping into one another. This spacing allows them to conserve energy through a behavioral rule, “vortex phase matching,” which lets them ride the water swirls created by nearby fish, similar to how geese fly in formation or cyclists draft behind one another in races to reduce drag.  

The lateral line works differently depending on the situation. Scientists discovered this by conducting experiments that blocked certain senses. Even without their lateral line, fish could still swim together by using their eyesight. But in dark, crowded waters, fish could only coordinate with their closest neighbors and had trouble staying in formation with fish that were farther away. Both vision and the lateral line play an important role in schooling.

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
6.4.2025

  

Ever heard of this Competitor for Coffee, no NOT TEA !!!

For most people, day starts with a steaming hot tumbler of Coffee !  - cannot imagine those days, when one had to wait for the cow to be milked in front of their houses or days of 1970s when Triplicane (and every other area) would stand in queue at Aavin milk booth for milk, rush home to boil and have coffee!

 

Well the subject matter of the post, transcends to more than a century back !! – on how Coffee status was sought to be displaced but ! !! !!!  -  no, the competitor was not TEA !! 

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world, with two billion cups drunk worldwide every day. [authenticity no known!]  South Indian coffee (a.k.a filter coffee) is a milk coffee (perfect example of South Indians' affinity for dairy products) – a great mixture of decoction and milk added with sugar,  primarily from coffee beans and chicory.  In recent past, on every highway in Tamilnadu, shops calling themselves - original Kumbakonam filter coffee shops have mushroomed. In South Indian culture, the visitor to a House is welcomed and offered coffee in a big tumbler.  It is an energizer ! 

All coffee comes from the coffee tree (genus Coffea). The tree’s cherries are picked and processed to gain access to the tiny seeds they contain, which are called green coffee beans. These green coffee beans are then roasted before being ready for consumption and are called whole coffee beans.  Before being brewed however, whole coffee beans are ground into smaller particles to extract as much flavour as possible.  This is easily  accomplished using a variety of tools including electric coffee grinders, blenders, mortar and pestles, or food processors – there were handwound grinders in early days. After being ground in one of these devices, whole coffee beans are referred to as ‘ground coffee’.

 

Back in 1895 a powder substitute for coffee was advertised and marketed to be a healthier alternative than Coffee.  It was called ‘Postum” -    a drink first made by C. W. Post in 1895. It is a powder substitute for coffee that is mixed with water. The ingredients are wheat bran, wheat, molasses, and corn dextrin. Postum quickly became popular, making Post wealthy. The aggressive advertising, with the slogan "There's a Reason", warned against the alleged dangers of coffee and caffeine, and promoted the benefits of Postum. When imitations appeared, the company introduced a cheaper drink called Monk's Brew that was identical to Postum, but discontinued it after competitors left the market. Instant Postum appeared in 1911.   A 1912 advertisement for Instant Postum is the earliest known use of the word "instant" to refer to a processed food that can be prepared immediately.

 

Caffeine is a natural chemical with stimulant effects. It is found in coffee, tea, cola, cocoa, guarana, yerba mate, and over 60 other products. Caffeine works by stimulating the central nervous system, heart, muscles, and the centers that control blood pressure. Caffeine can raise blood pressure, but might not have this effect in people who use it all the time. Caffeine can also act like a "water pill" that increases urine flow. 

Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class and is the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness promoting), ergogenic (physical performance-enhancing), or nootropic (cognitive-enhancing) properties.  Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline purine, a methylxanthine alkaloid, and is chemically related to the adenine and guanine bases of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). It is found in the seeds, fruits, nuts, or leaves of a number of plants native to Africa, East Asia and South America  and helps to protect them against herbivores and from competition by preventing the germination of nearby seeds,  as well as encouraging consumption by select animals such as honey bees. The best-known source of caffeine is the coffee bean, the seed of the Coffea plant. 

People tend to drink beverages containing caffeine to relieve or prevent drowsiness and to improve cognitive performance. To make these drinks, caffeine is extracted by steeping the plant product in water, a process called infusion.   In 2020, almost 10 million tonnes of coffee beans were consumed globally.  

Though it did not entirely succeed, the powdered roasted grain beverage ‘Postum’ was quite popular for  more than a couple of decades.  Its founder CS Post  marketed it to be a health substitute.  Post Cereal Company eventually became General Foods, then merged to Kraft Foods Inc. in 1990. Eliza's Quest Foods now owns the trademark rights and secret recipe of Postum.  

 

"Health First—Happiness Follows, POSTUM instead of coffee, 'There's a Reason.'" This was the slogan that sold C. W. Post’s non-caffeinated cereal beverage.   Flamboyant advertising by the company promoted drinking Postum to avoid “heart disease, rheumatism, blindness, cowardliness and diminished mental capacity.” During World War II, Postum became a popular alternative to coffee, which was rationed. In 1929, Postum Cereal Company became General Foods. Eventually the company was absorbed by Kraft and in 2007, Kraft retired the Postum brand beverage. Eliza’s Food Quest, in 2013 managed to acquire the brand and the secret recipe for Postum, returning it to most grocery shelves.

 

Perhaps such advertisements never reached India and other parts of World ruled by Coffee as the hot beverage continues to be the addictive that millions drink, first in the morning and repeat N no. of times during the day !!

 

I am a Coffee lover  & addict  – what about you ? ! ?

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
3.4.2025

  

Belling a Cat !!

De muribus tintinnabulum feli appendere volentibus 

Every morning there is a new problem and some evenings there are solutions – one need to think and find way out of problems rather than be bogged down and the solutions needs to be practical and implementable. 

Long long ago, in trying to escape from the killer cats and be alive – the Mice Council decided  to put a bell on a cat's neck to alert them of its presence.  While everyone appreciated it as a grand idea – they were unable to   find a mouse brave and capabale  enough to actually attach the bell to the cat.   

One of the earliest versions of the story appears as a parable critical of the clergy in Odo of Cheriton's Parabolae. It was written around 1200, and later  translated into Welsh, French and Spanish.  Odo of Cheriton  was an English preacher and fabulist who spent a considerable time studying in Paris and then lecturing in the south of France and in northern Spain.  In the following century, the Italian author Laurentius Abstemius made of the fable a Latin cautionary tale titled De muribus tintinnabulum feli appendere volentibus (The mice who wanted to bell the cat) in 1499. A more popular version in Latin verse was written by Gabriele Faerno and printed posthumously in his Fabulae centum ex antiquis auctoribus delectae (100 delightful fables from ancient authors, Rome 1564). 

The phrase "who will bell the cat?" is an idiom that asks who will be brave enough to undertake a risky or dangerous task, often one that others are unwilling to do. It originates from a fable about mice who want to put a bell on a cat's neck to warn them of its approach, but no one is willing to actually do it.

 

The problems are not complex always – as proved here – a belled cat

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
3.4.2025 

Good, Bad, Ugly - all in mind !!!

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo  - what   ?!?  How good looking are you ?  - and are you fully convinced that ‘looks’ determine one’s character.  To most of us – Parrots are attractive and beautiful !!  There is always this Q  -  “Is attractiveness “good” or is unattractiveness “bad.  There are times, days, phases in life when One feels that they are not at their best,  experience negative thoughts.  That is not being Ugly – one can always  find ways to cope with these negative  thoughts and embrace positivity.  It will lead to finding  happiness and fulfillment as one overcomes negative self-talk.

 

Looks have lot to do with clothing ! – apparels and the style of dressing. Western-style clothing is a mainstay in menswear. From open-collared shirts and double denim get-ups to straight-cut leather trousers, top designer brands such as MSGM, Ralph Lauren and Gucci make regular nods to the mood. The reason is simple: it’s cool. And that’s in part thanks to the work of one of western style’s key proponents: Clint Eastwood.

 

The perception of "good" and "ugly" is subjective and influenced by personal preferences, cultural norms, and societal beauty standards, with no objective measure of beauty or ugliness.  Beauty is not an absolute concept; it is subjective !!  what one person finds attractive, another might not. 

In 1862, in the American Southwest during the American Civil War, three bounty-hunters ambush Mexican bandit Tuco Ramirez, who shoots them and escapes. Elsewhere, mercenary "Angel Eyes" interrogates former Confederate soldier Stevens for the alias of Jackson, a soldier who stole a cache of Confederate gold. Stevens gives the name "Bill Carson", offers Angel Eyes a bribe and then draws his pistol. Angel Eyes kills him and, intrigued about the gold, kills his own employer. Tuco is rescued from more bounty-hunters by an unnamed drifter whom he nicknames "Blondie". Blondie delivers Tuco to a sheriff and collects his $2,000 (equivalent to $60,000 in 2024) bounty. As Tuco is about to be hanged, Blondie severs the noose by shooting it and sets him free. The two escape and split the bounty. They repeat the process in other towns until Blondie grows weary of Tuco's complaints and leaves him stranded in the desert.

Bent on revenge, and after one failed attempt with his gang, Tuco catches up with Blondie and force-marches him across the desert until he collapses from dehydration.  

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Italian: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Cleef as "the Bad", and Eli Wallach as "the Ugly". Its screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni, and Leone   based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone.  The film is known for Leone's use of long shots and close-up cinematography, as well as his distinctive use of violence, tension, and highly stylised gunfights. The plot revolves around three gunslingers competing to find a fortune in a buried cache of Confederate gold amid the violent chaos of the American Civil War (specifically the Battle of Glorieta Pass of the New Mexico Campaign in 1862) while participating in many battles, confrontations, and duels along the way.  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was marketed as the third and final installment in the Dollars Trilogy

 

All along – it is observed and believed that   attractive people are preferred over, as there is supposition that they possess more positive traits and characteristics than, unattractive people.  This of course is a  stereotype.  However Scientific researches have revealed  why some people are good looking while others turn out ugly.  A study puts it that   some people have less efficient 'repair kits' in their DNA.

 

Charles Darwin's theories of evolution say attractive females should select the more attractive males and good genes should spread through the population over time to the point where males all become equally good-looking. The fact that all men aren't hunks is used by opponents of evolution as an argument that Darwin's theories are fundamentally flawed.   A research  explains why the human race isn't uniformly gorgeous.  According to a Professor, : "It's much easier to think of it in terms of peacocks. "You have a system in peacocks where males go around looking attractive and those that have the biggest and best tails get the most attractive females. "Evolution would suggest that over time all peacocks would look the same because those good genes would spread through the population. "But that doesn't happen and instead you get generation after generation with big tails and short tails, the choice doesn't disappear.  It could be because  mutations can occur anywhere in an animal's genetic make-up, some will affect the DNA repair kit possessed by all cells. As a result, some individuals have less efficient repair kits, resulting in greater variation in their DNA as damage goes unrepaired. 

It is not even in the eyes, it is in the mind – all creations of nature are good, if only we want to see them that way.

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
2.4.2025