Clarity of
thought
I am sure as requested by me; you have seen the post dated 3/13/09
Had a hearty laugh? Good! Did you notice the fun element in that ‘act of
stupidity’ and ‘argument based on sound stupidity’? good!
(you can refer to comment dt 2/15/15 for further clarification)
I presume most of you have climbed steps of ‘Tirupathi’.
Those of you who haven’t imagine the scenario as best as you can or imagine
some temple on a hill-top that you had climbed. For those of readers who are
not Indians, imagine the ‘Route of Pilgrimage’. Assume you are climbing the
steps of Tirupathi – seven hills and after climbing for an hour with your
friend stop for a cup of tea. There you befriend a stranger and in course of
your talk, she tells you that she has been climbing ‘these hills’ for the past 10
years atleast once a year without fail. You are really amazed and this is your
first time and you are bit apprehensive as to what to expect and what not to!
You ask her how long it would take to reach the top. And lo! She answers ‘just
in 5-6 hours’. You are zapped out. More 5-6 hours and you are already a bit
tired! You doubt your senses which took this decision and you wish you had
listened to your neighbours who warned you against this! ‘God bless them, they
were right! They meant good and yet I had teased them, made fun of them and not
listened to them. Good for my arrogance. Now I am caught in catch 22 situation.
God save me! Why did I put myself in this situation’? A look at my friend’s
face and I know he’s also thinking the same.
Cutting through our thoughts her voice continued. ‘its
nothing to worry. We already covered the 3 hr distance.’ You catch the phrase
‘3 hr. and you ask ‘what 3 hr distance?’ and she innocently replies – ‘why the
distance that we have already travelled – well it took 3 hrs. right? So, we
call it 3 hr distance’.
Map showing the foot route to Tirupathi - more than 3500 steps
Map showing the foot route to Tirupathi - more than 3500 steps
You look at your friend and exchange a smile that’s both
relaxing and a smile that’s laughing at your stupidity. Of course you feel, you
should have first asked her how long it took her to come till here. And you
were proud of being boys good at maths! How stupid! Yes, her age, profession
and lifestyle was different from yours. Speed would certainly be different.
What took1 hr for you to cover, she and her group took 3 hrs. wasn’t it
obvious?
...contd....
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