Howz It

      " Soul, a moving river. Body, the riverbed” - Rumi Concepts about soul is never new to human kind. From ancestral period onwards myths and fantasies have be passed down to generations after generations. Different places; different terms and believes. Good and bad souls, evil spirits, soulmates – are few to name among them. But one thing is sure, how much so ever someone deny that human being is bounded to his/her soul, these believes had been a part of our existance and culture, till now.  That is why even when someone says they are not a fan of horror movies, they still show some interest. In the bottom of their heart they know that somewhere these myths can be true, because just like a fire is born from a small spark, a folk-story can never be a mirage. Then all these point out the existance of souls clearly, isn’t it? The same interest might have piqued Duncan MacDougall, physician who was reported as the ‘head of a research society’ during his time – early 20th century.

Sentinelese Tribal community  Communities – Not a foreign word and to put it simple, ‘it is a group we live among those who share similar characters’. But in depth, it has the power to mould us to who and what we have to become tomorrow. It reflects our responsibilities, care, love, duty, and many more values. But the question is, how many of us are dedicating ourselves for the safety and betterment of our community?  What is so fascinating to know about communities!! – This is what we mostly think on such topics. Then again, it is quite interesting to know about a particular tribe existing on this very same earth, but hidden to us. If they are living among us for thousands of years, then how is it possible to stay hidden in this most modern era?? Sentinelese – true to their word meaning, they are the warriors and protectors of their community. They are habitants of North Sentinel Island, a territory of India. They were noticed by the world after a report  John Allen Chau of 27-year-ol

DANCING PLAGUE: TRANSFORMATION OF A DIVINE ART TO A NIGHTMARE “Dancing is the hidden language of the soul” – Martha Graham, an American modern dancer, once said. It is not necessary to reveal stories through dancing, instead, we express our feelings to communicate our inner soul through simple gestures. A philosopher once said that dance and architecture were the first art forms. It is believed that when a dancer dances with full grace, even heaven comes down to earth, making this art form a divine.  Then, how is it possible for such a divine art to turn into a nightmare or in other words – an epidemic ? It was a beautiful, warm and cozy day in the month of July, 1518, that people of Strasbourg noticed Frau Troffea, a solitary woman started dancing in the middle of the street, without a music but full of Joie de vivre. Even though the crowd was laughing at her expense, she did not stop. Day and night she danced, without food and rest. By the end of the week, 34 more peo

VOYNICH MANUSCRIPT – A COLURFUL ENIGMA Voynich Manuscript To be able to solve a puzzle is a success. For this success, knowledge play a vital. Now, what happens when this knowledge itself becomes an unsolved mystery ?? From 1912, one more riddle in the name - Voynich Manuscript was added to the list of decoding to paleographers. The book itself is an artifact with many colorful depictions of herbs, nymphs, cosmological and astrological, rosette, recipe, etc. Voynich codex is carbon-dated to 15th century and was considered as the most mysterious and hard to decode manuscript. Some believed that the book is symbolical to a cult phenomenon.  In the year 1865, Villa Mondragone at Frascati, Italy, a construction of 1573, was reconstructing. As a part of selling the many parts the library, Wilfred Voynich, a Wilfred Voynich Polish book-dealer, bought an untitled book. He believed that this mysterious manuscript belonged to the Roger Bacon (1219/20 – 1292)

EYE FLOATERS: ARE THEY REALLY MY ILLUSION ?? Why to go in search of mysteries when our own body and mind is one big package of mystery and thriller!  “While looking at the sky or while staring at any bright plane surface or even closing our eyes on flashes, we feel like some small worm like creatures are crawling Eye floaters and moving. Sometimes appear as dark spots or specks. Is it really there? Or am I just imagining things?? Now this is the stage at which we blink once to see whether those creatures are still there or not. And NO they won’t; conclusion - we are having some defect.” Now this is a context commonly seen in our life. During childhood days, we are fascinated about these, try to know them more, try to see them more and gets surprised when someone else say that they experience the same. So what are they??? No fantasy is applied in this case, but pure science. It is our own eye playing with us. Human eye consist of different layers through which

When air transportation is considered as one of the greatest invention in human history, air-crashes around the world is becoming a nightmare day-by-day. About 207 air crashes are recorded, starting from the crash of powered aircraft Wright Model A aircraft at Fort Myer, Virginia, US in the year 1908 September 17, to the biggest crash - two Boeing 747 passenger jets, operating KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 (Tenerife airport disaster) in 1977 March 27, resulting 583 fatalities. Apart from all these sorrowful incidents, one remarkable invention was resulted – “Black box”; or to be specific “Flight Data Recorder”. Many of us might have heard this term; especially, once a plane crash happens, authorities rush to find this small, but exceptional object to get information related to the accident. But, when a massive accident occurs, how is it possible for a small box to survive- be it is a fire or falling into an ocean ! Birth of Black Box Black Box When the num

YES! I’M “THE ROYAL” AND “THE FORBIDDEN” We love to eat!! Tasty, new, rich, heavenly foods are what we prefer in reality. Otherwise, food markets around the world would not be ruling us now. But when our health is at stake, we are willingly or unwillingly backing out from consuming as per our wish. Dieticians prescribe diet with more fruits and vegetables and reduced carbohydrates. Is it really the only solution? No! Some natural sources exists around us that can compete with different health properties of fruits and vegetables. BLACK - PURPLE RICE Among different cereal crops, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an inevitable one as it is not only a staple food for a large population, but also a major ingredient in many foods. White, red, brown – are some of its few varieties that are used commonly, with their own health properties. Then what makes a black-purple rice stand out from its family? Then how is it possible to call them “the forbidden” then?? From past centuries, our

Lucid dreaming ‘Once a child was dreaming of dragons, fairies and monsters. He chased the beautiful fairies, but was chased by the monsters and his demons – but the funniest part is, the hero of this story could be you and me’. Majority of dreamers mostly have weird dreams like never ending roads and oceans, keep on falling Francisco Goya- The sleep of reasons produces monsters from height, etc, even if they don’t remember it on the very next day. Our brain loves to play games with us because our conscious part taught us about non-existing creatures; yet again we are scared and run for our lives from the very same creatures in our unconscious world. Then how is it possible for some people to have control on their dreams? When you dream about a vicious creature, rather than running away from it, have you ever tried to take control over and thought -‘NO! This is just a dream’. A group of people around this world can control their dreams. This awareness of a dreamer th

! IMMORTALITY : WITHIN OUR REACH; YET SO FAR!  TURRITOPSIS DOHRNII For many, immortality is just a fantasy, but for some, it is the part of their life-cycle. But who can be immortal in this present scientific world? Will that be possible?? YES!!! Earth is not just a place with some living creatures; instead it is a goblet of fantasies.  Researchers always have keen interest in a special specie of jellyfish called Turritopsis dohrnii, “The Immortal Jellyfish”.   Turritopsis Dohrnii Now, why are they special? Normally, life-cycle of jellyfish, similar to other species, involves stages like growth, reproduction and death. In the year 1988, a marine biology student collected a special type of bell-shaped medusa from Genoa, Italy. A Turritopsis dohrnii also grow to its fully matured stage called ‘medusa’ from polyp stage. But instead of going through ageing process, they opt to move back to their safe and comfortable ‘polyp’ stage. And this to-and-fro life-cycle