Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

While reviewing my blog's  viewership, the T otal P ageviews was found to be 16661 . I casually read it backwards and found the count reads exactly the same both ways. It was amazing that even after reversing the digits the value did not change. It remained 16661 . I am sure all of us might have come across such figures and words that remains the same, no matter whether we read it forward or backwards. English language which boasts of having the largest vocabulary has a specific word to denote such amazingly symmetric word formations and numbers; the word is palindrome . Incidentally I learnt  the first palindrome   from my classmates during school days. The word is “malayalam" which reads exactly the same when spelt backwards. Other examples are A nna, R adar, R otor etc. Wikipedia defines palindrome   as a word, phrase,   number, or other sequence of symbols or elements, whose meaning may be interpreted the same way in either forward or reverse d...

CONSUMER RIGHTS ; A   LOT   REMAINS TO BE DONE Some time ago, one of my neighbour-cum-childhood friend turned distant relative found him landed in a peculiar situation. One of the three strips of tablet he bought for his wife from a very reputed pharma shop at P ort B lair turned out to be empty. The matter was brought to the knowledge of the pharma shop which acknowledged the defect, but declined to accede to his request for replacement or refund. Remedy offered by the pharma shop Blaming the manufacturer, the shopkeeper opined the defective strip would be sent to the company (at mainland) and if company sends a replacement, it would be passed on to the customer. When the need to follow the dose and time schedule as prescribed by doctor was raised, the shopkeeper insisted new set of tablets be purchased against fresh payment. Point to Ponder The consumer being born and brought up in these islands was aware waiting for the mainland based company to respo...

Faulty Speed Breaker: A Nightmare for Motorists Intended as a road-safety measure, speed breakers become hazardous in their own right when engineering standards, adequate visibility and proper warning signage are neglected By Debkumar Bhadra   Roads have played a vital role in the development of human civilisation. The earliest roads were little more than tracks created by repeated movement of people and animals. As societies evolved, the simple tracks transformed into sophisticated transport corridors designed for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. Despite these advancements, roads continue to present challenges of their own. This article examines a seemingly minor flaw on our roads that creates serious hazards for motorists – a faulty speed breaker.   Imagine driving along a road after sunset. Traffic is sparse and the road ahead appears clear. Suddenly, an unmarked speed breaker emerges from the darkness. The driver brakes instinctively, the vehi...

Road Safety Week Concludes CONCERN REMAINS : The A&N P olice along with the rest of the country observed 24th R oad S afety W eek in the islands (from 1st to 7th Jan, 2013) by indulging in various activities namely E ducational classes for (motor vehicle) drivers, F ree E ye test camp for drivers, R oad S afety W alk, P olice B and D isplay at C hildren T raffic P ark and P ainting competition for school children. Also lectures on R oad S afety were delivered at various schools and E ducational pamphlets on traffic rules distributed to promote road safety. According to A&N P olice release carried in local newspapers during the recent road safety week, the year long enforcement of relevant rule provisions (during 2012) saw impounding of 575 drivers found intoxicated while driving. Such offenders   were arrested, their vehicles seized and their name recommended for cancellation of   driving license. Also during the year (2012), challans were issued to 1...