A Catcher In The Rye

Looking in the mirror, an alien stared back at him.

He Smiled.

He had seen it happening in the movies, in the countless horror and sci-fi films seen over the years. Yet this was not supernatural. Nor did he consider it to be.

His look went to the tree visible from the window in his room, where a tiny golden bird chirped as it spread its wings, perhaps ready to fly in search for food. The bright sunshine reflecting off the bird made it appear as a almost divine creature .. as a phoenix that had just risen up from its ashes. And then in a swift motion, the bird flapped its wings and flew away.

He smiled again. And this time, it was for a different reason.

It is at times like these that the heart could speak itself out, if only it could. And after the show is performed, the moment freezes and you are taken aback, probably immersed,wondering in a reflection of your own selfishness. It is as though time stops for a split second and endows upon you a moment to cherish though a bit blemished by pangs of an unknown dread. Anyways, a priceless gift it is and made more worthy if you are able to recognize it.

Look around you. One of the noblest virtue considered starting from terms of endearment is not an act without an act in itself in majority of the themes. And yet it is placed highly above such an act which I mention.

And it makes me wonder …

*Thanks for making my day!

And It Makes Me Wonder!

A few days back , the following link was on the gtalk status of one of my friend …

Is it a parable or a paradox?

Its 3:30am in the morning as I am writing this. A couple of hours back, I was peacefully sleeping on my bed when the frantic knocking on the door of my room woke me up. The results of one of the most important and tough exams in our country are out and my friend(who woke me up!) has literally ‘phod diya’. Congrats buddy!

Now whats all this got to do with chocolate, coffee or chess. Chocolate because I am hungry and it would kick up the glucose supply in addition to satiating my hunger. Coffee I would love to have at this time(old habits of having it around 2am in college days haven’t faded out yet). Chess… its the hard part to explain here. Well , there are ways to go off to sleep like counting sheep jumping over the fence or simply counting numbers till you fall asleep etc. I guess all these utilize the same concept of putting the brain to use until it gets bored and sleeps off voluntarily rather than putting the neurons to work.

So heres a chess puzzle taken from chessbase site:

The position is as shown in the diagram. Now all you got to do is figure out a set of valid legal moves so that such a position is reached in White’s ninth move. I remember trying it a few days back without any success(I don’t even have a board).

Anyways, since I have no hope of getting within reachable limits of either chocolate or coffee, I’d give it a shot till I fall asleep.

By the way, if you happen to find the solution, do tell me.