A PUZZLE

Two grandmothers, with their two granddaughters;
Two husbands, with their two wives;
Two fathers, with their two sons;
Two mothers, with their two daughters;
Two maidens, with their two mothers;
Two sisters, with their two brothers;
     Yet only six in all lie buried here:
     All legitimate born, from incest clear.
How can this be?

Dangers of homonyms

     I know of another example of the dangers of homonyms. Mr. Attlee is only known to have made one joke in the course of a long and honourable career.

     At a Pilgrim dinner he spoke of a certain village in rural England where there was a fine old church falling into disrepair, where no money was forthcoming to keep it from ruin. At length, by good fortune, an immensely rich American discovered that his family came from that village and he thereafter supplied the funds for the restoration of the sacred edifice. The Vicar, in a eloquent prayer expressed his gratitude to Providence saying, "O Lord, we thank Thee that in our hour of need, Thou hast sent us this succour".

     What the benefactor thought I leave to your imagination.

This is also taken from the "The Collected Stories of Bertrand Russel" which I mentioned in a previous post.

Just Something

     There was an extremely genteel lady who was travelling in a train, and it so happened that sitting opposite to her there was a man who had a crucifix on his watch chain, but, in spite of this talked in a very blasphemous and horrible fashion. The lady said to him, "I am surprised, my man, in view of the emblem that you bear, I hear you speaking in this manner". And he said, "Lor, Ma'am, that ain't Christ, that's the other bloke  that died by him".

     This is taken from "The Collected Stories of Bertrand Russel" - Collected and Edited by Barry Feinberg. Published by Allen and Unwin Ltd. (May 1972) Part Four: Anecdotes on family, friends and others.

     If you can get your hands on the book, it is worth reading. It is available on Amazon.in and costs Rs. 6.1432.44 (hardcover) & Rs. 4,003.27 (paperback). Pretty costly. Can't afford to buy books these days. I wonder if there is a Kindle edition available. Should be relatively cheaper but still costly. I only have some excerpts from the book. One of them is about the author of the poem "The Blessed Damozel" which I will refrain from posting here.

DO THEY STILL WRITE POEMS LIKE THIS

LAUGHTER
      - VIOLA MEAKIN
My heart is like a little lake,
Sun kissed and laughing in the light.
With full brimmed banks, whose rushes shake
With mirthful murmurs day and night.
Whose breeze-blown waters flow before
To lap the wild wooded shore
With little gurgles og delight.

So may my soul, when days are gray,
Reflect the smile of God and men,
Though sorrow may upstir the day.
By waters wide of lake and fen.
So may I face the winds of fate
With joyous faith articulate
And ripple into laughter then.

FOOD, TASTE & HUNGER

Transportation of an Elephant in India

CHENNAI, INDIA FLOODS

     The city of Chennai, where I live, received extremely heavy rainfall practically cutting off the city from the rest of India. Road, Rail and Air services were totally shut down. Against a normal rainfall of some 357.8 mm the city received some 537 mm - a 60% more rainfall over the normal. Some places received  nearly 50 mm. of rain in an hour. More than 260 people lost their lives. The financial loss is estimated to be above Rs. 15,000 crores (approx. $230 million). The loss to property, livestock and cultivation is yet to be assessed.

     Here are some pictures of the devastation -

An Aerial View - In Some Places The Water Level Came Up To A Height Of Two Floors.

Even an idol of a god was not spared

Some people did save their pets, some didn't.

Total Submersion of Cars and Autos

Indian Creativity - You Just Can't Beat Them

Having A Grand View

     Youngsters, NGOs, Policemen, Army and Naval personnel did a yeoman's rescue work.

     The heavy rainfall was attribute to the "El Nino" effect but the flooding was due to other reasons.