Saturday, April 18, 2009

From Hema Malini to Einstein

I went to fedex some document the other day and the Fedex guy (who was from Senegal) asked me If I knew Hema Malini. I asked him how did he know her and he told me that when he was a kid, there were many a Hindi movies which reached Senegal, and Hema Malini was a rage then.

This reminded me of a common story that I have heard from my father and indeed other people of his age, that during Hema's peak, the best compliment a girl could receive was that she was looking like Hema Malini.

If that was the case for beautiful girls, an intelligent guy, even now, is often told, "yeh bhai Einstein banega". Since my childhood, I had heard about this name Einstein, and knew that he got a Nobel Prize, but it was only when I read his biography that I realized what a genius he was. His work touched from the smallest (quanta) to the largest (universe). From transistor to airplanes relying on GPS, his work has applications in all and sundry.

This post isn't about gory details of Einstein's relativity principles, but, about some amusing quotes/incidents/learnings from his life.
  1. Charlie Chaplin once said to Einstein:
    "They cheer me because they understand me, they cheer you because no one understands you"
  2. What about this :
    "Newton was born the year Galileo died, in similar way, Einstein was born the year Maxwell died"
  3. We all know about the famous e=mc^2 equation. How about this as a fallout of that :
    "Energy in the mass of one raisin, could supply NYC energy needs for a day !!!!!"
  4. And to top it all :
    "Einstein’s ashes were dispersed in the Delaware River … but his brain ended up for more than 4 decades … a wandering relic"
  5. Reading about Einstein, I couldn't escape but notice deep spiritual underpinnigs about certain things. For example Einstein said:
    "God is subtle, but he is not malicious ... God would not keep anything beyond our reach ... God isn't hiding ... He is just asking to search a little harder."

8 comments:

  1. aankhon se chasma chala gaya par haathon se kalam nahi gayi :P

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  2. @Bipin : Thanks....
    @Seth : Hum panchi unmukt gagan ke.. weekely blog ke bina na rah paayeenge ....:-)

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  3. Very well written man ...... really enjoyed... blogging is a new found interest these days ?

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  4. Einstein once helped, in making to next level of a quiz contest in school time.... it was in 12th and I went with baniya to Kulachi Hansraj....
    Q: Who was offered the post of First Prime Minister of Israel ?
    A Albert Einstein

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  5. Amusing and interesting that is-
    my favourite quote from Einstein -
    God does not play dice!!

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  6. This reminds me of Bohr's reply :
    "Einstein, stop telling God what to do with his dice."
    BTW, "singultus of batty burnouts", whats ur name?

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