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Maiku
Even the strongest people have to fall to their knees before their own conscience. There is inherent goodness in every human being;
goodness is hardwired in us.
This is a poor translation of "Maiku", a story by Munshi Premchand. The objective is merely to exhort readers to read the original story or better translations. It is a simple story, but speaks volumes about the inherent goodness in every human being. Maiku enjoys his daily drink. The story mentions that Maiku had freely wielded his lathi in the past; so, the reader realizes that Maiku is not your gentle character but a ruffian - a ruffian from whom one cannot expect sympathies. So, Maiku is a hard-drinking tough guy.
Maiku accompanies his friend, Quadir, to their favourite toddy joint. The owner had forewarned that anti-liqour activists would be protesting before the shop on that particular day. But he had offered to provide free drinks so as to foil the attempts of the activists to prevent his patrons from entering the shop.
When Maiku and Quadir arrive at the shop they find that activists have gathered there and are requesting drunkards to abstain from drinking since the habit causes destruction of their homes. An activist pleads with Maiku not to enter the shop. An infuriated Maiku slaps the man. Despite suffering the slap, the man continues to politely plead with Maiku and even sits in front of the door to prevent Maiku from entering.
Maiku promises that he will not drink, but he must enter the shop for some other reason. The activist allows him to enter. Did Maiku experience a change of heart? If so, why did he have to enter the shop? Or, was the lure of a free drink too much to forego?
(This story is being republished)
Straight from the Arabian Nights!
Among the first story books I read after learning my alphabets was the Arabian Nights. That was decades ago! I have only hazy memories
of the stories now, but one story that has remained etched in my memory is of the merchant who stops to rest and eat. The merchant eats
the dates he has brought along with him and tosses away the seeds. Suddenly a demon appears and threatens to kill the merchant because the seeds,
which he had tossed away, had struck the demon's son and killed him!
(This story is being republished)
Cat and Dog Story
My friend, Anil, is an animal lover. He decided to start a shelter for cats and dogs. People brought stray cats and dogs to him. By the end of
one month, Anil's shelter had 55 cats and dogs. The number of dogs was greater than that of the cats.
It was a costly affair to maintain a shelter and Anil's resources were limited. He, therefore, stopped taking more animals; he first wanted to find good homes for the cats and dogs under his care before he took more animals. Over the next 15 days, Anil managed to find homes for exactly one-fifth of the cats and one-fourth of the dogs.
From this data can you figure out how many cats and dogs Anil initially had, and how many of them found new homes?
(This puzzle is being republished)
Some useful links for
your career:
- Union Public Service Commission - www.upsc.gov.in
- IIT-Kharagpur - www.iitkgp.ac.in
- Indian Statistical Institute - www.isical.ac.in
- Indian Institute of Technology Madras - www.iitm.ac.in
- Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad - www.iimahd.ernet.in
- Indian Institute of Mass Commission - www.iimc.nic.in
- IIT Bombay - www.iitb.ac.in
- Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad - www.ismdhanbad.ac.in
- Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi - www.bitmesra.ac.in
- Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training - www.cifnet.nic.in
- Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (Deemed University) - www.iiita.ac.in
- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi - www.cmfri.com
- Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai - www.tiss.edu