The Daily Knowledge Center

I'm sure many great, powerful and rich people think about how they can make a difference world. There are so many big problems, and they require big solutions, right?  Actually, sometimes little things can make a really big difference. I learnt this lesson one day nine years ago with my father, when I was just acting like myself-a nine-year-old kid.  Papa came home late from work after 9pm. He's a businessman who works long hours, and on this day he looked even more tired and stressed than usual. His eyes were already half-closed from weariness. I, on the other hand, was completely hyper. I followed him to his bedroom, skipping and doing the "Walrus Dance," which I had made up myself. This ridiculous routine involved twisting my arms and legs in opposite directions.  Papa trudged up the stairs, slowly lifting his large feet one after the other. He seemed to fall deeper and deeper into exhaustion every step he took. I was afraid that I would have to start pushing him, ...

My husband and I belong to different religions. That, I think, was reason enough for my mother-in-law to dislike me. One Sunday, we had a quarrel. Things got out of hand when the three of us began screaming. I lost my temper when my husband took her side and stormed out of the house. I felt lost, so I went to the nearby church where Mass was on. Inside, I found a desolate corner, sat on a pew and started crying. As the service was ending, I made the sign of the cross, went out and sat on the stairs. Soon, a very old lady came and stood beside me. I looked up at her pale, wrinkled face, and she asked me to lend her a hand. With my help, she got down the first two steps, but to my surprise she sat down beside me. My first thought was that she was waiting for someone to pick her up. But no one came. She remained quiet and still held my hand gently. Although I found her behaviour a bit odd, I must admit, I also found it comforting. Neither of us said a word. After a while, when I had calme...

In February 2006, I was returning home after a holiday in Goa with my wife Shivali and our two small children, Janhvi and Basu. We reached Delhi, where we had to change trains. After spending hours in a waiting room I was also disturbed, by having been informed that my father had fallen ill we boarded our train when it arrived. It was past 4pm. The train started moving and I searched for our berths, but the coach was full and all of them were taken. Puzzled, I soon realized my folly. We were on the wrong train! In our haste we had boarded the Shatabdi Express to Amritsar instead of the Kalka Shatabdi Express to Jalandhar. I panicked and pulled the emergency chain. But nothing happened. I rushed to the door flung our luggage onto the platform, then jumped off, holding my son. Shivali, who was with my daughter, tried to alight in much the same manner, but could not, as the train had gathered speed, In a matter of seconds, the train was out of sight. I ran to inquiry office. I was told th...

Every year when monsoons taper off and winter sneaks in, Kashmiri vendors travel around the country to sell their handcrafted shawls, carpets, purses and blankets. It is a hard life. Their toil does not end with their journey; in fact it is just the beginning. They stay at cheap hotels and roam around all day lugging their wares and looking for buyers. I would have never known all this if it were not for chance encounter with a couple of them at my brother-in-law Dayashanker Pandy’s house. We were seated in his veranda when two Kashmiri vendors, who looked like father and son, approached. The younger man carried a bundle on his head, while the other, frail and old, called attention to their wares. I was surprised when Dayashanker beckoned the vendors, knowing that he needed nothing from them. But he began examining their carpets and shawls. His wife Manju, meanwhile, got busy in the kitchen, knowing that her husband wouldn’t buy a thing. I felt sorry for the vendors, and when my brothe...

My husband, who has retired while I still hold a good job, drinks a lot of alcohol everyday and loses his temper. He tends to say very hurtful things to me when intoxicated but claims to remember nothing the morning after. How do I deal with the situation? - Wife-in-Distress Dear Wife, It's likely that your husband has a serious drinking problem if he can't remember what happened while he was inebriated. Also, given that his behaviour while drunk is disagreeable, it would be wise to consult a psychiatrist or drug counsellor as soon as possible to advise you on how to get your husband into treatment. I get frightened and dizzy when I enter tall buildings. This is getting problematic because I'm unable to visit malls and other such places. How do I overcome my fear? - Dizzy  Dear Dizzy, You have acrophobia, a fear of heights. Hypnotherapy is the quickest way of overcoming a phobia. However, if you want to overcome this yourself, you could do this by exposing yourself to gradu...

Nobody, the movie moghul Samuel Goldwyn is supposed to have said, should write their autobiography until after they are dead. Indians seem to fell the same way, for very few of them have written accounts of their lives. Indeed until very recent times, only a handful even kept diaries: the only Indian I've heard of who kept one before the 19th century was Ananda Ranga Pillai, an 18th century merchant who became the chief agent for the French in Pondicherry. Things have changed. Many Indians have written about their lives including two if greatest Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. And although the four memoirs that I write about here are not as well as known as The Story of My Experiments with Truth and An Autobiography , they're all of the first rank. The first, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN UKNOWN INDIAN , is the story of one our most original, irascible and provocative intellectuals, Nirad Chaudhuri. Published in 1951 when Chaudhuri was 54, it was his first book and, in the opin...

For a novel and very green alternative to pesticides, the owners of a housing complex in Manhattan have come up with an ingenious solution: ladybirds. Instead of using chemicals, the owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village bought 720,000 ladybirds to deal with pests on their 32 hectares of garden and grass. On ladybird can consume 50 pests a day, keeping about 50cm^2 clear. From all reports, local residents have welcomed the new spotted neighbors, who are doing a good job of keeping their suburban ecosystem in check.

Couples who can answer simple questions tend to be wealthier than those who can't, according to research done by the Rand Corporation, a US think tank. When both spouses answered the questions correctly, family wealth averaged US$1.7 million. When neither spouse got a correct answer, that number was $200,000. Take the quiz 1.If the chance of getting a disease is 10%, how many people out of 1000 would expected to get the disease? 2.If five people all have the winning numbers in the lottery and the prize is $2 million, how much will each of them get? 3.Let's say you have $200 in a saving account. The account earns 10% interest each year. How much would you have in the account at the end of two years? Answers: 1.100 2.$400,000 3.$242

We now have the scientific proof - blokes in scarlet hues are sexier. Men who choose to were the color of love,, passion and danger ooze sexual attraction, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology . Women participants were asked to respond to photographs of men decked out in different colors. The results? Men wearing red were deemed sexy, powerful, and dominating all of which point to a man's high status. "I's this high status judgment that leads to the attraction," said lead author Andrew Elliot. Some Known Facts: Australian producers exported 16 million liters of sparkling wine in 2010. There are 16 German states of Länder. The current head of the Catholic Church is 16th pope to choose the name Benedict. Each player in a chess game starts with 16 pieces. Model and TV host Heidi Klum made an estimated $US16 million in 2009-2010, according to Forbes.com Australia won 16 gold medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. During the 1990s, about...

It's been two - three day since me and my friend started our blog journey. Before that we have tried various ways to earn money like recording a book, creating a YouTube videos etc. But not all of them are success in terms of revenue earned. I woke up early in the morning, and after that I stated my daily routine like brushing, bathing and taking breakfast. After that I remembered my blogging journey so immediately I stated (Turned On) my personal computer. Actually Last night I wasn't sleep well because of constantly remembering my blogging journey, about  How will I actually do it, How will I implement any idea, How will I utilize different concept etc... So remembering that while my PC was turning on slow as usual! after My PC turned on first thing I did was checking emails on my primary email address on Gmail.com . I regularly check my email address in a hope that I might find any job opportunity in Linkedin.com . But you know not a single email about it! However...

Music festivals have certainly come a long way since the muddy fields of Woodstock. Forget smelly hippies knee - deep in muck: today's festival goers demand comfort, and entrepreneurs are catering to the trend. In place of grotty portable toilets, you'll find luxury loos. For overnight campers, primitive bush showers and tents are passé. Instead, you can settle into boutique temporary accommodation such as elegant teepees or Bedouin-style tents. A company called Posh Wash even provides power showers, washbasins, changing areas and towels. And why carry around a heavy leather jacket when you can check it at a mobile cloakroom operating from a custom fitted van? At one festival in the Netherlands, one company rented out accommodation in the shape of giant beer cans, complete with loft beds for two. Rock yourself to sleep.

A policeman had come home in my absence to verify my passport application, but did not leave a note. I just went to the Passport Office, and it was disgusting. Sorry, but I've decided that giving Rs.500 to the sub-inspector is something I'm actually going to do. - Usha Verma Kejriwal's Crusade As a race, we have been known to give in to temptation [Arvind Kejriwal's Quest for Change, May]. Companies pay huge kickbacks for contracts while the common man pays a tenner to the peon to meet an officer. Unable to shake ourselves from the web of corruption, we find our selves deeper in it. Yet there is hope as long as people like Kejriwal can dream of a corruption-free India. - Dr Ashwani K. Malhotra, Ludhiana The problem is that only a few of us want an end to corruption. Why politicians do not want to check the malady needs no explanation. Bureaucrats like to serve under corrupt bosses because they too can male a quick buck. Businessmen prefer to grease a palm instead of sta...