5 October 2019

Deep thoughts

Last night, I was listening to Ataullah Khan’s rendition of “Idhar Zindagi Ka Janaza Uthega”. It is a beautiful poem written from the point of view of the man who realizes that the lady he loves is getting married to somebody else that night.

And I realized that most of the ghazals and qawwalis (or a large fraction of them at least) are about unrequited love.

In the Western world, it happens differently:
Man loves woman.
Woman does not return the love.
Man moves on to next woman.

But from the subcontinent I come from, it is like:
Man loves woman.
Woman does not return the love.
Man sits down to write a poem!!

🙂

Category: Humor | 4 Comments on Deep thoughts
29 September 2019

Basketball throws: a rather intriguing puzzle

I had run into this problem long time back. I ran into it again last week. Thought will post it. See if you can solve it without using Google to find the answer. If not, then Google it – pretty interesting, huh? (I will post the answer later).

A basketball player keeps track of his throws for a full calendar year. He, of course, misses a few shots and succeeds with a few more. He missed the very first shot of the year. But he ended the year with 83% successful shots. You have to prove that there had to be a point where is success rate was exactly 75%.

Hint: this is not necessarily true for any number – e.g. 60%. But it is always true for 75%.

In fact, can you guess what are the other % (other than 75%) for which this is also true?

Category: Puzzles | 26 Comments on Basketball throws: a rather intriguing puzzle