Blog

My writings here are ecclectic, covering topics such as education, philosophy, poetry and technology. Use the categories to navigate! ఇంగ్లీషుతో పాటు తెలుగులో కూడా రాస్తుంటాను, అనువాదాలు చేస్తుంటాను.

Even more Mandalas, high school math and Python

We start by creating a central flower. first the central flower made up of 4 sided figures. The relative size of the flower in the total radius of the mandala, and the…

More Mandalas, high school math and Python

We will now look at how to draw traingles around the circle, so that we can create proper looking mandalas. Refer to the previous post for the backstory.

Mandalas, high school math and Python

Even the most un-artistic of us would have drawn that six petal flower inside a circle in school. How do I know? I drew it!

Watching India Untouched in 2024

The other day, I was part of a history of education class where all of us watched the documentary ‘India Untouched’ together.

Turning 45

Yes, that was today. Here are the gifts I got.

The Palace of Illusions – A few thoughts

I was on a day long train journey the other day and found this book on my kindle app. Just about 15 years after it was published, I managed to read it.

గడుగ్గాయి రుక్మిణి

ఎవరెంత పరమేశ్వర భక్తి తత్వం చెప్పినా నాకు మాత్రం రుక్మిణీ కళ్యాణం గొప్ప ప్రేమ కథ. కొంచెం ఆలోచిస్తే పూర్తిగా ఆధునిక ప్రేమ కథ. రుక్మిణి మహా గడుగ్గాయి, అసలు సిసలు తెలుగు…

Thirukkural – In Praise of her Beauty

1114. காணின் குவளை கவிழ்ந்து நிலன்நோக்கும்
மாணிழை கண்ணொவ்வேம் என்று.

Thirukkural – Separation

Nachiyar Thirumozhi – కర్పూరం నారుమో…

ఈ వారాంతంలో ఒక వైష్ణవ వివాహ మహోత్సవానికి వెళ్లటమూ, అక్కడ శ్రీమాన్ దుష్యంత్ శ్రీధర్ ప్రవచనం వినటమూ సంభవించింది. గోదా కళ్యాణం, ఉషా కళ్యాణం గురించి జనరంజకంగా ప్రసంగించారు.

Two books

This weekend, I bought one book on Thiruvalluvar’s Kural and another one on Ghalib’s poetry, among many others.

Christmas!

life-as-it-happens

Chinnappa Anna, our neighbour at farm hill, is a progressive farmer. He has also been of immense help to us since the beginning days. I remember the very early days when we…

తపోభంగము – కుమార సంభవము

కరుణశ్రీ రచనల్లో కొంచెం ఎక్కువ ప్రసిద్ధమైన పుష్ప విలాపము, కుంతీ కుమారితో పాటు ధనుర్భంగము, తపోభంగము నాకు బాగా నచ్చినవి. ముఖ్యంగా తపోభంగంలో ‘మంచు గుబ్బలి గుహలలో మారుమ్రోగె…

A play for children about Dr. Ambedkar

What a wonderful book to introduce Ambedkar to children!
Having learnt about Gandhi till October 2nd, we wished to start learning about Dr. Ambedkar. This is among the…

Ganesha

life-as-it-happens

For Ganesha, we could name and count sixty different types of flowers at farm hill, and found a hundred when we went gathering!!

Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder – Review

What a book…an excerpt is below.

Children, reading and nature

“How do I make my children develop interest in reading?”, is a question I am asked very frequently.

Middle school math – teaching notes – 1

I have never been great at math. Even as I was preparing for my engineering entrance exams, Math was my weakest subject – in my board exams, I scored the least in Math.

మేఘదూతం – ఒక శ్లోకం

గత వారం పదిరోజులుగా అక్కడా ఇక్కడా తిరుగుతూనే ఉన్నాను. చేతిలో పుస్తకాలు ఉన్నా, కూర్చుని చదివే తీరికా, ఓపికా లేకపోయాయి. అయితే, నేను ఎప్పటినుంచో సంస్కృత కావ్యాల గురించి…

Spring evening

On Sambar

Home is where hot idly sambar is.

The White Gulmohar

life-as-it-happens

On the morning walk today, we went slightly off the usual path. We took a couple of new turns, walked through a couple of fences. Went up a small hill and down the other…

As I turn forty three…

As I turn Forty Three
———————————-

Tamil Poem

Last week I learnt this Tamil poem by Subrahmanya Bharati, in the poetry class where students brought a poem from their mother tongue, explained their meaning and we tried…

పాలలో నలకలూ, James Herriot

ఈ మధ్య దగ్గర్లో ఉన్న పాలకేంద్రంలో పాలు తీసుకుంటున్నాం. ఈవేళ పాలు కాగబెడుతుంటే ఒక నలక కనిపించింది, నలకలు మామూలే, తీసి పడేసి ముందుకు వెళ్ళిపోవడమే.

LOVE AFTER LOVEby Derek Walcott

ప్రేమ తరువాయి ప్రేమ

I Don’t Want to Be a Spice Store – translation

I Don’t Want to Be a Spice Store
By Christian Wiman

Fear not…

Through whichever path we arrive at it – religion, academic philosophy, all the other sciences, or our lived experience, compassion for each other, and other things arising…

Amrita Pritam – a couple of poems

कुफ़्र/ blasphemy

Supermoon…

ఈవేళ చంద్రుణ్ణి చూస్తే ఆంధ్ర కవితా పితామహుని వర్ణనకి తగ్గట్టుగా ఉన్నాడనిపిస్తుంది. 😊

Lars from Mars and a strange cat

In the course of doing poetry with a couple of middle school students, ended up writing the following. Do let me know what your youngsters think. 😊

Subba in 2021

It has been 4 years since Subba passed away. I first met him in 2006, when we went to Timbactu to study their education model as part of a course in Social Entrepreneurship.

JK on Dialogue

JK demonstrating the process of dialogue with oneself, through a dialogue about love, attachment and freedom.

Go on and love…

Go on and love
Love what is;
It be a palash
Or a thorny bush,
Love what is.
Go on and love,
because it is.

Watching Wild Wild Country

1. First thing I noted was how similar the body language and diction of some of the modern gurus, especially Ravi shankar is to that of Rajneesh.

Expectations and Relationships

It is not that one cannot have expectations in a relationship. It is that if one is so attached to the expectations, to the extent that the relationship is dependent on the…

కృష్ణా, నీ ప్రేమలో…

కృష్ణా,

Tiruppavai – A Fragment

చిరుగజ్జెలవలె విరిసే ఎరనెర్రని తామరల
తెరగున వికసించే ఆ కెంజాయ కందోయి

Pleasure/ఆస్వాదన

ఇద్దరమ్మాయిల కథ

ఒకమ్మాయి వచ్చింది, మమ్మల్ని చూడటానికి ఇవ్వాళ. కాలు నొప్పితో నేనున్న మంచం ముందు, కుర్చీలో వాళ్ళ నాన్న వొళ్ళో దర్జాగా కూర్చుంది.

The unbearable sadness of a late morning in winter

I can hear the birds sing,
Even as it is late in the morning
The trees still be shrouded in mist
And the sun would be shining through
Even as my windows are still shut

Science and Sociology

I am learning sociology along with our girl who is in 12th grade. We have an enthusiastic sociology major setting us up with videos and readings, we come prepared with notes…

భవబంధాలు// Entanglements

ఇన్నాళ్లుగా ప్రేమగా అల్లుకున్న ఈ గూడు,
నాకు ఆహారమైపోయిన పురుగుల కంకాళాలతో
గాలికెగిరి వచ్చిన గడ్డిపోగులతో, దుమ్మూ ధూళితో
అలంకరించబడిన, అందమైన నా గూడు,
ఇంత పరిచితమైన ఈ గూడు,
ఎల…

The Road

జీవితమే ఒక పయనం, కాదేదీ కవితకనర్హం! ☺️

Subba

Anyone who has ever thought of doing something different, useful or personally fulfilling, knows how difficult it is to step out of the dominant thought patterns of self…

Indian Night Jar

life-as-it-happens

In the last 7 weeks of being at Farm Hill, we have walked the roads, and then walked the paths through the fields. This week, we have been striking out on our own, trying to…

Useless Husbands are those…

పనికిరాని వట్టి భర్తలంతె!!

The First Geniuses/ఆదిమ మేధావులు

by Billy Collins

రెండు గాథలు

మావానికితర వనితల
సావాసము కలుగునట్లు సవరింపవె, యో
దేవా! యెపుడు నొకయంగన
నే వలచిన మంచిచెడ్డలెరుగరు పురుషుల్

Alphabet for young children…

A cousin of ours asked this question today, for her 1 year and 7 month old child. The child seems to have learnt numbers 1 to 10 on her own!

May the paths of your life…

May the paths of your life,
Be planted,
With seeds of goodness

Appu’s world/అప్పు ప్రపంచం

One more book translated…

Afterthoughts on the lovers // Lisel Muellerఆ ప్రేమికుల చుట్టూ తిరుగుతున్న తలపులు

వాళ్ళని నేనెప్పుడూ వసంతంలోనే ఊహించుకుంటాను
తెరిచిన పుస్తకం చుట్టూ విడీవిడివడని పెదవుల
గులాబీల ప్రమాదాలతో , మధ్యాహ్నపు వలలో
సరితూకంగా నిలిచిన సీతాకోకచిలుకలలా:
పూర్తిగా అతని…

Ayyappanum Koshiyum

AK – Ayyappanum Koshiyum, is about a chance encounter between a police officer (Ayyappan) and an influential, rich, ex-serviceman brat (Koshy) and the aftermath where they…

Images and Images

I spent half a life building a self, modelling it after the glimpses of images and reflections caught through a variety of lenses and mirrors.

కానుగ పూలు

కొన్ని పూలు, చూస్తే చాలు…కంటికి ఇంపుగా, సొంపుగా ఉంటాయి. ఒక చూపు చూసి, వెళ్లిపోవచ్చు.

You know but have you seen…

Once in a while you realise
you have never really seen
with your own eyes,
things you have known all your life!

IN PASSING // Lisel Mueller

వడబోసిన తేనెలా
ఈ అపరాహ్ణపు వెలుతురు
ఎంత వడివడిగా రాత్రిలోకి ప్రవహిస్తుందో

Hum Dekhenge – Telugu translation

మేము చూస్తాంగా మేము చూస్తాంగా
మేము చూస్తాంగా
తప్పకుండా మేమూ చూస్తాంగా
మేము చూస్తాంగా
తప్పకుండా మేమూ చూస్తాంగా
చూస్తాంగా మేము చూస్తాంగా

Window

What you see as a window to the other soul;
Is often a mirror reflecting your own.

And then, a sanctuary…

When you already ‘know’, do you really ‘see’?

I was waking in the garden when I noticed the bees and the flowers. I called one of the children over, to show her.

తపోభంగము – కరుణశ్రీ – with audio

అనగనగా ఆ రోజుల్లో, నా చిన్నప్పుడు, కరుణశ్రీ పద్యాల పుస్తకం ఒకటి – మా అమ్మ తన చిన్నప్పటి నుంచి దాచుకున్నది – ఇంట్లో ఉండేది, నా భాగ్యవశాన. అప్పటికి ఆయన పుస్తకాలు ప్రచురణలో లేవు.

On Walking

With head slightly down
One step after another
And another after that one
A few more even steps
and a few more still
And soon,
There is no path, no feet
Me no more
And then…

Myth of Sisyphus

Thanks for all the wishes, guys and gals!

This Suffering/ఈ వేదన

This suffering, is finite!
The end is well in sight.
The life one still has left to live
Is shorter than the one so far lived
(And may be easier as well, one hopes!)
The…

Farm Hill Learning – Requesting Support

life-as-it-happens

True Love

వేదనచే చీలిచీలి
విరహాశ్రుల తడిసి తడిసి
పదనగునెదలో నిజమగు
ప్రణయము మొలకెత్తును

Kahlil Gibran – Marriage – a translation

Marriage || Kahlil Gibran in ‘The Prophet’

Myth of Sisyphus – Essential Extracts

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of…

Children, these children!

life-as-it-happens

I was on a trip with a bunch of kids. About a couple of hours into the journey, kids were getting bored so we start asking riddles and telling jokes.
One of my fellow adults…

Summary – Education and the significance of life – J Krishnamurti

This book is about education, its significance to life and how education can help one find the significance of life. In this series of lectures, Krishnamurti explores and…

C/o Kancharapalem

I rarely write about movies. Actually, Chitra and I watch movies rarely. The last one we watched together in a theatre was kahani in 2012. Yes, that rarely. And kahani came…

‘Autistic’ or ‘person with autism’?

What kind of language do we use to talk about people who are usually referred to as ‘special needs’ or ‘differently-abled’? There is a huge debate, usually framed in terms…

Transcending language – The Appeal of a Book

life-as-it-happens

Of late, I have been raving about the writings of sri vadrevu ch veerabhadrudu.

Unexamined assumptions / తరచి చూడని తలపులు

The heart anyway
Does what it sets its heart upon
But see how foolish the mind is
Postpones everything,
Thinking we have time enough!

నువ్వూ, నేనూ, ఆటిజం/You, me and Autism

I wrote this in Telugu first and now translated into English.

రచయితలూ రకాలూ…

రచయితలు, వారి రాతలు, రెండు రకాలు. అసలైతే చాలా రకాలు, కానీ ప్రస్తుతం రెండిటి గురించి మాట్టాడదామనుకుంటున్నా.

Wise planning in education

The most clear sighted explanation for the variety of approaches to education we see all around. From the preface of the book “education in search of a philosophy” by…

నేనెందుకు హోం వర్కు చెయ్యలేదంటే…

కెన్ నెస్బిట్ అమెరికన్ పిల్లల కవి. ఆయన పిల్లల కోసం హాస్య కవిత్వం రాస్తాడు. పిల్లల ఊహల్లాగే ఈయన కవితలు కూడా నమ్మశక్యం కాని సంఘటనలు, అద్భుతమైన సన్నివేశాలతో మొదలయ్యి, చివరికి ఈ…

మొన్ననే ఒక పెళ్లిలో కలిశాం

“బాగున్నావా?” అని పలకరిస్తాన్నేను.
“ఆ, బాగున్నా. నువ్వూ?”, అంటావు.
జవాబు అవసరంలేని ఖాళీ ప్రశ్న అడుగుతూ.

అంతర్గతం

నా ఆనంద సామ్రాజ్యానికి
వాకిలివి నువ్వన్న భావనలో
నాకూ ఆనందానికీ మధ్య
నువ్వొక్కత్తివే అడ్డన్న భావం
ఎంతలేదన్నా అంతర్గతం.

ఓ కూనలమ్మా…

పూబోడి ఇంటిబాట
పున్నాగ పూలతోట
విరగబడి పూసెనట
ఓ కూనలమ్మా!

అతడు – ఆమె

‘నీ జుట్టంటే నాకెంతిష్టమో తెలుసా’
చెవిలో గుసగుసలాడుతూ
సుతారంగా చేతివేళ్ళతో
కురుల కొసల్ని సవరించి
తాకీ తాకనట్లు
అతని మెడ వెనుక
ముద్దాడిందామె.

Sri Sri – no సింహావలోకనం

Turning back to review the past
Is not a habit with me
Once half a minute passes
It could be in the last century

ఖమ్మం, కృష్ణశాస్త్రీ, కవిత్వం వగైరా కబుర్లు

పోయిన గురువారం కవిసంగమం ఫేసుబుక్ గ్రూపులో అఫ్సర్ గారి అద్భుతమైన ‘ఎంట్రీ’ చదివి ఉత్తేజిత స్థితినుంచి కిందకి రాకముందే, వారు ఈ కామెంట్ పెట్టారు:

On turning 38…

Thank you all for the birthday wishes!!

On Teaching

Teaching is not about repeating what you learnt the way you were taught. It is about passing along your understanding/experience in a way that makes sense to others.

Sometimes I wish to be…

Sometimes I wish to be free of you,
You see, just like the tree
Swinging and swaying in the wind,
Wishes to float free of it’s roots.

Midlife thoughts, mid-week

“Failing at something you really want to do should be worth more than succeeding at anything else.”

Last chance to save your Orkut pictures – September 2016

life-as-it-happens

Or How I ignored all warnings, then needed some pictures last night and grabbed them just in time! And may be you should do the same, now!

IIMBaba: Time is NOT Money

On a calm Sunday morning, Baba said, to no one in particular:

The single biggest reason you are unhappy…

…is the easy availability of comparisons. Here is how it goes.

How logic can help keep friendships

Here are a couple of ideas that have helped me stay logically correct and keep my friendships longer.

On ‘being yourself’

We are all constantly advised to “be yourself”. While we all want to ‘be ourselves’, we obviously don’t like it when Salman Khan continues to be himself. Here is my solution…

Paul Graham’s Disagreement Hierarchy

This is especially for people who like to interact with others, on Facebook and elsewhere. Awareness and understanding of this hierarchy (and obviously, the willingness to…

Adventuring in Nilgiris – Birdspotting

life-as-it-happens

I was an “Adventure Intern” at NALS, Coonoor – so were the wife, kid and the dog. That meant we got to spend time living and walking around in a tea estate and the jungle…

On achieving success and happiness

I was very surprised the other day to get an invitation to speak at the graduation day ceremony at Acharya Institutes of Management, but accepted out of curiosity. Must say…

Who killed Karna?

Just completed a project – young team, tight timelines, new technical tools etc. and sat down to think about how it went, what went right/wrong and so on. In such an…

Are you happy?

Are you happy?

Meaning of Life

IIMBaba was reading a book review online and came across a quote at the beginning of this review: Tweets Alain de Botton, philosopher, author, and now online aphorist: “The…

Babaspeak: On Work

I have been working hard in the last two weeks – at least I feel that way, may be as I have come back to consulting after a year of happily teaching English classes. So, the…

Hangover

A bewitching sea beckons

The oak tree and the blades of grass

Once there was an oak tree. It grew big and strong, as oak trees generally do. It did not know any other way of growing. When wind blew, it moved happily but as it grew…

Not eating eggs

I was once sharing rooms with a friend who did not eat eggs.

Sublime Sentiments/ Postmodernist Prattle/ Nonsense Notes

(choose a title after you are done reading or feel free to substitute with one of your own)

En-counters of the Super-market kind

life-as-it-happens

A visit to a library, any library, typically makes me very happy. The notion of standing surrounded by so many books on so many topics by so many authors is in itself very…

Dean: On The Road

Just about finished reading On The Road. I dig Dean Moriatry and his quest for IT. I dig his digging the kind of things he digs. I dig Sal digging the same things, a little…

The Michael Bailey Dildo Scandal

EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING, if you haven’t figured it out already! 🙂

Foto Phun: More on Dosa Masters

life-as-it-happens

Some of you nice guys, who have been reading this blog for sometime, might remember the Dosa Craftsmanship yours truly once showed off. For others, here it is.

A walk in the hills

life-as-it-happens

We were in Timbaktu a couple of weeks back. This time, we went there on the new bike. 165 kilometers. Three of us. The road was very good, it’s a 4 lane highway now and the…

Babaspeak: Happiness, Freedom and Peace

One fine morning, Senior Bhakta, checking his mail while in IIMBaba’s presence, received this ‘Thought for the Day’ in his email inbox.

UID: the downside

For sometime now, I have been thinking of the UID scheme and wondering why the negative side of the system has not been getting any attention, while there seems to be a lot…

Babaspeak: Equanimity

Senior Bhakta came to IIMBaba in a state of ecstasy and said ”My boss told me today after an HR team meeting that he admires me for my willingness to talk straight”

Dead Beat, Donaghy, Prelutsky and poetry

I have just finished reading Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs and The Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson. It’s an interesting book, written with obvious…

Foto Phun: Contemporary Cave Paintings

life-as-it-happens

What the…&@#$?!

life-as-it-happens

I am not generally given to ranting in public about nonsense on TV shows and in newspapers. I prefer to avoid them, which is why I don’t have a TV at home and these days…

Foto Phun: Dosa craftsmanship

life-as-it-happens

Now you will agree that the reputation of yours truly as a Dosamaster is fully justified. Thank you!

Babaspeak: Renunciation

Senior Bhakta, having got tired of the cryptic preaching of IIMBaba, decided to explore the world for more worthy gurus and went to an ‘orientation session’ conducted by…

Foto Phun: At Landmark sale

life-as-it-happens

Infibeam Pi: A regular reader’s review

I had been thinking of buying an e-book reader ever since Amazon announced Kindle. So, when Infibeam announced Pi around a year (or more) back, I noticed it immediately.…

The Pleasures of a Lexophile

As such, I love words. And these days I have been teaching Verbal Ability classes for CAT (I know, I know, what to do? One has to eat, no?) and GRE. So, I spend enough and…

Life altering views on LinkedIn

Due to extreme joblessness, I have been trying to spruce up my profile on LinkedIn (though I haven’t yet been able to talk myself into writing a ‘summary’ of me). Naturally…

Babaspeak: It’s a game of chess

IIMBaba’s discourse that day was about ‘karmanyevaadhikaaraste….’ from Bhagavadgita, where Lord Srikrishna said things to the effect that you have an obligation to perform…

Babaspeak: Understanding self

After a particularly lengthy discourse by IIMbaba, Senior Bhakta got hold of the Junior Baba (who was the Senior Bhakta before he jumped ship in to baba-hood) while coming…

Of bottle gourds and political stability

I am one of the breed derogatorily referred to as ‘bleeding hearts’. Among other things, we believe that organised retail drives small business out of the market and…

Helmets, Onion Samosa and MTR Sweets

life-as-it-happens

We wanted to buy a helmet for the kid. A week went by in making sure that no helmet shop in and around my place has one. Then we spied a kid with a helmet. While I was…

Babaspeak: Rebels

Bhakta, returning from another painful session of an organizational development effort, asked IIMBaba – “Baba, why don’t these people who call themselves ‘rebels’ simply…

Does it matter?

Single column news on the first page of The Hindu today:

Sex – more than one mystery

There was a time when I read books almost without consideration for the subjects. I would pick up any book and generally read. Then started the phase when I had favorites…

Babaspeak: Gambling

Senior Bhakta and one of his juniors in the firm went out for a chai. A group of unkempt looking people were sitting on the kerb and were playing a rustic version of ludo…

The Same Old Story

Of late, I have been thinking about this book called ‘The Same Old Story’ by Ivan Goncharov. I had read that book really long back. Like, sometime when I was in high school…

A Summer Shower

The other day we went to visit an uncle in Dwaraka. He lives in a well maintained housing society- open lawn inside, silent generators, ground floor dedicated to parking and…

Babaspeak: Paradigm shifts and kickboxing

Senior Bhakta was asked by a new joinee in the ranks of IIMBaba disciples: “Dude, how can I become a good management professional like you?”. Sr. Bhakta promised to look out…

Pennies, Buses and Perspectives

life-as-it-happens

In three years of my stay in Delhi, I traveled by buses some 6 times. There, I told you the fact; now I will leave you to get judgmental about it.

Babaspeak: Lofty quotes on taglines

IIMBaba spotted a lofty quote on Bhakta’s tagline – some ‘freedom, thought, mind, persistence, action, virtue, awake and alive, knowledge and wisdom’ types – and pinged to…

The Quest for an opener

life-as-it-happens

I love multipurpose tools. They are like, so multi purpose. And so handy. And, you know, some times, so discreet.

Chowringhee shortlisted for The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2010

My copy of Sankar’s Chowringhee was bought in Calcutta airport a couple of years ago. I picked it up not because I knew anything about it but because I was looking for a…

Friend and Manager

IIMBaba noticed a GTalk tagline and read it aloud: “Give your best friend a look and they know exactly what you are thinking…”

Book Review – Krishnavatara

Like most Indians, I can also claim to have grown up listening to stories of Rama and Krishna – Lord Rama, the upholder of human virtue, the unflinching hero who stood for…

Babaspeak: Intelligence and Knowledge

As the Bhakta, once more, prepared himself to tackle a hitherto-unheard-of problem in a hitherto-unknown-industry, IIMBaba (Registered Trademark) sought to caution him.

The Tale of a Tribute and two readings

When I read in the morning newspaper about Management Guru CK Prahlad passing away, I thought I would scour the internet in the hope of finding sufficiently amusing…

Book Review – Ian Rankin

The first time I came across Ian Rankin was while reading an account of the interaction between him and Prakash Karat titled “crime fiction is about social inequality” in…

Babaspeak: Freedom

And then said IIMBaba (Registered trademark): “Bhakta, there is nothing called freedom. You live your life in a set of nested cages. As soon as you break free from one, you…

Here we go!

This is my first blog post… (did you know there is a yet-to-be-named disease, the main symptom of which is stating-the-obvious?? There is.)