Jothi's Private notes...

On Writing:

Hemingway began his day by sharpening 20 pencils.

Victor Hugo used to keep his feet immersed in warm water as he wrote.

Anthony Trollope-despite his full time job in the post office was able to write two dozen novels of considerable length, by regularly working at them for 3 hours a day completing a quota of 750 words a day at the fixed rate of 250 words an hour.

Churchill used to shut himself up every morning and would not emerge until he had written 3000 words.

Herbert Spencer once hazarded the view that a monkey tapping a typewriter for millions of years might finally blunder into the production of a great epic.

Every man has at least one book in him, if only he would try to write it.

Astrology

Is fun, no doubt, in its amiable Micawber role of assuring us that something is likely to turn up. As for misfortunes, we may think our stars that what they foretell do not usually come true. Of course, astrologers are not wrong all the time. That would be impossible. Even a clock that has stopped tells the correct time twice a day!

Public Opinion

Deference to popular opinion may be all right, if you merely want to get on in the world. But if the worlds’ first aviators had differed to public opinion, they would not have got up into the skies. They were considered crazy to think of flying about in a machine heavier than air.

Edison’s teachers were agreed that he was a dunce. We may be thankful that he and a host of other benefactors of the human race refused to see themselves as the said human race saw them.

Joke:

Send me an e-mail said the boss. And the employee wondered how the boss could ask him to send a female.

A gala day was mistaken for a gal a day!

Quotes:

Nothing gives a person more leisure than being on time for appointments!

Young’s Law: I+ E= M, (Intelligence + Effort= Merit)

Emile Coule told of the wonders one could work by telling oneself every morning and several times during the day,” Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better”.

“The impossible is often the untried.”

Vasco da Gama

B;1460 at Sines,Portugal was the son of a Governor of the province of Alemtejo. He had a distinguished record as both soldier and sailor and then commanded by the then King Emmanuel after the death of the Navigator, to find a sea route to India.

He was given the latest designed 3 ships-2 of 120 tons and one of 50 tons, then comparatively larger than those used by Diaz. Da Gamma commanded one ship, his brother Paul another and an old friend Nicolau Coelho, the third. In addition there was a small stores hip. Sufficient stores were taken onto last for at least two years consisting of hard biscuits , meat, wine , with rice, codfish and cheese for fast days. Gama also took things like mirrors, bells, fine clothes.

He sailed for India from Lisbon on 8^th July, 1497, He captured a Muslim vessel and on questioning came to know that Christian ships from India were in Malindi. The king there was friendly and exchanged gifts and Gama was entertained for nine days. He was given a pilot to guide him across the ocean to India and he set sail on April 24, 1498 and reached Calicut one month later.

Though received by the friendly King, the Arabs there were jealous and managed to bring a fight between Hindus and Gama. Gama was himself kidnapped and would surely have been murdered had it not been for the swift action of his brother, who seized some leading citizens of Calicut and held them as hostages until Da Gama was safely returned. He reached Cannanore, some 50 miles up the coast and established friendly trading relationships. In Nov. of that year the ships their holds full of spices, at last set off on the long return journey home.

The return was full of troubles… storms, diseases became common. Only one third lived to see Portugal again, even Da Gama’s brother Paulo died on the way. They were welcomed grandly when they touched Lisbon in Sept.

Robinson Crusoe’s prototype was Alexander Selkirk.

First men to fly in balloon were Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d’Arlandes on Nov 20, 1785, in the presence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

However the first astronauts were a sheep, a cock and a duck. They made their historic flight at Versailles on 19^th Sept 1783, watched by Louis XIV, his family and 1,30,000 of his subjects and the Montgolfier brothers who started it all.

Rosetta Stone inscription-key to Egyptian history- found by Napoleon’s soldier in Egypt while capturing it. British took hold of it when they defeated French and housed it in British Museum

Quotes:.

He who likes to generalize, generally lies

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body- Joseph Addison.

. Suez Canal:

Was suggested to Napoleon by experts around 1800.

Built by N. Ferdinand de Lesseps and inaugurated in Nov 17-20, 1869.

Connects Mediterranean with Red Sea, flowing through the land of Egypt.

Took ten years

Britain objected to it at first for fear that the new short route to India might fell under the influence of powers hostile to Britain.

Cuts the distance by two thousand leagues.

A sweet water canal was dug by the side of the real one to supply water to the workers-forced labour- from Nile.

60 Monster dredging machines specially designed, removed sand at the rate of 2 million cubic metres a month.

Cost about 500 millions francs.

achievement brought about by a single Frenchman.