Concept of Zero is incomplete!

The Concept of Zero is incomplete, in that, it shows only the final result, but doesnt show what all went into making that zero.

For eg, if the cash flow for a company be:
Costs = Currency 100
Revenues = Currency 100
Net Result = Currency 0
then, although the net result is 0, on analysis we can see that the company did a lot of things over time, made products, sold them, covered costs, etc etc. The 0 doesnt convey all this by itself.

To know the entity, you have got to see the flow of events, rather than basing your judgement on the final result.

The same goes for a student who attempted a great many questions in a competitive test with negative marking, whose positives balanced off with the negatives. You would know more about the student only by evaluating the kind of questions he/she answered.

Well, the same holds for any X - Y = 0... How would '0' tell the story that there was once an 'X' and a 'Y'?

Ending the post with all due respect to the ancient civilisations that discovered the concept of Zero.

How make Sambar from scratch

How to Make Sambar from Scratch With Whole Spices

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

This is a recipe on how to make traditional south Indian Sambar starting with whole spices, sans ready-to-cook Sambar powder, is easy to make, and tastes even better! Make sure to have it with cooked rice, and Papad (fried rice biscuit) or even chips. Its wonderful with Idli and Dosa. With plain bread too!

Ingredients

• to make Sambar for 4 servings.
  

Vegetables

• 1 yam
  
• 1 potato
  
• half a carrot
  
• 2-3 inch piece ashgourd (kumbalanga)
  
• 1 drumstick
  
• 1 tomato
  
• any variety of suitable veggies such as pumpkin, gourds, eggplant, etc.
  
• lentils - ask for yellow Sambar lentils (dhal)
  

For the masala

• 4-5 whole red chillies
  
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
  
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
  
• 1 pinch asafoetida block
  

For the garnishing

• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
  
• 1 handful coriander leaves
  
• 3 tbsp oil. Coconut oil tastes best (or you could go with any vegetable or sunflower oil)
  

Steps

1. Take a cup of sambar dhal (lentil) add water and boil in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. If you dont have a pressure cooker, boil the dhal with water in a vessel till it becomes soft and crushy.
   
2. Put a small lime sized tamarind portion in a small bowl of water.
   
3. Add 2 tbsp oil into a pan. Fry the whole red chillies, coriander (dhaniya) seeds, fenugreek (methi) seeds and asafoetida piece in this oil, until the coriander seeds become a light brown.
   
4. Grind the fried spices (masala) in a mixer-grinder with a little water till it is a fine paste.
   
5. Cut veggies (except tomato) into inch cubes (see vegetable options in Ingredients), and boil with water in a vessel along with haldi (turmeric). After 10 minutes add in salt to taste (2 tbsp of rock salt tastes best), and squeeze the tamarind water into the vessel with veggies. Throw away the tamarind rind after 2-3 such extractions. Let the mixture boil until the veggies are cooked.
   
6. Add the masala paste and cooked lentil (dhal) to the boiled vegetables, and cook to boil the Sambar. Make sure the watery content is more than the vegetables.
   
7. Heat mustard seeds in 1 tbsp oil till they splutter. Add this to the Sambar.
   
8. Garnish with chopped coriander (dhaniya) leaves.
   

Warnings

• Be careful in operating the pressure cooker! Make sure you wait awhile and remove the weight after the steam goes out completely.
  

Things You'll Need

• Pressure cooker. Or a vessel to boil lentil (dhal) in.
  
• A large vessel to make the sambar in. We use rock vessels.
  
• A pan to fry the spices in. A kerala-chinese wok made of iron is commonly used.
  

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Tour to Delhi - Simla - Agra

My husband and I chanced upon my friend Payal's wedding to take a tour of Delhi, Shimla and Agra, in November 2009. It was a wonderful experience covering the bustling monumental city of Delhi, the cool mountains of Shimla and the Mughal grandeur of Agra.

Initially, we took a tour of Delhi, and saw the monuments in old History text books come up in 3D.

The India gate standing proud brought a choke to our hearts when we read the names of the soldiers who had died fighting for the British in the 2nd world war. An army band playing in the garden pictured in perfectly with the feel. A long walk from the India gate to the Rashtrapati Bhavan got us talking about India's freedom struggle, politics, social issues and the culture of Delhiites, among other things.

We moved on to see the Qutb Minar and the Iron pillar where the intricate Mughal architecture still stands tall, literally. Sadly, these days the structures are kept off-limits so you cant really get a 'feel' of them. Nevertheless, the feat of constructing a tall imarat in those times was definitely to a great accomplishment. However, man's quest to build taller continues to today, as we can see in the skyscrapers.

We were walking within Dilli Haat, soaking in the varied shapes and colours of handicrafts from all over India, when suddenly a traditional Sri Lankan peacock dance appeared amongst us, like from nowhere!

A ride through the classy Delhi Metro took us to the other main places, such as Chandni Chowk and Connaught place. But the most enjoyable of all was our visit to Bangla Sahib Gurdwara. An impressively huge structure of marble, a beautiful pool within, round-the-clock food for all who come, and Sikh volunteers queueing up to serve all who visit, from storing your shoes to washing your plates. We had delicious Roti and Sabji here, seated on a carpet with people from every strata of society; a great leveller. This institution has kept its promise that no one who comes should be refused food and no one should die out of starvation; they have proved that it is possible!


Our journey to Shimla started by an overnight train journey from Delhi to Kalka. From Kalka to Shimla it was by a heritage toy-train, which began its slow ascent to the foot-hills of the Himalayas even as it was breaking dawn.

Once in Shimla, we visited the tourist destinations of the Ridge, the Mall, Scandal point, Christ Church (all in a walking circle). Sweaters and artifacts made of Pine wood were a good buy. The Hanuman temple on Jakhu hill has monkeys that take off your spectacles and return them only if you give them nuts to eat! Further on we went upto Kufri, a peak that's snow-covered in the winter. We found a temple, some Yaks brought in from Tibet along with a Yak lady from Bengal, and the most magnificent sight of the Himalayas afar.

We descended from the heavens back to Delhi, and went onward to Agra, all by train. In Agra we had only one agenda... the Taj Mahal. We did it complete justice by spending 3 hours in the Taj; walking, sitting, lying, touching the marble that maketh the wonder.

After buying a small version of the Taj (and learning the hard way that you must buy it from the Government handicraft store) , we returned to Delhi by the Taj express train, sipping on Taj tea, saying...... 'Wah Taj!'