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Spot on!

There are 11 differences between the two pictures. Can you spot them all?

These pictures are not identical and there are 11 reasons why. Can you find them all?

Around the world in a jiffy

Short story for you! There’s a surprise at the door. See what John does with his find.

Follow John on his travels across the world. Scroll through these slides to read the story.

Peek into the past

A glorious city with a historic past. How much do you know about Athens?

Think Athens and, among other things, the Olympic Games is sure come up. Athens was the first city to host the games. The city, however, is famous for other things too.

The capital of Greece, it is one of the world’s oldest cities, dating back to over 3,500 years. It is also the oldest capital city in Europe. Theatre flourished here. The Dionysia, a theatrical festival in honour of the god Dionysus, was held here. It was in Athens that many modern theatre concepts such as themes, genres, themes, and others originated. In fact, the Athenian love for theatre remains strong till date: there are about 150 stages in the city even today. It is also known for its association with reading: in 2018, UNESCO designated the city as a World Book Capital.

Here is a fun game revolving around this ancient city. This puzzle is a variant of sudoku where the grid contains letters instead of numbers. Solve it by ensuring each letter of the word – ATHENS- fits exactly once in each row, column and 2*3 grid.

Literary landmarks

Discover the iconic locations where some prominent Indian authors once lived and wrote their famous works.

With World Book and Copyright Day (April 23) just gone by, let’s wander through a few museums that were once homes of well-known authors.

As you read about each location, try and unravel their photos.

R.K. Narayan

Located in Yadavagiri, Mysuru, this double-storeyed house was built by the author in 1952. Though roomy and airy, the house offers a rather austere appearance. The living room on the ground floor has a red-cemented floor, wide verandahs and a balcony. The walls are filled with photographs of Narayan at various stages of life and his awards, of which the most prominent is the Padma Vibhushan. There are two other rooms with various memorabilia such as his collection of ties and anecdotes from his life framed on the walls. One is about meeting and falling in love with Rajam in Coimbatore in 1933. Another about how the English author Graham Greene helped Narayan publish his books. More stories await in another room on the first floor. The author’s study, also on the first floor, contains a complete collection of his works in a no-fuss arrangement.

Subramania Bharati

A fiery Tamil poet and patriot, Subramania Bharati’s songs continue to enthrall listeners even today. His house in Chennai’s Triplicane was renovated and renamed Mahakavi Bharathiyar Museum-cum-Research Centre in 2016. Located just behind the ancient Parthasarathy temple, the musuem showcases photographs, and letters, scripts and books written by the poet. The house has been renovated to look exactly as it would have when the poet lived there.

Mahasweta Devi

In Kolkata, the house where the famous Bengali author spent her last years has been converted into a museum. Displays include a collection of her personal letters to her friends and relatives and photographs. Urban legend has it that some parts of the house were left untouched because one can hear someone whispering. The outside wall features an excellent portrait of the writer.

Rabindranath Tagore

Known as Jorasanko Thakur Bari, this is the house where India’s first Nobel Laureate for Literature was born. Renovated to look the way it did when the Tagore family lived there, the museum has a huge collection of memorabilia – more than 2000 books, over 750 journals, around 3000+ photographs and paintings, sculptures and furniture. Of the paintings, 40 are by Rabindranath Tagore. His notebooks are also showcased. Visitors can also view the poet-artist’s Humber car, which has been preserved there.

About spheres and discs

Sage Lomasa takes Kakabhushundi further into the mysteries of the Solar System. Read on to find out what happens.

In the last episode, Kakabhushundi allowed himself to be caught by Rama, who mischievously put the crow into his mouth. Before Kausalya pulled him out, Kakabhushundi got a glimpse of various layers of the Earth, which Sage Lomasa explained to him as that below and above the surface. He also indicates that there were more mysteries forthcoming for Kakabhushundi to learn.

Sage Lomasa: Have you ever thought about the Solar System and why every planet is spherical and why most celestial objects spin? Let’s hear some answers from you before I tell you about it.

Kakabhushundi: Okay. I’ll try. Since most objects – whether planets, stars or galaxies – seem to be spherical spinning, may be is has something to do with the heavier part moving at the top and bottom like how we make dough balls. Bigger galaxies seem to be flat, like a chapathi.

Sage Lomasa: Any other ideas?

Kakabhushundi: What about spherical pebbles that are smoothened and shaped by the continuous movement of water around it? Does something similar happen in outer space as well?

Sage Lomasa: Both your answers are logical. Scientists like Einstein proposed the idea of dark matter as a particle, as it expands faster than the speed of light. Nobody has been able to prove it but most calculations that human science will make in their modern times will be based on considerations of dark matter as vacuum.

Kakabhushundi: I wonder why everything in the universe spins: atoms, molecules, planets, stars, solar systems, galaxies … where do they all go? Into some huge black hole?

Sage Lomasa: That is what we are trying to figure out. Have you heard of gravity?

Kakabhushundi: Yes of course. Newton’s questioning of why everything is pulled towards each other will lead to the Theory of Gravity. And Einstein later will come up with the concept of mass creating a dip in the fabric of space time.

Sage Lomasa: Exactly. Take any mass – planets, stars, or even a molecule – has its own gravity to pull and hold things in a spherical shape. Most of its gravity or pulling force is in the centre?

Kakabhushundi: Like our Sun with more mass in the centre holding the planets by its gravitational pull.

Sage Lomasa: Partly yess but that’s not the full answer. There are other reasons such as the God particle, the Theory of Special Relativity…

Kakabhushundi: Can you please keep it simple? Basically, gravity pulls things towards the centre and the sphere is the most ideal and efficient shape for this.

Sage Lomasa: Well yes. Technically the sphere is the most efficient 3D shape with large volume.

Kakabhushundi: Is that why water, when it floats in space, is spherical? But nothing seems to be a perfect sphere.

Sage Lomasa: Because gravity fluctuates, expands, contracts with highs and lows … therefore, the masses are imperfect spheres.

Kakabhushundi: Then what about the flattened discs?

Sage Lomasa: That is due to something called centripetal force, which tries to overcome the gravitational pull but ends up sticking together in a disc shape. You can escape gravitational influence with the help of high spin and angular momentum, but the rapid spinning can cause the flat disc shape. Like black holes and galaxies.

Kakabhushundi: Wait, let me see if I got it right. The spherical shape is due to gravity and the flat disc shape is due to high spin. But how do they spin?

Sage Lomasa: We don’t have a clear explanation for that. All we know is that spin is a fundamental quality of a particle in quantum mechanics like gravitational pull and angular momentum. Experiments with the human body spinning in a chair show that the spin in faster closer to the centre and slower when farther out. However, there are some rare particles like Helium 4 nucleus that does not spin. For now, it looks like everything spins but there is not substantial proof.

Kakabhushundi (groans): This is all so confusing. Can we stop here and do something else?

Sage Lomasa: All right. I’ll show you how to make a scaled-down model of the Solar System.

The author is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech startup that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.

The air we breathe

How do we get oxygen from the air to our body cells and get carbon dioxide out? Find out with this video.

The air we breatheFeatured Video Play Icon

Let the show begin!

Each field has a specific set of terms unique to it. This crossword is all about the world of theatre.

What is a prompt? Or the wings? Where is the backstage or the greenroom? These are terms that belong to the world of theatre. This crossword tells you about the more common words used by actors and theatre folks. Go on, see how many you can find with the help of the clues.

Yin and yang

Watch this video about antonyms and take the quiz in the end to see how many questions you can get right.

What does the word ‘antonym’ mean? Watch this video to find out.


Courtesy: Canva

When words wander

Some interesting nuggets of information about cities designated as World Book Capitals over the years.

The UNESCO World Book Capital (WBC) initiative acknowledges cities that champion books and cultivate reading habits throughout the year. Each year, commencing on April 23 (World Book and Copyright Day), the designated cities undertake various activities to promote a reading culture across all age groups, while also embodying UNESCO’s core values. Here is a list of the cities that made it to the list in the past 10 years. Read on.