“Listen:
my father speaks Urdu
language of dancing peacocks
rosewater fountains
even its curses are beautiful.”

(Shailja Patel, Migritude)

No image could do justice to the emotion I wanted to convey to you while describing my mother-tongue.

Maybe its the woman in left, that reminded me of all those days I spent in India and spoke Urdu or the three abayah clad women behind seated with their children that reminded me of Urdu. …

As unbelievable this may sound, the humans that inhabited Earth thousands of years ago were not dumb. They did not just eat bananas and swing from one tree to the next. If anything our ancestors were smart and brave. Living in the wilderness sharpened their survival instincts. They knew when to fight and when to let go of the urge and live in peace. Our ancestors and their cousins were sophisticated, intelligent, and hard-working.

1. They owned inbuilt pesticide beds

Ancient humans didn’t have one of those fancy mattresses you own, but they were very clever in putting together a comfortable place to sleep on. Archaeologists have discovered remains of cosy grass beds in Border Caves of South Africa, suggesting the existence of beds 200,000 years ago. …

1. New Year in Ancient Egypt

Celebrating a new year is not a recent development. New Year celebrations have been around for a long time — as long as 5000 years ago, during the Bronze Age in ancient Egypt.

They had a celebration known as the Wepet Renpet, during which the Egyptians celebrated their transition into a new year with lots of food and alcohol. Coincidently, this festival was celebrated around the same time when flooding of the Nile river occurred each year. …

I wouldn’t say I like social media, yet I follow the weekly ritual of checking on people on different forums. No matter how hard I try, I cannot wholly disregard social media’s power in our lives. On some weeks, I love those thirty minutes of social bliss. On others, I regret pressing the application icon.

That day I made the mistake of opening Instagram for the second time in the whole week. While I scrolled down my feed, I quickly hearted every post that followed one after another.

Somebody got engaged. Somebody got married. Somebody changed their job. Somebody is now the boss. Somebody won a lottery — everybody fulfilling the next step towards a successful life. …

The crippled Timur, or Tamerlane, rose from nothing to create one of the greatest empires in the history of the world. At a time when disabled men like him didn’t live for long, he went ahead and not only survived but also became one of the greatest conquerors on Earth. His empire stretched from the Indian Subcontinent to the Mediterranean in the West.

Over 150 years before the birth of Timur, the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan ruled central Asia. After his death, a large portion of the empire was taken up by Chagatai Khan, the second eldest son of Genghis Khan. …

1. Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus first reached America in 1498. A year after Vasco da Gama discovered India, Columbus set out to find another distant, foreign island in May of 1498. On discovering the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela on the 5th of August 1498, Columbus became the first European ever to reach the American mainland.

There were four voyages that Columbus took on himself — of which, his final journey was of great significance in furthering the Age of Discovery. After exploring the American coasts, Columbus set up a temporary legion near the Belén River of Panama.

2. Vasco da Gama

Post-college is difficult.

Sometimes I wish there was a manual to guide me on what to do next. What to expect next. ⁣⁣Be it for better or worse — there isn’t any manual guiding how to ‘adult’ right. ⁣⁣

Following your dream is one thing, and following your passion is another. Finding a balance between the two — is what I aimed for after college. I always dreamt of becoming a scientist. Dream like this requires unwavering dedication and constant efforts. And I was always passionate about writing. But passion like this needs relentless practice and lots of attention.⁣⁣
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After completing my Masters, I decided to give my passion a little focus and at the same time didn’t let go of my instincts as a biological scientist. For the past six months, I have been working from home, doing research, reviewing scientific papers, learning, and then writing scientific articles in layman words for normal people to understand. It may sound pretty simple, but trust me, it isn’t. …

“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”

-Peter Drucker

Necessary communication takes place in two forms: verbal and nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is the form of sharing feelings, emotions, values, and thoughts through subtle body gestures and sense of touch. On the contrary, verbal communication entails the direct passing of information through written or spoken words.

Nonverbal form of communication is necessary to particularly emphasize, clarify, or reinforce a part of the complete message intended to be shared. …