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“Square versus Round”

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Padmasrinivas, Dec 16, 2009.

  1. Padmasrinivas

    Padmasrinivas Silver IL'ite

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    “Square versus Round”

    ‘In Geometry, a square is a plain figure with four equal sides. Did you know that John Wayne of the Wild West movies and Charlton Heston, the Moses of ‘The Ten Commandments’ and Ben-Hur, were considered handsome because of their square-jaws!’

    ‘In Mathematics, the square of a quantity is the second power of the quantity, i.e., when it is multiplied by itself, for example 49 is the square of 7…’

    ‘Town planners build a square on an open area or plaza in cities at the intersection of two or more streets, sometimes with a small park in the centre. Tourist attractions include <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:smarttags" /><st1:Street><st1:address>Trafalgar Square</st1:address></st1:Street> in <st1:City><st1:place>London</st1:place></st1:City>, <st1:place>Times Square</st1:place> in <st1:State><st1:place>New York</st1:place></st1:State>, the Piazza San Marco in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>, La Place de la Concorde in <st1:City><st1:place>Paris</st1:place></st1:City>…’

    ‘A square is also an informal way (read slang!) of referring to a person who is ignorant or uninterested in current trends or tastes, someone who is not ‘with-it’ or ‘savvy’… in other words, one who is conservative or conventional.’

    Another interesting bit I learnt is that the flower bud of the cotton plant is called a square!!!

    ‘A round, on the other hand, is something shaped like a ball, a sphere or a globe…’

    ‘A round of parties are being planned for the New Year.’

    ‘We’d prefer a round trip* fare (I mean dinner menu), specially when the number is a round dozen!’

    ‘We’re the Knights of the Round Table!’

    ‘The round-robin tournament is heading towards the Knock-Out stage…’

    ‘Let’s round off the discussion. Watch out, she’s ready to blow her top!’ (giggle, giggle).

    A quick salvo, nay, a round of ammunition hit my ears as I muttered to myself ‘Square versus Round’…. and made my head spin round and round…

    A big mistake, I realised, with my nieces and nephews and all their friends swarming all over the place!

    And I was only trying to decide whether to go for the Square or Round ‘Stack and Store' kitchen containers!

    * Round-trip translation involves translating a text (source) into another language (target) and then re-translating the resulting target text back into the source language… one always ends up with a text that hardly matches the original! (Oops! hope this makes sense…)

    (Sorry readers, I could not resist adding this little bit of trivia!)


    Padma Srinivas
     
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  2. iyerviji

    iyerviji Finest Post Winner

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    Dear Padma

    As usual another good post from you . Nice to learn about square and round. Since I wanted to have the pleasure of giving the first fb I cant think of anything immediately. Will come back later.

    love
    viji
     
  3. Jpatma

    Jpatma Silver IL'ite

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    Devatman padma,
    Wow ! now i learnt more about squares and rounds, but hope iam not square peg in a round hole.

    What a play of language, i really wish i had it in me.

    I see divinity in the geometry, just impose round and squares and add in a bit of triangles - yantras emerges - symbolic energies of God.

    I bow down to the Bhavani maa in you

    Jaya
     
  4. Padmini

    Padmini IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Padma,
    What a brilliant write-up connecting geometry with life!! The flow of your language and your mastery over language make me envy with green!!

    The physical image of a square circle proves a challenge to conjure up in the mind,
    [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] When you think about the ring in which a boxer performs it's just a big square. But a boxer's movement within that square is circular. He/she must always be moving to avoid being hit or worse, knocked out![/FONT]I always feel that "You stop, you get dropped!" In many ways that's the way life is. We seem to always be boxed in by all these problems whether it's stress from work [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] bills, family etc.
    [/FONT]Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. ”If the supermarkets want a space efficient watermelon,” they asked themselves, “How can we provide one?” It wasn’t long before they invented the square watermelon. I do not want to go long, to make your head go round:spin
    with love
    pad
     
  5. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

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    Padma dear,

    If the decision of choosing between square and round boxes, brings out this piece, I am in awe thinking what more should be up your sleeve.

    Oh, you are all masters in your using the language.

    I was thinking if you are going to take a dig at the square and round bellies :)hide:).

    Symmetries in the squares and rounds, do talk a lot about life. some things in life are always running parallel and some things are always in circles or rounds..(hmm spelled it out. this was another thought running in my mind)

    Jaya, so true a few triangles and you have the cosmic energy bound.

    Hugs to you.
     
  6. Ranise

    Ranise Junior IL'ite

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    Nice topic ! The title at once reminded me of my childhood school friend.

    Exam days were 'no round' days for her. She believed that if she ate anything that was 'round', she would get a 'round' ( zero ) in the exam. Her mom used to make square chappati's, sqare dosa's etc. I wonder how she would have made idli's if that was the menu for the exam day !!. :rotfl

    Lovely connection between geometric shapes and life.

    Regards
    Rani
     
  7. Padmasrinivas

    Padmasrinivas Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Viji,

    You are always there to kick-start the fbs to all our posts.... a lucky mascot, I feel!

    Thank you so much, I shall await a longer comment from you...

    Love,

    Padma
     
  8. Padmasrinivas

    Padmasrinivas Silver IL'ite

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    My Atma-Sakhi Jaya,

    How can you ever be a square peg.... in any shape of hole, for that matter! You fit in so beautifully in any scenario or situation...

    And what a lovely analogy of the Yantras by juxtaposing squares, circles and triangles... you have so much more to share by way of such innovative ideas...:bowdown

    Bhavani Maa walks with you, my priya Atma-Sakhi...

    Loads of love,

    Padma


     
  9. Lalitha Shivaguru

    Lalitha Shivaguru Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Mami,

    Reading this piece I was reminded of the yester year movie title vattathukkulle chadhuram starring Latha & Sumithra.

    But you made me go round & round deiphering this post finally it is choosing a square and a round containers.

    Mami you are the ultimate...I tell you..mark my words.
     
  10. Padmasrinivas

    Padmasrinivas Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Padmini,

    I must doff my hat to your description of the boxer in his ring that is square and his circular movements to avoid being knocked about till his head reels around in circles!!!!

    I too read about the ingenious experiment with square-shaped watermelons for easy packaging and shipping... only the innovative Japanese can try such stuff!!!

    Your reply is really too good, Pad my friend... as it always is...

    Love,
    Padma
     

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