Tides of Thoughts

  Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer My rating: 5 of 5 stars INTO THIN AIR is an interesting read. It is a chronicle of events that happened during the Everest expedition in May 1996 where 11 climbers died in 2 days in an erred attempt to reach the summit. The book starts with a mundane narration of how the author Jon Krakauer became a part of the expedition and what went thru his mind before the expedition. The narration picks up speed and vigour from the time the expedition reaches the base camp and intensifies as the team reaches the summit. Melancholy creeps in as the author unveils the unfortunate events on the day of approaching the summit. A bit of eery calmness descended into the narration once the narration of dreadful events is completed. Overall, it is an interesting read to know about the perils associated with mountaineering at high altitudes. View all my reviews

One of my friends highlighted recent RTI information from RBI about NPAs and write-offs citing an article from Indian Express. Before going into the details mentioned in the article, let me go through the technical terms like Stressed assets, NPA, provisions for bad debts, Write-off, Waive-off, and ARC (Asset Reconstruction Company). Stressed assets - A loan is an asset for the bank since it earns interest on loans. A stressed asset in banking terminology is any loan that has become an NPA and undergoing a legal process for recovery. So, what is NPA? NPA - NPA is an acronym for Non-Performing Asset. A loan is termed as NPA when the repayment of principal or interest is not made as per the schedule for more than 90 days. Every loan given by a bank will have a certain risk of default. Banks will assess such risk at the time of disbursement of loan and such risk is actually covered by provisioning for bad debts at the end of every financial year. So, what is this provisioning for bad debt

(Long Read Alert - 14 mins 38 secs reading time). Judiciary - A single word that defines the justice delivery system in any country. In an autocracy, the judiciary's function is simple: to safeguard the interests of its master. But in a democracy, the function of the judiciary is more vibrant and complex. Being said that the primary function of the Indian judiciary as intended by the Constitution of India is to provide justice for every citizen by interpreting the laws made by the legislature and to safeguard the citizens from the breach of fundamental rights by internal or external forces. In this process of providing a legal framework for the country, the judiciary is intended to work with different interest groups like legislature, executive, media, political, religious, and social groups with specific objectives. It will be naive to assume that all groups will have the same objectives, intentions, and mottos. So, the judiciary has an interesting job of interpreting the

Everyone who has read, watched, or listened to Mahabharata might be aware of " Gandhari ", the queen of Hastinapura, wife of Dritarashtra, and mother of Kauravas. Many people know Kauravas, Gandhari, and their rivalry with the Pandavas which led to the great battle of Kurukshetra. But how Kauravas were born is an interesting episode to understand how we all have Gandhari in us. So, How are Kauravas born?  Sage Dwaipayana gave a boon to Gandhari to have 100 sons as a token of appreciation for her hospitality during his stay at Hastinapura. She became pregnant after some time and was pregnant for nearly two years. Yes, you read it right. Gandhari was pregnant for two years. Even after two years of pregnancy, there are no signs of delivery. Meanwhile, Kunti delivered Yudishtara as a healthy baby with normal pregnancy.  In haste and frustration, Gandhari pressurized her womb. Due to this untimely action of Gandhari, the fetus got delivered as a massive lump of flesh and not as a