Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Arithmetic and economics with Jayalalitha

Puttachi is totally taken with this whole Jayalalitha episode. She is following the story with fascination.  When I told her that when the police raided her house, they found 800 kg silver, 28 kg gold, 10,500 sarees, 750 pairs of shoes and 91 watches, her eyes grew wide, and after that, she hasn't stopped thinking nor talking about it.

Note that the "Amma" in the conversation below is me, and not Amma Jayalalitha.

Puttachi: Amma, what will she do with so much stuff? Totally unnecessary!  They should just let her keep 10 sarees, 1 pair of shoes, and 1 watch, and give away 10,490 sarees, 749 pairs of shoes and 90 watches to the poor.

*After an hour*

Amma I have a better idea. What if the poor don't want sarees and shoes and watches?  So what they should do is - open a mall, and call it Jayalalitha Mall. They should put all this up for sale, and give the money from the sale to the poor.

*After another hour*

Amma, how big her house must be, if she had all this in her house! Then how much would she have spent on building the house?

*Half an hour later.*

Amma, just imagine, how many cupboards she would need for 10,500 sarees!
Me: How many do you think she would need?  If 1 cupboard can hold 50 sarees, how many cupboards will she need for 10,500 sarees?
Puttachi: 10,500 divided by 50! *Grabs a pencil*

*Some time later*
Amma, how much money would she have spent on buying all that?
Me: Calculate. If one saree costs Rs.6000, and if one pair of shoes cost Rs.800 and if one watch costs Rs.4000, then how much did she spend on the sarees, shoes and watches?
Puttachi: *works it out furiously*

We'll add the gold and silver, and get back to you with the final figure :)

Whoever thought you could use Jayalalitha to teach kids arithmetic? 
 

Monday, September 29, 2014

Kukkarahalli Kere on Mint Lounge

My article on my favourite lake, Kukkarahalli Lake is a part of Mint Lounge's travel special issue.  Read it here.   You can read the rest of the stories here.

I've written about it on my blog before, several times, here.

 
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