Wingardium Leviosa! My talk on the Persecution of Witches

Presumed Guilty - A different take on the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale

Griselda hummed as she watered her plants. Her garden had little-known medicinal herbs, large, juicy fruits and vegetables, and a plot of grain. Having tended to her garden, she went to milk her cows and collect eggs. Her mind was on the rest of her work that day. She had to cook, brew her medicines, set her cakes and churn butter before the Sun rose high enough to light up her study table.

The cottage deep in the forest was convenient for a lot of things. The soil was fertile and her animals were happy. There were no intrusive eyes here, no ‘helpful’ advice on hiding her intelligence to win a husband and no gossip about her avoiding church. She was free to read her precious collection of books, and to interpret and contemplate religious texts. Hunters passed the cottage regularly, and they carried her medicines and funny-shaped cakes to the village. The money from this was enough for her needs.

As Griselda turned to enter her cottage, she spotted movement among the green bushes. She went closer, and saw two pale, tired children - a girl and a boy. She helped them inside. Once the children had had their fill of her cakes and milk, Griselda asked them how they ended up in the middle of the forest.

“My name is Hansel, and this is my sister Gretel.” the boy answered. “Our stepmother chased us out when our father was away, and we got lost in the forest.”

Hansel looking through her books. After a few days, Griselda noticed that H“How long have you been wandering here, child?” Griselda asked, frowning in concern.

“A week” said the girl, yawning. Her eyelids started to droop.

Griselda put them to sleep on beds of hay. “Stay and get your strength back, children.” She told them. “The next time the hunters come, they can take you back to your village.”

The next morning, Gretel awoke as Griselda was tending her herbs. She started imitating Griselda, pulling out herbs. Griselda stopped her gently “Wait, child, let me show you.” she said, and taught Gretel how to pluck the herbs carefully.

Gretel followed as Griselda cut up the herbs and started boiling water in a cauldron. “Do you want to help?” asked Griselda. The child nodded fervently. Griselda laughed, and showed her how to stoke the fire with logs. Gretel happily kept the fire stoked, watching Griselda brew and mix her concoctions.

That afternoon Griselda saw Hansel looking through her books. She went in, picked out an appropriate book and handed it to him. As his hands brushed hers, she felt how thin the child was. She patted his head and said “We'll have to fatten you up” and left the room.
The children spent their days playing in the garden, with Gretel helping Griselda, anansel was subdued, and acting nervous whenever she was around. She felt the child's forehead to check for a fever, but he flinched at her touch. That night, as she went to bed she heard the children whispering.

“Gretel, we have to get away!” Hansel's voice was frantic.

“But why? I like it here!” Gretel answered.

“If we don’t, that woman will cook and eat us!!” Hansel said, now in panic.

“Why would she? She's nice, isn't she?” Gretel wondered.

Hansel took on a storyteller's tone as he said, “Gretel, you are too young. You haven't heard the stories, Griselda's a witch” Griselda knew what was coming, but she listened to the children converse.

“A witch?”

“Yes. She cooks and eats children. That's why none of the children who go into the forest return. Did you see her feel my bones? She wants to fatten us up and eat us”

“No, she just wanted to see whether you're thin. She’s not a witch, Hansel. She doesn't ride a broomstick!!”

“All witches don’t ride broomsticks, silly! Some of them just read books with all sorts of pictures, do too many things, and don’t talk to other people. Mother has told me that. So did teacher. She’s a witch, Gretel, we have to get away.” Hansel was gripping Gretel's shoulders, shaking her.

Griselda felt a chill. She had seen women being hanged for being witches. If the children went to the village and gave their testimony, nothing could save her life. The children would not get lost again, for the hunters were very close by - the animals' nervous behaviour that day had told her that. She had to act immediately.

For a moment, she thought of killing the children, but she knew she would never go through with it. She had to leave, and make sure she wasn’t followed. She tied her books, seeds, and other important belongings into a bundle and hid it in the hollow of a tree outside. She went into the kitchen, made her salted meat into a rough form human form and threw it into the fire. Then she climbed up the tree and waited. As she hoped, the smoke woke up the children, who ran out of the cottage.

As Griselda waited, the fire flared up, consuming her cottage. The hunters came running at the sight of the fire. They gathered up the children and heard their stories, then searched the cottage and found her 'body' among the ashes. They ransacked her cottage and took her chickens and cows. Some of them picked up logs of burnt wood. Then they went into the village, shouting “The witch is dead.”
Griselda got down from the tree and made her way through the forest. She had her green thumb, her books and her knowledge. She would make a living somehow.

Note:
During the medieval period (1600 – 1800), independent and non-religious women were often accused of witchcraft. Several of these women were executed. These essays probe this in detail:
1. http://voices.yahoo.com/the-persecution-witches-its-impact-women-176318.html
2. http://www.sott.net/article/149529-Control-of-Uppity-Women-Behind-Witchcraft-Accusationshttp://www.sott.net/article/149529-Control-of-Uppity-Women-Behind-Witchcraft-Accusations
The original story of Hansel and Gretel is here: http://www.mordent.com/folktales/grimms/hng/hng.htmlhttp://www.mordent.com/folktales/grimms/hng/hng.html

Step out of your comfort zone!

Humorous speeches to me are a bugaboo. I've had two washouts - one before I gave my icebreaker which can be put down to inexperience, and one after I had received the title of Competent Communicator last year. The second time, I was ready to leave Toastmasters, or forever give up my dream of making the audience laugh.

But as this year's contest announcement came, I had an idea - make a few hilarious incidents in my life into a speech. I typed up the script and I started to practice. But there was a BIG problem. The script required me to step completely out of my boundaries, my serious self, let go of all my inhibitions. It wasn't a step out of my comfort zone that was required, it was a launch from the Earth to the Moon.  I did not know whether I could!

Then came one of the most surreal experiences in my life.  My next project (ACS 3) is a story with a moral and I've been struggling to find one that is suitable for a grown up audience. A week before the contest, I was about to drift off to sleep when a speech just came to me, fully written. I felt like I was reading through a written script - I knew when to use voice modulation, what gestures to use, where to stand and when to use emphasis, all in an instant. The speech was based on Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott" written in 1842. A poem I loved, but the speech had a moral that I had not thought of or read anywhere else. I typed it out as it came to me. 790 words. I checked the manual. 5-7 minute time limit. It was perfect. My subconscious had presented me with a fully drafted and timed speech. 

The speech is about a lady who sits in a stone tower, weaving a magic web because she is cursed. A voice has whispered to her that if she looks upon the towers of Camelot, "a curse will befall her." For years and years, she sits, watching the world go by in a crystal mirror. Finally one day, on seeing Sir Lancelot as a flash in her mirror, she leaves her weaving and looks out. She sees Camelot, her web floats out, her mirror breaks. She leaves the tower in a boat. She sings a sad song as the boat moves towards Camelot and dies before she reaches Sir Lancelot.

The moral of the story, according to the speech that popped up in my head - she did not know what the curse is. She spent her whole life locked in a tower because of her fear. The fear of the unknown was so overwhelming that she did not let go even when she left the tower. Ultimately, she died without ever having seen anything but shadows. So, dear Toastmasters, do not let whispered curses rule your life. Do not be satisfied with shadows. Step outside that fortress, leave your comfort zone. Seize opportunities!! That was my conclusion. But before I could deliver this speech, I had to face the humorous speech contest.

On the day of the contest, my hands shook and mouth ran dry when I wrote down the title of the script. I was standing outside the room most of the time. I was not this nervous for my icebreaker - I had not been this nervous since my schooldays.  I was ready to pull out from the contest till the moment my name was announced. It was so far beyond what I was comfortable doing, that my knees shook and hands shivered when I took the stage. The room was suffocating and I was hyperventilating when I finally shook hands with the contest chair, and I ran right out of the room. Only when I left the room and my heart slowed down did I realise, I had made an audience laugh!

My objective on taking the stage was to get through the speech with a few laughs. I ended up winning the contest. 

When I came back home, when I opened up the "Lady of Shalott" script after dinner, I finally knew where the script had come from.My subconscious mind wanted me to leave my comfort zone.  An ordinary subconscious gives you dreams that tell you what to do. A Toastmaster's subconscious? It gives a seven-minute speech!

Winter is coming - A story written for the Erudite Roulette - Mysore Toastmasters

“Winter is coming!” Papa Hamster shouted at his children. “Be quick with that food, Anka! Quick, with those feathers, Cobb!” Little Anka hurried to him and handed her over her load, and Papa Hamster put it in their food storage hollow. Mama Hamster was getting feather beds ready for the family. As soon as the ravens announced winter, the family would snuggle into their little den. But till then, Anka had to endure her father! “Anka, don't just stand there,” he said, right on cue. “Winter is coming!”

They worked till nightfall, and were back the next morning. But to their surprise, some of the food in the hollow had disappeared! Mama and Papa Hamster paced the floor, wrung their hands and scurried all over the den! But there was nothing to do, except fill it again!

Little Anka wanted to find out what had happened to the food. That night, she slowly slipped away from their summer home to the winter den, and kept watch. Suddenly the Earth began to shake! As Anka watched, the food in the hole started to disappear! She ran out to investigate. She could see lights far away, and there was a huge thing moving ponderously. As it moved away, the shaking stopped.

Anka went back into the den and pulled out the food from the hollow. There was a little hole in the bottom! Anka had solved the case!

When Anka told her parents, they were cross, but they were also impressed.

“Father, what was that thing?” Anka asked. “You were born in the summer, you've never known anything else.” her father said, stroking Anka's head. “In the winter, the humans drive huge trucks. And sometimes, the humans from them come into the forest!” The childrens' eyes grew wide in horror.

“You know,” Mama Hamster added, “before they built the wall? The humans used to come here all the time. And animals used to get hit by their big trucks!”

The children were scared, and when the ravens finally came to announce Winter, were more than glad to go into a torpor. Anka awoke one day to eat, and heard a strange noise. She carefully crept out of the den, carrying a stick in her mouth. If anyone harmed her, she could “stick them with the pointy end,” as her cousin Lon had told her.

To her horror, she found a group of humans sitting around a fire very close to the den. One of them had something glowing on its lap. Anka crept close to it, and saw that the box on the human's lap had more tiny humans inside!

And as she watched, one of the little humans in the box said something! Anka ran back to the den in shock. Later that winter, when she and her sister Tansa were both awake, Anka told her the whole story. “What did the little human say?” Tansa asked, her voice a low whisper. Anka whispered back, “Winter is Coming!”

Topic given by: TM Arjun

Misconceptions in Science - Questionnaire

As part of the requirements for my degree in Education, I did a survey. here are the questions. The answers are in the post that follows.

1. An astronaut inside a space station floats because

There is no gravity in space

The astronaut is too light to be pulled by gravity

The space station and the astronaut are falling at the same speed towards Earth

The magnetic force of the Earth repels the gravitational pull in space

2. Half of the Moon's surface is always dark *

True

False

3. In plants, respiration takes place

at all times, just like human beings

only during the day

only at night

Plants do not respire

4. Seasonal changes during the year are because of

The changing distance between the Earth and the Sun

Precession of the Earth’s axis

The constant axial tilt of the Earth

Changes in ocean tides

5. According to the theory of evolution

Humans are the most advanced organisms on Earth

Monkeys and humans have a common ancestor

Monkeys and humans will have a common successor

Human beings came from monkeys

6. A bullet shot from a gun will

Travel at the same speed at which it left the gun
Accelerate as it moves towards its target
Decelerate as it moves towards its target
None of the above

7. Moon phases are because of

The changing distance between the Earth and the Moon

The changing distance between the Sun and the Moon

The changing angle between the Sun, Moon and Earth

The changing brightness of the Moon’s surface

8. During a solar eclipse, when it is dark

Bacteria might multiply more than an ordinary day, because of the absence of sunlight

Our pupils are dilated, so more radiation enters our eyes as soon as the Sun is partially visible

Very harmful rays are emitted by the Sun compared to ordinary days

Radiation can be absorbed by our skin, much more that what is possible during ordinary days.

9. If you draw a line from the Earth to Mercury, Venus will fall on it.

True

False

10. All plants prepare their own food

True

False

Correct answers to my questionnaire

For my degree in MA Education, I am doing a dissertation on the common misconceptions about science in society. 

Here are the correct answers to my survey:

1. An astronaut inside a space station is not in zero gravity, though the term is very

common in science fiction and documentaries. If there was no gravity, the space station itself would not be able to stay in orbit. The correct term for the gravity inside the space station is “microgravity.”

The station orbits the Earth because its centripetal force balances the gravitational pull of Earth. As a result, the astronauts inside also do not feel a net force, and appear to be weightless. Even then, the astronauts and the space station are under the force of gravity, still falling towards the Earth at a controlled rate.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-microgravity-58.html

2. The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth, which means that we see only one side of the Moon. This is called the “near side” of the Moon. However, the Moon receives light from the Sun, so as it revolves around the Earth and rotates, its entire surface gets light at different times.

3. Plants produce oxygen during photosynthesis, which takes place only during the day. They respire throughout the day and night. Since we learn that plants take in carbon dioxide during the day and oxygen during the night, it is a common assumption that they take in no oxygen during the day. However, the oxygen produced during photosynthesis is of much greater quantity that the oxygen used up for respiration.

http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/sleeping-with-plants/

4. If the seasons were due to the distance, then the whole Earth should experience winter when the Earth is farthest from the Sun. However, when the Northern hemisphere has its winter, the Southern hemisphere experiences summer. Seasonal changes are due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis. When the Northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, the intensity of solar radiation is high, resulting in summer. At the same time, the Southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun.

5. Evolution is not a directed process which results in more advanced organisms. It merely ensures that only the fittest species survive. This means that every species on Earth is currently as adapted to its environment as humans. It is also a misconception that humans are a descendant of monkeys. Humans and other primates (old world monkeys) have a common ancestor. The closest relative to humans are chimpanzees.

http://friendsofdarwin.com/misc/faq/why-still-monkeys/

6. A bullet shot from a gun is a projectile - it is released with a certain amount of kinetic energy, after which it slows down due to the action of gravity and the drag force (friction between the air and the bullet.

http://www.splung.com/content/sid/2/page/projectiles

7. Moon phases are because of the angle between the Earth, Sun and Moon, as seen in this picture:

8. A solar eclipse is harmful because of one reason - Sunlight can damage the retina of our eyes. The darkness during an eclipse means that it is possible to look at the Sun without difficulty. This, combined with the fact that the darkness dilates our pupils, means that a lot of light can enter the eyes quickly, damaging the retina.

Sunlight can hamper bacterial growth, but the darkness during a solar eclipse does not lead to any growth other than what occurs in the shade or during the night. There is no additional radiation from the Sun, and our body cannot absorb any more of the radiation than it usually does.

9. The planets in the Solar System all revolve around the Sun at differing rates, so that it is very uncommon for all of them to be in a straight line. This common misconception is a result of Solar System diagrams that show all the planets in a straight line for convenience.

10. Plants are producers, but not all of them produce their own food. For example, Monotropa Uniflora or the ghost plant and Cryptothallus.

Why look up?

We all know this nursery rhyme:

Twinkle Twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Bharathiyar said:

“Suttum Vizhichudar dhan kannamma

Suriya chandiraro

Vattakariya vizhi kannamma vaana karumai kollo

Pattu karuneela pudavai padhitha  nal vayiram

Natta nadu nisiyil theriyum natchathirangaladi”

Translation: Your eyes are like the Sun and the Moon; your irises are as dark as the night sky, the diamonds in your dark blue sari shine like the stars at midnight.

There are songs about the stars in every culture, in every language, for just about each stage in life. Why does the night sky fascinate us so much?

For a long time in human history, the night sky entertained us. In the night, around a campfire, on cold dark nights, our ancestors told stories about the stars.  Once we understood the patterns in the sky, civilization began. “Plant crops when this star rises with the moon, harvest them when you see this star at midnight, a river will flood when a constellation is visible.” We could plan our lives around Nature instead of it catching us by surprise.  

As we progressed, stories took the back seat, and science took the wheel. We learnt about planets and stars, about galaxies and black holes. But still, we continue to gaze at the night sky.

As an amateur astronomer, I have the habit of looking at the night sky at every possible moment. Whenever the sky is clear I go up to the terrace with my binoculars. Once, from a two wheeler pillion, I yelled “look at Orion” to the driver. When I fell down a few days back, many people asked if it was after dusk. Not because it was dark, but because I walk with my eyes on the sky!

And very often, the question I am asked is this: What is the use of looking at the night sky? I cannot look at the sky and discover a planet or even a comet – people have already mapped the sky thoroughly, and observatories and space telescopes are keeping a close watch on it. Is there any reason to look at the sky now, other than for its beauty?

Speaking from my experience: No matter how much theory you study, or look at photos or videos, it does not match  observing a celestial object with your own eyes. Science does not take away wonder, it intensifies it. The faint smear of the Andromeda galaxy may look less important than surrounding stars, but we know that light from that smear has traveled 2 million years to enter our eyes. In a tiny patch of the sky, we know there is a black hole from which even light cannot escape. We know that an ancient star exploded to create the Sun and the Earth, continents and oceans, and you and me. And one day, the Sun will explode, repeating the cycle. We came from stardust, and will return to it.

The stars do not belong to any country or culture. It does not matter where someone is from, or whether they are strong or weak, stupid or intelligent, male or female. We are simply human. As human as the first people to walk the Earth, because we seeing the same stars that they saw.  The stars let us relive the thrill of finding out more about the Universe. This is a joy every amateur astronomer knows. For me, it is a joy I will enjoy throughout my life, and then, as Sarah Williams said in the poem “From The Old Astronomer To His Pupil”

“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”