My Dear Pluto!

My Dear Pluto,
It's paining to hear that the scientific community has thrown its axe of scrutiny right on your head. Knowing that they can't change your dimensions, they have changed their definitions. Losing an universal status you were enjoying for over 7 decades is not a triviality. You have always amused us with your so called eccentric orbit that often come within that of the Neptune, your mysterious composition, and hitherto unexplored surface. I don't know what others might think. But Venetia Burney Phair, who as a 11 year old schoolgirl suggested this name to you after the Roman God of wealth, might be looking for the proper reasons. What might William Tombaugh, who showed you to the world, have in his mind? Maybe, as his wife Patricia puts it, he is a scientist, and he knows why you have lost your elite membership of the planetary system in the solar family. Michael Brown, the discoverer of 2003UB313 (personally named 'Xena' by him), says: "I may go down in history as the guy who killed Pluto." I may have to change my favorite mnemonic that my teacher taught me, and which I teach my students, "My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets". So what, my dear Pluto? Once again, you are in an elite group, this time as the leader. Yes! You're going to lead the group to be rightly known as 'Plutons'. You have always been the symbol of coolness. When the world bids tearful adieu to you, I wish you a happy journey through the realms of Space. We the earthlings will be happy to find you there from the 'New Horizons', in 2015.

New Horizons is the spacecraft NASA has sent this January to study Pluto. This vehicle would reach Pluto by the year 2015.

Matrimonial Melodies

Marriage is an institution that has always been a controversial topic ever since it was invented. I still wonder what might have put man in need of such a complicated organization. Nobody knows for sure when the first ever marriage was performed. For centuries, we've been debating and displaying the pros and cons of this institution. Courtrooms witness moments of despair mingled with relief in the form of divorce cases. Is marriage one of the by-products of civilization? Or is it a systematic method approved with an eugenic approach? Why are brothers not allowed to marry their own sisters (In most parts of the world save some tribal areas)? Why do men marry women younger than themselves? What makes marriage so special and indispensable? A vast horizon of questions emerge as we contemplate.

We often come across couples complaining about difficulties in continuing as life partners. Most of the marriages end up being disasters, though the couples physically live together. Several hurdles prevail in the path of marriage. In a multi-faceted society like ours, we have all sorts of monsters such as caste, dowry, male chauvinism, and so on. Western culture is no safer than ours. Marriage is no more sacred for them. It's just a kind of mutual agreement. Once you get into a quarrel with your spouse, the very root of the marriage is shaken, and you are out of it! No wonder children use the initials of their mothers. After all, one can change his or her father, but not the mother.

It's surprising that we haven't invented something like 'spouse management' yet. In most of the families, marriage exists only because of the patience and sacrifice of either of the couple. Still, they get together when a problem arises. There is a mutual understanding between the two. Good children are brought up by good parents. When you compare the life history of a criminal to that of a genius, the difference becomes apparent. Good parents bring up good children; good marriage makes good parents. Thus, it entirely depends on being together.

But how does this make us different from animals? Lions stay together in prides. Sheep stay together in herds. Birds stay together in flocks. The difference between them and us is that we have emotions, logical thinking, and understanding. Marriage is all about sacrifice. Modern day marriages have taken a new dimension. People fight for the right to perform gay marriage. There are states that have approved it. There are laws that approve it. Marriage doesn't need a man and a woman anymore. Gone are those days. It is no more the same old one-way journey. In the world of metrosexual celebrities, marriage is not an essential aspect of life. Yet, whenever I see the old couple walking every evening, hand in hand, I realize the real meaning of marriage. I feel like visiting the sanctum sanctorum of a sacred institution.