Saturday, April 27, 2013

"X" for "X" . Finding the unknown "X" , Xenophobia and much more

"X" is a wonderful alphabet even if it gives us very few options to write as there are less no. of words with X on which we can think and write.
"X" is an alphabet much loved by mathematicians.  It is very normal to find a huge equation in which "X" is "unknown" and you have to solve and find it. We have to find "Y" too some times but it is X which is the heart favorite. You always have to find it and the eureka feeling when you finally find it gives a great relief . I never liked maths. Other than simple equations like X+2=5 rest all used to scare me. Some times I used to feel that this "X" had pasted a big bold X on my face and I used to do many silly mistakes which lead to bad scores in Maths ! Years have passed and we still solve the equations and find the "unknown" . Some times I feel I should solve "X" like below 
or may be console algebra by giving some reply like below :P

I may or may not like maths but I started disliking "X" due to its desperation to be found. It is unknown till we don't assign a value to it. Similarly there are many "X-Men" and "X-Women" in our lives. No I am not talking about mutant heroes and heroines from the Marvel world. I am talking about those strangers and unknowns who keep bumping in to us every now and then. The fast pace of life gives us a chance to come across many new people. Even If I don't suffer a lot from "xenophobia" which is  an irrational or unreasoned fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange I some times despise strangers . I cannot randomly talk to some "X" and get friendly. Some people make friends in trains , flights , metros but I am not in to it. These days due to alarmingly increasing crimes as soon as I enter in to a bus or train I bury myself in a book or plug my ear phones and act dead to any passer by if I am travelling alone.

I cannot trust any one easily and I absolutely talk crap when a stranger initiates a random conversation. Later I wonder if it was me who spoke all that . Few conversation snippets I had with few random people are like below.

Once I was going home from hostel for holidays. There was an old man sitting opposite to us and unfortunately we had a train-crossing  signal and our train halted for more than half an hour. Old man started talking to me and my friends who were all girls about the importance of education and getting jobs and how to be strong individuals and how it is most important for a girl to earn. He suddenly looked at me and told, "Tomorrow when you get married you should also be able to stand on your feet!" He was talking as if he was possessed. My friends were giggling and I was feeling sleepy due to his perennial gyaan (lecture). I nodded and couteously smiled every time . The train was not moving but his words were definitely speeding up. From college to country to politicians to cine actors to superstitions the man spoke everything.

At one point I wanted to ask him , " Ye sab aap muft ka gyaan dete hai or paise lagte hai iske?" (the famous jab we met dialogue by Kareena Kapoor which means do you preach all this for free or do you charge?). From that second I was literally scared to respond or start conversation with some "X" . Instead I will die of boredom . If I have nothing to do I can even count the number of electric poles in the station or just get down and explore  it but I can never talk to strangers! I acted as if I dozed off and by God's grace train moved that fateful day.

Due to hostel life I used to travel frequently and I have had "X"treme "X"periences with few "X"es . Oops Its sounding like my ex's ;-) . I meant some "X" again! Few Seniors who were strangers used to rag us in trains. Few random people used to ask random questions to which other than giving polite replies there was no escapade.  My book reading habit immensely increased due to my journeys and half of the credit goes to Xes! This is the only good outcome of the interaction with all those Xes.

Not all Xes are bad. Some Xes leave us in peace and are definitely not very nosy. Two days back I met a girl working in Wipro in my sleeper coach bus. She suddenly asked if I belonged to Hyderabad. As my experiences were not great in past I replied hesitantly. She initiated the conversation and we spoke a lot. Strangely I didn't get bored. We discussed job market , bench rate in IT companies , monotonous work , Infosys Vs Wipro and so on so forth.  She said as if she is giving an explanation that she is the only child and hence she talks a lot when ever she finds a person with whom she can talk. I smiled and said , "It's ok. I would have been bored . Good that I have company." We spoke little more and slept off. Mine was the first stop and hence had to bade good bye when I suddenly realised I didn't even ask her name. We hurriedly exchanged names and email ids :P 
I am sure I might not mail back but who knows we might bump in to each other. This is a small world of  X, Y, Zs.

Hence all the "X"periences were not scary and didn't lead to xenophobia. What are your "X"periences ? Are you Xenophilic or phobic ?
Do you usually talk when some "X" intrudes ?

X is interesting when you shed it and shift from XL to L.

X is not so interesting when you realise you have a fracture in the X-ray.

X can lead to disasters when even a single alphabet is misplaced in the X-chromosomal chain.

X again gets interesting when you know that Xerophilous plants are those which grow in deserts and in limited supply of water ;) This reminds we used to have a plant opuntia at home ages back. Its flowers are so welcoming even if it has thorns - The plant reflects "life" a lot :)



Good day!

Am so glad I finally found "X". This was much tougher than the algebraic equation :)
This is my 24th post for "A to Z blogging Challenge 2013" ! 


50 comments:

  1. True! I was mesmerised to learn about this plant when in school! :)

    And your efforts for this post my love, X-C-Lent! :D

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    Replies
    1. Glad that U liked it !
      Ya those plants r indeed mesmerising
      Thn"X"

      Delete
  2. Wah.. loved to read about the clueless X.. :-D I'm still thinking.

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  3. Haha, I love the algebra stuff. I love algebra, but I love the jokes too. :) I'm not afraid of foreigners, but I'm a very quiet person, and don't like to be around a lot of people. I also have a fear of speaking in public.

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can talk volumes over blogs but when I face a person some other personality creeps in me ;)
      Thanks for comment and ya algebra was good :P in a way as it helped me find X post :D
      Good day kristen

      Delete
  4. Algebra, botany, philosophy, wah bhai wah! ♥

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    Replies
    1. I love the way u post ♥ every time ;) han algebra botany sab ka cocktail bana dia :D

      Delete
  5. Good idea for x, I didn't even think of how it's used in algebra. Algebra was always something I enjoyed, despite my lack of math skills.

    Have fun with the rest of a-z. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jessica

      Welcome to my space. Thanks for the comment . Ya after lot of brain storming can think of only the algebra X :)only two more alphabets left :D
      Good luck to u too

      Delete
  6. Interesting post Afshan. I really don't have a problem speaking with X'es....I think we all learn something from them. Even if they bug you, they still feature in a post like this! Its all about gaining experience.

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    Replies
    1. hahaha ya They are good enough to be featured. I can talk when some one initiates but can nver initiate my self :)
      Thanks for liking it

      Delete
  7. Wow... now that was a lovely swinging post !
    I could relate to that Algebra so much... till date I can't find x and apart from that trigonometry gave me creeps... !

    That is such a wonderfully compiled post :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for dropping by ! yep algebra was irksome but I used to be glad when ever I found x :)
      good day

      Delete
  8. Nice write up. I liked this.

    Roman numerals are based on number 10. The sign for number 10 is X. 9 is IX, 11 is XI, and 20 is XX.

    I have no idea why people still use roman numerals in this day and age, especially the Olympics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May be it just reminds us the :history :
      I liked roman letters. specially as they are jotted outside the classrooms:)
      Thanks for dropping by my blog SG

      Delete
  9. Yep those pics sure are witty.. I came across a PJ that asked why are hens mathematically inclined? Because they lay a lot of X :D. Yeah u did come up with quite some X's

    PhenoMenon
    https://capturedalive.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/xpicture/

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  10. I liked the pics a lot!! Very funny!
    I usually do talk to strangers but I judge whether they will be irritating or not before I do that!

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  11. And I thought X would stump you and this will be a short post. Sigh!. A clever post Afshan.

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    Replies
    1. haha Thanks
      Glad u survived till end ;) Thanks for compli

      Delete
  12. That's a lot of Xs here!! Lovely read!
    X in algebra scares me, I usually ignore talking to X-men, XL to L is the plan and X chromosome is in minority in our family! :D

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  13. Wow Afshan, so many Xes in there. Algebra scares me too :P Great post.

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  14. XL to L is a good shift. I love maths but I love your "maths" too.

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    Replies
    1. @Roshni : Yep I can never initiate convos with strangers ! Thanks. Glad u Enjoyed

      @Shilpa : haha good way of replying to each X . Am glad U liked it

      @Bhavzz : Thanks Bhavya. Glad u liked

      @SUzy : haha . Thats sweet of U suzy. Thanks !

      Delete
  15. I hate x in maths.... Gosh it used to screw me up! And I used to have problem talking to strangers, but now I am Ok with that. And that XL-L truly is a good one.
    Great post! loved it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :D
      haha thanks ! Ya XL - L needs blood shedding though;)
      Thanks dear

      Delete
  16. loved the post afshan and seriously X baffled me too during schoool life. I am not that comfortable picking up conversations with random strangers though occasionally someone interesting does land up forcing me to open my mouth. The pictures were downright funny !

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    Replies
    1. YA some times strangers r interesting but some times nosy !
      Thanks priya
      Glad U liked it

      Delete
  17. Nice and cute post Afshan, loved it!

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  18. And I thought X was hard, and you made it look simple...

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  19. I love your post on X. I'm not a math person either. Plus, I loved all the Xs that you talk about.

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    Replies
    1. @Brinda : THanks for dropping by. Welcome to my space :) glad U njoyed

      Delete
  20. The X of algebra haunted my life too. And thank you for this post, which was all about so many Xs all at once.

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  21. I have struck up conversation with total strangers while on journeys and ended up being friends. Some even read my blogs! :)

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  22. Loved the x and y algebra joke..:)
    I am not xenophobic at all.I love talking to people.

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  23. so you mailed the wipro "X" ????? :P

    Interesting post this is,afshan !!!

    by the way, i posted a comment on your "I is for I-phone.." post,couple of days ago. You downloaded that app?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kranthi , Thanks for dropping by. I m taking part in a challenge nd hence not checking comments regularly. Will check today :)
      Thank u

      Delete
  24. @Cynthia : Thanks for ur time . ya maths X s and Y s haunted me till college

    @Shail : Thats grt. Thanks for the comment

    @Sharmila : Thanks for dropping by

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  25. YOu can bring humor even when you talk about your fears :) Great :)

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  26. What was with those Find X questions anyways?? :D

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  27. Find X is the greatest challenge of our lives, isn't it! Keep talking and you'll find yourself on the other side of the X equation :). Another person will blog about you.

    Cheers
    Meera

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for dropping by meena
      Ya true ! I would really wait for some one else to write about me ;)
      Good day

      Delete
  28. Baba re, itne X's main, main baki alphabets bhool gayi. Kya likha hai, wah!

    Dropping by from AtoZ
    BlogwatiG

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  29. Hahaha..I love that Find X, X is here joke. Cracks me up always:D

    No letter ever stops your steam eh! Keep it up lady!

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  30. Xtremely beautiful picture of cactus in the middle of a funny write-up! :D

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  31. Hahaha! What coincidence that I blog about the same topic for my hatred for Math one year later?! Being honest, out of all the post of yours that I have read so far, I liked this one the best! You really are good with humor! And yes I think you've got over your phobia of talking to strangers in this one year ;)

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