Navin Kabra Profile picture
Sep 18, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read Read on X
It's Friday afternoon, and everyone is too serious, so let's have some fun.

How many of these obvious questions can you answer?

Q1: How many gallons can a 10-gallon hat hold?

(Answer in next tweet)
Answer to Q1: ¾ gallon only. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_ha…
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Another one?
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Q2: In what country were Panama hats first made?
Answer to Q2: Ecuador

Apparently, the hats were shipped to Europe / North America via the isthmus of Panama, hence the name.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_hat
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Want more?
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Q3: Where did the game of Chinese Checkers originate?
Answer to Q3: Chinese Checkers is neither Chinese nor is it a variation of Checkers. It originated in Germany and was given this name by American entrepreneurs as a marketing scheme en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_c…

Q4: The canary islands are named for which animal?
Answer to Q4: Ok fine. Multiple people guessed correctly that it is the dog because Islas Canarias = Island of the Dogs.

Let's see if the sports fans show up in this thread:

Q5: From what animal's gut is catgut extracted to make tennis rackets?
Answer to Q5: Catgut usually comes from the intestines of sheep. Or as @zyx21985125 says, goats. Sometimes pigs as @ZaleelInsaan says. Or horses, mules, donkeys.

You'd have gotten it right if you'd said anything other than cat. (It is probably short for cattlegut.)

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More from @NGKabra

Dec 13, 2023
Ever wondered why "sin" (of trigonometry) is called "sin"? Today, I decided to find out, and the history is fascinating. It comes from the Sanskrit word for bowstring which somehow got translated to the Latin word for the "pallu" of a toga.

Follow me down this rabbit hole 🧵
Let's start with this wonderful image I received from a friend on WhatsApp (source unknown). Here, you can clearly see why "tan" is called "tan". But what about "sin"?

If you think of the solid yellow arc as a bow, then the solid blue line (sine) is the bowstring 🧵 Image
jīvá (जीवा) the Sanskrit word for bowstring is the name given to sin by Aryabhata the inventor¹ of the sine and cosine functions.

How do you get from there to a toga? A series of interesting accidents

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¹ Ok fine, discoverer 🧵
Read 7 tweets
Feb 8, 2023
WhatsApp (if used well) is one the best things that has happened in communications in recent times.

It is excellent for deepening bonds with friends, relatives, and professional contacts.

But you have to work to ensure that WhatsApp doesn't degenerate into uselessness/toxicity
By default WhatsApp can be too noisy and a distraction. Here's 4 things I have done to improve the situation significantly:

1. Surgical notifications
2. Ruthless exits from noisy large groups
3. Proactive creation of smaller groups
4. Polite policing
Surgical notifications: 3 customized levels of notifications

Disable all notifications for groups—No sound, no popup, nothing

Gentle, low-volume, low-duration notification for 1–1 chats

Proper notification for a selected few people: kids, spouse, boss, important small groups
Read 13 tweets
Jul 13, 2022
Rewriting my thread on #karmanyevaadhikaraste because it is important enough to get right

The first few tweets are a simple introduction and you can skip those because it will be familiar to most Indians

But the rest of the thread, the example applications, are the good stuff
Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, verse 47:

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेसषु कदाचन
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते संगोसत्वकर्मणि

You have the right to action alone, not to its fruits
Don't be motivated by the fruits, and don't get attached to inaction either
The first part is famous and everybody quotes it: focus on your actions, not on the outcomes.

The second part is rarely quoted: don't use this as an excuse to not do anything. Do the right thing (even if it sometimes might seem pointless.)
Read 39 tweets
Jul 12, 2022
Good HBR article (by @TylerCowen et al) on reducing wastage and useless bureaucratic overhead from your hiring process.

Quick overview: /1
Do not have more than 4 or 5 "rounds" of interviews/interactions with a candidate. A study (at Google) showed that the first 4 gave 86% of the value. After that, the value diminished rapidly. /2
For each role, have one person who is the primary decision-maker. Unnecessary democracy and consensus results in worse hires.

A committee will hire a camel when a horse is required. /3
Read 8 tweets
Jul 12, 2022
Voluntary student participation in your classes is higher if you're known as a teacher who randomly picks students to answer questions even if their hands aren't raised.
Some students don't participate because they're shy. Others because they have social anxiety.

This technique will work well for the former but ss Meeta points out, might make class worse for the latter

The research quoted in the first tweet measures aggregate class participation but that doesn't necessarily mean that all the students are better off
Read 5 tweets
Feb 7, 2022
Did you know that a lot of hotels in India refuse to let a couple rent a hotel room if they don't look married? (i.e. if last name on Aadhaar card doesn't match).

For example, see:
thequint.com/lifestyle/taki…
The problem appears to be widespread enough that a couple of hotel chains have made it their primary marketing pitch that they have no problems renting to unmarried couples. (Even OYO was using this line for a while)
Y'all follow me because I tweet important and relevant information like this, right?
Read 7 tweets

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