All posts by ranganbiswas

I am a human being trying to understand ridiculous human ways. I just came across a lot of beautiful views in the process and am trying to sum them up using a device used to record data visually

Some fun and interesting facts about friction

As the basic definition goes, friction opposed relative sliding between two surfaces in contact. A common misconception is that friction opposes motion. Following are some fun facts about friction. I’ll also include the findings of my discovery in the field of friction.

  • Almost all the work you do in daily life relies on friction. Friction is an electromagnetic force. It’s basically the nuclei of one surface pulling the electrons on the other surface and vice versa effecting in the two surfaces holding each other. So, whenever you pull or hold something, you are able to do it because of friction.

  • Many people wonder how our universe would have been if friction was not there. Well, our universe wouldn’t have existed if friction had not been present. Yes, that is correct. As I said, friction is an electromagnetic force acting between atoms of two surfaces. That means, wherever there are atoms, there is electromagnetic force and thus, there is friction. So, it can be said that friction is an unavoidable outcome of the existence of atoms. Atoms form molecules which are held together by electromagnetic force or friction which help in forming matter. Microbes, animals, us, the earth, the other planets, the stars, none of them would exist without matter and therefore friction. All that the universe would have had is floating electrons and nuclei of elements.

  • Friction is the reason why we can move. When we walk, what is happening between our feet and the ground? Effectively, we are trying to slide the feet backwards and the friction pushes us forward. It is almost the same for cars and motorcycles or anything that moves on wheels. Yes, it is undisputed that sliding forward on a frictionless surface or while being levitated is most energy efficient but we are not able to do that yet on a daily basis.

  • Life exists because of friction. It is needless to say that without friction there won’t be any matter and life can’t even find a basis to start on. Let’s say there was accidentally a surface formed in this universe, containing only nuclei and electrons just moving in contact with each other due to a common momentum (momentum is the product of mass and velocity of a body). Still, there is no chance of formation of the type of life known to us on this surface without friction. The reason is life needs binding of atoms and then matter flowing over other matter which can only happen if friction is present. Otherwise, binding of atoms based only on perfect combination of arbitrary momenta is highly improbable.

  • Now, I’ll give some information about my discovery related to friction between sliding surfaces or in one word tribology. Me under the guidance of my professor Dr. S K Roychowdhury, a man I place in high regard discovered that X-rays are emitted when a surface slides on another surface. This work was further carried on by G. N. Krishna. The details can be found in: X-Ray Emission during Rubbing of Metals, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2014) 229-235, Tribology in Industry, Tribology in Industry

That is all I have to say on this subject till now.


Human or something else

I have been told 

I haven’t been here 

For much time

But I feel I have walked

This Earth for longer than 

They can imagine

I am not human

But I am still

Entangled in my 

Human ways

I have thought about it

For as long as 

I can remember 

Never reached a conclusion 

I am not worried 

I am only amused

For I know I have to walk

This Earth for a much longer time

Why do I feel so old

Yet feel so young

Why do I feel wise

Yet I feel like a newborn 

I always saw a world

Different than they could see

I never felt

That I belong

But still I feel 

An attachment to this Earth

This Earth which is mine

Also is the universe

If only I knew how to reach out

Still bound by my human ways

But I know I will walk

Till I find my way

Being God

How does it feel?

I guess I’ll never know.

Does he know everything?

I guess I’ll never know.

Some say 

He created the universe 

Some say

He’s all powerful.

If he is, then

Why does he allow humans to suffer?

Why does he allow humans to destroy their abode?

Or does he want them to learn.

He has left messages for all of them

To survive, 

To live in peace.

But they don’t listen, this

I can say from experience. 

Some are smarter, they listen more

Some are dumber, they listen less

But no one listens completely. 

They will leave out things that don’t suit their fantasies. 

I know for sure because I have tried 

Telling them.

Telling them

Through examples 

Through history 

Through observations

I have tried living my life

Like them.

But they don’t learn,

They don’t listen.

How hard is it?

To not create problems for others?

To not steal from others?

To not rape others?

To not kill others? 

I didn’t need religion to tell me that

Why do they?

Why are they so weak

That they can’t accept their faults

And correct themselves?

Why do they need a god for 


What is the need to go to a heaven?

Lao Tzu correctly observed

Man wants what he cannot have.

Am I one of them?

Or am I on the way to become 

Someone they worship?

I guess I’ll never know.

Who Am I 

I have asked this question 

Since I don’t remember when

It seems ages when I started wondering 

Who am I 

Time flies by

But I don’t feel a thing

Years have been reduced to

Mere rotations of Earth around the Sun

I feel ageless

I feel strong

I feel I can do 

anything I wish to

Am I losing my mind?


Have I finally understood 

How this universe works?

Fate is laughing at me

As I write these lines 

But fate has spoken only in irony

Irony extends itself when 

I read other men far better than

I can read myself

What is this curse?


Is it a boon?

What is this gnawing feeling 

That urges me to move 

To achieve things that 

Mere mortals can’t 

I scream, I wail in despair 

But only I can hear those sounds 

People say time will tell everything 

But what happens when you stop feeling 

The flow of time

I don’t feel old

Neither do I feel young

I find darkness and light 

Coexisting inside me

Everyday feels like a beginning 

Yet when I look back 

I find ages have passed 

Why do I feel 

That I have to live

Even if everything else 

In this world has been destroyed 

Why do I feel 

I have to live 

Even if only

The emptiness remains 

This dream I had

Last night I had a dream

I dreamt of a place that I had dreamt before 

A place of calm and serenity 

A place that may or may not exist on earth 

A place so beautiful that mere words won’t suffice 

But still I try because I want to keep it in my heart 

A foolish task it may seem 

But still I try

As I try, I return back to its ice slopes 

Cold so severe that mere mortals could not survive but

I am no mere mortal am I?

That place seems to be my refuge in times of distress

My fortress of solitude 

In times of duress

I have been to that place before 

But only in my dreams

It’s desolate 

Difficult to reach as there are no roads

Lying between snow capped mountains 

It beckons to me

It’s not a valley nor is it a peak

A small piece of land

Covered in eternal snow

A cold piece of land that offers no sorrow

A land that allows me to see the world from far

Under the sun it shines like a vibrant star

I had never dreamt of a place so forlorn yet so vivid 

A place that befits only the divine 

Seems all the colours just fell into place

This view gives me so much solace

 A view filled with bliss with 

An environment so trying that

It makes a god out of a king

I can’t find enough words 

That would describe the beauty of this place but

I would surely visit if this place exists on

This Earth or the next

I feel so calm

I had always pegged me to be a loner

A loner who won’t ever find love

I couldn’t feel, I was merely alive

This was my life

I felt on the edge, always irritated 

I could never find peace

But I had hope

I had hope that one day I will find the one

I didn’t know when

When I started talking to you 

I never had an inkling where it would lead

It was a simple liking 

I didn’t know what it would grow into 

I didn’t know you were a godsend 

Till I kissed you 

I felt a sea of emotions churning inside me

I knew that day that my prayers were answered 

I knew I had found what I was looking for 

You are my sunshine

You are my salvation 

You bring smile on my face 

When everything feels sad

You give me hope

When the world grows dark

I feel alive because you are there

I can be the child I want to 

When you are there

I can be the crazy I want to

When you are there

I feel so calm

When you are there 

I feel complete 

Because you are there.


Love isn’t a mystery 

Love isn’t about how many romantic songs you can remember 

While thinking of her

Love isn’t about how much you can spend on her

Love is when you can’t stay a moment 

Without her

Love is when you know your crazy fits with hers

Love is that sweet feeling when you see her

Love is when you want to see her every time you open your eyes 

Love is when your future feels complete with her

Love is when you know everything will be exciting with her

Love is when you know you want to grow old with her

You made me feel

I was broken

I was shattered 

Before you came along 

I believed I couldn’t feel

I believed I couldn’t love

Before you came along 

My life lacked colours 

It was in shades of grey 

Before you came along 

I despised touch 

Before you came along 

I had lost all hope

Then you came along 

I could not believe my luck

When I kissed your lips

It was gentle but

It created a storm inside me

A storm I had been waiting for so long 

A storm that quenched my thirst for love

When I looked into your eyes

It seemed I had found the one

The eyes of the one I had been looking for all my life 

I asked God 

Is it real?

Have I really found her?

I think he says yes

I had never expected to feel the touch

A touch so strong that I crave for it

A touch so strong that it melted my heart

I was afraid that I had turned to stone

But you proved me wrong

After all these years 

You made me feel

Getting my life 

I’ve known pain

More than most men can endure 

Still I get to know more

Is this the life I dreamed of?

I don’t think so

Is this the life I have to live?

It certainly seems so

I never felt the need to complain 

I don’t know why

Pain always seemed like a friend 

A friend who helps 

A friend who supports 

I never asked why me
Because I knew 

Pain was the true friend 

The friend who provides strength 

The friend who provides solace 

But is this how life is?

If yes, then why can’t I smile?

Why don’t I laugh?

Why do emotions elude me?

Yes, pain has made me 

Stronger, wiser, sharper

But for what? 

The pain doesn’t subside

The pain isn’t diminished 

It’s a never ending cycle.

Pain has made me

What I am today

But for what?

I don’t even know 

If I’ll ever know.

I’ve known pain 

More than most men will ever do

But for what?

I am yet to know.

If only I could cry

I sit here 

Thinking about our past days

The days when I used to make you happy 

The days when I used to be happy 

Gone are the days when I made you smile 

We forgot to together walk the mile

Somewhere between we lost our way

From the happiness we swayed

Now, I spend my days drinking 

But is this my life?

I sit thinking 

Maybe I was too strong for your taste 

Or maybe you were too weak for mine

What it was, it was not meant to be

But then why in my heart there a pain be?

I cry but the tears have dried up

The pain inside me builds up

The pain could subside

If only I could cry