Line is this week's topic in Heads or Tails.
A line is a sequence of points ? I am forgetting my school geometry. Or a straight line is shortest distance between two points. Again something must be wrong. Line is not distance. Ok,ok, a straight line is the line with shortest distance between two points. That is straight line. What about ordinary line? Slightly bent here, or a curved line or a completely twisted line like a stretched spring? How do you define them? Let me guess. Line is a series of points who have decided to stand very close to each other in a - line!!!. Or, line a series of continuous pixels of the same color. Now you get it, right? In fact if you zoom, zoom and zoom you can really see the pixels. (Pixels are POINTS )
Let me speak poetically. Line is a point which does a walk or dance (?). When some one says line, you always think of straight line. But as I told you earlier, if there is one straight line between any two points, there can be infinite , unlimited numbers of non-straight lines. Then why such a step-motherly treatment for non-straight lines.
This straight line with its shortest distance will cause so many difficulties. In my childhood, (When was that? A century ago?) we were supposed to draw equilateral triangles. Equipped with scale, protaractor, compass. We would draw the base and second and third sides. But the two sides do not meet each other. Like a couple who have fought. (when don't they?) Straight line remember. So I will rub and redraw again. Again the same problem. The book page will tear, but equilateral triangle will not come. If the straight line weren't so straight, I could have somehow manipulated and got the result.
Then there are parallel lines. These are lines which are equidistant always and which never meet. Howmuchever you stretch them. Again like a couple - married couple. My maid-servant, the current one, the previous one, Her previous one, each one of them, draw patterns with powder on the front door ( called rangoli. You find these if front of most houses in Southern India) . So many geometric figures, with straight lines and parallel lines. I can never. Never in my life time. My rangoli parallel lines do meet and my stright lines are non-stright.
Of course, there are occasions you would prefer curved lines to straight lines. The edges of furnitures will be rounded. Why? Because if not rounded, they will be sharp. And sharp edges will attract toddlers like a magnet and the howl which follows is bad.
One more relevant thing with line is - line maarana in Hindi which has an equivalent in all Indian languages. Line maarna is drawing a line is trying to attract the attention of a person of opposite sex. A mild form of flirting. A favourite hobby of all college-boys and gals. I remeber a boy saying " Everyone in our college will line marofy. But they all use long scales and long pencils. But I use 6 inch scale and and a tiny pencil"
A line is a sequence of points ? I am forgetting my school geometry. Or a straight line is shortest distance between two points. Again something must be wrong. Line is not distance. Ok,ok, a straight line is the line with shortest distance between two points. That is straight line. What about ordinary line? Slightly bent here, or a curved line or a completely twisted line like a stretched spring? How do you define them? Let me guess. Line is a series of points who have decided to stand very close to each other in a - line!!!. Or, line a series of continuous pixels of the same color. Now you get it, right? In fact if you zoom, zoom and zoom you can really see the pixels. (Pixels are POINTS )
Let me speak poetically. Line is a point which does a walk or dance (?). When some one says line, you always think of straight line. But as I told you earlier, if there is one straight line between any two points, there can be infinite , unlimited numbers of non-straight lines. Then why such a step-motherly treatment for non-straight lines.
This straight line with its shortest distance will cause so many difficulties. In my childhood, (When was that? A century ago?) we were supposed to draw equilateral triangles. Equipped with scale, protaractor, compass. We would draw the base and second and third sides. But the two sides do not meet each other. Like a couple who have fought. (when don't they?) Straight line remember. So I will rub and redraw again. Again the same problem. The book page will tear, but equilateral triangle will not come. If the straight line weren't so straight, I could have somehow manipulated and got the result.
Then there are parallel lines. These are lines which are equidistant always and which never meet. Howmuchever you stretch them. Again like a couple - married couple. My maid-servant, the current one, the previous one, Her previous one, each one of them, draw patterns with powder on the front door ( called rangoli. You find these if front of most houses in Southern India) . So many geometric figures, with straight lines and parallel lines. I can never. Never in my life time. My rangoli parallel lines do meet and my stright lines are non-stright.
Of course, there are occasions you would prefer curved lines to straight lines. The edges of furnitures will be rounded. Why? Because if not rounded, they will be sharp. And sharp edges will attract toddlers like a magnet and the howl which follows is bad.
One more relevant thing with line is - line maarana in Hindi which has an equivalent in all Indian languages. Line maarna is drawing a line is trying to attract the attention of a person of opposite sex. A mild form of flirting. A favourite hobby of all college-boys and gals. I remeber a boy saying " Everyone in our college will line marofy. But they all use long scales and long pencils. But I use 6 inch scale and and a tiny pencil"
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