An affair with Number.

One... Two... Three...Four... Five...

Numbers... 

More and more numbers...

These numbers keep dancing in my head. I keep counting things all around me like number of trees on road; buttons on remote, switches, rings of curtain, screws on table, lines on a page, my fingers or teeth, combs teeth and so on...

I know its sounds strange to count unnecessary things. Well, Its not that serious to contact doctor but yes I do it a lot. Sometimes it seems idiotic but I guess we all have some idiotic stuff going on in our minds and we are fine with them until they start harming our daily routine or start digging on our health.

Numbers are highly intertwined in our life and it appears in almost all areas of our lives.

During random surfing I came across an article that said most people preferred number 7 over others when asked to choose. Even I tried to verify it by posting a random poll

And found it to be true. 

People do prefer number 7. Even my husband is big fan of number 7, he is firm believer that there is something to do with the number in his life as he quotes few incidents quite often.

I do had my old house no. with 3 sevens, my sister was born on 7th, I got married on 17th or our car no. has 2 sevens in it but nothing else fits for me...

But when I gave a thought it might not be seven but there's something to do with numbers, didn't knew it until my mind was intrigued with the common usage of the number three in my life.

I started thinking and tried to unravel its mystery around me. So in this article I tried to point all the things that I could think of in a hope that someone might find it interesting and entertaining.

Why Three???... 

Well I was writing about my childhood and siblings (my younger brother and sister) where I wanted to stress on the fact that how we three were perfect together and how we complimented each other. I was galvanised by the fact that I was not the only one who considers three as quintessential. Many people already have unlocked the magical mystery around three.

Three the first number to which the meaning "all" was given. It is The Triad, being the number of the whole as it contains the beginning, a middle and an end.

Plato's saying gives a clear insight to it-

"Two things cannot be rightly put together without a third; there must be some bond of union between them."

Three is that universal number that its has its imprint on everything be it: life, books, movies, songs, religion, superstitions and so on... 

Lets start with the life. Life that we know and understand, that exists on our very own planet called Earth.

*Earth is the third planet from the Sun.

On planet Earth, human being is the one who is believed to be the most developed species.

Life of any living being is the period between the birth and death but its divided into

* 3 terms : past, present, and future.
I am really bad in bringing peace among them. Most of the time I find myself juggling with the thoughts of past, present and future. 

* Ages and stages of life are divided into 3 categories childhood, adulthood and elder hood. I really cherish every memory of my childhood, the happy ones makes me laugh and the bad ones came handy with life lessons. Adulthood came with too many responsibilities which welcomed stress and anxiety in life. I have no idea what elder hood would be like. I just want to keep my fingers crossed for that one.

___________________________________

The best part about human life is the power to read and write. Lets start with two of my favourite books and authors,  first is Dickens and another one is Rowling who taught me many life lessons with their writing. Both of them have given importance to three in many ways... (I just pointed things related to me) 

* Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol- In  which the main character scrooge is visited by three spirits of- past, present and future. 

A Christmas Carol is one must read as its tinted with a fair share of how-not-to live lessons as well, as how-to-live. Its one such masterpiece that's has full potential to bring change in life surely for the betterment. 

* JK Rowling's: Harry Potter novels —

#There is friendship of trio Harry, Ron and Hermione that is beautifully captured in all the seven books. 

# Deathly hollows was a story about 3 brothers following 3 hollows the wand, stone and cloak.

# There were 3 unforgivable curse, the most powerful and sinister spells

- Killing Curse:Avada Kedavra, 

Cruciatus Curse: Crucio and 

Imperius Curse: Imperio.

#Dementors,  one of the foulest creatures were introduced in the 3rd book - "Harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban". It were the dementors that taught me a beautiful life lesson that negative people feed on your fear and weaknesses and leave you with a void heart that only happiness that fill. Remembering the happy times gives you strength to face the challenges of life. It taught me that no matter what happens never let the positive and happy memories fade. 

#The third instalment of Harry Potter is the only book that we don't get any Voldemort in person though his presence is still very much felt in flashbacks.

Christmas carol and Harry Potter series are two books that are really close to my heart and their glace can be seen in many of my articles.
___________________________________________

Next comes the books that my son comes up with whenever he finds me all lost in the novels. He too has his own collection now and he always tricks me with his innocent sparkling eyes, that compels me to keep mine novel aside.

When he was in pre nursery he loved the story of * Three Billy Goats Gruff that he saw on Disney kids Channel and he used to enact the story, he became the monster and I used to be the 3 goats. Funniest memory of this story is when he made me walk like a goat in middle of the park on a bridge and every body in the park saw us some even passed smiles. 

Then came the * The Three Little Pigs. This time he became the wolf and I was the 3 pigs. He loved the "huffed and puffed and blew the house"  part of the wolf. Every time he saw the construction material he asked me to recite the story. Here the embarrassing part was once he asked out loud that "which pigs house is this??" ...It was so disturbing that I had to explain him the difference between fiction and reality and he simply refused to believe that cartoon weren't real. 

Next came the panchtantra story of *Brahman and his gift in which Brahman was fooled by three thieves on his way back home. Thieves took his gift, a goat simply with their lies.

He loved the story so much that he narrated the story for story telling competition and he did it so well, with proper expressions that he won first prize in the competition (at the age of five).

______________________________________

Other than stories his favourite nursery rhyme:

Three little kittens (lost their mittens) is still saved in my phone. Its was yesterday only that he was enjoying it.

Out of the books to the world of cartoons: Disney's characters are and will always be one my favourite be it the

* trio Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Or the

* naughty nephews of Scrooge Mcduck, Huey, Dewey, and Loui. I loved their fights with beagle boys.

* Another Disney masterpiece I loved was Alladin and like many my favourite character was of genie. In which Alladin finds a lamp and any person who releases a Genie from the lamp becomes the Master who is granted three wishes and remember the * Genie's three rules: Can't kill anyone,

Can't make people fall in love and

can't bring anyone back from the dead.

Long gone are those childhood days where I didn't knew what anxiety, stress and responsibilities were all about.
__________________________________________

Lets step on to another area that the biggest source of entertainment for me these days. I don't know weather its a blessing or a curse that my TV is always switched on even when I in the kitchen or on a short nap in the afternoon. It may sound pitiful but its my friend of loneliness. 

As a kid I loved watching television but at that time there were restrictions because of other works like homework, tuition, outdoor games etc... I remember when Sony television was launched there came many English shows dubbed in Hindi and one among them was

* The Three Stooges in which Moe, Shemp and Larry made us laugh. We(me and my younger brother and sister) waited for evening to watch the show and  wished it went on and on.

Next comes my favourite movie that I watch every time its aired is * The three idiots. Well I am not mentioning it just because of no 3 but it too has a story behind it. The movie is based on a novel by Chetan Bhagat "Five point someone". This was the first book I read of an Indian author Chetan Bhagat and that too while travelling in a bus from Delhi to Chandigarh. I have never read any book while travelling till date(except short stories) because I got so engulfed in the novel that I had no idea where time went and when the destination came(It felt like completely careless attitude).

Also to mention that film was listed in Guinness World Records for the record of highest box office film gross for a Bollywood film.

Next is * Baby's Day Out, a movie loved by both me and my son. We both love watching Eddie, Norby and Veeko the main antagonists of the movie struggling to handle a baby. Interesting fact about the movie is that it was played at the largest theatre in Calcutta for over a year, which is quite a long time for a foreign movie.

Next is one thing that I am really looking forward to is the 8th season of *Game of thrones. The most successful series on HBO channel needs no introduction. For the seventh season people were too eager to watch the episodes that channel had to face hackers who leaked the episode before the main telecast. Its a huge hit and I am dying to watch the finale. 

Every time I see any picture or article mentioning about its season 8 my eyes get hooked onto it. In the show my most beloved character Princess of House Targaryen, Daenerys is Mother of 3 dragons and story about the dragons birth is simply beautiful where khaleesi steps in fire with her dead husband body and three dragon eggs. I thought it was the end of my favourite character but no way...

She survived the fire and emerged out unburnt and unscathed with 3 baby dragons. Definitely one of my favourite scene by Emilia Clark(actress) in the series. Unfortunately now she is left with only two dragons.

______________________________________

Out from Game of thrones to actual Games, which have almost no connection with me whatsoever but still I try my son to involve and learn at least one game as its not only good for health but it teaches discipline, improves concentration power and not to forget inculcates the sense of competitiveness.

In games or any competition there are three

*positions First, second and third and so are the

*medals Gold, silver and bronze.

* A hat-trick in recognised in many sports be it cricket, basketball, football, hockey or scrabbles.

* Most of the video games grants three lives. Video games were part of my childhood, we use to get turns to play still we had silly fights over the timings. Mom used be the referee... Lol... 

I remember the *Three legged race was part of every sports day and the *Three cheers for the winners "Hip hip hooray".
__________________________________________

Writing and me were two different poles but I found it to be the best option to keep my anxious mind in right place at right time. My English teacher would give me B or C on my writing style but I know she would be happy to see the efforts I put in every article.

So back on track,

* Every Article is divided into 3 parts: beginning middle and end.

* There's a Latin phrase "omne trium perfectum" which means everything that comes in threes is perfect, or, every set of three is complete.

Also there is an

* English proverb- "Third time's a charm" or also called third time lucky which means one is sure to succeed at a task or event on the third try.
_________________________________________

Religion is an important aspect of ones life. Since I am a Hindu by birth( not only in Hindu religion but many others three is an important number) I have pointed the main things that I learnt as a kid from my parents and grandparents:

* Trimurti is combination of three Gods Bramha, Vishnu and Mahesh.

* Tridevi is combination of three goddess Saraswati, Laxmi and Kali.

* Trinetra- Shiva's third eye, the destructive third eye which is sometimes known as the eye of wisdom.

* Triveni is confluence of three sacred rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.

I can't (or don't want to) say about other religions( as it's quite a sensitive topic) but triple talaq(Divorce) issue was much in news in India followed by Supreme courts judgement giving relief to Indian muslim women that meant no more divorces just by saying  the word talaq thrice.
_______________________________________

Religion and superstitions are two related words. After religion comes the turn of superstitions...

* I remember my mom use to say never place or offer 3 chappati together. I still don't understand the logic behind it but I too unintentionally follow it.

* I don't remember exactly the person who said to me and my younger brother and sister not to step foot together outside the house or it will bring bad luck. After that one of us would always step a second later than the rest. Now I feel it was the dumbest thing to do.

Have you heard about the phrase

* "Too many cooks spoils the broth" its Hindi translation is teen tigada kaam bigada which means if three people are involved in a task or activity, it will not be done well.
_________________________________________

Just like numbers colours too have a charismatic effect and its imprints can be seen all over the world. Interesting fact here is that

* Colours have three classification- primary, secondary and tertiary.

* Traffic light that we encounter daily has 3 indicators Red, yellow and green.

* Indian flag (since I am an Indian) has three colours, top band is of Saffron colour, indicating the strength and courage of the country. The white middle band indicates peace and truth. The last band is green in shows the fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land.
___________________________________________

I am the one among many others who have faced hardship in understanding the logic behind the subject Mathematics. Specially those trigonometric equations and those confusing formula that seemed similar. Matrices and probability were fun, Differentiation I managed but Integration...

Nightmares of the time have already started. Maths is definitely not my cup of tea. Not discussing it further I'll just mention here is that my favourite shape is triangle that I learnt in Mathematics class. Triangle has three sides and is considered the strongest shape.

I loved to draw triangles those equilateral, isosceles, obtuse specially that right angled triangle and loved to solve find the angle values. They were simple and interesting.

I love the shape definitely not because I want it to mention in my article but because its different from the regular shapes like square, rectangle and circle which can be seen almost everywhere. 

You don't get to see triangle building or triangle shaped train... I love it for its uniqueness.

__________________________________________

Two things that we all see every day almost every time intentionally or unintentionally are:

*Clock, it has 3 hands - hour minutes and seconds.

* Our fingers, they have three parts: three phalanx bones: proximal, middle, and distal.

Lastly I would like to mention one thing that I wish never comes true is

* War- There have been two World Wars so far, World War I and World War II but still there is mention of the third one. Strange... Don't believe me... Google it...

Regarding the war there was a news around December last year that said "NORTH KOREA could spark a “global conflict” involving the United States, Russia and China which could lead to World War 3".

I'll just wrap it here with one more interesting thing that I just realised a second before posting and thought to add last minute is that- its actually the start of the third month of the year...