Anything Everything

History is a very vast subject. As a school boy, I hated history for making me memorise scores of important dates, and was lured (or, wonder-struck) by the beauty of science. But now, as an engineering graduate, I developed an interest in history. Why? Because, only now did I realise the true potential of the subject. Also some portion of history has an esoteric nature that dragged me into it. History is not just about the various dynasties, kings, their reigns and all. It is the key to many unsolved problems of the present and the guideline to the future. I am deeply interested in how pioneers through their sheer intelligence invented the various gadgets. But, I'm not interested in technical history alone.

As a subject history is taught poorly in schools. Most students hate it, or think it as a waste. This is because, we are forced to study what we don't like. I've no interest in the various dynasties that fought against one another for power. But unfortunately, that's what they teach at at schools. (Why can't they teach history of science?) But, everyone of us will have an interest in history of some kind.

I've heard somewhere that history is written by the winners, or written for them. It is obvious. Most kings have a royal historian to note down the important events during his tenure. Will he write the “true history” or the one distorted to please the king? This is the reason history has a lot of voids in it. This is a very convenient feature that permits individuals or groups to fill these voids in the way they want. In a way, history is 'a set of cooked up stories'. We are often baffled by the contradictions in history. The history we hear is often written on the basis of witness accounts or hearsays. But there are true to the core accounts of many events, written unbiased by free individuals. Facts are usually suppressed to save the “men at the top” or exaggerated to please them. Even now, day today news are distorted to do the same. If this is the case in a free, democratic set-up like now, it would have been worse at the times of arrogant, dictator kings.

History is a mixture of truth and untruth. Don't just mug it up. Analyse the data in front of you, ask your logic whether it is true. If so, double check it and digest, the same way a crime is solved. If we don't filter fables out of facts in history, we will be teaching hoaxes to the budding generation

I recently read Agatha Christie's masterpiece novel – And Then There Were None. This amazing crime novel is a true classic, which is about a perfect crime. The plot and suspense are extremely well. I was simply baffled by the water-tight plot and the suspense. This is not a detective novel. It's a mystery crime novel. It's about a series of perfect murders. I don't want to reveal the plot further. But, what interested me was the plot itself. After reading this, I wondered whether it is really possible for a man to design a perfect crime, without getting himself known (or caught). As an avid reader of detective fiction, I usually read a story and try to figure out the culprit before the end, both logically and psychologically. Psychologically means, the least suspicious one is the culprit. But, both these techniques have failed in this case. No wonder over 100 million copies were sold!
Now, coming back to the topic. Often a perfect crime (rather, every crime) require a trustful ally. But, how trustworthy can he be? Will he succumb to the pressure, or support him? Another important factor is Mother Nature. The unpredictability of Mother Nature can wreck a foolproof plan. Sometimes, an unexpected rain can leave clues that will ultimately betray the criminal. Yet another important factor is Human Nature. Here too, we can't predict what a man will do next. Often an unexpected witness can reveal the whole story. Also, attempts to exterminate such a witness can leave unexpected clues for a sleuth. Some unexpected situations prove too much for even a hard core criminal. In such situations, emotion take control over intelligence, making them act foolish.
Throughout the above passage, the word 'unexpected' is encountered a lot of times. The uncertainty in the nature, human activities, trust can play a spoil sport in case of crime, which is a rather good news to sleuths. This is often refered to as “The fingerprint of GOD”. Whatever it may be, it is a boon. As theory states, every criminal leaves a clue behind him. The success of a sleuth is to find that, and exactly that particular clue, which stands out of the rest.
Of course, there are unsolved crimes, especially homicides throughout the world. Some of the famous ones are:

• The Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short) murder in 1947 at Los Angeles
• William Goebel, American politician in 1900 at Kentucky
• Jack the Ripper murders, 1888 at London
• Zodiac Killer murders at Northern California, 1968-1969
• Jack the Stripper murders, at London, 1963-1964

I don't think most of the unsolved crimes remain so due to careful planning and execution. There are other factors too. Inefficiency of detectives, corrupt officers, the murderers being members of highly organised crime syndicates, external agencies interfering the investigation (usually politicians) etc.
After reading a handful of detective novels I think, the steps to solve a crime are: rely only on concrete evidences; consider witness statements suspiciously; suspect everyone; form a pattern using the available data. The last one is the most important step. Form a theory with the initial clues. Modify this theory when more REAL clues pour in. Abandon a theory, if new data stands out (if the data is real). View everything suspiciously. Every crime has a pattern of it's own. If the sleuth is able to identify this, he wins. Also, I've read somewhere that if more than one solution exists, the simplest one wil be the right one.
Hoping for a perfect WORLD, and not a perfect crime....