A Mathematics Riddle

Not even sure if I should expose my ignorance (or that of others) here. But this question has been bugging me for a few years now. And I don't see any street protests by mathematicians anywhere. So may be I am wrong. But let me get the bug out of my system anyway.

A percentile is a great invention, by someone who wanted to compare people. As scales go, it is supposed to measure things on an ordinal, or comparative, scale. By definition, it is the number of people below you, if your percentile score is being discussed. If I have a 75 percentile, it should mean that 75% of the students who took the exam with me are below my score (whatever the raw score- that could be 5, or 50, or even 0, if negative marking is allowed, coz some would score minus marks in such a scenario).

Now, a percentile score of 100 is an impossibility by this definition. Because you are one of the people who make up the 100% of the test-taking population. Therefore, you necessarily have to exclude yourself while stating your percentile score- if 100% of the people were below your score, then who are you (only in a limited, not an existential, sense) ?

I have a major problem here. Hope the CATs of tis world and the reporters (don't know if they have a stats course) will solve this riddle for me.

Meoww!

Why a Bandh is Socially Relevant

Rather provocative thought, eh? Well, I gave it a thought, and the conclusion was inescapable- that bandhs are socially relevant in our country. Not only that, they take you forward. Now for the people unfamiliar with this concept, it is this. Bandh means closed. The entire nation decides that it will shut down. This achieves many things. It brings into sharp focus that you were not doing anything useful on all the other days when you were ostensibly working- and getting paid. So now the employers can take a call on whether to retain you. And reduce their (corporate India's) losses.

Politically, it is like a jam session in the boxing rink. It separates the men from the boys. The number of buses burnt can be tallied like a cricket batsman's score, or maybe the older head hunter's score (we are not talking human resources here, but the old sword tricks). And the top scorers can hope to win the next election, unless there are better scores from others.

For the normal, harried human, this is his golden chance to go on a long drive with his family, his beloved or whoever he wants to drive with. Even alone, it is a pleasure. Avoid unruly mobs though.

The economy can take a breath and come back refreshed. Banks can take a break from incessant demands for cash and other services. Don't we need a holiday once in a while? Then the nation deserves one too, once in  away. Now if only mobile phones learnt to do so....