The basic law of physical distances is that 'the distance between x and y is the same in either direction'. Like from the image below, if a person say Mr. K moves from Z to A, the distance to go back to Z (from A) should be same.
But that is true only when the all the basic conditions (environment) of Mr. K's homecoming to Z (from A) are same as they were before going to point A (from Z). But whenever human try to apply, mathematical laws to daily lives, the outcome sometimes is quite different than the expected. An example of this is the mathematical model (based on Random Brownian movement and heat diffusion principles) driven hedge funds trading by LTCM in stock market which lost huge money in the 1990's. LTCM was too big to fail in late 90's like Citi, Bank of America, AIG are too big to fail now in a nation that is getting too big to fail.
Going back to Mr. K, his expectation is normal. But now, as you can see in the image to the right, he faces many challenges to visit his home town Z. Now Mr. K has to go to R then to G to go to Z. This violation of basic law can be seen below where distance to go back from A → Z is sum of A → R, R → G, G → Z is lot greater than the distance from Z → A. Before I explain what A, G, R, Z are and who Mr.K is, I have to give a background story. All stories should start with once upon a time. No, this story is not about old times.
But that is true only when the all the basic conditions (environment) of Mr. K's homecoming to Z (from A) are same as they were before going to point A (from Z). But whenever human try to apply, mathematical laws to daily lives, the outcome sometimes is quite different than the expected. An example of this is the mathematical model (based on Random Brownian movement and heat diffusion principles) driven hedge funds trading by LTCM in stock market which lost huge money in the 1990's. LTCM was too big to fail in late 90's like Citi, Bank of America, AIG are too big to fail now in a nation that is getting too big to fail.
Going back to Mr. K, his expectation is normal. But now, as you can see in the image to the right, he faces many challenges to visit his home town Z. Now Mr. K has to go to R then to G to go to Z. This violation of basic law can be seen below where distance to go back from A → Z is sum of A → R, R → G, G → Z is lot greater than the distance from Z → A. Before I explain what A, G, R, Z are and who Mr.K is, I have to give a background story. All stories should start with once upon a time. No, this story is not about old times.
So a few weeks ago, I was talking to my colleague Mrs. Kikorov, aka Mrs. K. She was going on a week long vacation. Knowing her nationality, I inquired if she was going to Russia (you should have guessed what R is now). She said she was going to an island in the Pacific Ocean near Dominican Republic. I asked if she was going with the family. She replied 'With a friend'. I asked if her husband was Russian and she said, 'He was when we married'. His home is in an Internationally non-recognized self independence declared country called Abkhazia (Z).
She went nostalgic on mentioning Abkhazia. Apparently, Mr. Kikorov's home is walkable distance from the picturesque Black Sea. She proclaims that Abkhazia is a heaven of earth, with beautiful tourist destinations abound. There are several man made boundaries that prevent Mr. Kikorov visiting his home in Abkhazia. According to Mrs.Kikorov, our protagonist has to get a Visa in America (A) to go to Russia (R), then a Visa in Russia (R) to go to Georgia (G) and special permit in Georgia to go to Abkhazia (Z) and now Georgia does not permit anyone to go to Abkhazia. There is a lot of sectarian violence that goes on between Georgia and Abkhazia and there were 3 full fledged wars between the countries since 1991. The map of the region discussed above can be seen below.
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It is a shame to deny a person to visit his home in his homeland. I can only imagine the pain and anguish people felt during the division of India and Pakistan and the fate of Kashmiri Pandits driven away from Kashmir by the militants and violence in the valley. Not everyone is lucky to settle in a relatively safe land like America (A) outside their native homeland.
Coming back to our story, while man made physical barriers have prevented Mr. Kikorov from visiting his homeland, there are other non-physical but man made and self induced barriers that are preventing Mr. Kikorov joining his wife on the vacation to an alias to Abkhazia. Mr. Kikorov is a business man in Philadelphia who owns a restaurant. The recession (excess leverage induced which is ultimately man-made) has hit his restaurant business badly.He could not afford to close the restaurant and go on a vacation with his wife. So off goes Mrs. Kikorov to an island near the coast of Mexico with her friend.
While bad-luck and responsibilities have restrained Mr. Kikorov, though she could go to the vacation Mrs. Kikorov does not seem to have avoided bad luck either. She had multiple phone calls, emails etc from her manager, her company HR asking her not to come to work within 96 hours of her returning back from the coast of Mexico. Little did she know that in two days into her vacation, Swine flu would break out in Mexico and the whole world is terrorized by the rumor of an impending pandemic. She had to convince the powers that she is healthy, did not come in contact with anyone with a flu on her vacation and that she did not actually go to Mexico.
Not knowing that she jumped through these hoops, I asked how her vacation during our weekly staff meeting. She replied 'And your next question is?' to which I joked 'You don't have swine flu right?'. The whole team joined me in poking fun at her. She gave the safety message for the week about Swine Flu.
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