<p>Many times we have all experienced a tapestry of events culminating into an exquisite sublime action. There are stories abound, of accidental spillage in a restaurant leading to Romance, missing a scheduled flight which was doomed or a scientific breakthrough because of a chance observation and so on. As Nancy Thayer says in her book, Beachcombers, the universe is always speaking to us… Sending us little messages, causing coincidences, serendipities, reminding us to stop, to look around, to believe in something else, something more. </p>.<p>Serendipity refers to happy accident, the accident of finding something good without looking for it. Yet just like beauty, serendipity too is in the eye of the beholder. Take the case of the accidental discovery of life-saving drug, penicillin. The Scottish physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming was investigating the properties of the bacteria staphylococci. A few of the Petri dishes containing the bacteria got contaminated and grown a blue-green mould.</p>.<p>Instead of cursing and discarding the “ruined” Petri dish in the bin, Fleming’s keen eyes noticed something significant—there was a clear ring around the mould, where no bacteria was growing. He made a pure culture of the mould and discovered it was penicillium notatum which led to the discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin. </p>.<p>While serendipity is a skill to recognise what life has in store, epiphany is a moment of sudden revelation. Archimedes’ legendary “Eureka!” moment while taking bath in a tub and Isaac Newton’s epiphany about the nature of gravity when he watched an apple fall from a tree are well documented. </p>.<p>The skill of seeing something in the unexpected and connecting the dots are the attributes of a sagacious mind. A Chinese folk tale describes the story of a young man whose father challenged him to sell combs to Buddhist monks. The savvy youngster put forth an idea to the monks that if the teachings of Buddha were to be printed on the combs, they could be given away as gifts to the visitors and pilgrims. In a win-win situation the monks found an affordable way to spread Buddha’s teachings and the young man was able to sell thousands of combs to the monks who keep their heads bald! </p>
<p>Many times we have all experienced a tapestry of events culminating into an exquisite sublime action. There are stories abound, of accidental spillage in a restaurant leading to Romance, missing a scheduled flight which was doomed or a scientific breakthrough because of a chance observation and so on. As Nancy Thayer says in her book, Beachcombers, the universe is always speaking to us… Sending us little messages, causing coincidences, serendipities, reminding us to stop, to look around, to believe in something else, something more. </p>.<p>Serendipity refers to happy accident, the accident of finding something good without looking for it. Yet just like beauty, serendipity too is in the eye of the beholder. Take the case of the accidental discovery of life-saving drug, penicillin. The Scottish physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming was investigating the properties of the bacteria staphylococci. A few of the Petri dishes containing the bacteria got contaminated and grown a blue-green mould.</p>.<p>Instead of cursing and discarding the “ruined” Petri dish in the bin, Fleming’s keen eyes noticed something significant—there was a clear ring around the mould, where no bacteria was growing. He made a pure culture of the mould and discovered it was penicillium notatum which led to the discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin. </p>.<p>While serendipity is a skill to recognise what life has in store, epiphany is a moment of sudden revelation. Archimedes’ legendary “Eureka!” moment while taking bath in a tub and Isaac Newton’s epiphany about the nature of gravity when he watched an apple fall from a tree are well documented. </p>.<p>The skill of seeing something in the unexpected and connecting the dots are the attributes of a sagacious mind. A Chinese folk tale describes the story of a young man whose father challenged him to sell combs to Buddhist monks. The savvy youngster put forth an idea to the monks that if the teachings of Buddha were to be printed on the combs, they could be given away as gifts to the visitors and pilgrims. In a win-win situation the monks found an affordable way to spread Buddha’s teachings and the young man was able to sell thousands of combs to the monks who keep their heads bald! </p>