September 16, 1996 was an eventful day atFort St George, the seat of the Tamil Nadu government in Madras. A humbleinventor occupied pride of place in the cabinetcommittee room of the statesecretariat, demonstrating his strange discovery to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi and his cabinet colleagues. For the record, at 11.45 am in thepresence of the chief minister and Union Industries Minister Murasoli Maran,Ramar Pillai effortlessly demonstrated his "accidental discovery".