india भारत

 National Symbols

National Animal of India

The Tiger

The tiger is the symbol of India's wealth of wildlife. The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris, is a striped animal.

The tiger is the symbol of India's wealth of wildlife. The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus), is a striped animal. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India. Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except in the north-western region and also in the neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

National Anthem of India
Jana-gana-mana..
The song Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version

The song Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the national anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza contains the full version of the National Anthem :

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat-Maratha
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga.
Tava shubha name jage,
Tava shubha asisa mange,
Gahe tava jaya gatha,
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

Playing time of the full version of the national anthem is approximately 52 seconds. A short version consisting of first and last lines of the stanza (playing time approximately 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions.

The following is a translation of Rabindranath Tagore's rendering of the stanza:

"Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
dispenser of India's destiny.
The name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
of the Dravid and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of the Yamuna and Ganga
and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The salvation of all people is in thy hand,
thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee."

National Bird of India

The Peacock
The Peacock, Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus), the national bird of India. It is symbolic of qualities like
beauty, grace,

The Peacock, Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus), the national bird of India. It is symbolic of qualities like beauty, grace, pride and mysticism. Peacocok is a colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck.
The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers it is able to expand its tail erect like fan as ostentatious display. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male, and lacks the train. These birds do not sound as beautiful as they look they have a harsh call. The elaborate courtship dance of the male, fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a beautiful sight. The peacock is widely found in the Indian sub-continent from the south and east of the Indus river, Jammu and Kashmir, east Assam, south Mizoram and the whole of the Indian peninsula. Found wild in India (and also domesticated in villages) they live in jungle lands near water. They were once bred for food but now hunting of peacocks is banned in India. It is fully protected under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

National Calendar

The national calendar based on the Saka Era with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957

The national calendar based on the Saka Era with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957 along with the Gregorian calendar for the following official purposes:

(i) Gazette of India,
(ii) News broadcast by All India Radio,
(iii) Calendars issued by the Government of India and
(iv) Government communications addressed to the members of the public.

Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of the Gregorian calendar : 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in leap year.

National Flag of India

The National flag is a horizontal tricolor of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the
bottom

The National flag is a horizontal tricolor of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The saffron color indicates the strength and courage of the country. The white middle band, indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra. The last band is green in colour shows the fertility , growth and auspiciousness of the land.

The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel which represents the chakra. Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. The design of the national flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July 1947.

Flag Code:

On 26th January 2002, the flag code was changed. After 52 years, the citizens of India are free to fly the Indian flag over their homes, offices and factories on any day. Now Indians can proudly display the national flag any where and any time. There are some rules and regulations upon how to fly the flag, based on the 26 January 2002 legislation. These include the following:

The Do's:

   1.

      The National Flag may be hoisted in educational institutions (schools, colleges, sports camps, scout camps, etc.) to inspire respect for the Flag. An oath of allegiance has been included in the flag hoisting in schools.
   2. A member of public, a private organization or an educational institution may hoist/display the National Flag on all days and occasions, ceremonial or otherwise consistent with the dignity and honour of the National Flag.
   3. Section 2 of the new code accepts the right of all private citizens to fly the flag on their premises.

The Don'ts:

   1. The flag cannot be used for communal gains, drapery, or clothes. As far as possible, it should be flown from sunrise to sunset, irrespective of the weather.
   2. The flag cannot be intentionally allowed to touch the ground or the floor or trail in water. It cannot be draped over the hood, top, and sides or back of vehicles, trains, boats or aircraft.
   3. No other flag or bunting can be placed higher than the flag. Also, no object, including flowers or garlands or emblems can be placed on or above the flag. The tricolour cannot be used as a festoon, rosette or bunting.

National Flower of India

Lotus
Lotus scientifically known as Nelumbo Nucifera is the National Flower of India. It is a sacred flower and occupies

Lotus scientifically known as Nelumbo Nucifera is the National Flower of India. It is a sacred flower and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India and has been an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial. The Lotus symbolises divinity, fertility, wealth, knowledge and not to forget enlightenment. Lending to its uniqueness, the flower grows in murky waters and rises on a long stalk above the surface to bloom glorious. It is also a symbol of triumph, since the lotus is rooted in the mud and can survive to regerminate for thousands of years. It represents long life, honor, and good fortune. Untouched by the impurity, lotus symbolises the purity of heart and mind.

National Fruit of India

Mango
The Mango is the national fruit. It has been cultivated in India since time immemorial. There are over 100 varieties

The Mango is the national fruit. It has been cultivated in India since time immemorial. There are over 100 varieties of mangos in India, in a range of colors, sizes, and shapes. Common in the tropical part of the world, mangos are savored for their sweet juice and bright colors. People in India eat mangos ripe, or prepare them green as pickles or chutneys. They are rich in vitamin A, C, and D.

National Song of India

Vande Mataram
The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration

The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to thi people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung lhras the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. The following is the text of its first stanza:

Vande Mataram!
Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitajam,
Shasyashyamalam, Mataram
Shubhrajyothsna puiakitayaminim,
Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim,
Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim,
Sukhadam varadam, Mataram!

The English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo in prose' is:

I bow to thee, Mother,
richly-watered, richiy-fruited,
cool with the winds of the south,
dark with the crops of the harvests,
The Mother!
Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,
her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,
Sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,
The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.

National Tree of India

The Banyan Tree
The National Tree of India is The Banyan Tree. This huge tree towers over its neighbors and has the
widest

The National Tree of India is The Banyan Tree. This huge tree towers over its neighbors and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, easily covering several acres. It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree is really a tangle of branches, roots, and trunks. The banyan tree regenerates and lives for an incredible length of time--thus it is thought of as the immortal tree.

Its size and leafy shelter are valued in India as a place of rest and reflection, not to mention protection from the hot sun! It is still the focal point and gathering place for local councils and meetings. India has a long history of honoring this tree; it figures prominently in many of the oldest stories of the nation.

National Emblem of India

The national emblem of India is an adaptation of the Buddhist Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath, near Banaras in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The national emblem of India is an adaptation of the Buddhist Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath, near Banaras in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital was erected in the third century BC by Emperor Ashoka to mark the spot where the Buddha first proclaimed his gospel of peace and emancipation. The national emblem is thus symbolic of contemporary India's reaffirmation of its ancient commitment to world peace and goodwill.
It has four lions, resting on a circular abacus. The fourth lion is on the rear and hence hidden from view. The emblem symbolizes power, courage and confidence. The abacus is girded by four smaller animals - guardians of the four directions: the lion of the north, the elephant of the east, the horse of the south and the bull of the west. The abacus rests on a nelumbo nucifera in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life. Usually inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script is the motto Satyameva Jayate ("Truth Alone Triumphs"). This is a quote from Mundaka Upanishad, the concluding part of the sacred Hindu Vedas. The emblem forms a part of the official letterhead of the Government of India, and appears on all Indian currency as well. It also sometimes functions as the national emblem of India in many places and appears prominently on the diplomatic and national Passport of the Republic of India.

National Sport of India

Hockey
Hockey, in which India has an impressive record with eight Olympic gold medals, is officially the national sport.

Hockey, in which India has an impressive record with eight Olympic gold medals, is officially the national sport. The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 - 1956 when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics. During the Golden Era, India played 24 Olympic matches, won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. The two other gold medals for India came in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.



Literary Persons

Kalidasa    

Date of Birth     :     -
Place of Birth     :     India
Kalidasa, one of the chief figures in classic Sanskrit literature was also a dramatist and poet. He was one of the Navratnas (9 gems or the most accomplished men of their times) at the court of Chandragupta Vikramaditya.
Kalidasa's works include plays, Epics and lyrics. His play 'Abhinjnana Sakunthalam' (Recognition of Sakunthala) is the most well-known of all his works and it has been translated into various languages of the world. In all, 7 works of Kalidasa are available today. They are: 'Malavikagnimitra', 'Vikramorvasiyam' and 'Abhijnana Sakunthalam' (plays); 'Raghu Vansa' and 'Kumara Sambhavam' (Epics); 'Meghdoot' and 'Ritu Samhara' (lyrics).

       
   
Mirza Ghalib

Date of Birth     :     1797
Place of Birth     :     Agra
Born as Asad Ullaha Khan, in 1797 in Agra, Mirza Ghalib was his pen name. His father, Abdullah Baig died in battle, when little Ghalib was just 5 years old. His uncle looked after the family for about 4 years, after which his mother brought up her two sons on a meagre pension of Rs. 750.00 annually. But even this was discontinued after the Great Mutiny of 1857. It was a very difficult time for the family. Ghalib was married to Nawab Ali Baksh Khan's daughter Umro Begum, at the age of 13. After a few years he shifted from Agra to Delhi, where he lived as a tenant. His wife gave birth to seven children, but unfortunately, not one survived. He adopted a nephew, who was also snatched by the hands of death at the prime age of his life. This broke Ghalib's heart, and he was moved to write an elegy to commemorate his life and death.
Mirza Ghalib is regarded as one of the greatest Urdu Poets. Mirza Asadullah Begh Khan Ghalib was born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Ghalib's poetry is distinguished by its intense feelings, wistfulness and a strong romantic mood which produce a charming effect on readers. 'Diwan-i-Ghalibin', 10 volumes is the collection of poetical works of Ghalib. It has been translated into several Indian and foreign languages. In 1850, he was appointed poet Laureate by the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II. As a writer and poet, Ghalib believed in using simple words. He laid the foundation of Urdu prose and that is why he is called the father of the modern Urdu Prose. 'Urdu-i-Hindi' and 'Urdu-i-Muallah' are his two famous books of collection of letters. Some other notable prose works of Ghalib are : 'Naam-i-Ghalib', ' Lateif-i-Gaibi' and ' Dupshe Kawaiyani'. Mirza Ghalib Academy in Delhi has been established in the memory of this great Urdu poet for research of his works and also to encourage Urdu literature. Even though Ghalib spread love, beauty and happiness all around, his own life was filled with moments of despair and tragedy. He suffered from a drinking problem, financial difficulties as well as pains of old age, and finally died at the age of 72 years.

   
Rabindranath Tagore

Date of Birth     :     May 7, 1861
Date of Death     :     Aug 8, 1941
Place of Birth     :     West Bengal
Rabindranath Tagore was a rare and great personality. He was a scholar, freedom fighter, writer and painter and above all a humble man. His contributions to Indian Literature was immense. He won the noble prize in 1913 for his collection of well known poems 'Gitanjali'. Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 to Debendranath Tagore and Sharada Devi at Jorasanko in West Bengal. He did his schooling in the prestigious St. Xavier School. He has written thousands of Poems and lyrics and about 35 plays about 12 novels, numerous short stories and a mass of prose literature. He was called as 'Vishwa Kavi'. Besides the famous ' Gitanjali' his other well known poetic works include ' Sonar Tari', 'Puravi', ' The cycle of the spring', ' The evening songs' etc. The names of his well known novels are: 'Gora', ' The wreck', ' Raja Rani', ' Ghare Baire', ' Raj Rishi' etc. ' Chitra' is his famous play in verse. ' Kabuli Wallah' and ' Kshudita Pashan' are his famous stories. In 1901, he founded the Vishwabharati University- earlier known as Shantiniketan at Bolepur in West Bengal. This was founded with the aim of evolving a world culture, a synthesis of eastern and western values. Our National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana ......' was written by him.

Rabindranath Tagore, also known by the sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali poet, Brahmo (syncretic Hindu monotheist) philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist whose avant-garde works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A celebrated cultural icon of Bengal, he became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Rabindranath Tagore, pronounced Ravindronath Thakhur, was born May 7, 1861 or the 25th day of the month of Baisakhi in the year 1268 (Bengali lunar calendar) in Calcutta, amidst turmoil of British and Indian relations. Tagore (nicknamed "Rabi") was born the youngest of fourteen children in the Jorasanko mansion of parents Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. He was the sixth child born to Sarada devi and Mahashri Debendranath Tagore. After undergoing his upanayan (coming-of-age) rite at age eleven, Tagore and his father left Calcutta on February 14, 1873 to tour India for several months, visiting his father's Santiniketan estate and Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, Tagore read biographies, studied history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the classical poetry of Kalidasa. In 1877, he arose to notability when he composed several works, including a long poem set in the Maithili style pioneered by Vidyapati. Seeking to become a barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, England in 1878; later, he studied at University College London, but returned to Bengal in 1880 without a degree. On 9 December 1883, he married Mrinalini Devi; they had five children, four of whom later died before reaching full adulthood. In 1890, Tagore (joined in 1898 by his wife and children) began managing his family's estates in Shelidah, a region now in Bangladesh. Known as "Zamindar Babu", Tagore traveled across the vast estate while living out of the family's luxurious barge, the Padma, to collect (mostly token) rents and bless villagers; in exchange, he had feasts held in his honour. During these years, Tagore's Sadhana period (1891-1895; named for one of Tagore's magazines) was among his most fecund, with more than half the stories of the three-volume and eighty-four-story Galpaguchchha written. With irony and emotional weight, they depicted a wide range of Bengali lifestyles, particularly village life. Tagore was nursed in the political ideals bequeathed to him by his father, the honorary Secretary of the British Indian Association. Tagore, unlike most of the other freedom fighters of his time, exposed the depravity of the British rule by chronicling all his adversities with British imperialism through poetry and literary works. He wrote most of his pieces in his mother tongue, Bengali, to be later translated to cater to his vast audience. He used his literature as a mobilization for political and social reform, hence allowing other nations to be aware and further apply international pressure to Britain to be accountable for its actions. He documented everything that would expose Britain's true intentions in India.

He was always a poet foremost, but due to the situation he was born into, his role in India's independence movement was to inspire faith in the dream that was unfulfilled. Without faith there was no future to be created. Tagore said, "It is the dreamer who builds up civilization; it is he who can realize the spiritual unity reigning supreme over all differences of race." Instilling national pride, he believed that India must earn her freedom.

He was insistent that the Englishman in India was an external fact and that the country was the most true and complete fact: "Try to build up your country by your own strength because realization becomes complete through creation." Hence, Tagore advocated that we can only realize our own self in the country if we seek to create the country we wish to live in by our thought, our activity and our service. The homeland is the creation of the mind and that is why the soul realizes itself (finds itself) in its own experience in the motherland. Tagore asked his people, in "Swadeshi Samaj", to win back the country, not from the British, but from apathy and indifference. He believed the country would attain a form of salvation only when all of its parts pulsated with passion for the recovery of the motherland. Hence, Tagore's method for liberation was an internal, intellectual movement: "Unreasoning faith, blind habits of mind, adherence to customs that had no merit save their age, the repression of intellect and heart in the unproductive channel of inaction - all of this is the antithesis of the forces that reveal people in all their full glory and dignity. This is the root cause of degeneration." His goal was not economic restructuring, but emotional liberation from the British, leading to economic and political reform.

Tagore was not a supporter of the non-cooperation movement as he felt the end result of disassociation from the British would be futile, since the future would only lead back to assimilation. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore differed in this way in their thinking on how to free India. Tagore and Gandhi, however, had a fond affinity for one another. Gandhi termed Tagore as his "Gurudev". Jawaharlal Nehru stated, "No two persons could possibly differ so much as Gandhi and Tagore." Yet this is a perfect example of the Hindu philosophy of acceptance in the pursuit of knowledge and the richness of India's age-long cultural genius. Gandhi consulted Tagore regarding methods of liberating India, stating that knowing his best friend was spiritually with him sustained him in the midst of the storms he entered.

Tagore began to resurrect his people by the introduction of schools. He taught subjects promoting that man can extend his own horizon and achieve a second birth through creativity and art. He opened his first school in Santiniketan. He began the regeneration by directing his efforts primarily at education with the foremost hope of promoting literacy and then health via enforcement of social conduct. Tagore was born into the priestly class, placing him in the highest class in Indian culture. However, he believed that India, by creating smaller and smaller spheres was destroying the vitality of her people. He refused to reap any benefit from the caste system and lived among the poorest of people. He recognized that when the British government created separate electorates for the castes among Hindus, its intention was to separate the Hindu community. Gandhi and Tagore, both of the same mind, protested to this differentiation, leading to Gandhi announcing a fast until death on September 0, 1932, which did not end in tragedy. This consciousness of the abject condition and miserable helplessness of the poor, unlucky people was the basis of his political philosophy in the years that followed.

Rabindranath Tagore was probably most famously known as the author of India's national anthem, J"ana Gana Mana." The national anthem was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Indian National Congress in Calcutta in glory of the motherland. It is also a song of reverence to the Lord of the Universe, the Dispenser of Human Destiny, Arjuna, who drives India's history through the ages along the rugged road with the rise and fall of nations

As Tagore became recognized as a prolific poet, through the translation to English of his most famous work Gitanjali, he acquired international fame with an introduction by W.B. Yeats. He was selected for the Nobel Prize in literature the next year and was granted a Nobel laureate subsequently in 1914. Furthermore, the University of Calcutta gave him an honorary Doctorate of Literature. The British government conferred upon him a knighthood celebrating the occasion of the King Emperor. However, in 1916, the poet renounced this knightship in protest to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 where 379 people were killed as the Imperial Government obtained the right to jail without trial, anyone whom they regarded as fractious. He wrote a stinging letter abandoning all amity and worked to strengthen India on a grassroots level.

In the years that followed before and after the Independence of India, Tagore became a spiritual ambassador, visiting Japan, Central and North America and other nations promoting understanding of culture and the follies of aggressive nationalism. He grew as a writer of poems. In his career, from 1878 to 1931, he wrote: songs, plays, novels, short stories, literary criticisms, lectures on religion and philosophy, and dramas. Then, from 1928 to 1940, he produced two thousand paintings. In later years, as Tagore reached his sixties, he tried to finance his Vishva-Bharati University personally. He relied on royalties and proceeds from his lecture tours. By 1941, Tagore's health had seriously deteriorated. When India attained independence, its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was a great admirer of Tagore, had an act passed to adopt Vishva-Bharati as one of the Central Universities. Tagore died peacefully, after an operation in Calcutta on August 7, 1941. Calcutta residents came by the thousands to have a last look at their beloved poet, as his body was carried to the bank of the Hoogly River for cremation. He was the quintessence of Indian culture and the living voice of India. Convincingly, he was the Prophet of Peace.

Bibliography (partial)

Bangla-language originals

Poetry

Manasi 1890 (The Ideal One)
Sonar Tari 1894 (The Golden Boat)
Gitanjali 1910 (Song Offerings)
Gitimalya 1914 (Wreath of Songs)
Balaka 1916 (The Flight of Cranes)

Dramas

Valmiki Pratibha 1881 (The Genius of Valmiki)
Visarjan 1890 (The Sacrifice)
Raja 1910 (The King of the Dark Chamber)
Dak Ghar 1912 (The Post Office)
Achalayatan 1912 (The Immovable)
Muktadhara 1922 (The Waterfall)
Raktakaravi 1926 (Red Oleanders)

Literary fiction

Gora 1910 (Fair-faced)
Ghare-Baire 1916 (The Home and the World)
Yogayog 1929 (Crosscurrents)
Autobiographies

Jivansmriti 1912 (My Reminiscences)
Chhelebela 1940 (My Boyhood Days)

English-language translations

Creative Unity (1922)
Fruit-Gathering (1916)
The Fugitive (1921)
The Gardener (1913)
Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912)
Glimpses of Bengal (1991)
The Home and the World (1985)
I Won't Let you Go: Selected Poems (1991)
My Boyhood Days (1943)
My Reminiscences (1991)
Nationalism (1991)
The Post Office (1996)
Sadhana: The Realisation of Life (1913)
Selected Letters (1997)
Selected Poems (1994)
Selected Short Stories (1991)

       
   
R.K. Narayan

Date of Birth     :     1906
Date of Death     :     2001
Place of Birth     :     Madras
One of the most famous Indian writers in English Language, R.K Narayan was born in 1906 in Madras. He was educated in Mysore and settled there for over half a century. Narayan created the enchanting fictional world of Malgudi through his several novels and short stories which captivated his readers throughout the world and more recently millions of Indian Television viewers, who saw TV adaptations of many Malgudi stories. His famous works are ' Malgudi days' and ' Swamy and his Friends'. Narayan has a humorous way of presenting life around him. First Novel ' Swamy and Friends' (1935), and its successor, ' Bachelor of Art's (1937) are both set in the enchanting fictional territory of Malgudi. His books are regularly published in USA, UK and India and have also been widely translated into several European and Indian languages.
His novel, ' the Guide' (1958) won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, the country's highest Literary honour. He was awarded the A.C.Benson Medal in 1980 by the Royal Society of Literature and in 1981 he was made an honoray Member of the American Academy and Institutes of Arts and letters. In addition to 4 collection of short stories-A horse and 2 goats, An Astrologer's Day and other stories, Lawley Road and Malgudi Days- he has published 2 travel books , 4 collection of essays and several other books. His biography 'R.K. Narayan, The Early Years' provides a splendid insight into the first four decades of his life. The famous cartoonist R.K.Laxman is his brother.


   
Salman Rushdie

Date of Birth     :     1948
Place of Birth     :     Bombay
Salman Rushdie is a famous writer. He was born in a Kashmiri Muslim Family of Bombay and later migrated to Great Britain. Some of his well known books are 'Rome', ' Midnight's Children', ' Haroun and the sea of Stories' and the 'Moor's Last Sigh'. He commented against India in ' Midnight's Children' and made some critical references about Islam in ' Satanic Verses'.
He created a world-wide furore and commotion with the publication of his book ' Satanic Verses'. Most of the books of Salman Rushdie have been subject to controversies and discussions. The publication of ' Satanic Verses' has raised a storm in the entire Muslim World. This made Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini sentence him to death. So presently he lives in hiding in England. The matter even led to Britain severing diplomatic ties with Iran. Rushdie's work Midnight's Children was awarded the 'Booker of Bookers' prize in 1993, which distinguishes as the best novel to have won the Booker prize over its 25-year history. In 1996 he received the European Union Literary Award in Denmark.

       
   
Subramaniya Bharati

Date of Birth     :     Sep 11, 1882
Date of Death     :     Sep 11, 1921
Place of Birth     :     Tamil Nadu
Subramaniyam Bharati was a poet of modern Tamil. He was born at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. Nick named "Subaiyya", he was a child prodigy who started writing when only 7. The King of Ettayapuram was so impressed by his writings that he conferred on him the title "Bharati".
When Subramaniyam Bharati was just 11 years old, the King made him his court poet, the poet laureate. His collection of poems 'Swadesh Geet' was published in 1907. In 1918, he was imprisoned for writing inflammatory verses. In 1920, he re-joined the Tamil daily 'Swadesa Mithran'. 'Kuyil Pattu' and 'Panchali Sapatam' are his famous poems. He will always be remembered for his fiery verses which lashed out for the cause of the nation. He was a great patriot and as well as a philosopher. His impact on Tamil Literature is great.


   
Tulsidas

Date of Birth     :     1532
Date of Death     :     1623
Place of Birth     :     India
Goswami Tulasidas was a saint, poet and has composed many devotional songs and Kirtans. He was the leading poet of the Bhakti movement and a great reformer of Hindu Society. His 'Rama-charita-manas' (1575) is the greatest work in Hindi Literature.
It is considered as an immortal classic by all Hindus. Tulsidas was the poet of common people. For all Hindus, Tulsidas was a symbol of religion, culture and true knowledge. Besides the religious importance, the poetic creations of Tulsidas are marked for their literary excellence. His other important poetic works of Tulasidas are 'Bairavi Ramayana', 'Parvati Mangal', 'Gitavali', 'Vinaypatrika' and 'Hanuman Chalisa'. Tulasidas was married, but later renounced worldly life and became a devotee of Lord Rama making pilgrimages most of his life.

       
   
Vikram Seth

Date of Birth     :     1952
Place of Birth     :     Calcutta
Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta in 1952. He earned degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. He has published 6 books of poetry and 3 novels since 1980.
His novel "A suitable boy" won the W.H.Smith prize in 1993. The latest novel written by Vikram Seth is 'An Equal music' and it is about the troubled love life of a violinist. Vikram Seth received one of Britain top honours for his services to literature. The award of the commander of the order3 of the British Empire was announced earlier in the year by Queen Elizabeth II and given to Seth on 14 February 2001.


   
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

Date of Birth     :     Jun 26, 1838
Date of Death     :     Apr 8, 1894
Place of Birth     :     West Bengal
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was an Indian poet and author, most famous as the composer of Vande Mataram, the national song of India. Bankim was educated at the Hooghly College and later at the Presidency College and belonged to an orthodox family.
Bankin C. Chaterjee was the composer of the National song 'Vande Mataram'. He was considered to be a leading litterateur of Bengali literature. He was born at Kantal-para in West Bengal. In 1882, he wrote 'Anandmath'. Besides, he also wrote novels 'Krishna Charitra',' Durgesh Nandini',' Chandhrani','Visha Briksha', 'Kapal Kundala'. In his famous satirical book, 'Kamala Kanter Daftar', he highlighted the social evils that prevailed in the society pertaining to injustice to the poor and he advocated remedial measures to balance the degree of equality between have and have-nots in the society. All his works bear unmistakable stamp of nationalism and Indian culture. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee passed away on April 8, 1894.
       
   
Prof. Jagdish N. Bhagwati

Date of Birth     :     1934
Place of Birth     :     Mumbai
Jagdish Bhagwati, renowned professor, member of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's High-level Advisory Group and the External Advisor to the Director General World Trade Organisation (WTO), is regarded as one of the foremost international trade economists of his generation. He was born in Mumbai, India in the year 1934. He did his B.com from Mumbai in 1954 and post graduated in l956 from Cambridge University with a first in Economics Tripos. He then did his Ph.D at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in 1967.
After studying in England and the United States, Bhagwati returned to India in 1961 and served as Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, and then as Professor of International Trade at the Delhi School of Economics. He returned to MIT in 1968, leaving it twelve years later to join Columbia, as the Ford International Professor of Economics. Bhagwati is one of the only 10 scholars who hold the title of University Professor at Columbia. On the personal front Bhagwati, is now living in America, with his wife Padma Desai, who is the Gladys and Ronald Harriman Professor Of Comparative Economic Systems at Columbia University and a scholar of Russian and other former socialist countries' transition problems. They have one daughter, Anuradha Kristina Bhagwati, a U.S. Marine officer. At 70, he is widely tipped as a future Nobel laureate, so respected among his fellow economists for his insights into the workings of foreign trade.


Munshi Premchand

Date of Birth     :     1880
Date of Death     :     1936
Place of Birth     :     Banaras
His real name was Dhanpat Rai but he is famous with his pen name of Premchand or Munshi Premchand. He was born in Pandepur , a village near Banaras (now Varanasi). His father Mushi Ajaib Lal was a clerk in the Postal Department. Premchand was just eight years old when his mother died. His grand-mother took the responsiblity of raising him, but she died soon after that.
Meanwhile his father married again and Premchand was left without the love of his father too. His early education was in a madarasa under a Maulavi, where he learnt Urdu. When he was studying in the ninth class he was married, much against his wishes. He was then fifteen. In 1919, while he was a teacher at Gorakhpur, he passed his B.A., with English, Persian and History. He had a second marriage with Shivarani Devi, a child-widow, who wrote a book on him, 'Premchand Gharmein' after his death. Premchand was the first Hindi author to introduce realism in his writings. He pioneered the new art form - fiction with a social purpose. He wrote of the life around him and made his readers aware of the problems of the urban middle-class and the country's villages and their problems. He supplemented Gandhiji's work in the political and social fields by adopting his revolutionary ideas as themes for his literary writings. Premchand was a prolific writer. He has left behind a dozen novels and nearly 250 short stories. Seva Sadan was his first novel. His best known novels are Sevasadan, Rangamanch, Ghaban, Nirmala and Godan. Three of his novels have been made into films. Besides being a great novelist, Premchand was also a social reformer and thinker. Premchand died in 1936 and has since been studied both in India and abroad as one of the greatest writers of the century.

       
    
Raja Rao

Date of Birth     :     Nov 8, 1908
Place of Birth     :     Mysore
Raja Rao was born on November 8, 1908 in Hassan, in the state of Mysore in south India, into a well-known Brahman family. His native language was Kanarese, but his post-graduate education was in France, and all his publications in book form have been in English. Like the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, writing in English, Rao has been concerned with language and consciousness. Rao was educated at Muslim schools. After taking a degree from Madras University, he left India for Europe, where he remained for a decade. He studied at the universities of Montpellier and the Sorbonne, doing research in Christian theology and history. In 1931 he married a French academic, Camille Mouly. Later he depicted the breakdown of their marriage in 'The Serpent and the Rope'. His first stories Rao published in French and English. During 1931-32 he contributed four articles written in Kannada for 'Jaya Karnataka', an influential journal.

His Selected works are :

Kanthapura, 1938
Changing India, 1939 (ed., with I. Singh)
The Cow of the Barricades, and Other Stories, 1947
Whither India, 1948 (with I. Singh)
The Serpent and the Rope, 1960
The Cat and Shakespeare, 1965
Comrade Kirilov, 1976
The Policeman and the Rose, 1978
The Chessmaster and His Moves, 1988
On the Ganga Ghat, 1993
The Meaning of India, 1996
Great Indian Way: A Life of Mahatma Gandhi, 1998
The Best of Raja Rao, 1998


    
Amartya Sen

Date of Birth     :     Nov 3, 1933
Place of Birth     :     India
Amartya Kumar Sen, born November 3, 1933 in India, is an economist and a winner of the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences (sometimes referred to informally as the "Nobel Prize for Economics") for his work on famine, human development theory, welfare economics, the underlying mechanisms of poverty, and political liberalism. From 1998 to 2004 he was Master of Trinity College at Cambridge University, becoming the first Asian to head an Oxbridge college. Amartya Sen is also deeply immersed in the debate over globalization. He has given lectures to senior executives of the World Bank but has also shown his commitment to reform from below by becoming honorary president of Oxfam. Sen was born in Santiniketan, West Bengal, the University town established by the poet Rabindranath Tagore, another Indian Nobel Prize winner. Tagore is said to have given Amartya Sen his name ("Amartya" meaning "out of the world"). Sen first studied in India at the school system of Visva-Bharati University, Presidency College, Kolkata and at the Delhi School of Economics before moving to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he earned a BA in 1956 and then a Ph.D. in 1959. He was also allowed four years to immerse himself in philosophical issues during his stay at Trinity College. Sen's father was Dr. Ashutosh Sen and mother Amita Sen who were born at Manikganj, Dhaka. His father taught chemistry at Dhaka University (now in Bangladesh). Dr Sen's first wife was Nabaneeta Dev, with whom he has two children: Antara and Nandana. Their marriage broke up shortly after they went to London in 1971. His second wife was Eva Colorni, with whom he lived from 1973 onwards. She died from stomach cancer quite suddenly in 1985. They had two children, Indrani and Kabir. His present wife is Emma Rothschild, an economic historian, and an expert on Adam Smith and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Sen brought up his two children on his own. Indrani is a journalist in New York and Kabir teaches music at a school in Boston, and has a rock band called Uncle Trouble. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for his work in welfare economics in 1998 and the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India 1999. In 2002 he received the International Humanist Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Eisenhower Medal, for Leadership and Service USA, 2000; Companion of Honour, UK, 2000. In 2003, he was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

His Recent works are :

Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (Issues of Our Time), 2006
The Argumentative Indian, 2005
Rationality and Freedom, 2004
Inequality Reexamined, 2004
Development As Freedom, 2000
Freedom, Rationality, and Social Choice: The Arrow Lectures and Other essays, 2000
Reason Before Identity, 1999

His Other works are :

Choice of Techniques, 1960;
Collective Choice and Social Welfare, 1970;
On Economic Inequality, 1973;
Poverty and Famines: an Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, 1981;
Hunger and Public Action, jointly edited with Jean Dreze, 1989;
India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity, with Jean Dreze, 1995;
Commodities and Capabilities, 1999

       
    
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Date of Birth     :     1820
Date of Death     :     1892
Place of Birth     :     Bengal
Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhay was an eminent scholar and social reformer of 19th century Bengal. He came from a family of modest means. He went to the village school where everything was taught in Bengali. When he was still a lad, his father took him to Calcutta. Here he was to join a local pathshala to learn more Sanskrit. A family friend advised the father to send the boy to a school where he could learn English, because a knowledge of English used to get one a well-paying job. It enabled Ishwar Chandra to get a law degree. In the meanwhile, he mastered Sanskrit and a host of other subjects. Vidyasagar became a lecturer at Fort William College (established in 1800) when he was in his early twenties.
He taught brilliantly, and proposed to improve the curriculum there. Such boldness did not sit well with a senior (fellow Hindu) professor. Unpleasantness ensued, Vidyasagar resigned as lecturer, and took on a clerical job. Later on, he joined the famous Sanskrit College, and soon became its principal. He argued against superstitions and casteism, and ate freely with the so-called untouchables. He opened the doors of this exclusive college to non-dwijas. This had never been done before in a Sanskrit school. Vidyasagar dedicated himself to innovations in education. He pleaded for English as medium of instruction. And yet, Vidyasagar did not ignore his own beautiful Bangla. He introduced students to the curviform alphabet of his language with a simple book (Borno Porichoi) which is as popular today as when it was first published 150 years ago (in 1855). His simple and elegant writings are said to have served as a model for later Bengali prose.


    
Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay

Date of Birth     :     Sep 15, 1876
Date of Death     :     Jan 16, 1938
Place of Birth     :     Hooghly(India)
Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay also known as Sharat Chandra Chatterjee was a popular Bengali novelist of early 20th century India.
He was born at Devanandapur, Hooghly, India and received his education in the city of Bhagalpur. His work represented rural Bengali society and he often wrote against social superstitions, malpractice and oppression. His famous works are Debdas 1917 (written 1901), Porinita/Parineeta 1914, Baradidi 1907, Bindur Chhele 1913, Biraj Bou 1914, Ramer Shumoti 1914, Palli Shomaj 1916, Arakhsanya 1916, Choritrohin 1917, Srikanto (4 parts, 1917, 1918, 1927, 1933), Datta 1917-19, Grihodaho 1919, Dena Paona 1923, Pother Dabi 1926, Ses Prasna 1931. He died in Kolkata of liver cancer in 1938.

       
   
Nirad C. Chaudhuri

Date of Birth     :     Nov 23, 1897
Date of Death     :     Aug 1, 1999
Place of Birth     :     East Bengal
Nirad C. Chaudhuri was born in Kishoreganj, then in the Mymensingh district of East Bengal (now in Bangladesh). He was educated in Kishorganj and Calcutta, where he attended Scottish Church College, Calcutta with honours in History. He topped the University of Calcutta merit list standing First Class First. However in his M.A. exams, at the same university, he did not appear for all of his exam papers, and thus did not get his M.A. degree. He was a productive and prolific writer till the very end; publishing his last work at the age of 99. His masterpiece, 'The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian', published in 1951, put him on the short list of great Indian English writers. He lived by his genteel squirearchical standards till he breathed his last. In 1992, he was honoured by the Queen of England with the title of Commander of Order of the British Empire (CBE). He published a sequel to his autobiography, entitled 'Thy Hand, Great Anarch!', in 1988. He died in Oxford, England two months short of his 102nd birthday in 1999.

He wrote the following books:

The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian
A Passage to England
Clive of India (biography)
To Live or Not to Live
Max Muller (biography)
The Continent of Circe
The East is East and West is West
From the Archives of a Centenarian
Thy Hand, Great Anarch!
Three Horsemen of the New Apocalypse


   
Keshab Chandra Sen

Date of Birth     :     1838
Date of Death     :     1884
Place of Birth     :     Bengal
Keshab Chandra Sen was a Bengali scholar, orator and religious leader. He was trying to envision and establish a syncretic/synthetic religion with amalgamation of the best principles in Christianity and Hinduism. However, his Brahmo Samaj was against idol or image worship. Their faith was in 'saguna nirakara' aspect of God - God without form but with benevolent attributes - if one may say so. Quite a few bright and young college students came under the influence of this seemingly new, progressive, and liberal reformist religious movement.
He was the third chief of Brahmo Samaj and his Service Book for Samaj meetings, the Slokasangraha, was a collection of texts from Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Chinese scriptures. It was a movement brought to birth by the conflict of East with West in the realm of intellect, and still is an attempt of educated Hindus to find relief from the impossibilities of the faith of their childhood. Pandit Shiva Nath Sastri gives an insider's view of History of the Brahma Samaj. Incidentally, despite the differences in ideals, he and Sri Ramakrishna became friends. Keshab and, following him, other Brahmos publicized Ramakrishna before the larger public of Bengal through their speeches and writings. The discovery of Ramakrishna was one of the greatest gifts of the Brahmos to the Bengali intelligentsia of the nineteenth century.


       
    
Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay

Date of Birth     :     Sep 12, 1894
Place of Birth     :     Bengal
Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay was a Bengali novelist and writer. He is most well known for the epic Pather Panchali (The story of the road), made into the memorable film trilogy by Satyajit Ray. Bibhutibhushan was born on 12 September 1894 at his maternal uncle's house in Ghoshpara-Muraripur village, in the 24-Parganasof Bengal. His father, Mahananda Bandyopadhyay, was a sanskrit scholar and a 'Kathak', one who tells stories for a living. Bibhutibhushan's early days were spent in abject poverty. Fighting which, he completed his Bachelor's degree in History. However, since he could not afford it, he did not enrol for the Master's course. The economic burden of his family rested squarely on his shoulders. He had married in the meantime. but his wife, Gouri Devi died at child birth after only a year of conjugal life. The tragic theme of death and loneliness is a recurrent factor in Bibhutibhushan's early writings. Before he became a writer, Bibhutibhushan took up various jobs to make ends meet. He taught school, became a secretary, managed an estate. Finally, in 1921 he published his first short story, 'Upekshita', in Probashi, one of the leading literary magazines of Bengal at that time. However, it was not until 1928, when his first novel, "Pather Panchali" was published, that Bibhutibhushan got critical attention. With 'Pather Panchali' Bibhutibhushan became, instantly, a prominent name in Bengali literature. At the age of 46 Bibhutibhushan married Rama Chattopadhayay after an unlikely love affair between a woman and a man over double her age. In 1947 she gave birth to their son, Taradas. On 1 November, 1950, Bibhutibhushan died from a coronary attack while staying at Ghatshila. He was fifty-six.

His Writings :

Pather Panchali (The story of the road)
Chander Pahar (Mountain of Moon)
Aronyak (In the Forest)
Aporajito (Unvanquished- Sequel to "Pather Panchali")
Heera Manik Jwale
Maraner Danka Baje
Adarsha Hindu Hotel
Ichhamoti
Debayan
Bipiner Sangsar
MeghaMallar
Mauriphool
Jatrabadol
Dristi Pradeep


   
Dhan Gopal Mukerji

Date of Birth     :     Jul 6, 1890
Date of Death     :     Jul 14, 1936
Place of Birth     :     Calcutta
Dhan Gopal Mukerji was the first successful Indian man of letters in the United States. He studied at Duff School (now known as Scottish Church Collegiate School, a constituent unit of Scottish Church College, Calcutta), the University of Calcutta, in India, Tokyo University in Japan and at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University in the U.S. He interpreted the cause of Indian philosophy, religion and spirituality in a lucid manner. He is best known for his 1923 autobiography 'Caste and Outcast'e and its 1925 sequel 'My Brother's Face'. He devoted much of his life to interpreting Hindu folklore, philosophy, and scripture for English-speaking children and adults in the West. He also wrote numerous stories based on the people, animals, and events encountered during his boyhood. Unfamiliar with colloquial terms, he used formal English, which many readers and critics found pleasing and effective. Mukerji was born near Calcutta, India, on July 6, 1890, and grew up in a small village near the edge of a jungle. His family belonged to the Brahmins, the priest caste of India, and operated the village's temple. As a teenager he completed a year-long pilgrimage of begging through India to become a priest, but unhappiness in the role led him to give it up. He attended the University of Calcutta and Tokyo University before emigrating to the United States in 1910. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley for three years and earned a degree in metaphysics from Stanford University in 1914. He married American Ethel Ray Dugan in 1918, and they had a son.

Mukerji published his first children's book, 'Kari, the Elephant', in 1922. The American Library Association presented him with the Newbery Medal in 1928 for 'Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon '(1927), a book about a carrier pigeon for the Indian army in France during World War I that goes to a lama's monastery for help in regaining his courage. Mukerji's other children's books include 'Ghond, the Hunter' (1928), 'The Chief of the Herd'(1929), 'Hindu Fables for Little Children' (1929), 'Rama, the Hero of India' (1930), and 'The Master Monkey' (1932). Many of his works were retellings of stories he heard as a child. Others were inspired by his own experiences in India.

Among Mukerji's writings for adults are 'A Son of Mother India Answers '(1928) (partly in response to Katherine Mayo's Mother India) , 'Devotional Passages from the Hindu Bible '(1929), 'Disillusioned India '(1930) and 'My Brother's Face'(1932). Although he wrote some plays, poetry, and novels for older audiences, he primarily focused on nonfiction. He also conducted several lecture tours. Mukerji's autobiography, 'Caste and Outcast', was published in 1923. He committed suicide by hanging on July 14, 1936, in New York City.

       
   
Amitav Ghosh

Date of Birth     :     1956
Place of Birth     :     Calcutta
Amitav Ghosh, born 1956 in Calcutta, is an Indian author, known for his work in the English language. He was educated at The Doon School, where he was a younger contemporary of Vikram Seth, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Delhi University and Oxford University, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in social anthropology. Ghosh lives in New York with his wife, Deborah Baker, author of 'In Extremis: The Life of Laura Riding' (1993) and a senior editor at Little Brown and Co., and his children Lila and Nayan.
In 1999, Ghosh joined the faculty at Queens College in the City University of New York as Distinguished Professor in Comparative Literature. His latest work of fiction, 'The Hungry Tide' was published in April, 2004. His other novels are 'The Shadow Lines' (1990), 'In An Antique Land' (1994), 'The Circle of Reason' (1986), 'The Calcutta Chromosome' (1995), and 'The Glass Palace' (2000). The Shadow Lines won the Sahitya Akademi Award, India's most prestigious literary prize. The Calcutta Chromosome won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for 1997. Ghosh also has three works of non-fiction to his credit. They are 'Countdown' (on India's nuclear policy) 'The Imam and the Indian' (a large collection of essays on different themes such as fundamentalism, history of the novel, Egyptian culture and literature) and 'Dancing in Cambodia', At Large in Burma.


    
Amit Chaudhuri

Date of Birth     :     1969
Place of Birth     :     India
Amit Chaudhuri, born on 1969, is an Indian English author. He has written numerous novels, short stories, and critical essays in English, but is probably best known for his book Freedom Song. Amit Chaudhuri grew up in Bombay and attended University College, London and Balliol College, Oxford. He was also a writer-in-residence at Wolfson College, Oxford. His first book, A Strange and Sublime Address, won the Betty Trask Award. His latest book is a collection of short stories and reminescences entitled Real Time. In 2004, Chaudhuri edited The Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature. He lives in Kolkata, India.

       
    
Mulk Raj Anand

Date of Birth     :     Dec 12, 1905
Date of Death     :     Sep 28, 2004
Place of Birth     :     Peshawar
Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian English language author, who depicted the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. Born in Peshawar, he studied in Amritsar, before moving to England where he attended University College London as an undergraduate and later Cambridge University, graduating with a PhD in 1929. He spent some time in Geneva, lecturing at the League of Nations' School of Intellectual Cooperation. Anand's literary career was launched by family tragedy, instigated by the rigidity of the caste system. His first prose essay was a response to the suicide of an aunt, who had been excommunicated by his family for sharing a meal with a Muslim. His first main novel, 'Untouchable', published in 1935, was a chilling exposé of the day-to-day life of a member of India's untouchable caste.
Inevitably, Anand, who spent half his time in London and half in India, was drawn to the Indian independence movement. At the same time, he also supported freedom elsewhere around the globe and even travelled to Spain to volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. He spent World War II working as a scriptwriter for the BBC in London, where he became a friend of George Orwell. Anand returned to India in 1946, and continued with his prodigious literary output there. His work includes poetry and essay on a wide range of subjects, as well as autobiographies and novels. Prominent among his novels are The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1940), The Sword and the Sickle (1942), all written in England, and The Private Life of an Indian Prince (1953), perhaps the most important of his works written in India. He also founded a literary magazine, Marg, and taught in various universities. His later works, including the novel Private Life of an Indian Prince, were more autobiographical in nature, and in 1950 Anand embarked on a project to write a seven-part autobiography, beginning with Seven Summers. One part, Morning Face (1968) won him the National Academy Award. Like much of his later work, it contains elements of his spiritual journey as he struggles to attain a higher sense of self-awareness. He died in Pune.


    
Chanakya

Date of Birth     :     350 BC
Date of Death     :     275 BC
Place of Birth     :     Pataliputra
Chanakya, also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was born in Pataliputra, Magadh (modern Bihar), and later moved to Taxila, in Gandhar province(now in Pakistan). He was a professor (acharya) of political science at the Takshashila University and later the Prime Minister of the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya. He is regarded as one of the earliest known political thinkers, economists and king-makers. He was the man to envision the first Indian empire by unification of the then numerous kingdoms in the Indian sub-continent and provide the impetus for fights against the Greek conqueror Alexander.
Chanakya is perhaps less well known outside India compared to other social and political philosophers of the world like Confucius and Machiavelli. His foresight and wide knowledge coupled with politics of expediency helped found the mighty Mauryan Empire in India. He compiled his political ideas into the 'Arthashastra', one of the world's earliest treatises on political thought and social order. His ideas remain popular to this day in India. In Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India, Chanakya has been called the Indian Machiavelli. Three books are attributed to Chanakya: Arthashastra, Nitishastra and Chanakya Niti. Arthashastra (literally 'the Science of Material Gain' in Sanskrit) is arguably the first systematic book on economics. It discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in details. Many of his nitis or policies have been compiled under the book title Chanakya Niti. Nitishastra is a treatise on the ideal way of life, and shows Chanakya's in depth study of the Indian way of life. According to a legend, while Chanakya served as the Prime Minister of Chandragupta Maurya, he started adding small amounts of poison in Chandragupta's food so that he would get used to it. The aim of this was to prevent the Emperor from being poisoned by enemies. One day the queen, Durdha, shared the food with the Emperor while she was pregnant. Since she was not used to eating poisoned food, she died. Chanakya decided that the baby should not die; hence he cut open the belly of the queen and took out the baby. A drop (bindu in Sanskrit) of poison had passed to the baby's head, and hence Chanakya named him Bindusara. Bindusara would go on to become a great king and to father the greatest Mauryan Emperor since Chandragupta - Asoka. When Bindusara became a youth, Chandragupta gave up the throne and followed the Jain saint Bhadrabahu to present day Karnataka and settled in a place known as Sravana Belagola. He lived as an ascetic for some years and died of voluntary starvation according to Jain tradition. Chanakya meanwhile stayed as the Prime Minister of Bindusara. Bindusara also had a minister named Subandhu who did not like Chanakya. One day he told Bindusara that Chanakya was responsible for the murder of his mother. Bindusara asked the nurses who confirmed this story and he became very angry with Chanakya. It is said that Chanakya, on hearing that the Emperor was angry with him, thought that anyway he was at the end of his life. He donated all his wealth to the poor, widows and orphans and sat on a dung heap, prepared to die by total abstinence from food and drink. Bindusara meanwhile heard the full story of his birth from the nurses and rushed to beg forgiveness of Chanakya. But Chanakya would not relent. Bindusara went back and vent his fury on Subandhu, who asked for time to beg for forgiveness from Chanakya. Subandhu, who still hated Chanakya, wanted to make sure that Chanakya did not return to the city. So he arranged for a ceremony of respect, but unnoticed by anyone, slipped a smoldering charcoal ember inside the dung heap. Aided by the wind, the dung heap swiftly caught fire, and the man behind the Mauryan Empire and the author of Arthashastra was burned to death. His main philosophy was "A debt should be paid off till the last penny; An enemy should be destroyed without a trace". He seemed to have lived - and died - by his philosopy.

       
    
Shashi Tharoor

Date of Birth     :     1956
Place of Birth     :     London
Shri Shashi Tharoor, is a well-known Indian English writer, scholar and international civil servant. He was born in London in 1956 to father, a newspaper executive and mother a housewife, with their roots in Palakkad, a town in Kerala, India. Tharoor mostly grew up in India did his schooling and under graduation in cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. He completed his honors degree in History from the prestigious St. Stephen's College in Delhi and won a scholarship to Tufts University in Boston. As a student he took part in debates, quiz contests and also tried his hand in theatre. In the mid 1970's, he went to the United States and acquired two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, all by the age of twenty-two. Tharoor joined the United Nations in May 1978 in the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva and has been with the organisation since then.
He became the head of UNHCR Singapore office (1981-1984) at the peak of the Vietnamese "boat people" crisis. Then he served as Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations from 1989 to1996 at UN headquarters in New York, towards the end of the term from 1991 to 1996, he led the team responsible for peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia. He served as the Executive Assistant to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (1997-1998) and as the Director of Communications and Special projects in the office of the Secretary-General from 1998 to 2001. In January 2001, he was appointed as interim head of the Department of Public Information (DPI) by Kofi Annan, and after a year and a half was confirmed as the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations. In this capacity, he is responsible for the communication strategy, enhancing the image and effectiveness of the organisation. In 2003, the Secretary-General appointed him United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism. As a journalist, Tharoor has written many articles, short stories, literary reviews and commentaries in such publications as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, the Times of India, the Indian Express, and Foreign Affairs. As a writer, he is very much an Indian expatriate. Shashi Tharoor has explored the diversity of culture in his native India. By exploring the themes of India's past and its relevance to the future, he has produced both works of fiction and nonfiction. He is the winner of several journalism and literary awards, including Commonwealth Writers' prize. In 1998, the Association of Indians in America (AIA) and the Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP) awarded him the Excelsior Award for Excellence in Literature. He was named by the World Economic forum in Davos as a Global Leader of Tomorrow. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in International Affairs from the University of Puget Sound in May 2000. Mr. Tharoor is also the author of several books, including 'Reasons of State' (1982), a scholarly study of Indian foreign policy; 'The Great Indian Novel (1989)', a modern ironic adaptation of the 2000-year-old Indian epic 'Mahabharata' which is narrated from a 20th century viewpoint; 'The Five-Dollar Smile & Other Stories' (1990); a second novel, 'Show Business' (1992) filmed in 1994 under the title 'Bollywood' which is a satire on the Indian film industry, which received a front-page accolade from The New York Times Book Review; 'India: From Midnight to the Millennium' (1997), published on the 50th anniversary of India's independence; 'Riot. A Love Story'(2001) which is about a married American government official who have a secret love affair and 'Nehru, the Invention of India'. He has also published a collection of short stories. On the personal front, he has separated from his journalist wife Tilottama who lives with their twin sons, Ishaan and Kanishk. Though Shashi Tharoor has been out of India since he was a teenager, he retains a strong attachment to his Indian roots. This versatile personality now lives in New York, balancing his career at the UN as well as his life as an author with equal brilliance and ease.


    
Deepak Chopra

Date of Birth     :     1947
Place of Birth     :     Delhi
Indian born Deepak Chopra has earned fame as a great physician in the field of alternative medicine in the US. Dr. Chopra serves as the Director of Education at the Chopra Center, which offers training programs in mind body medicine. He has established a new life giving pattern which has a crucial connection between mind, body, spirit and healing. Chopra is also known as the prolific author of more than 35 books, 100 audio, video and CD-ROM titles, which have been translated into 35 languages with over 20 million copies sold worldwide. Born in Delhi, India in the year 1947, Chopra was raised in a family infused with both Western Medicine and Traditional Hindu beliefs and practices. His father, Krishnan Chopra was a prominent cardiologist who served as the dean of a local hospital and a lieutenant in the British army and his grandfather was an Ayurveda ( Indian Medicine) practitioner.
Following his father's career in medicine, Chopra graduated from the All India Institute of Medical Science in 1968. He went to United States in 1970 to serve an internship at a hospital in New Jersey. He got further training at the Lahey Clinic and University of Virginia Hospital. In the early 1980s, he became the Chief of staff at New England Memorial Hospital and later the Chief at Boston Regional Medical Center and he also taught at Tufts University and Boston University Schools of Medicine. Meanwhile Dr. Chopra built a successful endocrinology practice in Boston. In 1981, a turning point occurred in Chopra's life when he met Dr. Brihaspati Dev Triguna, a famous Ayurvedic physician at New Delhi, who advised him to meditate. At first, he didn't give it much thought but eventually he was impressed by the sizable amount of research that proves that Transcendental Meditation (TM) reduces stress. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chopra became a dedicated champion of TM thought and practice. In 1985 he met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who invited Chopra to study Ayurveda. That year Chopra became the president of the American Association for Ayurvedic Medicine. He was later named medical director of the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center for Stress Management and Behavioral Medicine. In 1991, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article by Chopra, Triguna and Hari Sharma, "Letter From New Delhi: Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Modern Insights Into Ancient Medicine." which faced a lot of criticism regarding the Hindu belief in yogic flying, and the basis of Chopra's Ayurveda in Transcendental Meditation. In 1992, he served on the National Institutes of Health Ad Hoc Panel on Alternative Medicine. He Published his famous work, 'Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old' in 1993, which sold 130,000 copies in one day. In the same year, Chopra and family moved to La Jolla, Canada. He soon became the executive director of the Sharp Institute for Human Potential and Mind-Body Medicine with a $30,000 grant from the Office of Alternative Medicine in the National Institutes to study Ayurvedic medicine. His vision to establish a medical system based upon the premise that health is a lively state of balance and integration of body, mind, and spirit led him to open the Chopra Centre for well being in California in 1995. Through this Center, Chopra is trying to expand his healing approach using the integration of the best of western medicine with natural healing traditions. The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has granted continuing medical education credits for this program, which satisfies requirements for the American Medical Association Physician's Recognition Award. With charismatic presentation and astute marketing, Chopra has made the ancient sciences of Ayurveda, yoga and meditation user-friendly to the American mainstream. Deepak Chopra's popularity as an international presenter and keynote speaker is exemplified in an impressive list of honorariums. Esquire Magazine designated him as one of the top ten motivational speakers in the country; and in 1995, he received the Toastmasters International Top Five Outstanding Speakers award, earlier received by President Nelson Mandela, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, Tom Peters and Garrison Keillor . He is the recipient of the Einstein Award through Albert Einstein College of Medicine in collaboration with the American Journal of Psychotherapy. Chopra married wife Rita more than thirty years ago when he was just finishing medical school. Rita is now supervising the staff at the Chopra center for Well Being in La Jolla. They live in San Diego and have two kids, Gautam and Mallika. Mallika and son - in- law Sumant are both students in business school at Kellogg while son Gautam host Talk shows in Channel 1 TV.



Scientists

   
Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman

Date of Birth     :     Nov 7, 1888
Date of Death     :     1970
Place of Birth     :     Tamil Nadu
C.V.Raman was a scientist in Physics, who won noble prize in 1930. Raman was born on 7th November,1888 at Ayyanpettai in Tamil Nadu. He had his education in Visakhapatanam and Madras. After getting top ranking in the Financial Civil Service Competitive Exam, he was appointed as Deputy Accountant General in Calcutta (Kolkutta). In 1917 he became the professor of Physics at the Calcutta University. After 15 years service at the Calcutta University, Raman shifted to Bangalore and became the Director of the Indian Institute of Science in 1933. In 1943 he founded 'Raman Research Institute', near Bangalore. His discovery of the 'Raman Effect' made a very distinctive contribution to Physics. He was knighted by the British Government in 1929. He was also conferred the highest title of 'Bharat Ratna' in 1954. The 'Raman Effect' was a demonstration of the 'Collision' effect of light bullets (photons) passing through a transparent medium, whether solid, liquid or gaseous. Raman's publications include 'Molecular Diffraction of Light', 'Mechanical Theory of Bowed Strings' and 'Diffraction of X-ray's', 'Theories of Musical Instruments' etc. Raman conducted pioneering research in musical acoustics, particularly on Tamboura, the well known Indian musical instrument.

       
   
Dr. H. J. Bhabha

Date of Birth     :     Oct 30, 1909
Date of Death     :     1966
Place of Birth     :     Mumbai
The eminent scientist who ushered India into the atomic age was Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha. He was born on 30 October 1909 in a Parsi family of Mumbai. He is called the 'Father of Indian Nuclear Science'. Dr.Bhabha was appointed the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, set up in 1948. It was largely due to his efforts that the nation's first Atomic research Center, now named Bhabha Atomic research Center, was established at Trombay, near Mumbai. Under his expert guidance the nation's first atomic reactor 'Apsara' was also commissioned in 1956. In 1945, he founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Dr.Bhabha had a highly distinguished career and was an exceptionally bright student. Even as a student, he made some fundamental discoveries in electricity, magnetism, quantum theory and the cosmic rays. Dr.Bhabha as the scientist of a very high caliber, received many national and international awards and honours. In 1942, he was awarded the 'Adams' award. In 1951, Bhabha was elected the president of the Indian Science Congress. In 1955, he was elected the chairman of the U.N. sponsored International conference on the peaceful uses of the atomic energy held in Geneva. The Government of India also honoured him with 'Padma Bhushan' in 1954. The 'Homi Jehangir Bhabha Award' has been instituted by Indian National Science Academy. He passed away in 1966 in a plane crash.


   
Dr. Hargobind Khorana

Date of Birth     :     Jan 9, 1922
Place of Birth     :     Raipur, Punjab
Dr. Hargobind Khorana was born on 9th January 1922 at Raipur, Punjab (now in Pakistan). Dr.Khorana was responsible for producing the first man-made gene in his laboratory in the early seventies. This historic invention won him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968 sharing it with M.W. Nuremberg and R.W. Holley for interpreting the genetic code and analyzing its function in protein synthesis.
They all independently made contributions to the understanding of the genetic code and how it works in the cell. Khorana, born into a poor family attended D.A.V. High School in Multan, took his M.Sc from Punjab University at Lahore and in 1945 he went to England on a government scholarship and obtained a PhD from the University of Liverpool (1948). Dr. Khorana spent a year in Zurich in 1948-49 as a post-doctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and returned to India for a brief period in 1949. He returned to England in 1950 and spent two years on a fellowship at Cambridge and began research on nucleic acids under Sir Alexander Todd and Kenner. His interest in proteins and nucleic acids took root at that time. In 1952 he went to the University of British Columbia, Vancouver on a job offer and there a group began to work in the field of biologically interesting phosphate esters and nucleic acids with the inspiration from Dr. Gordon M. Shrum and Scientific counsel from Dr. Jack Campbell. In 1960 he joined the University of Wisconsin as Professor and co-Director of the Institute of Enzyme Research and Professor of Biochemistry (1962-70) and became an US citizen. Khorana continued research on nucleic acid synthesis and prepared the first artificial copy of a yeast gene. Dr. Khorana is also the first to synthesize oligonucleotides, that is, strings of nucleotides. These custom designed pieces of artificial genes are widely used in biology labs for sequencing, cloning and engineering new plants and animals. The oligo nucleotides, thus, have become indispensable tools in biotechnology. In 1970 he became the Alfred Sloan Professor of Biology and Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Khorana now settled in America, is married to Esther Elizabeth Sibler from Switzerland and they have three children. Apart from the Nobel Prize, Khorana has won many awards and honors for his achievement. Distinguished Service Award, Watumull Foundation, Honolulu, Hawaii (1968); American Academy of Achievement Award, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1971); Padma Vibushan, Presidential Award, India (1972); J.C.Bose Medal, Bose Institute, Calcutta (1972) and Willard Gibbs medal of the Chicago Section of American Chemical Society (1973-74). He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington as well as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1971 he became a foreign member of USSR Academy of Sciences and in 1974 an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Chemical Society. Khorana's work, which is an important scientific landmark of the twentieth century, has brought closer the day when synthetic DNA may be introduced into the defective human tissues to bring about their repair or treat mentally retarded people and change them into more intelligent and healthy human beings. His synthesis of RNA, capable of replication in laboratory, is a step towards the creation of life artificially. In fact, the researches has opened up a new branch called Genetic Engineering in Science.

       
   
Jagadish Chandra Bose

Date of Birth     :     Nov 30, 1858
Date of Death     :     1937
Place of Birth     :     Bengal
Jagdish Chandra Bose was an Indian physicist who pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics. Bose was born in Mymensingh in Bengal (now in Bangladesh) on November 30, 1858. His father, Bhagawan Chandra Bose worked as a tax collector for the British East India Company. His family originally hailed from the village Rarikhal, Bikrampur, in the current day Dhaka District of Bangladesh. Having started his studies in a local school, Bose studied at the St. Xavier's School and College at Kolkata. He passed the Entrance examination (equivalent to school graduation) of Calcutta University in 1875. He received a B.A. in Science from Calcutta University in 1879. Next, Bose went to England to study at Christ's College, Cambridge. He received a B.A. from Cambridge University and a B.Sc. from the London University in 1884. After completing his studies in London, Bose return to Kolkatta and was appointed Professor at Presidency College in Kolkatta. Then he became the director of the institute he founded and remained in the post till his death on 23rd November 1937. Jagadish Chandra Bose was one of the pioneers of modern science in India. His research was on the properties of electro-magnetic waves.
His major achievement was to demonstrate the similarity of responses to stimulation among the living and the nonliving as well as the fundamental similarity of responses in plant and animal tissues. The British Government knighted him in 1917. He founded the 'Bose Research Institute' in Kolkatta in 1917. Bose was not only a biologist, but also a physicist. Bose believed that by focusing on the boundaries between different physical and biological sciences, he would be able to demonstrate the underlying unity of all things. Bose's biological researches were founded initially by the discovery that an electric receiver seems to show science of fatigue after continued use. He can rightly be called the inventor of wireless telegraphy. Bose was the first in the world to fabricate and demonstrate in public (1985) the device that generated microwaves-radio waves of very short wave length. But his invention was not patented before Guglielmo Marconi (1896) who became internationally recognised as the inventor.


   
Meghnad Saha

Date of Birth     :     1894
Date of Death     :     1956
Place of Birth     :     Dacca
Meghnad Saha, one of the famous Physicist was born in Saroyatali village in Dacca (now in Bangladesh). He invented an instrument to measure the weight and pressure of solar rays. He produced the famous equation which he called 'equation of the reaction - isobar for ionization' which later became known as Saha's "Thermo-Ionization Equation". Saha was the leading spirit in organizing the scientific societies like the 'National Academy of Science' (1930), 'Indian Institute of Science' (1935) and the 'Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science' (1944). The lasting memorial to him is the 'Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics' founded in 1943 in Calcutta. He was the chief architect of river planning in India. He prepared the original plan for Damodar Valley Project.

       
   
Subramanyan Chandrasekhar

Date of Birth     :     Oct 19, 1910
Date of Death     :     Aug 21, 1995
Place of Birth     :     Lahore
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a Nobel Laureate in Physics and one of the greatest astrophysicists of modern times was born on October 19, 1910 in Lahore, (now in Pakistan) to parents Chandrasekhara Subrahmanya Ayyaa civil servant and Sita Balakrishnan. Being the nephew of the great, C.V. Raman, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics young Chandrashekhar's interest in the subject came naturally to him. In 1930, at the age of 19, he completed his degree in Physics from Presidency College, Madras and went to England for postgraduate studies at the Cambridge University. Chandrasekhar was noted for his work in the field of stellar evolution, and in the early 1930s he was the first to theorize that a collapsing massive star would become an object so dense that not even light could escape it; now known as the Black hole. He demonstrated that there is an upper limit ( known as 'Chandrasekhar Limit' ) to the mass of a White dwarf star. His theory challenged the common scientific notion of the 1930s that all stars, after burning up their fuel, became faint, planet-sized remnants known as white dwarfs. But today, the extremely dense neutron stars and black holes implied by Chandrasekhar's early work are a central part of the field of astrophysics. Initially his theory was rejected by peers and professional journals in England. The distinguished astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington publicly ridiculed his suggestion that stars could collapse into such objects( black holes). Disappointed, and reluctant to engage in public debate, Chandrasekhar moved to America and in 1937 joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Chicago and remained there till his death. At Chicago, he immersed himself in a personalized style of research and teaching, tackling first one field of astrophysics and then another in great depth. He wrote more than half a dozen definitive books describing the results of his investigations. More than 100,000 copies of his highly technical books have been sold. He also served as editor of the Astrophysical Journal, the field's leading journal, for nearly 20 years; presided over a thousand colloquia; and supervised Ph.D. research for more than 50 students. Chandrasekhar was a creative, prolific genius whose ability to combine mathematical precision with physical insight changed humanity's view of stellar physics.
In addition to his work on star degeneration, he has contributed significantly to many disparate branches of physics, including rotational figures of equilibrium, stellar interiors, radiative transfer of energy through the atmospheres of stars, hydro magnetic stability and many others. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 and received 20 honorary degrees, was elected to 21 learned societies and received numerous awards in addition to the Nobel Prize, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of London; the Royal Medal of the Royal Society, London; the National Medal of Science, the Rumford Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. NASA's premier X-ray observatory was named the Chandra X-ray Observatory in his honor. He and his wife, Lalitha became American citizens in 1953. This genius passed away on 21 August 1995 in Chicago, Illinois, USA..


   
Dr.Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar

Date of Birth     :     1895
Date of Death     :     1955
Place of Birth     :     Punjab
Dr. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar is known as 'The Father of Research Laboratories'. He is remembered for having established various chemical laboratories in the country. He was born in Bera, Punjab. After completing his M.Sc in India he went to England on a fellowship. On his return he served as a professor in Benaras Hindu University. He used to spent all his spare time in his laboratory doing research. He was awarded the title 'Sir' by the British in recognition of his service to Science, in 1941. As Nehru was much in favour of scientific development after Independence, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research was set up under the chairmanship of Dr. Bhatnagar. Later, he was awarded 'Padma Bhushan'. He became the first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1940. After his death, CSIR established a Bhatnagar Memorial award for eminent scientists in his honour.

       

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Date of Birth     :     Dec 22, 1887
Date of Death     :     Apr 26, 1920
Place of Birth     :     Tamil Nadu
Srinivasa Ramanujan was a great Mathematician, who became world famous at the age of twenty six. He was born at Erode in Tamil Nadu on 22 December 1887. Ramanujan could not complete his college education because of illness. He was so interested in mathematics that he learned on his own. He found out new formulas for solving mathematical problems and wrote articles about them. Professor Hardy a scientist in the Cambridge University saw one his article and impressed by his knowledge, took Ramanujan to England. Ramanujan was considered as the master of theory of numbers. The most outstanding of his contributions was his formula for p (n), the number of 'partitions' of 'n'. It was in 1914, while he was working in Trinity College he developed the 'Number Theory' and for his valuable contribution, was elected fellow of Trinity College on 18th October 1917. He returned to India in 1919 and began Research. He passed away on 26 April 1920. Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in his honour. Indian National Science academy and many other scientific institutions in India are giving various awards in memory of this brilliant mathematician.


   
Vikram.A.Sarabhai

Date of Birth     :     1919
Date of Death     :     1971
Place of Birth     :     Ahmedabad
Vikram.A.Sarabhai, was the main personality behind the launching of India's first satellite, Aryabhata in 1975. He was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in a family of industrialists. He was also responsible for the Equatorial Rocket Building Station at Thumba. Sarabhai set up the Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association, a laboratory for research in Physics and the Indian Institute of Management. Sarabhai was the second chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission and the Indian Space Research Organisation. Sarabhai's study of cosmic rays under the eminent scientist Dr. C.V. Raman, revealed that cosmic rays are a stream of energy particles reaching the earth from the outer space, being influenced on their way by the sun, the atmosphere and magnetism. This study helps in observing terrestrial magnetism and the atmosphere, the nature of the sun and outer space. He was conferred 'Padma Shri' in 1966 and was posthumously awarded 'Padma Vibushan' in 1972. He was also awarded 'Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize' in 1962. This great scientist could be credited with launching India into space age.

       

Professor Raj Reddy

Date of Birth     :     -
Place of Birth     :     India
Professor Raj Reddy, one of the prominent scientists in computer science in the US, is presently serving as the Director of the West Coast campus of Carnegie Mellon University, USA. Professor Reddy a native Indian, earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Guindy Engineering college of the University of Madras, India, in 1958 and a Master's degree in technology from the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 1960. He received a doctor's degree in Computer science from Stanford University in 1966 and the same year began his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the same University. Since 1969 for over three decades, the professor has been a member of the Carnegie Mellon University faculty. He served as the Founding Director of the Robotics Institute at the University from 1979 to 1991. For the next ten years, he served as the Dean and professor of Computer Science and Robotics, at the School of Computer Science and now as the Director of the West coast campus. Dr. Reddy's research interests include the study of human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. His main area of work is in artificial intelligence in particular with computers that can see, hear, walk, talk etc. His current research project include speech recognition and universal digital libraries, an Information Appliance for rural environments for use by illiterate people, where all creative works of the human race are available to anyone anywhere.

Professor Raj Reddy's achievements are many. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Acoustical Society of America and the American Association of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1984 and also awarded the Legion of Honor by President Mitterand of France. He is a member of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academy of Sciences and was Chairman of the DARPA Information Science and Technology Group from 1987 to 1990. He was president of AAAI from 1987 to 1989. He is on the Technology Advisory Board of Microsoft Corp. and received the IBM Research Ralph E. Gomory Visiting Scholar Award in 1991. He was the Co-Chair of the PITAC (President's Information Technology Advisory Committee) from 1999 to 2001under both Clinton and Bush. In 1994, Professor Redy received jointly with Edward Peigenbaum, the Turing Award which is the most prestigious in the computer science "For pioneering the design and construction of large scale artificial intelligence systems, demonstrating the practical importance and potential commercial impact of artificial intelligence technology". He also received the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award for his outstanding contributions in computer science and information technology from President K.R. Narayanan of India in an award ceremony in New Delhi. He has been awarded honorary doctorates (Doctor of Science Honoris Causa) from SV University in India, Universite Henri-Poincare in France, University of New South Wales in Australia, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in India, University of Massachusetts in USA, University of Warwick in England, Anna University in India and the Indian Institute for Information Technology (Allahabad) .

On the personal front, Dr. Reddy's hobbies include walking and mainly reading. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife of 37 years and they have two daughters. His daughters live on the West Coast, in Silicon Valley, California. He visits his native country once a year, his seven brothers and sister live near Bangalore. Today, this brilliant scientist is among the most respected names in the US in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence.



Prafulla Chandra Roy

Date of Birth     :     Aug 2, 1861
Date of Death     :     Jun 16, 1944
Place of Birth     :     Khulna (now in Bangladesh)
Prafulla Chandra Roy was a Bengali academician, who spoke of entrepreneurship and himself showed that way. He was born on August 2, 1861 and died on June 16, 1944. He was a chemist and founded Bengal Chemicals.

       

Satyendra Nath Bose

Date of Birth     :     Jan 1, 1894
Date of Death     :     Feb 4, 1974
Place of Birth     :     Kolkata
Satyendra Nath Bose (January 1, 1894 - February 4, 1974) was a Bengali Indian physicist, specializing in mathematical physics. Bose was born in Kolkata (Calcutta), the eldest of seven children. His father, Surendranath Bose, worked in the Engineering Department of the East India Railway. He knew many languages and also could play Esraj (a musical instrument similar to violin) very well. Bose attended Hindu High School in Calcutta, and later attended Presidency College, also in Calcutta, earning the highest marks at each institution. From 1916 to 1921 he was a lecturer in the physics department of Calcutta University. In 1921, he joined the physics department of the then recently founded Dacca University (now called University of Dhaka), again as a lecturer. In 1926 he became a professor and was made head of the physics department, and continued teaching at Dacca University until 1945. At that time he returned to Calcutta, and taught at Calcutta University until 1956, when he retired and was made professor emeritus.
Although more than one Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of the boson, Bose was not awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery or for his famous Bose-Einstein statistics. While at the University of Dhaka, Bose wrote a short article called 'Planck's Law and the Hypothesis of Light Quanta', describing the photoelectric effect and based on a lecture he had given on the ultraviolet catastrophe. During this lecture, in which he had intended to show his students that theory predicted results not in accordance with experimental results, Bose made an embarrassing statistical error which gave a prediction that agreed with observations, a contradiction. Since the coins are distinct, there are two outcomes which produce a head and a tail. The probability of two heads is one-fourth. The error was a simple mistake that would appear obviously wrong to anyone with a basic understanding of statistics, and similar to arguing that flipping two fair coins will produce two heads one-third of the time. However, it produced correct results, and Bose realized it might not be a mistake at all. He for the first time held that the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution would not be true for microscopic particles where fluctuations due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle will be significant. Thus he stressed in the probability of finding particles in the phase space each having volumes h^f and discarding the distinct position and momentum of the particles. Physics journals refused to publish Bose's paper. Discouraged, he wrote to Albert Einstein, who immediately agreed with him. Bose had earlier translated Einstein's theory of General Relativity from German to English. It is said that Bose had taken Albert Einstein as his Guru (the mentor). Because photons are indistinguishable from each other, one cannot treat any two photons having equal energy as being different from each other. By analogy, if the coins in the above example behaved like photons and other bosons, the probability of producing two heads would indeed be one-third. Bose's "error" is now called Bose-Einstein statistics. Einstein adopted the idea and extended it to atoms. From this, the duo predicted the existence of phenomena which became known as Bose-Einstein condensate, a dense collection of bosons (which are particles with integer spin, named after Bose), which was proven to exist by experiment in 1995. Bose's ideas were afterward well received in the world of physics, and he was granted leave from the University of Dacca to travel to Europe in 1924. He spent a year in Paris and worked with Marie Curie, and met several other well-known scientists. He then spent another year abroad, working with Einstein in Berlin. Upon his return to Dhaka, he was made a professor in 1926. He did not have a doctorate, and so ordinarily he would not be qualified for the post, but Einstein recommended him. His work ranged from X-ray crystallography to grand unified theories. He together with Meghnad Saha published an equation of state for real gases. Apart from physics he did some research in biochemistry and literature (Bengali, English). He made deep studies in chemistry, geology, zoology, anthropology, engineering and other sciences. Being of Bengali origin he devoted a lot of time to promoting Bengali as a teaching language, translating scientific papers into it, and promoting the development of the region. In 1944 Bose was elected General President of the Indian Science Congress. In 1958 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.


   
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

Date of Birth     :     Jun 29, 1893
Date of Death     :     Jun 28, 1972
Place of Birth     :     India
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (June 29, 1893-June 28, 1972) was an Indian scientist and applied statistician. He is best known for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure. He did pioneering work on anthropometric variation in India. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute, and contributed to large scale sample surveys. His father, Prabodh Chandra, was an active member of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. His mother, Nirodbasini, belonged to a family of considerable academic achievements. He graduated in Physics in 1912 from the Presidency College, Kolkata and completed Tripos at King's College, Cambridge. He then returned to Calcutta. Inspired by the Biometrika and mentored by Acharya Brajendranath Seal he started his statistical work. Initially he worked on analyzing university exam results, anthropometric measurements on Anglo-Indians of Calcutta and some metrological problems. He also worked as a meteorologist for some time. In 1924, when he was working on the probable error of results of agricultural experiments, he met Ronald Fisher, with whom he established a life-long friendship. He also worked on schemes to prevent floods. His most important contributions are related to large scale sample surveys. He introduced the concept of pilot surveys and advocated the usefulness of sampling methods. His name is also associated with the scale free multivariate distance measure, the Mahalanobis distance. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute on 17 December, 1931.

In later life, he contributed prominently to newly independent India's five-year plans starting from the second. His variant of Wassily Leontief's Input-output model was employed in the second and later plans to work towards rapid industrialisation of India and with his colleagues at his institute, he played a key role in developing the required statistical infrastructure. He also had an abiding interest in cultural pursuits and served as secretary to Rabindranath Tagore, particularly during the latter's foreign travels, and also his alma mater Visva Bharati University, for some time.He received one of the highest civilian awards Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India for his contribution to science and services to the country. He died on Jun 28, 1972, a day before his seventy-ninth birthday. Even at this age, he was still active doing research work and discharging his duties as the Secretary and Director of the Indian Statistical Institute and as the Honorary Statistical Advisor to the Cabinet of the Government of India. He had got Weldon Medal from Oxford University in 1944 and Padma Vibhushan in 1968. He was also elected a fellow of the Royal Society, London in 1945 and Honorary President of International Statistical Institute in 1957.

       

Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay

Date of Birth     :     -
Date of Death     :     Jun 19, 1981
Place of Birth     :     Kolkata
Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay (died June 19, 1981) was an Indian physician from Calcutta in India. He was educated at the Scottish Church College and later, at the Calcutta Medical College which was then affiliated to the University of Calcutta. His life and death has been the subject of countless newspaper reviews and a Bollywood film directed by Tapan Sinha entitled Ek Doctor Ki Maut (Death of a physician). He created history when he became the first physician in India (and second in the world after British physicians Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards) to perform the first In vitro fertilization resulting in a test tube baby "Durga" (alias Kanupriya Agarwal) on October 3, 1978.
Facing social ostracization, bureaucratic negligence, reprimand and insult instead of recognition from the Marxist West Bengal government and refusal of the Government of India to allow him to attend international conferences, he committed suicide in his Calcutta residence in 1980. His feat has been given belated recognition as the Indian physician who in 1986 was "officially" regarded as being the first doctor to perform in-vitro fertilization in India. His reinstatement to glory is attributable to Professor TC Anand Kumar who is credited to be the mastermind behind India's second (officially the first) test-tube baby. Professor Kumar took the crown off his own head after reviewing personal notes of Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay. He was ably helped by Professor Sunit Mukherji, who was a one-time colleague of Dr. Mukhopadhyay. Professor Kumar is currently active in setting up a research institute in reproductive biology in memory of Dr. Mukhopadhyay.


   
Birbal Sahni

Date of Birth     :     1891
Date of Death     :     1949
Place of Birth     :     India
Birbal Sahni, FRS (1891-1949) was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent. He founded what is today the Birbal Sahni Botanical Institute in Lucknow, India. Birbal Sahni was born on 14th November 1891 and got his early education in India at Lahore and graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1914. He later studied under Professor A. C. Seward, and was awarded the D.Sc. degree of London University in 1919. He returned to India and served as Professor of Botany at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and Punjab University for about a year. In 1921, he was appointed as the first Professor and Head of the Botany Department of the Lucknow University. The University of Cambridge recognized his researches by the award of the degree of Sc. D. in 1929. During the following years he not only continued his investigations but collected around him a group of devoted students from all parts of the country and built up a reputation for the University which soon became the first Center for botanical and palaeobotanical investigations in India. He established the Institute of Palaeobotany under the aegis of The Palaeobotanical Society on 10th September, 1946 which initially functioned in the Botany Department of Lucknow University but later moved to its present premises at 53 University Road, Lucknow in 1949. On 3rd April, 1949 the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru laid down the foundation stone of the new building of the Institute, however, a week later, on 10th April 1949, Professor Sahni succumbed to a heart attack. Professor Sahni was recognized by several academies and institutions in India and abroad for his research. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) in 1936, the highest British scientific honor, awarded for the first time to an Indian botanist.
His greatest contribution was the discovery of a new group of fossil gymnosperms which he called the "Pentoxyleae". Sahni studied fossil leaves of Ptilophyllum, stem of Bucklandia and flower of Williamsonia and concluded that they all belong to the same plant which he reconstructed and named as Williamsonia sewardiana. He was elected Vice-President, Palaeobotany section, of 5th and 6th International Botanical Congress 1930 and 1935, respectively; General President of the Indian Science Congress for 1940; President, National Academy of Sciences, India, 1937-1939 and 1943-1944. In 1948 he was elected a foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Another high honor came to him was his election as an Honorary President of the International Botanical Congress, Stockholm in 1950.