Just looking back and thinking as what India has given to the World. Looked around on internet and summarized some of the great contributions. Interestingly all of these contributions are ancient.  Links provide more information on each contribution. Jai ho…

1. Number Zero was invented by Aryabhatta(476-550)

2. Number System developed by Bhaskara I (600-680) based on Aryabhatta work during 7th Century and later popularized by Arabs.

3. The value of "pi" was first calculated by Baudhayana (1114-1185) and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this long before the European mathematicians.

4. The World's first University was established in Takshila in 7th Century of BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studies more than 60 subjects. This place is now located in Pakistan after India’s Partition.

5. The World’s first residential University was established in Nalanda. It had dormitories for students. It accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The University of Nalanda was built in 427, it was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

6. Indians invented the Science of Astronomy during the Gupta period. The book Surya Siddhanta is treated as major reference book of Indian Astronomy written during Gupta Period (280 – 550). Through this book Aryabhatta was first to hold that the earth is a sphere that rotates around its own axis. He also discovered the causes of solar and lunar eclipses, and methods to predict their occurrence.

7. In 5th Century, Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before it was calculated in west. Time taken by earth to orbit the Sun: 365.258756484 days.

8. Ayurveda (5000 BC during Vedic period) is perhaps the most important contribution to medicine that India has made. It means 'way of life' in Sanskrit. For centuries, Ayurveda has provided diagnoses on curing diseases, through the use of natural substances such as plants, herbs and metals. Today, the magic of Ayurvedic healing can be found in ready-made, packaged bottles the world over.

9. According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source for Diamonds to the world.

10. This ancient text on sexual love- Kama Sutra, was written by Vatsyayana in the mid-4th century. The text was made accessible to the English-speaking world by the orientalist Sir Richard Burton.

11. Patanjali gave the knowledge of Yoga in 150 BCE, it helps to keep a healthy body and sound mind.

12. Swastika, was first found in the Indus Vally Civilization, the difference between Indian Swastika and misused Nazi Swastika is explained in another article I wrote in the past.

13. Guru – literal meaning of Guru is Master, but it is more treated in sense of a spiritual master, and a guide. Now Guru word has become famous all around the world.

14. Chess was originated in India during Gupta empire (280 – 550)

15. Indian Martial Arts – More than 5000 BCE, Martial arts was mentioned and used in Mahabharta. Written evidence is found dated 2BCE

Some other contributions include Indian Spices and Herbs for taste, Bindi, Nose Ring and Salwar-Kameez for fashion or decoration.

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I found the following story on my favorite actor Amitabh Bachchan’s Blog, this is about marriage and divorce. Sometime people take such hasty decision without thinking properly and giving sufficient time. I hope you will like it too. Here the story goes…

 

“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man!

That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to a lovely girl called
Dew. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, 30% shares of my company and the car. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly.

Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did
not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a months time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.. She requested that everyday for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy.

Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said
scornfully. My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy.. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset..

I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest.. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what
I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me; she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.

Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife
gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office… jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind… I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I
won’t divorce.. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other any more.. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart.

Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote:
‘I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart’ “

 

The small details of our lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, the property, the bank balance that matters. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for
each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don’t share this, nothing will happen to you, but if you do, you just might save a marriage.
Relationships are made not to exploit, not to be broken.
We teach some by what we say
We teach some more by what we do
But we teach most by what we are
You don’t get to choose how you are going to die, or when, but, you can decide how you are going to live, here and now.

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I got an opportunity to attend and participate in the annual event of our local Indian Friends Meetup group of Atlanta. Here are few moments of Singing and Antrakshri in which I happen to participate.

Note: These files will work with Internet Explorer only.





 


I would like to thank three of our meetup friends – Chetna for giving my name for singing, Reema for pulling me into Antraskhari and Darshan for taking time to record this moment.

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Today, I thought to post some of the songs which I sang and recorded for our Shaam-e-Sargam musical evening.  These Windows Media Audio files will show up with Internet Explorer only.














A partial video recording of Annual Program (Sep 15, 2007) is available here.

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I can say it is a mere coincidence that on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi , I got an opportunity to sing the very first time in my life publically on stage. This was an annual event organized by of our local Shaam-e-Sargam group at Emory University, White Hall in Atlanta, GA.

First of all, I would like to thank my friends, Darshan for introducing me to this group and Anil for pushing me hard to buy a Karaoke CD to practice about a  month ago. I also thank Navin Jee for organizing this beautiful event.  I really enjoyed this evening and delighted to see and hear our great singers, dancers and musician.

At first, when I formally joined this group about six months ago, it was amazing for me to see how people from varied age and professional background come together and enjoy the music. I never thought I will be singing (except for myself). When I saw everyone singing, I just followed the theme of “Gana aaye yaa naa aaye Gana Chahiye” (whether you know how to sing or not, just sing).

Keeping the same philosophy in mind, I sang an old Song of Mukesh from Movie Maryada (1971) - Zuban Pe Dard Bhari Dastan Chali Aaye. Following is partial recording. The Video is best viewed in Internet Explorer.


Note: This Video will only work with Internet Explorer and it may take few moments to load based on your internet connection speed, so in the mean time it may appear like a black box. Once it is ready to Play, an image will appear and Play button will be visible.

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On the eve of 60th Independence Day of India, I would like to post a speech of our outgoing President Dr. Abdul Kalam. He is one of the great sons of India. One may respect him because he was President of India, but I have a deep respect and admiration for him because of his genuine contribution in growth of our nation. He is a true Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India). I was privileged to see and listen to him in person on Feb 19, 2006 in Bangalore, India. His speech touches the heart. I would like to share one of them today.


The President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 's Speech in Hyderabad .
 
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? 
 
We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a  self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.
 
In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
 
Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.  YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
 
Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity...
 
In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah . YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
 
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground.
 
If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why  cannot you be the same here in India ? Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar , had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right.
 
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I  alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.'
 
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Each of us on this planet earth is proud of our own identity. Some are identifying on the basis of their race, skin color, religion, culture, community, rich, and poor. Some people are creating groups based on life style etc. But have we ever thought that how many people were born over generations to just create YOU? They could be from diverse backgrounds.

This curiosity came in my mind and I opened MS-Excel and did simple math and it was mind boggling. Can you imagine that 4 Trillion people were born in last 1000 years in 41 generations to bring YOU on this earth today? These people became part of your family tree over period of time but never existed all at once. Just to remind you that the current world population is only 6.5 billion.

It is really interesting. So, I thought to post this information so that you can see from your eyes and realize this fact. If I committed any mathematical error please let me know.


Assumption: Let’s say you were born in year 2000, parents in 1975, grand parents in 1950 and the chain continues at a constant difference of 25 years. So here is the worksheet.

         

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The word 'Hindu' is NOT a Sanskrit word. Numerous scholars say it is not found in any of the Vedic literature. So it is important to know how such a name can truly represent the Vedic culture. And without the Vedic literature, there is no basis for “Hinduism.” Similarly, the name ‘India’ did not come from any Indian language or culture. So let’s find out their origin.

Origin of the word Hindu

Most scholars feel that the word “Hindu” was developed by outsiders, invaders who could not pronounce the name of the Sindhu River properly. Sindhu was the original name for a great river in north-west India. When invaders from Persia came across this river, they pronounced it ‘Hindu’. Because in Persian, the ‘S’ is pronounced as ‘H’. Eventually from ‘Hindu’, the second ‘h’ disappeared. So from ‘Sindhu’ the word ‘Hindu’ evolved. It described a geographical area. Today the word ‘Hindu’ represents people who follow Sanatan Dharma (Eternal religion based on Vedic knowledge). However later, it became to represent the people of ‘Hindu’ – Sthan. ‘Sthan’ means land. From this evolved the word ‘Hindustan’. It is very important to mention that word Hindustan does not mean only the land of Hindus but all the people of India who live east of the Sindhu River, which is called Hindustan or Bharat.

Origin of the word India

Some sources report that it was Alexander the Great who first renamed the River Sindhu as the Indu, dropping the beginning “S”, thus making it easier for the Greeks to pronounce. This became known as the Indus. This was when Alexander invaded India around 325 B.C. His Macedonian forces thereafter called the land east of the Indus as India, a name more frequently used especially during the British regime.

Thereafter, even the Indians conformed to these standards as set by those in power and used the names Hindu, Hindustan and India. Otherwise, the word has no meaning except for those who place value on it or now use it out of convenience.

Some other names of India

Aryavrata - Land of Aryans
Ajnabh khand - Named on the king Aj - Grandfather of Lord Ram
Hindustan – As discussed above from the word Sindhu
Hind - Short form of Hindustan - First used by Netajee
Bharat – Named on the king Bharat – Official Hindi name
India – Name mostly used by British - Official English name

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Dec 29 2006
Welcome ! Random  

Welcome to my Personal Web Site. Today is an auspicious day.

I have just launched this web site on the day of Dussehra.  May the divine mother bring all the happiness in your life. Please feel free to check out all the links. I will really appreciate your comments. Your feedback will help me to improve this web site. If you have not registered yet, then please register to see more pictures and update your profile. Your contact information will be kept confidential. I will continue to upload more pictures.

 

 

 

 

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About Me

Me Hello,my name is Vishwa Mohan Kumar.
I am a Software Architect. This blog is result of my experiments.

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