Archives October 2013

If Eknath established a close link between Sufism and Hinduism, Kabir blended both Islam and Hinduism. His rich poetry is an outpouring of his heart. One is amazed on how a simple man with no scholarly knowledge can write so wonderfully.   Maybe that can be explained by his verse 'I have stilled my restless mind, and my heart is radiant, for in Thatness I have seen beyond Thatness.   Born in Kashi in 1440 to Muslim parents, he approached Ramananda numerous times for initiation. Each time, he met with refusal. One  day, he hid near the steps leading to the Ganges river anticipating to contort Ramananda again.   Ramananda, however, by mistake stepped on Kabir and and uttered 'Ram, Ram.' Kabir took this as a sign of initiation and Ram as his mahamantra. Ramananda is said to have accepted this.   Kabir never retired from the world to become more...

To reach the highest point of glory is not difficult for one who is born with a silver spoon in one's mouth. But when you are born to a poor and down trodden parents and still attain the great heights of name and fame, then all is not a child's Play-   Doctor Bhim Rao Ambedkar was an exception. He rose to the highest position virtually rising from the slums.   He got the best education by dint of his courage" and fortitude. He spent his entire life for the upliftment of the poor and the down-trodden. He was really a noble soul.   Bharat Rattan Dr. Ambedkar was born on 18th April, 1891 in Madhya Pradesh. His parents belonged to the down trodden class. The young Ambedkar spent his childhood in utter want and poverty.   He had to face many struggles. His mother died when he was barely more...

Bhagat Singh was born in a Sikh family of farmers in the village of Banga of Layalpur district of Punjab (now in Pakistan) on September 27th of 1907. His family stood for patriotism, reform, and freedom of the country.   His grandfather Arjun Singh was drawn to Arya Samaj, a reformist movement of Hinduism, and took keen interest in proceedings of the Indian National Congress. Bhagat Singh's father Kishen Singh and uncle Ajit Singh were members of Ghadr Party founded in the U.S. in early years of this century to route British rule in India.   Both were jailed for alleged anti-British activities. Ajit Singh had 22 cases against him and was forced to flee to Iran. Thereafter he went to Turkey, Austria, Germany and finally to Brazil to escape Black Water (Kalapani) punishment for his revolutionary activities in India.   Young Bhagat Singh was brought up in a politically more...

Lord Buddha was born at Lumbini in the norti  hills of India. His father was the ruler of tribe known as Sakayas. He was named 'Siddhartha'.  At the time of his birth, the pandits predicted that either he would be a brave king or a saint,   So his father was very careful to look after him. All kinds of luxuries and comforts of life were provided to him.   He was very kind to the animals and birds from his childhood as he had very soft heart. He married a pretty princess named 'Yashodhra'. They had a lovely son named 'Rahul'. In spite of all comforts, he was not happy at heart. He visited city many times to see the life of a common man.   The sight of sick man, an old man and a dead body shocked him. Once he saw a sanyasin who had given everything more...

Kalpana Chawla is our country pride. She famous her and his county name all over the world due to his work in the field of aeronautics. Forty one years old Kalpana Chawla was born in district Karnal, Haryana.   She was got her early education from Tagore Bal Niketan Public School, Karnal. In school, she was a brilliant student and a good dynamic personality in every field of school activities. After school education, she got degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Punjab.   There she was taught aircraft propulsion, theoretical aerodynamics and aircraft materials by Prof. Y.S. Chauhan and Mr. V.S. Malhotra taught her high speed aerodynamics, thermodynamics and fluid dynamics. Kalpana was a dynamic student and used to do his own things.   After this, she got her advance education in United States of America. There she married to a Frenchman, Jean Pierre Harrison, a flying instructor more...

Indira Gandhi was one of the greatest women of India. Her childhood name was Priyadarshini. She was born at Allababad on i9th November, 1917. She was the illustrious daughter of an illustrious father, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.   She was born with patriotic feelings, her grandfather, Motilal Nehru and father Jawaharlal Nehru both being great patriots. She was greatly impressed by Gandhiji when she visited the Sabarmati Ashram.   She got her early education at home. She did her matriculation from Pune and later joined the Shantiniketan started by Rabindra Nath Tagore. Later she studied in Switzerland and England.   Her mother, Kamala Nehru died in 1937. It was a big shock to her. Now, she undertook looking after her father. Later, she married Feroze Gandhi, a Parsi in 1941, in the teeth of opposition from conservative Hindus. After Jawaharlal Nehru became the Prime  Minister more...

Today the deadly and debilitating poliomyelitis virus is only endemic in four countries—Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. This is- thanks to the groundbreaking research undertaken by U.S. medic and biologist Jonas Salk (1914-1995). In 1947, at the University of Pittsburgh, SaIk combined his work on the influenza vaccine with searching for a vaccine to protect against polio. The virus was deadly in 5 to 10 percent of cases where patients became paralyzed, and thus were unable to breathe. Medical opinion at the time held that only a live virus could prompt complete immunity, but Salk disproved this. In 1952 he used formaldehyde to inactivate the polio virus and developed a vaccine still capable of triggering an immune response in a host. Initially tested on monkeys, then patients at the D. T. Watson Home for Crippled Children, Salk's success convinced him to test it on himself, his family, his staff, and more...

"Players have been installed in powerboats and airplanes, as well as in funeral limousines..." Time magazine (August 5,1966) The eight-track cartridge (or "Stereo 8") was developed by a consortium of U.S. businesses lead by Bill Lear (1902-1978) of the Lear Jet Corporation. Their aim was to produce a convenient magnetic tape playback System that could be used in cars. The eight-track cartridge contained a continuous loop of 1/4-inch (0.6 cm) tape that played back at 3.75 inches (9.5 cm) per second. It was so named since the music was recorded as four parallel pairs of stereo tracks on a single piece of tape. Switching between tracks was achieved automatically by mechanically altering the .height" of the playback head so that it aligned with -the correct piece of music. While Lear touted the system as being superior to reel-to-reel because more music was available in a smaller package, the audio quality more...

“learning to read music in braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory." Ray Charles, musician Louis Braille (1809-1852) was fifteen years old when he devised a system of raised dots to reproduce the alphabet so that it could be read by touch. Braille became blind at the age of four as a. result of an accident while playing in his father's saddler workshop and was educated at the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris from the age of ten. He learned to read using raised wooden letters designed by the school's founder, Valentin Hauy. In 1821, Charles Barbier, a former captain in the French Army, visited the school. Braille was introduced to the letter code that Barbier had developed to enable soldiers to communicate, without sound or light at night. Barbier's system used large symbols to represent sounds, each using dots and dashes raised more...

It is said that life may be measured not by the breath we take, but by the breath we hope. And many a time, I had to hold my breath when I saw Sachin in action. Sachin Tendulkar is, in fact, my hero.   He started playing cricket at a very young age. With the passage of time, his cricket career has went from strength to strength and the best is yet to come.   I am a cricket enthusiast. I love cricket the most and would go many miles on foot to see a good cricket match. I find it so thrilling and enchanting especially when Sachin is there as one of the players. I try to see each and every cricket match starring my hero and star Tendulkar. I  watch cricket match either on TV or by going to the stadium.   Born on April 24, 1973, Tendulkar more...