• This forum contains old posts that have been closed. New threads and replies may not be made here. Please navigate to the relevant forum to create a new thread or post a reply.
  • Welcome to Tamil Brahmins forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our Free Brahmin Community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

From adam to zeus ...through all men and gods.

Status
Not open for further replies.
# 39. Mr. T. V. Raman
images


Mr. T. V. Raman is a world famous Computer Scientist. His accessibility research interests are primarily auditory user interfaces and structured electronic documents.

He has worked on speech interaction and mark-up technologies in the context of the W.W.W. Cambridge Research Lab (CRL), Adobe Systems and IBM research. Presently he works at Google research.

Mr. T.V. Raman became blind at the age of 14 due to glaucoma. He was partially sighted previously and could see through his left eye.

To deal with his blindness he had his brother, his mentors, and his aide read out textbooks and problems to him.

Although unable to see, he was able to solve with a Braille version of Rubik cube. He could perform mathematics and write computer programs.

Raman attended B.A in mathematics in The university of Pune and M.Sc in computer science in I.I.T.Bombay .

He earned a MS in computer science and a Ph. D in Applied Mathematics in Cornell University. His Ph. D thesis entitled (AsTeR) Audio System for technical readings was awarded the A.C.M Doctoral Dissertation Award in 1994.

Mr. T. V. Raman went on to apply the ideas on audio formatting introduced in AsTeR to the more general domain of computer interfaces Emacspeak.

On April 12, 1999, Emacspeak became part of the Smithsonian's Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

In 2005 he began work at Google.

The various awards and achievements of
Mr. T. V. Raman.


  • Computer world Award Smithsonian Institution Emacspeak :Complete Audio Desktop. April 1999.
  • Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Doctoral Dissertation award 1994.
  • Intel Graduate Fellowship Intel Corporation, CA 1992.
  • Graduate Fellowship Cornell University. 1989.
  • President’s Silver Medal Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. 1989.
  • Sir Cusrow Wadia Gold Medal University of Pune. 1987.
  • Sir Ness Wadia Gold Medal. 1984.

Being blind did not deter T. V. Raman in any way. He has overcome his handicap by his ingenious discoveries which will help not only him but all the visually impaired people of the world.

One more illustrious example of 'mind over matter' and 'spirit and success.'

P.S.

My sincere thanks to professor M.S.K. Moorthy for suggesting the name of Mr. T. V. Raman whom he knows personally. :pray2:
 
Last edited:
# 40. Ved Parkash Mehta
images


Ved Parkash Mehta (Born March 21, 1934) is a writer who was born in Lahore in a Hindu family. He lost his sight at the age of four due to cerebrospinal meningitis.
Because of the limited prospects for blind people in general, his father - a doctor, sent him to Bombay to the Dadar School for the blind.
Mehta has lived in the West since 1949; he became an American citizen in 1975. He was educated at Oxford and at Harvard university.

His first book, an autobiography called Face to Face, which placed his early life in the context of Indian politics and history and Anglo-Indian relations, was published in 1957.

Since then he has written more than 24 books, including several that deal with the subject of blindness, as well as hundreds of articles and short stories, for British, Indian and American publications. He was a staff writer in The new Yorker from 1961 to 1994. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009.


Selected works:-


  • Face to Face (autobiography, 1957)
  • Walking the Indian Streets (travel journal, 1960)
  • Fly and the Fly-Bottle: Encounters with British Intellectuals (contemporary philosophy and historiography; Boston: Little Brown, 1962)
  • The New Theologian (Christian theology; New York, Harper and Row, 1966)
  • Delinquent Chacha (novel; New York: Harper and Row, 1966)
  • Portrait of India (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1970)
  • John Is Easy to Please: Encounters with the Written and the Spoken Word (transformational grammar, 1971),
  • Daddyji (biography, 1972),
  • Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles (portrait of Gandhi, 1977),
  • The New India (study of modernisation, 1978),
  • A Family Affair: India Under Three Prime Ministers (1982)
  • A Ved Mehta Reader: The Craft of the Essay (Yale, 1998)
  • All for Love (2002)
 
# 41. EPICURUS.
images


Epicurus was born in February 341 B.C.

His parents were Neocles and Chaerestrate were both Athenian-born. His father a citizen, haemigrated to the Athenian settlement on the Aegean island of Samos - ten years before Epicurus was born.
As a boy, he studied philosophy for four years under Pamphilus who was a Platonist. At the age of 18, he went for his two-year term of military service to Athens.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the Athenian settlers on Samos were expelled to to Colophon, on the coast of what is now Turkey. After the completion of his military service, Epicurus joined his family there.

Nausiphanes was the new teacher under whom Epicurus studied. In 311/310 BCE Epicurus taught in Mytilene but caused strife and was forced to leave. He then founded a school in lampsacus. He returned to Athens in 306 BCE.

There he founded The Garden, a school named for the garden he owned that served as the school's meeting place.

Even though many of his teachings were heavily influenced
by earlier thinkers, he differed in a significant way with Democritus on determinism.
Epicurus would often deny this influence, denounce other philosophers as confused, and claim to be "self-taught".

Epicurus never married and had no known children. He suffered from and finally succumbed to kidney stones in 270 BCE at the age of 72.

But the cheerfulness of his mind, which came from the recollection of all his philosophical contemplation, counterbalanced all these afflictions.
 
#41. The First President of U.S.A.



Any one would name George Washington as the first president of USA. But John Hanson from Maryland became the first president of U.S.A in 1781. After him seven others held this high position before Washington was elected and took office in 1789.

The office of the president of U.S.A, as it is known today, was not created till 1789. But the office of the ‘President of the United States in Congress Assembled’ had existed since 1781.

There was growing discontent about the British rule over the 13 colonies. The colonies established The Continental Congress in 1774, with a delegate from each colony.

Continental Congress waged a war against Britain under the leadership of George Washington. The congress created a Federal Constitution. The articles of this confederation were the law from 1781 to 1789, until they were superseded by the new Constitution.

Hanson’s role was to preside over the Congress. He lacked the executive powers–which was later invested on George Washington–and could not enforce the measures of the Congress in the individual states. Often the states just ignored these measures.

By 1786 the weaknesses of the Federal Constitution were identified. In 1789 a new Constitution established a more effective and a more powerful central government.

For eight long years, the Continental Congress had ruled the newly formed United States. John Hanson, though largely forgotten now, had the honor of being its first president.

Visalakshi Ramani

Source: my blog of 200 articles of General Interest in <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
Last edited:
The United States had around 41 Presidents and the present President Mr B Obama is the 42 President.
Except for Mr William H Harrison, Mr James A Garfield, others have had a term of two and more years.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
Remember the Super computer which can analyse and find out everything from a sample of urine.

I met a family yesterday. If they had given the mixture of the urine samples of the whole family the verdict would have been very much the same but for one addition.

1. You have a bad case of urinary infection.

2. your daughter is pregnant. :preggers:

3. your son suffers from S.T.D.

4. Your husband has very little blood in his stream of alcohol! :spit:

What would have been the reaction of the mean housewife :faint:

who mixed the urine samples in the first place? :eyebrows:
 
Shree Ramabhadracharya

Dear Mrs. Visalakshi Ramani,

Though belated I want to convey my sincere appreciations to you and Sri B.Krishnamurthy, for bringing the fame of Shree Ramabhadracharya to the members of Tamil Brahmins Forum. I have seen him in TV programs but,I am not aware of the greatness of this "Avatharapurusha" till I read your seven posts.

Warm Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
Last edited:
Dear Sir,

At least you were aware of his existence. I was completely ignorant about it. I really feel ashamed to admit it. :doh:

Better late than never. :tsk:

Sri B. Krishnamoorthy deserves all the credit for suggesting the name of this great person and also jagadguru. :clap2:

I was amazed that there was enough material for seven long posts.

Thank you for your feedback, :pray2:
Visalakshi Ramani.
 
Visalakshi Ramani said:
Dear Sir,

At least you were aware of his existence. I was completely ignorant about it. I really feel ashamed to admit it. :doh:

Better late than never. :tsk:

Sri B. Krishnamoorthy deserves all the credit for suggesting the name of this great person and also jagadguru. :clap2:

I was amazed that there was enough material for seven long posts.

Thank you for your feedback, :pray2:
Visalakshi Ramani.
Click to expand...

Dear Mrs.Visalakshi Ramani,

In fact long back once I have traveled in the same flight in which this Acharya also travelled. Flight attendants referred to him with reverence as Surdas. Many passengers took his blessings. At that time I did not know the greatness of this Mahapurusha.

Warm Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
I am sure he is the reincarnation of a mahatma or a maha devotee.

No ordinary mortal can reach such heights of glorious achievements!

Brahmanyan said:
Dear Mrs.Visalakshi Ramani,

In fact long back once I have traveled in the same flight in which this Acharya also travelled. Flight attendants referred to him with reverence as Surdas. Many passengers took his blessings. At that time I did not know the greatness of this Mahapurusha.

Warm Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
Click to expand...
 
We have to always remember the teachings of Adhi Shankaracharya and recollect the discourses of Baba
as to God is ever active providence by whose power, systems after systems are being
evolved out of chaos, as the omnipotent is ever shining, imperishable, stain-less, all pervading,
and so on. He who can take care of any body at any time and anywhere, if our mind and heart are not
infected.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
#43. The Ten-in-One man!



Described as the “Ten men in one”, Leonardo Da Vinci, was a unique combination of an artist, scientist, architect, anatomist, military engineer and an inventor with vision.

He was born in the Tuscan village of Vinci in 1452, as an illegitimate son of a lawyer and a peasant girl. When he was 14, his father took him to Florence to study art.

By the age of 20, he had become a well known painter. Ten years later, he moved to Milan and remained at the court of Duke of Milan for 17 long years.

Many of the 7000 pages of his “Note books”, were compiled during this period. These pages contain detailed plans and designs for flying machines, a parachute, a helicopter, a diving suit and a military tank.

These were invented in reality, much later, after several hundreds of years. But the fact that he could visualise them in such great details astound us even today!

As an inventor, he was the king of visionary possibilities. As an artist, he has left behind him several treasures of art. His most famous paintings are Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

After spending most of his life working in Italy, he spent his last days in France, at the invitation of Francois–The French King. He died in 1519.

To this day no one has proved to be equal to his multifaceted personality and numerous visionary inventions!

Visalakshi Ramani.

Source <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com.
 
It is only a recollection of the past when we live with our age old people to
the present day events.

If we see the old people, we will find that it is very difficult to break their age old habits.
Sometimes, they do what is wrong inadvertently or rather unknowingly but at times
they know that they have done wrong because they have done it in the past, so long as
they do not stop even though they hurt themselves and sometimes others.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
Last edited:
# 44. “The Father of Binary Numerals”?


images


Pingala the great scholar.
Courtesy Google images.





Pingala was an ancient Sanskrit grammarian (450 or 200 B.C). His real identity is not known. Some historians claim that he was the younger brother of Panini (a great Sanskrit grammarian of Fourth century BC) or was Pathanjali, the author of famous Mahabhashya (Second century BC).

Pingala’s famous work is Chandah Sastra , The Art and Science of Prosody. Prosody was an important requirement in all Vedic Rituals, which demanded the purity of utterance. Chandah Sastra consists of eight chapters and the work is dated to the transition period between the Vedic meter and the meter for the Sanskrit epics.

This work presents the first known description of a Binary numeral system. Pingala used the short and long syllables instead of the 0 and 1 used in modern times. The length of a long syllable was twice that of a short syllable.

While describing the Prosody, Pingala developed highly advanced mathematical concepts. Binomial theorem, Binary numerals and Fibonacci numbers can all be derived from his work on prosody.

The discussion of the combinations of Chandahs correspond to the Binomial Theorem. The basis of Prosody has connections with music as well as mathematics. These three are interrelated inseparably.

After all, language is dealing with syllables and words formed out of the combination of syllables. Likewise Mathematics deals with numbers and combination of numbers while music deals with tones and scales!

All these three formed the fundamental parts of Vedic chanting and shared the same foundation found in Chandah Sastra.

The Indian mathematician Virahanka (6th century A.D) showed how the Fibonacci numbers arose in an analysis of the the meters with long and short syllables.

The famous Fibonacci numbers are named after Leonardo of Pisa but they have been described Pingala of ancient India. These numbers appear under the name Matra meru (Mountain of Cadence).

Will the credit of paving way to Binary numeral system, Binomial theorem and Fibonacci numbers be rightfully bestowed on Pingala?

Visalaksi Ramani.

Source my blog <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
Last edited:
Children these days read about Aryabhatt, who appeared to have born in the region
somewhere between Naramada and Godavari, according to the records on this in our
Libraries. The book titled Aryabhattiya envelops the fundamental principles of
mathematics. We also read that he is the Inventor to have found out that Sun is
stationary and the earth only revolves around it. Mathematics is one of the important
subjects since ancient time. Today, the Vedic Mathematics has gained importance
and it is taught in IITs. Vedic Mathematics is the title accorded to our ancient system
of Indian Mathematics. Vedic Mathematics consists of Mathematical formulae - Sutras.
Interest in Vedic Mathematics is growing in the field of education. It has gained
popularity after the Mathematicians in UK gave a lecture on the collection of Pujayashri
B.K. Tirthaji, a religious leader of Puri who delved into the ancient Vedic Texts. Lot of
research has been done on Vedic Mathematics both in UK and in India by eminent
Mathematicians of both the countries together. Of late, children are very crazy to learn
it in the Schools too.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
# 45. The Cowboys.


The Cowboys of the Wild West are regarded as heroes. They get scorched by the harsh Sun, driven by the rain and snow and brave the attacks by the hostile, native Indians. Yet, the first Cowboys were “Cattle Raiders” and not “Cattle Raisers”.

When The British seized the New York City in 1776, during the American Revolution, the rest of the province was turned into turmoil. Both the sides formed guerrilla forces and committed murders and robbery as if they had got sanction to do so.

Westchester County was the common hunting ground for both parties. The “Cowboys” looted from the British side while the “Patriot brigade” looted from the American side.

The title Cowboys was the nickname earned by the British Guerrillas for their success as cattle raiders. They were ruthless killers of men and lured the unsuspecting victim into the woods, using the cow bells, in order to kill them.

With horses and men as their targets, the American Guerrillas, aptly names as “Skinners” were even more vicious and unprincipled than the cowboys.

Quite often the Cowboys and the Skinners formed groups, for the disposal and distribution of their loots, as equally as possible. When the hostilities ceased in 1781, the plundering and killing came to an end.

It took several generations before the atrocities of the Cowboys were forgiven and forgotten. Now the Cowboys, who are cattle risers, have earned the respect and admiration of the whole of U.S.A.

Visalakshi Ramani


 
I happened to visit Aravankadu on official trips. Gudalur is a picturesque green
valley. People are mainly dependent on the Tea Industry. We can find in this
place full of flora and fauna. People from Kerala and Tamil Nadu are residing here.
Earlier, the hill areas were generally inhabited by Tribes and others. Malayalam
is spoken by large number of people. May be after 1977 or so, when it came into
the jurisdiction of Tamil Nadu, officially Tamil is spoken. Mudumali Tiger Reserve
is close to Gudalur. We notice wild animals getting into human habitats. Another
notable thing is Devala, 20 Km from Gudalur, is supposed to receive highest rainfall
similar to Chirapunji in the North.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
#46. James Bond 007.



James Bond is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in 1953, featuring in twelve novels and two short story collections.

According to Ian Fleming Memoirs, Dusan Popov, a Siberian born super agent of MI6, was the inspiration for James Bond. Born in a wealthy family in 1912, Popov was recruited by MI5. He worked as a double agent between 1940 and 1944!

Popov was famous for his playboy-lifestyle and the dangerous missions he performed. He spoke fluent German and had several well placed connections in Germany. He hated Nazis secretly for occupying his country.

He was signed up as a spy by Anti Hitler Abwehr agents early in the war. He offered his services to U.K. He became a double agent and came to live in London.

Popov was a ladies’ man! He lived in extravaganza in U.S and in London. He published his memoirs “Spy, Counterspy” in 1974.

Many researchers are of the opinion that James Bond is a romanticised version of Ian Fleming himself, a jet-setting womaniser! Both Fleming and Bond attended the same school, preferred the same food, had the same habits, had the same notion about women, had similar naval careers, had the same hair style and eye colour!

Apparently Fleming chose Popov as his model and added his own Charisma and personality traits to create James Bond. He wanted the name of the hero he had created to be “as ordinary as possible” and yet as masculine as it was unromantic!

There was a Namesake James Bond (1900 – 1989) who was a leading American Ornithologist. Ian Fleming himself was a keen bird watcher.

The name of the ornithologist appealed to him and he named his hero as James Bond with the permission of the original James Bond!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
# 47. Sherlock Holmes.


It is said, “Set a thief to catch a thief”. The best legendary example to this statement is the life of a convict turned detective, Eugene Vidocq. Yes! He was a criminal turned to a police chief!

A Frenchman and an ex-criminal, Vidocq, utilised his first hand knowledge of the underworld, to create a whole newly formalised “Criminal Investigation”.

He made crime fighting a highly organised social science. His rare achievements are being used widely even today, while he himself has been pushed into obscurity most ungraciously!

Some of his novel ideas included introduction of record keeping, Criminalistics and the Science of ballistics into the police work. He introduced the system of making plaster-of- Paris casts of the foot and shoe impressions, to be used in the investigation.

He was a master of disguise and surveillance. He was an inventor too. He held the patents on the indelible ink and unalterable bond paper. He was the founder of the first modern Detective Agency. He was the first ever bona fide private eye!

The success of Vidocq inspired the world class authors so much that, they borrowed some of his brilliance, to add credibility to their own fictional heroes. Sir Canon Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes was based on Vidocq. In Hugo’s Les Miserable, both Jean Val Jean and the inspector were based on Vidocq.

Vidocq was a philanthropist helping the poor, wretched and the abandoned dwellers of Paris. He hunted the guilty and freed the innocent. Conventional people who lacked his sheer love of life, condemned him.

Vidocq was a fugitive, an under cover agent, a private investigator, an author, an inventor, an actor, a master of disguise, a humanitarian and a philanthropist all rolled into one.

Indeed Vidocq was a very unusual man with many rare talents. While Sherlock Holmes based on Vidocq has earned world wide popularity, he himself has been unduly pushed into obscurity!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
India is the largest English speaking Nation in the world.
Yoga has its origin in India and it has existed for more than 5000 years now.
Martial Arts were created first in India and subsequently it was spread to
the Asian Countries by the Buddhist Missionaries.
Our Historical Language Sanskrit is the mother of all the European Languages
according to a report published in a leading magazine during 1987.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
#48. Roderick Spode.



Roderick Spode, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a fictional character from the Jeeves novels of P. G. Wodehouse. He is portrayed as an amateur dictator and a leader of the fictional Fascist group of London called The Black Shorts!

Spode is portrayed as a large intimidating figure. He is constantly in love with Madeline Basset, whom he wishes to protect from men “playing fast and loose”. He marches his followers around London and country side and preaches loudly the dissoluteness of modern society.

Spode is modeled after Sir.Oswald Mosley-leader of British Union of Fascists-nicknamed as Black Shirts. The name Spode was probably suggested by the famous Spode Pottery made in Stafford Shire and Mosley’s family connection to those pottery areas.

Sir Oswald Mosley, Sixth Baronet (November 1896 to December 1980) was a British politician. He was the founder of British Union Of Fascists. Mosley’s family were prosperous landowners of Stafford Shire. He was a member of Parliament from Harrow (1918 to 1923) and from Smethwick (1926 to 1931).

Visalakshi Ramani.

source <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
Dear sister VR Ji,

I probably has read all of PFW's books when I was in India. These, in addition to Dickens formed the basis of my knowledge in my inadequate knowledge of English (both the language and the people), which persists to date.

What you posted is new info. to me. Thanks.

Regards,
KRS
 
dear Sir,

I did a little bit of research to find out which fictitious character was based or modelled on which real person.

The list is long but I confined myself to just ten well known persons and characters.

The rest will follow this post.
Thank you for the feedback.
With warm regards, :pray2:
Mrs. V.R.
 
#49. Alice in Wonderland.



Alice Pleasance Liddell ( 1852- 1934) inspired the Children classic Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. She was the middle of the three daughters of Henry Liddell (Dean of Christ Church, Oxford) and Lorina Hanna Liddell. She was a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth II. She married Reginald Hargreaves in 1880.

On 4th July 1862, in a row boat traveling from Folly bridge, Oxford to Godstow for a picnic party,ten year old Alice Liddell asked Charles Dodgson (whose pen name was Lewis Carroll) to entertain her and her two sisters Edith (age 8 years) and Lorina (age 13 years) with stories.

Dodgson told the girls a fantastic story of a girl names Alice and her adventures, after she fell into a rabbit hole. Alice Liddell insisted that he should write down the story for her.

The manuscript “Alice’s adventures underground” was ready in November 1864. “Alice’s adventures in the wonderland” illustrated by John Tenniel, was published in 1865, under his pen name Lewis Carrol.

A second book “Through the looking glass and what Alice found there” followed in 1871. In 1886 the original manuscript that Dodgson gave to Alice Liddell was also published.

Visalakshi Ramani. Source my blog <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page

Share this page

Latest posts

Latest ads

Follow us on Social Media

Back
Top