UNKNOWN MATHS GENIUS

 Vashishta Narayan Singh

Vashishta Narayan Singh (1946–2019) was a mathematician from Bihar. The son of a police constable, Singh had proved his genius at an early age and gained admission to the Netarhat Residential School, a prestigious institution that produced state toppers. In college, Singh often quizzed and contradicted his lecturers. So impressed was the principal with his talent that he let Singh skip two years ahead and appear for the final year B.Sc. examination. He went on to earn his PhD in mathematics in USA from the University of California, Berkeley. He was only 23. It is said that he once worked at NASA and did some calculations when the machines stopped working. When the machines started functioning, his calculations matched those of the machines. He returned to India and worked briefly with institutions like IIT-Kanpur and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Unfortunately, before he could soar to the heights of greatness, his career was cut short by a long battle with schizophrenia. Once he even went missing for four years. Singh was awarded the Padma Shri posthumously in 2020.

DO YOU KNOW

 Why we blink?

Eyes are the most delicate of the sensory organs. They need constant lubrication. They must also be kept crystal clear for good vision. Blinking serves the dual purpose of cleaning and lubricating our eyes. It helps to keep the eyes moist by coating them with tears released by the tear glands and lubricating oil released by sebaceous glands present near the eyelashes. These fluids rinse away all the dust particles.

Blinking also helps guard our eyes against a sudden blow. We blink automatically when there is a loud noise or when something moves too quickly. Most people blink about 15 times a minute. Scientists have found that people blink less when they are alert. For example, car drivers blink less in city traffic when they need to be extremely alert than while driving on the open road. Nervous people tend to blink more frequently. Lawyers say witnesses under cross-examination blink more often than those facing friendly questioning.

AN ESSENTIAL ACTIVITY IN YOUR DAILY LIFE

 Decluttering your mind

Cleaning and disposing of unwanted things from our workspace and living space is an essential activity in our daily life, as it gives us renewed energy. We often declutter our cupboards, worktable, bedroom, kitchen etc. Removing unwanted and undesirable stuff delivers a positive vibe to the space and persons alike.

In recent times, most people indeed have an increased awareness on the significance of decluttering their physical surroundings. However, decluttering of one’s mind is more important than all this. When negative emotions such as anger, hatred, fear, sadness, frustration etc. loom large; one does not find peace of mind. These emotions frequently haunt and create blocks in the mind, thus affecting the performance of an individual in private and public life.

When there is a severe block in a blood vessel to the heart, doctors may advise for surgical interventions or angioplasty. Unfortunately, there are no ‘plasty’ procedures available to clear mental blocks. Cleansing and blockage removal of the mind can be done only through self-effort or self-consent. Self-awareness is the first step towards it. Once we feel the necessity to do so, we will be able to do it. Unless we declutter our mind once in a while, there will be a lot of garbage of thoughts that could lead to a cancerous condition of the mind. It will tax one’s happiness and impact productivity in life. 

A child’s mind is said to be like a clean slate. As he or she grows, there will be both positive and negative writings on it. If the mind is trained to forget and forgo toxic thoughts and emotions, without letting them accumulate, then that child will be able to maintain a clean and healthy mind. There may be some thwarted feelings and negative energy in the mind; a process called sublimation, the draining out of such emotions into socially acceptable channels could help in such cases. This enables one to handle both intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships in a better way. This is also reflected in actions and appearances as well.

BOOK OF FABLES AND FOLKTALES

 Panchatantra

Panchatantra was originally written in Sanskrit language by the Hindu scholar Pandit Vishnu Sharma about 2500 years ago. It is a collection of fables and folktales. It gives an insight into the human behaviour through animal characters. Vishnu Sharma thought that humans could understand their shortcomings, if presented in an entertaining and humorous manner. So he chose animals in his fables as main characters which was his medium to convey the message.

There are tales of greed, deceit, treachery, stupidity, anger and wit. His stories are subtle in implying the morals behind them without directly mentioning them. The stories are presented in a simple manner.

Vishnu Sharma was a 3rd century Sanskrit scholar who lived in Varanasi. He was the Guru of the Prince of Kashi. He wrote Panchatantra to teach political science to his royal disciples.

King Sudarshan of Mahilaropya of Southern India had three dull sons.He decided to appoint Vishnu Sharma as an instructor for his sons. The King promised to give hundred villages and abundant gold to Vishnu Sharma if he could make good administrators out of his sons. Vishnu Sharma was very old at that time and he politely refused the gifts. He promised the King that he would turn the princes into able administrators within six months.

Vishnu Sharma realized that it was a difficult task to teach the princes through conventional means. So he started composing many short captivating animal stories with a message in each story. He grouped them in five parts called Tantras, hence the name Panchatantra. After hearing the stories the princes became really knowledgeable and good administrators.

Panchatantra became very popular all over the world. It reached Europe in the 11^th century. By the 16th century, it was translated in Greek, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin and other Slavic languages. It’s been translated and circulated all over the world for its precious teachings.

MEET THE SCIENTIST

 Albert Einstein

I am Albert Einstein, a scientist. I was born on March 14, 1879 in Germany. I spent most of my childhood in Munich, Germany. My father had an electronics company and I learned a lot about science and electronics from him. I loved maths and science and wanted to pursue those subjects in school. But I did not finish school in Germany, but went to Switzerland for my studies. I had a sister named Maja.

Did you know that I had speech problems when I was a child? And my parents were worried that I was not very smart. I also failed my entrance exam for college. After schooling and college I wanted to become a professor but did not get that job for a long time. So, I worked in the patent office for my monthly income.

Later, I immigrated to the United States in 1933. This was because I had to flee Europe as the Nazis did not like me since I was Jewish. If I had stayed in Germany I would not have been able to get any suitable job. At one point the Nazis had even put a bounty on my head. After I went to USA I got citizenship there and was safe from Nazis.

Do you know what scientific achievements I have done when I was alive? No? Then let me tell you. I am most famous for my Theory of Relativity. This theory changed much in the way scientists looked at the world of physics. The Theory of Relativity explains how time and distance changes due to the relative or different speed of the object and the observer. It is also the foundation for many modern inventions like the nuclear bomb and nuclear energy. One equation from the theory is a formula called E=mc². This formula explains how energy (E) is related to mass (m). In this formula, "c" is the speed of light and is a constant. It is assumed to be the fastest speed possible in the universe.

I have other exciting discoveries also. In 1905, I came up with the concept that light is made up of particles called photons. My scientist friends did not agree but later experiments showed this was true. This discovery led to many branches of science and I was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. In 1940, Word War II was going on. So, I auctioned off my hand written version of my Theory of Relativity for 6 million dollars to help with the war effort. Finally, I died on 18 April 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey. 

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑲𝑹𝑰𝑻 𝑬𝑭𝑭𝑬𝑪𝑻

                          

India’s ancient heritage of chanting mantras has been appreciated time and again by various scholars across the globe. It has been found that memorising Vedic mantras can increase the size of our brain and enhance our problem solving and cognitive skills!

The influence of the West and pressure of learning foreign languages, for suitable career options, have made Sanskrit quite old fashioned despite its immense potential.

James Hatrzell, a neuroscientist, conducted research on 21 Pandits who regularly chanted Sanskrit mantras. Similar study was conducted by AIIMS on Gayatri Mantra. The conclusions were startling! The MRI test results confirmed a 10% increase in grey matter across both cerebral hemispheres.

In a world of shrinking attention spans, where we are flooded with information daily, and children display a range of attention deficit disorders, ancient Indian wisdom has much to offer. Even introducing small amounts of chanting and recitation could have an amazing effect on our brains.

The Gayatri Mantra is a part of regular prayer in many schools. If children are made to chant it for 5-10 minutes a day, their problem solving and stress-bearing capacity can be increased considerably. And, in this way, we can preserve our ancient heritage too!

ENTREPRENEUR AND BUSINESSMAN

 Is ‘entrepreneur’ another word for ‘businessman’?

No, although both are self-employed and carry out business activity, there is a fine line separating the two.

A businessman treads a well-defined path by setting up a business with an existing idea offering products to the customers.

A businessman may start a new business or he/she may inherit one and take it forward. Typically, he will opt for a business where he thinks he can make good profit. However, as there will be existing players, he often faces tough competition. For example, Mukesh Ambani is a businessman.

An entrepreneur on the other hand is a person who charts out his/her own path by starting an enterprise with a fresh idea or concept, to solve a problem or meet a latent need.

An entrepreneur is usually a creative, innovative person who is willing to take significant risks. He conceives a unique idea and translates it into reality knowing well that it may or may not succeed. His company is known as a ‘start-up’. If his idea works, an entrepreneur may eventually become a businessman and others may follow him. But he will always remain a pioneer or market leader.

For example, entrepreneur Garret Camp came up with a unique concept of an on-demand car service that is available via a mobile phone application. He co-founded a company called Uber, which became popular in a short time, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Google) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) are all examples of successful entrepreneurs.