Gandhiana-11:

The outstanding impression my mother has left on my memory is that of saintliness. She was deeply religious. She would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers. Going to Haveli - the Vaishnava temple - was one of her daily duties. As far as my memory can go back, I do not remember her having ever missed the Chaturmas (Literally, a period of four months. A vow of fasting and semi-fasting during the four months of the rains. The period is a sort of long Lent). She would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. Illness was no excuse for relaxing them. I can recall her once falling ill when she was observing the Chandrayana vow (A sort of fast in which the daily quantity of food is increased or diminished according as the moon waxes or wanes), but the illness was not allowed to interrupt the observance. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her. Living on one meal a day during Chaturmas was a habit with her. Not content with that she fasted every alternate day during one Chaturmas. During another Chaturmas she vowed not to have food without seeing the sun. We children on those days would stand, staring at the sky, waiting to announce the appearance of the sun to our mother. Everyone knows that at the height of the rainy season the sun often does not condescend to show his face. And I remember days when, at his sudden appearance, we would rush and announce it to her. She would run out to see with her own eyes, but by that time the fugitive sun would be gone, thus depriving her of her meal. "That does not matter," she would say cheerfully, "God did not want me to eat today." And then she wold return to her round of duties.

Excerpted from "My Experiments with Truth" - the Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi.

Milestones-8: November 5

1. WILL DURANT
-------------------------
Will Durant, the great writer, historian and philosopher. was born on this day in 1885 in Massachusetts, USA and passed away on November 7, 1981 at the ripe old age of 96.

I am a great admirer of his books. I have read about Will Durant and his famous 11-volume 'The Story of Civilization'. I even had the opportunity to glance through them at the Madurai Kamaraj University Library during one of my visits about 20 years ago. As the books were in the Reference Section, I could not borrow them though I had six borrower's cards with me.

Then during a visit to Coimbatore, I saw his 'The Story of Philosophy' (paperback edition)with a platform seller and bought it at once at the unbelievably cheap price of Rs.60/- on August 15, 2000. Though I started reading it immediately, due to some reason or the other I could not continue; to crown it, I misplaced it somewhere. Then during June 2003, while I was searching for something, I found it! I was so happy and decided to complete the reading.

One would think a book about philosophy would make very difficult reading. Not this book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. Only I could not just finish in two or three days like a novel. I had to savour every little passage, and as a result, I could complete its reading only on June 29, 2003. (Sometimes I have this habit of recording in the books I buy, the date and place of purchase and price so also when I completed their reading, I would record that date. That is how I am able to furnish all the dates mentioned above.

'The Story of Philosophy' is a great book; a wonderful book and a memorable one too. I still keep it on my desk with the idea of reading it again.

Then there was another book he wrote with his betterhalf, Ariel Durant, which I borrowed from the Madurai Kamaraj University Library and read avidly. It was about Literature, English and European. They had made a study of great writers and their works. Unfortunately, I do not remember the title of the book and also not able to locate it in the Net.

My dream is to read the 11-volume tome of his 'The Story of Civilization' and write about it in my blog, before I die. So help me God!

For a detailed article on Will Durant from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Durant

For more info about Will Durant from Will Durant Foundation:
http://www.willdurant.com/home.html


2. J.B.S.HALDANE
-----------------------------
Renowned Biologist, J.B.S.Haldane, was born on this day in 1892 in Oxford, England, and passed away on December 1, 1964 at the age of 72 in Bhubaneshwar, India.

He is a pioneer geneticist. He had radical political views, admiring Marxism, supporting Stalin and joining the Communist Party. Finally, disillusioned he left the party. He spent his final years in India, passed away there.

For a detailed article on JBS Haldane:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._S._Haldane

Grateful thanks to Will Durant Foundation and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Milestones-7: November 4

SHAKUNTALA DEVI
------------------------------

Calculating prodigy from Bangalore, India, Shakuntala Devi, was born on this day in 1939. Her feats got into the Guinness Book of Records. She has written several books on Puzzles and Numbers.

She lives in Bangalore, India and we wish her a Happy Birthday.

For a detailed article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuntala_Devi

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Milestones-6: November 3

1. AMARTYA SEN
-----------------------------
Nobel-prize winning Indian economist, Amartya Sen, was born on this day in 1933. He is an Economics Professor at Harvard University and a Fellow of the Trinity College, Cambridge. He has received more than 80 honorary doctorates. His books have been translated into 30 languages. He was awarded 'Bharat Ratna' (the highest civilian award in India) in 1999.

His famous books include 'The Argumentative Indian' and 'The Idea of Justice'.

Professor Sen, who is now 76, lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and spends the winter in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, his birthplace. (He was named 'Amartya' by Rabindranath Tagore, which means 'immortal'. )

For more details, his autobiography in Nobel.org:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1998/sen-autobio.html

For a detailed article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen

2. ANDRE MALRAUX
--------------------------------
French writer, adventurer and statesman was born on this day in 1901 and he died at the age of 75 on November 23, 1976.

For a detailed article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux

For another detailed article:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/malraux.htm

3. BENVENUTO CELLINI
------------------------------------
Italian sculptor, painter and musician, Benvenuto Cellini, was born on this day in 1500 and he passed away at the age of 70 on February 13, 1571.

I have a copy of his famous autobiography, which I am sorry to say, I am yet to read. The full-text of his famous autobiography is available at Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/7clln10h.htm

For a detailed article on Cellini from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benvenuto_Cellini

Grateful thanks to Project Gutenberg, Nobel.org, www.kirjasto.sci.fi and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Milestones-5: November 2

1. GEORGE BOOLE
---------------------------------

British mathematician and Father of Computer Science, George Boole, was born on November 2, 1815. Digital computer's logic is based on Boolean Algebra. He was a Professor of Mathematics at Queen's College, Cork, Ireland. He was a modest man devoted to intellectual pursuit and was well esteemed by his colleagues.

Boolean Algebra would have remained obscure but for Claude Shannon who took it for his master's thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and showed to the world the application of Boolean Algebra to digital circuits.

His college honoured him by naming its Library and its Centre for Informatics Research after him. A crater on the moon is named after him.

He died of fever on December 8, 1864 at the age of 49.

For a detailed article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Boole

2. MAHENDRALAL SARKAR
----------------------------------------------
Father of Indian Homeopathy and Founder of the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science(IACS), Mahendralal Sarkar, was born on November 2, 1833 in Paikpara, Bengal. He was also a social reformer.

He provided homeopathic treatment to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa during his last days for his throat cancer. He became an admirer of his patient, though he did not accept him as an incarnation of God as a man of science. I have come across many references to him in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Further, during homeopathy classes, I learnt more about him and his conversion from allopathy to homeopathy as a seeker of truth. He openly proclaimed at a meeting of the British Medical Association the superiority of Homeopathy.

It was at the IACS founded by Sarkar, C.V.Raman carried out his research which culminated in his winning the Nobel Prize for Physics. Raman was Honorary Secretary of IACS.

He passed away in Kolkatta on February 23, 1904 at the age of 70.

For a detailed article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahendralal_Sarkar

3. JAMES THURBER
-----------------------------------
Popular American Writer and Cartoonist, James Thurber, died on this day in 1961 at the age of 66.

In my youth, I have enjoyed reading his famous book, 'Three Men in a Boat".

For a detailed article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Thurber

4. SHAHRUKH KHAN
-------------------------------------
Famous Hindi film Hero, Shahrukh Khan, was born on this day in 1965 in New Delhi.

I have seen some of his films and thoroughly enjoyed them. He is natural actor, easily captivating the audience. I have seen his films, 'Dil To Pagal Hai', 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Devdas' and 'Kal Ho Naa Ho'. He has also produced films like 'Asoka' and 'Chalte Chalte'. Before entering films, he was a popular TV actor. He has won the coveted Filmfare Award for Best Acting seven times and probably win some more.

He has a large number of fans not only in India but in other countries also.

For a detailed article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahrukh_Khan

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Milestones-4: November 1

EZRA POUND
------------------
American poet and critic, Ezra Pound passed away on this day in 1972 at the age of 87. He was considered to be the center of the Modernism movement and had great influence on poets like T.S.Eliot, Yeats and Joyce. His epic poem, 'The Cantos' is considered to be his major work.

During World War II, he openly opposed the involvement of America in the war and made radio broadcasts and wrote articles in support of Fascism. After the war, he was arrested and interned in a detention camp in Pisa. There he wrote the 'Pisan Cantos'. Then deported to USA, where he was tried for treason; however, as considered insane, he was put in a mental asylum and spent twelve years there. By the efforts of his fellow poets, especially Robert Frost, he was finally released and returned to Italy, where he finally passed away in Venice, Italy and is buried there.

Hugh Kenner published a book entitled, 'The Poetry of Ezra Pound' in 1951, which rekindled interest in the work of Pound.

For a detailed article on Pound from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Pound

For life and works of Ezra Pound from Modern American Poetry:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/pound/pound.htm

For readings of Ezra Pound's 'Cathay' with Full-text:
http://paintedricecakes.org/languagearts/poetry/cathay_pound.html

Grateful thanks to 'Modern American Poetry', 'Painted Rice Cakes' and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.