Ugadi : New Year Prayers for end of COVID 19 Global Crisis

Ugadi ( Gudi Padwa) - New Year and the First Day of the 21 day National Lockdown : Will this be the Beginning of the end for the CORONA VIRUS (COVID 19) in India? I earnestly hope

Yesterday was the first day of the nationwide 21-day shutdown, announced by the Honourable Prime Minister, and this coincidentally also happened to be an auspicious new year day, celebrated as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and as Ugadi in Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. While announcing the national lockdown, during his second televised address to the nation on the COVID 19 pandemic that is raging across much of the world, the Honourable Prime Minister Modi ji, in his inimitable style of connecting with the people, used a crowd sourced poster to simplify the essence of national shutdown due to Corona by holding a poster, which read क़ो रो ना ( Corona) - कोयी - रोड़ पे - ना निकले (nobody should get on to the road).

Most parts of the country followed the clarion call given by the PM and  in Mumbai a city which never  sleeps, the streets of Mumbai, India’s largest metropolis, remained mostly empty, notwithstanding the fact that it was the new year : Gudi Padwa - a major festival for Maharashtra. Like most Indians holed up in homes, I too was glued to the news channels to ascertain what the response of the people will be. From various television news reports, I  could see shuttered shops, empty train tracks, closed airports, idle factories all across the country, meaning the shut down was largely successful barring some scenes of people rushing to grocery and vegetable shops for buying essential items. There were also few aberrations. In Kolkata a lady was shown arguing with the Police and resorting to a most atrocious act of licking the hands of the Police on duty and rubbing her mouth on his uniform. There were some scenes of people attacking the Police, who were doing their job of enforcing the law and in one case a Policeman has been seriously injured and admitted to the hospital. Notwithstanding the monumental problems in implementation of this national lock down, the Police were mostly seen exhibiting exemplary behaviour in trying to convince people to stay home and not to break the law. I was one among those 1 plus billion people, who abided by the law and remained at home in our staff quarters in worli.

My first day of the lockdown at home, which incidentally was the  Ugadi / Gudi Padwa  day - a New Year - began with a diktat from my wife, who first refused to entertain my request for a morning coffee and insisted that I take oil bath with neem leaves mixed in water and join her in doing the Ugadi Puja. She also urged me to get some neem leaves and neem flowers, which were to be used for the Ugadi Puja. We are among those few lucky ones who are staying in office quarters in worli in a lush green campus of 12 acres with lots of trees and plants including neem trees. Neem leaves are used in preparation of a special culinary that is prepared during the Ugadi festival and is offered as prasad to the family God during the Ugadi Puja. Ugadi, is an auspicious New Year’s Day for us, Kannadigas, and so also for others in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Since my childhood days I am privy to the oil bath and other rituals followed during Ugadi in which neem leaves are mixed with water that is to be used for morning bath, prior to the puja and white flowers of the neem tree, which are used for preparing a special Ugadi cuisine ‘Bevu Bella’ - a mixture of neem flowers, crushed leaves and jaggery with mixture of other ingredients and some other condiments. Though not a religious person, I support my wife in the pujas - who dare not to, not even the former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Moreover, this year I voluntarily and with full faith took part in the puja and my primary prayers for the almighty was that the auspicious new year Ugadi be the beginning of an end to the dreaded Corona Virus (COVID 19) scourge, which has rampaged the world and is continuing to do so at exponential pace. I hope,  not just mine and my wife’s prayers but also the prayers of all humanity, which is suffering across the globe who are uniting in this suffering, is answered and by the end of the 21 national lockdown we will see the results of the end of the pandemic starts kicking in. Until then all we need to do is have trust in our leaders and all those untiringly working Corona Rakshaks (warriors), who are trying to battle it out even as our immune system, which is ordained to take on such lethal viruses has not been able to combat them effectively. 

This Ugadi is the beginning of the New Year 2077 of the Vikram Samvat (calendar) and also the beginning of the 21 days of our national lockdown for combating the global enemy, Corona Virus (COVID 19). By now it is universally well known that there are no vaccines or medicines or any other medical curative measures to contain this deadly virus, except for social isolation. COVID 19 is a global health crisis in which even the most developed countries with the best of health infrastructure are facing the worst of casualties. The epicentre of the disease  has now shifted from China to European countries. There has been an unprecedented and exponential rate at which the number of COVID cases have been increasing day by day, particularly in highly developed countries with the best of medical facilities. Italy, Spain, USA are all suffering from COVID and have resorted to locking down their countries to contain its spread. Not even Prince Charles, has been spared from this deadly virus. Just yesterday it was widely reported that Prince Charles has tested positive. ‘Top Chef Masters’ winner of the world, Floyd Cardoz, a celebrated Indian American chef in New York City,  who made a huge impact on the international culinary world, was also tested for COVID 19 and yesterday after suffering for one week, Cardoz succumbed to the COVID 19. The situation has been the same in several countries and most world leaders are deeply distressed. A look at the global statistics of the Corona impact (Worldometers info)reveals that as of now (26th March, 13.30hrs) total number of confirmed COVID 19 cases are 4,72,527 with 21,304 deaths and China (81,285 cases and 3287 deaths), Italy (74,386 cases and 7503 deaths), USA ( 68489 cases and 1032 deaths) and Spain (49,515 cases and 3647 deaths) are showing unprecedented casualties. Iran and France too are not far behind with 3647 deaths and 1331 deaths respectively. 

Under such serious COVID 19 global crisis, the 21 days national lockdown and its adverse economic impact, including human sufferings, appears to be a just price to be paid by India. India has more than 1.3 billion people and we are densely populated with far higher number of people per square metres than any other country. And therefore any slip at this critical juncture, in trying to combat the pandemic with social isolation measures, will be too heavy a price to pay later, which cannot even be fathomed. India, as of today, is showing 678 confirmed cases with 13 deaths and these numbers in comparison with  most other countries are relatively less depressing but then we can’t be complacent and the national lockdown for 21 days is perhaps the only way forward in avoiding the Himalayan crisis, which countries like Italy, Spain and US are currently suffering. 

Hopefully, with prayers from a billion plus Indians, on the auspicious occasion of the Ugadi, and so also those extraordinary measures taken by the central and all the states and union territories, India will overcome the COVID 19 global crisis with as minimum a casualty as can be possible under such extreme pandemic crisis. This global crisis as it stands today, is more scary than the two world wars and for India this crisis and its social economic impact may be worse than the three major wars that independent India has fought against our enemies in 1962,1965 and 1971, the Kargil conflict and for that matter even the mass migration crisis, which the nation witnessed just after the Independence. I earnestly hope that all our Gudi Padwa / Ugadi prayers are answered. Though not a scientifically minded statement, I feel a billion plus prayers of a highly religious country like India, which has often been referred to as the leader of spirituality by world leaders, cannot and will not go unanswered by almighty or nature or whatever one calls the supreme force, which governs the nature that encompasses all humans and their current enemy - the Corona virus. 

Ugadi, the new year, is celebrated every year on the first day of the first Hindu calendar month ( Chaitra) of the 12 month cycle and it usually falls in the months of March or April of the Gregorian Calendar. Legend has it that the great king, Vikramaditya of Ujjain established the Vikrama Samvat era after defeating the Sakas. The Hindu calendar is one of the oldest calendar systems, which is based on the lunar revolutions and included adjustments (intercalation/extracalation) to solar reckoning. The word Calendar has its origin from the Roman word ‘Calends or Kalends’, meaning a method of distributing time into certain periods adopted for the purpose  of civil life. The current National Calendar of India is a formalized lunisolar calendar in which leap years coincide with those of the Gregorian calendar (Calendar Reform Committee, 1957). However, the initial epoch is the Saka Era, a traditional epoch of Indian chronology. The reformed Indian calendar, post independence, began with Saka Era 1879 AD, Caitra 1, which corresponds to 22nd March, 1957. 

The ‘Ugadi’ term originated from the Sanskrit word “Yugadi” where “Yuga” means  a new period  and “aadi” means the beginning. As per the Hindu calendar, Ugadi marks the beginning of a new year and it falls on the beginning of the Indian month of Chaitra. It is believed that Lord Brahma created the universe on this day and therefore this day is considered as one of the very auspicious days of the year. Ugadi also marks the commemoration of Chaitra Navratri, which leads up to Ram Navami, Lord Rama’s birthday, which is celebrated on Mahanavami (ninth day). Among other things, Ugadi is observed by drawing the traditional rangoli, decorating the house with mango leaves, buying new clothes and donating food or clothes to the poor and needy and also with special oil bath in which neem leaves are mixed with water, which was what I did yesterday. Let us all hope and once again pray that this Ugadi is special and that the prayers of not just Indians but all of humanity is answered and let this be the beginning of the end for the COVID 19, which has rampaged the globe. 

Once agin wishing my countrymen a very happy new year - Ugadi/ Gudi Padwa and hope that this crisis too will pass sooner than later until such time let us all continue to stand united lay behind all the Covid Rakshaks who are battling it out for us.

Jai Hind 

Image Credits

1. Chef Floyd - Hunger Inc Hospitality
2. Ugadi Pachhadi - Wiki Commons
3. Ugadi/Gudi Padwa Greetings - Getty Images
4. COVID 19 India Map - Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
5. Prince Charles - Wiki Commons

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Janta Curfew on 22nd March 2020

Janta Curfew on 22nd March 2020 : A timely clarion appeal from the Hon PM of India for the COVID combat 

Yesterday was an extraordinary day when it comes to our collective endeavour to fight the deadly Corona Virus, which has now become a global pandemic. The Honourable PM of India addressed the nation on the Coronavirus scare and appealed to fellow countrymen for their cooperation and support, including for a self imposed  people's curfew - जनता कर्फ़्यू, in combating the deadly virus, which India has until now managed to keep it, just about under check, relatively. Yesterday was also the day when the number of Corona deaths in Italy surpassed the deaths in China, the country of the origin of  this pandemic, from where this virus has spread globally and has been declared a pandemic by the WHO. It was also the day when not a single new incidents of the COVID 19 was reported from Wuhan - the epicentre of this dreaded virus - which after the initial blunder had quarantined itself from the rest of China and the world for containing the spread of the virus. There are lessons to be learnt from China and the city of Wuhan for handling of this pandemic, notwithstanding their utterly tragic and shoddy handling of the case when it all began, some time during end of November / early December 2019. At the time of writing this post the number of Coronavirus cases have now reached a staggering 2,55,201 and 10,456 deaths with India accounting for 223 cases and four deaths. While commending our leaders, untiring health workers and all other concerned countrymen for their extraordinary efforts in moderately containing the spread of this virus in India, we can’t be complacent that India is safe. We must not put our guard down and we must mandatorily prepare ourselves for a long drawn battle that is staring at us and continue our efforts to monitor and arrest the spread of this virus. We must constantly remind ourselves that it took nearly three months for the Coronavirus cases to reach a figure of 100,000 but then it took just 12 days for adding another 100,000 cases and the virulent tentacles of the virus have now spread to more than 175 countries and such has been the exponential rate at which this dreaded virus is spreading that if we slip now we will be driven on the Italian path, which for an high density populations like ours, will be a disaster that we can ill afford. 

There could be debates on what the social impact of the shut down, which has been imposed by several states and the central government including the जानता कर्फ़्यू that the Honourable PM has appealed, will be on a majority of our brethren, who work in the non formal sector and 

depend majorly on daily wage for feeding their family. But then we must appreciate that desperate times call for desperate actions and this is one such time, which warrants desperate actions including complete shut downs announced by different governments. Hopefully the Hon. FM under whose chairmanship the Hon PM has constituted a committee to formulate an economic package, which can mitigate the hardship of those whose livelihood is adversely affected, will be able to address this issue efficiently including taking lessons from the Government of Kerala. What is now of paramount importance is that we must all collectively strengthen the hands of our Honourable Prime Minister and heed to his appeal to impose the ‘janta curfew’ on ourselves for all of Sunday the 22nd March 2020, from 7 AM to 9 PM and be ever prepared for a long drawn battle against this menace in future as well, should the situation warrant. It is also a timely appeal by the PM to applaud and appreciate the unending Corona warriors who have put their own safety at stake to save us from this dreaded disease. This will need the support of every countrymen, primarily our leaders, irrespective of their political ideology, to ensure that the spread of the virus does not enter the next stage - third stage -  of community transmission.

We need to learn lesson from the failures of Italy and Iran and so also China to ensure that we as citizens do our best and support our leaders and all those heroes - the army of selfless medical doctors, the indefatigable health workers and innumerable others who are right on the ground fighting this battle risking their life to save our lives. While the virus in itself is novel and continues to create mayhem but then the Chinese have shown us the path that if there is a proper collective willingness and preparedness to combat this virus, this dreaded virus too can be contained. However if there is slackness in addressing this issue, with an ostrich like mentality, the results can be catastrophic as can be seen in the cases of Italy and Iran. The Wuhan province in China the epicentre of this virus is now limping back to normalcy and not one new case was reported yesterday, which gives us a ray of hope that the virus can be contained subject to the condition that we all are collectively responsible for it.

Peoples curfew’ in my opinion was disruptive at its best, converting the very dreaded word ‘curfew’ into a peoples movement, an attempt to prepare the nation for (God forbid) scarier days to come. The PM did well to dwell in to the past and remind the nation of its preparedness for the blackout during those war times, which in my opinion was a great example for preparing the nation, for possibly much harder times to come. This reminded me of our Sainik School training, during which our physical training teachers and those other tough no nonsense trainers, while draining us out of breath would often say ‘the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war’.  An apt example in present times. As we  inch towards that dreaded stage 3 of the COVID 19, the fear is palpable. Can we avoid the Italian or an Iranian experience? Will india get sucked into the dreaded corona tentacles of the virus and enter into that the exponential growth curve?  The Corona virus is unsparing of all those who don’t realise it’s dreadful effect or for those who are taking  it lightly. While the whole nation is praying that we flatten the Corona spread curve and never enter into that dreaded phase three - a result of the spread of virus from community - it is also time that we collectively listen to the clarion call given to us by the Hon PM, no matter how difficult the path is. We must remind ourselves that the first Corona case in Italy surfaced a few days after the first case was noticed in India and both of us were at about the same numbers (3) for quite some time and then things changed and Italy took that dreaded exponential path crossing from stage 2 to the next stage in quick time and the disastrous result is there for all to see. We must mandatorily avoid this path and for this we the citizens of this country must voluntarily support our PM. 

The novel Corona Virus, which was later named COVID 19, was first identified in Wuhan, China in a market selling live poultry, seafood and wild animals some where in end November or early December 2019. It has now spread globally and has impacted more than 180 countries accounting for more than 10,000 deaths and 2,50,000 people globally. Viruses, such as the Corona virus, are highly contagious and spread rapidly. The Corona virus is named so due to the spikes that protrude from their membranes, which resemble sun’s corona. It was initially called the novel Corona virus nCoV and it could infect both animals and people, and can cause illnesses of the respiratory tract, ranging from the common cold to severe conditions like the SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - which had earlier affected thousands of people around the world and killed nearly a thousand people during its 2003 outbreak. Most unfortunately the Chinese authorities had hidden the information of an outbreak of this new virus until Dr Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist by profession, talked about it and thus became the whistle blower against the virus. 

Li Wenliang, aged 34, raised concerns - on December 30 - about a possible spread of a new virus, in the city of Wuhan. Dr Li had posted a social message in a chat group for his fellow Doctors about his experience of attending to a series of patients with flu-like symptoms that resembled SARS at his hospital. He had  urged his group members (mostly doctors) to wear protective clothing, while at work, to protect themselves from a possible virus attack. As luck would have it Dr Li’s message went viral. He thus became the whistleblower in the case of reporting the virus epidemic, which later came to be known as the  novel Corona virus (nCoV) and subsequently as COVID19, which the world is now talking about. Until then the Chinese authorities had concealed the spread of this virus in Wuhan, from the public and also from the international community. Most unfortunately Dr Li succumbed to the very disease, on the 6th of February. His mortal remains may have been buried but his contributions in raising an alarm against the Corona virus will remain eternally etched in the annals of history.  

For most Indians the past few days have been unprecedented. We are seeing City shutdowns, schools, colleges, offices closed, exams postponed, stock market collapses, quarantines, empty streets and bazaars, mass panic buying, and tragic tales of human suffering are fast becoming a norm. And it seems that there is no end to this in the near future. It looks like the most aggressive campaigns of social distancing may help in arresting the spread of the virus in the next weeks or months but the virus and its fallout will almost certainly get much worse before it gets better.

The Indian society has been compelled to engage in what is termed as social distancing, a far fetched concept for us familial Indians, for whom societal bindings are inextricably linked to our very life. But then tough times demand tougher measures, which must also include such other measures as self quarantine and stay at home discipline. How long are people willing to take this path is a moot question.  A month? Two months? More? The longer one imagines society living with this virus, the more likely it appears people may be willing to submit to once-unthinkable ways of living, which is what is mandated and that is what the Honourable Prime Minister expects from all of us. Let us be inconvenienced for a cause which is millions times more detrimental than the inconvenience that some of the measures that we are now compelled to be a part of. Let us hope that the collective efforts of global community will help in combating the Corona virus menace and hopefully, sooner than later all things become normal. I am also certain that by then scientists, working over time all across the globe will have found a solution to combating this dreaded virus with vaccine and such other measures. Until then let us all be united and resolve to fight it out collectively.

जय हिन्द, and जय हिंद की नागरिक।

Heritage on Wheels Exhibition & the COVID 19 Lockdown of Nehru Science Centre.

Heritage on Wheels Exhibition & the COVID 19 Lockdown of Nehru Science Centre.

Amidst an unprecedented heightened fear and dime a dozen information   - most of which unfortunately is infodemic - that is getting played out in the social media and so  also in the electronic and print media on the COVID 19, which has been declared a pandemic by the WHO,  authorities across India have been compelled to take precautions including shutting down public spaces and museums. Our centre too has been closed for visitors from today. Just a couple of days ago -  on 13th March  - silently, without much fanfare, we had opened an exhibition on CoronaVirus and another new exhibition ‘ Heritage on Wheels’, with a hope that these two exhibitions will help us in compensating the fall in  visitors to our centre, post the COVID scare. Unfortunately COVID -19 has played spoilsport and we have been compelled to close our centre for the larger interest of the public health safety of our visitors. Hopefully the COVID scare will pass and we will soon open our centre and the Vintage Cars exhibition to public at the earliest.  

Heritage Automobiles - vintage cars - exhibition has always attracted huge eyeballs and this has been our experience in the past two ‘Heritage on Wheels’ exhibitions, which we had organised at our centre. The artistically crafted, elegant moving beauties, painstakingly restored and maintained by their respective passionate owners, have no parallels in contemporary auto market. Even while most modern car manufacturers announce new range of cars every year, the craze for ageless beauties of yesteryears remains unparalleled. It is with this premise that the Nehru Science Centre, in collaboration with Vintage and Classic Car Club of India (VCCCI), has been organising the "Heritage on Wheels: Vintage Car" exhibition for the past three years and this year this exhibition got off to a soft opening, on the 13th March in the presence of several proud owners of these ageless beauties and other guests.

On display in the exhibition  are  40 (27 cars and 13 motorcycles)  ageless beauties, manufactured during the period from 1900 to 1950s. The assortment of cars on display include the Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Cadillac, Bentley, MG, Premier, Triumph, Shelly Cobra, Volkswagen, Austin, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Ford, Chrysler, Rover, Lincoln, Morgan etc. These cars belong to the period referred to as the golden age of design in which most of the cars were aesthetically designed with artistic flavour and were exquisitely engineered to transcend transportation to become a work of artistic creativity. The artistic elegance of these ageless moving beauties can be compared with the best of rolling sculptures, and to see them is to think, “these cars belongs to an art gallery.”

Automobiles have always fascinated Indians. The biennial Auto Expo, which was last  held at Noida, from Feb 9-14, 2018 had attracted more than 6,00,000 visitors.  When one goes back in history, we will notice that automobile industry is a marker to the design ingenuity and creativity of mankind. This industry is now destined for a paradigm shift with an ever increasing brain power that is continuing to be machined into the modern automobiles (cars) by their makers to make the next generation cars - the thinking cars.

Notwithstanding an unprecedented pace at which newer and newer developments are taking place in the Auto industry, there has never been any reduction in the curiosity and interest among the people, in wanting to see the vintage cars - ageless beauties. It is for this reason that the Nehru Science Centre has joined hands with Vintage and Classic Car Club of India (VCCCI) to present some of these ageless beauties to the visitors in the form of an exhibition "Heritage on Wheels”. This is the third consecutive year that we are organising this exhibition, which unfortunately has been temporarily closed due to COVID 19 scare and we hope to open it to the visitors as soon as the situation improves.

The automobile design has not evolved in a vacuum. It has also stood on the ‘shoulders of the giants’ and  borrowed ideas and thoughts from other industries and from popular culture, to adopt these ideas in the design of the automobiles. Whatever was handy, trendy or so called sexy, was fair game for the designers to incorporate in their designs. Automobile designers incorporated aspects of Art Deco and Art Moderne into their styling in the 30's. Streamlining, a catchword that had much less to do with aerodynamics than with shapes, was also incorporated in these beauties, besides incorporating design influences from nature. 

The “Heritage on Wheels” exhibition presents a range of artistically designed models of cars that were produced by creative team of designers, inventors, manufacturers and engineers who combined to create these early automobile beauties, which continue to attract people. The end-product reflects the marriage between the beauty of line and mechanical ingenuity. These vintage cars of yesteryear’s come with speed and elegance clubbed with a perfect combination of line and curve that makes these cars so very beautiful and aesthetically stunning. The delicate ness with which these cars are transported for the exhibition shows the extraordinary care that each of the owners have for their classic cars.

The early carmakers at the turn of the 20th century, not only cared for their cars to be reliable but were equally concerned for the look of their machines. The cars of the last century looked more like the horseless carriages. It took a while before these mechanised buggies sprouted fixed roofs, and very much longer before many of the exposed parts were pulled together in one, more or less, smoothly integrated designs. The book “Moving Beauty: A Century in Automobile Design” by Musee Des Beaux-Arts De Montreal chronicles the excellence achieved by the early car makers. 

The importance of art, which was exemplified by the early car designers, continue to remain relevant even in modern times. The overwhelming success of most of Apple products owe their genesis to the artistic looks that are embedded in the apple products, which was the mantra of its founder Steve Jobs. Perhaps Steve Jobs likened himself and his employees to the automobile designers who were as good as artists. Jobs deployed his mercurial personality in the ruthless way that artists sometimes do to incorporate a perfect combination of line and curve, which  the  early  car manufacturers had used, in his Apple products, the results of which are there for everyone to see.

Long before it became a trend in Europe to own the trendy vintage cars, India’s maharajas were collecting cars – mainly because they bought so many and never really got around to selling any of the cars, which they bought. Although these vintage classic cars have an extraordinary market value and are measured in monitory terms, in India however, they continue to be a pride of ownership primarily because  most of these vintage classic cars come with history sentimentality and nostalgia. 

Most Maharajas in India were extravagantly rich and preferred to buy large numbers of premier cars - Rolls Royce (RR) and such other cars particularly during the period 1921 and 1939. The Indian Maharajas accounted for about 25 per cent of RR’s global production. Since the maharajas were very fussy and demanding buyers, Rolls-Royce had a special production line for them, called the Maharaja specials. There is also an anecdote of an Indian King, Jai Singh, Maharaja of Alwar,  who was snubbed at Rolls Royce showroom in London, compelling him to  buy 6 of these luxury RR Cars, which he subsequently shipped to India. When these vehicles arrived in India Jai Singh ordered the Alwar municipality to use the luxury cars to transport and collect garbage around the city. The word of Rolls Royce cars collecting garbage in India spread like wildfire. People who used to drive their Rolls Royce cars with pride and joy were now embarrassed to drive them knowing the same luxury cars were being used to collect garbage in India. The reputation of Rolls Royce dropped rapidly all over the world. The people at Rolls Royce finally realized their mistake and sent a telegram to Jai Singh rendering their apology for the way he was treated at the London showroom. They also offered him six more cars, for free. The Maharaja accepted this gesture and his municipality stopped using the luxury cars for collecting trash.

Most owners of the vintage cars that are part of the ‘Heritage on Wheels’ exhibition at the Nehru Science Centre have their own stories about their ageless beauties, which accentuate the beauty of these cars. Hope the COVID fear dies down soon so that we can throw open the doors of our science centre to our visitors and enable them to enjoy this exhibition during their visit to our centre.

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3/14 - The International Mathematics Day (Pi (π) Day) : In remembrance of Aryabhata and Madhava.

14th March, declared as the International Pi day, is an interesting date, particularly when expressed in the way the Americans describe the dates - 3/14. A closer look at the date (month and day) reveals a combination of numbers that represent an approximation that constitutes the commonly used constant value for π (Pi) - 3.14. Coincidentally, this date also happens to be the birth date of one of the all time great scientists, Albert Einstein, who was born on the 14th March, 1879, in Germany. In recognition of this 14th March is celebrated as the international Pi day. Pi is perhaps one of few symbols, which has evoked extraordinary human curiosity, mystery, romanticism, misconception and interest, the evidence of which goes back in time.

Since historic times one of the profound challenges faced by mathematicians has been a precise calculation of the ratio between a circle's circumference and its diameter - which has come to be known by the Greek letter π (Pi) - whose history is as old as human desire to measure. However, the symbol for this ratio, known today as π (Pi), dates from the early eighteenth century. It was in the year 1706, a little-known mathematics teacher, named William Jones, first used the symbol π to represent an ideal that in numerical terms can be approached, but never reached. The value π (Pi) is a constant that we get when we divide any circle’s circumference by its diameter and its value is approximately 3.14. The beauty of this enduring mathematical constant lies in the fact that if one were to keep calculating π’s digits with more and more accuracy, you will discover that the fraction goes on and on, literally forever, with no predictable or periodic pattern to the fractions. It is this unpredictable nature of the unending fractions that makes π (Pi) a special constant, which has interested mathematicians for several centuries.

From ancient India, Babylonia and to the Middle Ages in Europe to the present day supercomputers, the mathematicians have been constantly striving to calculate this mysterious constant Pi. They have tried to search for exact fractions, formulas, and, more recently, patterns in the long string of numbers that start with 3.14159 2653........ to represent the unending value of this enchanting mathematical constant - an irrational number. The discovery of this interesting mathematical constant Pi (π), has unending applications in various fields of science and engineering. Notwithstanding the fact that there perhaps are quite a number of tall and illogical claims of ancient Indian achievements in the fields of aviation, cloning etc., which have been confused with mythology that are despised, rightly so, by the likes of Nobelists Venky Ramakrishnan and others, we must also admit that India did contribute immensely in the field of science and technology with discoveries and inventions in certain areas of science, mathematics, arts and culture. Of the numerous areas in which India has made immense contributions one of the unparalleled contributions is the discovery of the value of Pi, which dates back to the period of Sulbha Sutra, and more precisely to Aryabhata’s times.

Pi - the ratio of the circumference to the diameter - was of extraordinary significance for ancient Indians, primarily because of the exacting standards of measurements that were necessary for the construction of the sacred fire altars for performing religious ceremonies, primary among them the हवन. One of the practices that existed in India during the early times (so called Vedic times) was that each of the households were supposed to have three different shaped fire altars in the form of a circle, square and a semicircle, for performing the sacred हवन. The primary conditions of these three different shaped fire altars was that their areas had be equal. This perhaps necessitated a precious measurement and calculation of the value of Pi.  Professor Ramasubramanian, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay, is an expert in this field and has so thoughtfully explained the rich history of calculation of Pi in India in a video, the link for which is appended at the end of this article. He says the necessity to construct equal area fire altars in the shape of square, circle and semicircle warranted a precise measurement and discovery of the value of Pi. However, it is said that Archimedes was the first to suggest a specific number for the value of Pi, which he represented as 22/7, a value of which is continuing to be used even in modern days.

Several Indian mathematicians, including eminent mathematician and astronomer Aryabhatta (476- 550AD) worked on the problem for attempting to find a precise value of Pi. Primary among them was Aryabhata, who worked on the approximation value for Pi (π) and his value 3.1416 is far more accurate as opposed to the value 22/7, which was suggested by Archimedes. Aryabhata also came to the conclusion that Pi is irrational. In the second part of the Aryabhatiya (gaṇitapāda 10), he writes : “चतुरधिकम् शतम् अष्टगुणम्द्वाषष्टि तथा सहस्राणाम् अयुत द्वय विष्कम्भस्य आसन्न वृत्त परिणाह” (caturadhikam satam ashtagunam dvāṣaṣṭi tatha sahasrāṇām Ayutadvayavi kambhasyasanno vṛttapariṇāhaḥ), meaning ; “Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000. By this rule the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached.” When you calculate this value, the answer comes to 3.1416, which is very close to the modern value of Pi to the fourth fraction (3.14159). You will also notice that Aryabhata very interestingly uses the word आसन्न āsanna (approaching / approximating), to mean that the resultant value of the ratio of circumference to the diameter of the circle ( Pi) is an approximation. He further adds that the value is incommensurable (or irrational). Aryabhata’s seminal work  ‘Aryabhatiya’ provides an insight into his works. 

Aryabhatiya is a compendium of mathematics and astronomy, which has survived till modern times. It reveals beyond doubt that Aryabhata had indeed discovered and worked on concept of Pi long before the Western world was even aware of its existence. The Aryabhatiya, written in Sanskrit consists of 108 verses divided into 4 padas or chapters. The second pada called the Ganitapada (Ganita, meaning mathematics) bears a reference to the concept (and approximate value) of Pi. Considering the period when Aryabhata calculated the value of Pi, around 499 AD, one can definitively state that he had a sophisticated insight into this enchanting constant. The profoundness of his insight can best be understood when we look at the period when the irrationality of Pi (π) was proved in modern times by Johann Heinrich Lambert, in 1761 almost 1300 years later. The works of Aryabhatiya was translated into Arabic (some time during 820 AD) and this approximation was mentioned in Al-Khwarizmi‘s book on algebra, through which it reached Europe.

The oldest recognised representation of infinite series for the value of Pi, is now ascribed to Gregory and Leibniz. But then almost three hundred years before Gregory and Leibniz’s formulae came to the fore, there was a series which was codified in the typical Indian traditions and form of a verse by one of the greatest mathematicians of a India - Madhava from the Kerala School of Mathematics. Mādhava of Sangamagrāma (1340 - 1425), a renowned mathematician and astronomer from Kerala is also considered to be the founder of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics. Madhava was one of the greatest scholars of mathematics that Kerala produced during the medieval period. He was the first to use infinite series approximations for a range of trigonometric functions, which is hailed by many as a profound contribution in moving from a finite series to treat their limit-passage to infinity. Madhava also made pioneering contributions to the study of infinite series, calculus, trigonometry, geometry, and algebra. Some scholars have also suggested that Madhava's work, through the writings of the Kerala school, may have been transmitted to Europe via Jesuit missionaries and traders who were active around the ancient port of Muziris at the time. As a result, it may have had an influence on later European developments in analysis and calculus.

Madhava was followed by equally famed mathematicians in Kerala, primary among them include Parameshwara and, Neelakantha, in whose works citations are available to establish Madhava’s marvelous achievements in mathematics. Some of these are the values of π correct to 10 places of decimals, imposing corrections to infinite series after certain terms for quick and better results, derivation of Sine & Cosine power series for computing better Sine and Versed- sine tables, which are unique by contemporary standard. In an article published in the Indian Journal,of History of Science, an INSA publication Dr A K Bag says ‘Madhava’s value, as quoted by by Neelakantha and Shankara, is far better than others and considerably much closer approximation. And he adds that from one of the works of Shankara an evidence is provided to Madhava’s more precise measurement for the value of Pi. In four verses (atra–ha ma–dhava), Shankara says that Madhava had actually suggested a method for finding the circumference of a circle by means of constructing a number of regular polygons, for the sum of the sides of the polygon, which would almost be equal to the length of the circumference of the circle. Step by step procedure was adopted to compute the side of a square- polygon for a circle, then half-side of the square- polygon (octagon), then half-side of the octagon (hexadecagon), then half side of the hexadecagon (32- gon) and so on indicating that the number of regular polygons had to be large for considerably accurate value. Thus suggesting a solution for an infinite series. Madhava’s π series was later rediscovered, about 250 years later, in Europe by scholars —Wilhelm Leibniz (1673), Newton (1675), De Lagney (1682), De Moivre (c.1720), Euler (1748) and others. 

Indian mathematicians interest in the value of Pi continued into the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The great Indian mathematician, Ramanujan, about whom I have written a blog, had a great obsession for Pi and this obsession would follow him until his last. His note books contain hundreds of different ways of calculating the approximate values of Pi. In just the two notebooks he wrote, before arriving at Cambridge, are found 400 pages of formulas and theorems. Courtesy the theoretical foundations that Ramanujan laid a century ago, powerful computers can now calculate the first 10 trillion decimals of the number Pi.

Such has been an intense interest in the value  of Pi by not just Indian mathematicians but also globally,  that it is no wonder that the approximate value of Pi - 3.14 - which is mostly used in ordinary calculations, has been declared as the international Pi day. The Pi day has an interesting connect with the science centres across the world, particularly in the US. Founded in 1988 at the Exploratorium - the pioneer in the evolution of interactive science centres in the world including the science centres in India (NCSM) - the Pi (π) Day has become an international commemorative event that is widely celebrated all around the world, and my colleague Mr Ramachandran, Director of the Mother museums of NCSM, Birla and Industrial and Technological Museum, Kolkata sent us an image of their celebrations of this day with the students in Kolkata, which is also appended in the article.

Wishing you all a very happy international Pi Day and may the excellence of achievements of Indians in the field of mathematics, continue to inspire generations to come.

https://youtu.be/zKlKzau_bsE

COVID 19 : Heightened Fear, Is it Warranted?

COVID 19 : Heightened Fear, Is it Warranted?

The Corona Virus (on which I have already written three blogs), first known by the name of Novel Corona Virus (nCoV) and subsequently renamed COVID19, has resulted in more than 4500 deaths and affected nearly 125000 people in 121 countries. Notwithstanding the fact that WHO has not yet classified it as a pandemic, the global fear of the virus is palpable and it is no different in India. As soon as I landed in Kolkata today late evening (11.30PM), I received a message from my colleague, Mr Umesh Kumar, who enquired whether we have to close some of our facilities at our science centre for public, namely Science Odyssey, Simulator and 3D shows, in line with the decision of the Kerala Government to close cinema theatres. Is this fear justified? Personally I feel it is not, but then we will abide by the health advisories.

The fear for contagious diseases are as old as human civilisation and the ongoing fear of the Corona virus is another example. Fortunately ever since the beginning of the last century the global community has almost always come together to combat such contagious diseases, some of which have even been eliminated from the face of the Earth. Take for example the crippling disease Polio, the very mention of this disease, not until long ago, would send spine cracking fear among people. But then Polio is no longer feared, rather it has more or less been completely wiped out, including from India, which has remained polio free for nearly six years. Therefore I personally feel that we must not fall prey to the unduly heightened fear that is getting played out in most national and international media, majorly on social media platforms. 

Speaking about fear mongering on social media, I am reminded of Dr Gagandeep Kang, FRS, an eminent scientist, who spoke recently in Delhi on the pandemic of infectious diseases, particularly highlighting the current Corona Virus outbreak. She spoke on a new phenomenon, which she described as an ‘Infodemic’, a fake information that becomes viral on the social media on matters pertaining to diseases like the Corona Virus. She stressed that ‘fake or false information on medical issues are as bad as the pandemic itself’ and appealed to the people to be circumspect. She was delivering a special talk on ‘Preparedness, Response, and Research when Epidemics and News go Viral’. 

Elaborating on the drivers that spread epidemics, she said, “Today’s world is deeply connected, and people are in direct contact all the time. In such a scenario, epidemics are and will continue to become more frequent, more complex, and harder to prevent and contain”. Current demographic transitions, driven by population growth, rapid urbanization, deforestation, globalization of travel and trade, climate change and political instability have fundamental effects on the dynamics of infectious diseases. She said that in a changing world, these drivers ensure that pathogens can and will cross barriers and spread in increasingly unpredictable ways.

Dr. Kang pointed out how, in the last two decades SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19 outbreaks have shown that our concept of epidemics must evolve from crisis response during individual outbreaks to an integrated cycle of preparation, response, and recovery. “For rapidly evolving, high-impact events, preparedness, and collaborations designed and defined ahead of the outbreak are essential to bring together communities, responders, and researchers who do not currently interact,” she added.

 “Preparation, as with platform technologies for vaccines and diagnostics for sharing data and samples, sequencing and capacity for new diagnostics, can be key drivers of rapid innovation for tools to protect our populations,”  She highlighted about the international Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a public-private coalition which is working by coordinating resources of academia, industry, and governments, prioritizing platform technologies and facilitating advanced developments for emerging infectious diseases to derail epidemics by speeding up the development of vaccines. She emphasised that confidence in our health systems, our agencies, and our scientists is vital in protecting our people and in advancing science to enable the development of technologies to protect the world. She cited the successful example of MenAfrivac, a vaccine developed by India, which completely eradicated the Meningitis disease from Sub Sahara Africa. She said that “We have a lot to be proud of but a lot more to do.”

WHO has on its website a short video, which explains what inspired global scientists to take up the challenge of developing a vaccine for meningitis ( MenAfrivac), which could potentially eliminate meningococcal A epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. The film describes the initial search for a manfucturer willing to produce a vaccine at a price affordable for Africa and the interntational partnership that led to the vaccine's development within a decade. 

The MenAfrivac vaccine example, which eradicated the deadly meningitis, shows us how well the global community has come together in the hour of crisis to combat such situations. I am therefore certain that collectively we will definitely do so even now and in future as well with science and technology as our guiding force. We must therefore, instead of panicking, blaming and finger pointing, even worse, rumourmongering, re-emphasise that it is time for exhibiting exemplary global solidarity — political, financial and scientific - for collectively combating this menace. The current situation has once again provided us an opportunity for yet another global solidarity and a joint consolidated efforts by nations, which can set aside political, idealogical and other differences,  to fight this common enemy (COVID19) that has no respect for borders. 

It is also time for all of us - particularly our global leaders - to ensure that we collectively support all health workers and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to pool all possible global strength and resources to bring this outbreak to an end. And also collaborate in bringing together the best of global scientists for using all the scientific infrastructures that is at their command to produce their best science to find shared answers to all our shared problems, which in the instant case is this deadly COVID19. Hopefully the day is not very far off, when the collective efforts of global community will yield results and will lead to the development of a vaccine, which will not only help in preventing recurrence of this menace in future years, but also will wipe out this deadly virus. 

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International Women’s Day : Remembering Supermom - Sushma Swaraj

International women's day : Remembering Sushma Swaraj the Supermom, and opening of two new Shows at Nehru Science Centre.

Like most other institutions all over the world,  we too celebrated the International Women's Day today (March 8) by opening two new facilities and organising a special training programme exclusively for women. Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, former Chairman State Bank of India opened these two facilities and addressed the audience briefly. International Women’s Day is celebrated globally by recounting and celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and reminding ourselves of a call to action for accelerating gender parity, particularly in the field of science. It has been more than a century since this day -  8th March - has been commemorated as a special day for women.  Interestingly it was on this very day in 1908 that  the women labours movement started as a united march in which some 15000 women marched in an organised way through the New York City demanding shorter working hours and better pay and right to vote for women who until then were treated unequally not just in US, but globally.  Encouraged by the response that the women’s march received the Socialist Party of America joined hands and demanded for declaring the day as  the National Woman's Day. The idea to convert this day into an international women’s  day  came from Clara Zetkin, who suggested this idea during the International Conference of Working Women, which was held in Copenhagen in 1910. The conference was attended by some 100 women from 17 countries, who unanimously agreed on her suggestion. In the very next year, 1911, this day was celebrated as the Women’s day in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Therefore technically speaking, this year, we are celebrating the 109th International Women's Day.  However it was only in 1975 that the  United Nations (UN) acknowledged and started celebrating this day as International Women’s Day. Every year there is a theme for the commemoration of the day and this year the theme is ‘An Equal World is an Enabled World’. Interestingly enough the idea for an International Women's Day had no fixed date. However the Russian women went on  a war-time strike, in 1917 and demanded "bread and peace". This resulted in the Tsar loosing control over his reign and the interim government which was formed granted women the right to vote. The women’s strike in Russia started on a Sunday 23rd February of the Julian calendar, which was in vogue in Russia. But then with the onset of the Gregorian calendar, this day became 8th March.

Google is one constant that connects us globally and Google Doodle celebrates all such global events and this year’s International Women’s Day was celebrated by the Google Doodle with an animated video. The doodle features multilayered 3D paper mandala animation. As put by Google, "It honours women coming together throughout the world and generations."

Politics is one area in which brilliance of women has been exhibited all across the globe and India has been no different. Mrs. Indira Gandhi, remained a very tall leader of India and the oldest political party in India -Congress party  - is headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi.  Although the number of women in politics and science and other major areas has always been relatively small, but even so their power now feels more tenuous than ever. 

On the occasion of International Women's Day, I wish to take this opportunity to remember one such important and powerful lady - Ms Sushma Swaraj - of the ruling party who won the hearts of many people, particularly as people’s external affairs minister. She died recently at a relatively young age and that makes it all the more necessary for me to be paying my respect to her.  Sushma Swaraj, at the age of 25, became the youngest state cabinet minister in India. At 27, she became the state president of her party (Janata Party). Later in her career, she became the first woman chief minister of Delhi, the second woman to become the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the first full-time woman external affairs minister of India.

The 6th of August, a special day globally, known for the bombing of Hiroshima and the subsequent peace that dawned and brought to close the deadly WWII, witnessed two historic moments in India - the passing of the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha and the most tragic passing away of Peoples Minister, the Super Mom - Sushma Swaraj. The BJP unwittingly chose this historic day - 6th of August - to pass their Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha, which created a new destiny for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. What an irony and uncertainty of life, just a few hours before on the 6th of August, at around 6 PM or so Sushma ji had tweeted ‘प्रधान मंत्री जी - आपका हार्दिक अभिनन्दन. मैं अपने जीवन में इस दिन कोदेखने की प्रतीक्षा कर रही थी. ‪@narendramodi‬ ji’ to congratulate the Hon PM for the passage of the Kashmir bill and abolition of the article 370 in whose favour she had made a fiery speech in the Parliament as an opposition leader in 1996. In less than 4 hours of her last tweet, she bid adieu to the materialistic world for her permanent residence in the heavenly abode.

Hundreds of thousands of admirers of Sushma ji - the people’s leader - including the who’s who of the country; the Honourable President, the Prime Minister, the Vice President and most of the cabinet colleagues, opposition leaders - cutting across party lines - and innumerable other leaders and ordinary men and women had thronged to the BJP headquarters in Delhi, where her mortal remains were taken, to pay their last respect to Sushma ji. Unending number of people poured out their emotion, love, affection, admiration and reverence of unprecedented proportions to the departed leader. What a leader she was, the whole nation joined in admiring her contributions while paying their extraordinary tributes to Sushma ji,  the par excellence people’s politician, who truly epitomised what public service means for the empowerment of the people - whom they are elected to govern. 

Sushma ji even in her demise, in her inimitable style, she has served her country and contributed to the well being of the nation by shifting  the focus from the Kashmir issue to her untimely death. News of the demise of Sushma Swaraj diverted the attention of the people from Kashmir issue and the news of her death occupied the precious front page and prime time space in all media, which would otherwise have been filled with politicking news on the J&K bill, and may have caused unrest in the  country particularly in the Kashmir valley. Sushma ji served her country even in her death. She was one of those aberration few political leaders who remained a compulsive public servant and an extraordinary nationalist for whom public good and service to the nation and its citizens was paramount. Sushma Swaraj has carved a special place not just in the heart and minds of her party - with effective presentation of her views both inside and outside Parliament - but also among the rest of the countrymen. 

Sushma ji was an archetypal Indian women sporting that trademark big red bindi, कुमकुमon her forehead, wide bordered saris and that inimitable smile, which were all an embodiment of revered Indian womanhood, which Indians worship as maa Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati. A motherly outlook that she embodied all through her Ministership, particularly as the External Affairs Minister in the Modi 1.0 Government, rightly found a mention in the Washington Post article, which headlined her as ‘Supermom’. Notwithstanding the vilification she was meted out as saviour of Reddy Brothers, she continued to remain tall in her stature and firmly grounded with people, the evidence of which could be seen from the fact that she was one of those tall leaders, who received unprecedented appreciation from the Prime Minister for her contributions not just to the party but to the whole of India. She learnt Kannada - my mother tongue - while contesting in a loosing cause against Sonia Gandhi from Bellary. One may agree or disagree, she made a forceful point of pledging to shave her head, don a white saree and eat groundnuts (symbollically mourning) if Sonia, the Italian-born Congress leader, became Prime Minister, in 2004, when UPA surprised NDA to snatch a victory in the parliamentary elections. 

Born in 1952, she was elected as a Janata Party MLA in Devi Lal's government and became the youngest (25 - 26 years) Cabinet Minister of Labour and Employment (1977-1979) in Haryana. She joined the BJP in 1980. Under a combined Lok Dal-BJP government led by Devi Lal, she was the Cabinet Minister of Education, Food and Civil Supplies (1987-1990). She was judged Best Speaker of Haryana State Assembly for three consecutive years. She was the first official women spokesperson of BJP - a first for of all the political parties in India. She was a gifted orator, and her oratory skills matched those of stalwarts like Atal ji, Advani ji, and our PM Modi. Sushma ji was appointed as the the union cabinet minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Vajpayee government in 1996, which survived for a mere thirteen days. It was during this period that she took a revolutionary step of live telecasting of Lok Sabha debates, which have now become a norm. She served as a member of parliament for six terms during which she has held very important positions including serving as the leader of opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha. She was also elected as an MLA from Delhi in 1998 and in the same year - in October 1998 - she became the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi. She was that illusory अजतशत्र in the world of politics the evidence of which was played out in the outpouring of emotions and tributes by political leaders cutting across parties. Her political career graph is a manifestation of her role in Indian politics.

It was during her tenure as the External Affairs Minister that she transformed the hitherto known ministry for the higher echelons of society into a people’s Ministry by providing a human face to the External Affairs Ministry, for the first time ever. She was one compulsive troubleshooter for any Indian stuck anywhere in the world, and this act of hers is now a folklore story which played out extensively on the twitter post the news of her death. Sushma ji took personal interest in resolving minor issues which included apparently mundane issuance of visa to the needy, including those from Pakistan, and getting the much needed relief to Indians in distress across the globe. She helped in building an extraordinary image for her party among the expats and the response was an outpouring of support for the Modi government from the non-resident Indian community. 

Sushma ji, due to her ailments, had announced her retirement from electoral politics and did not contest the 2019 parliamentary elections. It was hoped that this much needed break and rest would nurse her back to better health but then destiny had a different role for her and she was untimely snatched from all of us at a very young age of just 67, by the almighty in to the abode that she now dwells. Sushma ji, you will ever be remembered for your extraordinary service to the nation. On this International Women’s  Day , once again I take this opportunity to pray for the Supermom to Rest in Peace.

Om Shanti.

Jai Hind and Jai नारि शक्ति।