Rotaract Club of Delhi Riverside

Supported by Rotary Club of Delhi Riverside

the
Indian Saga

the
Indian Saga
International Bulletin
2014-15

Rotaract Club of Delhi Riverside

1

Supported by Rotary Club of Delhi Riverside

About Us
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated
purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to
provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations,
and help build goodwill and peace in the world. The Youth Wing of Rotary is known as
Rotaract ROTary in ACTion they are service club for young men and women aged 18 to
30 with around 215,000 members in 9,388 clubs in 176 countries. Rotaract was founded in
1968 by Charlotte North Rotary Club, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. Rotaract
clubs are either community or university based, and they are sponsored by a local Rotary
club. Our primary motto is "Service Above Self"; its secondary motto is "One profits most
who serves best.
The object of Rotary is to encourage & foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy
enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
~ The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service
~ High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all
useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to
serve society
~ The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community
life
~ The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world
fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
"This makes them true "partners in service" and key members of the family of Rotary.

Message From
District Governor
Dear Rotarians,
Warm Greetings!
A great many best wishes to your club for the new tenure and bringing out a bulletin focusing on The Journey of Indian
Civilization. We all know the power of written material as encapsulates the ideals and ideas of people. The effect, a written matter
can have is far beyond the inventiveness and for youth it has immense impact.
Our great motherland, India has always been blessed with people who had dreams of building the nation, being selfless in service and
causing tremendous changes in society. A society is an amalgamation of various institutes and ideas, which comprises people of various
mindsets. But what ask for the betterment of society are people who have the immense power to sweep their ideas over many. If we glance
back into our history, we will find that our rich cultural heritage had given birth to people like Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar, Annie Besant,
Jamnalal Bajaj, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and many more. All these were young guys who had the caliber of reforming the society with their
enlightening and revolutionary ideas. Talking about all of them, I find each one of them inspiring. Vidyasagar, a young man who acted like an
amazing source of power, caused Renaissance in the province of Bengal. He was always brimming with the ideas of causing reform
movements. He felt the desire need for educating masses and came out with the idea of bringing elementary books for the masses in
vernacular languages. Thus he caused a revolution in the education system of Bengal. He did not rest himself with this achievement. He also
felt kindly and that too deeply for the distressed and the weak. He used to spend a part of his scholarships and salary for the welfare of the
downtrodden.
His laurels were also associated with social reform. He initiated the concept of widow remarriage and raised concern for the abolition of
child marriage and polygamy. He opened colleges and other educational institution to lower caste students. Hence was the birth of a true
man among a vast multitude of people.
Why should be there a dearth of this kind of noble souls? We have to be as passionate as any of our enlightened predicators as then only we
will achieve what we aspire to achieve. The youth has that driving force, which when guided well, can sail a boat even through strong gales.
Rotract in itself means an act of the youth. Youth as we know, has tremendous capabilities, and if enthused with right zeal, can lead the
nation to such heights which no one would have ever imagined. Good habits formed at youth make all the difference. Youth is the spirit of
awakening. It can awaken the latent potential of a community and harness its energy for the betterment of society. As Benjamin Disraeli has
said, Youth is the trustee of prosperity. What a society can achieve with wonderful young people is awesome!
It's heartwarming to see that your Rotract club is so active in the field of education and health. It really enthralls the heart to witness that
society still has hope, as there are people, that too young people who really consider their role important and take it seriously to work for the
cause of Rotary.

Message From
Rotary IP President
Any study of civilization is incomplete without the study of the status and position of women in it. Women constituted the keystone
in the arch of Indian Civilization. Indian civilization is based on the spirit that women's cause is men; they rise or sink together. One of
the best ways to understand the spirit of civilization and to appreciate its excellences and to realize its limitations is to study the
history of the position and status of women in it.
In previous times, the status of women in India was inferior to men in the practical life. However, they had a higher status in
scriptures. They are considered as the perfect home maker in the world. With their incomparable quality of calmness of their mind,
they can easily handle even toughest situation. Indian women are completely devoted to their families. They're preached in the
names of Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Durga, Parvati & Goddess Kali.
The status of women in India deteriorated during the medieval period. Several evil practices such as female infanticide, sati and child
marriage were practiced during this period. 'Purdah' was introduced to the society. At this time, girls were forced to get married at a
very tender age. The society also practiced Sati where women were forced to jump over the burning bodies of their husbands during
funerals. The southern India also practiced Devdasi tradition where girls were forced to get married to trees or deity.
In the modern time, women in India were given freedom & right such as freedom of expression & equality as well as the right to be
educated. Various prestigious positions at this period were held by women. They're enjoying the 'ladies first' facility in different
fields. However, some problems such as dowry, domestic violence, sex selective abortion, female infanticide are still prevalent.
Indians live in two worlds. In one, women fly planes, run Fortune 500 companies, rule Indian states the size of France, work as
doctors and scientists and function as autonomous individuals. In the other, they are little more than serfs.
Empowerment of women has been a hotly debated topic for the last few decades. Being a woman myself, there should be a special
focus on empowering women and girls, because i believe they hold the key to long-lasting social change in communities.
Empowering women must be a united approach, a cause that requires continued attention and stewardship by all. We need to
augment our efforts for empowering women and enhance their progress. It is our moral, social and constitutional responsibility to
ensure their progress by providing them with equal rights and opportunities. Today women with their smartness, grace and
elegance have conquered the whole world. With their hard work and sincerity, they have excelled in each and every profession.
Women themselves need to encourage one another to go out and explore their desire, destiny and to let them be independent. And
this is not possible without the support from their male counterparts.
They say give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. I firmly believe that
we need to create the right opportunities for the women so that they could be independent. One such initiative has been
taken up by Our club, Rotary Club of Delhi Riverside in the form of SINGER PROJECT. We in collaboration with SINGER
INDIA Ltd. are providing free 6months diploma course in stitching to underprivileged women. After the completion
of the course, they are able to make a living with their newly acquired skills by working as independent tailors, in
garment export factories or in boutiques.

I would like to see the vibrant young people of your club, involved more in touching the lives of the underprivileged, with warmth, care and
concern. As young people are full of vibrant ideas, your Rotract will bring name & fame to b your club.

Rtn. Anjali Jain

I & Usha send our heartiest blessings to your Rotracts and your club for a fruitful and amazing year ahead. With all the warm luck & wishes.
Being with zeal to Be A Gift To The World.

Immediate Past President,

Rotary Club of Delhi Riverside

Dr. JK Gaur
Governor, Rotary International District 3012
4

Message From
Rotary President
Girl child & women need special care and attention in our society.
Growth of society depends on their growth. Focus is to reduce the
mortality and morbidity rates for children under age five.. Reducing
maternal mortality and morbidity rate is also essential. Efforts are being
made by Rotary to improve mother's and children's access to essential medical
services.
Rotary district 3012 is working hard to involve communities to support
programs to provide basic education and literacy to all. There is an immediate
requirement to reduce gender disparity in education. All these programs can not
be implemented without support of clubs.
Rotary under able guidance of Rtn. J.K. Gaur District Governor (2015-2016) is
giving special emphasis on girl child and women of our society las they who need
special care and attention. Women empowerment will bring growth and stability
in society.

Message From
District Rotaract Chair
Dear Rotaractors,
First, I would like to congratulate Rotaract Club of Riverside for taking out an international bulletin on "The Journey of
Indian Civilization.
We are privileged to be citizens of a rich and ancient, civilization! A civilization that continues to share it's' ancient
wisdom and spiritual wealth and seeds of well being for all with the rest of the world. Whether it is through yoga, mind
fullness, Ayurveda or teachings of ancient sages and life examples exhibited by personalities like Mahatma Gandhi,
Vivekananda etc., the answers to harmonious living are embedded in our heritage.
Unfortunately, in the India of today, we all notice a gradual decline in our society due to an erosion of our ancient values.
However, the latent wealth is very much at the base of our culture. Undoubtedly, it can and must be revived through the
youth of today.
Rotary and Rotaract offer a great platform for the youth to rise to do good. The inequalities in our society should spur
compassion in each one of us to reach out and do what we can to do to make this world a better place for all. We are
helping ourselves when we help others. I am sure you have all experienced the joy you feel when you help someone else.
The three hundred and fifty million youth of India can make a difference. The youth are our hope for a better India. Youth
that will revive the values and ethics of right conduct towards a just society.
Let us each pledge to harness our energies towards a better India and a better world.

Rtn. Vir Philip

Rotary regards,

District Rotaract Chair RI District 3010

Rtn. Poonam Singh

President, Rotary Club of Delhi Riverside

Message
From District
Rotaract Representative
It's my pleasure to pen down a few words for a special bulletin 'The Journey of Indian
Civilisation' by Rotaract Club of Delhi Riverside. Friends, Rotaract is a platform to exhibit
your leadership qualities and to give a new dimension to service itself. As leaders you'll be
expected to carry forward the torch of Rotaract and spread the goals of Rotaract to more and more
corners of the world. A bulletin is the best mean to spread a message and I'm very happy to see that
through this bulletin we are presenting the Glory of Indian civilisation.
I congratulate you all and appreciate your efforts in the project initiated by the Rotaract Club.
My Best Wishes to the incoming team.

Message From
Club President
I am honoured to be a part of an international bulletin which gives us an insight into our great civilization and the manner in which
our culture enmeshes with a globalized world.
This international bulletin - Journey to Indian Civilization - takes us back to the Indus Valley Civilisation and the Vedic period and
recounts how Indian culture and society transformed and adapted to changes in every century across various genres.
A highlight in this bulletin is the cognizance of the eminent personalities of this era, their vision and wisdom they shared with us in
their field of profession.
The focal point of the IB is the Timeline of the Indian civilisation which takes us on a journey of our rich culture and heritage from
each state and some very fascinating and little known facts about them.
The road to make this bulletin a reality could not have been achieved without our wonderful Rotarians and the learned and
eminent who's who of our society from whom we gleaned a lot about our own country.

Rtr. Schrutir Jain

Yours in Rotaract

Rtr. Abhishek Yadav

President, Rotaract Club of Delhi Riverside

Message From
Editor

District Rotaract Representative `15-16`

R.I District 3012

Message From
Club IP President

India has an ancient civilization with deep historicity. As we are aware of Indian civilization is a continuous flowing civilization which
makes it difficult to demarcate India's past into clear cut time frames. In our Journey from the first civilization known to us i.e. the Indus
valley civilization to our existing form of civilization we had absorbed various traits & modified ourselves from time to time to maintain
this continuity. In general, we have displayed the characteristics of unity in diversity.
In her vast cultural history, India was once regarded as Vishwaguru. India has shown great strengths in almost all the domains. Just to
name a few complex domains for illustration; In Philosophy, our rich Vedas & upanishads are till date considered as the best philosophical
work ever conceived by human mind ; In mathematics, we introduced the world to the digit Zero; In Architecture, Taj Mahal stands tall
to show its glory to the world. Hence to conclude, India was once regarded as a hub of knowledge earning her the Vishwaguru' Status.
When we look back into our glorious past & revisit the prevailing situation, one question does cross our mind have we lost track. May be
deep routed corruption in our system, a poor Human development Index ratings, communal tensions and social inequalities might give
the answer to this basic question which certainly we don't want to hear. Indeed we as a nation have shown great character from time to
time in numerous occasions. But we do need to go a long way to get back our status of Vishwaguru.

The journey of this Bulletin, 'THE JOURNEY OF INDIAN CIVILISATION' started with a spark,
a spark which turned into a spirit, a spirit that drove us here, where we humbly offer this
bulletin to the patriots of our magnificent nation. This spirit of the vanity in diversity, the
honour in valour and the love for our nation which pumps through the heart of every
Indian, has made us shine ever since the Age of Vedas. The saga of our dynamic
civilisation has enlightened the world as the sun of knowledge, emitting wisdom
confounded in humility. Thereby, through this modest endeavour I call upon my
brothers and sisters to join hands in upholding the dignity and carry forward the
glorious legacy of our motherland. Vishwaguru ho Rashtra Punhe

We need to realize that now it is a high time for us to face the reality. Instead of giving excuses for our cultural strength & glorious past, we
need to focus on our present. We need to join hands together to make our country a much better place to live in. With this initiative we
need to request people of great nation of ours to follow the motto Vishwaguru Ho Rashtra Punaha.

Rtr. Shivam Luthra

Chief Editor, The Indian Saga

Rtr. Alok Rawat

Immediate Past President, Rotaract Club of Delhi Riverside
8

Timeline

Timeline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

10

Vedic Period
Ramayana
Mahabharat
Indus Valley Civilisation
Janapadas
Bahudhayana
Buddhism
Jainism
Taxila
Chanakya and Mauryan Empire
Ashoka
Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas
Gupta Empire
Ravidas
Nalanda Univeristy
Rajpoots
Qutub Minar
Vijaya Empire
Guru Nanak Dev
Sher Shah Suri
Akbar

22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
11

Tansen
Maharana Pratap
Taj Mahal
Shivaji Maharaj
Jantar Mantar
Maharashi Dayanand Saraswati
Swami Vivekananda
Indian Railway
Rani Laxmibai
AO Hume (INC)
Homi Bhabha
Srinivasan Ramanujan
Mahatma Gandhi
Rabindranath Tagore
Subhash Chandra Bose
India's Independence
Sardar Patel
Green Revolution
Mother Teresa
Amartya Sen
APJ Abdul Kalam
ISRO Mangalyaan

A
world-wide
discourse on the
Vedic Civilisation
It is worth bearing in mind that this kind of genealogical recovery
of subjugated voices does not occur under the auspices of confronting
a great untruthfulness with the force of an indisputable truth. It
occurs rather under the auspices of tracing discursive formations of
power and control, by assembling a strategically organized ensemble
of historical knowledges which will be capable of opposition and of
struggle against the coercion of presiding discourse.
Introduction
One of the most interesting phenomena in the writing and study of
history is the way in which certain discourses in history gain
prominence and certain are relegated to the margins. Those discourses
that are marginalised, seldom gain a voice, except through the
gathering and committing to writing of these discourses. Along with
this it is necessary to highlight the discourses of power and control that
grant a presiding discourse its hegemonic status. One of the most
oppressed discourses in Indian history is that of the Vedic Civilisation.
This paper will attempt to 'assemble a strategically organised ensemble
of historical knowledges' in order to claim a voice for the history of the
Vedic Civilisation. Section 1 it will trace out major current studies on the
Vedic Civilisation, which are either ongoing or have reached tentative
conclusions on its reach world-wide. This is an attempt at gathering and
committing the neglected discourse to writing. Section 2 will briefly
frame these discourses against the dominant frameworks of power
and control that have in the past and still attempt to control the
discourse on the Vedic civilisation.
The Vedic Civilisation: Origins
Theories of Aryan immigration into India are too known to be given a
mention here. The overall effect of these theories has been to alienate
the Vedic Civilisation from the region of its origin and of its homeland.
However these theories and their effects is not the core of this paper.
The intent here is to look forward and draw attention towards
advancements in the field. Numerous studies based on a new and
emerging field, genetics, have contributed to advancements in this
field of study. Based on scientific research these studies have served to
shed light on at

12

least two areas in the study of the Vedic Civilisation. Firstly, that
the earlier theories about an Aryan (Caucasoid) invasion of India
3500 BP is not supported by genetic evidence. Secondly, these
studies cast a doubt on the neatness with which Indian
populations have been divided into races (Aryan, NonAryan/Dravidian etc), castes and tribes .Most of these studies
show that Indian populations are genetically interconnected in
complex ways and that the origin of this complexity goes back to at
least 50,000 BP. For instance the Punjabi, in India, considered the
closest Aryan is least Caucasoid genetically. Danino (2006),
surveys nine studies between 1999 and 2006 that support the
above mentioned conclusions. These are large sample studies,
conducted by composite groups of Western and Indian scholars
and are fairly rigorous. Quite simply, they conclude that Indians
are not as divided and alienated from each other as has been
previously suggested and that India is the most likely origin of the
Vedic Civilisation that at its core was imbibed with a sense of unity.

Science and mathematics were probably introduced into Europe

and Egypt from India, possibly through Persia, Arabia, and
Mesopotamia and directly as well. However:
India's most substantial gift to world civilization was, however,
the discovery of pure consciousness and the mapping out of the
architectonic structure of pure knowledge. All other
achievements derive from this great awakening of knowledge
that took place in ancient Vedic India.
It is in the realm of consciousness and knowledge that links of
European cultures,with the Vedic Civilisation are slowly staging a
comeback.A brief survey of web pages devoted to the study of Old
European cultures reveals that there are pockets of scholars who
are slowly uncovering past links with Vedic India. Though these
are works in progress and unpublished in a finished form, their
legitimacy lies in them being movements in cultural history. A
branch of emerging scholarship has discovered links between the
Celts and Vedic India. Ethnologies of folk traditions in Serbia show
remarkable similarity with Vedic traditions. Of the many Serbian
folk songs and ceremonial prayer songs collected by ethnologists
during 19th century, scholars note many which talk about Triglav.

The Vedic Civilisation: Antiquity

Numerous historical discourses on the antiquity of the Vedic
Civilisation have been compiled and indicate that the Vedic
Civilisation is of considerable antiquity ranging from at least to the
era in which the River Saraswati was a flowing river. Chandler, in an
ongoing study reviews literature that shows the possible errors of
dating the Vedic Civilisation to the post-Indus era. On the basis of
this review he places the origins of the Vedic civilisation to
possibly around 6000 BC. That the Indus Saraswati Civilisation
existed in continuity with the Vedic civilisation is a possibility that
has been put forward compellingly by Danino (2003, 2010).

Serbian folk tradition also tells us that Triglav lives in India and that
India was the home of the Serbs, which Serbs had to leave because
of a huge political or religious upheaval of some kind, probably a
religious civil war which plunged India into chaos......How old is
this folk memory? The...memory these folk songs preserve could
either be the memory of the original migration of the "Indo
Europeans" to Europe, or the Sycthian migration to Europe or any
other one in between. The fact that Serbs have preserved, in their
folk tradition, the memory of the migration from India through all
these millenniums, is astounding. The fact that some of the songs
recorded by ethnographers are actually prayers to Triglav, is even
more amazing. This means that Serbs have managed to preserve
the actual Agni (Triglav) cult for thousands of years outside of
India.

The Vedic Civilisation: A World Civilisation

Not only have recent studies taken backwards, the origin of the
Vedic civilisation, they have also effectively positioned this
civilisation as the original world civilisation. Chandler calls it the
original 'cradle of civilisation'. Many studies in history are looking
at ways in which the Vedic Civilization of India influenced the
civilizations of the Middle-East, Egypt, and Europe? Chandler
extensively reviews a variety of sources to establish that, science
and mathematics originated in India and came to Greece
centuries later.

Relationships with Bosnia have been discovered. Merrick (2011)

establishes through a study of symbolism in the Pyramids that
Bosnia was possibly a centre of the Vedic civilisation in the past.
Mishra(2011) notes similarities between ancient Egypt and the
Vedic Civilisation. Links with the besieged and almost decimated
Yezidis in Iraq are being discovered and will hopefully be studied in
greater detail.

Vedic Age: 1500 BC to 500 BC

The Vedic Age is the "heroic age" of Indian Civilization in
which most of the basic features of traditional Indian
civilization were laid down. These include the
emergence of Hinduism as the foundational religion of
India, and the social/religious phenomenon known as
caste. Aryans, people from central Asia, brought with
them a religion based on the worship of many gods and
goddesses and collections of oral poetry and prose hymns, prayers, chants, spells and commentaries known as the "Vedas".

13

= The urge is to rise above vile personal attacks from an ideological

standpoint and recognise that, from Geertz and Foucault, culture
matters. Geertz saw humankind as existing in self-spun webs of
significance, which could be analyzed and interpreted for their
meaning. Culture for Geertz was a commonly understood yet
unspoken by-product of a community, an acted document that can
be read for its symbolic meaning. Culture was not a power that
influences actions or events, but rather a system of signs that could
be intelligibly (or 'thickly') described. His approach to culture
introduced entirely new types of source material for historians who
were more accustomed to using traditional textual sources
paintings, popular literature, diaries and the materials of everyday
life as well as rituals, behaviours and practices could now be analyzed
like texts as evidence of the culture that produced them. History in
India is still anchored to a elite methods and scholarship.
One of Foucault's greatest influences on cultural history is his
emphasis on language and discourse as a means of analyzing change
over time. His history was like no history ever done by a historian,
and it forced a paradigm shift in the ways historians understood and
interpreted the past. Instead of seeking the origins of, and causes for
specific events he searched for cultural formations or systems of
power and classification in the past.
The relevance of Foucault's work is not in the legacy of a specific
theory or methodology, but rather in the aftershocks caused by his
challenges to traditional understandings of how to approach
questions about the past. It is important to base an understanding of
history not only on what happened and why but replacing it with an
excavation of different systems of language, power and knowledge
over time. History in India has not yet examined the past from this
theoretical perspective.
Discourses on the Vedic Civilisation are often brutally suppressed
and recent developments in history are not being allowed into the
academic domain due to ideological conflicts. In the best interests
of learning from conflict, it is essential that all kinds of existing
scholarship about the Vedic Civilisation and its past be included
in academic courses of study. Scientific evidences about the
origin and chronology of the Vedic Civilisation should be the
basis of school and university curriculum on history.
Networks of scholars from India and Europe exist that
can be mainstreamed. Rightful historical and
cultural memories should be given their
legitimate space.

Conclusion

Sh. Dina Nath Batra

The above survey is by no means exhaustive and does not cover

details that a subject like the world level influences of the Vedic
Civilisation deserves. All that is intended here is to indicate that
the discourse about the Vedic Civilisation exists and is strong and
vibrant. The purpose is to shift focus from power structures that
demand strictest adherence to norms and methods of a unidimensional, elite driven model of history to a vibrant study of the
culture that the Vedic Civilisation gave to the world at large.

Shiksha Sanskriti Uthaan Nyas

vrhr
dk Hkkjr

ikSjkf.kd

dky ds lr;qx]
=srk vkSj }kij ;qxksa dh ?kVukvksa ds vkyksd esa
vrhr ds xkSjokkyh Hkkjro'kZ dk nkZu gksrk gSA
gekjk nkZu dksbZ diksy&dfYir ikjykSfdd lksp esa
ugha cfYd clrk cfYd og rks deZ;ksfx;ksa ds fu'dke deZ
dk ,slk v/;k; gS ftldk vuqlj.k lkjs foo us fd;k gSA
gekjs _f'k&eqfu;ksa us gt+kjksa o'kZ igys gh crk fn;k Fkk fd
gekjk varfj{k dSlk gSA foKku dh vk/kqfud [kkstksa us Hkys gh
fpfdRlk foKku dks mUur cukdj chekfj;ksa ls tw>uk vklku dj
fn;k gks fdUrq kjhj jksxeq dSls jgs bldk vuqla/kku dj gekjs
oSKkfud _f'k;ksa us lkjs txr dks LoLFk thou iznku fd;k FkkA
fu%lUnsg vkt foKku dh [kkstsa gesa mUufr ds pje dh vksj ys tk
jgh gSa ysfdu mldk nwljk i{k ;g Hkh gS fd mUgksaus ekuo kjhj dh
{kerk dks Hkh de fd;k gSA D;ksafd vkt foKku dk mi;ksx lsok ds
fy, u gksdj O;olk; ds fy, gks jgk gSA ;fn dgha fdlh nsk dh
{kerk,a vf}rh; gSa rks og mudk mi;ksx dsoy vius fy, djrs gq,
ks'k foo dks viuk mifuosk cuk nsus ij vkeknk gSA kf dk
nq#i;ksx fd;k tkdj ekuo gh ekuo dks lekIr djus ij rqyk gqvk
gSA
vrhr ds Hkkjr us vius O;kikj vkSj O;olk; ds ne ij tgk
lEifk ds vdwr Hk.Mkj Hkjs Fks ogha mlds _f'k&eqfu;ksa us vius
O;kid oSKkfud vuqla/kkuksa dks iwjs leiZ.k ds lkFk fd;kA muls
fudyk Kku&foKku lkjs foo ds dY;k.k ds fy, FkkA os fo/oal
ugha cfYd l`tu ds iFkxkeh Fks blhfy, Hkkjr dh vokZphu laLd`fr
us iaprRoksa dks thou dk ewy vk/kkj ekuk vkSj ftu ikp rRoksa i`Foh]
ty] vfXu] vkdkk vkSj ok;q ls tho nsg cuh Fkh muds j{k.k dks
viuh fuR; iwtk i)fr esa lfEefyr fd;k rkfd mudk j{k.k gks
lds vkSj dsoy tho txr gh ugha] dsoy foo gh ugha cfYd lkjk
czk.M vius larqyu dk cuk, j[k ldsA Hkkjr gj fo/kk ds /kuh
egkiq#'kksa dh /kjk gSA jktk gfjpUnz dh lR;fu'Bk] vuqlwbZ;k dk
lrhRo] e;kZnk iq#'kksRre jktk jke dh opucf)rk] ekrk lhrk dk
R;kx] Hkjr dk Hkkr`Ro] guqeUryky dh fu'Bk] ;kksnk dk okRlY;]
Jhd`'.k dk deZ;ksx] d.kZ dh nkuohjrk] vtqZu vkSj Hkhe dk ijke
vn~Hkqr gSaA buesa ls gjsd O;fRo ls thou dh ,d /kkjk izokfgr
gksrh gSA foo ds leLr Hkw&Hkkx esa ;fn vkt Hkh dqN ekuoh;
laosnuk,a cph gSa rks og gekjh gh HkkjrHkwfe ijA D;kasfd gekjs ;s lHkh
vknkZ gekjh jxksa esa j cudj izokgeku gSaA

14

vkt ge ftl eSustes.V dh ckr djrs gSa

mldk lcls igyk lw= gS & vuqkkluA vius nSfud
thou ds izfr vuqkklughurk fufpr :i ls gesa
vlQyrk dh vksj <dsyrh gSA izkphu Hkkjr dh blh
O;oLFkk us gekjs lekt dks ,d ls c<+dj ,d fo}ku
egkiq#'k ,oa ijkeh ;ks)k fn;s Fks ftUgksaus ,d jpkA
izkphudky esa xq#dqy gqvk djrs FksA tUe ds le; ls
ysdj ukS o'kZ rd cPpk viuh ekrk ds okRlY; dh Nko
esa jgdj mldk eerke;h ykyu&ikyu izkIr djrk
FkkA thofoKku ds vuqlkj ;gh og le; gksrk gS tc
cPps ds efLr'd dk foLrkj gksrk gSA ;gh le; gksrk gS
tc mlds Hkhrj jksfir laLdkjksa ds cht tM+ idM+rs gSaA
blds ckn ls ysdj iPphl o'kZ rd dh vk;q esa og vius
ekrk&firk ls nwj jgdj xq#dqyksa esa fof/kor~
Kku&foKku dh fk{kk xzg.k djrk FkkA xq#vksa dk dM+k
vuqkklu vkSj vkpk;ksZa dh fk{kk nksuksa feydj fo|kfFkZ;ksa
ds Hkhrj ,d ,slk O;fRo fuekZ.k djrs Fks tks jk'V vkSj
lekt ds dqky usr`Ro dh {kerk j[krk FkkA
geus ukyank vkSj r{kfkyk tSls foofo|ky;kas
dh LFkkiuk blfy, ugha dh Fkh fd ge LovftZr Kku
dks viuh dSn esa j[k ldsa cfYd mlesa rks lkjs foo ds
fk{kkFkhZ vkSj kks/kkFkhZ vkrs Fks] Kku&foKku ds vtZu ds
fy,A gekjh ckSf)d lEink vikj FkhA laLd`fr vkSj dyk
ds {ks= esa ge vxz.kh FksA fdlh ds lexz fodkl ij fdlh
dks bZ';kZ gksuk ekuoh; izo`fk gS tks cgqrsjs euq';ksa esa ikbZ
tkrh gSA ge cqf) lEink ds /kuh gSa] lkjs foo esa tc ;g
lansk igqpk rks gekjs jk'V ij geyksa dh kq:vkr gqbZA

Ramayana
The Ramayana is one of the great Hindu epics. It is
ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an
important part of the Hindu literature (smti),
considered to be itihaasa. It depicts the duties of
relationships, portraying ideal characters like the
ideal father, the ideal servant, the ideal brother,
the ideal wife, and the ideal king. The Ramayana
consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (kaas)
and 500 cantos (sargas),and tells the story of Rama
(an avatar of the Hindu supreme-god Vishnu),
whose wife Sita is abducted by Ravana, the king of
Lanka (current day Sri Lanka).

krkfCn;ksa ls lafpr gekjs Kku Hk.Mkjksa dks bu geyksa

us {kfrxzLr dj fn;kA mUgsa ywVk x;k] tyk;k x;kA bu
lcds chp Hkh egkRek pk.kD; tSls egkiq#'kksa us vke.kksa dh
vfXu esa dwndj Hkkjr dks cpk;kA mudh izfrKk ls fufeZr
pUnzxqIr ekS;Z dk Lof.kZe dky Hkyk fdls foLej.k gks ldrk
gSA kL=] kkL= vkSj le`f) rhuksa dh Nk;k esa Hkkjro'kZ yacs
le; rd lqjf{kr jgkA ysfdu oSHko ds ckn fQj ls ijkHko
tSls gekjh fu;fr jghA vkt ls nks krkCnh igys gqbZ foKku
dh reke [kkstksa dk vk/kkj gekjs _f'k&eqfu;ksa dk ogh Kku
Fkk ftls nqyZHk xzaFkksa ds :i esa ywVdj mu nskksa eas ys tk;k
x;k Fkk tks dbZ vfo'dkjksa
ds tud gksus dk nkok djrs gSaA ,d gt+kj o'kksZa rd ge
Hkkjroklh fofHkUu geykojksa dk lkeuk djrs jgsA brus yacs
varjky esa gekjk og iqLrdh; Kku vkus okyh ihf<+;ksa ds
lkeus yqIrizk; lk gks x;k FkkA gekjh nqyZHk [kkstsa u'V dj
nh xbZaA gekjk og pqjk fy;k x;k Kku gh vk/kqfud ;qx ds
fofHkUu vfo'dkjksa dk vk/kkj gSA vrhr ds Hkkjr ls orZeku
rd dk lQj vusd mrkj&p<+koksa ds chp ls gksdj xqtjkA
^losZ HkoUrq lqf[kuks] loZs lUrq fujke;k* dh ekuoh;
fopkj/kkjk ls vksrizksr lkjs lalkj dk dY;k.k pkgus oky ge
Hkkjrh;ksa us nklrk ds yacs dky dks >sykA bl dkykof/k esa
pkgs gekjk oSHko vkSj lEifk u'V gks xbZ gks ysfdu gekjh oks
lHkh /kkfeZd ,oa lkaLd`frd ijEijk,a thfor jgha tks euq';
ds gksus y{k.k gSaA dkyp fuckZ/k xfr ls pyrk jgkA gekjs
kkS;Z vkSj cfynkuksa ds vkxs cM+h&cM+h vkrrk;h rkdrksa dks
/kwy&/kwlfjr gks tkuk iM+kA ,d gt+kj o'kksZa dh nklrk:ih
dkyh jkr ds ckn Lok/khurk dk lw;Z mfnr gqvkA
vkSifuosfkd nklrk ls ge Lok/khu gq,A
ysfdu ftl dher dks pqdkdj vktknh ikbZ xbZ Fkh
vkusokyh ihf<+;ksa us mldk eksy ugha tkuk vkSj jk'V ds
Hkhrj vusd izdkj dh fod`fr;ksa us tUe fy;kA ysfdu bl
ikou Hkwfe us egkiq#'kksa dh ijEijk dks dHkh ugha [kks;kA
lkekftd fo'kerk,a vkrh jgha vkSj muls tw>dj mUgsa nwj
dj nsus okys Hkh vorfjr gksrs jgsA ysfdu fxjus ds ckn
fQj ls mB [kM+s gksuk tSls gekjh jxksa esa jpk&clk gSA
ekuoh; vkSj nSoh; foHkhf'kdkvksa dks >syrs gq, ge vkxs c<+sA
vkt ge fQj ls /khjs&/khjs foKku vkSj rduhd ds fljekSj
gks jgs gSaA gekjk Lok/khu Hkkjr Hkh viuksa ds chp vusd izdkj
ds mRFkku&iru dk lk{kh gSA vkt nsk dks og lqn`<+
jktuSfrd lacy feyk gS ftlus gekjs fQj ls ^fooxq#* gksus
dh laHkkouk dks cyorh dj fn;k gSA vko;drk gS rks dsoy
gekjs ekuoh; vkSj lkekftd laosnukvksa ds izfr xaHkhj gks
tkus dhA

Param Pujya Didi Maa Sadhvi Ritambhara ji,

Vatsalya Gram

15

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the major Sanskrit

epics of ancient India. The authorship of the
Mahabharata is attributed to Ved Vyasa. The
Mahabharata is the longest known epic poem
and has been described as "the longest poem
ever written". Its longest version consists of
over 100,000 shloka or over 200,000
individual verse lines (each shloka is a
couplet), and long prose passages. About 1.8
million words in total, the Mahabharata is
about four times the length of the Ramayana.

Swami Vivekananda
and Nation Building
Swami

Vivekananda
was a dreamer. He dreamt big
day and night. But, the only theme
of his dream was India. This one word
stirred extraordinary feelings in the deepest
regions of his heart. Perhaps, he was the
greatest patriot to have ever been born in this
country. The testimony of Mahatma Gandhi vouches
for this assertion. Mahatma Gandhi visited Belur Math in
1921 and before leaving he wrote in the Visitors' Book that
after reading Swami Vivekananda's works, his patriotism for
the country had increased thousand fold. One of the Western
disciples of Swami Vivekananda, Sister Christine, wrote in her
reminiscences that the first time she heard Swami
Vivekananda pronounce the magical five-lettered word
India, the love for India took birth in her heart. She said that
it was impossible to describe what all he could convey by the
way he pronounced that word. According to her, he could, in
one breath, convey India's glorious past, her culture, her
tradition, her degradation of those days and her future glory
and much more. In fact, his love for our motherland was
perhaps the singular factor which held him tied to this earth.
He was a born Yogi, a great contemplative and diving deep into
meditation was the natural drift of his mind. However, he
sacrificed all that to serve our motherland.
He knew everything about India like the palm of his hand.
What was the source and basis of his knowledge? He was a
keen student of history and had a thorough knowledge of
India's glorious past. He was immensely practical in his
outlook and that helped him understand the then condition of
our country. After the passing away of his Guru and mentor,
Sri Ramakrishna, he had gone on a pilgrimage of the entire
country on foot. He met people from every segment of the
society, from the richest to thepoorest, from the most learned
to the most ignorant, from high caste priests to those
condemned as the low caste, from Maharajas to penniless
beggars. The firsthand knowledge which he gained through
his explorations gave him a complete understanding of our
country including the causes for its downfall. Being a
visionary and endowed with an extraordinary intellect and
even a more feeling heart, he could find out the

16

cure for India's maladies and for restoring her to her

former glory. He predicted that India's future glory
would far surpass her past glory. He felt deeply
concerned and pained by the degradation of our
country. He said, If there are holes in this national
ship, this society of ours, we are its children. Let us go
and stop the holes. Let us gladly do it with our hearts'
blood; and if we cannot, then let us die. We will make
a plug of our brains and put them into the ship, but
condemn it never. After a stay of four years in the
West, during which he achieved extraordinary fame
and recognition and was virtually lionized by the
society; when he was about to depart for India, a
Westerner asked him how he was feeling about
returning to his motherland. In reply he said, India I
loved before I came away. Now the very dust of India
has become holy to me, the very air is now to me
holy; it is now the holy land, the place of pilgrimage,
the Tirtha." He clearly identified the causes for our
downfall, one of which was the neglect of the masses
which he labeled as the great national sin. He said
that millions were oppressed in the name of religion
and one of the chief causes of India's ruin was the
monopoly of education by a few belonging to the
privileged classes. His prescriptions for redemption
of our work were uplift of the masses, spread of
education, empowerment of woman, etc. He had
immense faith in the youth of this country and said
that they would work out his ideas like lions.

Reverred Swami Shantatmananda Ji

Head, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi

Indus Valley Civilization

One of the oldest civilizations in the world, the Indus Valley
civilization flourished over 5,000 years ago in most areas
now in Pakistan. Fossilized remains of Stone Age man have
also been discovered in the Chakwal district of the Punjab
province of Pakistan. In many ways the Indus civilization
was very advanced. It had great cities with good streets, fine
houses, drainage and water systems, police, stable
government and peace and prosperity.

Searching for
Vedic India
Bolder minds are keen to discover the hidden achievements of
the ancients. This curiosity will transform the way we see ourselves
and the universe.
Were some ancient civilizations much more advanced than what
we allow? Particularly, India's Vedic texts challenge our pride and
conceptions.
The sages of India's lost past delighted in knowledge of the
nonmaterial. But they testify that they also knew how to produce
material benefits without industry. Dare we consider that the
subcontinent of India, thousands of years ago, was the centre of
the greatest spiritual wisdom and mystical technology that the
earth has seen?
The India of remote antiquity may surface as the greatest find in
the new millennium. Deep in lost history, did high civilization and
advanced knowledge thrive? The ancient Vedic literatures of India
describe a worldwide civilization that flourished at a time when
modern historians insist that humans like us existed simply as
hunter-gatherers. This Vedic civilization, centred in India,
employed technologies based on a scientific understanding of the
physical elements and forces we know today, as well as more
subtle conscious elements. All of these elements were recognised
as having their source in a supreme conscious intelligence. Where
modern science sees only ordinary matter and its transformations,
the Vedic science saw the action of this supreme conscious
intelligence behind everything, and fashioned a way of life that
focussed less on dominating and exploiting matter and more on
elevating each individual conscious self to its original pure state in
relation to the supreme conscious self, God. The history of this
remarkable civilization and its knowledge are locked in the ancient
Vedic literatures of India.
The matter-bound science prevalent today is under pressure to
expand beyond its self-erected barrier. Outside the rusting cage of
the Western materialistic paradigm, the sacred science of antiquity
beckons us. We are intrigued to find that, whereas the moderns
are matter based, the ancients were consciousness based.

Janapadas
The Janapadas were the major realms republics or
kingdoms of Vedic(Iron Age) India from about 1200 BC to
the 6th century BC, which were then divided into the
sixteen classical Mahajanapadas. The term janapada is a
compound term, composed of janas "people" or "subject"
and pada "foot". A janapadin is the ruler of a janapada.
Janapada's were the earliest gathering places of men,
merchants, artisans and craftsmen akin to marketplace or
town surrounded by hamlets and villages

17

The purpose of this write up is not to present an airtight case,

nailed shut, but we are to stimulate a poignant awareness of
other avenues. Certainly, if we can but shed our inbuilt cultural
and conceptual mind-set, we are in for a treat. The ancient India
seems to have mastered dazzling dimensions of awareness
domains impenetrable by the cultural construct we know as
the Western scientific method.
The timeless wisdom of India is expressed in Vedas, ancient
Sanskrit texts that touch upon all fields of human knowledge.
Indian rich values and Vedic wisdom can actually fulfil the real
and current need of human society worldwide. And what is that
human need? Human society is no longer bounded by
geographical limits to particular countries or communities. It is
broader than in the Middle Ages, and the world tendency one
state, one country or one human race. The ideals of spiritual
communism, according to Indian greatest treasure, Srimad
Bhagavatam, are based more or less on the oneness of the entire
human society, nay, of the entire energy of living beings. The
need was felt by the great thinkers of our 'Bharat varsh' to
establish the ideal of a common cause and make this a successful
ideology. Human society, at the present moment, is not in the
darkness of oblivion. It has made rapid progress in various field.
But there are large-scale quarrels, even for less important issues.
There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in
peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause. Indian
Vedic rich heritage in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam and
Bhagavad Gita will fill this need, for it is a cultural presentation
for the spiritualization of the entire human society. Disparity in
human society is due to lack of principles in a godless civilization.
There is God from whom everything emanates, by whom
everything is maintained and in whom everything is merged to
rest. Material science has tried to find the ultimate source of
creation insufficiently, but it is fact that there is one ultimate
source of everything that be. The ultimate source is explained
rationally and authoritatively in our beautiful Vedic literatures
and that ultimate source is Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead.

-Buddhimanta Dasa
(DirectorBhaktivedanta Academy,
ISKCON Noida, India)

The
Journey of
Indian Civilisation
The

Indus valley

civilisation which spread and flourished

in the north western part of the Indian
subcontinent more than 5500 years ago in the
present day Pakistan and the north western India,
was the first major civilisation in South Asia. At its peak
the Indus civilisation may have had a population of over
five million. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley
developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products,
seal carvings) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead and tin). The
Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked bricks
houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems and
clusters of non residential buildings.
A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture
developed in the Mature Harappan period between 4500 to 3900
years ago. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban
culture is evident in the Indus valley civilisation making them the first
urban centres in the region. The quality of municipal town planning
suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal
governments which placed a high priority on hygiene, or
alternatively, accessibility to the means of religious ritual.
As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and the recently excavated
Rakhigrahi, this urban plan included the world's first known urban
sanitation systems: see hydraulic engineering of the Indus valley
civilisation. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes
obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been
set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains,
which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner
courtyards and smaller lanes. The house building in some villages in
the region still resembles in some respects the house building of the
Harappans.
The ancient Indus systems of sewerage and drainage that were
develop and used I cities throughout the Indus region were far more
advanced than any found in contemporary urban cities in the Middle
East and even more efficient than those in many areas of Pakistan
and India today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is
shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick
platforms and protective walls. The massive walls of Indus cities
most likely protected the Harappans from floods and may have
dissuaded military conflicts.
After the collapse of this Harappan civilisation at the start of the
second millennium Iron Age Vedic Civilisation took over and
extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witness
the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of
these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha
propagated their philosophies during the fifth and sixth century.

18

Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire

during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. From the 3rd century BC
onwards Prakrit and Pali literature in the north and Sangam
literature in southern India started to flourish. The famous
Wootz steel originated in south India in the 3rd century BC and
was also exported to foreign countries. Further, various parts of
India were ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next
1,500 years, among which the Gupta Empire stands out. This
period witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence,
is known as the classical or Golden Age of India. During this
period, aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture
and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia,
while kingdoms in southern India had maritime business links
with the Roman Empire from around 77CE. During this period
Indian cultural influence spread over many parts of Southeast
Asia which led to the establishments of Indianized kingdoms in
Southeast Asia.
The Chola Dynasty conquered southern India and successfully
invaded parts of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka in the 11th
century. The early medieval period Indian mathematics
influenced the development of mathematics and astronomy in
the Arab world and the Hindu numerals were introduced.
In the view of such evolved and rich ancient civilization it is for all
of us to ponder do we deserve the tag of uncivilised nation with
more than half the population being forced defecate in the open
with little or no sewerage and hygiene facility and no access to
potable drinking water. Let us on this occasion pledge to draw
inspiration from our ancient civilisation to change the image of
our country.

-Dr. Bhishma Narain Singh

Former Governor, Assam and Tamil Nadu

Baudhyana (800 BCE)

Baudhyana, was the author of the Baudhayana
stras, which cover dharma, daily ritual,
mathematics, etc. He was the author of the
earliest Sulba Straappendices to the Vedas
giving rules for the construction of altarscalled
the Baudhyana ulbastra. These are notable
from the point of view of mathematics, for
containing several important mathematical
results, including giving a value of pi to some
degree of precision, and stating a version of what
is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem.

Living On Rupees
50 A Day!
This story is not about subsistence living. This is about voluntary
simplicity. I decided one day to see if I could live in a city in India for a
couple of days spending no more than 50 Rupees per day. That would
be less than a dollar a day! The idea took shape in my leadership class in
the IIM. I challenged my second year MBA class to take up a project that
required them to change one aspect of their behaviour or lifestyle. All
change, we argued, must begin with one's self. As the course teacher I
could not hope to lead change until I changed something about myself.
Hence, the resolve to have three meals in an Indian town or city for less
than Rupees fifty a day.
In the first instance of my experiment I got down from the airport
bound taxi near Dharavi in Mumbai. I walked from morning till late
night, squatting for breaks wherever I could find space. This was a day's
lesson in mindful living. I had to be constantly alert to unexpected
challenges such as treading on freshly laid human dung or negotiating
ancient garbage that sat on a pavement for days as reverentially as a
ganapati temple. Here was real therapy of street smartness rather than
'retail therapy' of a compulsive visit to a mall. What was significant was
that I could rethink my assumptions about what it means to 'eat out'. I
realized how often I had ended up buying food that I wouldn't fully eat
with money that was hardly a measure of the satisfaction one got out of
eating . One realized that the greatest appetizer was indeed hunger.
Here is an account of my expenses on my three meals for a day:
Breakfast: Poha + Tea= Rs. 20
Lunch: Vada Pav costing Rs. 14
Dinner: 1/2 Pav Bhaji for Rs. 16
This experiment in austerity concluded with drinking water that was
'recycled' from a fire hydrant close to a colony. In another day's
experiment in the touristy town in Waynad , Kerela I discovered that
one can still live for about fifty Rupees a day. Here is what a day's menu
would look like in a roadside eatery in Kerala:
Breakfast: Tapioca or two Idlis + Tea for Rs. 15
Lunch: Sada Vegetarian Meal for Rs. 20
Dinner: 2 Chappatis + Curry Juice for Rs. 15
In addition to the food that fifty Rupees could buy in Kerala, getting
good clean water was less of a hassle and it came free with the meal.
An interesting insight dawned on me based on what I learnt from my
Mumbai and Waynad experiences. First, there was a very thin line that
separated those who defined the polarities of our prosperity and the
poverty line. Those who had less in India have to wait long hours for
virtually everything---wait in a queue to get drinking water; then wait
for the water to come out of the corporation tap when they turn the
knob; wait for their daily ration, wait for a packed commuter train to
pick them up. For those who have more, waiting assumes another
dimension. The only difference is that waiting becomes more subtle for
them : such as waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic inside airconditioned cars, waiting for an elusive bonus, waiting for a Web page
to load, or waiting for the results of a dreaded blood sugar test. There
is a psychological and economic cost to all such

19

Buddhism
Buddhism is a nontheistic religion that encompasses a variety
of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings
attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha. The
Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian
subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries
BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or
enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient
beings end theirsuffering through the elimination of ignorance
and craving. Buddhists believe that this is accomplished
through direct understanding and the perception of
dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths.
unproductive waiting. There are two ways of dealing with the
anxiety of having to wait interminably. The first way is to remove
all evidences of the flow of time from the scene of waiting. The
casino parlours in Las Vegas play this trick of the mind on
gamblers to keep them in the casinos for long hours. The first
way is about keeping the mind engaged by multiplication of
wants. The second, and perhaps the more sustainable way, is
thoughtful minimisation of wants. Some people like Gandhi
believe today that human civilization, in the real sense of the
term, consists not in the multiplication but in the voluntary
reduction of wants.
On my return to campus after my self-imposed experiments I
took a voluntary 10% cut on my basic salary. I am not promoting
any kind of dogma or a fundamentalist theory here. Many may
not wish to embrace a minimalist culture of living and being. But
not a single human mind can be content with having much and
getting more. If we have a chance to reflect, more will appear to
be less if we take into account the psychological stranglehold of
stressful commutes, disjointed double-income families and lifestyle diseases such as affluenza! Many would want to work in a
market economy where we maximise profits and incomes. But
how many of us would want to live in a market society where
money was the only measure of human relationships? Finally, as
we winded up the class we realized that human motivation
was a constant oscillation of our mental pendulum between
two extreme questions:
Q (a) How much more do we need to be really happy?
Q (b) How much less can we have and still be happy?

Prof. Debashis Chatterjee

Director, IIM Kozhikode

Know Your Country!

Know Your Country!
~ The Kumbh Mela (or Grand Pitcher Festival)
is a huge Hindu religious festival that
takes place in India every 12 years.
In 2001, 60 million people
attended, breaking the record
for the world's biggest gathering.

~ Shampooing is an Indian concept

Shampoo was invented in India, not the
commercial liquid ones but the method
by use of herbs. The word 'shampoo'
itself has been derived from the Sanskrit
word champu, which means to massage.

~ Diamonds were first mined in India

Initially, diamonds were only found in the alluvial
deposits in Guntur and Krishna District of the
Krishna River Delta. Until diamonds were found in
Brazil during the 18th century, India led the world
in diamond production.

~ Many Indians find toilet paper repellent

and consider it cleaner to splash water
with the left hand in the appropriate
direction. Consequently, the left hand is
considered unclean and is never used for
eating.

~ Snakes and Ladders originated in India

Earlier known as Moksha Patamu, the game was initially
invented as a moral lesson about karma to be taught to
children. It was later commercialized and has become one of
the most popular board games in the world

~ India is the birthplace of chess.l The

original word for chess is the
Sanskritchaturanga, meaning four members
of an armywhich were mostly likely
elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.
~ The oldest city in the world that is
inhabited even today is Varanasi or Benaras
~ The earliest cotton in the
world was spun and woven
in India. Roman emperors
would wear delicate cotton
from India that they would
call woven winds. Mogul
emperors called the fabrics
morning dew and cloth
of running water.

20

~ Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to

humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated
Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast
regaining its rightful place in our civilization. It is the only
system which takes the holistic view of the person being
treated.

Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path
of ahimsanonviolencetowards all living beings,
and emphasises spiritual interdependence and
equality between all forms of life.The three main
principles of Jainism are Ahimsa (Nonviolence),
Anekantavada (Non-Absolutism) and Aparigraha
(Non-Possessiveness).
Jainism is one of the oldest religions in the world.
Jains traditionally trace their history through a
succession of twenty-four propagators of their faith
known as tirthankaras with Rishabh as the first and
Mahvra as the last of the current era.

Taxila
Taxila is a town and an important archaeological site
in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab province in
Pakistan. Some of the earliest ruins in this area date
to the time of the Achaemenid or Persian empire in
6th century BC. Owing to its strategic location, Taxila
has changed hands many times over the centuries,
with many empires vying for its control. When the
great ancient trade routes connecting these regions
ceased to be important, the city sank into
insignificance and was finally destroyed by the
nomadic Huns in the 5th century CE.

21

Are We Proud
To Be Indians

Have you ever asked yourself this

question : Are we proud to be Indians ?
Today's youth being largely influenced by the
western culture is totally ignorant of the glorious past
of our country. The advancement of modern technology
has taken the youth away from qualities like perseverance
and persistence which are indispensable qualities for success
.Under a misguided sense of 'keeping up ' they are advancing at a
break neck speed . Violence and pain have become the order of the
day. They have forgotten those idyllic days of leisure and rapture.
Modern technology can enable us to become successful entrepreneurs
with material benefits but not moral leaders.
Now let us ponder over some of the glories of our past. India pioneered
many scientific ,medical, architectural and mathematical achievements
that are still used today. Albert Einstein once quipped, We owe a lot to
the Indians who taught us how to count without which no worth while
scientific discovery could have been made .
India was one of the first civilizations to use algebra and calculus. The
number zero was invented in Ancient India by a man named Arya Bhatta.
Arya Bhatta also created a decimal system and revolutionized Arithmetic,
Algebra and Trigonometry. He discovered, the earth moves around the
sun and the moon orbits the earth, he estimated the earth
circumference more accurately than any one in ancient Greece .
Sushruta who some call The father of Surgery and Opthamology not
only wrote a complete volume of opthamological diseases which
included signs, symptoms, prognosis and interventions but he also
performed some of the very first cataract surgeries in the world .He also
performed fractures and Rhinoplasty and brain surgeries without the use
of anesthesia.
In addition to many scientific achievements Ancient India was home to
two of the world's first cities , Harappa and Mohenjodaro. These cities
had stone buildings , multiple stories and sewage systems.
Ancient India was known for two universities- Nalanda and Taksh-shila
that attracted great scholars of the world. Navigation started in the river
Sindhu 6000 years ago. Derived from the Sanskrit word Navgatih .Ancient
Indians excelled in this art . Navy word is also derived from Sanskrit word
'nou'.
Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun
hundreds of years ago. Guess his calculation done in 5th century365.258756484 days.
Ancient India was also the birthplace of two of today's most widely
practiced religions- Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism has given us

22

. 'Karma' a term popularly used today. It is the energy that

you create when you do something that is either right or
wrong. It gave us the Vedas. The Vedas speak of variety of
matters . In early times a man named Parmasiva Ayyar said
The Vedas deal with geology .In those early times people
looked upon the sun and the moon with wonder. Some
westerners remark, It was an age when science had not
made much advancement. People then regarded natural
phenomena according to their mental attitudes. Not all are
capable of turning their thoughts into song but some have
talent for the same. The songs sung by people in the form of
mantras constitute the Vedas.
How to develop interest in these songs- the Vedas is the
need of the hour. Let us feel proud to be Indians and live lifeThe Vedic way. Basically , Indians are philosophical people
who believe in Deeds and Acts and determine that the
karma is the resultant of life. According to the Vedas, if we
sow goodness , we will reap goodness. Hence D.A.V. one of
the largest educational organization is trying to reconstruct
the Indian Society by providing the latest advances in the
world along with the knowledge of the Vedas.
Early morning while the rejuvenating breeze blows, the
lush green premises of the D AV schools resound with the
chanting of the Vedic Shlokas and the aura of tranquility.
This speaks of volumes of the practical wisdom inculcated
among the future citizens.
Let the young recite the Vedic prayer from Yajurveda
which says One should desire to live a hundred years- a life
of energetic action .Such value oriented education and
forbearance is the need of the hour. Let us all have
consistent faith in integrity and succeed with integrity. This
belief in values gives us character and defines who we
are.You belong to India- Aryavarta . Try to be Shresht Aryas.

Dr. S R Arora
Former Principal Hansraj College
University of Delhi.

Chanakya and Mauyan Empire

After unifying much of India, Chandragupta and his
chief advisor Chanakya passed a series of major
economic and political reforms. He established a strong
central administration patterned after Chanakya's text
on politics, the Arthashastra. They established an
efficient and highly organized bureaucratic structure
with a large civil service. Due to its unified structure, the
empire developed a strong economy, with internal and
external trade thriving and agriculture flourishing. In
both art and architecture, the Maurya Empire made
important contributions. Chandragupta's reign was a
time of great social and religious reform in India.

The Wonder
Called India
All intellectual pursuits over India in its past and present have grossly
misinterpreted the inner depth of our knowledge. This was primarily
because our rich oral traditions till now remain largely undated and
also unsubstantiated in terms of solid evidences. Prehistory shows
many firsts in India when one works out the civilization history of the
world. For instance, it is now completely accepted that man inhabited
India from as early as 1.5 million years ago. By 1.2 million years he had
colonized many suitable eco-riches and flourished without break for
as late as 10,000 years. Success of any culture is visible by the fact that
these show progressively growing concentration of tools. Very few
people know that around 680,000 years ago there were continuous
eruptions of volcanoes in Borneo. This volcano called Toba had
spelled huge amount of ash all over south and south eastern India. At
a site called Jwalapuram in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh one can
see several feet deposits of this toba ash. From this amount of ash
deposit one can imply that the vegetation in most of India was badly
damaged and impaired for a long time. Our early ancestors survived
this critical situation of depletion of subsistence base.
We know this because we find huge evidence of human colonization
shortly after this episode. It would be important, at this stage to
mention that our early ancestors started spreading over large areas
hither to un-inhabited. The inner strength and survival instinct of our
ancestors are amply demonstrated by this episode. The same volcano
again erupted around 45,000 years ago and the ash from this like
earlier spread far and wide. These periods of stress of survival did not
stop the growth of our culture for long. Biological evolution was
bringing our early ancestors to the threshold of modern man around
this time. We find waves of modern man' from north east Africa
entering India a little after this period. This 'Out of Africa' population
uses India as the land bridge to migrate further east and reach
countries like south East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. What is
important to visualise at this point is, that there is very little evidence
of any exogenous elements seen in our continuing culture. This can be
taken to mean that we were relatively more securely adapted with
our environment and were not influenced by outside influences. The
population of the whole world is caused by fusion and fission of
waves of migration but India behaves in the contrary. Yet in the
present day context we find it so enigmatic that we are always looking
'outside' for change. What has happened to our 'inside' looking
generations? Our history shows series of scientific inventions and yet
why do we look to the other world and evaluate them. A time has
come to reflect on our past achievements and look for the reasons of
such spectacular success in the field of astronomy, alchemistry,
mathematics and surgery. There are two things that one needs in
order to appreciate our achievements. The first and foremost of this is
the pride for our history. For all you know the raw material for those
products must have gone from your great Nation. The second thing
we need to know is the history of science developed here. One has to
see the huge temple structures in Odisha or in south India to realize
that architectural knowledge of Indian from as early as 6th century
A.D. was so advanced as to carve out mammoth stones and lift them
30-40 above ground to construct the temple crown. Without cement
which was not known then, these stones were bonded and locked
together.

23

Ashoka
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on the
Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by
the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign
from 272 to 231 BC. In these inscriptions, Ashoka refers to
himself as "Beloved of the Gods" and "King Priya-darshi." The
inscriptions revolve around a few repetitive themes: Ashoka's
conversion to Buddhism, the description of his efforts to
spread Buddhism, his moral and religiousprecepts, and his
social and animal welfare program.
The exquisite stone figures are things of such, see to believe them.
We have certainly failed to impart adequate knowledge of our
heritage to our youth. A stage has come when they need to rekindle
their mind with knowledge of our history. One has to see the runs of
Hampi, or the temples of Halebudu in Karnataka or Sanchi and
Bhimbetaka in Madhya Pradesh or the temples of Odhisa to acquaint
oneself with the glorious 'Heritage of India'. In most of the western
countries patriotism is taught indirectly by taking them to see
historical structures. India needs no special course in patriotism
because we remain awe struck when you see our 5th to 12th century
structure. You can at once see what labour, energy and scientific and
architectural knowledge is necessary for such spectacular
structures. Bhimbetka in Raisen district of MP is a World Heritage
site. But most of us are unaware of this heritage site. More than 6000
caves and rocks shelters here show series of multi chrome paintings.
Animals in a grazing mode or being hunted or human figures carrying
fish in baskets or dancing in rows are the ind of paintings one sees on
the walls of these caves. It is believed that the oldest of these
paintings could be as old as 30,000 years old.
There is no dearth of evidences of our past achievements on stone.
Our knowledge of human biology, disease and herbal cures are, off
course well, documented in Ayurveda but archaeological evidences
to demonstrate the presence and practise of this knowledge by our
ancestors is difficult. In langhnaj in Mehsatha district of Gujarat a
skeleton was excavated from a Mesolithic period(2800 B.C.) layer.
The skull of the individual had ante-mortem hole above the ear. It is
believed that if meningeal fluid increases because of a viral
infection then the brain is pressed. Such holes in the skull drains
out excessive fluids. In another case a molar tooth was found
drilled in a skull dating back to 6000 B.C. from Mehrgarh in
Baluchistan. It is not always easy to seek evidences of
knowledge and this is the precise reason for which
our history written in colonial period does not do
justice. It is high time we inform ourselves
adequately to appreciate the wonder that
India was.

Sh. DK Bhattacharya

Glorious
India
The time has
come when Businessmen,
Bureaucrats and Politicians have to
combine for a better world. Everyone is
working in their particular area in isolation and
this is why we are a developing country. According to
our past we were the most developed and rich country.
I always start my motivation from History. How was our
history and how we are at present.
From one of my fond memories I remember a speech given by
Lord Macaulay in the British Parliament Dated 2nd February,
1835. Lord Macaulay was looking after the Education system
under British rule. He told the British government that he
travelled the most parts of India and could not find a single
beggar, India was so rich at that time. It was 1835, that means
180 years back India did not have any beggar, no signs of poverty,
no thief but after 180 at years how many beggars and thief's are
there at present in our country which is only due to lack of
education, deterioration in education or what we call Illiteracy.
However, after I look into the eyes of the youth of our country I
find a belief in their eyes that after 10-15 years India will be a
developed country, the way India is moving.
I have travelled about 23 states, and I've found that eagerness in
the youths of our country. The eagerness to develop our country.
Look at our Prime Minister, Narendra Singh Modi. He's got that
spark, the mind and qualities to develop this country. For
example his Make In India scheme. What changes it will bring to
this country and what sort of revenue this country would gain
from this scheme, Unbelievable. In Ancient civilizations, India
was world capital of Art & Civilization and World capital of
knowledge merely due to Mathematics and the greatest
discoveries in the field of Mathematics arisen from India itself for
example the first Mathematical Integers 0-9, the Pythagoras
theorem, sin formula, area & volume of a sphere, quadratic
equation and many more.

24

India is still the world capital of Art & Civilization but not the
World capital of knowledge. From the historians it is found
that in the early years of 400-500 AD, India had universities
with students from mainly Asia and the rest of the world with
a student-teacher atio of about 1:1.5 which in easier words
could be said as 10,000 student and 1,500 Teachers in the
Nalanda University, with many philosophical, astronomical
and scientific courses, which was later in around 500 AD
burned to the ground. With all this record from the history I
would prefer to say that Mathematics is actually a base for all
the knowledge or study. It is the foundation or the Building
Blocks of knowledge. If Mathematics will be strong in this
country, India will again become a Superpower. So, if we have
to make development in any field, Mathematics should be
strong enough. Everywhere Mathematics has been clubbed
with Science which is the greatest problem in our country.
Mathematics plays such an important role in our day to day
life that it has to be given separate attention independently
and it is the only subject which is penetrated everywhere. The
history itself suggests that India could not give much focus to
the improvement of education before Independence. Even
Mahatma Gandhi talked about new taleem which meant
improvement in basic education.
In 1937 Zakir Hussain committee was constituted which
recommended that Science and Mathematics will be focused
and should be taught as a special component. In 1952-1953
after independence it was stated by commissions that Science
& Mathematics will be taught as separate subjects.

Cholas, Cheras and Pandeyas

The Cholas, Cheras and Pandeyas ruled for over
500 years in southern India, making their reign one
of the longest in Indian history. Their patronage of
Tamil literature and their zeal in the building of
temples has resulted in some great works of Tamil
literature and architecture. The Chola kings were
avid builders and envisioned the temples in their
kingdoms not only as places of worship but also as
centers of economic activity. They pioneered a
centralized form of government and established a
disciplined bureaucracy.

If we relate the modern science with the ones present in

Vedas we find that Vedic Mathematics is not exactly
Mathematics first of all. In Vedic literature Mathematics
was known as Shulba Sutras which means measurement
of area but still many Indian's have a confusion that Vedic
Mathematics sustained from Vedas. Vedic Mathematics is
basically based on 16 sutras and 13 sub sutras. A lot of
Mathematical and scientific knowledge are there in our
Vedic literature but they are in Sanskrit and since the
proper translation of Sanskrit or proper importance to the
Sanskrit could not be given in recent times and therefore a
lot of undiscovered questions and answers are present in
our Vedic literature. Therefore a time has come when we
should focus to translate those undiscovered knowledge.
Manjul Bhargava won the fields medal in 2014 for
developing powerful new methods in the geometry of
numbers, quoted that the Indian people Indian teachers
Indian student all every other Indian should emphasize
importance to Sanskrit and translation of knowledge from
ancient times given in Sanskrit. I worked in NCERT for 25
years and as the HOD I was said to introduce calculators and
should be made compulsory in examination and even after
a lot of pressure from the board I did not introduce the
calculator in examination because our computational
strength should be strong.
All this scientific knowledge is based on human
memorization which was not given importance nor was
given to the Application of these scientific problems. In the
National Curriculum Framework 2005 (NCF) it was stated
that whatever knowledge we are giving should be
connected with daily life, understanding and the overall
development of the child which includes physical
development, intellectual development and spiritual
development. And for this our PM introduce Yoga for the
physical development of both the body and the mind of the
child. If we nurture the young generation of our country
then we surely will succeed in developing this country. If we
compare with the size of the country we are not doing as
much as we are desired for the betterment and
development but the main problem is that the most
talented of the students are leaving the country and going
abroad for opportunities. If all those students are retained
here in India and facilities are provided to them, then
automatically thousands of scientists will be produced
within our country who will lead to the increment in the
rate of development of our country. We as Indian's have
culture, Sharp minds.
It is said that Indian children's up to the age of 6-7 years are
the most intelligent in the world and when they come at the
age of 16-17 years and if provided the opportunity they are
reaching at highest point but those who aren't given the
opportunity are becoming thieves, beggars, 1st generation
learners.

25

Gupta Empire
The Gupta Period is also popularly known as the
Golden Age of India. During this age, art and
education flourished and many great discoveries
were made in these fields. Aryabhatta and
Varahamihira, the two great mathematicians
contributed much during this period in the field of
Vedic Mathematics. Aryabhatta estimated the value
of "Pi" to the fourth decimal place. During the reign
of the Gupta rulers, astronomers and philosophers
proposed the theory that the earth was not flat but
round. The theory of gravity was also propounded
during this time.

So, the intelligent minds are leading the country the

illiterate minds are polluting the country and the mediocre
minds are what we are left with which contribute little to
the development of our country. It is truly said that 'Mind
without agitation is Meditation'. All of the above factors
and evidences bring my conclusion to a simple point. There
is so much more to development of a country than we know
of. We need to overcome many problems for our country to
become one of the most developed country in the world.

Sh. Hukum Singh

Former Head,
Mathematics and Science Department,
NCERT

The Journey of Indian Civilization

Sports in India
Sports

is an integral part of
everyone's life. Each country has its own
sporting history which is intrinsically connected to
its values,beliefs and traditions. Each Sport is an
extension of these qualities and gives an identity to its
people. It defines a nation's progress, value system and
growth. Sporting growth is directly connected to a countries
development.

in sports. Players from throughout the world are invited to play.

Look at IPL, it has taken cricket to a new height. Players are
bought by franchisees from all over the world. They join their
respective teams (Which are local) and play for them. I will not
hesitate in saying that 'Globalisation' has reached the Indian
sports especially Cricket. People identify the local teams even
with the foreign players and league system has gained a lot of
attention over the past few years.

Every country has its own national game which is usually entailed to
the nation's history. India too has been a great sporting nation. Even
before we attained freedom, we have strongly progressed towards
sports leadership throughout the world especially in Hockey. Thus,
Hockey is our national sport. We have been world champions several
times under Major Dhyan Chand's leadership. Though we have been
struggling over the recent years in terms of our performance in
hockey, I am sure we will strongly comeback and prove our ability and
worth.

Also, lucrative sponsors and contracts have flown in, making it a

rich sport. Enormous income is generated, employments have
risen, economy is growing. Today BCCI is the strongest body in
ICC. We hold a major share in the profit and India is slowly
becoming the epicentre of World Cricket. Every boy here wants
to become a cricketer. We idolise our sporting stars and dream of
becoming one someday.

Another sport in which India has led and dominated the World stage
is cricket. Though cricket was handed down to us from the Britishers,
we have strongly made a lot of progress since independence and
today we stand at a place where major cricket revenue is generated
from India (BCCI) only. We were the world champions in 1983 under
Kapil Dev and then again in 2011 under MS Dhoni's leadership. Also,
we won the first T20 World Cup in 2007. Today India is one of the top
teams in this sport which brings me to the next point I am about to
make.
We are a cricket crazy nation. People here worship this game. Kids are
seen playing cricket in every corner. The talent is enormous and the
potential is huge. We have produced cricketing legends, who are
recognised throughout the world. Sachin Tendulkar, regarded as the
god of cricket is an Indian and I think the name in itself explains
everything. Add Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and many more names
(which I am sure would strike your minds) and that shows how
dominating India is at the World stage.
Now with the advent of domestic leagues, sports is no longer a
recreational activity and a competitive event, it has reached a
different level. It has also become a major industry for revenue
generation. Huge Corporates have joined in and invested their money

26

We are recognised for our achievements throughout the world.

Sports , in particular cricket has been a great force in making us
realise that we are a free nation and we possess the talent to be
the best and achieve extraordinary success in any sphere of life.

Unmukt Chand
Former Captain,
Under 19 Indian Cricket Team

India's contribution to world thought and culture has often been not duly
understood and appreciated. This is not because the world community is
apathetic to it, but because the relevant facts have not been brought to its
notice. Hence I am glad that the organizers of the Rotaract Club of Delhi
Riverside, which is bringing out a magazine, The Journey of Indian
Civilization, has asked me to let people know something which they are
perhaps not aware of: It relates to the practice of Yogic asanas, which has
today become a craze all over the world. Would you believe that it is of
Indian origin and is as old as the 3rd millennium BCE?
The terracotta figurines ascribable to the Indus-Sarasvati (also
known as the Harappan) Civilization, dating back to the third millennium
BCE. The figurines are in various yogic poses and duly establish that the
performance of yogic asanas has been going on in India for the past five
thousand years.
While the Yogic asanas help in keeping the body fit, there is
something else which, indeed, is more important. It is the well-being of the
human mind. Patanj ali, a great saint of India who lived in the 2nd century
CE, has spelt out in his treatise, known as the Yogasutra, an eightfold system
yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana , dhyana and
samadhi -- which leads, through these steps to the ultimate goal of Selfrealization and emancipation of the Soul. That this process was also known
to Indians 5,000 years ago is confirmed by a limestone statuette, found at
Mohenjo-daro. This figure has been identified as that of a priest who is in
dhyana-mudra (the meditation-pose) the seventh step in the scheme of
Patanj ali.
Dealing with the practice of yoga, the well known Indian text, viz.
the Bhadvadgita, states that, while meditating, the Yogi has to fix his gaze
on the spot between the eyebrows (bhruvormadhye) where he gets all the
mystical experiences. In Indian mystic literature this spot is known as ajna chakra, whereas in Western literature it is known as the 'Centre of Christconsciousness'. It is interesting to note that the priest from Mohenjo-daro
has his eyes half-closed, with the gaze fixed on the ajna -chakra.

Ravidas

Sh. B. B. Lal
(Former Director General
Archaeological Survey of India)

Ravidas was a North Indian Guru mystic of the

bhakti movement fromRamanandi Sampradaya
and one of the direct disciples of Ramananda. He
was a socio-religious reformer, a thinker, a
theosophist, a humanist, a poet, a traveller, a
pacifist and a spiritual figure.He taughtthe lessons
of universal brotherhood, tolerance and message of
love your neighbor.

27

Nalanda
Nalanda was a great center of Buddhist
learning in ancient times. The main courses
which were taught there were the Buddhist
scriptures (both Mahayana and Hinayana),
Vedas, Logic, Shabda Vidya (grammar),
Chikitsa vidya (medicine) etc. The Nalanda
ruins reveal through their architectural
components the holistic nature of
knowledge that was sought and imparted at
this University. It suggests a seamless coexistence between nature and man and
between living and learning.

Where are
we now?
Between the glorious past and a blazing future

There was a time when

India was rightly called the golden bird.
A free spirited bird soaring unhindered by
the iron chains binding it down now. A bird with
not just a golden body but a golden heart. Rich, not
only financially in terms of raw materials scientific
ideas but also rich in heart encompassing countless faiths,
philosophies, religions in a harmony though unimaginably
difficult but just as natural for the spirit of 'Vasudhaiva
kutumbakam' that India represented. It was the time when
countries that dominate the world today were not even in notable
existence, when we were second to none, we were the leader, the
torch bearer in architecture, science, mathematics, philosophy,
religion, military, politics and what not.
It was here that the first planned cities in the Indus Valley
civilization were conceived and built that were much more
advanced in relation to the contemporary civilizations. It was here
that '0' and '.' was invented and laid the foundation of modern
counting system and consequently the language of science.
Regarded by many as the greatest mind to have walked the earth,
Albert Einstein acknowledged that, We owe a lot to the Indians,
who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile
scientific discovery could have been made. It was here that the
first plastic surgery was done by Sushruta. It was here that
Hinduism came into being, a religion which is not just a religion, a
philosophy about way of life, encouraging open mindedness, not
blind faith but an honest logical exploration of questions that have
been at the centre of human curiosity since ever. As
Dr.S.Radhakrishnan said The Civilisation of India is an effort to
embody philosophical wisdom in social life. It was here that
Kautilya laid down the intricacies of economics and Chanakya not
only elucidated the working of the political machinery but worked
out ways for optimizing it. It was here that Alexander the great
finally found a rival worthy of his appreciation proving our mettle at
warfare but at the same time it remains true that we never invaded
other lands for territorial conquests for over 10,000 years
upholding the spirit of peace, live and let live. It was here that the
largest education hub in the form of Nalanda and Takshila
developed much before Harvard or Oxford universities. Even the
language of our forefathers 'Sanskrit' invented millennia ago is now
being recognized as one of the most scientific and thus computing
compatible language. Mark Twain noted beautifully that,

28

India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human

speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the
great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most
constructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in
India only.
Since then we have faced a lot of hardships, which shook us,
changed us and tried to steal away not only these achievements
but the zeal and confidence underneath them. The spirit was not
stolen though. However, in the process of saving it, we seem to
have put it in a locker and forgotten, may be even lost its key
somewhere.
Some say that in the vanity of being psychologically advanced
many of us have lost the appreciation for the greatness that India
embodied. However the vanity of an admirable past making us
blind to the situation at hand and the factors causing it is much
more dangerous and in fact commoner. India at present is mainly
represented by two kinds of people. One are those, who are too
pessimistic about India full of criticism of the present and either
ignorant of its ancient wonders per se or of their relevance to the
present. They either move on forgetting their duties to the
motherland contributing to the much talked of 'Brain drain' or stay
here having no remorse in exploiting their own country for their
greed. Represented equally on both sides of the classic Indian
divide of haves and have-nots. Rich, trying to earn more than they
deserve by exploiting the poor and poor, expecting the
government to do all for them while they lay in their 'comfortable'
lazy misery.
The other are those, who claim during the morning tea and dinner
discussions that all good discovered in the world now has been
done in India long back. They continue to be in this blissful state
about India's glory so much so that they turn a blind eye to all that

Rajputs
The Rajputs trace their origin to the legendary Solar
and Lunar dynasties. The term `Rajput' seems to have
been derived from the Sanskrit word Rajaputra. They
rose to prominence from the 6th century till 12th
century and kept ruling in different parts of the
country from Sultanate to Mughal Era and as rulers of
the princely states till the departure of British from
the country in 1947.

is now hindering our development and stopping us from making

positive contributions to the world. Aside of the leisure discussions
they remain busy slumbering away their potential and wiling away
their time engrossed in satisfying their basic needs; their patriotism
igniting only during discussions and debates. Both these groups are a
threat to the 'Vishwaguru ho rashtra puneh' idea.
Does India deserve to be at the world's throne? As harsh as it may
sound, no, not with the status quo. . India is what we make it. And 'we'
here refers to the majority not to the exceptions. If India has to be the
world leader again then we, its citizens need to start acting like the
citizens of the world leader. And the first step for this is to develop the
ability to listen and accept where we have gone wrong, where we lack,
where has the intellectual spark of our sages lost and how have we
reached a stage where poverty, hunger and communalism have
replaced wisdom, curiosity, scientific mind-set that defined our past?
We need to stop priding ourselves over how much we have already
given to the world to start giving it in reality. We need to stop trying to
hijack any and every western discovery claiming it was already in the
Vedas. We need to stop preaching unity in diversity while contradicting
it with our own actions. We need to stop being lost in the ecstasy of our
past so that we can start finding ourselves in the present. We need to
stop basking in the glorious history of India and wake up to see the
contrary current, instead of denying it, to be able to change it.
But there is hope; hope in the form of a group of real patriots, minority
as of now, people who not only realize the teeming potential laying
unorganized unutilized, proved by the long lost story of India but, at the
same time, are also open minded enough to not turn a blind eye
towards our lacunae and the causes for the same. These are the people
who prefer to take from the ancient wisdom, putting it into action;
work as hard as they can to restore the lost glory, rather than engaging
in empty praises of all that is ancient Indian wisdom while destroying
its very spirit with their own actions. These are the people that make
'Chandrayaan' and 'MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission)' a reality. They are
the ones who make us the proud owners of PSLV MK III. Their efforts
are making the whole world realise the importance of Indian wisdom
reflected recently in actions such as the UN declaring June 21 as the
'International Day of Yoga'. They are the Kalpana Chawlas, Sachin
Tendulkars, C. N. R. Raos and Kailash Satyarthis. These are the people
who are punching holes in the locker concealing our spirit and setting
free the Indian wisdom and potential. The key for this group to become
the majority lies in the children and the youth; in the education system
which needs to be overhauled to imbue the passion of acquiring
knowledge and giving back to the world in the spirit of greater good of
the humanity rather than the 'jugaad' methods of how to take the most
from the country. This is the real education that needs change as it has a
bearing on the personality of the future nation builders which comes
from acculturation and socialization and not from textbook facts. We
will then raise ourselves from the 'take as much as you can' attitude and
develop an acceptance and understanding of our duties to our country.
Ram Naresh Tripathi rightly asks all of us,
Jis par girkar udar dari se tumne janma liya hai,
Jiska khakar anna, sudha sam neer, Sameer piya hai,
Veh sneh ki murti daya myi mata tulya mahi hai,
Uske prati kartavya tumhara kya kuchh shesh nahin hai?

29

Qutub Minar
Qutub Minar is a World Heritage Site. Qutab
Minar is a great masterpiece of Mughal
architecture. The verses from the holy Qur'an
are carved on sandstone walls of Qutub Minar.
This is a tower of victory, a monument that
signify the might of Islam, or a tower for
keeping a check for defense.

As this group, that realise this responsibility and is

determined to fulfil it, slowly overtakes the locker would
finally be opened and the world will witness the long latent
greatness of our country.
We need to realise that it is still the same warm invigorating
energized blood flowing through the veins of our motherland.
It has just been slowed down by the plaques of selfishness,
'rights before duties' mind set and lack lustre attitude. The
spark, though, has not died completely; the wood is still hot
just obscured by the ashes over it, buried deep waiting for us
to find it, reignite it and raise a blazing fire spreading flames of
knowledge and wisdom all over the world.
And then in all possibility we can restore our nation to the
throne of the world it would then truly deserve.

Dr. Varidh Katiyar

JR Neuroradiology
AIIMS

Know Your India!

Contribution in
Sports by India
The history of sports in
India dates back to the Vedic
era. Physical culture in ancient India
was fuelled by religious rights.
The mantra in the Atharvaveda, says, "Duty
is in my right hand and the fruits of victory in my
left." In terms of an ideal, these words hold the
same sentiments as the traditional Olympic Oath: "For
the Honour of my Country and the Glory of Sport.
Badminton probably originated in India as a grownup's version
of a very old children's game known in England as Battledore and
Shuttlecock, the battledore being a paddle and the shuttlecock a
small feathered cork, now usually called a "bird."
Games like chess, snakes and ladders, playing cards, and polo
originated in India, and it was from here that these games were
transmitted to foreign countries, where they were further
modernised.
India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with an athlete
(Norman Pritchard) winning two medals in athletics. The nation first
sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has
participated in every Summer Olympic Games ever since. India has
also competed at several Winter Olympic Games since 1964. India
has won a total of 26 Olympic medals. India won its first gold medal in
men's field hockey in the 1928 Olympic Games. Abhinav Bindra
became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the
Olympic Games, and India's first gold medal since 1980, when the
men's field hockey team won the gold.
In the Winter Olympic Games, India has seen four consecutive
representationsNagano (Japan, 1998), Salt Lake City (Utah, USA,
2002), Turin (Italy, 2006), and Vancouver(British Columbia, Canada,
2010) through Shiva Keshavan, who is the current Asian Champion in
luge.
The Indian sports goods industry is probably the biggest contributors
in manufacturing sports consumables. History dates back to the pre
independence plan of India where most of the skilled workers were
based in and around Sialkot. After partition of India and Pakistan in
1947, the skilled Hindu workers (migrated from Sialkot, Pakistan) to
border state Punjab. Primarily in Jalandar which is till date one of the
biggest exporters of sporting items. The other largest manufacturing
is done in Meerut, a city close to Delhi in Uttar Pradesh. Most of the
top competitions are using 318 items. Major items that are exported

30

~ As many as 6000 years back, the art of navigation was

developed in the River Indus, which was known as Sindh
then. In fact, the word 'navigation' is a derivation of the
Sanskrit word, 'Navgatih'.

are inflatable balls, hockey sticks and balls, cricket bats and
balls, boxing equipment, fishing equipment, indoor games like
carom and chess boards and different kinds of protective
equipment. Most of India's sports goods are exported to the
United Kingdom, The United States of America, Germany,
France and Australia. Most of the world cup footballs use Indian
hand stitched footballs.

India has the largest postal network in the

world with over 1, 55,015 post offices. A
single post office on an average serves a
population of 7,175 people. The floating
post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar, was
inaugurated in August 2011.

Today Indian sports industry has the highest CAGR of 5 per cent
and is expected to grow at 30 per cent per year. All developed
countries are looking at India as biggest sports market for
imports and exports.
The recent success of various leagues in Tennis, Football,
Cricket, Kabaddi, Hockey, Badminton, Golf, F1 etc has changed
the perception of people all over the world towards India. It is
expected that the service industry of sports in India will be like
IT industry three decades back. 'India is going to be a giant by
2020 in industry of sports. It would not be wrong to look at
India as a sleeping giant of this industry.

The first rocket in India was transported on a cycle

The first rocket was so light and small that it was
transported on a bicycle to the Thumba Launching
Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Mr. Hemanshu Chaturvedi

Chief Managing Director
HTC Sports Pvt. Ltd.

The first recorded account of plastic surgery

is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts.

Vijaya Empire
History of Vijayanagar's had been a saga of
resistance against the northern Sultanates as
well as building of its spectacular capital in
Hampi. Vijaynagar Dynasty rules over India for 3
centuries. It is a history full of wars with
Bahamani and other muslim rulers of northern
Deccan, collectively said as Deccan sultanates.

Guru Nanak Dev

Guru Nanak Dev was the first Guru of the Sikhs.
His teachings about God are summed up in
'Mul Mantra'. In Sri Lanka Guru Nanak is
remembered as 'Sidh Nath' and 'Ulag Guru'. He
was a saint for both the Hindus and the
Muslims alike. He gave the symbol 'Ek Onkar'.

31

Vishwaguru ho
Rashtra Punhe

The
Forgotten Guru
When the real history of
India will be unearthed, it will be
proved that, as in matters of religion,
so in fine arts, India is the primal Guru of the
whole world.
- Swami Vivekananda
The Indian civilization has been the mentor of the
whole planet since the horizon of time. The only source of
the sunshine of knowledge from dawn to dusk, origin of the
only philosophy which has been able to touch the Mariana
Trench of spirituality, giver of the only ideology which's
competence soared above the heights of Mons Kenner. But it's due
to the inept neo-generation that the manifestation lacks credibility.
Starting from the past until where our vision possesses potency: the
ancient age of Vedas, we Indians have been the authorities of all
mankind. All evidence lies next to us; it's the fault of our closed eyes that
we don't realize the sun shining upon us. Here is an excerpt from the
first of its series, Rig Veda, which will give you a mere taste of the
gargantuan feast.
Jalayan a vehicle designed to operate in air and water (Rig Veda
6.58.3); Kaara- a vehicle that operates on ground and in water. (Rig Veda
9.14.1); Tritala- a vehicle consisting of three stories. (Rig Veda 3.14.1);
Trichakra Ratha- a three-wheeled vehicle designed to operate in the air.
(Rig Veda 4.36.1); Vaayu Ratha- a gas or wind-powered chariot. (Rig
Veda 5.41.6)
But few verses from the oldest known written document introduce us to
the dint of the enormously advanced Indian sciences. An exhaustive list
of astonishing revelations is found in the ancient Indian texts telling us
about many extremely knotty concepts which are being contemplated
upon by the world on date. Just to name a few, black holes, space travel,
tachyons and nuclear energy can all be traced back to Vedas and
Upanishads.
Even if trace but a couple of thousand years of history, the science that
India has gifted to its fellows is known to most of us. Concepts of cosmic
energy in Yoga, surgeries, cultivation of organs, mathematics and many
more were all being practiced in India centuries before being
researched by the rest of the world. Until 1200, India held a share of 96%
in the GDP of the world. Until 1896, India was the only source of
diamonds for the world, confirms Gemological Institute of America.
And having been the irrefutable dominator of the world, our nation
never invaded any country in its last hundred thousand years of history.
The voluminous grandeur of India cannot be summed in but hundreds
of words.

32

But when, why and where did these extensive glories of the
Golden Bird achromatize? If we look back into the past
thousand years of the country's history; we can see that India
has been erstwhile pampered and subsequently hampered by
some exploitative companions. First the Mughals and then the
British; attracted by the juggernaut wealth of the nation,
suppressed the nation and its dignity very tactfully. This has led
to such unforeseen and steep outshining of our role in the
world. But still we have to upsurge and reclaim our forgotten
role.
Crossing over mountains, rivers, arid oceans, setting at naught,
as it were, the obstacles of the distance of space and time, the
blood of Indian thought has flowed, and is still flowing into the
veins of other nations of the globe, whether in a distinct or in
some subtle unknown way. Perhaps to us belongs the major
portion of the universal ancient inheritance.
And as John Lennon said Anything that belongs to you will be
yours at the end; but if it's not with you, then it's not the end. It
is high time that we rise to change the aura and proclaim
something that indeed belongs to us. It's the awareness we
need in the ambience, the poise we need in our hearts, the faith
we need in our souls and the determination to re-establish
Bharat the Golden Bird. Swami Vivekananda squeezes this hope
into a nutshellOne vision I can see clear as life before me that the ancient
Mother has awakened once more, sitting on her thronerejuvenated, more glorious than ever. Proclaim her to the entire
world with the voice of peace and benediction

-Chaitanya Luthra

Sher Shah Suri

Shershah Suri was one of the greatest ruler of India. His
original name was Farid. Noohani conferred on him the
title of Sher Khan. After the death of Mohammad Shah
Noohani. Shershah became the independent ruler of
Bihar. Shershah ruled for a very short span of time and
died of an explosion of gun powder in 1545 AD at
Kalinjar.

India is one of the oldest and richest civilizations in the

world. It is home to the world's first planned cities, where
every house had its own bathroom and toilet five thousand
years ago. Many ASI excavations have proved it. The
Ancient Indians have not only given us yoga, meditation
and complementary medicines, but they have furthered
our knowledge of science, maths - and invented
Chaturanga, which became the game of chess.
Two thousand years ago the Indians pioneered plastic
surgery, reconstructing the noses and ears on the faces of
people who had been disfigured through punishment or
warfare. They performed eye operations such as cataract
removal and invented inoculation to protect their
population from Smallpox, saving thousands of lives.
The speech by Lord Macaulay in the British Parliament on
February 2, 1835, says it all. I have traveled across the
length and breadth of India and I have not seen a person
who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in
this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber,
that I do not think we could ever conquer this country,
unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is
her spiritual and cultural heritage and therefore, I propose
that we replace her old and ancient system, her culture, for
if Indians think that all that is foreign and English is superior
and better than their own, they will lose their self esteem
and they will become what we want them, a truly
dominated nation.
Recently concluded Indian Science Congress in Mumbai had
a session dedicated to contributions of India to Science and
Technology. It is for the first time that India officially
acknowledged her invaluable contributions in generating
and distributing knowledge.
There were many landmark scientific achievements in
Indian history. The advances in astronomy and
mathematics were, indeed, path breaking. Modern science
would have been impossible but for the invention of the
zero, not merely as a tool for accounting in which many
other ancient civilizations preceded us in usage, but as a

33

Akbar
bar, the third Mughal king in India after Babur and
Humayun, is considered as the pinnacle of the Mughal
Empire. Akbar was one of those rare kings, who strived
for secularism across the empire. The Indian empire
prospered to gargantuan proportions under his reign.
The firmness and wisdom of his rule won him the title
'Guardian of Mankind.

concept whose opposite is the infinite. This gave

birth to negative numbers, irrational numbers,
quadratic equations, mathematical constants etc.
According to Albert Einstein, we the Indians "taught
how to count", as we invented the numbers 1-9 and
'zero', without which there would be no computers
or digital age.
India existed when nothing existed. Humanity and
civilization spread from here to rest of the world. We
were truly greatest. Times changed and we lost all
due to various invasions, and colonization for
hundreds of years. But cycle of time is complete now.
We will gain back our rightful place and lead
humanity. Today Indians are the moving force behind
IT and technology. We are producing scientists,
inventors, teachers and technocrats who will again
take India to its great old glory and will again regain
our Vishwaguru status.

- Aparajitha Nair

Glory of the
Past and Hope
for the Future
If I were to look
over the whole world to
find out the country most richly
endowed with all the wealth, power,
and beauty that nature can bestowin
some parts a very paradise on earthI should
point to India. If I were asked under what sky the
human mind has most full developed some of its
choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest
problems of life, and has found solutions of some of them
which well deserve the attention even of those who have
studied Plato and KantI should point to India. And if I were to
ask myself from what literature we, here in Europe, we who have
been nurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts of Greeks and
Romans, and of one Semitic race, the Jewish, may draw that corrective
which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more
comprehensive, more universal, in fact more truly human, a life, not for
this life only, but a transfigured and eternal lifeagain I should point to
India.
F. Max Mller, K.M., India: What can it teach us? (1883)
"India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human speech, the
mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great
grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most astrictive
materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only!
Mark Twain
The journey of the Indian civilization is as magnificent as it is ancient, as
rich as it is varied and as influential as it is influenced. India's people,
heritage, traditions, religions, languages, cuisines and dresses are
characterized by immense diversity and are a mark of its rich historical
and cultural legacy. This land is the birthplace of not only the world's
greatest religions but also many righteous kings, grand cities and
profound thinkers. India is the land that Christopher Columbus set out
for when he landed in the Americas. It is also the land that invented the
concept of the numerical 'zero', about which Albert Einstein said: We
owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no
worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made. Some of the
greatest Indian empires reached as far as Afghanistan in the north-east
and Indonesia in the south-east. They gave rise to timeless works of art,
architecture, literature and philosophy that survive till date. At its peak,
the economic prowess of the Indian subcontinent was unparalleled.
While the Hindu scriptures and epics conceive an infinite concept of
time, the archeological history of India or Bharat dates back to at
least 5000 BCE when the Indus Valley Civilization or the Harappan
Civilization flourished. This was an advanced civilization with wellplanned cities, a writing system (the script of which is yet to be
deciphered), agriculture and irrigation, trade, transport and ritual

34

worship. This was followed by the Vedic period (1750 to 500

BCE), which is the foundation of the very essence of the Indian
civilization and ethos. The vast Vedic literature of this period,
including the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, exhibit the
pinnacle of human thought achieved by the sages of this age. The
Mauryan empire - which saw king Ashoka the Great and the
great political strategist Chanakya was the first great empire of
the Indian subcontinent. It is known for its efficient
administrative, diplomatic missions and spread of Buddhism far
and wide. The Gupta empire (320-550 CE), rightly called the
'Golden Age' of India, experienced great cultural and literary
developments. The writer Kalidas and scientist Aryabhatta
produced scholarly works which are revered even today. In
addition, the period saw flourishing art, magnificent
architecture, sculpture and paintings. Nalanda, the renowned
learning centre was also founded during this age and it attracted
scholars and students from many parts of Asia. This was also the
age of the glorious 'Sangam period' in South India which saw
great literary Tamil works and the building of magnificent
temples such as at Thanjuvar, Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram
under the patronage of the Pallava, Chalukya and Chola
dynasties. Subsequent centuries saw various conquests by
Muslim rulers, with the Mughal empire in the early 16th century
extending over large parts of the Indian subcontinent. Many
architectural wonders were built such as the Taj Mahal, the Red
Ford, the Old Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, which were a unique blend
of old and new influences. The British colonized and ruled India
for more than a hundred years but in the struggle for
independence, India saw the rise of its most towering
personalities in Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar
Patel and countless more. The Indian freedom struggle itself was
a lesson to the world in the methods of non-violent and noncooperation resistance movements, It inspired great leaders of
the world such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King to
achieve their objectives.

India's past and its achievements undoubtedly

deserve respect and recognition. There is perhaps no
country other than India that has witnessed the
historical and continued co-existence of people
differentiated by religion, language and race on such a
scale. Further, the contributions of Indian civilization
over centuries nay, millennia in the field of arts,
literature, architecture and philosophy are
unmatched. At the same time, it is also true that the
present-day India is experiencing immense
difficulties. The British rule as well as apathy of the
Indian rulers left the country in a state of poverty and
underdevelopment at the time of independence.
Though much progress has been made since then,
many Indians continue to live impoverished and
uneducated. While we pride India for having made
important contributions in science, philosophy and
arts in the past, it is true the current state of these
fields in India is rather dismal. While sporadic
achievements such as the Mangalyaan India's
ambitious space mission to Mars swell our hearts,
the bitter reality that a majority of India's population
is unskilled and pose a huge demographic and human
resource challenge for our future.
The glorious story of the Indian civilization can be
given a befitting tribute in modern times only if we
achieve true freedom and dignity for our countrymen
and create an environment where they can be inspired
to engage in critical thinking and creativity. We must
be proud of our past without being complacent about
our future. We must believe that the best of the Indian
civilization is yet to come and work towards it.

- Poorva Nanawati
B.A. LL.B (Hons) (National Law School
of India University, Bangalore)
LL.M (National University of Singapore,
Singapore)

Maharana Pratap
Maharana Pratap is known for his
bravery. He mastered the skills in the
use of arms and weapons including
horse riding. He wanted to free his
nation from Mughals . He suffered
hardships with patience but never
yielded to the force of Akbar. He was a
true patriot.

Miyan Tansen
Miyan Tansen was one of the nine jewels or Navaratnas
in the court of Emperor Akbar. The legendary Miyan Tansen
is said to have composed numerous ragas, which have
continued to remain cornerstones in the Indian classical
music repertoire ever since. Some of them are Miyan ka
Bhairav known today as Bhairav, Darbari Todi, Darbari
Kanada and Miyan ki Todi. It is even said that Tansen could
light up fire through his song called Raag Deepak.

35

From Indus Valley

to Silicon Valley
Technology many believe will be the next step of evolution in human beings. And
as we know the Indian sub-continent has produced many of firsts in human
history. A trend that spreads over two decades now suggests that even in the
next step of evolution India will play a major role in setting up a blueprint for the
future. The Indian civilization right from its early start with the Indus valley has
been a complicated one. But even in this complicated cluster of humans there
were men who thought simplicity will make them ride the road ahead. And here
came technology to their rescue. Simple ideas that made this complicated and
chaos filled civilization the treasured jewel of the world. Cut to the 21st century
and it keeps on getting better and better. With the existing technology and the
contribution of thousands of physicists, mathematicians, engineers,
experimental physicists, biologists and biotechnologists India is leading the way
world over. The journey of Indian civilisation especially when it comes to
technology has been an epic ride. The probability of even making this magazine
a reality would have been Zero... if Aryabhatta would have not thought about
'Zero'. Think about it, had there been no technological evolution we would still
be writing on paper parchments with natural ink that would have faded away.
the simple idea of zero made it all happen. Softwares in your smartdevices that
make your life simple use the binary code who's integral part is a Zero. Such epic
ideas make the world acknowledge India and indian. A great nation is what
people make of it. People from around the world have over the history come to
this great sub-continent. The diversification was of such humongous
proportions that the ideas they shared and the inventions they did made India a
Vishwaguru. India was envied by the world, not for the natural resources that it
had to offer but for the people and great minds that it had.
These great minds made the first canal system and artificial resirvoirs anyone
had ever seen in the world in 3000 B.C. Man sure did invent wheel but who took
it to another level? Indian subcontinent was the one that came out with the
world's first ever Hand-propelled wheel cart in 3300 B.C. These are just small
expamles of the Indian scientific and technological expertise that are recorded
in the history. Thse small innovations indeed were the one's that paved the way
for the future and even today are used as blue prints in developing advanced
technologies. In fact right from Vinod Dham who had been instrumental in
launching the Pentium chip for computers to designing state-of-the-art
speakers or creating special effects, Indians have been in the lead.
India was a young nation when it got independence from the
British rule and for the lack of opportunity India did loose
many Indians and we gave up some of its best and
brightest to the US, which on its part used its
immigration policy to attract them. The Silicon
vally boomed with talented Indians making
the modern technology marvels
possible. These were India's Silicon
Gurus, they came into lime
light after the then

The Glory of
India Civilisation
"hot male''
Sabeer Bhatia's sold of
Hotmail to Microsoft for $ 400
million. Even Google as we see it
today would have not been possible if
Ram Shriram did not fund it and in that process
become a billionaire himself. Years before,
Narendra Singh Kapany had done pioneering work in
fiber optics, C. Kumar Patel was recognized for cutting
edge work on lasers, Arun Netravali led the team that
developed high-definition television (HDTV), and Praveen
Chaudhari held patents for the erasable read-write compact
discs. All this would have not been possible if Indians were not
determined to do so. The western world just provided them
opportunities and resources to thrive on their talents. Yes, the credit
for all this sure went to the western world but these all technological
marvels were the brain child of an Indian. Infact now Satya Nadella's
elevation as CEO of Microsoft marks the epitome of global corporate
leadership in a technology company, attained in recent years by first
generation Indian immigrants. It was sure an epic event as Microsoft
sure does have a close association with India, fuelled in part by a large
section of its workforce being of Indianorigin. There are more than 33%
employees of Indian origin working for Microsoft. That in a way says it
all. That India and Indians have arrived on the big stage of technology
world. And all this is possible because we as Indians share a comfort
with English as a language and we sure do know our numbers. And all
this evolution even in technology started from the Indus Valley
Civilisation.
And Now the Journey of Indian Civilisation is at a crossroad. With India
being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the avenues of
opportunities have opened up. Now Indians are no longer attracted by
the western world. In-fact the tables have turned, the western world is
influenced by India. They were in Awe when India launched its moon
mission; they still envy us for our Mars Mission which was done in a
budget that was half of what a Hollywood movie is made of. So India is
emerging and spreading its wings when it comes to technology and
innovations in science and technology. Take one step down and
companies like Micromax are now major players in the smartphone
space in the world coming out with many firsts. India and Indians are
coming together in a big way. The opportunity to become the world
leader in technology is right around the next corner and its up to us as a
nation to grab it as soon as it presents itself to us. So the idea of
Vishwaguru ho Rashtra punhe! is not so far off for India. Dr Kalam had a
vision for India by the year 2020 and given the speed and pace that
Indian technology is going at we might juts achieve it a couple of years
earlier than the deadline that the Indian rocket scientist set.

Siddhartha Sharma
Tv Presenter & Technology reviewer
Headlines Today (India Today Group)

36

From the Himalayas to the peninsula, my country-'the mother of

all civilisations' stretches its vivid and rich diversity throughout
her length and breadth. The only country with a crown, India
remains united in spite of adversity and diversity. Starting from
the time of the Vedas, the epics and the mind blowing inventions
done by our ancestors, India evolved as the vishwaguru , with the
first ever civilisation known by the human race- The Harappa
civilisation. It is claimed to be the most modern civilisation of
the time with amazing organisation, management and
technological advancement. Not only this, the language used in
our religious scriptures and epics- Sanskrit is the mother of all
languages known to us today. Famously known as the land of
epics and legends- India gave the world, two of the greatest
epics- The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. Our rich
scriptures, the Purans, the Vedas and the Upanishads were a
source of immense knowledge and virtue to which foreigners
were constantly attracted.
I can clearly picture the boat ride experience that I had in the
exhibition of the Akshardham temple, another marvel created by
Indians, where they depicted the richness of our culture and
heritage. The graphic and picturesque depictions of the Indian
history and culture left me speechless. I realised how we-the
children of this holy land were being ignorant and careless about
our own place of birth. The exhibition showed how India was the
land of scientists, music and art marvels, muni rishis and
geniuses in every possible field. Starting from cosmetic surgery
to yog saadhna, astronomical inventions to architectural
marvels, India has been the leading country in every possible
field such as - Astrology, astronomy, engineering, architecture,
designing and art. Great pioneers like chanakya, vyas Kalidasa,
Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma, Vatsyayana , ravi
sharma were all Indians who contributed in different fields of
science, art and spirituality. INDIA SHOWCASED A PERFECT AND
INFACT WONDERFUL BLEND OF SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY.

Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal is the pride of the Indian
Subcontinent. It is one of the grandest heritage
sites in the entire world. It is one of the Seven
Wonders of the World. Taj Mahal was built in
the 17th century by King Shah Jahan for his
deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal. This monument
is considered worldwide as the epitome of
Mughal Architecture, as it combines the various
Mughal architectural styles from around the
world.

Sone ki Chidiya, Bhaarat, Sunehera desh,Incredible India

were the various names associated with our country. Despite the
devastation caused by the brutal rule of the colonial empire India
managed to recover and stood united as a culturally rich and
diverse country. India showcased the perfect examples of vitality,
chivalry, prudence and determination. Our great political
marvels contributed in India's rich constitution which commits
for equality, fraternity, sovereignty, freedom, secularity and
liberty.
Being brought up in a typical musically inclined Bengali
household, I was always amazed by the beauty of our art formsdance, literature, paintings, dramatics and musical wonders.
India was the birthplace of so many dance forms, a few of them
namely chhau, Manipuri, odissi, bharatnatyam (the first ever
dance form in recorded history), mohiniattam and kathak.
My family being a huge fan and follower of Shree Rabindranath
Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chottopadhyaya always told me
about their greatness and how they contributed a whole mine of
knowledge to our literature and music. I grew up listening to the
incredible compositions in Rabindrasangeet and Hindustani
classical. It was then that I was told that India was the oldest
unbroken musical traditions in the world that had accumulated
through centuries. The origins of our music could be traced back
to the Vedic age, nearly 2000 years ago from the Sama veda.
Though music in India also included many folk forms, the two
main traditions of classical music were Hindustani classical
mainly originating in the north, eastern and central regions and
Carnatic classical in southern India. My parents enlightened me
about the basic concepts of classical music- swar, alankar, shruti,
raga and taal and told me how our music was a rich blend of
different ragas which created a trance like state and the feeling of
ecstasy . They enlightened me about our great classical
contributors of music such as Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Amzad ali
Khan, Pt. Jasraaj , Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Allahrakha , Pt. Shiv
Kumar Sharma ,
Baba Allaundin Khan , Pt. Hariprasad
Chaurasiya and so many more which I am failing to recall at the
moment.

Since I had always been given the full freedom to explore

whatever I wanted to , I started getting inclined towards western
classical music too though I never got a formal training as such. It
is then that I realised and also found out on various websites that
Indian classical music had a much greater degree of
personalisation of performance than western music almost to
the level of jazz like improvisations.
I learned a little from my mom while she sang difficult taans
when she was cooking or speaking the bol of a taal and my dad
while he played the synth flawlessly. They told me about the
richness of our music which was not only limited to classical and
light classical but folk forms too.

37

Maratha Empire
Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an
Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818.
The Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending
the Mughal rule in India. Shivaji was a Maratha
aristocrat of the Bhonsle clan who is considered to be
the historical founder of the Maratha Empire

I was amazed to learn about the vastness of our music with the
various genres in classical and light classical music namely dhrupad,
dhamar, khyal, tarana and sadra ,Thumri, Dadra, ghazal, Chaiti, Kajri
and Tappa and Qawwali. Not only this, with the advent of media and
Indian cinema music composers, like R. D. Burman, Shankar
Jaikishan, S. D. Burman, Madan Mohan, Naushad Ali, Hemant
Kumar, C. Ramchandra, Salil Chowdhury, Kalyanji Anandji, A. R.
Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, Jatin Lalit and so many more brought to the
forefront the legendary compositions of Indian music, a blend of
both classical and modern day genres of music. All these legends
that I had been taught about added to the richness and the glory of
India in the field of art and music.
Being Krishna devotees my parents always encouraged me to sing
Krishna bhajans or recite the hare Krishna maha mantra in whatever
tune I wished too. This taught me that music in India was not only
limited to stage performances but was also a medium of meditationa channel of divine energy. This way India rescued people in distress
and problem from across the world through Krishna consciousness.
If I began getting into the minute details and the greatness and
vastness of the glory of our culture I might just write a book or two
and still feel unsatisfied because it just doesn't have an end. I feel
extremely proud and overwhelmed when I think about the glory of
the Indian civilisation, how it was the vishwaguru and is again
aspiring to be the vishwaguru in spite of having faced tremendous
ups and down. The famous quote of Mark Twain says it all
"India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human
speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of
legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our
most valuable and most astrictive materials in the
history of man are treasured up in India only! "

- Isha Chakravorty
BA(Hons) Applied Psychology
Gargi College, University of Delhi

'It is quite simple

you see whenever you
talk of a civilisation, there are 4
conditions you always need to
consider- topographic, economic, sociocultural and political. There is absolutely no
reason for your being worried about this.', these
were the words my middle school History teacher
said to a miniature nerdy version of This Author when
she dared voice on the not so subtle, melon sized nuances
concerning one of the many 'civilisations', she had to study
that year. Only when she was giving her a million- dollar advice,
all This Author could think of was,' Yeah, right. Just multiply the 4
with the more than twenty kinds of civilisations I have to study.
As all buried bodies have a way of becoming ghosts, little did This
Author know dear Reader, that she would have to face the labyrinthian
civilisations again.
You see, the problem, or the charm of India, in this regard, is that, when
we talk of Indian civilisation, we are not talking about, a long forgotten,
photo still period of a country; but an entire subcontinent, and it is not
just one civilisation with a definite time limit we usually consider, but a
continuous, rather the only continuous civilisation in the world, that has
a new development, each one extraordinary, every single day.
Whenever there is a discussion on Indian civilisation, there is not a
single image that comes in your mind, like the Pyramids for Egypt or the
Great Wall of China for the Ancient China, but fragments, in a poetic
vein, they seem to flutter all around us- there is the Indus and its valley,
just around the corner are the Mauryans with their great Ashoka,
beside them are the Guptas, the Mughals with their Red Forts and Taj
Mahal, the British with their Viceroys and salt taxes (not that we do not
pay taxes now, barring the salt)- and in the background a whole crowd
of music and dance and the 33 crore Hindu gods, Allah, Buddha,
Mahavira, Christ, the Ten Gurus, all of them come together and frankly,
This Author is at a loss to capture one tiny fragment and stretch it with
words and quotes.
Perhaps Raja Rao was indeed absolutely correct, when in the preface to
his novel Kanthapura he said, "We, in India, think quickly, we talk
quickly, and when we move we move quickly." And it is because of this
tendency of us Indians to never stop or slow down, the journey of Indian
civilisation stops becoming a fairy tale with a time limit to midnight. We
dance the whole night and then sneak the Prince and the glass slipper
out to the morning light.
In lieu of This Author's fascination with tales, she begins the journey of
Indian Civilisation with a tale
Once upon a time there was a huge chunk of land with a decent share of
snowcapped mountains, fertile plains, mineralised plateaus, sultry
coasts and barren deserts that stretched on and on beyond the Hindu
Kush and oozed of exotic and untold, unheard of wealth, beauty, science
and God.

38

"A chuisle mo chroi"

The very pulse of
my Heart- INDIA
We Indians started ticking boxes of development since
thousands of years back when our animal skinned, stone
cracking ancestors, with their penchant of inventing and
discovering, moved all over the land leaving behind tools and
rock paintings as evidences. The Bhimbetka rock paintings and
the Stone Tools found in the Belan Valley, Delhi, Chiran (Bihar),
Mehrgarh among hundreds of sites spread all over stand prove
the presence of Homo sapiens ever since the Lower
Palaeolithic (Latin for oldest stone age).
Then came the inhabitants of Indus Valley, who had what
cannot be said of most of the National Capital also- covered
drains, a planned sanitation network and a planned city- and
for whom the comments drawn were along the lines of: " the
indus civilisation was a unique event, the like of which the
Indian subcontinent had not seen before and the like of which
it was not to see again for almost a thousand years thereafter.
Apparently it was our country that paved way for protodentistry, sanitation with a proper drainage network, among
numerous contributions. The kind of sophistication
showcased in the remains at Mohanjo- daro, Harappa,
Kalibangan and Lothal along with over 1000 sites that have so
far been located, (out of which seven are large enough to be
called cities by the present standards), leave many of the
reputed experts spooked.

Jantar Mantar
The Jantar Mantar is a brilliant example of
amalgamation of science and architecture in
India. It was built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of
Jaipur in 18th century. The Jantar Mantars are
basically giant sundials, which are used to
measure the time of the day. Jantar Mantar
was able to calculate the time correct to half a
second. Considering the fact that it was built
only by human labour, it is an example of
brilliant architecture.

Then came the Vedic or the Aryan Age with their reverence to nature,
caste system and a sublime mix of fact and fantasy in the eternal verses
of the 4 Vedas, Mahabharata with its 214,778 verses and the Ramayana
with 48,000 and the too many and without question endless Puranas.
With the patent aversion of the punctuation marks and the tedious
'ats' and 'ons' and a trademark sign of Indian style of thought and
"episode follows episode" kind of story telling, these books stand on a
proud, sacred pedestal carrying the essence of Indian philosophy of
universal brotherhood, world peace and the human potential of
sacrifice, cruelty, kindness but most of all love.
The contributions of the Mauryans, the Golden Age Guptas and the
Kushans along with the representatives of scores of dynasties can be
listed on and on, and yet not all could be recalled in a flick. It kind of
sends up a proud shiver along the spine when we remember India' s
contribution of zero, numeral system, decimal system, fundamentals
of geometry, trigonometry and the value of pi centuries ago
culminating again in Ramanujan's conjectures in the twentieth
century.
With the introduction of the Sultanate in Delhi followed by the
Mughals who as legends hold, carried their empire on the good will of
their subjects and their army which was the most advanced in its time,
India saw a blend of two distinct cultures into the spicy, tangy
Hindustani flavour of living that produced an instrument like Sitar, a
dance like Kathak and a language like Urdu, dishes in the line of biryani,
dresses like salwar-kamiz, a completely different style of Islamic
architecture and most of all a new religion Islam.
And in the midst of all these new developments arose the common
man's growing need for a personal heart-to-heart, tte--tte with
God, which grew into the Bhakti- Sufi movement, that rejected the
bonds of caste, religion, rules and hypocrisy and gave some of the finest
poetry and dance forms of all times.
Yet, it was in the 17th century when a British doctor asked a father for
India' s destiny in return for curing his daughter. Who was the father?
The ruler of India's destiny at that time, the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir
who granted a duty-free trade to the East India Company in Surat. As
we all know, we were ruled for 200 years by the British who drained the
country of its wealth, its trade, its food, its clothes, and at the heart of it
all stripped us of our self-reliance and our pride.
It has long been a maxim of This Author that A esperana a ltima
que morre,'Hope is the last one to die'. And there is nothing that gives
This Author more please than giving a smug 'I told you so.' look; this is
one of those moments. Fast forward 67 years from 15th August 1947,
we Indians have literally grown leaps and bounds. There is not a corner
of the world where we have not registered our presence, (and This
Author does not mean in terms of population alone but in terms of
achievement).

39

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati is well known
as the founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform
movement of the Vedic tradition. He is
considered as one of the greatest and most
influential social reformers in the country. In
fact, Dr S. Radhakrishnan called him as one of
the makers of modern India. A profound
scholar of Vedas and the Sanskrit language, he
was the first to give the call for Swarajya meaning "India for Indians".

We hold a critical position in all international

understandings and inspite of the prevalent corruption
crisis, bottom-line, we Indians have loads of money to burn,
hide, flaunt and earn- period.Our weddings are as huge and
as lavish as is our habit, our food as spicy as it has been and
however global the outlook may become, as the show goes
on we remain an Indian at the end of everything.
And that is why whenever we talk of India and civilisation in
the same sentence, all I can think of are ten words that were
originally spoken by Einstein but remain the epitaph of many
a persons ,Opening up yet another fragment of the frontier
of beauty.

Ana Sinha
BA (Hon.) Humanities and Social Sciences
Cluster Innovation Centre
University of Delhi

Know Your
Country!

The Journey of
Indian Civilisation
In a world where
people are trying to
rediscover their roots, India is
lagging far behind. Indians, instead of
rejoicing their culture, tradition,
civilization, are retreating to all sorts of fancy
foreign fantasies. The enthusiasm of exploring
one's own country's past, present and future is slowly
fading from the minds and hearts of Indians. They have
started to undermine the value of their motherland.

It is high time Indians come face to face with the truth about
their country, and instead of running away from the hardships
we're facing, strive to bring about the appropriate solutions
for them.
We Indians started ticking boxes of development since
thousands of years back when our animal skinned, stone
cracking ancestors, with their penchant of inventing and
discovering, moved all over the land leaving behind tools and
rock paintings as evidences. The Bhimbetka rock paintings and
the Stone Tools found in the Belan Valley, Delhi, Chiran (Bihar),
Mehrgarh among hundreds of sites spread all over stand prove
the presence of Homo sapiens ever since the Lower
Palaeolithic (Latin for oldest stone age).

Then came the inhabitants of Indus Valley, who had what

cannot be said of most of the National Capital also- covered
drains, a planned sanitation network and a planned city- and
for whom the comments drawn were along the lines of: " the
indus civilisation was a unique event, the like of which the
Indian subcontinent had not seen before and the like of which
it was not to see again for almost a thousand years thereafter.

Apparently it was our country that paved way for protodentistry, sanitation with a proper drainage network, among
numerous contributions. The kind of sophistication
showcased in the remains at Mohanjo- daro, Harappa,
Kalibangan and Lothal along with over 1000 sites that have so
far been located, (out of which seven are large enough to be
called cities by the present standards), leave many of the
reputed experts spooked.

~ Surgery existed in India

even 2600 years ago, when
Sushruta, known as the
Father of Surgery, conducted
many complex surgeries. The
valuable ancient scriptures
have detailed information
on Cataract, Artificial Limbs,
Cesareans, Fractures,
Urinary Stone Surgery,
Plastic Surgery and Brain
Surgeries.

The true potential of India and its countrymen can only be

realized and displayed when all those countrymen start to
respect their motherland, their culture, their history, from
within, and work towards its development and betterment
with all their heart and soul. Only then can the journey of the
Indian civilization be called a truly successful one.

Students prefer foreign universities to Indian ones. A person

with a job in the US is thought of as no less than a God. Western
lifestyles are being adopted more widely. English is considered to
be the language of the sophisticated and civilized, while Hindi is
considered to be the specialization of illiterate natives.
Let's take a step back. Before visiting countries overseas, let's have a
look at what a true wonder India is.

-Medhavi

From the hills of Kashmir to the beaches of Kerela; from the tea gardens
of Assam to the Gujrati tea-seller who became the Prime Minister; since
the times of ancient kings who ruled thousands of years ago, India, as a
nation, has proved time and again it can overcome immense hardships
to rise to heights no one ever imagined it would be able to reach.
Indians have displayed an unparalleled degree of dynamism,
adaptability and power over the centuries. To end one of the darkest
periods of their history, the colonial rule, Indians joined hands and
unified in a manner that is now marveled upon by the world.
India certainly is one of the most physically exquisite places in the
world. The mountains with their heads held high, the rivers and their
valleys and basins, the architecture from the Mughal era, the beautiful
beaches the country undeniably is the entire world in its own.
It's a well known and acknowledged fact that the Indian civilization
(which started out with the Indus Valley Civilization) is one of the oldest
known human civilizations. In the past, as well as in the present, Indians
have constantly proved how they are not the kind of primitive,
uncivilized barbarians that the world (and even some of their own
people) believes them to be. With groundbreaking discoveries in all
walks of life, Indians have many extraordinaire to their name.

40

Swami Vivekanda and

Ramkrishana Mission
Swami Vivekananda is considered one of the
greatest philosophers in Indian history. He also
contributed to the concept of nationalism in
colonial India. Vivekananda founded the
Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from
whom he learnt that all living beings were an
embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service
to God could be rendered by service to mankind.

~ India has the world's largest movie

industry, based in the city of Mumbai (known
as the City of Dreams). The B in
Bollywood comes from Bombay, the
former name for Mumbai. Almost all
Bollywood movies are musicals. The term
"Bollywod" refers to just a part of the larger
Indian film industry, which includes other
film companies operating in other languages.

41

Indian railways
Railways were first introduced to India in the year
1853 from Mumbai to Thane. The Indian Railways,
becoming one of the largest networks in the world.
Indian Railways is the world's seventh largest
commercial or utility employer, by number of
employees, with over 1.307 million employees as
of last published figures in 2013.

~ Dancing is one of India's most

highly developed arts and was
an integral part of worship in
the inner shrines of every
temple. It is notable for its
expressive hand movements.

The Journey of
My Nation,
Meri Jaan, Bharat! Indian Civilization
What

I feel in

India is something beyond words,

which is common to very soul born
here, and is something which every native
citizen of respective country feels in his/her
country.
We are from a diverse country with rich heritage and
traditions. Despite of being from different states,
backgrounds & having different cultures, my fellow
Indians have always proved to excel and win in very field and
ultimately, set an example!
We have excelled so much; still we are being treated as backward,
useless and inferior.
A question always arise in my mind, that why does it happens? Is there
any communication gap or stereotypes? So, today I, youth and future of
my mother country, pen down the scenario of authentic India!
So, I start with a great saying by French Scholar, Romain Rolland said, If
there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men
have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the
dream of existence, it is India!
WE are the 2nd most populous, 7th largest country in world. WE are
around 1.22 billion. Around, 3.22 million Of Indian populations reside
in The United States. The United States is one of the biggest economies
in the world, so Respected Americans, kindly give it a look. 38% of total
doctors, 12% scientists, 36% NASA employees, 34% MICROSOFT
employees, 28% IBM employees, 17% INTEL employees and 13% XEROX
employees, all are proud Indians! Indians are being called there at USA
to work as doctors and engineers because of highly qualified and rich
education system of India. Another biggest fact is- our rare Indian
brains, psychologically and physically damn sharp!
Institutes and universities here today graduate so many foreigners, and
provide them with world-class education and values, which are
worthless and integral part of one's life. India, invented the Number
system, Place value system, Decimal point and the value of 'pi'.
Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Quadratic equations, Pythagoras
theorem, all came from India. Zero was invented by one of the greatest
mathematicians ever, Aryabhatta. All three of them are a base to
practice and learn Mathematics and other subjects related to it.
Sanskrit, mother of all European languages is India's ancient language.
According to a report by Forbes magazine (1987) Sanskrit is the most
suitable language for computer software's. The world's first university
was establishes in Takshila, India in 700 BC, from were 10,500 students
from all over world have studied, more than 60 subjects.
I say, we Indians own the softest, kindest and most affectionate hearts
across the globe. We learn to esteem and value everyone. We learn to be
noninterventionist, and go beyond the boundaries in order to give the best
in every field. India is the country, which has never invaded any country in
her last 10000 years of history. NAMASTE, sounds simple but has a
unfathomable connotation beyond one's understanding. We are the
world's largest English-speaking nation across the globe.

42

Our space organization, ISRO, is one of the most successful

space programmes across the world that recently proved its
brilliance via launching, cheapest and most successful missions
on mars, MOM. Achievements of ISRO are uncountable, and
inspire so many students to develop keen interest to research in
astronautics.
In India, regularly so many newsletters and magazines are
printed in around 22 local languages in parts of the country.
India's Army, is the 3rd largest and most powerful army in the
world. We are born with courageousness in blood and spirits to
serve the humanity and their motherland.
Our medical approach is no less. Ayurveda, was invented in
India and is the earliest school of medicine in the world, known
to humans. Today Ayurveda, is fast regaining its rightful place in
our civilization. We have some of the best institutions across
world for studies in field of medical sciences and other subjects
of science.
The magnificent and precious, amongst, one of wonders of
world, Taj Mahal, is located in Agra, India. We have the world
class cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and so many,
famous for its heritage, street food and culture.
Moreover, In India, we have the biggest set-up network of
railways & telecommunication.
The examples given above are sufficient to prove what India is,
India was and will be!
Although, modern images of India often show poverty and lack
of development, India was the richest country on earth until the
time of British invasion in the early 17th century.
Indian civilization has always inspired the world to work beyond
the convectional resources and get the best results to help the
society and serve humankind!

Suyash Sadana,
Interact Club, Maharaja Agarsain Public School,
Ashok Vihar, Delhi-110052

A.O. Hume(INC)
The establishment of the Indian National Congress (INC)
by A.O. Hume in 1885 was a milestone in the process of
Indian independence struggle. This led to the entrance of
Indians into the politics of India. The first session of the INC
was presided by WC Banerjee. The party used to meet once
every year in the month of december to carry out
discussions regarding the manner in which struggle for
independence will take place. The party primarily endorsed
social liberalism and secularism. The party was led by
Mahatma Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru.

In India, I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not
adhering to it, inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them,
possessing ever y thing , but possessed by nothing
-Apollonius Tyanaeus
India, the adobe of hundreds of cultures and customs, the home of
thousands of philosophies coming together to form a harmonious
idea, a haven to thousands of curious minds. India's past had been
as glorious as its present, and it in fact had seen many phases. The
Indus Valley Civilization , which spread and flourished in the
northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300
BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first
major civilization in South Asia .Inhabitants of the ancient Indus
river valley,the Harappans , developed new techniques in
metallurgy and handicraft. Then bloomed the Vedic period which
was characterised by Indo-Aryan culture associated with the texts
of Vedas. Many concepts like Dharma and karma etc. trace their
roots to the Vedas. Along came the various empires Magadha,
Maurya and Gupta, dated 600 BCE, which saw advancements in
ancient India's science, mathematics, astronomy , religion, and
philosophy and were considered the Indian " Golden Age". The
Mughals came along, developing us but somehow deceiving us.
But the period of bondage, confinement and pains defined British
Rule, which made us even more miserable than before. In our
defence we can say, we fought them hard and we fought them well.
Coming to the 21st century India is now with par with the super
nations. Gone are the days when India was seen as a country of
snake charmers, and pompous maharajas; it is now being seen as a
country producing successful entrepreneurs, efficient doctors and
IIT-ians. India has nailed and embraced every single field of arts
and science, ISRO's mission orbiter mars, or Indian cricket team's
winning World Cup or The Grammy awards to A.R Rahaman....you
name it!
But are we still liberal enough in our speech, thoughts and ideas? Is
India still that one place on the face of earth where all the dreams
of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when
man began the dream of existence, as French scholar Romaine
Rolland calls it? The answer might still be vague to us, considering
the headlines of our newspapers. But as this new era approaches,
abandoning old stereotypical ideas is the best and logical move for
an august development of our country ,in fact, it might be our last
resort. Because the battle between the modern ideas of progress
and worn out rituals and taboos will be a rageful one.... And its up
to us to decide the fate of our nation. The times they have changing
and its on us to transform them, for the best or for the worst.

Aashima Khanna

Mira Model School, Janakpuri New Delhi.

43

Homi Jehangir Bhabha

Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha was a renowned and respected
Indian atomic scientist and a nuclear physicist. He is
regarded as the Father of Nuclear Programme of the
country and was also the leading architect of the atomic
energy program in India. He is well known as a scientist for
deriving an accurate expression for the probability of
scattering positrons by electrons, which is known as
Bhabha scattering.

Voyages are long but I guess ours has been longer; and
throughout this journey we have gained something and at the
same time lost the other but more than that our ancestors left us
a message; a message that is to be remembered forever and it is,
There is pride in even falling if you can get back up and strive to
prove yourself.
This land has seen the Ramayana, Mahabharta. It has
experienced 'The Golden Age'. Discovered precious logics that
today are counted as the greatest contributions. This land is the
testimony of 'The Classical Age', this land saw the rise in the art,
philosophy, literature ; Saw the rise and fall of 'N' number of
empires. This land even after being jeopardized by the British
fought until their blows forced the invaders to put their foot out.
This land is the land that is now developing even after
experiencing the most difficult times. It is heart whelming to
realize that I am born on such a land that was once walked by
courageous heroes, determined leaders , great discoveries, rich
and diverse traditions.
The journey was started back then by the unforgettable heroes
and now it is our time to take the legacy forward. India still has got
a long way to go , it is just the beginning , the good days are
already here and we are ready to make them even better.

Jahnavi Taneja
12th Standard
Sadhu Vaswani Interntional
School for girls

The Journey of
The Journey of
Indian Civilization Indian Civilization
The

Indus Valley

civilization is one of the oldest in

the entire world. The changes in our
long-standing culture thousands of years
after it are remarkable, from the invasion of
the Mughals that furnished our traditions to the
arrival of the British, who challenged us to unite and
vanquish, which we did. But none are as serene, or
mysterious, as the roots of our very being: the Harappas.
The Indus Valley Civilization or the IVC is of the Bronze Age, a
time when metallurgy consisted of bronze, lead, tin and
copper. A probable population of a little over five million,
discoveries of this period are scarce as there have been no
recovered written documents. Inscriptions and seals are also currently
indecipherable. It is clear that this age was technologically advanced
from the found artefacts, and stand as a testament to India's growing
thirst for knowledge.
Most of India was presided over by the Mauryan Empire in the 4th-3rd
centuries BCE. Languages like Prakrit and Pali came up, Wootz steel
emerged and business links were established around the world. The
Gupta Empire was next, standing out as the Golden Age of India and
famous for the Hindu religious and intellectual surge, spreading
throughout much of Asia.
The Tripartite struggle of the 7th-11th centuries between the Pala
Empire, Rashtrakuta Empire, and Gurjara Pratihara Empire was
important. Next, the Cholas took over South India and invaded Sri
Lanka. This early medieval period had quite an impact on Indian
mathematic and astronomy, fields that India became proficient in.
In the 13th century, central Asian Turks came and established the Delhi
Sultanate and that's when Muslim rule began. It controlled major parts
of northern India, but fell into decline as powerful Hindu states like the
Vijayanagara, Gajapati and Mewar rule redefined the administration.
Mughals arrived in the 16th century and proliferated their influence,
but crashed in the 18th, which gave way to the Maratha, Sikh and
Mysore empires to flourish.
Marking the beginning of what would meld into modern history, the
British East India Company gripped the steering wheel of the Indian
vehicle and refused to let go. Exploitation of our agrarian nature as well
as pillaging of our precious resources led us to our first attempt at
ousting our colonisers in the revolt of 1857. With every blow we
delivered, they weakened their control, and finally, in 1947, we rose
independent victors.
Today our culture is shrouded by conflict, modernization and lack of
heritage conservation. Although we try hard to preserve our history, we
come up short in our efforts. The ancient, medieval and modern India
civilization is ever-vibrant, and thus must be protected from obscurity
at all costs. Our people have made a great journey, from the Harappas
to the Mughals to our fight against the British; lest we forget our spirit.

44

Ava Hiadar ,
12th standard , Sanskriti School

India is a hub of diverse cultures of a historical essence

that breathes the fresh current of novelty with each step

towards modernization. However, with all its achievements
that it has accomplished in all these years, it would not have
been possible without realizing the position it had once
attained in the past. Ultimately the history is a testimony to the
vibrant heritage we have had and today as proud citizens of this
nation, we are willing to carry on the legacy.
The formation of the Indian society dates back to the period of
the Indus Valley Civilization. Looking at the history of any
country, one will not miss to sort out the entity which makes the
journey of the Indian Civilization unique. From the inception it
consisted of creative intellectuals that had designed different
parts of this nation and till date the depth of their knowledge
and understanding leaves the people all around the world in
amazement.
From then till now, like any other journey it has witnessed war
and bloodshed amongst different societies in the country. It
could be a war between two dynasties or war amongst the sects
of society et al. Nevertheless, the fables and stories based on
the life Indian Kings highlighting their act of heroism left a mark
in the minds of the children of this nation. These remarkable
events have shined brighter in the contents of history than
upswept stones worn out with time. The journey of the Indian
Civilization will live on forever and dwell in the eyes of every
Indian.
India has shaped the mind of every Indian, anchored the
identity and will always influence the beliefs of every Indian.
This journey will never end.

SARAH JALIL
11th Standard
Sadhu Vaswani International School For Girls

Looking around anyone can say that India is

emerging. It is forging ahead on the path of progress. India
has come a long way in the past 67 years of independence.
Pandit Nehru had unfurled the flag of independence long
back. But unfortunately, we could never become free of the
chains of caste, communalism, terrorism, corruption, etc.
We have progressed and developed but could not scale the
desired heights. In the recent years, there have been many
incidents which have spoiled our country's image, there has
been economic slowdown for quite a long period now. Till
now, it seemed that people have adjusted themselves to
live in such pitiful conditions.
But now, conditions are changing. People have realized the
power of their vote which is clearly evident from the highest
ever voter turnout in the Lok Sabha polls. Landslide victory
of a party was seen after a long period indicating that
Indians have awaken, ready to take up responsibilities of a
good citizen and want to take wise decisions for
themselves, society and nation. PM Modi has promised
that acche din will soon usher in. Everyone is in support of
his vision for development and message of hope and
prosperity. People now feel closer to their PM who makes
every effort to connect with them. His foreign policy and
dedication to make 'aman ki asha' a successful programme
is admired by everyone.
Not only there has been change in power at centre, we have
left our mark in sports also. Our medals tally has recorded
new highs at Olympics and other sports event. We have
successfully launched Mangalyan, another great
achievement of ours. We have become aware of our rights
and duties, marking a new dawn for all of us.

Mahatma Gandhi is remembered in the world for four major

virtues. They are non-violence, truth, love and fraternity. By
applying these four virtues he brought freedom to India. Also
known as the Father of India, he is considered the greatest
figure in the entire Indian history. He was a lawyer in South
Africa, but left his job to fight the British empire. He led many
movements across the country such a Non Cooperation
movement an Quit India movement.

Blessed am I that I am born to this land and that I had

the luck to love her.
What care I if queenly treasure is not in her store
but precious enough is for me the living wealth of her
love.
The best gift of fragrance to my heart is
From her flowers and I know not where else shines the
moon
that an flood my being with such loveliness.
The first light revealed to my eyes was
from her own sky and let the same
light kiss them before they are closed forever.
Water droplets white light
Miracle of spectrum
Turbans and caps of different hues
Misplaced the identities in the fragmented civilization
Otherwise One.

-Khushbu Virmani
Interact Club of
DLDAV Model School

Himani Narula
Interact Club of DAV
Model School, Pitampura

Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of the India's greatest
mathematical geniuses. Coming from a very poor family, his
story is a great inspiration to all budding mathematicians.
One of the astonishing facts about Ramanujan is that
although he had no formal training in Pure mathematics, he
made substantial contributions to the analytical theory of
numbers and worked on 'elliptic functions', 'continued
fractions', and 'infinite series'. Ramanujan developed
various relations between elliptic modular equations in
1910.

Mahatma Gandhi

45

Atulya Bharat
Amulya Bharat

Eternal India
'India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of

The

journey of

civilisation of India started long

back in 2400-2500 BC. The Indus valley
civilisation saw its genesis in the holy land
now known as India around 2500 BC. The
people inhabiting the Indus River valley were
thought to be Dravidians, whose descendants later
migrated to the south of India. The deterioration of this
civilisation that developed a culture based on commerce
and sustained by agricultural trade can be attributed to
ecological changes. The second millennium BC was witness to
the migration of the bucolic Aryan tribes from the North West
frontier into the sub continent. These tribes gradually merged with
their antecedent cultures to give birth to a new milieu.
The Aryan tribes soon started penetrating the east, flourishing along
the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers. By 500 BC, the whole of northern India
was a civilised land where people had knowledge of iron implements
and worked as labor, voluntarily or otherwise. The early political map of
India comprised of copious independent states with fluid boundaries,
with increasing population and abundance of wealth fuelling disputes
over these boundaries.
Unified under the famous Gupta Dynasty, the north of India touched
the skies as far as administration and the Hindu religion were
concerned. Little wonder then, that it is considered to be India's golden
age. By 600 BC, approximately sixteen dynasties ruled the north Indian
plains spanning the modern day Afghanistan to Bangladesh. Some of
the most powerful of them were the dynasties ruling the kingdoms of
Magadha, Kosala, Kuru and Gandhara.
Known to be the land of epics and legends, two of the world's greatest
epics find their birth in Indian settings - the Ramayana, depicting the
exploits of lord Ram, and the Mahabharata detailing the war between
Kauravas and Pandavas, both descendants of King Bharat. Ramayana
traces lord Ram's journey from exile to the rescue of his wife Sita from
the demonic clutches of Ravana with the help of his simian
companions. Singing the virtues of Dharma(duty), the Gita, one of the
most priced scriptures in Indian Mythology, is the advice given by Shri
Krishna to the grief laden Arjun, who is terrified at the thought of killing
his kin, on the battle ground.
Mahatma Gandhi revived these virtues again, breathing new life in
them, during India's freedom struggle against British Colonialism. An
ardent believer in communal harmony, he dreamt of a land where all
religions would be the threads to form a rich social fabric.
Above all include different phases in Indian civilisation changed in
cultural, traditional and harmonious ways. It includes a change starting
from ancient history to medieval ending up with modern history with
winning independence. Today we can see how drastically the history
has evolved itself improving technology, language over the years.

Mohini Thukran
46

human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of

legend and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most
valuable and most constructive materials in the history of man
are treasured up in India only ', once famously and rightly said
the great American author Mark Twain.
India is, and has always been a vibrant country, contributing to
innumerable fields in ways unmatched by any of its
contemporaries right from the days of the Indus Valley
Civilisation in 3000 BC. Algebra, trigonometry, calculus and the
decimal system all originated in India. Even the number 'zero'
originated in India,without which it would have been
impossible to even imagine the kind of life we're all enjoying at
present, because as Albert Einstein aptly put it, 'We owe a lot to
the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no
worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.' Also,
almost all religions of south and southeast Asia like Hinduism,
Jainism and Buddhism, trace their origins back to the land of
Bharat. It was also the richest country on earth till the dark
period in indian history started with the British invasion in the
17th century. However, even during the freedom struggle,
Indians like Mahatma Gandhi left behind a legacy of non
violence, of ahimsa, reinstating the fact that India is a land of
great men. Even in the present day scenario, as India is reviving
itself after a tragic history of colonisation, it continues to make a
mark everywhere-under water and above earth.
The most ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse country
in the world,India has made developments in almost every
imaginable sphere of life like medicine, art, games, religion,
mathematics, metallurgy, science , music, dance and so
on.Today, India marches proudly as a pulsating, throbbing
Republic and the largest democracy of the world and even as
many civilisations-the Greek, the Roman and the Egyptian-rose
and fell, leaving only ruins, the Indian civilisation and culture
remained behind, almost as if it were saying, 'For men may
come and men may go, but I go on forever.'

P. Upasana
Sadhu Vaswani International School for Girls

India The five letter word is a power, diversity so strong, a story

which has been there for long! Times have come and gone, and
the soil still is as fresh, the air still smells as fresh and the name
always resounds the bells ringing in a temple. The sound of the
Morning Prayer at a Mosque and the melody of the Gurubani at
the Gurudwara.
India is young! India is shining and glowing bright! Innovations are
taking place. The best and the biggest entrepreneurs are
emerging from the Indian soil.
'Atulya Bharat, Amulya Bharat'
From head to toe, from point to a ray, from A to Z, From zero till
infinity. In this way, our Indian Civilisation has moved on and
developed. From the period of stone age to the present time, our
nation has moved upon in enormous number of ways .
India- a republic in the asian subcontinent in southern asia, has
achieved this name and fame after a number of challenges and
struggles. Unique in its own way with its varied languages,
cultures from north to south and from east to west. Our
magnificent culture has very deep roots which grab all the Vedas,
upnishads and great values from deep under the soil.
As the development of an individual in all the spheres- aesthetic,
social, intellectual, moral, emotional, is necessary, similarly our
country has grown and improved tremendously in its spiritual,
cultural traditions as well as in technological and industrials
aspects. From the Vedas to the development of zero, everything
has been experienced and developed on this holy land where we
breathe.
To sum up, I would like to conclude by saying, A thing of beauty is
Joy forever, Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into
nothingness. The loveliness of our land is seen, felt and known at
all levels. A country so varied as to host golden beaches on three
sides, snowy mountains, tropical forests, mesmerizing desert,
perennial rivers, fertile plains, plateaus, lagoons, bays and so on.
Beauty at its simplest and most profound- india, my beautiful
country knowledge of her rich heritage encompasses the whole
world in it.

Sonal Sachdeva
Teacher, EDMC

Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore was a poet, a painter, a patriot, a
philosopher, a novelist, an educationist, singer, story writer,
essayist, critic, constructive worker and what not. In 1913,
Rabindranath Tagore was awarded knighthood and the
Nobel Prize in literature for the English version of
Geetanjali. But he gave up both titles to protest against the
British rule. He also founded Vishwabharati University at
Shantiniketan in 1902. He had endless love for his country
and countrymen.

47

Indian National Army

(Subhash Chandra Bose)
The Indian National Army, led by Subhash Chandra Bose
who was one of India's greatest freedom fighters was
also known as the Azad Hind Fauj. The INA had a combat
strength of 40,000 troops comprising mainly of Indian
expatriates in South Asia and Indian prisoners of war.
The INA also boasted of an exclusive women's combat
unit named the Rani of Jhansi regiment.

Civilized
India in the
Cradle of Human Race
Are you passionate
about our History? Does the
knowledge about India's civilization
fascinate you? If 'yes'? Then this article
will definitely pay off you in the long term.
Before digging into the glorious past of the largest
democracy in the world, we need to know that India
has an emerging global economic power, and is home to
the second largest population in the world. Due to which the
cultural influence of Indian art, music and cinema (Bollywood),
and diverse spiritual practices continues to grow even stronger.
India being a land of ancient civilization began its history with the birth
of Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished between 2800 BC and 1800
BC, and the coming of the Aryans. This phase is better described as
Ancient India. It was during this phase Aryabhatta, the great
astronomer and scientist, discovered zero, the number system was
invented, the very first university i.e. the Nalanda University was
established which was the educational hub of that time, the value of pie
was calculated and the concept of Pythagoras theorem was given. It is
interesting to note that ancient India was so advanced in science and
mathematics that Algebra, trigonometry and calculus all came from
here. The great physicians conducted complicated surgeries like
cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, stones, plastic surgery
and brain surgery, magnificent buildings and monuments were build. It
won't be wrong to say that India excelled in all the spheres during this
period and was popularly known as the golden bird. It was this name,
fame, art and architecture that attracted the foreign countries. In this
era we had everything that one could only think of.
During the late 16th and the 17th Centuries, the European trading
companies in India competed with each other ferociously. By the last
quarter of the 18th Century the English had outdone all others and they
acquired political supremacy and hold over India and subverted the
Indian economy according to their own needs. Once the British set their
foot solidly on Indian soil, they began the commercial exploitation of
the natural resources of India.
The exploitative policies of the British in India saw the birth of
nationalist agitation against it. The anti British struggle became truly a
mass movement with the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948). It
was followed by numerous movements against the British rule. With
the passage of time and stubbornness of the Indians the British had
come to realize that the day was not far off when they will have to quit
India. Successive campaigns had the effect of driving the British out of
India in 1947, leaving us behind in the mercy of poverty and destitution.
We had to begin from scratch. New rules, policies and regulation were
laid. Leaders joined hands leaving behind all their differences, to work
for a common goal of bringing back the pride India.
Some may complain of it being one of the most corrupted nations and
highlight all the flaws but in spite of having so many shortcomings it

48

stands out among the crowd. The rising demand for Indian
brains (doctors, scientist and engineers) in the world is the best
example of the increasing popularity of Indian civilization.
Hosting Common Wealth Games although, followed by
controversies showed the world that we can be best. The status
of women has improved a lot from just being a synonym for
kitchen to the rulers of our country. It is a sense of pride for India
to have a Women president for the country at its 60 years
anniversary, which many countries including developed one's
have not yet reached this dignity of having women as their
rulers. Yoga and ayurveda, again the gifts of India, is followed
blindfolded by large number of people across the world and is
benefiting the entire human race miraculously.
From Aryabhatta in 1970s to the launching of Mars Orbitter in
2014 we have achieved a distinguished position in the space
technology. Achievements in the IT sector with principle
centres of Bengaluru & Hyderabad have made India an
important hub of the world will be no exaggeration. Name a
field and we are there.
The Indian civilization can be compared to a king who was living
a very successful life, reached its zenith got plundered ,crushed
and massively destroyed yet did not allow itself to be
completely ruined. During all those times of trials and
tribulations the light of hope to revive kept flickering yet did not
extinguished. The fire in the hearts set ablaze and forced the
outsiders to leave India. We were left behind to fend for
ourselves and I think so far, we have managed fairly well. The
Indian civilization can be taken as a subject of study for those
who want to rise, achieve, and become big.
The rising popularity is becoming a matter of concern for the
world. After just 67 years of freedom if we could manage to
reach where we are today with the best yet to come, then the
world out there better watch out because the Pandora is yet not
open.

Ritika Gupta (Educationist)

Independence of India
The struggle for independence was a long and arduous one.
Scores of lives were lost to free the country. After independence,
India has consolidated its place as the largest democracy in the
world with a thriving economy and a robust political domain. The
Indian independence struggle was an inspiration to many
countries under British Rule to fight for freedom. The Indian
freedom struggle had many many freedom fighters such as Bhagat
Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Mahatma Gandhi, to name some.
India became independent on 15th August 1947

Reflections on
Indian Civilisation
"India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of
human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend,
and the great grandmother of tradition. our most valuable and
most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up
in India only."
-Mark Twain
The magnificent grandeur of the Indian Civilization become more
clear when one witnesses the words spoken by a 'foreigner' for it,
rather than the words by the one who live in it.
The journey of Indian civilization is so opulent that it won't be
exaggerating to say that it is almost impossible for one to
consolidate it in a small writing. So in my work, I must make clear,
that I would show a drop of it to the readers rather than the ocean.
The exact date or the year of the beginning of this journey is a blur,
but the values and the lessons learnt have been carried forward
right from the beginning very sincerely. The dates, the years and
the history have no meaning if we don't extract the nectar, that we
can carry forward, from it.
So for me, the journey of Indian civilization is a package of
experiences that I have not experienced firsthand. It is also a
combo- pack of essential values and colourful culture.
Hence, I would pen down the achievements and values that I have
assimilated from the different milestones of this journey rather
than penning down my views on it, because I find myself
incapable of such an exuberant work.
The Indus valley civilization has taught us the value of
organization. one can get awestruck by seeing the way they
organised themselves. Their wonderful architectural plans can
even baffle the architects of today's world.
Then the Golden Age -'Gupta Rule' witnessed the extensive
achievements in science, mathematics and engineering.It taught
us the beauty of science and literature.
Then a big mark was made by the Mughal Sultanate on this
civilization. This period gifted us monumental beauties like the Taj
Mahal, which is one of the seven wonders of this world. We also
witnessed the powerful ruler Akbar who taught us that peace and
love are the strongest weapon that can make us win over our
enemies.
The modern history of India witnessed many black days under the
colonial rule of the Britishers.The infamous British Raj taught us
the power of endurance.

49

Sardar Patel
The Iron Man of India, Vallabhbhai Patel was deeply
influenced by Gandhiji. The title of 'Sardar' was given to
him by Gandhiji. As the Deputy Prime Minister of free
India, he brought about the merger of hundreds of
princely states with the Indian Union, and became the
architect of the integrity of India. Honest in word and
deed, he was a hero among heroes, a lion among men.He
was raised in the countryside of Gujarat. Patel was
employed in successful practice as a lawyer. As the first
Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, Patel
organised relief for refugees fleeing from Punjab and Delhi
and led efforts to restore peace across the nation.

But this era should not be seen as a black spot in Indian

civilization wholly because we mustn't forget that whatever you
are reading right now has the language that was a gift from this
raj. Moreover, this raj taught us the power of unity.
It is impossible not to be astonished by India. Nowhere on Earth
does humanity present itself in such a dizzying, creative burst of
cultures and religions, races and tongues. Every aspect of the
country presents itself on a massive, exaggerated scale, worthy in
comparison only to the superlative mountains that overshadow
it. Perhaps the only thing more difficult than to be indifferent to
India would be to describe or understand India completely.
Modern day India represents the largest democracy in the world
with a seamless picture of unity in diversity unparalleled
anywhere else.
The Indian civilization has to cross many milestones, even after
these huge accomplishments . The days are not far when India
will be followed by the globe and it would be the 'Vishwa Guru'
again.

THE BEST PART OF INDIAN CIVILIZATION JOURNEY IS

YET TO COME!!

Shubhi Lohani
B.Tech, Indra Gandhi
Delhi Technical University

The
the Modern India

Thank You!

Green Revolution was a period in the 1960s during which

agriculture in India increased its yields due to improved
agronomic technology, high-yield crop varieties, use of
chemical fertilizers and irrigation which led to an increase
in food production in India. The main development was
HYV seeds of wheat, which were developed by many
scientists, including American agronomist Dr. Norman
Borlaug, Indian geneticist M. S. Swaminathan.

Our Journey of gathering the views for our astonishing project- International Bulletin
was phenomenal. The love and support which we received for our Bulletin is
inexpressible. I Sagar Sachdeva, on behalf of the entire team of Rotaract Club of Delhi
Riverside, would like to thank everyone who gave their valuable time for sharing their
views with us on the subject linked to our Motherland 'The Journey of Indian
Civilisation, Rotary Club of Delhi Riverside, the readers and to all those who
contributed for the successful accomplishment of this bulletin. Without your
encouragement, this project would have been impossible.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman

Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012 consisted of
over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries. They run
hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and
tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics;
children's and family counselling programmes; orphanages;
and schools. Mother Teresa was the recipient of numerous
honours including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

At my personal level, the experience and professionalism which I required as a

management student, I got through this project with regard to designing the bulletin,
gathering and managing facts and the most important aspect- The Learning. Our
Nation has always been close to my heart and I have always lived on one simple factCountry First, Else Last.

Amartya Kumar Sen is an Indian economist and philosopher who

has made various contributions to the welfare of economics, social
choice theory, economic and social justice and economic theories
of famines, to name some. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial
Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 and Bharat Ratna in 1999 for his
work in welfare economics. He is currently the Thomas W. Lamont
University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at
Harvard University

You may call it India or Bharat or Hindustan, our motherland, has an exceptionally rich
history. Starting from the pre 'Golden Bird' era to the present age of India being the
largest Democracy in the world, our country has set up numerous milestones, whether
it be major discoveries made by us in the field of science, surgery or teaching the world
how to count, which the entire universe would continue to cherish and applaud till
eternity. The past was glorious and so would be the future for our Country would
appear to be even better. From the core of my heart, I feel that the day isn't far when we
would be again recognized as 'Viswa Guru'.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who is also known as the Missile Man of India
is an Indian scientist and administrator who served as the 11th
President of India from 2002 to 2007 and was popularly known as
the People's President. He is known as the father of Indian Missile
Technology and India's lifelong scientist for his prominent role in
India's 1998 nuclear weapons tests. He is also the pioneer of
India's space program. He has received several prestigious
awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.

Rtr. Sagar Sachdeva

Co-Editor and Creative Head

The Mars Orbiter is a spacecraft orbiting Mars since 24

September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the
Indian Space Research Organisation. India became the 4th
country after US,Europe,Russia to send a spacecraft to mars,
and the first nation to reach Mars orbit in its first attempt, and
the first Asian nation to do so.The main objective of this mission
is to study the atmosphere of mars,find methane,see the
presence of minerals.

50

51

Thanks To
Our Club Members
Abhishek Yadav, Schrutir Jain, Aditya Dev Sharma, Ankit Maini Aditi Kohli,
Sagar Sachdeva, Shikha Yadav, Mehak Bhullar, Aditi Kohli, Shivam Luthra,
Maheen Haideri, Antriksh Bhatnagar, Lakshay Sharma, Yugaant Sawhney,
Kriti Awasthi, Aditya Kohli, Komal Khubani, Vivek Ramachandran, Farhan
Ahmed, Tuba Ahmed, Ranjeeta Rawat, Sarath Nair, Priyanka Bajaj

Our Special
Thanks To
Ms. Sonia Luthra, Mr. Jaldeep Yadav, Ms. Vinita Rikhi, Mr. Rakesh Puri,
Ms.Sarojini Chandola, Mr. Ashokta, Mr. Manu Luthra, Chaitanya Luthra, Naina
Dargna, Shubhi Lohani, Ana Sinha, Moksh S. Nair, Isha Chaktravorty,
Aishwarya Kapoor

Raviera Creative Concepts

9810134987
52