Do phones have feelings?

I am still not able to understand or make sense of  the strange things that took place. My Children were after me that I need to change my phone. It had taken me some time to change from an I phone  to an android phone. I was very happy with my phone which I have been using for the last five years. This was a 3G phone and an out dated one according to my children. When I reached back from Brazil to  the US and my son came to receive me at the airport. He informed me that my new phone  they had ordered had already reached and it was lying at his place. It was not very different from what I was using  for they saw to it that it was close to what I had (knowing how fussy I was, according to them, in my attachment to old things). When I reached home, on 7th August, 2017, my old phone did not even open and  it was as if some thing supernatural had happened. I am still not able to understand what happened but my old phone which had worked perfectly till now is just not working. My son was able to get back a lot of data through Google and I am still not able to get few contacts that I seem to  have lost. I am still not able to give any explanation as to what happened but now I am using the new phone and getting used to it.

Chinese Scholar, Park L. Huide

 Found a very interesting write up by a Chinese Scholar, Park L. Huide.We need to think seriously as to why India is underrated and foreign scholars have to tell us this.  *Is ancient India underated ?* A mindblowing analysis by *Chinese Ex Professor from University of Toronto*

Author: Pak L. Huide

Publication: Postcard.news

Date: July 22, 2017

URL:   http://postcard.news/is-ancient-india-overrated-a-mind blowing-analysis-by-chinese-professor-from-university-of-toronto/

 

Seriously? If anything, ancient India is sorely UNDERRATED.

 

I mean, *I’m an ethnic Chinese living in Canada.* But when I was growing up in Canada, I knew jackshit about India. Besides maybe curry.

 

I mean, people here have a vague understanding of Chinese history but they have NO idea about Indian history. For example, most people know that the Middle Kingdom is how China referred to herself but how many people know about *Bharat?* How many know about even the Guptas? People know that China was famous for ceramics and tea but how many people know about *ancient India’s achievements in metallurgy?* People k now about the Great Wall, but how many know about the *great temples of southern India?*

 

This is partly due to the lackluster historical records that ancient Indians kept and also partly because *modern Indians have a tendency to look down upon their ancient heritage and view western ideas and ideals as superior.* China also has this problem but not nearly to the same extent.

 

The discovery that the *earth is spherical* is credited to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who was born in 384 BCE. However, very few people know that a man from ancient India established the idea of “spherical earth” during the 8th-9th century BCE. *The man was called Yajnavalkya* who first discovered that the earth is round. He was the first to *propose the heliocentric system of the planets*. In his work Shatapatha Brahmana, he proposed that the earth and the other planets move around the sun. He also *calculated the period of one year as 365.24675 days. This is only 6 minutes longer than the current established time of 365.24220 days*.

 

Take the example of Kung Fu. The whole world knows about the martial art called Kung Fu. The person who founded *Kung Fu was none other than a prince of the Pallava dynasty from Kanchipuram*, Tamil Nadu who visited China during the 5th century CE. He became the 28th patriarch of Buddhism and *established the Shaolin temple* and founded the martial art which became world famous today. That prince was called Bodhidharma.

 

But how many people know about that Kung Fu and Shaolin was founded by an Indian?

Precisely, if Indians are unaware of their heritage, why should they expect that someone else will know about their history and achievement?

 

The achievements of ancient Indians are lost in obscurity. India’s ancestors had invented many ways which eased the basic life of a common man. These inventions may seem primitive today, but we can’t ignore the fact that these were revolutionary achievements during their era.

 

The Indus Valley civilization is *known for the broad and the sanitized drainage system* which was no less than a miracle during those ancient times. But how many people know that the ancient *Indians from Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) were the first to invent a flush toilet?*

 

The people around the world use rulers to measure everything. How many people know that *Indus Valley Civi lization was the first to invent the rulers?* A ruler has been found at Lothal which is 4400 years old. Not only this, the people of IVC were *the first to invent buttons*. The world knows that the Chinese discovered the art of weaving silk dresses. How many people know that *IVC people were the first to weave dresses made of cottons?*

 

The ancient Indians were *first to invent the weighing scales.* Archaeologists have discovered weighs and scales from the excavation sites of Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Lothal etc. These scales were extensively used for trading.

 

Ancient India has given *Yoga to the world- which is widely practiced almost all over the world to keep people fit and fine.* Models, supermodels, film stars, athletes, etc. regularly attends Yoga session to keep themselves fit.

 

*Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya* were the three eminent mathematicians from ancient India who established the *concept of zero as a mathematical value in different eras.* Brahmagupta was the first to invent a symbol for the value “shunya” (zero). 

Bhaskaracharya was the *first to use it as algebra.* The oldest inscription of zero can be found at the *Chaturbhuj temple in Gwalior fort.*

 

Ancient Indians were pioneers in the *field of chemistry* too. The person who first invented the *“atomic theory” was none other than Acharya Kanad from ancient India*. He explained the atomic theory using terms like “Anu”(atom) and “Paramanu”(nucleus).

 

Ancient Indians were advanced in *medical science* too. The great physician of the time, Sage Shusrut was the first to carry out different surgeries which included plastic surgery and cataract surgery. His works are composed in his book called Shusrut Samhita (The works of Shusrut). The world hardly knows about *Charak, the great specialist in medicine from ancient India*. He was the first physician to establish the problems and medicinal treaties in fields like *physiology, embryology, digestion, sexual disease, immunity, etc.* His works on Ayurveda is composed as a book called Charak Samhita (The works of Charak).

 

The Chera dynasty of Tamil Nadu invented the idea of *producing finest steel by heating black magnetite ore along with carbon*. The mixture was kept in a crucible and heated in charcoal furnace. The Wootz Steel originated from India, but today, is popular as Damascus Steel.

 

India’s monuments are grand and are probably, the only way others recognize the importance of ancient Indian civilization. India’s gigantic monuments bear the testimony of the greatness of ancient India.

 

This is the *Kailash Temple. It is a megalith* which was constructed by cutting out a single rock- a mountain. The whole mountain was cut from the top to carve out the temple campus.

 

This is *Dwarka, the grand and mysterious city submerged in the Arabian sea on the extreme west of India.* The submerged heritage is no less than a treasure bearing the pride of Indian race!

 

This is *Khajuraho, the marvel where the rocks* has taken the form. The best of our monuments are not built on soft rocks like marble. Our ancestors carved out even the hardest of the rocks to give it a beauty.

 

The grandest and largest temple in India- *Brihadeshwara* temple. Breathtaking, isn’t it?

 

India is the land of grandest temples and breathtaking architectures. The heritage of India can’t be encapsulated within a small answer! To end the answer with, I will now share my personal favorite- *The Sun Temple of Konark!*

 

The main structure of the temple was partially destroyed by invaders like Kalapahad- a military general of the medieval period. Later, the prime structure totally collapsed when British stored gunpowder inside the structure and it caught fire accidentally.

 

Even though the main temple is gone, the amount of what left is still breathtaking by every means. Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote about Konark- *“here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.*”

 

The whole temple was designed like a huge chariot of Sun God having 24 wheels pulled by 7 horses. Each wheel had 8 major spokes denoting 1 prahar (Hindu time period of 3 hours). There was a huge magnet at the top of the temple which used to keep the idol of the Sun deity suspended in the air due to magnetic arrangement.

 

Still think, that ancient India is overrated?

 

Ancient India was a hub of culture and technology and the absolute capital of world spirituality. I could talk about India for hours. India is many things but OVERRATED is definitely not one of them.

University of Warsaw

 Had a  lovely day in the University of Warsaw on 26th June, 2017 and interacted with various historians and especially Prof Dobrochna Kalwa who works on Women's History. She is also the coordinator of the International Programme. The Dept. of History is located in a beautiful building. There are 80 faculty in the History but unfortunately due to exams most were on leave and I could not meet many others. I had interesting insight into  women's history in Poland.

The last of the Mohicans Atoosa Bahadori's Ph.D defence

 Very happy to announce that today on 20th June, 2017, my Iranian student, Atoosa Bahadori from Women's Studies defended her thesis and was awarded her Ph. D. So this was my last student from the 2012 batch and hence the last of the  Mohicans. She has done an interesting work on Cyber feminism in Afghanistan and how women who were suppressed here created an alternate movement in cyberspace. Now I do not see any other student submitting their thesis soon for my other students in History and Women's studies are at an infancy level of writing few chapters or doing data collection and it is going to take some time before any of them submit their Ph. D. It has been a very emotional journey with Atoosa and learning  with her about Afghanistan and Iran as well. A strong Feminist from Iran who is a very active Web blogger she opened the society of both Iran and Afghanistan before my eyes and I learnt  much during this period about women in these two societies. We only come to know what the media tells us but the ground reality is often very different. I do not read Persian and she opened a new world of women in these two countries who are writing about Women's issues in Persian on the net and are very actively involved. It is amazing to see the resilience of women  in these two countries and their ability to question and make the best of a situation that is so restricting and attempt to bring about some kind of change.

Sarmishtas Ph.D defence and Birthday stories

 On 6th June woke up to a number of  phone calls from my sons, mother, brother, sisters and other relatives. This was followed with hundreds of messages on Facebook, messages, what's app, emails, linked in from friends and old and new students and acquaintances. A  big thank you to each and every one who took time for this to make this day special for me. After this was my Ph. D student Sarmistha Kabi 's viva examination for her degree. I saw a large number of my students going in and out and I thought they have come to attend the viva. They all took me by surprise by bringing out a cake at the end of the viva after the results were declared. I cut a cake and this was followed by a party with sweets and other etables materialising from thin air. The students planned all this  last night in the hostels. I am really touched.  Pavithra Molugu, Karan Palsaniya,  Neeharika Joshi, Kishore Kumar, Pabitra Sharma, Rizwan Ahmad  you all have made this birthday so special for me. Rizwan was on fast and yet served every one for the birthday. I used to feel bad as a child in primary school that my birthday came in summer holidays when the schools were closed and unlike other girls I never had the opportunity to dress up in civil clothes, the only day when one did not have to wear a school dress and behave like a proud pea hen with few friends hanging around you while you go around the school through out the day distributing chocolates to your other teachers  and friends. This was one day you were given the freedom not to attend the classes and your friends were at your beck and call. The same friends would then divert their attention to the new birthday girl the next day and you would join the crowd  but you were  too young then to care and think  and analyse  about all this  on your D day. It was just that special day which mattered and made you feel like a princess. My students made up for all these years where I saw other girls celebrating their birthday in school. Though the University was closed all my students from History and Women's studies  came and made this birthday very special and I cannot thank you  all enough. Indeed I will cherish this birthday for ever. A big thank you to all of you for making me feel like a proud and happy school girl.

Birthday celebtation on 6th June, 2016

 I really want to thank all my family, relatives, friends, current students and past students and colleagues and friends  from across the world, UK, USA, Brazil, France, Australia, Spain, Canada and also across India from different states, who took time and gave me their birthday wishes. I am  so touched and moved and you all made this day special for me. My mobile was on silent for a lecture for three hours in the morning and when I changed the settings  I could see more than fifteen missed calls. I also want to thank the technology for right from the morning, in fact at midnight I found so many messages in Yahoo, Gmail, Linked in, messenger, what's app, my mobile and not to forget face book. In ancient days in Indian culture  we used to go on Pilgrimage to remember everyone, our past, present and future generations and friends and thank God for all our blessings. Today technology performs that function and a birthday becomes the perfect moment to do this. As a child, in primary school I always felt bad that my birthday came during  summer holidays and I could never be that birthday girl who distributed chocolates to school friends and was surrounded by many other students as the centre of attraction, the only one wearing a civil dress amidst the uniformed students, going around the school distributing sweets and getting best wished from all the teachers. Today technology made up for every thing by bridging distances, time zones and spaces. Once again a big Thank you to every one for making this day so grand and keeping me in your thoughts.

Meeting Joseph Antony, an Old student

 On the evening of 4th June, 2017. It was a pleasure  to meet Joseph Anthony an old student of mine from 1985 to 1987 batch who came  to the University for his sons entrance exam and visited me along with his wife, Rose. This  boy, in his early twenties then, a young, handsome,good looking, naughty and often late to my class,  is now a mature man, a father of  two sons and a senior Editor with The Hindu. He presented me a  book written by him, a biography of M. L. Jaisimha, titled, My way. It's always a pleasure to connect with old students and I have fond memories of him and this earlier batch of students whom I was teaching a compulsory course on Medieval societies.