Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, popularly known as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the son of a little educated boat-owner in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, has become the 11th President of the Republic of India. The names of the earlier Presidents of India are: Dr. Rajendra Prasad, S. Radhakrishnan, Zakeer Hussain, Fakuruddin Ali Ahmed, V. V. Giri, Neelam Sanjeev Reddy, Gyani Zail Singh, R. Venkataraman, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma and K. R. Narayanan. Some of our Presidents rose even from much humbler beginning than Dr. Kalam. It is very significant that he is the first scientist to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He is a man one, who has taken unto himself, the task of changing the destiny of India. He is a man with a vision.


His vision is to make India a developed country. He has given his plan of action and a road map for realizing his vision. He has articulated his thoughts in his three books: India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India. India has already started looking to Dr. Kalam for inspiration and guidance.

Dr. Kalam was born on October 15, 1931. He had a secured childhood both materially and emotionally. To quote from his autobiography Wings of Fire: “I was born into a middle-class Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in Madras state. My father, Jainulabdeen, possessed neither much formal education nor much wealth; despite these disadvantages, he possessed great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He had an ideal helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she fed everyday, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the members of our own family…We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in the middle of the 19th century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street of Rameswaram. My austere father used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all that was needed was provided for, in terms of food, medicine or cloths. In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.” Dr. Kalam’s father commanded a high respect as a religious man. Dr, Kalam has acknowledged that his scientific accomplishment and his views are very much influenced by his parents and other well-wishers. To quote him from his autobiography : “Every child is born, with some characteristics, into a specific socio-economic and emotional environment, and trained along the way, in certain ways by figures of authority. I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness as did my three brothers and sisters. But it was the time I spent with Jallaluddin and Samsuddin that perhaps contributed most to the uniqueness of my childhood and made all the difference in my later life. The unschooled wisdom of Jallauddin and Samsuddin was so intuitive, responsive to non-verbal messages that I can unhesitatingly attribute my subsequently manifested creativity to their company in my childhood.” It may be noted that Ahmed Jallaluddin was a close friend of Dr. Kalam and Somesuddin was his first cousins.

After studying in a primary school in Ramaeswaran, Dr. Kalam went to Schwartz High School at Ramanathpuram from where he went to Tiruchchirapalli for his higher studies. Dr. Kalam wrote : “By the time I completed my education at Schwartz, I was a self-confident boy with the determination to be successful. The decision to go in for further education was taken without a second thought. To us, in those days, the awarness of the possibilities for a professional education did not exist; higher education simply meant going to college. The nearest college was at Tiruchchirapalli, spelled Trichinopoly those days, and called Trichi for short. “

After completing his BSc from St. Joseph’s college he joined the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), for studying aeronautical engineering. From MIT, he went to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at Bangalore as a trainee. As aeronautical engineer Dr. Kalam had two options -- in short, to join the Directorate of Technical Development and Production, or DTD & P (Air) of the Ministry of Defence or the Indian Air Force. As he could not make it to Indian Air Force, Dr. Kalam joined the Technical Centre (Civil Aviation) of the DTD&P (Air) as Senior Scientific Assistant on a basic salary of Rs. 250/-. While working at the Air force Directorate he got a chance to realise his dream. He joined the Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), the predecessor of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). And thus Kalam started his much talked about career in rocket and missile technology.

Before he became President of the country, Dr. Kalam had divided his career in four phases. In the first phase (1963-82) he worked with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). At ISRO he served in various capacities. After initiating Fibre Reinforced Plastics (FRP) activities and spending some time with the aerodynamics and design group he joined the satellite launching vehicle team at Thumba. Here he was made the Project Director of the Mission for SLV-3. He played a crucial role in developing satellite launch vehicle technology and expertise in control, propulsion and aerodynamics. The SLV-3 project managed to put Rohini, a scientific satellite, into orbit in July 1980. India also acquired the ability to design various kinds of rocket systems. Commenting on the first phase of his career Dr. Kalam wrote: “This was my first stage, in which I learnt leadership from three great teachers—Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof. Satish Dhawan and Dr. Brahm Prakash. This was the time of learning and acquisition of knowledge for me.”

The second phase of his career started when he joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 1982. As Director of DRDO, Dr. Kalam was entrusted with the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Under his leadership India has been able to develop strategic missiles. Like Nag (an anti-tank guided missile), Prithvi (a surface to surface battlefield missile), Akash (a swift, medium - range surface-to-air missile), Trishul (a quick-reaction surface – to – air missile) and Agni (an intermediate range ballistic missile).Three new laboratories/facilities in the area of missile technology were established. About this phase Dr. Kalam wrote: “During this stage, I have gone through many successes and failures. I learnt from failures and hardened myself with courage to face them. This was my second stage, which taught me the crucial lesson of managing failures.” Dr. Kalam’s contribution to India’s defence capabilities is very significant.

Dr. Kalam identifies his third phase with his participation with India’s mission to become a nuclear weapon state, jointly undertaken by DRDO and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) with the active support of the armed forces. During this phase he, as Chairman of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), also got involved with the creation of Technology Vision 2020 and the India Millennium Missions (IMM 2020), which is an integratied version of technology vision and India’s security concerns. In November 1999 Dr. Kalam was appointed as Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

His fourth phase started after he left the post of Principal Scientific Adviser. He joined the Anna University at Chennai as Professor of Technology and Societal Transformation. As part of realizing his mission he decided to ignite the minds of the young. For this purpose he wanted to reach at least 100,000 students in different parts of the country before August 2003. He has already met about 40,000 students. His fourth phase took a sudden turn, which he himself perhaps did not visualize. He became the President of India.

In 1997 Dr. Kalam was given the highest civilian award of India, the Bharat Ratna

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi



Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi


Born:September-27-1953,at Parayakadavu,Kerala

Who is Amma? Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Many people wonder how a little girl from a simple South Indian village came to be known throughout the world as "Amma, the Mother of All." Motherhood, in its ultimate sense, has nothing to do with bearing a child, but with love, compassion and selflessness. It lies in totally giving one's self to others.

If we look at Amma's life, this is what we see—someone who has offered her every thought, word and deed for the benefit of others. Giving is the essence. It's just that when the homeless come crying for shelter and Amma gives them a house, we call her a "humanitarian." And when the sorrowful come crying for emotional solace and she gives them love, we call her a "mother." And when those thirsty for spiritual knowledge come earnestly seeking and she gives them wisdom, we call her a "guru." This attitude of selflessly serving all creation, knowing others to be extensions of one's own self, Amma refers to as vishwa matrutvam—universal motherhood. And it is to this pinnacle of human existence that Amma is trying to awaken the world through her life, teachings and darshan [divine embrace].

Questions about the nature of the soul, the universe and God; about dharma, love and family life; about meditation and other spiritual practices…. Amma has been clearing the doubts of sincere seekers on such subtle subjects since her youth. She never had a guru nor studied the Vedas, yet she speaks on the truths expressed within the scriptures with wisdom, clarity and true insight. Hers is not an academic knowledge, but the knowledge of one who is ever-established in the Ultimate Reality. It is for this reason that Amma's simple childhood home has become the spiritual home to thousands—an ashram where aspirants from around the world reside in order to imbibe Amma's wisdom and realize the Truth that is their real nature. The seeker is instructed as per his level—from the child to the sannyasi [monk]

Seeing the whole world as an extension of her own self, Amma is ever ready to forego her own body's needs in order to bring a smile to someone's face, wipe their tears or to simply listen to their sorrows. The sweet manner in which she laughs and jokes with people, shares in their success and failure has endeared millions to her throughout the world. In fact, many see Amma as their lifelong confidant and friend. Giving darshan in this manner is verily Amma's life—day after day, week after week, year after year. In fact, Amma has been doing so since she was just 17 years old, and she has been known to sit embracing people continuously for as long as 22 hours. Amma is able to make such a personal sacrifice because in her arms people feel safe, feel comforted, loved, feel that finally they've found someone who knows them through and through. And with that feeling they get the strength to move forward in life, and this, Amma feels, is infinitely more important than her physical needs. Be they young or old, sick or healthy, rich or poor—everyone receives the same unconditional love. Amma turns no one away. The atheist has just as much a place with Amma as the devotee.

For Amma, Advaita [non-dualism] is not a mere philosophy, but something to be lived. As such, Amma's every thought, word and deed resound with that greatest of truths: Everything within and without is divine. Accordingly, Amma oversees a massive matrix of humanitarian activities. Hospitals for the sick, homes for the homeless, disaster relief, orphanages, hospices, free pensions, suicide-prevention, employment programs… the list is endless. Influenced by Amma's example and experiencing her pure love, thousands upon thousands of people from around the world have been inspired to take up a life of service—giving whatever time or money they can spare in order to help others. It is the seed of love Amma has planted within them beginning to sprout that has brought this about. This has been Amma's vision from the beginning. Amma says, "In today's world, people experience two types of poverty: the poverty caused by lack of food, clothing and shelter, and the poverty caused by lack of love and compassion. Of these two, the second type needs to be considered first—because, if we have love and compassion in our hearts, then we will wholeheartedly serve those who suffer from lack of food, clothing and shelter." This is the secret behind the success of Amma's charitable mission and how its expansion seems to be constant and without end. And the brilliance of Amma's grand scheme is that not only are the downtrodden uplifted but also the volunteers, as the selflessness of their actions purifies their minds, helping them to gradually progress along the spiritual path. Amma's charitable social services cross all barriers of nationality, race, caste and religion, and have drawn the attention of the world community. In 2005, Amma's organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, was given special consultative status by the United Nations.Humanitarian, Mother, Friend, Guru, God…people see her differently. Amma has offered herself to the world. In reality, Amma is beyond all such roles, knowing her true nature to be the true nature of us all—the blissful divine consciousness that pervades this universe. But out of her infinite compassion, Amma comes down to the level of whoever is standing before her—the poor, the lonely, the seeker—in order to give what is desired, what is needed. It was for this purpose alone that Amma was born and for this alone that Amma lives today. In fact, Amma has said that she wishes to be lovingly caressing someone, consoling them and wiping their tears even when she breathes her last.



Amma, the Master


“Amma doesn't make any claims.” This is something we hear Amma say quite often. In fact, True Masters don't need to declare themselves to the world, for they will be recognized by those who are sincere in their search or pure of heart. Does the mother need to tell the baby, "I am your mother?" And so it is with Amma.

The essence of India lies in Her culture of Self-realization. God is not seen as something apart, but as our very essence, the one True Self that resides in the heart of us all. Raising ourselves from ordinary individuals to the heights of God Consciousness is only possible with the guidance of one who is already in that transcendent state. Such a one is called a Satguru, a True Master, as in one who has gained mastery over the mind, one who is beyond the mind.

From ancient times up to the present day, an unbroken succession of Self-realized Masters have taken birth in India to lead seekers of Truth to the ultimate reality. Yes, Amma makes no claims, but seekers from all over the world are finding in Her what they have been looking for—someone who directly experiences the supreme truth and is capable of leading them to that goal.

In Amma, we find both a Master and a Mother. Considering all to be Her children, She rejects none and is always accessible. From the village fisherman concerned about his poor catch to the disciple enquiring into the nature of reality, Amma is always ready to advise those who come to Her with faith and heartfelt need. And, rendered in Her native Malayalam, Her words elucidate the subtlest of truths in a manner that even a child can understand.

Although Amma has studied only up to the fourth standard, She is inspiring a spiritual renaissance throughout India and abroad. In 1995, Amma addressed the Interfaith Celebration in honour of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. In that address, She expressed Her vision for the future, one in which faith and meditation bring the world to a place of Self knowledge, unity, peace and tranquility. Anyone can see Amma's vision is not for a select few, but for the world, for the entire creation.

Amma never had a Guru. Nor has She studied any scriptures. Yet She has become the Spiritual Master — the centre of the universe, the life force, the guiding light — for millions. When your disciplehood is invoked, you realize that the Master has always been there waiting for you.

For selection of Amma's teachings on various subjects, please see Teachings.

Amma: The Wonder of Wonders

Born in a poor fishing village in Southern India and educated only up to the fourth standard, Amma now directly administers a vast network of charitable activities, serves as spiritual master to thousands of monks and nuns, mother to millions of devotees across the globe, spiritual advisor to the international community of nations and religions, and protector of the true spirit of India's Sanatana Dharma.

When we take a close look at Amma's life as She lives it, in truth, we can only look on in wonder.

The Satguru

The tiny hut where Amma was born has become the headquarters of a worldwide spiritual mission. Nowhere in the history of spiritual tradition has a Master transformed his or her birthplace into an ashram.

While She has had no formal guidance or initiation into spiritual life by a guru, She explains the intricate philosophies of the scriptures without having studied them. By defining sannyasa as a life of selfless service to the world, Amma has brought alive the ideals of the ancient Vedic tradition. And speaking only Her native tongue of Malayalam, She imparts the highest spiritual truths to people all across the world.

The Mother of All

Hugging and kissing in public is not part of Indian life. Women especially are expected to be more discreet. But Amma is hugging and kissing everyone who comes to meet Her.

She has not married, nor borne children, but She has become known as the Mother of all. Amma has been listening to the same domestic problems for the last 30 years. Some parents get tired of hearing the problems of their two or three children. But Amma gets neither bored nor impatient of hearing the same problems day after day, year after year, but ever so patiently guides Her children to a deeper understanding of the nature of the world and of the their own true Self.

It is a common sight to see people breaking into torrents of tears even at a mere glimpse of Amma. They feel that Amma is someone to whom they can pour all their sorrows. Later they say they feel redeemed and refreshed when they cry to Amma.

Her Epoch-making Temples

The inner shrine of Amma's unique temples - Brahmasthanam - has a single block of stone with the images of four deities on its four sides, illuminating the inherent unity underlying the Hindu pantheon.

From the prevailing cultural point of view, it is very unusual that a woman should consecrate a temple. Yet, Amma has elaborately consecrated 17 such Brahmasthanam temples, in India and abroad since 1987.

In these same temples, Amma has invested women as priests, marking the first time since ancient history that women have served as priests in India. In this and a myriad of other ways, Amma is restoring the true meaning to ancient rituals, and educating the Indian people about the treasure that is their own spiritual heritage.

Her Inspiration

Touched by Her compassion, and inspired by the ideals of selfless service exemplified in Her own life, Amma's monastic disciples and many devotees renounced their established careers and material accomplishments to serve Her and lead a life rooted in spiritual practices. They are the ones who run Amma’s various charitable activities, from building homes for the homeless to more than 60 educational institutions to an 800-bed superspecialty hospital, under the direct guidance of Amma.

"God's Love in a Human Body."

Since 1993, Amma has been increasingly recognised by the international community as a treasured repository of practical spiritual wisdom, who has the capacity to guide the world towards a better, brighter future. She been a featured speaker at the United Nations on three occasions, most recently when She was presented with the 2002 Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence. Presenting the award, Dr. Jane Goodall referred to Amma as “God’s love in a human body.”

She has only the same 24 hours each day that we have, and yet...

In the span of a day, Amma manages to give directions on the running of these myriad organisations, give darshan to thousands of people, read and respond to innumerable letters; counsel Her disciples on the smallest details of their spiritual practice, lead the evening bhajans - all this without the least stress or tension, with a smile ever lighting Her face! In the last three decades, She has never taken a sick leave or a holiday or a vacation.

Isn't it a wonder?

Darshan

"Amma's hugs and kisses should not be considered ordinary. When Amma embraces or kisses someone, it is a process of purification and inner healing. Amma is transmitting a part of Her pure, vital energy into Her children. It also allows them to experience true, unconditional love. When Amma holds someone it can help to awaken the dormant spiritual energy within them, which will eventually take them to the ultimate goal of Self-realization." - Amma

Amma's darshan is, as far as we can tell, unique in the history of the world. Darshan means "to see" and traditionally, a Master is seen but not touched. And in India, women do not touch men in public. But Amma's darshan emerged as a loving mother's embrace, beginning when She was only a teenager and held and comforted the lonely and suffering in Her village, and extending up to the present day. Amma makes herself available to anyone wishing to receive her blessing. There is never any charge, and no one is turned away. Hour after hour, day after day, year after year -- for over thirty years now, She has been embracing all who come to Her. Man or woman, sick or healthy, rich or poor, regardless of religious faith, caste, young or old: even the very elderly, even Her own parents, regard Her as their very own Mother. Amma now travels across India and to over a dozen countries throughout the world. Everywhere She goes, She gives darshan to all who come to Her.

In India Amma has been known to individually embrace over 20,000 people in one day, sitting sometimes for over 22 hours. Over the past thirty years, She has embraced over 21 million times!

Timothy Conway, Ph.D., author of the book Women of Power and Grace and expert on spiritual figures, describes Amma as "one of the most glorious lights to appear in the history of religion. Just her stamina - embracing these millions of people one by one, day after day, without a break, all over the world - is some kind of divine gift. No mere human resources could accomplish this."

Hers is an unconditional love which expresses itself through the unique vehicle of Her darshan: being ushered into the awesome presence of a Master, the sheer power of Her gaze, the indescribable sweetness of Her smile, the hug that ensconces one in eternity, the earthy voice whispering words of assurance, the gentle nuzzle on the cheek, and the gift of prasad.

Each person's darshan is a fresh experience because Amma Herself is ever fresh - spontaneous. Amma listens to our spoken words and unspoken thoughts, hugs the devotees and whispers a word or two in their ears. She knows exactly our need of the moment. With a pause here, a glimpse there, She instils moments of transformation. This is the testimony of thousands.

Hours pass and thousands are seen. On Her birthday celebrations, Amma has given darshan for twenty-two hours at a stretch with barely a break. She departs, Her shoulder stained with the marks of Her toil, Her cheek dark from hours of kissing, but She is still fresh as ever, Her eyes aglow with the radiant light of the Soul.


source:http://www.amritapuri.org

Srinivasa Aaiyangar Ramanujan

Srinivasa Aaiyangar Ramanujan

Indian mathematician (1887–1920)Ramanujan.jpg

Ramanujan, the son of a clerk, was born into a poor Brahmin family in Erode near Madras, India. Sometime in 1903, while a student at Kumbakonam High School, he acquired a copy of G. S. Carr's Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure Mathematics. Carr is an unusual work, normally of use as a reference work for a professional mathematician: it consists of about 6000 theorems presented without comment, explanation, or proof. Ramanujan set himself the task of demonstrating all the formulas, a task only a natural-born mathematician would contemplate, let alone pursue. Indifferent to other subjects, Ramanujan failed every exam he entered. For a time he was supported by Ramachandra Rao, a senior civil servant and secretary of the Indian Mathematical Society (IMS). In 1912 he took a clerical position with the Madras Port Trust. At the same time it was suggested that he should seek the advice of a number of British mathematicians about his work and career.
In January 1913 Ramanujan sent a letter to a number of British mathematicians containing a number of formulas. The only one to respond was the Cambridge mathematician G. H. Hardy. Hardy noted that, while some of the formulas were familiar, others “seemed scarcely possible to believe.” Some he thought he could, with difficulty, prove himself; others, he had never seen anything like before, and they defeated Hardy completely. Despite this, it was obvious to Hardy that the formulas must be true and could only come from a mathematician of the very highest class. With Hardy's backing, Ramanujan was awarded a scholarship by the University of Madras and invited to visit Cambridge.
There were, however, religious problems facing the devout Ramanujan but these were resolved when the goddess Namagiri appeared in a dream to Ramanujan's mother absolving him from his traditional obligations. By June 1913 Ramanujan was in Cambridge working with Hardy. They collaborated on five important papers. Ramanujan was elected to the Royal Society in 1918, the first Indian to be honored in this way, and was made a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1919. By this time his health had begun to fail. He returned to India in 1919 and died soon after from TB.
Part of Ramanujan's mathematical ability came from his ability to do mental calculations extremely quickly. It is said that he was traveling in a cab with Hardy when Hardy observed that the number of the cab in front, 1729, was a dull number. “No,” replied Ramanujan, “it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as a sum of two cubes in two different ways.” (1729 = 13+123 and 93+103.)

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Srinivasa Aaiyangar Ramanujan

(born Dec. 22, 1887, Erode, India — died April 26, 1920, Kumbakonam) Indian mathematician. Extremely poor, he was largely self-taught from age 15. In 1913 he began a correspondence with Godfrey H. Hardy (1877 – 1947) that took him to England, where he made advances, especially in the theory of numbers, the partition of numbers, and the theory of continued fractions. He published papers in English and European journals, and in 1918 he became the first Indian elected to the Royal Society of London. He died of tuberculosis at age 32, generally unknown but recognized by mathematicians as a phenomenal genius.

Columbia Encyclopedia: Ramanujan, Srinivasa (shrē'nĭvä'sə rämä'nʊjən) , 1889–1920, Indian mathematician. He was a self-taught genius in pure mathematics who made original contributions to function theory, power series, and number theory with the training gained from a single textbook. He was invited to Cambridge by G. H. Hardy, with whom he collaborated, and continued there his work in number theory. He died of tuberculosis.

Bibliography

See R. Kanigel, The Man Who Knew Infinity (1991).

From Wikipedia

"Ramanujan" redirects here. For other uses, see Ramanujan (disambiguation).

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Ramanujan.jpg

Born
22 December 1887(1887--)
Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
26 April 1920 (aged 32)
Chetput, (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India

Flag of India India, Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom

Flag of India Indian
Mathematician
University of Cambridge
G. H. Hardy and J. E. Littlewood

Landau-Ramanujan constant
Ramanujan-Soldner constant
Hindu

 

Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar (Tamil: ஸ்ரீனிவாச ராமானுஜன்) (22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician and one of the greatest mathematical geniuses of the 20th century.[1] With almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions in the areas of mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions.

Ramanujan, born and raised in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India, first encountered formal mathematics at age ten. He demonstrated a natural ability at mathematics, and was given books on advanced trigonometry by S. L. Loney.[2] He mastered this book by age thirteen, and even discovered theorems of his own. He demonstrated unusual mathematical skills at school, winning accolades and awards. By the age of seventeen, Ramanujan was conducting his own mathematical research on Bernoulli numbers and the Euler–Mascheroni constant. He received a scholarship to study at Government College in Kumbakonam. He failed his non-mathematical coursework, and lost his scholarship. He then joined another college to pursue independent mathematical research. In 1909, he married a nine-year old bride, Janaki Ammal, as per his parents' wishes (Such marriages used to be common in this particular sect of Hinduism where the husband and wife will not be allowed to stay together until the wife turns 18). To make a living, he worked as a clerk in the accountant general's office at the Madras Port Trust Office.[1] In 1912-1913, Ramanujan sent samples of his theorems to three academics at University of Cambridge. Only G. H. Hardy recognized his brilliant work, and he asked Ramanujan to study under him at Cambridge.

Ramanujan independently compiled nearly 3900 results (mostly identities and equations) during his short lifetime.[3] Although a small number of these results were actually false and some were already known, most of his claims have now been proven to be correct.[4] He stated results that were both original and highly unconventional, such as the Ramanujan prime and the Ramanujan theta function, and these have inspired a vast amount of further research.[5] However, some of his major discoveries have been rather slow to enter the mathematical mainstream. Recently, Ramanujan's formulae have found applications in the field of crystallography and in string theory. The Ramanujan Journal, an international publication, was launched to publish work in all the areas of mathematics that were influenced by Ramanujan.[6]

Life

Childhood and early life

Ramanujan's home on Sarangapani Street, Kumbakonam.

Ramanujan's home on Sarangapani Street, Kumbakonam.Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India, at the place of residence of his maternal grandparents.[7] His father, K. Srinivasa Iyengar worked as a clerk in a sari shop and hailed from the district of Thanjavur.[8] His mother, Komalatammal was a housewife and also a singer at a local temple. They lived in Sarangapani Street in a south-Indian-style home (now a museum) in the town of Kumbakonam. When Ramanujan was a year and a half old, his mother gave birth to a son named Sadagopan. The newborn died less than three months later. In December 1889, Ramanujan had smallpox and fortunately recovered, unlike the thousands in the Thanjavur district who had succumbed to the disease that year.[9] He moved with his mother to her parents' house in Kanchipuram, near Madras. In November 1891, and again in 1894, his mother gave birth, but both children died before their first birthdays.

On 1 October 1892, Ramanujan was enrolled at the local school.[10] In March 1894, he was moved to a Telugu medium school. After his maternal grandfather lost his job as a court official in Kanchipuram,[11] Ramanujan and his mother moved back to Kumbakonam and he was enrolled in the Kangayan Primary School.[12] After his paternal grandfather died, he was sent back to his maternal grandparents, who were now living in Madras. He did not like school in Madras, and he tried to avoid going to school. His family enlisted a local constantly to make sure he would stay in school. Within six months, Ramanujan was back in Kumbakonam again.[12]

Since Ramanujan's father was at work most of the day, his mother took care of him as a child. He had a close relationship with her. From her, he learned about tradition, the caste system and puranas. He learned to sing religious songs, to attend pujas at the temple and eating habits — all of which were necessary for Ramanujan to be a good Brahmin child.[13] At the Kangayan Primary School, Ramanujan performed well. Just before the age of ten, in November 1897, he passed his primary examinations in English, Tamil, geography and arithmetic. With his scores, he finished first in the district.[14] In 1898, his mother gave birth to a healthy boy named Lakshmi Narasimhan.[9] That year, Ramanujan entered Town Higher Secondary School where he encountered formal mathematics for the first time.[15]

By age eleven, he had exhausted the mathematical knowledge of two college students, who were lodgers at his home. He was later lent books on advanced trigonometry written by S.L. Loney.[16][17] He completely mastered this book by the age of thirteen and he discovered sophisticated theorems on his own. By fourteen, he achieved merit certificates and academic awards throughout his school career and also assisted the school in the logistics of assigning its 1200 students (each with their own needs) to its 35-odd teachers.[18] He completed mathematical exams in half the allotted time, and showed a familiarity with infinite series. When he was sixteen, Ramanujan came across the book, A synopsis of elementary results in pure and applied mathematics written by George S. Carr.[19] This book was a collection of 5000 theorems, and it introduced Ramanujan to the world of mathematics. The next year, he had independently developed and investigated the Bernoulli numbers and had calculated Euler's constant up to 15 decimal places.[20] His peers of the time commented that they "rarely understood him" and "stood in respectful awe" of him.[18]

When he graduated from Town High in 1904, Ramanujan was awarded the K. Ranganatha Rao prize for mathematics by the school's headmaster, Krishnaswami Iyer. Iyer introduced Ramanujan as an outstanding student who deserved scores higher than the maximum possible marks.[18] He received a scholarship to study at Government College in Kumbakonam,[21] known as the "Cambridge of South India."[22] However, Ramanujan was so intent on studying mathematics that he could not focus on any other subjects and failed most of them, losing his scholarship in the process.[23] In August 1905, he ran away from home, heading towards Visakhapatnam.[24] He later enrolled at Pachaiyappa's College in Madras. He again excelled in mathematics, but performed poorly in other subjects such as physiology. Ramanujan failed his F. A. degree exam in December 1906 and again a year later. Without a degree, he left college and continued to pursue independent research in mathematics. At this point in his life, he lived in extreme poverty and was often near the point of starvation.[25]

Adulthood in India

On 14 July 1909, Ramanujan was married to a nine-year old bride, Janaki Ammal,[26] as per the customs of India at that time, which included the married couple separating immediately after the ceremony, only to be reunited once the bride turns 18. After the marriage, Ramanujan developed a hydrocele testis, an abnormal swelling of the tunica vaginalis, an internal membrane in the testicle.[27] The condition could be treated with a routine surgical operation, that would release the blocked fluid in the scrotal sac. His family did not have the money for the operation, but in January 1910, a doctor volunteered to do the surgery for free.[28] After his successful surgery, Ramanujan searched for a job. He stayed at friends' houses while he was travelling door to door around the city of Madras (now Chennai) looking for a clerical position. To make some money, he tutored some students at Presidency College who were preparing for their F. A. exam.[29] In late 1910, Ramanujan was sick again, possibly as a result of the surgery earlier in the year. He was fearful for his health, and he even told his friend, R. Radakrishna Iyer, to "hand these [my mathematical notebooks] over to Professor Singaravelu Mudaliar [mathematics professor at Pachaiyappa's College] or to the British professor Edward B. Ross, of the Madras Christian College."[30] After Ramanujan recovered and got back his notebooks from Iyer, he took a northbound train from Kumbakonam to Villupuram, a coastal city under French control.[31][32]

Getting noticed by mathematicians

He met deputy collector V. Ramaswami Iyer who had recently founded the Indian Mathematical Society.[33] Ramanujan, wishing for a job at the revenue department where Iyer worked, showed him his mathematics notebooks. As Iyer later recalled:


I was struck by the extraordinary mathematical results contained in it [the notebooks]. I had no mind to smother his genius by an appointment in the lowest rungs of the revenue department."[34]

Iyer sent Ramanujan, with introduction letters, to his mathematical friends in Madras.[33] Some of these friends looked at his work and gave him letters of introduction to R. Ramachandra Rao, the district collector for Nellore and the secretary of the Indian Mathematical Society.[35][36][37] Ramachandra Rao was impressed by Ramanujan's work, but was doubtful that it was actually his own work. Ramanujan mentioned a correspondence he had with Professor Saldhana, a notable Bombay (now Mumbai) mathematician, in which Saldhana expressed a lack of understanding for his work, but concluded that he was not a phony.[38] Ramanujan's friend, C. V. Rajagopalachari, persisted with Ramachandra Rao and tried to quell any doubts over Ramanujan's academic morality. Rao agreed to give him another chance, and he listened as Ramanujan discussed elliptic integrals, hypergeometric series, and his theory of divergent series which Rao said ultimately "converted me" to believe Ramanujan's mathematical brilliance.[38] Rao: "ask him what he wanted", and Ramanujan replied that he needed some work and financial support. Rao consented and sent him to Madras. He continued his mathematical research with Rao's financial aid supporting his daily needs. Ramanujan, with the help of Ramaswami Iyer, had his work published in the Journal of Indian Mathematical Society.[39]

One of the first problems he posed in the journal was:

\sqrt{1+2\sqrt{1+3 \sqrt{1+\cdots}}}.

He waited for a solution to be offered in three issues, over six months, but failed to receive any. At the end, Ramanujan supplied the solution to the problem himself. On page 105 of his first notebook, he formulated an equation that could be used to solve the infinitely nested radicals problem.
x+n+a = \sqrt{ax+(n+a)^2 +x\sqrt{a(x+n)+(n+a)^2+(x+n) \sqrt\mathrm{etc.}}}

Using this equation, the answer to the question posed in the Journal was simply 3.[40] Ramanujan wrote his first formal paper for the Journal on the properties of Bernoulli numbers. One property he discovered was that the denominators (sequence A027642 in OEIS) of the fractions of Bernoulli numbers were always divisible by six. He also devised a method of calculating Bn based on previous Bernoulli numbers. One of these methods went as follows:

It will be observed that if n is even but not equal to zero,
(i) Bn is a fraction and the numerator of {B_n \over n} in its lowest terms is a prime number,
(ii) the denominator of Bn contains each of the factors 2 and 3 once and only once,
(iii) 2^n(2^n-1){b_n \over n} is an integer and 2^n(2^n-1)B_n\, consequently is an odd integer.

In "Some Properties of Bernoulli's Numbers", Ramanujan gave three proofs, two corollaries and three conjectures in his 17–page paper.[41] Ramanujan's writing initially had many flaws. As Journal editor M. T. Narayana Iyengar noted:


Mr. Ramanujan's methods were so terse and novel and his presentation so lack in clearness and precision, that the ordinary [mathematical reader], unaccustomed to such intellectual gymnastics, could hardly follow him.[42]

Ramanujan later wrote another paper and also continued to provide problems in the Journal.[43] In early 1912, he got a temporary job in the Madras Accountant General's office, with a 20 rupee/month salary. He kept the job for only a few weeks.[44] Towards the end of his job at the Account General's office, he applied for a job under the Chief Account of the Madras Port Trust. In a letter dated "9th February 1912", Ramanujan wrote:

Sir,
I understand there is a clerkship vacant in your office, and I beg to apply for the same. I have passed the Matriculation Examination and studied up to the F.A. but was prevented from pursuing my studies further owing to several untoward circumstances. I have, however, been devoting all my time to Mathematics and developing the subject. I can say I am quite confident I can do justice to my work if I am appointed to the post. I therefore beg to request that you will be good enough to confer the appointment on me.[45]

Attached to his application was a recommendation from E. W. Middlemast, a mathematics professor at the Presidence College who wrote that Ramanujan was "a young man of quite exceptional capacity in Mathematics."[46] Three weeks after he had applied, on 1 March, Ramanujan learned that he was accepted for a job as a Class III, Grade IV accounting clerk, making thirty rupees per month.[47] At his office, Ramanujan easily and quickly completed the work he was given, so he spent his spare time doing his mathematical research. Ramanujan's boss, Sir Francis Spring, and S. Narayana Iyer, a colleague who was also treasurer of the Indian Mathematical Society, encouraged Ramanujan in his mathematical pursuits.

Contacting English mathematicians

Spring, Narayana Iyer, Ramachandra Rao and E. W. Middlemast tried to expose Ramanujan's work to British mathematicians. One mathematician, M. J. M. Hill of University College in London, commented that Ramanujan's papers were riddled with holes.[48] He said that although Ramanujan had "a taste for mathematics, and some ability," he lacked the educational background and foundation needed so that his work would be accepted by higher-up mathematicians.[49] Although Hill did not offer to take Ramanujan in as a student, he did give thorough and serious professional advice on his work. With the help of friends, Ramanujan drafted letters to leading mathematicians at Cambridge University.[50]

The first two professors, H. F. Baker and E. W. Hobson, returned Ramanujan's papers without any comments.[51] On 16 January 1913, Ramanujan wrote to G. H. Hardy, who had the foresight to quickly recognize Ramanujan's mathematical skills. The nine pages of mathematical wonder seemed like it could hardly have come from an unestablished mathematician. Hardy originally viewed Ramanujan's manuscripts as a possible "fraud."[52] Hardy knew some of Ramanujan's formulas, but others "seemed scarcely possible to believe."[53] One of the theorems Hardy found hard to believe was found on the bottom of page three:

\int_0^\infty \cfrac{1+\left(\cfrac{x}{b+1}\right)^2}{1+\left(\cfrac{x}{a}\right)^2} \cfrac{1+\left(\cfrac{x}{b+2}\right)^2}{1+\left(\cfrac{x}{a+1}\right)^2}\;\;dx = \frac{1}{2^\frac{\pi}{2}} \frac{\Gamma(a+\frac{1}{2})\Gamma(b+1)\Gamma(b-a+\frac{1}{2})}{\Gamma(a)\Gamma(b+\frac{1}{2})\Gamma(b-a+1)}.

Hardy was also impressed by some of Ramanujan's other work relating to infinite series:

1 - 5\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^3 + 9\left(\frac{1\times3}{2\times4}\right)^3 - 13\left(\frac{1\times3\times5}{2\times4\times6}\right)^3 + \cdots = \frac{2}{\pi},
1 + 9\left(\frac{1}{4}\right)^4 + 17\left(\frac{1\times5}{4\times8}\right)^4 + 25\left(\frac{1\times5\times9}{4\times8\times12}\right)^4 + \cdots = \frac{2^\frac{3}{2}}{\pi^\frac{1}{2}\left \lbrace \Gamma\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)\right \rbrace^2}.

The first result had already been determined by a mathematician named Bauer. The second one was new to Hardy. It was derived from a class of functions called a hypergeometric series which had first been researched by Leonhard Euler and Carl Friedrich Gauss. Compared to Ramanujan's work on integrals, Hardy found these results "much more intriguing."[54] After he saw Ramanujan's theorems on continued fractions on the last page of the manuscripts, Hardy commented that the "[theorems] defeated me completely; I had never seen anything in the least like them before."[55] He figured that Ramanujan's theorems "must be true, because, if they were not true, no one would have the imagination to invent them.[55] Hardy contacted a colleague, J. E. Littlewood, to take a look at the papers. Littlewood was amazed by the mathematical genius of Ramanujan. After discussing the papers with Littlewood, Hardy concluded that the letters were "certainly the most remarkable I have received" and commented that Ramanujan was "a mathematician of the highest quality, a man of altogether exceptional originality and power."[56] One colleague, E. H. Neville, later commented that "not one [theorem] could have been set in the most advanced mathematical examination in the world."[57]

On 8 February 1913, Hardy wrote a letter back to Ramanujan, expressing his interest for his work. Hardy also added that it was "essential that I should see proofs of some of your assertions."[58] Before his letter arrived in Madras during the third week of February, Hardy contacted the Indian Office to set up plans for Ramanujan's trip to Cambridge. Secretary Arthur Davies of the Advisory Committee for Indian Students met with Ramanujan to discuss the overseas trip.[59] In accordance with his Brahmin upbringing, Ramanujan refused to leave his country to "go to a foreign land."[60] Meanwhile, Ramanujan sent a letter packed with theorems to Hardy, writing, "I have found a friend in you who views my labour sympathetically."[61]

To supplement Hardy's endorsement, a former mathematical lecturer at Trinity College in Cambridge, Gilbert Walker, looked at Ramanujan's work and expressed amazement and urged him to spend time at Cambridge.[62] As a result of Walker's endorsement, B. Hanumantha Rao, a mathematics professor at an engineering college, invited Ramanujan's colleague Narayana Iyer to a meeting of the Board of Studies in Mathematics to discuss "what we can do for S. Ramanujan."[63] The board met and agreed to grant Ramanujan a research scholarship of 75 rupees per month for the next two years at the University of Madras.[64] While he was engaged as a research student, Ramanujan continued to submit papers to the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society. In one paper, Ramanujan anticipated the work of a Polish mathematician who had published his work shortly after.[65] In his quarterly papers, Ramanujan drew up theorems to make definite integrals more easily solvable. Working off Giuliano Frullani's 1821 integral theorem, Ramanujan formulated generalizations that could be made to evaluate formerly unyielding integrals.[66]

Hardy's correspondence with Ramanujan soured after Ramanujan refused to come to England. Hardy enlisted a colleague lecturing in Madras, E. H. Neville, to mentor and bring Ramanujan to England.[67] Neville asked Ramanujan why he was not coming to Cambridge. Ramanujan apparently had now accepted the proposal, as Neville put it, "Ramanujan needed no converting and that his parents' opposition had been withdrawn."[57] Apparently, Ramanujan's friends convinced his mother to accept the journey to Cambridge. Ramanujan was personally convinced by a vivid dream his mother had, in which the family goddess Namagiri commanded her "to stand no longer between her son and the fullfilment of his life's purpose."[57]

Life in England

Ramanujan went aboard the S. S. Nevasa on 17 March 1913, and at ten o'clock in the morning, the ship departed from Madras.[68] He arrived in London on April 14, with E. H. Neville waiting for him with a car. Four days later, Neville took him to his house on Chesterton Road in Cambridge. Ramanujan immediately began his work with Littlewood and Hardy. After six weeks, Ramanujan moved out of Neville's house and took up residence on Whewell's Court, just a five minutes walk away from Hardy's room.[69] Hardy and Ramanujan began to take a look at Ramanujan's work in his notebooks. Hardy had already received 120 theorems from Ramanujan in the first two letters, but there were many more results and theorems to be found in the notebooks. Hardy saw that some were wrong, some were already discovered and the rest were new breakthroughs.[70] Ramanujan left a deep impression on Hardy and Littlewood. Littlewood commented, "I can believe that he's at least a [Carl Gustav Jacob] Jacobi,"[71] while Hardy said he "can compare him only with [Leonhard] Euler or Jacobi."[72]

Ramanujan spent nearly five years in Cambridge collaborating with Hardy and Littlewood and published a part of his findings there. Hardy and Ramanujan had highly contrasting personalities. Their collaboration was a clash of different cultures, beliefs and working styles. Hardy was an atheist and an apostle of proof and mathematical rigour, whereas, Ramanujan was a deeply religious man and relied very strongly on his intuition. While in England, Hardy tried his best to fill the gaps in Ramanujan's education without interrupting his spell of inspiration.

Ramanujan was awarded a B.A. degree by research (this degree was later renamed PhD) in March 1916 for his work on highly composite numbers which was published as a paper in the Journal of the London Mathematical Society. The paper was over 50 pages with different properties of such numbers proven. Hardy remarked that this was one of the most unusual papers seen in Mathematical Research at that time and that Ramanujan showed extraordinary ingenuity in handling it. On 6 December 1917, he was elected to the London Mathematical Society. He was the second Indian to become a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1918 and he became one of the youngest Fellows in the entire history of the Royal Society.[73] He was elected "for his investigation in Elliptic Functions and the Theory of Numbers." On 13 October 1918, he became the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[74]

Illness and return to India

Plagued by health problems all through his life, living in a country far away from home, and obsessively involved with his mathematics, Ramanujan's health worsened in England, perhaps exacerbated by stress, and by the scarcity of vegetarian food during the First World War. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and a severe vitamin deficiency and was confined to a sanatorium. Ramanujan returned to Kumbakonam, India in 1919 and died soon thereafter at the age of 32. His wife, S. Janaki Ammal, lived in Chennai (formerly Madras) until her death in 1994.[75]

A 1994 analysis of Ramanujan's medical records and symptoms by Dr. D. A. B. Young concluded that it was much more likely he had hepatic amoebiasis, a parasitic infection of the liver. This is supported by the fact that Ramanujan had spent time in Madras, where the disease was widespread. He had two cases of dysentery before he left India. When not properly treated, dysentery can lie dormant for years and lead to hepatic amoebiasis.[1] It was a difficult disease to diagnose, but once diagnosed would have been readily curable.[1]

Personality

Ramanujan has been described as a person with a somewhat shy and quiet disposition, a dignified man with pleasant manners.[76] He lived a rather spartan life while at Cambridge and frequently cooked vegetables alone in his room.

Spiritual life

Ramanujan was a Tamil Iyengar. His first Indian biographers describe him as rigorously orthodox. Ramanujan credited his acumen to his family goddess, Namagiri, and looked to her for inspiration in his work.[77] He often said, "An equation for me has no meaning, unless it represents a thought of God."[78]

Mathematical achievements

In mathematics, there is a distinction between having an insight and having a proof. Ramanujan's talent suggested a plethora of formulae that could then be investigated in depth later. It is said that Ramanujan's discoveries are unusually rich and that there is often more in it than what initially meets the eye. As a by-product, new directions of research were opened up. Examples of the most interesting of these formulae include the intriguing infinite series for π, one of which is given below

\frac{1}{\pi} = \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{9801} \sum^\infty_{k=0} \frac{(4k)!(1103+26390k)}{(k!)^4 396^{4k}} .

This result is based on the negative fundamental discriminant d = −4×58 with class number h(d) = 2 (note that 5×7×13×58 = 26390) and is related to the fact that,

e^{\pi \sqrt{58}} = 396^4 - 104.000000177\dots.

Ramanujan's series for π converges extraordinarily rapidly (exponentially) and forms the basis of some of the fastest algorithms currently used to calculate π.

One of his remarkable capabilities was the rapid solution for problems. He was sharing a room with P.C.Mahalanobis who had a problem, "Imagine that you are on a street with houses marked 1 through n. There is a house in between (x) such that the sum of the house numbers to left of it equals the sum of the house numbers to its right. If n is between 50 and 500, what are n and x." This is a bivariate problem with multiple solutions. Ramanujan thought about it and gave the answer with a twist. He gave a continued fraction. The unusual part was that it was the solution to the whole class of problems. Mahalanobis was astounded and asked how he did it. "It is simple. The minute I heard the problem, I knew that the answer was a continued fraction. Which continued fraction, I asked myself. Then the answer came to my mind", Ramanujan replied.

His intuition also led him to derive some previously unknown identities, such as

\left [ 1+2\sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{\cos(n\theta)}{\cosh(n\pi)} \right ]^{-2} + \left [1+2\sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{\cosh(n\theta)}{\cosh(n\pi)} \right ]^{-2} = \frac {2 \Gamma^4 \left ( \frac{3}{4} \right )}{\pi}

for all θ, where Γ(z) is the gamma function. Equating coefficients of θ0, θ4, and θ8 gives some deep identities for the hyperbolic secant.

In 1918, G. H. Hardy and Ramanujan studied the partition function P(n) extensively and gave a very accurate non-convergent asymptotic series that permits exact computation of the number of partitions of an integer. Hans Rademacher, in 1937, was able to refine their formula to find an exact convergent series solution to this problem. Ramanujan and Hardy's work in this area gave rise to a powerful new method for finding asymptotic formulae, called the circle method.[79]

One example of his intuition is his discovery of Mock Theta functions, in the last year of his life. This was no surprise to some mathematicians as they remarked, "He has his own creativity and the collaboration with Hardy to back it up. So, his finding these is no surprise to the mathematical community." This has gained some interest recently due to proof of the exact formula for the coefficients of any Mock Theta function. It was claimed by many mathematicians to be the most significant among his discoveries.

The Ramanujan conjecture

Main article: Ramanujan-Petersson conjecture

Although there are numerous statements that could bear the name Ramanujan conjecture, there is one statement that was very influential on later work. In particular, the connection of this conjecture with conjectures of A.Weil in algebraic geometry opened up new areas of research. That Ramanujan conjecture is an assertion on the size of the tau function, which has as generating function the discriminant modular form Δ(q), a typical cusp form in the theory of modular forms. It was finally proved in 1973, as a consequence of Pierre Deligne's proof of the Weil conjectures. The reduction step involved is complicated. Deligne won a Fields Medal for his work on Weil conjectures.[80]

Ramanujan's notebooks

While still in India, Ramanujan recorded the bulk of his results in four notebooks of loose leaf paper. These results were mostly written up without any derivations. This is probably the origin of the misperception that Ramanujan was unable to prove his results and simply thought up the final result directly. Mathematician Bruce C. Berndt, in his review of these notebooks and Ramanujan's work, says that Ramanujan most certainly was able to make the proofs of most of his results, but chose not to.

This style of working may have been for several reasons. Since paper was very expensive, Ramanujan would do most of his work and perhaps his proofs on slate, and then transfer just the results to paper. Using a slate was common for mathematics students in India at the time. He was also quite likely to have been influenced by the style of G. S. Carr's book, which stated results without proofs. Finally, it is possible that Ramanujan considered his workings to be for his personal interest alone; and therefore only recorded the results.[81]

The first notebook has 351 pages with 16 somewhat organized chapters and some unorganized material. The second notebook has 256 pages in 21 chapters and 100 unorganized pages, with the third notebook containing 33 unorganized pages. The results in his notebooks inspired numerous papers by later mathematicians trying to prove what he had found. Hardy himself created papers exploring material from Ramanujan's work as did G. N. Watson, B. M. Wilson, and Bruce Berndt.[81] A fourth notebook, the so-called "lost notebook", was rediscovered in 1976 by George Andrews.[1]

Other mathematicians' views of Ramanujan

Ramanujan is generally hailed as an all time great like Euler, Gauss or Jacobi for his natural mathematical genius5. G. H. Hardy quotes: "The limitations of his knowledge were as startling as its profundity. Here was a man who could work out modular equations and theorems... to orders unheard of, whose mastery of continued fractions was... beyond that of any mathematician in the world, who had found for himself the functional equation of the zeta function and the dominant terms of many of the most famous problems in the analytic theory of numbers; and yet he had never heard of a doubly-periodic function or of Cauchy's theorem, and had indeed but the vaguest idea of what a function of a complex variable was...".[82] Hardy went on to claim that his greatest contribution to mathematics came from Ramanujan.

Quoting K. Srinivasa Rao,[83] "As for his place in the world of Mathematics, we quote Bruce C. Berndt: 'Paul Erdős has passed on to us G. H. Hardy's personal ratings of mathematicians. Suppose that we rate mathematicians on the basis of pure talent on a scale from 0 to 100, Hardy gave himself a score of 25, J.E. Littlewood 30, David Hilbert 80 and Ramanujan 100.'"

In his book Scientific Edge, noted physicist Jayant Narlikar stated that "Srinivasa Ramanujan, discovered by the Cambridge mathematician G.H. Hardy, whose great mathematical findings were beginning to be appreciated from 1915 to 1919. His achievements were to be fully understood much later, well after his untimely death in 1920. For example, his work on the highly composite numbers (numbers with a large number of factors) started a whole new line of investigations in the theory of such numbers." Narlikar also goes on to say that his work was one of the top ten achievements of 20th century Indian science and "could be considered in the Nobel Prize class."[84] The work of other 20th century Indian scientists which Narlikar considered to be of Nobel Prize class were those of Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Megh Nad Saha and Satyendra Nath Bose.

Recognition

Ramanujan's home state of Tamil Nadu celebrates December 22 (Ramanujan's birthday) as 'State IT Day', memorializing both the man and his achievements, as a native of Tamil Nadu. A stamp picturing Ramanujan was released by the Government of India in 1962 — the 75th anniversary of Ramanujan's birth — commemorating his achievements in the field of number theory.

A prize for young mathematicians from developing countries has been created in the name of Ramanujan by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), in cooperation with the International Mathematical Union, who nominate members of the prize committee. During the year 1987 (Ramanujan's centennial), the printed form of Ramanujan's Lost Notebook by the Narosa publishing house of [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer-Verlag]] was released by the late Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, who presented the first copy to S. Janaki Ammal Ramanujan (Ramanujan's late widow) and the second copy to George Andrews in recognition of his contributions in the field of number theory.

Projected films

  • An international feature film on Ramanujan's life will begin shooting in 2007 in Tamil Nadu state and Cambridge. It is being produced by an Indo-British collaboration; it will be co-directed by Stephen Fry and Dev Benegal.[85] A play First Class Man by Alter Ego Productions [86] was based on David Freeman's "First Class Man". The play is centered around Ramanujan and his complex and dysfunctional relationship with G. H. Hardy.
  • Another film based on the book The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel is being made by Edward Pressman and Matthew Brown.

Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu 1910-1997)

Mother Teresa

  • Born: 27 August 1910
  • Birthplace: Skopje, Macedonia
  • Died: 5 September 1997
  • Best Known As: Humanitarian nun of Calcutta, called "The Saint of the Gutters"

Name at birth: Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu

Mother Teresa grew famous for humbly ministering to lepers, the homeless and the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. In 1928 Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Lareto, a Catholic order that did charity work in India. She took the name Sister Teresa and for 17 years taught school in the country. In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a new order devoted to helping the sick and poor; the order grew to include branches in more than 100 cities around the world, and Mother Teresa became a worldwide symbol of charity, meeting with Princess Diana and many other public figures. In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, and in 1985 she was awarded the Medal of Freedom from the United States.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 19 October 2003, placing her one step from sainthood in the Catholic faith; after beatification she became known as the Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata... Though her parents were ethnic Albanians, Mother Teresa was born in what is now Macedonia and what was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Some sources give her date of birth as August 26th, not August 27th.

For her work among the poor and dying of India, Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a Roman Catholic nun who founded the only Catholic religious order still growing in membership, was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Yugoslavia, on August 27, 1910. Her parents were Albanian grocers, and at the time of her birth Skopje lay within the Ottoman Empire. She attended public school in Skopje, and first showed religious interests as a member of a school sodality that focused on foreign missions. By the age of 12 she felt she had a calling to help the poor.

This calling took sharper focus through her teenage years, when she was especially inspired by reports of work being done in India by Yugoslav Jesuit missionaries serving in Bengal. When she was 18 Mother Teresa left home to join a community of Irish nuns, the Sisters of Loretto, who had a mission in Calcutta, India. She received training in Dublin, Ireland, and in Darjeeling, India, taking her first religious vows in 1928 and her final religious vows in 1937.

One of Mother Teresa's first assignments was to teach, and eventually to serve as principal, in a girls' high school in Calcutta. Although the school lay close to the teeming slums, the students were mainly wealthy. In 1946 Mother Teresa experienced what she called a second vocation or "call within a call." She felt an inner urging to leave the convent life and work directly with the poor. In 1948 the Vatican gave her permission to leave the Sisters of Loretto and to start a new work under the guidance of the Archbishop of Calcutta.

Founding the Missionaries of Charity

To prepare to work with the poor, Mother Teresa took an intensive medical training with the American Medical Missionary Sisters in Patna, India. Her first venture in Calcutta was to gather unschooled children from the slums and start to teach them. She quickly attracted both financial support and volunteers, and in 1950 her group, now called the Missionaries of Charity, received official status as a religious community within the Archdiocese of Calcutta. Members took the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but they added a fourth vow - to give free service to the most abjectly poor. In Mother Teresa's own view, the work of her group was very different from that of secular welfare agencies. She saw her nuns ministering to Jesus, whom they encounter as suffering in the poor, especially those who are dying alone or who are abandoned children.

The Missionaries of Charity began their distinctive work of ministering to the dying in 1952, when they took over a temple in Calcutta that previously had been dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. The sisters working there had, as their main goal, filling with dignity and love the last days of poor people who were dying. The physical conditions of this shelter were not imposing, although they were completely clean; but the emotional atmosphere of love and concern struck most visitors as truly saintly. When the sisters were criticized or disparaged because of the small scale of their work (in the context of India's tens of millions of desperately poor and suffering people), Mother Teresa tended to respond very simply. She considered any governmental help a benefit, but she was content to have her sisters do what they could for specific suffering people, since she regarded each individual as infinitely precious in God's sight.

The Missionaries of Charity received considerable publicity, and Mother Teresa used it rather adroitly to benefit her work. In 1957 they began to work with lepers and slowly expanded their educational work, at one point running nine elementary schools in Calcutta. They also opened a home for orphans and abandoned children. In 1959 they began to expand outside of Calcutta, starting works in other Indian cities. As in Calcutta, their focus was the poorest of the poor: orphans, the dying, and those ostracized by diseases such as leprosy. Before long they had a presence in more than 22 Indian cities, and Mother Teresa had visited such other countries as Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Australia, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Italy to begin foundations. Although in most of these countries the problems of the poor seemed compounded by uncontrolled population growth, the Sisters held strongly negative views on both abortion and contraception. Their overriding conviction was that all lives are precious, and sometimes they seemed to imply that the more human beings there were, the better God's plan was flourishing.

In 1969 Mother Teresa allowed a group called the International Association of Co-Workers of Mother Teresa to affiliate itself with the Missionaries of Charity. This was a sort of "third order, " as Catholics sometimes call basically lay groups that affiliate with religious orders both to help the orders in their work and to participate in their idealistic spirituality. These Co-Workers were drawn to Mother Teresa's work with the very poor, and their constitution specified that they wanted to help serve the poorest of the poor, without regard to caste or creed, in a spirit of prayer and sacrifice.

Dedication to the Very Poor

Mother Teresa's group continued to expand throughout the 1970s, opening works in such new countries as Jordan (Amman), England (London), and the United States (Harlem, New York City). She received both recognition and financial support through such awards as the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize and a grant from the Joseph Kennedy Jr. Foundation. Benefactors regularly would arrive to support works in progress or to stimulate the Sisters to open new ventures. Mother Teresa received increasing attention in the media, especially through a British Broadcasting Corporation special interview that Malcolm Muggeridge conducted with her in London in 1968. In 1971, on the occasion of visiting some of her sisters in London, she went to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to pray with the Irish women for peace and to meet with lan Paisley, a militant Protestant leader. In the same year she opened a home in Bangladesh for women raped by Pakistani soldiers in the conflicts of that time. By 1979 her groups had more than 200 different operations in over 25 countries around the world, with dozens more ventures on the horizon. In 1986 she persuaded President Fidel Castro to allow a mission in Cuba. The hallmark of all of Mother Teresa's works - from shelters for the dying to orphanages and homes for the mentally ill - continued to be service to the very poor.

In 1988 Mother Teresa sent her Missionaries of Charity into Russia and also opened a home for AIDS patients in San Francisco, California. In 1991 she returned home to Albania and opened a home in Tirana, the capital. At this time, there were 168 homes operating in India. Later in 1995, plans materialized to open homes in China.

Despite the appeal of this saintly work, all commentators remarked that Mother Teresa herself was the most important reason for the growth of her order and the fame that came to it. Muggeridge was struck by her pleasant directness and by the otherworldly character of her values. He saw her as having her feet completely on the ground, yet she seemed almost unable to comprehend his suggestion (meant as an interviewer's controversial prod) that trying to save a few of India's abandoned children was almost meaningless, in the face of the hordes whom no one was helping. He realized that Mother Teresa had virtually no understanding of a cynical or godless point of view that could consider any human being less than absolutely valuable.

Another British interviewer, Polly Toynbee, was especially struck by Mother Teresa's lack of rage or indignation. Unlike many "social critics, " she did not find it necessary to attack the economic or political structures of the cultures that were producing the abjectly poor people she was serving. For her the primary rule was a constant love, and when social critics or religious reformers chose to vent anger at the evils of structures underlying poverty and suffering, that was between them and God. Indeed, in later interviews Mother Teresa continued to strike an apolitical pose, refusing to take a stand on anything other than strictly religious matters. One sensed that to her mind politics, economics, and other this-worldly matters were other people's business. The business given by God to her and her group was simply serving the very poor with as much love and skill as they could muster.

In the 1980s and 1990s Mother Teresa's health problems became a concern. She suffered a heart attack while visiting Pope John Paul II in 1983. She had a near fatal heart attack in 1989 and began wearing a pacemaker.

In August 1996 the world prayed for Mother Teresa's recovery. At the age of 86, Mother Teresa was on a respirator in a hospital, suffering from heart failure and malaria. Doctors were not sure she would recover. Within days she was fully conscious, asked to receive communion, and requested that the doctors send her home. When she was sent home a few weeks later in early September, a doctor said she firmly believed, "God will take care of me."

In late November of that same year, Mother Teresa was again hospitalized. She had angioplasty surgery to clear two blocked arteries. She was also given a mild electric shock to correct an irregular heartbeat. She was released after spending almost a month in the hospital.

In March 1997, after an eight week selection process, 63-year-old Sister Nirmala was named as the new leader of the Missionaries of Charity. Although Mother Teresa had been trying to cut back on her duties for some time (because of her health problems), she stayed on in an advisory role to Sister Nirmala.

In April 1997 filming began on the movie "Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor" with actress Geraldine Chaplin playing the title role. The movie aired in the fall of 1997 on "The Family Channel" even though, after viewing the movie, Mother Teresa refused to endorse it. Mother Teresa celebrated her 87th birthday in August, and died shortly thereafter of a heart attack on September 5, 1997. The world grieved her loss and one mourner noted, "It was Mother herself who poor people respected. When they bury her, we will have lost something that cannot be replaced."

In appearance Mother Teresa was both tiny (only about five feet tall) and energetic. Her face was quite wrinkled, but her dark eyes commanded attention, radiating an energy and intelligence that shone without expressing nervousness or impatience. Many of her recruits came from people attracted by her own aura of sanctity, and she seemed little changed by the worldwide attention she received. Conservatives within the Catholic Church sometimes used her as a symbol of traditional religious values that they felt lacking in their churches. By popular consensus she was a saint for the times, and a spate of almost adoring books and articles started to canonize her in the 1980s and well into the 1990s. She herself tried to deflect all attention away from what she did to either the works of her group or to the god who was her inspiration. She continued to combine energetic administrative activities with a demanding life of prayer, and if she accepted opportunities to publicize her work they had little of the cult of personality about them.

In the wake of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace she received many other international honors, but she sometimes disconcerted humanitarian groups by expressing her horror at abortion or her own preference for prayer rather than politics. When asked what would happen to her group and work after her death, she told people that God would surely provide a successor - a person humbler and more faithful than she. The Missionaries of Charity, who had brothers as well as sisters by the mid-1980s, are guided by the constitution she wrote for them. They have their vivid memories of the love for the poor that created the phenomenon of Mother Teresa in the first place. So the final part of her story will be the lasting impact her memory has on the next generations of missionaries, as well as in the world as a whole.

Further Reading

A good sampling of Mother Teresa's own ideas was available in her own books, Life in the Spirit (1983); A Simple Path (1995); In My Own Words (1996); and No Greater Love (1997). The books contained reflections, meditations, and prayers that provided a good basis for judging Mother Teresa's spirituality. Of the constantly growing number of biographies and studies, Malcolm Muggeridge's Something Beautiful for God (1984) deserved special mention, because it was one of the first and best publicized treatments. Muggeridge made no effort to conceal his admiration. Other solid, if usually almost overly admiring, treatments included Eileen Egan, Such a Vision of the Street (1985); Desmond Doig, Mother Teresa: Her People and Her Work (1976); Kathryn Spink, The Miracle of Love (1982); Edward Le Joly, Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1983); William Jay Jacobs, Mother Teresa: Helping the Poor (1991); Margaret Holland, Mother Teresa (1992); and Mildred Pond, Mother Teresa (1992).

See also Maclean's (March 24, 1997) and People (June 30, 1997). Information on Mother Teresa may also be accessed on the internet by doing a search of her name (August 20, 1997).

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

(born Aug. 27, 1910, Skopje, Maced., Ottoman Empire — died Sept. 5, 1997, Calcutta, India; beatified Oct. 19, 2003) Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. The daughter of a grocer, she became a nun and went to India as a young woman. After studying nursing, she moved to the slums of Calcutta (Kolkata); in 1948 she founded her order, which served the blind, the aged, the disabled, and the dying. In 1963 the Indian government awarded her the Padmashri ("Lord of the Lotus") for her services to the people of India, and in 1971 Pope Paul VI awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. In 1979 she received the Nobel Prize for Peace. Although in her later years she suffered from a worsening heart condition, Mother Teresa continued to serve the poor and sick and also spoke out against divorce, contraception, and abortion. Her order included hundreds of centres in more than 90 countries, with some 4,000 nuns and hundreds of thousands of lay workers. She was succeeded by the Indian-born Sister Nirmala. The process to declare her a saint began within two years of her death, and Pope John Paul II issued a special dispensation to expedite the process. She was beatified on Oct. 19, 2003, reaching the ranks of the blessed in the shortest time in the church's history.

For more information on Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, visit Britannica.com.

Columbia Encyclopedia: Teresa, Mother, 1910–97, Roman Catholic missionary in India, winner of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, b. Skopje (now in Macedonia) as Agnes Goxha Bojaxhiu. Of Albanian parentage, she went to India at 17, becoming a nun and teaching school in Calcutta (now Kolkata). In 1948 she left the convent and founded the Missionaries of Charity, which now operates schools, hospitals, orphanages, and food centers worldwide. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003.

Bibliography

See her writings in In My Own Words (1996, comp. by J. L. González-Balado) and her letters in Come Be My Light (2007, ed. by B. Kolodiejchuk).

History Dictionary: Mother Teresa (tuh-ree-suh, tuh-ray-zuh)

A Roman Catholic nun, born in Yugoslavia, who received the Nobel Prize for peace in 1979 for her humanitarian work among lepers and other dying poor of Calcutta.

Quotes By: Mother Teresa

Quotes:

 

"The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted."

 

"It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving."

 

"Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God --the rest will be given."

 

"To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it."

 

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

 

"There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much."

Quotes by Mother Teresa supplied by Quotations Book.

 

Mother Teresa (born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu IPA: [ˈagnɛs gɔnˈʤa bɔˈjaʤiu]) (August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997) was a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. For over forty years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.

As the Missionaries of Charity grew under Mother Teresa's leadership, they expanded their ministry to other countries. By the 1970s she had become internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless, due in part to a documentary, and book, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.[2][3]

Early life

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born on 26 August, 1910, in Skopje, which is now the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.[4] She was the youngest of the children of a family from Shkodër, Albania, born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu. Nikola was involved in politics and devoted to the Albanian Cause. After a political meeting he fell ill and died when Agnes was about eight years old.[4] After her father's death, her mother raised her as a Roman Catholic. According to a biography by Joan Graff Clucas, in her early years Agnes was fascinated by stories of the lives of missionaries and their service, and by age 12 was convinced that she should commit herself to a religious life.[5] She left home at age 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary. She never again saw her mother or sister.[6]

Agnes initially went to the Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland to learn English, the language the Sisters of Loreto used to teach school children in India.[7] She arrived in India in 1929, and began her novitiate in Darjeeling, near the Himalayan mountains.[8] She took her first religious vows as a nun on 24 May, 1931. At that time she chose the name Teresa after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries.[9] She took her solemn vows on 14 May, 1937, while serving as a teacher at the Loreto convent school in eastern Calcutta.[10][11]

Although Teresa enjoyed teaching at the school, she was increasingly disturbed by the poverty surrounding her in Calcutta.[12] A famine in 1943 brought misery and death to the city; and the outbreak of Hindu/Muslim violence in August 1946 plunged the city into despair and horror.[13]

Missionaries of Charity

On September 10, 1946, Teresa experienced what she later described as "the call within the call" while traveling to the Loreto convent in Darjeeling for her annual retreat. "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith."[14] She began her missionary work with the poor in 1948, replacing her traditional Loreto habit with a simple white cotton chira decorated with a blue border and then venturing out into the slums."[15] Initially she started a school in Motijhil; soon she started tending to the needs of the destitute and starving.[16] Her efforts quickly caught the attention of Indian officials, including the Prime Minister, who expressed his appreciation.[17]

Teresa wrote in her diary that her first year was fraught with difficulties. She had no income and had to resort to begging for food and supplies. Teresa experienced doubt, loneliness and the temptation to return to the comfort of convent life during these early months. She wrote in her diary:


Our Lord wants me to be a free nun covered with the poverty of the cross. Today I learned a good lesson. The poverty of the poor must be so hard for them. While looking for a home I walked and walked till my arms and legs ached. I thought how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health. Then the comfort of Loreto [her former order] came to tempt me. 'You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again,' the Tempter kept on saying ... Of free choice, my God, and out of love for you, I desire to remain and do whatever be your Holy will in my regard. I did not let a single tear come.[18]

Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying in Kolkata (Calcutta).

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Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying in Kolkata (Calcutta).

Teresa received Vatican permission on October 7, 1950 to start the diocesan congregation that would become the Missionaries of Charity.[19] Its mission was to care for, in her own words, "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone." It began as a small order with 13 members in Calcutta; today it has more than 4,000 nuns running orphanages, AIDS hospices, and charity centers worldwide, and caring for refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless, and victims of floods, epidemics, and famine.[20]

In 1952 Mother Teresa opened the first Home for the Dying in space made available by the City of Calcutta. With the help of Indian officials she converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat Home for the Dying, a free hospice for the poor. She renamed it Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday).[21] Those brought to the home received medical attention and were afforded the opportunity to die with dignity, according to the rituals of their faith; Muslims were read the Quran, Hindus received water from the Ganges, and Catholics received the Last Rites.[22] "A beautiful death," she said, "is for people who lived like animals to die like angels — loved and wanted."[22] Mother Teresa soon opened a home for those suffering from Hansen's disease, commonly known as leprosy, and called the hospice Shanti Nagar (City of Peace).[23] The Missionaries of Charity also established several leprosy outreach clinics throughout Calcutta, providing medication, bandages and food.

As the Missionaries of Charity took in increasing numbers of lost children, Mother Teresa felt the need to create a home for them. In 1955 she opened the Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, the Children's Home of the Immaculate Heart, as a haven for orphans and homeless youth.[24]

The order soon began to attract both recruits and charitable donations, and by the 1960s had opened hospices, orphanages, and leper houses all over India. Mother Teresa then expanded the order throughout the globe. Its first house outside India opened in Venezuela in 1965 with five sisters.[25] Others followed in Rome, Tanzania, and Austria in 1968; during the 1970s the order opened houses and foundations in dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States.[26]

Her philosophy and implementation have faced some criticism. While noting how little evidence Mother Teresa's critics were able to find against her, David Scott wrote that Mother Teresa limited herself to keeping people alive rather than tackling poverty itself.[27] She has also been criticized for her view on suffering: According to an article in the Alberta Report, she felt that suffering would bring people closer to Jesus.[28] The quality of care offered to terminally ill patients in the Homes for the Dying has been criticised in The Lancet and the British Medical Journal, which reported poor living conditions, such as using cold baths for all patients, reusing hypodermic needles, and taking an anti-materialist approach that precluded the use of systematic diagnosis.[29]

International charity

In 1982, at the height of the Siege of Beirut, Mother Teresa rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas.[30] Accompanied by Red Cross workers, she traveled through the war zone to the devastated hospital to evacuate the young patients.[31]

When the walls of Eastern Europe collapsed, she expanded her efforts to Communist countries that had previously rejected the Missionaries of Charity, embarking on dozens of projects. She was undeterred by criticism about her firm stand against abortion and divorce stating, "No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work."

Mother Teresa traveled to assist and minister to the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, and earthquake victims in Armenia.[32][33][34] In 1991, Mother Teresa returned for the first time to her homeland and opened a Missionaries of Charity Brothers home in Tirana, Albania.

By 1996, she was operating 517 missions in more than 100 countries.[35] Over the years, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity grew from twelve to thousands serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centers around the world. The first Missionaries of Charity home in the United States was established in the South Bronx, New York; by 1984 the order operated 19 establishments throughout the country.[36]

The spending of the charity money received has been criticized by some. Christopher Hitchens and the Stern have said that money that was donated with the intention of it being spent on the keeping of the poor was spent on other projects instead. [37]

Deteriorating health and death

Mother Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome in 1983, while visiting Pope John Paul II. After a second attack in 1989, she received an artificial pacemaker. In 1991, after a battle with pneumonia while in Mexico, she suffered further heart problems. She offered to resign her position as head of the Missionaries of Charity. But the nuns of the order, in a secret ballot, voted for her to stay. Mother Teresa agreed to continue her work as head of the order.

In April 1996, Mother Teresa fell and broke her collar bone. In August she suffered from malaria and failure of the left heart ventricle. She had heart surgery, but it was clear that her health was declining. On March 13, 1997, she stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity and died on September 5,1997, nine days after her 87th birthday.

The Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry Sebastian D'Souza, said he ordered a priest to perform an exorcism on Mother Teresa with her permission when she was first hospitalized with cardiac problems because he thought she may be under attack by the devil.[38]

At the time of her death, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters, an associated brotherhood of 300 members, and over 100,000 lay volunteers, operating 610 missions in 123 countries. These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools.

Global recognition and awards

Reception in India and Asia

Mother Teresa was granted a state funeral by the Indian Government in gratitude for her services to the poor of all religions in India.[39] In tribute, Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan said that she was "a rare and unique individual who lived long for higher purposes. Her life-long devotion to the care of the poor, the sick, and the disadvantaged was one of the highest examples of service to our humanity."[40] Mother Teresa had first been officially recognised in the region long before her death. In 1962, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government. That same year she received the Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, given for work in South or East Asia. The citation said that "the Board of Trustees recognizes her merciful cognizance of the abject poor of a foreign land, in whose service she has led a new congregation".[41] She continued to receive major Indian rewards in successive decades including, in 1972, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding and, in 1980, India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.[42]

Indian views on Mother Teresa were not uniformly favourable. Her critic Aroup Chatterjee, who was born and bred in Calcutta but lived in London, reports that "she was not a significant entity in Calcutta in her lifetime". Chatterjee blames Mother Teresa for promoting a negative image of his home city.[43] Her presence and profile grated in parts of the Indian political world, as she often opposed the Hindu Right. The Bharatiya Janata Party clashed with her over the Christian Dalits, but praised her in death, sending a representative to her funeral. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on the other hand, opposed the Government's decision to grant her a state funeral. Its secretary Giriraj Kishore said that "her first duty was to the Church and social service was incidental" and accused her of favouring Christians and conducting "secret baptisms" of the dying. But Parvathi Menon, writing the front page tribute for the Indian fortnightly Frontline, dismissed these charges as "patently false" and said that they had "made no impact on the public perception of her work, especially in Calcutta". Although praising her "selfless caring", energy and bravery, Menon was critical of Mother Teresa's public campaigning against abortion and that she claimed to be non-political when doing so.[42] More recently, the Indian daily The Telegraph referred to her as "the Saint of the Gutters", also mentioning calls for "Rome to investigate whether she did anything to alleviate the condition of the poor or just took care of the sick and dying and needed them to further a sentimentally-moral cause".[44]

Reception in the rest of the world

By the early 1970s, Mother Teresa had become an international celebrity. Her fame can be in large part attributed to the 1969 documentary Something Beautiful for God, which was fPresident Ronald Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony, 1985.ilmed by Malcolm Muggeridge and his 1971 book of the same title. Muggeridge was undergoing a spiritual journey of his own at the time.[45] During the filming of the documentary, footage taken in poor lighting conditions, particularly the Home for the Dying, was thought unlikely to be of usable quality by the crew. After returning from India, however, the footage was found to be extremely well lit. Muggeridge claimed this was a miracle of "divine light" from Mother Teresa herself.[46] Others in the crew thought it was due to a new type of ultra-sensitive Kodak film.[47] Muggeridge later converted to Catholicism.

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President Ronald Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony, 1985

Around this time, the Catholic world began to honor Mother Teresa publicly. In 1971, Paul VI awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, commending her for her work with the poor, display of Christian charity and efforts for peace.[48] She later received the Pacem in Terris Award (1976).[49] Since her death, Mother Teresa has progressed rapidly along the steps towards sainthood, currently having reached the stage of having been beatified.

Mother Teresa was honored by both governments and civilian organizations. The United Kingdom and the United States each repeatedly granted awards, culminating in the Order of Merit in 1983, and honorary citizenship of the United States received on November 16, 1996. Mother Teresa's Albanian homeland granted her the Golden Honor of the Nation in 1994.[42] Her acceptance of this and another honour granted by the Haitian government proved controversial. Mother Teresa attracted criticism, particularly from the left, for implicitly giving support to the Duvaliers, to corrupt businessmen such as Charles Keating and Robert Maxwell and even to mainstream politicians on the right wing of Western politics, such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. In Keating's case she wrote to the judge of his trial asking for clemency to be shown.[29] [42]

Universities in both the West and in India granted her honorary degrees.[42] Other civilian awards include the Balzan Prize for promoting humanity, peace and brotherhood among peoples (1978),[50] and the Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975).[51]

Mother Teresa received great attention from the media, such as Time Magazine.

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Mother Teresa received great attention from the media, such as Time Magazine.

In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace." She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates, and asked that the $192,000 funds be given to the poor in India,[52] stating that earthly rewards were important only if they helped her help the world's needy. When Mother Teresa received the prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered "Go home and love your family." Building on this theme in her Nobel Lecture, she said: "Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society - that poverty is so hurtable [sic] and so much, and I find that very difficult." More specifically, she singled out abortion as 'the greatest destroyer of peace in the world'. [53]

Her death was mourned in both secular and religious communities. The former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, for example, said: "She is the United Nations. She is peace in the world."[40] During her lifetime and after her death, Mother Teresa was consistently found by Gallup to be the single most widely admired person in the US, and in 1999 was ranked as the "most admired person of the 20th century" by a poll in the US. She out-polled all other volunteered answers by a wide margin, and was in first place in all major demographic categories except the very young.

Towards the end of her life, Mother Teresa attracted some negative attention in the Western media. The author Christopher Hitchens has been one of her most active critics in both the United Kingdom and the United States. He was commissioned to co-write and narrate the documentary Hell's Angel about her for Channel 4 after Aroup Chatterjee encouraged the making of such a program, although Chatterjee was unhappy with the "sensationalist approach" of the final product.[43] Hitchens expanded his criticism in a 1995 book, The Missionary Position.[54]

Chatterjee writes that while she was alive Mother Teresa and her official biographers refused to collaborate with his own investigations and that she failed to defend herself against critical coverage in the Western press. He gives as examples a report in The Guardian in Britain whose "stringent (and quite detailed) attack on conditions in her orphanages ... [include] charges of gross neglect and physical and emotional abuse", and another documentary Mother Teresa: Time for Change? broadcast in several European countries.[43] Both Chatterjee and Hitchens have themselves been subject to criticism for their stance.

The German magazine Stern published a hostile article on the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's death. The medical press has also published criticism of her, arising from very different outlooks and priorities on patients' needs.[29] Other critics include Tariq Ali, a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review, and the Irish-born investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre.[54]

Spiritual life

Analyzing her deeds and achievements, John Paul II asked: "Where did Mother Teresa find the strength and perseverance to place herself completely at the service of others? She found it in prayer and in the silent contemplation of Jesus Christ, his Holy Face, his Sacred Heart."[55]

In his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, Benedict XVI mentioned Teresa of Calcutta three times and he also used her life to clarify one of his main points of the encyclical. "In the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta we have a clear illustration of the fact that time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to our neighbour but is in fact the inexhaustible source of that service."[56] Mother Teresa specified that "It is only by mental prayer and spiritual reading that we can cultivate the gift of prayer."[57]

Although there was no direct connection between Mother Teresa's order and the Franciscan orders, she was known as a great admirer of St. Francis of Assisi.[58] Accordingly, her influence and life show influences of Franciscan spirituality. The Sisters of Charity recite the peace prayer of St. Francis every morning during thanksgiving after Communion and many of the vows and emphasis of her ministry are similar.[58] St. Francis emphasized poverty, chastity, obedience and submission to Christ. He also devoted much of his own life to service of the poor, especially lepers in the area where he lived.

Mother Teresa wrote numerous letters to her confessors and superiors over a 66-year period. She had asked that her letters be destroyed, concerned that "people will think more of me -- less of Jesus."[59] However, despite this request, the correspondences have been compiled in Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday).[60][45] In one publicly released letter to a spiritual confidant, the Rev. Michael van der Peet, she wrote, "Jesus has a very special love for you. [But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear — the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak ... I want you to pray for me — that I let Him have [a] free hand."

Many news outlets have referred to Mother Teresa's writings as an indication of a "crisis of faith." [61] However, others have drawn comparisons to the 16th century mystic St. John of the Cross, who coined the term the "dark night" of the soul to describe a particular stage in the growth of some spiritual masters.[45] The Vatican has indicated that the letters would not affect her path to sainthood. [62] In fact, the book is edited by the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, her postulator, the official responsible for gathering the evidence for her sanctification.[45]

Influence in the world

The Missionaries of Charity Brothers was founded in 1963, and a contemplative branch of the Sisters followed in 1976. Lay Catholics and non-Catholics were enrolled in the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity. In answer to the requests of many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests,[63] and in 1984 founded with Fr. Joseph Langford the Missionaries of Charity Fathers[64] to combine the beauty of the vocation of the Missionaries of Charity with the resources of the ministerial priesthood. Today, over one million workers worldwide volunteer for the Missionaries of Charity.[citation needed]

Miracle and beatification

Following Mother Teresa's death in 1997, the Holy See began the process of beatification, the second step towards possible canonization. This process requires the documentation of a miracle performed from the intercession of Mother Teresa. In 2002, the Vatican recognized as a miracle the healing of a tumor in the abdomen of an Indian woman, Monica Besra, following the application of a locket containing Mother Teresa's picture. Monica Besra said that a beam of light emanated from the picture, curing the cancerous tumor. Some of Besra's medical staff and, initially, Besra's husband insist that conventional medical treatment eradicated the tumor.[65] Unless dispensed by the Pope, a second miracle is required for her to proceed to canonization.

Christopher Hitchens, a British-born American author, journalist and literary critic, was the only witness called by the Vatican to give evidence against Mother Teresa's beatification and canonization process, as the Vatican had abolished the traditional "devil's advocate" role that filled a similar purpose.[66] Hitchens has written that Mother Teresa's own words on poverty proved that "her intention was not to help people", and he alleged that she lied to donors about the use of their contributions. “It was by talking to her that I discovered, and she assured me, that she wasn't working to alleviate poverty,” says Hitchens. “She was working to expand the number of Catholics. She said, ‘I'm not a social worker. I don't do it for this reason. I do it for Christ. I do it for the church.’"[67] In the process of examining Teresa's suitability for beatification and canonization, the Roman Curia (the Vatican) pored over a great deal of documentation of published and unpublished criticisms against her life and work. Vatican officials say Hitchens' allegations have been investigated by the agency charged with such matters, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and they found no obstacle to Mother Teresa's beatification. Due to the attacks she has received, some Catholic writers have called her a sign of contradiction.[68]

Commemoration

Memorial plaque dedicated to Mother Teresa at a building in Václavské náměstí in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

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Memorial plaque dedicated to Mother Teresa at a building in Václavské náměstí in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Main article: Commemorations of Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa inspired a variety of commemorations. She has been memorialized through museums, been named patroness of various churches, and had various structures and roads named after her.

10th anniversary of her death

On September 5, 2007, Mother Teresa's feast day, Calcutta's Archbishop Lucas Sirkar said Mass for thousands of devotees to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa (attended by nuns and volunteers at Mother House, the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity).[69]