
The mystic aura of India and the enigma that she is has captured the
imagination and fancy of great minds. Take a look at what they have to
say about India.
“Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by
narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary
desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is lead forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action-
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,
let my country awake.”
“GEETANJALI” -Rabindranath Tagore
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made. -Albert Einstein
If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.- Max Mueller (German scholar)
Mark Twain said:
India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.French scholar Romain Rolland said: If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and
pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday’s bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined. – Mark Twain
When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous. – Albert Einstein
India – The land of Vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas. – Wheeler Wilcox (American poet)
August 15, 2006 at 2:47 pm
A great way to sum things up and make all indians feel proud. Thanks for pointing out Max Mueller’s quote. Just learnt about him (in depth) few weeks ago and nice to learn that he quoted that. Jai Hind!
August 15, 2006 at 2:51 pm
There are so many things that we Indians are and should be proud of. These are just what some great ppl (acclaimed achievers) said. But the main essence of patriotism is seen in those millions of people who come forward to volunteer selflessly at sites of train accidents, blasts, riots…..those who take the injured in, nurse them, provide shelter……Salutes to those non acclaimed …..unacknowledged GREAT ppl.
Jai Hind !
August 16, 2006 at 5:51 pm
Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas…….. and maybe much more we don’t know complete truth about them……Infact we don’t know anything about them…….We never even tried……Why is that american universities are bringing it to light wat exactly consists into vedas and nothing have been done in India . …..how much are we even using it is the question.
Today if U go in New delhi……on an average 6 hours of a day u won’t get any electricity…..forget about thousands of villages which has never seen a light bulb.
Einstein-We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count.
There r zillion things invented after counting……….How much is the contribution of Indians…..????????
Wat r we gving today is the question????
Wat r we doing now…..????????
Don’t wish to go on……….I might be the next one to get shot……..:-) by an Indian
August 17, 2006 at 9:47 am
Great quotes. Happy Independence Day!!
Contribution of India is “0″ (zero)
But ,seriously, the question seems real. Our ancetors did great things. But where we are now?
Taking proud of old days is sign of old age of man or nation.
August 18, 2006 at 1:16 am
@ JV
If we dont take pride in our motherland, who will ??? And I am surprised to see ur views….You think indians went off to sleep after inventing Zero ?? Havent u heard of Sabir Bhatia(Hotmail), Vinod Khosla(Sun),Vinod Dahm(Intel), Azim premji(top rich persons),Arun Netravalli (AT&T Bell Labs),Rajiv Gupta (HP), Sanjay Tejwrika(Win2000), Amarutya Sen, Kalpna Chawla, and list goes on enedlessly.
Mother Teresa chose India to be her last abode.
If you first generation Indians have apprehensions about our great country, what shall u pass on to ur next generation.
I know there’s yet a lot to be done …..but just for that u cant just disregard all thats already been done.
Don’t curse the darkness. Light a candle instead.
August 18, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Ok agreed 10% of the glass is full.
Does’nt mean we should stop looking at the 90% of the glass which is still empty.
Forget about the contribution to the world. Lets look at the self.
* We all know in temples shoes are not allowed…………why ……reason is
cleanliness…….
how much clean is our society where we cannot realise soil erosion is a problem.
We all have studied in standard 5 or 6 that it is a problem……but what do we do, exam mein
rat liye marks mil gaye aur bhool gaye. we all have done that including me…….not saying that………but its high time we atleast need to identify them as issues.
* society where ppl still differentiate between each other based on caste system which does’nt
even have any basis at all in today’s scenario……why can’t we start thinking logically…every one is equall.
* Social justice-
“sabne suna hoga Kanoon ke haath bahut lambe hote hai”
kitne pata nahi !!!!!!!
ppl like salman khan keeps the system of justice in his pocket.
* politics- in hands of illiterates and goons (majority of them)
these are the managers of our society. and they have learnt only one lesson how to accumulate more money in their pockets.
* Economic system- in such a mess- a poor man cannot even think of living in decent conditions unless he does something wrong.
why are labor laws never been revised????????????????????
aaaj bhi official salaries are so outdated that no-human can survive on them
once made never updated ever??????????
* Bar gals in maharashtra banned………Indo-pak matches ..banned, any event which is a little exposed….banned……….these so called karta dharta of society reaches there and closes it down.
where is the freedom of expression for an artist, where is the fredom of creativity for an individual…………
and then u quote “Where the mind is without fear” by Rabindranath Tagore.
Can mind be without fear in such a circumstances????????????????????????
do u want more reasons to be still be happy with 10% glass full or 90% glass empty???????????????
August 19, 2006 at 12:13 am
We cannot live in our glorious past although good thing is that presently we are a growing Economy which should guide us to a bright, sound and secure future.
But there are certainly things that need attention, Gap between rich and poor, basic education and infrastructure, Corruption in public life, National Security etc. These are problems that we have to get past and May be one day we will. Cleansing of political class is one place to start.
August 23, 2006 at 6:51 pm
People who consider the glass to be 10% full are too pessimistic to even realize the goodness in others. Why curse the darkness…..light the candle.
Till when will we keep cursing our political and judicial system…..As the youth of india what steps are we taking towards it. I know one good fish in filthy waters cant do much…..but that doesnot give u a right to crib. Let me ask …..What have u done for India ???
When it was time to sit for the IAS/PCS/IPS exams……u sat for GRE/TOEFL. We can’t criticize a system where we never took the initiative for a reform.
A small candle may not be enough to lighten a whole room, but it could burn long enough to find a flashlight.
August 24, 2006 at 4:33 pm
* Well there is a fine line between cursing a political or judicial system and pointing them out as issues that WE need to work on as a team.
* About me doing something about India. Will
definitely do when the day is right when his
” chingari would be bright enough to give a light”
But definitely by pointing fingers at each other none of the things will improve.
I did’nt selected IAS/PCS/IPS because I think I will be able to do more someday by doing GRE/TOEFL.
* Aren’t NRIs doing things today. The scale and measure is different for everyone. Am doing something even right now and will be doing something in future as well….. depending upon my size and stature.
Perfectly agree with you that a small candle could burn long enough to find a flashlight but do we have to be in the system always to improve it. Why can’t why can’t we do it from outside. maybe we could get a better perspective.
And by saying “Why curse the darkness….. light the candle” am not cursing the darkness. but making others realize that there is some darkness that we need to work on.
* And about the fact that ppl who consider glass 10% full are too pessimistic to realize goodness in others-
That is not the case. Was just trying to convey the fact about past glory of India, and if u have even the slightest hint of Indian civilization at the vedic times then u would realise that we(India today) is
not even 10% of wat they were once upon a time.
August 24, 2006 at 5:42 pm
I just hope so called today’s indian youth doesnt comprise of people who have “Naam Badhe aur darshan chhotte”
I can just hope that the words are not just words and do have sincere intentions that shall borne fruit some day.