N for Numbers

Welcome to the "Believe it or Not- That's Incredible India!" series. India is home to some of the most astonishing wonders in the world. The rich culture, heritage, food, scriptures, architectural marvels and scores of known and unknown facts come together to create this multicolored melange that is India. Throughout this month, read about the various believe it or not facts about India and know what goes into the making of this incredible country!

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Albert Einstein famously said,

“We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”

He wasn’t simply making an emotional statement; there was plenty of data to back that up. Here are some interesting number facts-

As early as the 8^th century B.C. the Indian mathematician Budhayana had calculated the value of ‘pi’ and he explained in detail what we now know as the Pythagoras Theorem. This was long before the European mathematician gave us the concept.

The study of Algebra (Bija Ganitam), Geometry (Rekha Gamitam), Trigonometry, and Calculus originated in India.

The ‘place value system’ was developed in India in 100 BC.  

Sridharacharya studied and explained the Quadratic equations in the 11^th century.

The largest numbers used by the western world was 10⁶ whereas Indian scholars used numbers as big as 10⁵³  with specific names as early as 5000 BC during the Vedic period .

Even today the largest number used is Peta which is 10^15.

Talking of Vedic mathematics, it is an ancient system of Mathematics developed by Indian scholars. The technique was so advanced that the scholars were able to compute most complex arithmetical problems mentally without the use of paper or pen.

When the excavation of ancient site at Harappa was done, weights and measures with decimal values were found. Scales with precise markings and measurements were also found at the sites and were used to ensure proper implementation of town planning. This showed that the decimal system was in place much before it was developed and introduced in the modern world.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Believe it or not – That’s incredible India!

M for MOM

Welcome to the "Believe it or Not- That's Incredible India!" series. India is home to some of the most astonishing wonders in the world. The rich culture, heritage, food, scriptures, architectural marvels and scores of known and unknown facts come together to create this multicolored melange that is India. Throughout this month, read about the various believe it or not facts about India and know what goes into the making of this incredible country!

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MOM as the Mars Orbiter Mission is better known, put India in the elite club of nations that have sent an orbiter to the Red planet. When ‘Mangalyaan’ propelled into space on 5^th November 2013, it was a proud moment for us Indians!

The launch of the MOM was special in more ways than one. Besides making India the first Asian country to have launched a spacecraft to Mars, it also was a huge success in its very first attempt.  There have been 57 Mars missions so far, out of which only 21 have been successful. Doesn’t that showcase the brilliance of the Indian scientists and their technological advancements? Kudos to them!

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Another stroke of brilliance was achieving this amazing feat at a very low budget. The total cost of putting Mangalyaan into orbit was $74 million or Rs. 450 crore. NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) orbiter cost a whopping $671 million. ISRO achieved it at 10 times lesser cost!  Even the Hollywood movie Gravity cost $100 million. In fact, the cost per kilometer of Mangalyaan’s journey of 140 million miles is just about Rs. 6.60/km, which is lesser than the fare of auto rickshaw in India!

This huge mission was developed and executed in just 15 months. With MOM keenly studying Mars, the scientists hope to get a peek into the structure and atmosphere of the red planet.

Some interesting tidbits about the MOM and India’s space program-

NASA Mars Rover sent out a greeting tweet in Hindi welcoming MOM.

It read- “Namaste @MarsOrbiter! Congratulations to @ISRO and India’s first interplanetary mission upon achieving Mars orbit.” 

To which MOM replied, “Howdy @CuriosityRover ? Keep in touch. I’ll be around.” 

Cute. Isn’t it?

Did you know, the first Indian rocket was transported to the site of launch on a bicycle! The subsequent one in 1981, the APPLE satellite was transported on a bullock cart as it was heavier!  We have literally come a long way since then!

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There are 82 Indian satellites in space. The first two satellites were Aryabhatta and Bhaskara. There’s also one named after Kalpana Chawla- the meteorological satellite Kalpana -1.

Doesn’t all this make your chest puff up in pride?

Believe it or not – That’s Incredible India!

L for Language

Welcome to the "Believe it or Not- That's Incredible India!" series. India is home to some of the most astonishing wonders in the world. The rich culture, heritage, food, scriptures, architectural marvels and scores of known and unknown facts come together to create this multicolored melange that is India. Throughout this month, read about the various believe it or not facts about India and know what goes into the making of this incredible country!

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Did you know that there are 1650 languages spoken in India? But in spite of this, there's no language that qualifies as the national language - though we official use both Hindi and English in most parts of the country for communication. Doesn't that tell us something? In India, you are free to talk in the language of your choice and write in the language you want to. Freedom in the truest sense of the word.

There's another interesting fact. Though English is an acquired language we still rank as the second largest English-speaking population in the world next only to the USA! There are about 120 million people in India who speak both Hindi and English. 

Of the 1650 languages that are spoken, the five major languages besides English and Hindi are – Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu and Urdu which are spoken by 50 million people each! About 121 languages are spoken by more than 10,000 people each. It is, however, sad that almost 250 languages have perished and more than 700 languages are on the verge of extinction. 

Another interesting fact is that languages popular in other parts of the world are spoken here too, like  - the Munda language spoken in Cambodia and Vietnam is spoken in central India, or the Tibetian language which is spoken in Ladakh and some parts of North-east or the Sidi language which is spoken by people in Western India.

In fact, there’s a common saying that in India that says, ‘Kos kos pe badle paani, char kos pe bhaasha’ which means the taste of water in India changes every 3 kilometers and the language changes every 12 kilometers! And yet what binds the people together is the language of 'Love', which, I believe, is the same in any language. 

Is this linguistic diversity amazing?  

Believe it or not – That’s Incredible India!

K for Kumbh Mela

Welcome to the "Believe it or Not- That's Incredible India!" series. India is home to some of the most astonishing wonders in the world. The rich culture, heritage, food, scriptures, architectural marvels and scores of known and unknown facts come together to create this multicolored melange that is India. Throughout this month, read about the various believe it or not facts about India and know what goes into the making of this incredible country!

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If there’s one congregation that stands out for being the most heavily attended, it would have to be the Kumbh Mela. The sheer number of people who visit ‘the Kumbh’ is mindboggling. We aren’t talking of a few thousand people, not even a few lakhs. Hold your breath, because we are talking of a  80-100 million people! That is the number of people who throng to this holy place every year in search of moksha, making it ‘Maha’ in every sense of the word! What’s amazing about the Kumbh is that it is so large that the congregation is even visible from space!

According to a legend, when the gods and demons churned the ocean in what is famously described as the ‘Samudra Manthan’, a pot of ‘nectar of immortality’ arose from it. To prevent the demons from partaking it, the divine eagle–Garuda, flew away with the pot. Apparently, a few drops of the nectar fell into four rivers bestowing them with sacredness.

The Kumbh is therefore held once every 12 years at the banks of these four holy rivers— The Ganges in Haridwar, the Shipra in Ujjain, the Godavari river in Nasik and Sangam (the confluence of Saraswati and Yamuna) in Allahabad. Taking a holy dip in these nectar-fortified rivers is said to cleanse people of their sins and liberate their souls from the cycle of re-birth.

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Along with the veritable crowd of humanity, you will also rub  shoulders with meditating sadhus, yogis balancing themselves precariously on one foot, astrologers and soothsayers beckoning you to have your future read, and ‘aghoris’ covered in nothing but ash. You  will also see small tents selling a gazillion things from trinkets and medicinal herbs to conches and semi-precious stones.

All these sights coupled with the visuals of the glorious sun rising and setting  against  the backdrop of the vast river of people, make the Maha Kumbh ethereal and enchanting!

In the words of the great author, Mark Twain who once visited the Kumbh in 1895, “It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of old and the weak, the young and the frail, enter without hesitation and complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining.”

The Maha Kumbh is truly an experience beyond your wildest imagination!

Believe it or not - That's Incredible India!

J for Jai Hind!

Welcome to the "Believe it or Not- That's Incredible India!" series. India is home to some of the most astonishing wonders in the world. The rich culture, heritage, food, scriptures, architectural marvels and scores of known and unknown facts come together to create this multicolored melange that is India. Throughout this month, read about the various believe it or not facts about India and know what goes into the making of this incredible country!

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Indians have been foremost in many of the inventions and discoveries that have changed the world. It is a matter of pride to know that simple things that we use in our daily lives like buttons, ink, cotton, rulers and even shampoo are India’s gift to the world!

The excavations at Mohenjo Daro proved that buttons were used to fasten clothes - 2000 years ago during the Indus valley Civilization! Ivory rulers with decimal subdivisions on them were also excavated here and dated back to 1500 BCE. During the 5 th and 4^th millennium BCE, Indians not only cultivated cotton but made clothes out of it. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Let’s move over to the 19^th century. If someone were to be asked who invented the radio, most people might say Marconi. He is credited with having invented the wireless radio communication and even received a Nobel prize for it.

But did you know that two years before Marconi’s demonstration, an Indian Scientist, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose had already demonstrated the use of radio in 1895! A century later, Sir Jagadish was recognized for his feat and posthumously awarded for his achievement. Sir Jagadish’s revolutionary technology is what forms the basis of most of the modern technology we use today, ranging from mobiles to WiFi, and satellites to radars.

The daily Chronicle, England, 1896, wrote about his extraordinary invention. “The Inventor J. C. Bose has transmitted signals to a distance of nearly a mile and herein lies the first and obvious and exceedingly valuable application of this new theoretical marvel.”

Moving on to modern times, there are plenty of new age inventions that are credited to Indians. The most notable ones are the invention of the Pentium chip and the USB – two inventions that literally shaped our present day communication, and the invention of Fiber Optics.

Vinod Dham is called as the Father of the Pentium Chip and is held in high regard for his contribution to this highly successful Pentium Processor from Intel.

Indian-American Ajay V Bhatt is the inventor of the USB. He is also the man behind AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) , PCI Express , Platform Power management architecture and various other chip-set improvements.

Dr.Narinder Singh Kapany is widely known as the Father of Fiber Optics and was listed by the Fortune Magazine as one of the 7 Unsung Heroes for his pioneering work in Fiber Optics technology. 












Aren't we proud of their achievements? Jai Hind! 

Believe it or Not - That's Incredible India!