Friday, February 25, 2011

Yogi who lives on nothing - Prahlad Jani

Prahlad Jani

An 83-year-old yogi named, Prahlad Jani has lived for 70 years with out drinking water and eating any food. 
Prahlad Jani is popularly known as Mataji has baffled people from all walks of life by his unique ability to stay away from food and water for the past 68 years. In fact he is better known as the Yogi who lives on nothing.




A team of Doctors from Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) and the Sterling Hospital have analysed the physiology of Jani for 15 consecutive days from April 22, 2010 to May 6, 2010
He was kept under strict observation during this period. He was given only limited water to wash and bathe and the water sample was measured to see whether he had drunk any. Ha did not have any access to food for the entire period and “neither did he pass urine or stool”, according to the hospital’s deputy superintendent, Dr Dinesh Desai.
Most people can live without food for several weeks, with the body drawing on its fat and protein stores. But the average human can survive for only three to four days without water.

Mataji claims that for the past 70 years he has gone without food and water after being blessed by a Goddess. If only his methods could be replicated we could help our soldiers in the borders to survive better.
All the doctors of come to one conclusion though – that Mataji is in perfect shape for a man of 80+ years. All his report may well have been that of a young man of 20 years. This is a marvel in itself.


Some more pics..




83-year-old Prahlad jani's stunning the world by not eating or drinking since the age of fifteen (for the last 68 years) deserves honour and kudos but the media prefers to go gaga over IPL and the sex lives of Bollywood gods. 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Shortest Girl of the World from India



Jyoti Amge (born December 16, 1993), a resident of Nagpur, India, is currently the world's smallest girl according to the Limca Book of Records. She has a growth anomaly, that has restricted her height to 23 inches (58 cm), and her weight to 11 pounds (5.25 kg).
Jyoti's family:
Sister Rupali n Archana 
Brother: Satish
Mother: Ranjana Amge
Father: Kishan
Jyoti is smallest than the average two-year-old child. Doctors say she has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia and she will not get longer than its current height in future.
She wears dresses and jewelry especially made for her. She has a tiny bed of her own and uses special plates and cutlery to eat. Despite of her smaller size, she says that she is happy with her smaller size.
She is going to a regular school in Nagpur, Central India where she is given her own smallestdesk and chair. She is happy because her classmates deal her like other normal students. Jyoti has her own mini grey uniform and school bag. She looks just like a doll among other teenage class fellows.



She says:
“When I was three I realized that I was different to rest of kids” she said:
“I thought that everyone was bigger and I should get bigger too”.
She says there are many people in the world that are dwarf like me. She says I am same just as other people. I eat like you and dream like you. I don’t feel any difference and don’t want to be treated differently.
Smallest girl Jyoti wants to be an actress. Despite of her tinniest size, she wants to live normal life. She says, “When I first went to school everyone was so big I used to get scared but I am ok now. I like it. I have a different desk and chair that were specially designed for me. I’m a normal student. She works from her custom made chair and table but her pen and books are still too big for her.


During her first five years of life, she feel constantly sick but eventually she grew stronger.
She is same like other teenage girls as she has a large collection of dresses. She says I like to shop for me. She loves makeup and dressing up like beautiful models. She has a dream to do films. People in the region of India where the family lives flock to see the teenager Jyoti and some people treat her as a Goddess. You all are requested to pay her for happiness and long life.
Some more pics...





Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Longest Running Film


Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has become a milestone, which is yet to be achieved by anyone even after a decade. It has completed 700 weeks of undeterred run at Mumbai’s Minnerva theatre a couple of years back. It was released nationwide on October 20, 1995. The film was directed by Aditya Chopra, and starred Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and Amrish Puri. Earning over Rs 580 million in India and Rs 175 million overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood hit of the year, as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits of all time. The movie remains the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema.

Sholay was the second longest running Indian movie. It ran for 5 years continuously and the theatres screening it always had the houseful board in front of it for that period.

Longest Hindi Film

LOC : Kargil  at 4 hrs 25 min is the Longest Indian movie made so far. The story is of Indian soldiers fighting in Kargil and being remembered by their family and features a big star cast. In an effort to give each cast member a back story, LOC:Kargilbecame a tedious, song-filled production with no real highlight except the dubious distinction of being the longest Hindi film ever.

Mera Naam Joker at 4 hrs 14 min is a close second.


Bollywood


The Indian Film Industry is the largest film industry in the world. Out of the various film industries in the country Bollywood alone (Mumbai based film industry) is known to produce more than 800 to 1000 films a year.

What many people do not know is that Bollywood was born in 1899 with the production of a short film which is 11 years before Hollywood’s birth later in 1910 with a Biography melodrama. Bollywood has a worldwide audience of 3 Billion and in terms of viewer ship, it overtook Hollywood in 2004 and has been leading ever since.

Monday, February 21, 2011

India's wealth

India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India’s wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.


Even in the present, India is the richest country.
How.. ?


Mr. G Vaidyaraj, who donated all his wealth, about which he actually did not know.He is a descendent of Raja Krishnadev Raya from Mysore district.
For the last 300 years or so, three stones were worshiped in his house.But nobody tried to see what it was, except this person, who is a lawyer by profession. One day, when there was nobody in his house, he took the stone out to see what it was that they worship. Due to the dust deposited on it, from many many years, it looked only like a simple stone. But when he touched it, some portion of the stone was cleansed. And he saw a bright ray of light. He saw something which attracted his attention. And he was amazed when he cleaned all of them. The whole room was filled with light. He discovered they were diamonds of about 4600 carats each. He informed the Govt. of India and the news is censored with its security.
It’s now deposited in a Swiss Bank.The cost of single diamond exceeds the GDP of USA + UK .
India can buy virtually 7 developing nations. Even World Bank does not have enough money to buy it.
One diamond costs thrice the debt of World Bank over India. One such diamond can buy 10 Bill Gates to you. And the World Bank has proposed the Indian Govt. that it can pay India in Installment if it wishes to do so. India ‘s GDP is 34.25 billion dollars. Bill Gates property is 95 billion dollars approximate so that is the way “nature changes”.Our Prime Minister has refused to sell it. He said it will be sold or mortgaged for credit when we need it. Otherwise right now we have no problems.

Lord Macaulay’s address to the British parliament

















I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.

Takshasila University


The world’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. Takshasila is also called Taxila, flourished from 600 BC to 500 AD, in the kingdom of Gandhar. 68 subjects were taught at this university and the minimum entry age, ancient texts show, was 16. At one stage, it had 10,500 students including those from Babylon, Greece, Syria, and China. Experienced masters taught the languages, grammar, philosophy, medicine, surgery, politics, warfare, astronomy, accounts, commerce, documentation, music, dance and other performing arts, futurology, the occult and mystical sciences,complex mathematical calculations.Generally students used to come here at the age of 16. The students had to pay some amount as Dakshina.  If they could not pay the fees they used to serve the teachers.  Apart from Law, Medicine and war strategies 18 different arts like Vedas, Archery, hunting and elephant riding were also taught. The panel of masters at the university included legendary scholars like Kautilya, Panini, Jivak and Vishnu Sharma. Many famous personalities like Panini (famous Sanskrit grammarian), Chanakya, and famous ancient Indian doctor Charaka and Chandragupta Mourya were all students of this university.  Historians say that Chanakya had written his Arthasasthra here, and his relationship with this University had brought fame to this University.   UNESCO had declared Takshasila as a World Heritage Site in 1980.Thus, the concept of a full-fledged university was developed in India.



This is presently located in Pakistan.  It is situated near the west of Grand Trunk road 35 kms, from Islamabad in Punjab state.  

Friday, February 18, 2011

Longest Hindi Film Song


The song Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon in the film by the same name is the longest Hindi film song. The length of the song is 20 minutes and the song is featured in three installments in the film. The song is sung by Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, and Kailash Kher and is written by Sameer. The music of the song is composed by Anu Malik. The movie Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon is directed by Anil Sharma and the star cast of the film includes Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, and Divya Khosla. Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon belongs to the genre of patriotism and the basic plot of the film revolves around the theme of fight against terrorism.

India's First Talkie Film

Alam-Ara


India's first talkie film was Alam Ara (Light of the Universe). The film was released on March 14, 1931 at Majestic Cinema in Bombay. Alam Ara was made under the banner of Imperial Movietone. It was produced and directed by Ardeshir Marwan Irani. The film was based on a successful Parsi play of the same name, written by Joseph David. The star cast of Alam Ara included some of the popular stars of the silent era like Prithviraj Kapoor, L.V. Prasad, W.M. Khan, Master Vithal and Zubeida.

Alam Ara exploited the technological wonder of sound to the full. It had opulent sets and made rich use of music, song, and dance. Alam Ara had seven songs. The film took two months to complete. There were several technical hitches in sound recording. At that time there were no sound proof stages and most of the film was shot indoors and during night. Since the film was shot close to a railway track, the unit had to wait till the trains ceased to operate to begin the shoot.



First Indian to Get an Oscar

Bhanu Athaiya
Bhanu Athaiya was the First Indian to Get an Oscar. She won the award for the Best Costume Designer for Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi in 1982. Bhanu Athaiya has been associated with the Hindi Film Industry for more than 50 years. She was born as Bhanumati Annasaheb Rajopadhye in Kolhapur in Maharashtra. She married Satyendra Athaiya, a poet and lyricist for Hindi. The marriage ended in separation and Bhanu never remarried. Some of the other notable films for which Bhanu has worked are:
  • Swades (2004)
  • Lagaan (2001)
  • Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2001)
  • 1942 A Love Story (1994)
  • Karz (1980)
  • Meera (1979)
  • Mr. Natwarlal (1979)
  • Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978)
  • Dastan (1972)
  • Himmat (1970)
  • Ankhen (1968)
  • Teesri Manzil (1966)
  • Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961)
  • Dil Deke Dekho (1959)

First Indian 3D Movie

Chota Chetan was the first Indian 3D Movie. The film was made under the banner of Navodaya Films in 1984. Chota Chetan was a huge box office success and earned around Rs 60 crore during 1984-85. The film also won the President's Gold Medal. The movie was re-released with additional footage and digital sound upgrade during 1998 and amassed Rs 50 crore during that period. The film's starcast included Dalip Tahil, Suresh Mukesh, Sonia Sahni, and Arvind. Lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar, Anand Bakshi, and Sameer. Music was given by Anu Malik, and the director of the film was Jijo. The version that was released in 1998 also included Urmila Matondkar.

First Color Film Made in India

First Color Film Made in India was Kisan Kanya in the year 1937, although the trend of colour films began very late. The film was produced by Imperial Film Co and was directed by Moti B. Gidwani. The music of the film was composed by Ram Gopal Pandey. The film had 10 songs, which were released by Gramophone Records. The storyline of the film featured an exploitative landlord and a good peasant Ramu who is accused of murdering the landlord. The film was colored using the Cinecolour process imported by Imperial Film Co. Kisan Kanya had a run time of 137 minutes and its main starcast included Padmadevi, Jillo, Ghulam Mohammed, Nissar, Syed Ahmed, and Gani.

Film with Most Number of Songs


Madan Theatres' Indra Sabha with 71 songs is the film with most number of songs. The film was made in 1932 and the director of the film was J.J. Madan. The plot of the film revolves around a benevolent king whose moral character is tested by celestial powers. They cause an apsara (a fairy) to appear before the king as a fallen woman begging for mercy.

Indra Sabha was based on a play written by Sayed Aga Hasan Amanat. The film had two singers Master Nissar and Jehanara Kajjan. The other cast of the film included Abdul Rehman Kabuli and Mukhtar Begum.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Language

India is the largest English speaking nation.


Sanskrit is the mother of all European languages.

'Gandhi' a film



"Gandhi" a film by British director Richard Atenborough was inspired in the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi ( 1869-1948)"Gandhi" is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The Directeor and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, both won Academy Awards for their work on the film. The film was also given the Academy Award for Best Picture and won eight Academyds in to on 30 November 1982.

Richard Atenborough
The film begins with Gandhi's assassination on 30 January 1948, and his funeral.
Mohandas K. Gandhi ( 1869-1948)



Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Snakes & Ladders

The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. 


It was originally called 'Mokshapat.' 


The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later through time, the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

Indian Economy

The total amount of wealth looted by Britishers from India is estimated to be above 300 lakh crore or 30,00,00,00,00,00,000 INR!!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Birthplace of Maths

The concept of 'zero'
Did you know that the ancient Hindus originated the concept 'zero'?
The concept of zero is referred to as shunya in the early Sanskrit texts and it is also explained in the Pingala’s Chandah Sutra (200 AD). In the Brahma Phuta Siddhanta of Brahmagupta (400-500 AD), the zero is lucidly explained. The Hindu genius Bhaskaracharya proved that x divided by 0 = 4 (infinity) and that infinity however divided remains infinity. This concept was recognized in Hindu theology millennia earlier. The earliest recorded date for an inscription of zero (inscribed on a copper plate) was found in Gujarat (585 – 586 AD). Later, zero appeared in Arabic books in 770 AD and from there it was carried to Europe in 800 AD.
Later on, it was again an Indian Scientist named, Aryabhatta who invented the digit zero.

Binary System of Number Representation

A Mathematician named Pingala developed a system of binary enumeration convertible to decimal numerals. He described the system in his book called Chandahshaastra. The system he described is quite similar to that of Leibnitz, who was born in the 17th century.
Did you know that Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus and Algebra are studies which originated in India?

The Value of Pi

Did you know that the ratio of the circumference and the diameter of a circle known as Pi (a value of 3.141592657932…) was first calculated by Hindus?
The Sanskrit text, by the famous Hindu mathematician, Baudhayana in his Baudhayana Sulbha Sutra of the 6th century BC mentions this ratio as approximately equal to 3. The Hindu mathematician, Aryabhatta, in 499 AD worked out the value of Pi to the fourth decimal place as [3x (177/1250) = 3.1416]. In 825 AD one Arab mathematician Mohammad Ibna Musa said: This value has been given by the Hindus [Indians] (62832/20,000 = 3.1416).

Binary System of Number Representation

A Mathematician named Pingala developed a system of binary enumeration convertible to decimal numerals. He described the system in his book called Chandahshaastra. The system he described is quite similar to that of Leibnitz, who was born in the 17th century.
Baudhayana’s Theorem
Did you know that the so-called Pythagoras Theorem that the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle equals to the sum of the square of the other two sides was documented by the famed Hindu mathematician Baudhayana in his 6th century BC treatise called Baudhayana Sulba Sutra?
Baudhayana state
"The area produced by the diagonal of a rectangle is equal to the sum of area produced by it on two sides."


Bhaskaracharya’s Law of Gravity

In Surya Siddhanta, dated 400-500 AD, the ancient Hindu astronomer Bhaskaracharya states,
"Objects fall on the earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon, and sun are held in orbit due to this force."
Approximately 1200 years later (1687 AD), Sir Isaac Newton rediscovered this phenomenon and called it the Law of Gravity. 



Astronomy and Cosmology

Do you know Indian astronomers had mapped the sky 4000 years ago?

Earth is Round and Revolves Around the Sun

One thousand years before Copernicus (1543) published his theory of the revolution of the earth, the famous Hindu mathematician, Aryabhatta in the 5th century (400-500 AD) clearly stated this fact:

"Just as persons traveling on a boat feel that the trees on a bank are moving, people on earth feel that the sun is moving."
In Aryabhatta’s treatise (Aryabhateean) on this subject matter he clearly states that the earth is round; it rotates on its axis, orbits the sun and is suspended in space. Aryabhatta, in his treatise also explained that lunar and solar eclipses occur by the interplay of the shadows of the sun, the moon and the earth. India's first man made satellite was named Aryabhatta.
Copernicus published his theory of the revolution of the earth in 1543.

Time Taken for Earth to Orbit Sun

The famous Hindu mathematician, Bhaskaracharya, in his treatise Surya Siddhanta, calculated the time taken for the earth to orbit the sun to nine decimal places (365.258756484 days).
Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. His calculations was - Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: ( 5th century ) 365.258756484 days.
Today’s accepted measurement is 365.2564 days. Therefore, assuming that today’s figures are correct, it means that Bhaskaracharya was off by only 0.0002%.