By: Patrick Van
That so much of it has come from India. As a journalist from Pennsylvania, I believe Gewali's Great Minds on India will be instrumental in raising the pride of India from a global perspective. It immensely contributes to raising awareness about the deeper truths about ancient India's literary wisdom and scientific knowledge. Premised on the opinions of top intellectuals such as F. Voltaire, Fredrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Albert Einstein, Julius Oppenheimer, W. Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrodinger, TS Eliot, Mark Twain, to name a few, the book is eye-opening. It is incredible that these Western scholars praised India for its highly advanced knowledge not known to the Western world until the twentieth century.
I find it no less intriguing that there is a statue of Nataraja at CERN in Geneva, the depiction of
Lord Shiva who performs his cosmic dance destroying the universe so that it may be reborn as a new creation. The statue is the symbolic explanation of the Big Bang that science believes started our current universe. A modern theory yet depicted 1000s of years ago in Indian philosophy. The statue was donated to CERN by the Indian Government and was welcomed with joy by the scientists that do their work there.
A God or Spiritual being at such a holy place of science? A place where math and physics are the deities? Science exists for one reason. It exists as a tool for man to learn how and why things work.
It exists for man to unravel how everything is entwined, interconnected, and effects and influences each atom of existence. The ancient texts of India speak of all of this. An American physicist Fritjof Capra has written a beautiful book – The Tao of Physics to explain ancient thoughts vis-à-vis modern findings.
Without the number system of India, the world of science would not have made any progress. Voltaire, Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Albert Einstein are all praised for India's mathematical contributions.
Mr. Gewali's goal is to enlighten the citizens of India about their intellectual heritage. I applaud his work, his dream and his mission. The people of India deserve to understand their rich heritage and how it has influenced so much of the modern world, as claimed by John Archibald Wheeler, a man credited for popularizing the term "black hole". J. Wheeler also collaborated with Niels Bohr in explaining the fundamental principles of nuclear fission.
I want to add to it if I may, I believe Mr. Gewali has hit on a crucial piece that otherwise would have been ignored by the general populace. It is a crime. Knowledge history, these are mankind's real treasures. Mr. Gewali's book Great Minds on India doubtlessly is a brilliant beacon of knowledge of the East. It is not just for Indians but all seekers striving for an understanding of themselves, the worldview, and the interconnections of everything in the universe --- the profound knowledge that the East first taught to the West, as underlined by the Nobel laureates and scientists Erwin Schrödinger and Niels Bohr. Bohr was so impressed by the ancient texts he once disclosed, 'I go into Upanishads to ask questions'. David Henry Thoroue also made a proclamation that in comparison with ancient Indian knowledge, European literature seems puny and trivial.
I congratulate Gewali on having his book approved by some schools run by the NRIs in Virginia, including Kolkata and others. I write this piece in the hope that it may inspire others to read it and see the connections that it explains. Our university professors read the quotes from the great minds listed above never explaining what inspired them. Mr. Gewali does, others only have to read to see and realize it depth. [GP/JS]
