Mahatma Gandhi - The Father of Indian Nation

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900's. Gandhi helped free the Indian people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honored by his people as the father of the Indian Nation. The Indian people called Gandhi Mahatma, meaning Great Soul.

At age 13, Gandhi joined Kasturba, age 12, in a marriage arranged by their parents. The Gandhis had four sons: Harilal and Manilal, born in India, and Ramdas and Devdas born in South Africa. Gandhi displayed loving kindness to everyone.

Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he accepted a one year contract to do legal work in South Africa. At the time South Africa was controlled by the British. When he attempted to claim his rights as a British subject he was abused, and soon saw that all Indians suffered similar treatment. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian people. He developed a method of direct social action based upon the principles courage, nonviolence and truth called Satyagraha. He believed that the way people behave is more important than what they achieve. Satyagraha promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience as the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals.

In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement. Using the tenets of Satyagraha he lead the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. He believed it was honorable to go to jail for a just cause. Altogether he spent seven years in prison for his political activities. More than once Gandhi used fasting to impress upon others the need to be nonviolent.

India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India and Pakistan. Rioting between Hindus and Muslims followed. Gandhi had been an advocate for a united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace. On January 13, 1948, at the age of 78, he began a fast with the purpose of stopping the bloodshed. After 5 days the opposing leaders pledged to stop the fighting and Gandhi broke his fast. Twelve days later he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic who opposed his program of tolerance for all creeds and religion.

Mother Teresa - The Angel of Mercy

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 27, 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work.

On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.

The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families. The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers.

Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.

Kandukuri Veeresalingam - Panthulu

Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848-1919), the Father of Andhra Renaissance, was born in a poor Brahmin family on 16 April 1848 at Rajamundry. Veeresalingam awakened Andhras out of their suffocating medieval orthodox customs and superstitions. He was a great social reformer and literary activist. He fought for education for women, and remarriage of widows. He started journals like Vivekavardhini, Chintamani, Sateehitabodha, Satyasavardhani, Satyavadi etc., He pointed out and criticised the defects in the society and helped the reformation of the telugu society.

He began to give seminars to convince the orthodox leaders that re-marriage of widows was not prohibited by Dharma Sastra (Scriptural Law). In these seminars he used to quote verses from scriptures to prove his point. The orthodox leaders took up the challenge and arranged special meetings and debates to counter Veeresalingam's arguments. The opponents of remarriage failed to prove their point and resorted to physical violence against Veeresalingam. He didn't back down and fearlessly established a Remarriage Association and sent his students nook and corner of the Andhra Nation to find young men willing to marry widows. He arranged the first widow remarriage on December 11, 1881. Because of these reformist activities Veeresalingam became famous even abroad. The Government, in appreciation of his work, conferred on him the title of "Rao Bahadur" in 1893.

He established in 1874 a girls school at Dhavaleswaram to encourage women's education. In 1884, he established another school for girls at Innispeta in Rajamundry. He also established an organization called Hitakarini Society and donated all his property for the social activities to improve the society and support various organizations set up by him. He ridiculed the opponents of women's education in many satires, lampoons and drama like "Brahma Vivaham." Through his writings he criticized child marriages, Kanyasulkam (price of bride) and marriages of old men with young girls.

He also fought against the system of concubines called nauch system. Keeping concubines was regarded as a status symbol. Most of these concubines were from Devadasi tribe/caste. Usually in the houses of these Davadasis, the corrupt officials made illegal deals. So, it became a common practice to use these concubines to get favors from the officials. Veeresalingam attacked this sexual corruption in the society.

Sri Veeresalingam Kandukuri was a multifaceted personality and he reformed the society with his literature and revolutionary activities. He was a crusader and one of the greatest leaders that India ever had.

Sir Issac Newton - The 'Apple' Newton

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), mathematician and physicist, one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time. Born at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, where he attended school, he entered Cambridge University in 1661; he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1667, and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669. He remained at the university, lecturing in most years, until 1696. Of these Cambridge years, in which Newton was at the height of his creative power, he singled out 1665-1666 (spent largely in Lincolnshire because of plague in Cambridge) as "the prime of my age for invention". During two to three years of intense mental effort he prepared Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) commonly known as the Principia, although this was not published until 1687.

As a firm opponent of the attempt by King James II to make the universities into Catholic institutions, Newton was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge to the Convention Parliament of 1689, and sat again in 1701-1702. Meanwhile, in 1696 he had moved to London as Warden of the Royal Mint. He became Master of the Mint in 1699, an office he retained to his death. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1671, and in 1703 he became President, being annually re-elected for the rest of his life. His major work, Opticks, appeared the next year; he was knighted in Cambridge in 1705.

As Newtonian science became increasingly accepted on the Continent, and especially after a general peace was restored in 1714, following the War of the Spanish Succession, Newton became the most highly esteemed natural philosopher in Europe. His last decades were passed in revising his major works, polishing his studies of ancient history, and defending himself against critics, as well as carrying out his official duties. Newton was modest, diffident, and a man of simple tastes. He was angered by criticism or opposition, and harboured resentment; he was harsh towards enemies but generous to friends. In government, and at the Royal Society, he proved an able administrator. He never married and lived modestly, but was buried with great pomp in Westminster Abbey.

Newton has been regarded for almost 300 years as the founding examplar of modern physical science, his achievements in experimental investigation being as innovative as those in mathematical research. With equal, if not greater, energy and originality he also plunged into chemistry, the early history of Western civilization, and theology; among his special studies was an investigation of the form and dimensions, as described in the Bible, of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.

Albert Einstein - A Relative of Science

Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich and he began his schooling there at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Einstein always appeared to have a clear view of the problems of physics and the determination to solve them. He had a strategy of his own and was able to visualize the main stages on the way to his goal. He regarded his major achievements as mere stepping-stones for the next advance.

At the start of his scientific work, Einstein realized the inadequacies of Newtonian mechanics and his special theory of relativity stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. He dealt with classical problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory: this led to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules. He investigated the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density and his observations laid the foundation of the photon theory of light.

Einstein's researches are, of course, well chronicled and his more important works include Special Theory of Relativity (1905), Relativity (English translations, 1920 and 1950), General Theory of Relativity (1916), Investigations on Theory of Brownian Movement (1926), and The Evolution of Physics (1938). Among his non-scientific works, About Zionism (1930), Why War? (1933), My Philosophy (1934), and Out of My Later Years (1950) are perhaps the most important.

Albert Einstein received honorary doctorate degrees in science, medicine and philosophy from many European and American universities. During the 1920's he lectured in Europe, America and the Far East and he was awarded Fellowships or Memberships of all the leading scientific academies throughout the world. He gained numerous awards in recognition of his work, including the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1925, and the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1935.

Einstein's gifts inevitably resulted in his dwelling much in intellectual solitude and, for relaxation, music played an important part in his life. He married Mileva Maric in 1903 and they had a daughter and two sons; their marriage was dissolved in 1919 and in the same year he married his cousin, Elsa Löwenthal, who died in 1936. He died on April 18, 1955 at Princeton, New Jersey.

Tipu Sultan - Sher-E-Mysore

Tipu Sultan, the eldest son of Haider Ali, was born on December 10, 1750 at Devanhalli. Right from his early years he was trained in the art of warfare and at the age of 15 he used to accompany his father Haider Ali, the ruler of Mysore, to different military campaigns. In Addition, he also learnt different languages, mathematics and science. He was an extremely active man and worked hard for the welfare of his subjects. He took over the kingdom of Mysore after the death of his father in 1782, who died of a carbuncle in the midst of a campaign against the British. He continued fighting the British and defeated them in 1783.

Tipu Sultan was a farsighted person who could foresee East India Company's design to get entrenched in India. He therefore negotiated with the French for help and also sought assistance from the Amir of Afghanistan and the Sultan of Turkey. The British were scared of Tipu's growing strength and after their defeat in 1783 they formed an alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad and Marathas. The French, however, deserted Tipu after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The British availed the chance with the help of the Nizam and the Marathas, and started the third Anglo-Mysore war in 1790.

Tipu Sultan was a great patriot and like his father realized the danger of letting the British becoming stronger. Although much of the period of his rule was given to war with the Marathas, the Nizam and the British, he made his state secure and peaceful with benevolent rule. He was an enlightened ruler who treated his non-Muslim subjects generously. He built a chain of excellent roads and constructed tanks and dams to promote agriculture. He introduced new industries, promoted trade and commerce on a large scale. Tipu prohibited the production and distribution of liquor and other intoxicants in Mysore. He also built and fortified numerous forts and many palaces, which were demolished by the British after his death. Bangalore Summer Palace still survives and is a remnant of his grand rule. He designed rockets, encouraged arts and culture and treated religions with quality. He was a great leader.

As long as the British fought alone, Tipu always defeated them. But he could not come over their diplomacy, conspiracy and intrigue. Thus he was defeated in his capital, Srirangapatnam, and was forced to sign a humiliating treaty on March 22, 1792. As a result he had to concede half of his kingdom and pay an indemnity of 33 million rupees to the British and their allies. The alliance between the adversaries was soon broken and in 1795 the British, after defeating the Nizam, once again turned their attention towards Mysore. After the treaty at Srirangapatnam, Tipu Sultan did not waste his time and made extensive preparations against the British. He had rebuilt his war machine in the shortest possible time with the help of the French. The British regarded it as a violation of the treaty. This led to the start of the fourth Anglo-Mysore war in 1798 with the help of the Nizam. The French were unable to provide the needed support to Tipu Sultan. Tipu Sultan retreated to his capital and continued fighting till he breathed his last in May 1799. Tipu Sultan is buried at a mausoleum that he himself had built, along with his father Haider Ali and his mother Fatima Begum.

Saluva Timmarusu - Mahamantri (Great Minister)

Saluva Timmarusu or simply Timmarasa was Prime minister of Krishna Deva Raya. He had also served as prime minister under Viranarasimha Raya. The word Arasu or "Arasa" is a Kannada word used as a title by royalty, chieftens, feudal Barons and even kings".

Vira Narasimha, while on his death bed ordered Timmarasa to blind his half brother Krishnadevaraya to ensure that his own minor son of eight years would become king of the empire. Timmarasa instead presented the king with a pair of she-goat eyes in order to satisfy the wish of the dying king. This way Timmarasa ensured that Krishnadevaraya became the successor.

He is also called with love as Appaji by Krishna Deva Raya. Appaji in Telugu means as father like figure. He was a very intelligent prime minister and advised the king on all issues. He was responsible for the coronation of Krishna Deva Raya as the king of Vijayanagara kingdom. Though Krishna Deva Raya had a very strong army, he wouldn't have tasted such great successes if not for the wit and diplomacy of Timmarusu.

In 1524, Krishnadevaraya crowned his minor son Yuvaraja. Once, the Bahamani sultan sent a person who impersonated Timmarusu and killed the prince, son of Krishna Deva Raya. Krishna Deva Raya, thinking that Timmarusu had committed the crime, ordered him to be blinded. After knowing the mistake he had done, Krishna Deva Raya repented a lot.

Alluri Sitaramaraju - Mannem Veerudu

A terror to the British rulers, Alluri Seetha Rama Raju was one of Andhra's early revolutionaries. He successfully led the tribals revolting against the Crown. Mobilising them, he launched an armed rebellion against the British.

He was deeply moved by the plight of the tribals at the hands of the British rulers, who used to infringe on their rights. The Madras Forest Act 1882 was formulated to deprive the tribals of their rights. The Act placed restrictions on the free movement of tribals in the forest areas, prevented "podu" (shifting) cultivation, felling and tapping of trees for firewood and toddy.

The British officers despite their superior weapons were no match to Alluri and his men, who were adept in guerilla tactics and knew the hilly terrain like the back of their palm. They used to attack the police stations and seize the arms and ammunition. Alluri carried a reward of Rs 10,000 on his head. Mallu dora, Gantam dora and Aggiraju where his strong and trusted followers.

Sita Rama Raju carried out his campaign in the East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh. Inspired by the patriotic zeal of the revolutionaries in Bengal, and the decisions taken by them at a meeting in Chittagong in 1921, Sita Rama Raju raided many police stations in and around Chintapalli, Krishna-devi-peta and Raja-vommangi, carrying off guns and powder, and killing several British army officers, including the ruthless Scott Coward and Hites, near Damanapalli. Between August and October 1922, he and his men attacked the Chintapalli, Rampa-chodavaram, Rajahmundry and Addateegala and Annavaram police stations and blasted the Chintapalli police station.

The campaign lasted nearly one year from December 1922, and gave off by October 1923. Sita Rama Raju never lost as long as he fought. The british started to harass people to tell them the where abouts of Alluri and his followers. He surrendered himself and was shot dead without a trial in May 1924. After the exit of Alluri, the tribal revolt lost its sheen.

Kapil Dev - Kapil Da Jawaab Nahin

Kapil Dev was the greatest pace bowler India has produced, and their greatest fast-bowling allrounder. If he had played at any other time - not when Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were contemporaries - he would surely have been recognised as the best allrounder in the world. In any case he did enough to be voted India's Cricketer of the Century during 2002.

His greatest feats were to lead India almost jauntily, and by his allround example, to the 1983 World Cup, and to take the world-record aggregate of Test wickets from Hadlee. In a match on route to the World Cup final of 1983, Kapil smashed a captain's knock of 175 not out against Zimbabwe helping India recover from an extremely poor start. India had collapsed to 9/4 when Kapil came in to bat, and were reduced further to 17/5. His 175 not out turned the game completely in India's favour and was at the time the highest-ever individual score in ODI cricket. It was also the first ODI century by an Indian.

It was the stamina of the marathon runner that took him finally to 431 wickets and only a yard beyond. He might not have been quite the bowling equal of Imran, Hadlee or Botham at his best, and his strike rate was less than four wickets per Test. But he was still outstanding in his accuracy and ability to swing the ball, usually away from right-handers. And he could hit a ball even more brilliantly than he bowled it, with uncomplicated flair. During a Test match against South Africa, he counter-attacked Allan Donald and the rest of the South African pace attack on his way to his final Test century, an outstanding 129 out of a total of 215. The next highest score was only 17 and none of the top six batsmen got into double figures.

Garry Kasparov - The Chess King

Garry Kimovich Kasparov was born Gary Weinstein in Baku, Azerbaijan, USSR in 1963. Kasparov learned to play chess from his father who later died in a road accident when he was 7 years old. He subsequently changed his name to Kasparov, a Russified version of his mother's maiden name, Kasparyan. Kasparov's chess talent was apparent at an early age. In 1973 he attended the Botvinnik Chess School and Kasparov continued to make rapid progress. In 1975 at the age of 12 he became the youngest ever player to win the USSR Junior Championship. At 16 he won the World Junior Championship. He achieved the title of Grandmaster on his 17th birthday.

In 1984 he challenged the current reigning World Champion, Anatoly Karpov for the title. This match was a hard fought battle and lasted 6 months, the longest in the history of chess. It was finally stopped by Florencio Campomanes, president of FIDE and a rematch ordered. In November 1985 Kasparov won the rematch against Karpov and became the youngest World Champion at the age of 22 years.

The best about Kasparov's chess ability were his bibliographic knowledge of openings and their main lines; and his preparation for his games. He was an expert in making his moves not only as per the board, but also as per the clock. He surprised his opponents often with his variations and gambits. His each success has a story to tell about his abilities as a chess master.

In 1996 Kasparov competed in a six game match against an IBM computer called Deep Blue. Kasparov won with a score of 4 games to 2 games. The following year, he competed against an improved version called Deeper Blue and was defeated 3.5 games to 2.5 games. It was the first time a Grandmaster had lost a series of games to a computer. He is currently the highest rated player there has ever been in the history of chess.