Stephen Hawking – A Brief Story of a Mind honed against all odds (1942 – 2018)
Rest in Peace, Stephen Hawking in the Abrahamic Traditions….Om Shanthi in the Indic Ones
No one could possibly hold anything against a brilliant mind which rallied a body beset by the devastating ALS disease. A mind which used humour with as much verve as simplicity to explain Singularity and other mysteries of the cosmos.
If there is one thing Cool Chilli had wanted to educate Stephen Hawking on (sounds audacious, right and maybe impolite too now) it is about giving more recognition to the ancients in India. Hawking had mentioned about the mathematics that the world had learnt from ancient India. But he refers to the Europeans to credit them for theories on Helio-centricity.
A brief Visit to 1000+ (very conservative estimate) year old Temples in South India (still standing after the invasions) is enough to show that the world has a lot to learn about Incredible India. The Navagraha (Nine Celestial Bodies) altars clearly depict the Sun at the centre with all the other bodies arranged around it. But then, this understanding would be kid’s play for a culture which knew about Binary Star systems and dovetailed it into marriage rituals to reinforce the importance of partnership.
But then this column is not about childishly finding fault with a genius. This is about applauding the brain, the wit and the grit of a person who symbolised the best of Human Spirit, fighting adversity against all odds. As seen in the figure, Cool Chilli’s thunderbolt which tries to inspire him, is too thunderstruck at the news. Saddened that the Universe has finally called ‘Time’ on the man who tried to explain it (to laymen) and expand it (his own longevity after Doctors gave him only two years, 50+ years ago).
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