Cultural Shock: Adjustment to New Cultural Environment

Cultural Shock : Adjustment to New Cultural Environments

Short answer questions

1 How do we usually express the familiar signs and symbols of social interaction?

The familiar signs of social interaction are learnt quite naturally. We come to know how to initiate a talk, how to greet others, when to stop talking, how to deal in difficult situations, how to respond to invitations, when to invite others, how to make purchases, how to shake hands etc. There are cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs and norms which are specific to one’s culture. We learn them as a part of our growing up. They become a part of our culture. We do not carry them consciously; they become our life style.

2 How does the author define 'culture shock'? What are the symptoms according to him?

Culture shock is the anxiety that results from loss of familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life. The symptoms of culture shock are- excessive washing of hands; excessive concern over drinking water and food; fear of physical contact with attendants or servants; absent minded and far away stare; a feeling of helplessness; dependency on others; fits of anger over delays; frustration; refusal to learn new language; excessive fear of being cheated, robbed or injured; great concern over minor pains, cuts and injuries, longing to be back home; being nostalgic; to have a good cup of coffee at home; feeling to visit relatives and talk to people who make sense.

3 Why is the person who has a culture shock like 'a fish out of water'?

Every person gets used to a few familiar signs which become a part of his day to day life. When he misses them all of a sudden, he feels like a fish out water. He doesn't understand how to respond to them. So, he rejects everything and has a feeling of regression. He logs to go back to his home country.

4 Of the four stages described by the author, which one does the person undergoing a culture shock feel difficult and why?

There are four stages in culture shock. In the first stage, he gets fascinated by the host country and everything seems wonderful to him.

The second stage is the most difficult of all. In the process of adjustment, he comes across several problems like language trouble, house trouble, school trouble, transportation trouble, shopping trouble etc. Above all, he has this language problem which makes all these tasks tougher. People of the host country are used to them and hence are indifferent to all these troubles. It seems to the person with culture shock that the people of host country are not willing to help. As a result, he becomes aggressive towards host country and its people. He criticizes them and makes derogatory comments. He takes refuge in the colony of his countrymen and expresses his dissatisfaction for the host country and its people. This stage is like a crisis. If you overcome it, you stay; if not, you leave before you reach the stage of nervous breakdown.

In the third stage, he begins to get around. He still has difficulties, but he develops an attitude to bear them. He develops a sense of humour and cracks jokes on the host country and its people. He is now on the way of recovery and even starts to help people that are in the second stage of culture shock. It gives him confidence to speak and get around.

In the fourth stage, the visitor accepts the customs of host country. He starts learning the new language. He completely accepts everything about the host country like its foods, drinks, habits and customs. He also begins to enjoy them. When he goes back home, he starts missing the host country and its people.

5 Are the difficulties faced by a new comer real? If yes, give your own example to substantiate the statement.

The difficulties faced by a new comer are real. Individuals suffer from indigestion when they move from a temperate area to a tropical one. When people move to a place with high humidity, their skin gets damaged and they feel like taking bath at least 5 times a day. Hair fall is more when people move to a place of extreme climatic conditions. If visitors go to any Muslim country during the month of Ramjan, they have to face a lot of problem as they don’t find anything to eat or drink during the day time. But when the new comer adapts himself to these problems, they no longer trouble him. Change in attitude is the key for all difficulties.

6 How is the attitude of the local people towards a person who is under culture shock?

Local people become indifferent to the problems of visitors because they are used to them. They tend to help the new comers initially. But when the new comer starts depending too much and exhibits aggressive attitude, the local people try to avoid him. Their response moves from a pleasant state to aggressive state and then to avoidance.

7 Why does the author feel that women are more affected by culture shock than their husbands?

The husband has his professional duties to occupy him. His activities may not differ much. But, the wife has to face totally different environment, customs and lifestyle. So, the author feels that women are more affected by culture shock than their husbands.

8 "If you criticise my country you are criticising me. If you criticise me, you are criticising my country." What does the author want to convey through this statement?

This particular attitude is named 'ethnocentricism'. People accept their culture and nation as the best and the only way of doing things. Once you accept your culture, it becomes your way of living. When you totally accept your nation and culture, you don't let others criticise it. If someone criticises your country, you feel like you are being criticised. If someone criticises you, you feel like your country is being criticised. 

9 How does a person become a cultural entity?

An individual is not born with culture. He is born with the capacity to learn it and use it. A child learns how to eat, which language to speak etc from the culture. It is not passed on by their parents. Culture of any people is the product of history and is built up over time. We learn and adapt it to our lives. Once learned, culture becomes a way of life. It becomes our value system. We embrace it and it becomes our existence. That is how a person becomes a cultural entity.

10 Why does the author call a modern nation a complex society? Do you agree with him? Why/ why not?

Any modern nation is a complex society. There are variations in culture. There are different ethnic groups; many classes; various regions; urban and rural settlements, each having distinctive cultural characteristics. But, the common elements like official language, institutions and customs knit a nation together. If we take India as an example, the culture varies in North and South, East and West. We have our own mother tongues for every state. We have differing dressing styles and food habits. But on a larger arena, we have one official language, Hindi. The culture, moral and ethics followed by Indians are more or less the same. The author’s point that a modern nation is a complex society is agreeable.

11 How is an American described in the text with regard to his culture?

Americans tend to become impersonal. It is the organization that matters there. Individuals, though capable, are just the resources. They are like replaceable parts. So, Americans have less interpersonal relationships. They find it strange when people are respected or given importance individually. Personalism which emphasises a special individual, like a political leader or a business leader or a religious leader, as solely responsible for the existence and success of an institution is somewhat strange.

12 What is the role of local language in helping us to recover from the culture shock?

When local language is learnt, it helps us in socializing. We come to know the interests of people, their culture and habits. Then, it becomes easy to get people to talk and to be interested in us. When we have people to talk and share feeling with, it becomes easy for us to recover from culture shock.

Long answer questions

1 Describe how culture shock is caused. What are the feelings of a person who is affected by culture shock?

Every individual learns certain signs and symbols as a part of growing up. He learns how to behave in the society. He learns how to talk, what to talk, when to stop talking, how to respond to others, how to greet, how to shake hands, how to give orders, so on and so forth. There are cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, and norms which are specific to one’s culture. He learns them naturally, without being specially taught. They become a part of his day–to-day life. Culture shock is the anxiety that results from loss of these familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life.

When a person enters a strange culture, he gets affected by culture shock. He feels like a fish out of water. no matter how broad minded he is, he suffers with frustration and anxiety. As a result, he rejects everything. The host country makes him feel uncomfortable, so he dislikes everything about it—its environment, culture, language, habits, customs. He feels like the host country is bad as it makes him feel bad.

He then longs to go back to him home country. It attains great importance now. Everything about his country seems so glorious to him. He forgets all the difficulties and problems back home and only the good things are remembered.

2 Explain with examples how a local person can help a new comer in overcoming culture shock.

Culture shock is the terrible feeling one gets when one is in a host country. It is the anxiety that results from loss of familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life. When a person is under culture shock, he becomes aggressive, refuses to learn the local language, develops hostile behavior, depends on others and criticises the host country and its people.

A local can help the visitor in learning their language; accompany him to shopping and outings; help him find good school and house; share their culture and habits and let him know about their value system and beliefs.

Visitors tend to depend too much on the locals and long term residents. It might be irritating to locals, but they need to be patient and help them come over culture shock. They need to be sympathetic and understanding. Talking doesn’t remove pain, but sparing one’s time is soothing to the other person. Pain explained lessens the pain. Listening to one’s problems is a great healer and on gains confidence which results in setting things right.

3 Give stage wise description of how one can recover from culture shock.

Culture shock is the terrible feeling one gets when one is in a host country. It is the anxiety that results from loss of familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life. When a person is under culture shock, he becomes aggressive, refuses to learn the local language, develops hostile behavior, depends on others and criticises the host country and its people. But, recovery is possible.

To recover from culture shock, first the person has to get to know the people of the host country. For this, language is essential. Learning new language is a bit difficult for adults. But it can be learnt by starting friendly conversation with maids, neighbours etc. Going on shopping trips alone gives confidence and the visitor gets a sense of power with this.

There is a need to learn what things people do there and how they do it. Also, one should come to know the interests of people. It makes the conversation interesting and easy. It also gets the attention of people and they show interest in talking to this person.

It is god to join the activities of the people, be it a religious rite or a carnival or some economic activity. It is good to share their responses but it is also important to remain as an outsider. This participation should be like a role playing.

Understanding the ways of people is essential, but it does not mean that one should give up one’s own ways. Visitors in a host country develop two patterns of behaviour. They embrace both cultures, their own and the host country’s.

The Lottery

                                                                   The Lottery

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Summary of ‘The Lottery’ 'The Lottery' is an American short story written by Shirley Jackson. It has a shocking end which takes us by surprise. The author describes a strange ritual followed by the town.       Main Characters of the story        Mr Summers (who conducts lottery)        Mr Graves ( post master, who helps Summers in conducting lottery)        Old man Warner (elderly person who has been attending the lottery for 77 years)        Mr Adams (who dares to voice out about thinking of stopping the lottery)        Mr Bill Hutchingson ( who receives the lottery among town's people)        Tessie Hutchingson ( the victim, who gets the lottery when family draws)        Jr Bill, Nancy, little Davi ( children of Bill and Tessie)        Watson boy (who lost his father in the last lottery)         Mr Dunbar ( who broke his leg and hence absent from lottery) The story starts with people getting assembled at the town square where the lottery is drawn every year on 27 June. It's a rule that no one should skip it. Mr Summers arrives with a black box with slips in it. He has with him the list of families. He starts reading the names and the family head comes forward to pick up a slip from the box. No one should open theirs until everyone else takes a slip from the box. When everyone is done with taking, Mr Summers asks the gathering to open the slips. Whoever gets the slip with black spot is supposed to win the lottery.  Mr Bill Hutchinson wins it, but his wife Tessie opposes it. She says that her husband is not given enough time to choose. But she is silenced by Bill. The second phase of lottery starts by placing the number of slips that match the members of family along with a slip with black spot on it. Now, the family comes forward to take a slip each. Everyone holds their breath when they open them. People feel happy when the kids get an empty slip and the kids too beam with happiness. Tessie gets the slip with black spot on it which means, she won the lottery. She again objects it but Bill asks her to keep quiet. No one bothers about her chatter. Mr Summers asks everyone to get ready. People go to the pile of stones gathered by the children and start pelting them at Tessie. They stone her to death. Even Tessie's family takes part in this strange action. The author wants to highlight the strange rituals that are carried as a part of tradition. She also suggests that youth should start questioning the illogical rituals. Mr Adams does the same in the story. He tells Old man Warner that people in nearby villages are thinking of quitting the act of lottery. He also tells him that a few villages have by now stopped it. But old man Warner says that the traditions need to be followed. He says, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon'. People believe that stoning a person to death every year results in good yield of crops. It may sound strange to us, but we have other similar examples like 'jallikattu', considered to be a tradition though it takes away a few lives. Short Answer Questions 1. From the context of the story, who controls the town and how? The tradition and rituals control the town in the form of Lottery. It is mandatory that the entire town attends the lottery which is drawn every year on the same date. People follow the ritual without questioning, whatever may be the consequences. 2. What seems to have been the original purpose of the lottery? What do people believe about it? ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ is their line. They believe that crops give more yield if they sacrifice a person and to choose the person, the system of lottery is created. This has been happening in the town for several years. The original purpose of lottery is to take a chosen life for the prosperity of town. 3 Is the structure of the town and the lottery democratic? Give reasons to support your opinion. The structure of the town and the lottery appear to be democratic, but in true sense, it's not at all democratic. People are supposed to attend the lottery as a rule, and they don't have the right to express. They have to follow the illogical customs that are being practiced for more than hundred years, without questioning.  4 Is it important that the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost? Why have some of the villages given up this practice? Paraphernalia is the equipment necessary for conducting a particular activity. Here, it is the black box. The original black box was lost long ago. The present box is put to use even before Old man Warner, the oldest man in the town, was born. 5 How does Shirley Jackson's choice to withhold the ultimate purpose of this tradition until the end of the story prove to be an effective way to communicate with her readers? How did you feel at the end as a result of not knowing? The story starts with a casual opening and runs like a regular stereo-type until we come close to the end. There's a shocking twist in the story. We can't even imagine it. This becomes an effective way to communicate with readers. Readers suddenly stumble down when they come to know what exactly a lottery in that town is. The writing style has long lasting impact on readers. 6 How does Shirley Jackson trivialise the grave practice of the community's traditional stoning, and what message might Jackson be trying to convey to the reader through the treatment of the character's behaviour? Jackson presents the grave practice of community's traditional stoning as meaningless. She wants to give the message that it's so cruel to follow meaningless practices. She conveys how people become heartless because of these traditions. The people of the town are used to it and they are ready to stone a person to death, even if the person is one's own family member. They are simply relieved that it's not him/ her and proceed to stone the other person. In the story, Tessie is beaten by her husband and children along with other people. Stoning also resembles the stone-hearted nature of town's people.  The characters' behaviour drastically changes when the lottery is drawn. The meaningless traditions take away tenderness from people's hearts so much so that they stone a person to death and then go back have to have their lunch, so casually, as if everything happened is quite natural. Long answer questions 1 Is the lottery a collective murder? Is it morally justified? What do you feel regarding this tradition? Lottery is a weird tradition followed by the town's people in the story.  It can definitely be treated as a collective murder. People have superstitious beliefs. They say, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon'. It means, they will get good yield of crop when they continue the age old customs and traditions. They don't want to make any amendments in it. They are willing to murder a person for their prosperous future. Lottery is drawn every year on 27 June and people draw from the black box, a slip each. The head of the family draws for the family. After everyone draws, they open their slips to see who has won the lottery. Everyone gets tense before opening. Bill Hutchinson gets it and his wife opposes that it's not fair. She says that her husband is not given enough time to pick up the slip. The second round starts soon. There are 5 members in Bill's family and hence 4 empty slips and one slip with a dark spot on it. The one who gets the slip with dark spot is supposed to get the lottery. Every other person in the town, including the person's family, stones him/ her to death. This ritual cannot be morally justified. It is baseless that there will be good yield if a person is stoned to death every year. It is strange that people do follow certain strange rituals. It is a cruel act in which everyone participates quite casually. Such traditions need to be banned. 2 Describe the scene and the speaker of the following quote--"It isn't fair, it isn't right." 'The Lottery' is an American short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story has a strange and shocking end. It gives out a weird tradition followed by the town's people. According to the story, lottery is drawn on 27 June of every year. Mr Summers, who conducts the lottery, reads the names of families and the head of the family comes forward to draw a slip. When everyone takes a slip, they open them. Whoever gets the slip with a dark spot on it wins the lottery.  Bill Hutchinson gets it and it's Tessie Hutchinson, his wife, who says the above sentence. She protests telling, 'It isn't fair, it isn't right'. She says that her husband isn't given enough time to choose the paper. She objects the lottery and wants it to be conducted again. But Bill silences her and Mr Summers is ready to start the next phase. Now, 5 slips are placed in the black box, as there are 5 members in Bill's family. One of those 5 slips bears the dark spot. This time, Bill, Tessie and their children take the slips. Everyone in the town gets tense when the children open their slips. They sigh a breath of relief when their slips are empty. Finally, it's Tessie who gets it. She again protests saying that it isn't fair. She is not willing to accept it but no one cares a damn for her opinion or talk. They go with their tradition that is being practiced for several years and stone her to death. 3 What is black box? Who made it? When and why is it significant? The black box is symbol of an age old tradition. It is being used from past 77 plus years. The first one was constructed when the people settled down to make a village there. The present box was made with a few pieces of that old box. It became shabbier over years. Mr Summers wanted to change this one as the colour of wood is visible from under the faded paint and the box has become ugly. All the year long, it lies either in the post office or in the coal factory or on an attick, accumulating dust. It becomes important only on the day of lottery and the day before. The day before the lottery, the box is dusted and slips of papers are placed in it by Mr Summers with the help of Mr Graves. They roll in the slips the night before, place them in the box, lock the box and place it in the coal factory. The next day morning, which is on the day of lottery, they carefully bring it to the town's square where people have gathered by then. No one is interested in changing the box as they see it as a change in tradition. They don't want to upset the tradition. Mr Summers was successful in replacing the wooden chips with slips of papers, convincing the people that wooden chips won't fit in the box as population has grown. The box is placed on a three legged stool for the lottery to be drawn. 4 How were women viewed in the village? What roles did they serve? Give examples from the text to support your answer. The story starts with children gathering in the town's square and collecting pebbles. A little later, the men come and talk among themselves on various topics like rain, tractor and taxes. After a while, the women of the town start coming. They are all in their faded regular dresses. They exchange bits of gossip and join their husbands. It's a rule that every family stands together. Man is considered the head of family. If not, a  male teenager is considered as the head. Women are not given equality or importance.  Mr Summers questions Mrs Dunbar on who is going to draw the lottery as Mr Dunbar has broke his leg and hence hasn't attended the lottery. When she says that she herself will be drawing, he asks if her son can do it for her. She replies that her son is under 16 and hence she takes up the responsibility of drawing the lottery. In another incident. Watson boy is considered the head of family as Mr Watson is no more. Mr Summers says to Mrs Watson that it's good that she has a grown up boy to handle the responsibility. Tessie is also silenced by Mr Bill and Mr Summers when she objects about injustice. No doubt, Women are given the second place in the story. They even don't come along with their husbands to the town's square. They join them only after a while. It also denotes that women are not treated parallel with men.

The Great Indian Scientists--Jagadish Chandra Bose

Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937)

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, popularly known as J.C. Bose occupies a unique position in the history of modern Indian science. He was widely considered the doyen of Indian science particularly in the field of botany. He was a Bengali polymath, physicist, botanist, archaeologist and an early writer of science fiction.

(doyen=leading light/exemplar/pioneer Polymath=a person with extraordinarily broad knowledge)

He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made significant contribution to plant science and laid the foundations of experimental science in the Indian subcontinent. He had initially done phenomenal work as physicist and later turned into a top rated plant biologist.

Bose is considered the father of Bengal science fiction. He invented the Cresograph, a device for measuring the growth of plants. IEEE has recently named him one of the fathers of radio science. A crater on the moon has been named in his honour.

Birth and birthplace

Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on 30 November 1858 in Mymensingh, now in Bangladesh. In the year 1971, the people of Bangladesh fought to separate the then East Pakistan from Pakistan to form Bangladesh. There were many Sanskrit schools in the region and it gave rise to many scholars.

Parents

Bose’s father Bhagaban Chandra Bose was Deputy Magistrate of Faridpur District. He was a follower of the Brahmo religion, whereas his wife Bhamasundari Debi was an orthodox who practiced Hindu religion and rituals. Jagadish had 5 sisters and a brother. Bose was greatly influenced by his father’s ideals

Bhagaban Chandra Bose was highly educated and had a great appreciation for science as a subject. He wanted his son to become a scientist. He was a fearless leader who protected his town as well as numerous adjoining villages. He used to have good command over his people and his force. It is said that he even offered job for a dacoit to take care of young Jagadish.

Bhagaban Chandra Bose wanted his son to study in a vernacular school because he believed that one must have command over one’s own mother tongue and one’s own culture, tradition, literature and people. Bose studied with the children of farmers, fishermen and workers. This exposed him to various themes that were going in the society. The stories his classmates told about nature and everyday life sowed the seeds of Bose’s interest in investigating the works of nature. They inspired him to read the great epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana. His mother showed no discrimination of caste among Bose’s friends and used to feed everyone.

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Education

Bose was sent to Calcutta to join Hare School in 1869 and then St. Xavier’s School. Later, he joined the St. Xavier’s college where he was associated with a Jesuit, Father Eugene Lafont who was known as Father of Modern Science in Calcutta. Bose received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Calcutta in 1879 in physics.

Bose wanted to go to England for higher studies but there were hindrances. The family’s financial condition was not good at that time as Bose’s father had invested huge amount in tea business and failed in it. Bose’s mother already lost a son and sending another son far away in the name of education was unbearable to her. But, she took a decision to send him off by selling her jewellery and ornaments. This decision not only changed the life of Jagadish but also helped the cause of advancement of science in India.

Bose took up medicine in England, but was throughout afflicted by fever. So he took up science the next year at Christ’s college which was in Cambridge University, for which he won a scholarship. He took up the course of Natural Science. He took up rowing as sport to improve his health condition. He studied under Lord Rayleigh who discovered Argon and went on to win a Nobel prize for that. Bose received Natural Science Tripos from the University of Cambridge and also completed a B.Sc. from the University of London.

Early career

Bose wanted to join the Imperial Education Service (IES) but he was not offered with that despite of great recommendation. He was given the post of Officiating Professor of Physics at The Presidency College, Calcutta. His salary was half the salary that an English got for the same post. Bose accepted the position but put a fight against the discrimination by not taking his salary. He started teaching in the best possible way and stressed on both theoretical and practical sides of sciences. After 3 years, his salary was increased to the same level as an English professor and he received his entire salary in arrears. He used this money to repay the debt of his father.

Contributions as a scientist

In 1894, on his 36^th birthday, he decided to pursue scientific research. He conducted his researches in a small room given by the Presidency College.

His first research was on electric radiation. He devised and fabricated a very sensitive radiator called ‘coheror’ which was earlier invented by Branly and Lodge. With this improvised version of the equipment, Bose could show various properties of radio waves like reflection, absorption, interference, double reflection and polarization.

In 1895, Bose presented a public demonstration at Town Hall in Calcutta where he sent an electromagnetic wave across 75 feet, passing through walls to remotely ring a bell and explode some gunpowder.

He also demonstrated a new type of radio waves as small as 1 cm to 5mm, which we now call microwaves. His papers titled “On the Polarisation of Electric Rays by Double Reflecting Crystals” and “On the Determination of the Indices of Refraction of Sulphur for the Electric Ray” were published in the Royal Societiy’s proceedings. Other papers in The Electrician of Friday which was started by Michael Farady.

Bose was invited to deliver a lecture at the Royal Institution, London.  He demonstrated his devices for the generation and detection of radio waves.

Bose created wireless communication as much as two years before Guglielmo Marconi, but Marconi won the Nobel prize for it as he had sent it first and as Bose had no awareness and knowledge of its significance. Also, Bose never bothered about patenting his work. He kept them open to entire world to adopt. He believed that science and its application is for the benefit of mankind.

Bose was fascinated by the ‘fatigue’ and ‘revival’ displayed by metals. He observed that metals too had ‘feelings’ and that they too had ‘sensitivity’. But the results were not very regular and his attention shifted to plants. The pulse beat of the plant is shown as a light spot, which responded to poison, proving that plants have life. His path-breaking discovery was opposed at first by some scientists at the Royal Society. Later, he was able to prove that plants respond to outside stimuli like chemicals, drugs, wounds, electric waves, electric shock, heat/cold, touch, music etc.

Bose being a physicist could device and invent very sensitive instruments to help him in research. One such instrument was ‘Crescograph’ which measures the growth of a plant in a very microscopic way. It could record a growth as small as ten-millionth inch per second. He made most of his sensitivity experiments on plants like Mimosa pudica(touch-me-not). His findings had wide implications and eventually influenced subjects like physiology, chronobiology, cybernetics, medicine and agriculture.

Bose was invited by the physical society of Paris to advise and explain the results of his experiment. There, Bose read his paper on “The Similarity Responses of Inorganic and Living Matter”. Swami Vivekananda happened to be there in Paris and attended his lecture. He later praised Bose for his contribution to the scientific achievement

Achievements and Awards

Bose won the reputation of presenting his papers at the Royal Society of London on a Friday evening. His papers were published in the proceedings of Royal Society as well as The Friday Electrician. He was invited by the Physical Society of Paris to explain his experiments.

He was considered as the pioneer of Bengali science fiction. His book ‘Polatok Toofan’ (Absconding Storm) described how a cyclone could be averted using a bottle of hair oil. It explained how oil changes the surface tension and holds water. His book ‘Niruddesher Kahini’ (Story of the Untraceable) was the first major Bengali science fiction.

The University of London offered him an honorary Doctor of Science (D. Sc.)

The Bose institute was started in 1917 for research work. Rabindranath Tagore helped Bose greatly in funding the money.

He continued as Professor Emeritus on full pay instead of pension, after his retirement.

In 1903, Bose was honoured with the title of the Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE).

In 1912, he was awarded the Commander of the Star of India (CSI)

He was also given the title of “Sir” by the British monarch.

He was elected the Fellow of Royal Society of London in 1928.

The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden (Shibpur, near Kolkata) is named in the honor of this extraordinary scientist.

IEEE has recently has recently acknowledged him as one of the pioneers in discovery of radio science.

A crater on the moon has been named in his honour.

Bose breathed his last on 23 November 1937 leaving behind a legacy which will keep the country’s head high for years to come.

The Great Indian Scientists--Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920)

Srinivasa Ramanujan is a name that needs no introduction. He was one of the foremost Indian mathematicians who made significant contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory and continued fractions. He had no formal training in pure mathematics. He started working in isolation out of his sheer love for the subject. This made his achievements really standout.

Early life

Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Chennai. Later, he was brought to his father’s town Kumbakonam. His father was a clerk in a sari shop. Ramanujan passed his primary education in 1897 and showed promising signs by standing first in the whole district. He passed matriculation and then entered Kumbakonam’s Government College. He was awarded scholarship there. By this time, he was obsessed with maths that he lost interest in all other subjects. As a result he couldn’t do well in other subjects and hence failed. He then tried once again in Madras Pachaiyappa’s College, but again failed.

In 1909, he married a 9 year old girl. Ramanujan had to face many hardships. He even didn’t have money to buy food; and he needed 4 reams of paper (1 ream=500 sheets) every month to write his propositions. He had no scholarship; he failed in examinations; he also had failed as a tutor of the subject he was very fond of. He was unable to maintain family until he got a job as a clerk in the Madras Port Trust with the help of Narayana Iyer in 1912. Also, his association with the other mathematicians helped him. He was introduced to the then Nellore Collector Diwan Bahadur R. Ramachandra Rao who was also the secretary of the Indian Mathematical Society. This society was founded by V. Ramaswami Iyer, a government servant. The society’s journal became popular. Ramaswamy Iyer met Ramanujan in 1910. He introduced Ramanujan to others who shared common passion for mathematics.

Obsession with Mathematics

Ramanujan came across a book, A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics by George Shoobridge Carr. It was a compilation of about 5000 equations in algebra, calculus, trigonometry and analytical geometry. It was in two volumes and Ramanujan had the first one. The book was not a really good one, but it was simple and clear. This book had great influence on Ramanujan. According to Hardy, Carr’s name was kept alive because of Ramanujan. He says, people remember the book only because it had great influence on Ramanujan. It had given an academic direction to Ramanujan. Carr simply gave the formulae and some hints to proceed. Ramanujan found it challenging and exciting. He was so intrigued by the book that he wanted to solve all the problems in it. While doing so, he compiled the results in his notebooks. So between 1903 and 1914, he had compiled 3 notebooks.

Turning point

Ramanujan wrote a letter, with all the discoveries he had made in mathematic,s  to G. H. Hardy, a British mathematician. Ramanujan requested Hardy  for his advice and to help getting his results published. Hardy was a leading light in mathematics and dominated the mathematical landscape of England. He was widely known for his works on and contributions in “Pure Mathematics”. He, along with J. E. Littlewood wrote over 100 papers on mathematical topics. Hardy and Littlewood studied Ramanujan’s propositions and understood that he had an exceptional intelligence in mathematics. However, they also understood that Ramanujan was not aware of formal and basic tools needed to be a seasoned mathematician. Hardy invited Ramanujan to England to study at Cambridge and continue his research. He also arranged for a research scholarship by the Madras University. Gilbert walker, a former fellow and mathematics lecturer at Trinity College, recommended Ramanujan to the University in this process. Ramanujan’s mother didn’t accept for his travel, but later agreed for that. Ramanujan left Madras by S.S.NEVASA, accompanied by E. H. Nivelle in 1914. His coming was awaited with eager anticipation in the mathematical circles.

Achievements

Ramanujan was awarded B.A. degree in March 1916. He had submitted extensive work on ‘Highly composite numbers’ which was published in the journal of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, owing to his work on Elliptic Functions and the Theory of Numbers. He was also elected the Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was the first Indian to achieve this. But, even before the full recognition of powers, he breathed his last. 

He showed the first signs of illness in 1917, slightly recovered in 1918; but returned home in 1919 and unfortunately at a very young age, died the following year.

G.H. Hardy

According to J. R. Newman, Hardy was also to be credited for Ramanujan’s achievement. Hardy himself worked so hard along with Ramanujan in refining the way he arrived at results as Ramanujan had no formal training of that. Hardy had the internal conflict in deciding how to proceed with this brilliant man who could work with ease on complex equations, who had mastery of continued fraction had a very little idea of what a mathematical proof is. Ramanujan’s results were arrived at by a combination of intuition and induction, which he couldn’t reason or argue for. Hardy had recognized his originality and helped him carry out his work.

Hardy in his book entitled Ramanujan: Twelve Lectures on Subjects Suggested by His Life and Work said that he had to form himself to help Ramanujan in his work. he wrote that Ramanujan was a keen philosopher and an enthusiastic politician. He was a strict vegetarian. All religion to him was similar in nature. He said, Ramanujan was a genius in his own right. He was very hard-working. He had a deep sense of form and great capacity of fast amendments of his hypotheses which was often surprising. He has no competitor in his day. Ramanujan’s greatest achievement was his deep and flawless originality of work. It had lasting impact on the research on mathematics.

Contributions and their significance

Ramanujan made significant contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory and continued fractions.

His work in mathematics majorly encompassed Number theory--the most basic form of mathematics. It includes analytic number theory, geometric theory and probabilistic number theory.

His other discovery was the mock-theta functions

He recognized the multiplicative properties of the coefficients of modular forms.

His work has some applications in particle physics as well as in calculation of pi up to a very large number of decimal places.

His research on Reiman’s Zeta Function has been applied to the pyrometry—the investigations of the temperature of furnaces.

His work on the partition numbers resulted in two applications—new fuels and fabrics like nylons.

He did mathematics for the sake of mathematics, for the joy he got in doing it, for the excitement he felt in peeping through the numbers, theorems, problems, and solving them. His achievement was so great, so impactful, so powerful that those who can understand his work will wonder at his achievements in such a short span of time. The Ramanujan museum was founded by P. K. Srinivasan, a mathematics teacher in 1993.

In 2012, Dr Manmohan Singh declared Ramanujan’s birthday, December 22, as National Mathematics day.

‘The man who knew infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan’ is a biography written in 1991 by Robert Kanigel. A film was released with the same title in 2015.