Casting pearls before swines.
Today (22 December) happens to be the birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan,
a brilliant mathematician who created some incredible mathematics which is
used in a wide variety of fields. Some years ago, after several proddings, the Government of India declared 22 December to be the national mathematics
day. Predictably, the celebrations stopped with that declaration. We continue to bask in our ignorance and indifference, given that many of our so-called mathematicians and institutions remain blissfully ignorant of this great mathematical genius. We do not even know how to celebrate or worship Ramanujan, much less understand or appreciate him. Year after year, I have tried to convince my neighbourhood schools to spend some time talking about mathematics seriously (other than routine classroom lectures). I even compiled and made available on the web, a lot of material about Ramanujan. But no one even noticed it. I have not succeeded in making any dent in their mindset. Maybe, two can lead a horse to the water, but two hundred cannot make the animal sing, if it is a donkey or a swine.
Here are some more discoveries I made:
- Where ignorance is bliss
- Where ignorance is bliss … a
sequel. - The sequel to a sequel
- Ramanujan deserves more than this
- Remembering Ramanujan
My own humble tribute to the genius, in my own little way:
“Tamaso maa jyothirgamaya” (lead us from darkness to light — a famous Hindu prayer)
Amen