The Relation Between Literature And Science

Literature and science are two subjects which contradict on one hand and compliment on the other. The foundational idea behind is that there is an important reciprocal influence between the sciences, the arts, and the humanities, though the ways in which current ideas are expressed and manifested, especially in our age of specialization, may be so different that the connections between them—as well as the ability to trace precedence—may not always be clear. Historically, for example, it is almost impossible for anyone who has even a basic understanding of Einstein to read much of Virginia Woolf's work without considering the impact of his ideas on her thinking.

Literature is a mirror of society. Literature is a body of written works related by subject matter (e.g. the literature of computing), by language or place of origin (e.g. Russian literature), or by prevailing cultural standards of merit. Literature includes poetry, prose, essays and fiction. Rebecca West said, "Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity". Literature is an amalgam of observation, experience and creativity. It depends on how a person perceives a thing. An ant or an elephant, anything and everything can inspire literati to give it a form of literature.

Science is a systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation. Science is a description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena. It is a practical subject in which every single theorem has a proper justification with assumptions.

Literature is a large word; it may mean everything written with letters or printed in a book. Euclid's Elements and Newton's Principia are thus literature. All knowledge that reaches us through books is literature. Both science and literature is based on observation and experience. They are like some colors on a wall. The more you look at it the more meaning and ideas germinate. A single normal happening can give you an inspiration; inspiration to prepare a thesis on it. A normal happening like an apple falling clicked on Sir Isaac Newton’s mind which eventually led to the law of gravitation. In the field of literature, a small flower like daffodil inspired William Wordsworth to a write a great poem ‘Daffodils’. A plain fact can become a masterpiece provided one is alert all the time and presents a thing in a creative manner with proper explanation.

The famous novel by Dan Brown, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ beautifully presents us the series of codes both from science and literature which helps the protagonist Robert Langdon to reach to the final destination. Similarly Umberto Eco, Benjamin Franklin, Susruta etc provided us various links between science and literature which is real and true. Prof. Huxley in his book ‘Literature and Science’ maintained that the remedy lies in the recognition of "the great truth that art and literature and science are one, and that the foundation of every sound education and preparation for active life in which a special education is necessary should be some efficient training in all three."

'OUR RENDEZVOUS'

‘Ho shuru har pal aise, ho shuru har din aise…NESCAFE!...This line literally defines the ‘NESCAFE’…our ‘adda’. We all are habitual to this place…the lovely smell of its coffee…the lively surrounding.. the green artistic trees..( and the hovering black crows!)

Whenever our energy level is down and the mind goes all empty, our feet blindly start walking towards the Nescafe, where we all friends meet and collectively do ‘bakaiti’ ( our group’s name for rubbish talks), and we move on with our Daily Dose- the red and black cups of coffee and the crisp brown vegetable patties ( as the ‘cheese’ ones are costlier).

This is the place where we all are at ease and speak our minds out. The girls begin with their indispensable gossips and 'eXclusive' news. The boys (some with cigarette in hand) begin with ‘serious’ talks on cricket and bikes. But, till this date, we all wonder when these ‘peaceful’ talks transform into tiffs combined with ‘censored’ slang and uncontrollable laughs….and then enters the ‘neta’ and solves the deliberately initiated fight…(We salute him! )…The scene again becomes normal, with the loud music in background (NOTE- loud music can never be in background), and slowly and smoothly we all start our ‘pipe-pana’..the same PJs (poor jokes)..Each one us trying to prove that we are the ultimate fools and pipes in this world….and the smug smile (ugh!).

Later on when its time for the bill payment…we get to see those ’vacant wallets’…some of us even ‘escape’ the place...but with a bit of team work in the end, the money is always managed. And finally leaving behind the echoes of our giggles and laughter, we all leave the place…our rendezvous!

I DREAM....

I Dream,
of a gleam...
along with which some vague images appear,
visage of all dear ones
who are now in heavens,
a tear falls down my eyes...
I could do nothing except
to wave and dimly smile...


I Dream,
of a beam...
which surpasses all odds,
without any sobs,
reaches the top,
I hop..,
to see my markings
that whether it is there or has been eroded...


I Dream,
of a stream...
with which me and you
flow and flow,
till we touch that glow
and flame ourselves
with divine love and friendship
that lasts forever...



But as I open my eyes,
I meet the true scenario...
I realize...
life is not only about dreams of 'past' but,
dreams of 'future'..............!!!

THE ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY

The green monogram with the a palm tree in the centre, an open book on the right and a crescent moon on the left, also expresses the motto of the AMU i.e. ‘Allamal insaana maa lam ya’Ålam (Arabic) which when translated to English says ‘Taught man what he did not know.’ (Quran 96:5).

The Aligarh Muslim University is much more than a mere institution of higher learning; it is a movement. This revolutionary movement was started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in the wake of the cataclysm of 1857 which brought about total catastrophe for the Indian Muslims. The University owes its existence to the selfless and untiring efforts of this great visionary-Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
The eventful history of the AMU, which originated as a small school in 1875, is a glowing and inspiring account of dedication, sacrifice, selfless service and love for the community and the country, left behind by Sir Syed and his illustrious comrades and followers. Almost two years after the establishment of the school, the foundation stone of the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College was laid by Lord Lytton, the viceroy, on 8th January, 1877. In the address presented to the viceroy, the ideals of the college were eloquently enunciated as “free enquiry, large hearted tolerance and pure morality”.
The Aligarh Muslim University occupies a unique position amongst 146 other universities of India. Established in 1920 as the tenth university of the continent, it is one of the old and large universities of the country. A centrally administered university along with eight others, it attracts students not only from all the States of India but also from as many as 30 countries of the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. It presently covers a very wide spectrum of academic disciplines, having 88 departments, 5 institutions, 13 centers. The University currently has about 28,000 students on its rolls, most of who stay in 16 halls of residences with 70 hostels. It employs about 1400 academic staff and 6000 non-teaching staff on an average and around 500 foreign students come to study at AMU every year.
The Aligarh Muslim University is one of the oldest premier Central Universities of India with a unique and rich culture of its own. It is a proud Indian institution; a living symbol of the composite colours of India and a bulwark of its secular principles.

TWILIGHT

The world I dwell in,
where everybody slowly deceases,
and I slowly come into being..
when the smog clears, I come forward..

The world I dwell in,
where everybody is barmy or am I ?!
when everybody sleeps, I open my eyes,
to see my cosmos, my dreams, my yearnings..

This faint sheen gives me the ability, the energy..
the hope that recedes, clears its dust..
my wings yawn, my eyes twinkle..
every one goes dead and I am 'born'..
only a true self can vision me,
serene and tranquil breeze~~ I fly with..
I touch the zenith..
I touch the dust..
I touch 'you'..

My tears dry, assuaging all pains,
smile sparkles as the queer light falls..
I become despotic.. I own the zone !!
And I am here till the fluorescent and vibrant
light forces me to close my eyes.........!!

'Women continue to scale the heights of power and influence'

Gone are the days when men used to symbolize power and influence. Today, women are leading men in each sphere of life. With women sitting comfortably on the most respected chair, it is the other sex 'men' who are now looking 'up' and getting influenced by them. The world is now working on their commands and to highlight the new 'boss', Forbes magazine has listed the world's 100 most powerful women. For the third year running Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is the worlds most powerful women. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (overall rank: 28) is the woman with the highest public profile, resulting from the intense media scrutiny of her failed presidential bid. The top 10 of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women figured Indian-origin chief executive of PepsicCo Indra Nooyi at number three after Sheila Bair, Chairperson of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. while Condoleeza Rice figured at number seven.
Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar ranked in the top 20 of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Kochhar debuted at number 20 behind Mrs. Gandhi who was ranked 13 in the list. Yahoo's Carol Bartz was ahead of Gandhi at number 12. Besides Mrs. Gandhi and Kochhar, Biocon's chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw also featured in the list at number 91. Mrs. Gandhi improved her ranking from 21 last year to 13 this year, while Mazumdar-Shaw moved to 91 from last year's 99th place. Nooyi retained her third position in the list. Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, who was ranked 59th in last year's list, did not figure in the latest list. Regarding Mrs. Gandhi, Forbes said, she is "still the country's dominant force since she reluctantly entered politics in the 1990s. "The landslide victory in the recent general election further strengthened her position as the leader of "India's most powerful political party" — Indian National Congress. Kochhar was named as the first woman boss of India's second largest lender ICICI Bank and took charge in May this year. "She now oversees a bank with assets of $100 billion," Forbes said. She was instrumental in transforming the retail business of ICICI Bank and turning it into a retail banking powerhouse.
Forbes' Powerful Women list is based largely in terms of influence rather than celebrity status or popularity. In assembling the list, Forbes looked for women who run countries, big companies or influential nonprofits. The annual ranking of the most powerful women in the world measures "power" as a composite of public profile--calculated using press mentions--and financial heft. The economic component of the ranking considers job title and past career accomplishments, as well as the amount of money the woman controls. "Their rankings are a combination of two scores: visibility — by press mentions — and the size of the organization or country these women lead," the US-based magazine said.

SO TWEET !!

The world is changing, so are the people and their mindsets. What we liked before now seems tasteless and colourless. And what we disliked, now unfortunately seems iridescent and flamboyant.

Today is the day of twenty-20. Short and fast! As we say, ‘small is beautiful’, we are minimizing and shortening every other thing, be it the most controversial ODI's(One Day Internationals) to twenty-20 or from 1024 characters on Orkut to 140 characters on Twitter. The indifference is ‘we are lovin it’. From student to teachers, from politicians to celebrities, everyone has accepted it that to with a warm hug. Without preference, we all have been trapped in a cob-web. Our life is moving with such a high pace, that we have less time for entertainment and leisure. If you update someone, you usually (always) say wassup! , heya, Hws life gng?. Not only me but everyone will write this. Lingo is in vogue. SMS is still surviving because nobody has that much patience and tolerance. ‘Have to’ has become ‘hafta’, ‘be right back’ has become ‘brb’ (strange that people comprehend it also). Nobody is interested in putting so much labour to write the whole spelling!! Appalling reality is now even dictionaries include such lingo’s and have a separate section for SMS language!!

If you want to update your status, so ‘tweet’ in 140 characters (now even 140 is much for me!) Earlier it was 1024 characters on orkut (c’mon! now we don’t hafta write a novel huh! ). In this fast world, people are expressing more in less word or better say alphabets and exclamatory marks. We all are now habitual with it. We want to have the same quantity of dose in small packets and in ‘short time’. We love early and fast delivery! And if you fail to deliver on time then we get it for free! B-)