History Under Your Feet

One of the biggest advances in the field of molecular biophysics, has been the discovery of the triple hellical structure of collagen, that enabled a better understanding of the peptide structure.The Ramachandran plot has become a standard description of protein structures in the text books. And the man behind this discovery,  G.N. Ramachandran or GNR as he was known, one of the great Indian scientists of modern era, who was an equally good Vedic scholar, studied the Upanishads in depth and interpreted their teachings.

Komaram Bheem led an intense uprising against both the British and the Nizam rule, in the forests of North Telangana, and gave the slogan of Jal, Jangal, Zameen.

Typically when we speak of Mewar, it usually ends with Rana Pratap and the Battle of Haldighati.  Not much is really known about his succesors, nor his son Amar Singh.  While Pratap’s rivalry with Akbar is well known and chronicled, not known is the fact that his son Amar Singh fought an equally long war with Jahangir, before he was forced to surrender.

Tatya Tope one of the greats of the 1857 Revolt, who waged a long guerilla war against the British even after the Revolt was crushed. A man who had no formal military training, but was considered one of the finest rebel generals.

One of the great Maratha rulers, who established the Scindias as a powerful ruling kingdom in Central India, made Gwalior the capital.

Satish Dhawan, the 3rd chairman of ISRO, who shaped it’s organizational structure and put in a fine process in place. The father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India, one of the eminent researchers in the field of turbulence.

Often called the second founder of the Maratha State, Balaji Vishwanath was the one who made the Peshwa all powerful, from a mere Prime Minister to the main power center.  As well as ensuring the hold of the Chitpavan Brahmins over the position, primarily from Konkan.

Shyamji Krishna Varma, one of the most brilliant minds of the modern era, a selfless patriot, who gave his everything for the nation’s freedom. He was deeply influenced by the views of Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s teachings, as well as that of Herbert Spencer.

Jatindranath Mukherjee, also known as Bagha Jatin, after he killed a tiger with his bare hands, one of the greatest revolutionaries ever.