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Ancient Hindus could navigate the air
By Shachi Rairikar

"The ancient Hindus could navigate the air, and not only navigate it,but fight battles in it like so many war-eagles combating for the domination of the clouds.

To be so perfect in aeronautics, they must have known all the arts and sciences related to the science, including
the strata and currents of the atmosphere, the relative temperature,humidity, density and specific gravity of the various gases..."
- Col. Olcott in a lecture in Allahabad, in 1881.

The Rig Veda, the oldest document of the human race, includes references to the following modes of transportation: jalayanâa vehicle designed to operate in air and water (Rig Veda 6.58.3); kaaraâa vehicle that operates on ground and in water (Rig Veda 9.14.1); tritalaâa vehicle consisting of three storeys (Rig Veda 3.14.1); trichakra rathaâa three-wheeled vehicle designed to operate in air (Rig Veda 4.36.1); vaayu rathaâa gas or wind-powered chariot (Rig Veda 5.41.6); vidyut rathaâa vehicle that operates on power (Rig Veda 3.14.1).

Ancient Sanskrit literature is full of descriptions of flying machines -"vimanas".

From the many documents found, it is evident that the scientist-sages Agastya and Bharadwaja had developed the lore of aircraft construction.

The Agastya Samhita gives Agastya's descriptions on two types of aeroplanes. The first is a chchatra (umbrella or balloon) to be filled with hydrogen. The process of extracting hydrogen from water is described in elaborate detail and the use of electricity in achieving this is clearly stated. This was considered to be a primitive type of plane, useful only for escaping from a fort when the enemy had set fire to the jungle all around. Hence the name agniyana.

The second type of aircraft mentioned is somewhat on the lines of the parachute. It could be opened and shut by operating chords. This aircraft has been described as vimanadvigunam, i.e. of a lower order than the regular aeroplane.

The process of extracting hydrogen from water is described in elaborate detail and the use of electricity in achieving this is clearly stated.

Aeronautics or Vaimaanika Shastra is a part of Yantra Sarvasva of Bharadwaja. This is also known as Brihadvimaana Shastra.

Vaimaanika Shastra deals with aeronautics, including the design of aircraft, the way they can be used for transportation and other applications, in detail.

The knowledge of aeronautics is described in Sanskrit in 100 sections, eight chapters, 500 principles and 3,000 shlokas. Great sage Bharadwaja explained the construction of aircraft and the way to fly it in air, on land, on water and use the same aircraft like a submarine. He also described the construction of war-planes and fighter aircraft.

Vaimaanika Shastra explains the metals and alloys and other required material, which can make an aircraft imperishable in any condition. Planes which will not break (abhedya), or catch fire (adaahya) and which cannot be cut (achchedya) have been described. Along with the treatise, there are diagrams on three types of aeroplanes -"Sundara, Shukana and Rukma".

The aircraft is classified into three types -"Mantrika, Tantrika and Kritaka", to suit different yugas or eras.

In krita yuga, it is said, Dharma was well established. The people of that time had the divinity to reach any place using their ashtasiddhis. The aircraft used in treta yuga are called Mantrika vimana, flown by the power of hymns
(mantras). Twenty-five varieties of aircraft including Pushpaka vimana belong to this era.

The aircraft used in dwapara yuga were called Tantrika vimana, flown by the power of tantras. Fifty-six varieties of
aircraft including Bhairava and Nandaka belong to this era.

The aircraft used in kali yuga, the on-going yuga, are called Kritaka vimana, flown by the power of engines. Twenty-five varieties of aircraft including Sundara, Shukana and Rukma belong to this era.

Bharadwaja states that there are 32 secrets of the science of aeronautics.

Of these, some are astonishing and some indicate an advance even beyond our own times.

For instance, the secret of para shabda graaha, i.e. a cabin for listening to the conversation in another plane, has been explained by elaborately describing an electrically worked sound-receiver that did the trick. Manufacture of
different types of instruments and putting them together to form an aircraft are also described.

It appears that aerial warfare was also not unknown, for the treatise gives the techniques of shatru vimana kampana kriya, and shatru vimana nashana kriya, i.e. shaking and destroying enemy aircraft, as well as photographing enemy planes, rendering their occupants unconscious and making one's own plane invisible.

In Vastraadhikarana, the chapter describing the dress and other material required while flying, talks in detail about the clotheswear for both the pilot and the passenger separately.

Ahaaraadhikarana is yet another section exclusively dealing with the food habits of a pilot. This has a variety of guidelines for pilots to maintain their health through strict diet.

Bharadwaja also provides a bibliography. He had consulted six treatises by six different authors previous to him and he gives their names and the names of their works in the following order: Vimana Chandrika by Narayanamuni; Vyoma Yana Mantrah by Shaunaka; Yantra Kalpa by Garga; Yana Bindu by Vachaspati; Kheta Yaana Pradeepika by Chaakraayani; Vyoma Yaanarka Prakasha by Dundi Natha.

As before Bharadwaja, after him too there have been Sanskrit writers on aeronautics and there were four commentaries on his work. The names of the commentators are Bodh Deva, Lalla, Narayana Shankha and Vishwambhara.

Vaimaanika Shastra explains the metals and alloys and other required material, which can make an aircraft imperishable in any condition.

Evidence of existence of aircraft are also found in the Arthashastra of Kautilya (c. 3rd century b.c.). Kautilya mentions amongst various tradesmen and technocrats the saubhikas as 'pilots conducting vehicles in the sky'.

Saubha was the name of the aerial flying city of King Harishchandra and the form saubika means 'one who flies or knows the art of flying an aerial city'. Kautilya uses another significant word, akasa yodhinah, which has been translated as 'persons who are trained to fight from the sky'.

The existence of aerial chariots, in whatever form it might be, was so well-known that it found a place among the royal edicts of Emperor Asoka and which were executed during his reign from 256-237 b.c.

It is interesting to note that the Academy of Sanskrit Research in Melkote, near Mandya, had been commissioned by the Aeronautical Research Development Board, New Delhi, to take up a one-year study on 'Non-conventional Approach to Aeronautics', on the basis of Vaimaanika Shastra.

As a result of the research, a glass-like material which cannot be detected by radar has been developed by Prof. Dongre, a research scholar of Benaras Hindu University. A plane coated with this unique material cannot be detected using radar.

But perhaps the most interesting thing about the Indian science of aeronautics and Bharadwaja's research in the field was that they were successfully tested in actual practice by an Indian over a 100 years ago.

In 1895, full eight years before the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA, Shivkar Bapuji Talpade and his wife gave a thrilling demonstration flight on Chowpatty beach in Mumbai.

An even more astonishing feature of Talpade's aircraft was the power source he used- "an ion engine". The theory of the ion engine has been credited to Robert Goddard, long recognised as the father of liquid-fuel rocketry. It is claimed that in 1906, long before Goddard launched his first modern rocket, his imagination had conceived the concept of an ion rocket. But the fact is that not only had the idea of an ion engine been conceived long before Dr Goddard, it had also been materialised in the form of Talpade's aircraft.

Talpade, a resident of Mumbai, was an erudite scholar of Sanskrit literature, especially of the Vedas, an inventor and a teacher in the School of Arts. His deep study of the Vedas led him to construct an aeroplane in conformity with the descriptions of the aircraft available in the Vedas and he displayed it in an exhibition arranged by the Bombay Art Society in the Town Hall.

Its proving the star attraction of the exhibition encouraged its maker to delve deeper into the matter and see if the plane could be flown with the aid of mercurial pressure. For, the one hundred-and-ninetieth richa (verse) of the Rig Veda and the aeronautical treatise of Bharadwaja mention that flying machines came into full operation when the power of the sun's rays, mercury and another chemicals called naksha rasas were blended together.

This energy was, it seems, stored in something like an accumulator or storage batteries. The Vedas refer to eight
different engines in the plane and Bharadwaja adds that they are worked by electricity.

Talpade carried on his research along these lines and constructed an aeroplane. In his experiments he was aided by his wife, also a deep scholar of the Vedic lore, and an architect-friend. The plane combined the constructional characteristics of both Pushpaka and Marut Sakha, the sixth and eighth types of aircraft described by Bharadwaja. It was named Marut Sakha meaning "friend of the wind".

With this plane, this pioneer airman of modern India gave a demonstration flight on the Chowpatty beach in Mumbai in the year 1895. The machine attained a height of about 1,500 feet and then automatically landed safely.

The flight was witnessed, among many others, by Shri Sayajirao Gaekwad, the Maharaja of Baroda and Justice
Govind Ranade and was reported in the Kesari, a leading Marathi dailynewspaper. They were impressed by the feat and rewarded the talented inventor.

Unfortunately, Talpade lost interest in things after his wife's death, and after his own death in 1917 at the age of 53, his relatives sold the machine to the Rally Brothers, a leading British exporting firm then operating in Mumbai.

Thus, the first ever attempt at flying in modern India, undertaken and made successful by an Indian, in a plane
of Indian manufacture and built to Indian scientific specifications, slid into the limbo of oblivion.

Lesbian IVF couple both have twins - on the same day

Despite IVF being used for thirty years, fertility treatments are still breaking new ground to assist couples struggling to conceive children - in multiples. Recently the first US babies conceived using frozen eggs were born in Minnesota and now quadruplets have been born in California to two mothers within a same-sex partnership.
After two unsuccessful IVF cycles and a miscarriage, Ceresa and Jonathan Caudill succeeded in having the first babies in Minnesota to be born from frozen eggs rather than embryos. In California, partners Karen Wesolowski, 42, and Martha Padgett, 38, underwent fertility treatments for between three and four years, spending roughly INR 29,75,000 on five cycles of IVF, before having the first reported quadruplets to ever be born two mothers when they each had twins using IVF embryos created from Padgett’s eggs and a sperm donor.
The egg-freezing technology which successfully led to the birth of the Caudill’s twin daughters is an imperfect science. The egg is the body’s largest cell and, unlike sperm and embryos, is predominantly composed of water which crystallises during the freezing process and can damage it. Experts hope that, once reliable, the technique could significantly help women to control their reproductive destinies. Researchers posture that the technology could impact reproductive choice in much the same way that the birth control pill did forty years ago. ‘For women who are sure they are going to go through menopause from cancer treatments, or for women in their mid-30s who don't see a partner on the horizon, there really aren't other options’, said Dr. Elizabeth Ginsberg, president-elect of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) and a fertility doctor in Boston.
According to Dr. Charles Coddington who heads the Mayo fertility clinic in Rochester, many couples like the Caudills do not wish to create more embryos than are required for implantation because they are uncomfortable with concept of unused leftover embryos. The Caudills used the remaining eggs, which had been frozen for research purposes, as a last resort.
The Mayo Clinic now offers egg-freezing to women, including those who wish to delay pregnancy, for double the price of frozen-embryo storage - at roughly INR 42,500 - and makes it clear that the success rates is much lower to conceive children using this method. Only half of frozen eggs survive the thawing process compared to the Mayo Clinic’s 90 per cent survival rate for embryos. Then 10-15 per cent of those thawed eggs successfully lead to live births where as frozen embryos have a 50 per cent chance of leading to a live birth at the clinic. They use a technique that removes much of the water in the eggs before slowly freezing them and later thaw them slowly returning the water to the eggs for re-absorption.
The California couple had attempted every possible IVF combination, using both of their eggs, and was ‘exhausted’. After five unsuccessful attempts they were just trying to hedge their bets to successfully have a single child but were delighted to learn that they were each pregnant and that they were both having twins. The two sets of twins were surprisingly born only 22 hours apart. The couple is ‘thrilled, knowing they’re all related and can help each other through life’.

Doubts…

1. When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?

2. If the 'black box' flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn't the whole airplane made out of that stuff?

3. Who copyrighted the copyright symbol?

4. Can you cry under water?

5. Why do people say, 'You've been working like a dog' when dogs just sit around all day?

6. Why are the numbers on a calculator and a phone reversed?

7. Do fish ever get thirsty?

8. Can you get cornered in a round room?

9. Why do birds not fall out of trees when they sleep?

10. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables then what is baby oil made from?

11. What should one call a male ladybird?

12. If a person suffered from amnesia and then was cured would they remember that they forgot?

13. Can you blow a balloon up under water?

14. Why is it called a 'building' when it is already built?

15. If you were traveling at the speed of sound and you turned on your radio would you be able to hear it?

16. If you're traveling at the speed of light and you turn your headlights on, what happens?

17. Why is it called a TV set when there's only one?

18. Why do most cars have speedometers that go up to at least 200 when you legally can't go that fast on any road?

The First 9/11 Divorce

Tonight We Have The Stars at LaVaSa

Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
-Henry David Thoreau

I came. I saw. I was mesmerized. I decided to settle down. I made my retirement plans. I made my castles in the air. I leased out my future home from Lavasa Corporation. I will now utilize the rest of my life in putting the foundations to my dreams at Lavasa. With a playground that covers the whole valley, outdoors that start right at your doorstep, chances are you will run out of excuses to live life at Lavasa. Nature trails that zigzag across the hills, offer a perfect recreational activity for nature lovers. Parks at Lavasa offer countless relaxation and leisure activities for its residents. For those of you following my Lavasa Life, let me today write about the night-life at Lavasa.

How good is the night sky over your house? How well can you see the stars? How many stars can you see from your house? If you really want to see the beauty of the night sky, drive down to Lavasa. Many factors determine how well you can see the night sky. Natural weather patterns have an obvious effect. But even when clouds are not seen, high haze, which may well be invisible to you, can obscure many stars. Humidity causes air to scatter light, reducing the contrast between the "black” sky and the stars, making fainter stars harder to see and stars close together difficult to distinguish. What you might see as three stars on a clear, dark night may look like only one with high levels of humidity in the air. But by far the biggest thief of the night sky is light pollution. Light pollution won't cause physical or mental health problems. It won't give you cancer, but it is a cancer on the beauty of the night sky. It robs us of a natural treasure. City-folks, you don't know what you are missing. I did not too till I saw the night sky at Lavasa. It was one of those rare clear-sky nights during the monsoons at Lavasa (I think the most beautiful season of the year at Lavasa).

The International Dark-Sky Association ( www.darksky.org) defines light pollution as "any adverse effect of manmade light. It is often used to denote urban sky glow.” The association describes several types of light pollution, including glare, light trespass and energy waste. All forms of light pollution deal with light going to places where it is not needed or wanted. Some forms of light pollution, while intended to make you safer at night, actually do more harm than good. Environmental sensitivity is one of the driving factors in the development of Lavasa. Modern technologies merged with time tested ideas have been deployed to maintain the natural settings of the environment. The Environment Management Plan (EMP) addresses several initiatives to protect and enhance the green cover. As far as I know, only 12% of the total area of 25,000 hectares will be developed. The remainder will be left as it is. Presently Ekaant -the Lodge is the only tourist recreational facility at Dasve. You see small clusters of lights at night from Ekaant in villages comprising of 15-20 tenements. The only other lights seen in the valley are the street lamps over the road made on the Warasgaon Dam.

The long, warm nights of August provide some dazzling sights. The Milky Way arcs high overhead, adding a soft glow to the dark sky -- but only if you are away from pesky city lights. The constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius are at their best, anchoring the southern end of the Milky Way. Jupiter points the way to Sagittarius. Mars and Saturn drop from sight in the glare of sunset, where Venus and Mercury already lurk. That leaves Jupiter as the only naked-eye planet easily visible for most of the month. if you have a telescope, this is the place to see the stars at night, especially on a warm dry night at Lavasa.

The lights bring out the character of Ekaant. Strong, Silent, Handsome & Eternal. Look at the pictures. I fell in love all over again, once again:) with the stars & the night-lights of Lavasa. I had some friends writing to me from Israel asking if they can buy a retreat at Lavasa. Must remember to forward their enquiries to Nathan & colleagues. I wish these visionaries had started this project in the 70s. Anyways my children and their children will enjoy the fruits of people who are shaping the future modern India.

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
-William James