On the other hand, Dravidians donot share the above and they may be kings in other aspects (except studies and inventions) like M Karunanithi, Parthiban, AR Rehman etc...
Hope this helps.
Peace by a PD

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MK

This article re iterates what I said earlier ..... he is more American than Indian and so are his achievements .... not the right reason for Indians to celebrate .... read on ...esp the last line .... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/india/Venki-Ramakrishnan-miffed-at-emails-from-India/articleshow/5120125.cms

Venki Ramakrishnan miffed at emails from India

Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has expressed disenchantment with people from India "bothering" him "clogging" up his email box
and dubbed as "strange" their sudden urge to reach out to him.

"All sorts of people from India have been writing to me, clogging up my email box. It takes me an hour or two to just remove their mails," he said.

He said the deluge of emails had buried important communications from colleagues or from journals concerning papers we have in press.

"Do these people have no consideration? It is OK to take pride in the event, but why bother me?" the 57-year-old Indian-American scientist wondered in an email interview to PTI.

"There are also people who have never bothered to be in touch with me for decades who suddenly feel the urge to connect. I find this strange," said Ramakrishnan, who shared this year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry with two others.

He expressed anguish over "all sorts of lies" published about him in a section of the media that he went to school and pre-Science in Chidambaram, the Tamil Nadu temple town where he was born in 1952.

"People I don't know, for example a Mr Govindrajan, claim that they were my teachers at Annamalai University which I never attended, since I left Chidambaram at the age of three," Ramakrishnan clarified.

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Fido.

Lot of people want to associate themselves with those who become popular. Its common everywhere. Ask the lottery winners in NA. In India, its predominant. So what? Remember the phrase “Hitch your wagon to a star”. Also throwing around names is common. We Indians do that a lot. Its insecurity to the core and a mental condition, nothing else.

"People I don't know, for example a Mr Govindrajan, claim that they were my teachers at Annamalai University which I never attended, since I left Chidambaram at the age of three," Ramakrishnan clarified.

That explains everything. Did he move to US at 3? I don’t know. If not, then people should not assume that he moved to USA. He might have resided within TN. Also Mr Govindrajan could be a mental case claiming that he was his teacher.


KM

Bottomline is .... He is an American over ever being an Indian and the achivement is America's . Why do Indians getting happy about it ? .. I always wonder .. I think its time they start taking pride in their own achievements rather than piggybacking someone else .

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Fido.

To some extent...I agree. But this man was born in India. I dont abt Sunita Williams (haven't read that thread). Remember Dr. Pachauri of TERI who won the award along with Al Gore?

KM

Since Dr. Ramakrishnan is spending hours deleting all the emails from his new found fans in India, he has sent this letter to TOI.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Venki-Ramakrishnan-miffed-at-emails-from-India/articleshow/5120125.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/A-little-less-nationalistic-hero-worship-please/articleshow/5129529.cms

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I am distressed by the reaction to my comment about being deluged by emails from India, and realize I have inadvertently hurt people, for which I
apologize. I hope people realize that I have no personal secretary and use my email mainly for work, so finding important communications became very difficult.

I want to make it clear that I was delighted to hear from scientific colleagues and students whom I had met personally over the years in India and elsewhere, as well as close friends with whom I had lost touch. Unlike real celebrities like movie stars or people in sports, we scientists generally lead a quiet life, and are not psychologically equipped to handle publicity. So I found the barrage of emails from people whom I didn’t know or whom I only knew slightly almost 40 years ago (nearly all from Indians) difficult to deal with.

People have also taken offence at my comment about nationality being an accident of birth. However, they don’t seem to notice the first part of the sentence: We are all human beings. Accident or not, I remain grateful to all the dedicated teachers I had throughout my years. Others have said I have disowned my roots.

Since 2002, I have come almost every year to India. In these visits, I have spent time on institute campuses giving lectures or talking to colleagues and students about their work, and stayed in the campus guest house. I have not spent my time staying in fancy hotels and going sightseeing without them. The people I visited, e.g. at the ICGEB in Delhi, CCMB in Hyderabad, the University of Madras or the IISc in Bangalore can vouch for this. Finally, at a personal level, although I am westernized, many aspects of culture like a love for classical Indian music or South Indian or Gujarati food are simply a part of me.

The best way to take pleasure in someone’s achievement is to take an interest in their work and feel motivated to learn more about science. I remember reading about Gellman’s work as an undergraduate in Baroda, and, when he won the Nobel prize, rushing upstairs to tell my parents. It did not matter to me whether he was Indian or not. In my case, I am lucky to have had a combination of education, opportunities and a great team of co-workers to have made a contribution to an important problem. I am not personally that important. If I hadn’t existed, this work would still have been done. It is the work that is important, and that should be what excites people.

Finally, there are many excellent scientists in India and elsewhere who will never win a Nobel prize. But their work is no less interesting and people should find out about what they do. My visits to India confirm that it has great potential and bright young students. A little less nationalistic hero worship will go a long way to fulfil that potential.

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Give free food http://www.thehungersite.com ||

Quote:

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Originally posted by rajcanada

Finally, there are many excellent scientists in India and elsewhere who will never win a Nobel prize. But their work is no less interesting and people should find out about what they do. My visits to India confirm that it has great potential and bright young students. A little less nationalistic hero worship will go a long way to fulfil that potential.

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