LEWIS CARROLL

Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.

Carroll, Lewis, pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-98), English logician, mathematician, photographer, and novelist, best known for his fantasy, Alice in Wonderland.  

Dodgson was the eldest son and third child in a family of seven girls and four boys born to Frances Jane Lutwidge, the wife of the Rev. Charles Dodgson. He was born in Daresbury, Cheshire, on Jan 27, 1832. His father was perpetual curate there from 1827 until 1843, when he became rector of Croft in Yorkshire - a post he held until his death on Jan 14, 1898 in Guildford, Surrey.  

        His family lived in an isolated country village and had few friends outside the family but found little difficulty in entertaining themselves. Charles showed a great aptitude for inventing games to amuse them. The "Rectory Magazines", manuscript compilations to which  the family were supposed to contribute, were created when he was 12. In fact, Charles wrote nearly all of those that survive, including Useful and Instructive Poetry (1845; published 1954), The Rectory Magazine (c. 1850, mostly unpublished), The Rectory Umbrella (1850-53), andMischmasch (1853-62; published with The Rectory Umbrella in 1932).  

Young Dodgson attended Richmond School, Yorkshire (1844-45), and then Rugby School (1846-50). He endured several illnesses during this period, one of which left him deaf in one ear. After Rugby he spent a further year being tutored by his father, during which he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford (May 23, 1850). He went into residence as an undergraduate there on Jan. 24, 1851.  

        Dodgson excelled in his mathematical and divinity studies in 1852; on the strength of his performance in examinations, he was nominated to a studentship (called a scholarship in other colleges). In 1854 he gained a first in mathematical Finals - coming out at the head of the class - and proceeded to a bachelor of arts degree in December of the same year. He was made a "Master of the House" and a senior student (called a fellow in other colleges) the following year and was appointed lecturer in mathematics (equivalent to today's tutor), a post he resigned in 1881. He held his studentship until the end of his life.  

        As Charles L. Dodgson, the name he used for his academic works, he was the author of a number of books on mathematics, none of enduring importance, although Euclid and His Modern Rivals (1879) is of some historical interest.  

Alice in Wonderland grew out of Dodgson's entertainment of the children of Henry George Liddell, dean of Christ Church. He had a natural affinity for children, having been the eldest son with eight younger brothers and sisters. He also spoke naturally and easily to children, a relief to him since he suffered from a bad stammer. Alice Liddell and her sisters Lorina and Edith were not, of course, the first of Dodgson's child friends. Dodgson had also enjoyed the company of the children of the writer George Macdonald, the sons of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and various other chance acquaintances. The Liddell children, however, undoubtedly held an especially high place in his affections.  
lice in Wonderland began as a tale spun by Dodgson, when on July 4, 1862, Dodgson and his friend Robinson Duckworth, fellow of Trinity, rowed the three Liddell children up the Thames from Oxford to Godstow. They picnicked on the bank, and returned to Christ Church late in the evening. The fairy-tale of Alice's Adventures Underground was told to the children during this occasion. Much of the story was based on a picnic a couple of weeks earlier when they had all been caught in the rain; for some reason, this inspired Dodgson to tell so much better a story than usual that both Duckworth and Alice noticed the difference, and Alice went so far as to plead Dodgson to write down the story. 

Dodgson was able to write down the story and added to it several extra adventures that had been told on other occasions. He illustrated it with his own crude but distinctive drawings and gave the finished product to Alice Liddell, with no thought of hearing of it again. However the novelist Henry Kingsley, while visiting the deanery, chanced to have read it, and urged Mrs. Liddell to persuade the author to publish it. Dodgson, honestly surprised, consulted his friend George Macdonald, author of some of the best children's stories of the period, and the latter gave his approval.  

        Dodgson revised it for publication by cutting out the references to the previous picnic and added some additional stories to make up a volume of the desired length. At Duckworth's suggestion he got an introduction to John Tenniel, the Punch magazine cartoonist, whom he commissioned to make illustrations to his specifications. The book was published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. However, the first edition was withdrawn because of bad printing, and only about 21 copies survived - one of the rare books of the 19th century. The reprint was ready for publication by Christmas of the same year, though dated 1866.  

The book was a success, and by the following year Dodgson was already considering a sequel to it. The result was Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (dated 1872; actually published December 1871), a work as good as, or better than, its predecessor. Indeed, by his death, Alice (taking the two volumes together) had become the most popular children's book in England. By his centenary in 1932 it was one of the most popular and perhaps the most famous children's book in the world.  

 However, before the two Alices, Dodgson had, in fact, published a number of humorous items in verse and prose and a few inferior serious poems. The earliest appeared anonymously, but in March 1856 a poem called "Solitude" was published using the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. This pseudonym was derived by taking his own names Charles Lutwidge, translating them into Latin as "Carolus Ludovicus", then reversing and retranslating them into English. This name was used later for all his works as an author and poet.  

        Later in life, Dodgson attempted a return to the Alice vein but only produced Sylvie and Bruno (1889) and its second volume, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), both regarded as failures by critics, though the two novels taken together are a study of the man.  

        His poems and verses were collected in 1869 as Phantasmagoria and Other Poems and later (with additions) as Rhyme? and Reason? (1883) and Three Sunsets and Other Poems (published posthumously, 1898).  

Dodgson is also remembered as a fine photographer of children and of adults as well. Portraits of the actress Ellen Terry, the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the poet-painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and many others have survived and have been often reproduced. In fact, Ellen Terry was one of many child friends of Dodgson. However, in 1880 Dodgson abandoned his hobby altogether, feeling that it was taking up too much time that might be better spent.  

JOHN LOCKE

All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it.

John Locke, 1632-1704, Englishphilosopher, political theorist, and founder of Empiricism.

After studying medicine at Oxford,Locke served the Earl of Shaftesbury as a physician, and followed him toFrance in 1675. There he spent four years studying Continentalphilosophy, especially that of Descartes.

On his return, Locke worked with Shaftesbury to block thesuccession of James, Duke of York, later James II, from thethrone -- a controversial issue since the Restoration of Charles II. They were unsuccessful, andboth were forced to flee England: Locke lived in Holland from1683 until James II's overthrow in 1689.

In the following year appeared Locke's most important work, AnEssay Concerning Humane Understanding. The central concernof the Essay is epistemology, the means by which we cometo knowledge. Locke argued against the idea of "innate ideas,"arguing instead that the mind is analogous to a blank slate, atabula rasa, on which the senses make impressions: theimportance of such experience in his philosophy is the origin ofthe term empirical.

Sensory experience, though, provides only one kind of idea,sensation; reflection, the other, is the mind'scombination and comparison of the various sensory impressions. Asa result, one has no direct knowledge of the physical world, butonly of the ideas (whether sensations or reflections) produced bythem. Locke devotes much of his Essay to the relationshipbetween ideas and objects. His philosophy was a development of  Bacon’s methods, and provided the firstsystematic account of an empiricist philosophy and psychology.

His most important political work also appeared in 1690, theTwo Treatises of Government; there he argues that thefunction of the state is to protect the natural rights of itscitizens, primarily to protect the right to property. Though hechallenged Thomas Hobbes on the nature of primitive society --for Hobbes it was "nasty, brutish, and short," while for Locke itwas more rational, tolerant, and cooperative -- he agreed withhim on the origin of thesocial contract, an implicitagreement between everyone in a society to respect a legalauthority, a supreme sovereign, so as to enable the pursuit ofhappiness.

During the next few years of relative retirement, Locke continuedhis involvement in political affairs, and hosted many importantvisitors, including Sir Isaac Newton. In 1693 he wrote an influential tract, SomeThoughts Concerning Education.

Locke's influence on the philosophy and political thought of theeighteenth century was without rival. His Two Treatises of Government,by advocating the removal of a ruler who fails to live up to hisend of the social contract, made him an important figure amongthe intellectuals of the American war of independence.

MICHELANGELO

Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.

Michelangelo was one of the greatest sculptors of the Italian Renaissance and one of its greatest painters and architects.

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy, a village where his father, Lodovico Buonarroti, was briefly serving as a Florentine government agent. The family moved back to Florence before Michelangelo was one month old. Michelangelo's mother died when he was six. From his childhood Michelangelo was drawn to the arts, but his father considered this pursuit below the family's social status and tried to discourage him. However, Michelangelo prevailed and was apprenticed (worked to learn a trade) at the age of thirteen to Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–1494), the most fashionable painter in Florence at the time.

After a year Michelangelo's apprenticeship was broken off. The boy was given access to the collection of ancient Roman sculpture of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492). He dined with the family and was looked after by the retired sculptor who was in charge of the collection. This arrangement was quite unusual at the time.

Michelangelo's earliest sculpture, the Battle of the Centaurs (mythological creatures that are part man and part horse), a stone work created when he was about seventeen, is regarded as remarkable for the simple, solid forms and squarish proportions of the figures, which add intensity to their violent interaction.

Soon after Lorenzo died in 1492, the Medici family fell from power and Michelangelo fled to Bologna. In 1494 he carved three saints for the church of San Domenico. They show dense forms, in contrast to the linear forms which were then dominant in sculpture.

After returning to Florence briefly, Michelangelo moved to Rome. There he carved a Bacchus for a banker's garden of ancient sculpture. This is Michelangelo's earliest surviving large-scale work, and his only sculpture meant to be viewed from all sides.

In 1498 the same banker commissioned Michelangelo to carve the Pietà now in St. Peter's. The term pietà refers to a type of image in which Mary supports the dead Christ across her knees. Larger than life size, the Pietà contains elements which contrast and reinforce each other: vertical and horizontal, cloth and skin, alive and dead, female and male.

On Michelangelo's return to Florence in 1501 he was recognized as the most talented sculptor of central Italy. He was commissioned to carve the David for the Florence Cathedral.

Michelangelo's Battle of Cascina was commissioned in 1504; several sketches still exist. The central scene shows a group of muscular soldiers climbing from a river where they had been swimming to answer a military alarm. This fusion of life with colossal grandeur henceforth was the special quality of Michelangelo's art.

From this time on, Michelangelo's work consisted mainly of very large projects that he never finished. He was unable to turn down the vast commissions of his great clients which appealed to his preference for the grand scale.

Pope Julius II (1443–1513) called Michelangelo to Rome in 1505 to design his tomb, which was to include about forty life-size statues. Michelangelo worked on the project off and on for the next forty years.

In 1508 Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to decorate the ceiling of the chief Vatican chapel, the Sistine. The traditional format of ceiling painting contained only single figures. Michelangelo introduced dramatic scenes and an original framing system, which was his earliest architectural design. The chief elements are twelve male and female prophets (the latter known as sibyls) and nine stories from Genesis.

Michelangelo stopped for some months halfway along. When he returned to the ceiling, his style underwent a shift toward a more forceful grandeur and a richer emotional tension than in any previous work. The images of the Separation of Light and Darkness, and Ezekiel illustrate this greater freedom and mobility.

After the ceiling was completed in 1512, Michelangelo returned to the tomb of Julius and carved a Moses and two Slaves. His models were the same physical types he used for the prophets and their attendants in the Sistine ceiling. Julius's death in 1513 halted the work on his tomb.

Pope Leo X, son of Lorenzo de' Medici, proposed a marble facade for the family parish church of San Lorenzo in Florence to be decorated with statues by Michelangelo. After four years of quarrying and designing the project was canceled.

In 1520 Michelangelo was commissioned to execute the Medici Chapel for two young Medici dukes. It contains two tombs, each with an image of the deceased and two allegorical (symbolic) figures: Day and Night on one tomb, and Morning and Evening on the other.

A library, the Biblioteca Laurenziana, was built at the same time on the opposite side of San Lorenzo to house Pope Leo X's books. The entrance hall and staircase are some of Michelangelo's most astonishing architecture, with recessed columns resting on scroll brackets set halfway up the wall and corners stretched open rather than sealed.

Michelangelo wrote many poems in the 1530s and 1540s. Approximately three hundred survive. The earlier poems are on the theme of Neoplatonic love (belief that the soul comes from a single undivided source to which it can unite again) and are full of logical contradictions and intricate images. The later poems are Christian. Their mood is penitent (being sorrow and regretful); and they are written in a simple, direct style.

In 1534 Michelangelo left Florence for the last time, settling in Rome. The next ten years were mainly given over to painting for Pope Paul III (1468–1549). In 1536 Michelangelo began the Last Judgment, for Pope Paul III, on the end wall of the Sistine Chapel. The design shows some angels pushing the damned down to hell on one side and some pulling up the saved on the other side. Both groups are directed by Christ. The flow of movement in the Last Judgment is slower than in Michelangelo's earlier work. During this time, Michelangelo also painted frescoes in the Pauline Chapel in the Vatican (1541–1545).

Michelangelo devoted himself almost entirely to architecture and poetry after 1545, including rebuilding of the Capitol area, the Piazza del Campidoglio, for Pope Paul III. The pope also appointed Michelangelo to direct the work at St. Peter's in 1546. The enormous church was planned to be an equal-armed cross, with a huge central space beneath the dome. Secondary spaces and structures would produce a very active rhythm. By the time Michelangelo died, a considerable part of St. Peter's had been built in the form in which we know it.

Michelangelo's sculpture after 1545 was limited to two Pietàs that he executed for himself. The first one, begun in 1550 and left unfinished, was meant for his own tomb. He began the Rondanini Pietà in Milan in 1555, and he was working on it on February 12, 1564 when he took ill. He died six days later in Rome and was buried in Florence.

Michelangelo excelled in poetry, sculpture, painting, and architecture. He was the supreme master of representing the human body. His idealized and expressive works have been a major influence from his own time to ours.

SOREN KIERKEGAARD

Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are.

Soren Kierkegaard was born on the 15^th of May 1813 in the Danish capital Copenhagen and into a wealthy and prominent merchant family that already included six children.

  His father was a firmly committed to a strict approach to faith and life and sought to ensure that his family would grow up within a firmly Lutheran household. His father also appears to have been personally endowed with intelligence, imagination, spirituality, melancholy and a tendency towards feeling a strong sense of guilt - amongst his children Soren, at least, inherited all these traits.

  He entered the University of Copenhagen in 1830 in order to pursue a course of studies in Theology and Philosophy, his progress towards graduation did not prove to be smooth however as he seems to have experienced deep crises of confidence about spirituality, about his personal growth, and about his future life. During these years he was extensively introduced to such contemporaneously prevailing ideologies as Romanticism and Hegelian philosophy. He allowed his Lutheranism to lapse and led quite an extravagant social life for a time becoming a familiar figure in the theatrical and café society of Copenhagen.

  During these years he continued to read very widely in line with his own interests and without seeking to promptly complete his degree. His father died in 1838 and this seems to have been instrumental in causing him to commit to finishing his formal studies and in 1840 was awarded a Magister (Doctoral) degree in Theology.

  In September 1840 he became engaged to be married to Regine Olsen, who was then seventeen years old and a daughter of a member of the Danish parliament. In the event, however, he had second thoughts based on his own complex, brooding, personality. Although he had genuine feelings for Regine he seems to have felt that his strong philosophic vocation was too powerful and rendered him unsuitable for married life. He therefore withdrew from the engagement in the autumn of 1841. Regine Olsen later married, happily, elsewhere. His genuine feelings for her led him to specifically mention the whole episode in some of his books - he even, later in life, dedicated all his works to her.

  Kierkegaard also chose not to follow another path in life to which he had seemed directed - he decided that he would not put himself forward for ordination as a Lutheran minister. The fact that he had been left fairly well off through the bequests in his father's will allowed him to devote himself to philosophising and to writing.

He was primarily a philosopher who asked searching questions as to how best, that precious and rare thing, a Human life, ought to be lived. He himself used the terms existential and existentialism in relation to his philosophisings, his heartfelt view was that life, existence, in all its aspects was subjective and ambiguous. Philosophy was seen as an expression of an intensely and courageously examined individual existence - an expression that was, hopefully, free from illusion. In his view individuals must be prepared to defy the accepted practices of society, if this was necessary to their leading, what seemed to that person, to be a personally valid and meaningful life.

In what was perhaps his earliest major work Either / Or (1843) he suggests that people might effectively choose to live within either of two "existence spheres". He called these "spheres" the aesthetic and the ethical.

 
Aesthetical lives were lives lived in search of such things pleasure, novelty, and romantic individualism. Kierkegaard thought that such "pleasure", such "novelty", and such "romantic individualism" would eventually tend to decay or become meaningless and this would inevitably lead to much boredom and dire frustration.

Ethical lives, meanwhile, as being lived very much in line with a sense of duty to observe societal and confessional obligations. Such a life would be easy, in some ways, to live, yet would also involve much compromise of several genuinely human faculties and potentials. Such compromise would inevitably mean that Human integrity would tend to be eroded although lives seemed to be progressing in a bourgeois-satisfactory way. 

What sort of person a person tended to become was very dependent on the life choices they made and the sort of lives they subsequently led. Neither of the "existence spheres" that Kierkegaard believed that he had identified seemed to him to offer fully satisfactory lives to Human beings.

 
In his later works he suggested that there was a third, religious, "sphere" where people accepted that they could "live in the truth" that they were "individual before the Eternal" to which they belonged. By living in this truth people could achieve a full unity of purpose with all other people who were also, individually, living in the same truth. This is the choice that he made for himself in his own efforts to live a life which he considered to be valid.

 
In his later years he became involved in controversies with the Lutheran Church in Denmark - he had formed the view that the church was at that time open to being seen as worldly and corrupt and he had made some blatant public criticisms known to all.

 
By the time of his death in 1855 at the age of forty-two he had produced some thirty books as well as maintaining numerous private journals. This early death is attributed to the intensity of his scholarly efforts and also to the intensity of the controversy with the Danish Lutheran Church. 

 
Kierkegaard's enduring influence was at first largely confined to Scandinavia and to German-speaking Europe, where his work had an impact on Protestant theology and on such writers as the novelist Franz Kafka (1883-1924). After WW1 existentialism was taken up more widely in Europe and the World and his works became increasingly available in translation.

Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was a particularly important contributor to the process of the development and popularisation of a form of existentialism. After the Second World War the atheistic, humanistic, and socialistic, approach to existentialism attributable to Sartre received a cult following amongst a substantial section of the European youth and intelligentsia.

FIELD MARSHAL K.M CARIAPPA

An attitude of a single person will ruin the entire company.

Field Marshal KM Cariappa (28 January 1899 - 15 May 1993) was born at Shanivarsante in Kodagu (Coorg) in the state of Karnataka, which was at that time centrally administered by the British.

General Cariappa was known as "Chimma" to his relatives, he had his formal education in the Central High School at Madikeri, after which he pursued his college education at Presidency College, Chennai. Here he grew up equally attached to books and plays under the guidance of renowned academicians. He was an active sportsman who played games such as hockey and tennis with vigour and brilliance. In addition to this, he loved music - and had fondness for a sleight of hand tricks, too.

After World War I concluded in 1918, Indian politicians at that time raised a demand to sanction Indians to the King's Commission. After strict screening, Cariappa was selected as one among the privileged few, who were selected for the first batch that underwent rigorous pre-commission. In 1919, he joined the first batch of KCIOs (King's Commissioned Indian Officers) at The Daly College at Indore and was commissioned in Carnatic Infantry at Mumbai as a Temporary Second Lieutenant. He was promoted to Temporary Lieutenant in 1921 (retroactive to 1920). In 1922, he received his permanent commission as a Second Lieutenant. (retroactive to 1919). The future Major General Muhammad Akbar Khan of pakistan army(seniormost officer of pakistan army at partition ,PA-1) was also commissioned at the same time, but was outranked by Cariappa, who had seniority.Muhammad Ayub Khan , who graduated with him in same batch is sometimes confused with future pakistan ruler from 1958-69 but really was a minor officer from Scinde horse.. Cariappa was promoted to Lieutenant in 1923..

In 1927, Cariappa was promoted to Captain., but the appointment was not officially gazetted until 1931. He saw active service with the 37 (Prince of Wales) Dogra in Mesopotamia (present-dayIraq) and was later posted to the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry which became his permanent regimental home. He was the first Indian officer to undergo the course at Staff College,Quetta in 1933. He was promoted to Major in 1938. The following year, he was appointed a Staff Captain.

Cariappa served in Iraq, Syria and Iran from 1941–1942 and then in Burma in 1943-1944. He spent many of his soldiering years in Waziristan. He earned his 'Mentioned in Despatches' as DAA andQMG of General (later Field Marshal) Slim's 10th Division. He was the first Indian Officer to be given command of a unit in 1942. By 1944, Cariappa was a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel. After command he volunteered to serve in 26 Division engaged in clearing the Japanese from Burma, where he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

In 1946, he was promoted as the Brigadier of the Frontier Brigade Group. It was during this time that Colonel Ayub Khan - later Field Marshal and President of Pakistan, 1962-1969 - served under him. In 1947, Cariappa was the first Indian who was selected to undergo a training course at Imperial Defence College, Camberly, UK on the higher directions of war. During the traumatic period of partition, he handled the division of the Indian Army and sharing of its assets between Pakistan and India, in a most amicable, just and orderly manner. He was then the Indian officer in charge of overseeing the transition.

Post-Independence, Cariappa was appointed as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff with the rank of Major General. On promotion to Lieutenant General he became the Eastern Army Commander. On outbreak of war with Pakistan in 1947, he was moved as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command and directed operations for the recapture of Zojila, Drass and Kargil and re-established a linkup with Leh. In all this, he showed tremendous energy in moving troops, against considerable odds and finally ensuring success.This ensured his elevation to supreme post of commander in chief.He had two officers senior to him ---King Commissioned Officers(from sandhurst) of 1918 batch KS Mahadeo Singh and MS Himmat Singh ji.But KS Mahadeo Singh ji had not enough combat experience and was superseded by cariappa during second world war and finally retired in 1948.He is better remembered now as first Indian commandant of IMA, Dehradun.MS Himmatsinghji remained as prisoner of war in Japan for 4 years (1939-43)which made him lose on war experience .When he returned , he remained with psy war/ propaganda section at army HQ and later became in charge of integration of princely state forces in Indian army after independence.In 1950, he headed committe on northern frontiers.(ref. memoirs of A A Rudra by maj gen D K Palit)

On being appointed as the first Commander-in-Chief of an independent Indian Army on 15 January 1949, he was instrumental in the integration of troops and turning an imperial army into a national army.It was god sent opportunity as Lt Gen Roy Bucher had to go owing to differences with indian government on hyderabad and kashmir operations.

His association with the Indian Army is spread over an unbroken period of more than 29 years, during which he had wide experience of staff and command work. After his retirement from Indian Army in 1953, he served as the High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand till 1956.

Cariappa took active part in the reorganization of armed forces in many foreign countries. He was a much traveled man and visited parts of China, Japan, United States, Great Britain, Canada and most of the European countries. He was conferred with 'Order of the Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit' by US President, Harry S. Truman. As a token of gratitude of the nation for the exemplary service rendered by him, the Government of India conferred Cariappa with the rank of Field Marshal in 1983.

During the 1965 and 1971 wars, he visited the front lines to talk to the troops and keep their morale up. Every Jawan of the Indian Army is inspired by his words. He always said, "An officer is nothing without the soldiers." He gave the following credo to the Indian officers, which remains even now the guiding spirit.

Apart from being a military man, Cariappa had insight about the status of the country. He is quoted as saying, "In modern warfare, a large army is not sufficient, it needs industrial potential behind it. If the army is the first line of defence, the industry is the second." Cariappa had even said that "soldiers know the facility of wars to solve the internal problems. We ought to be ashamed that today they had more peace in war than peace in peace." Such insight has placed him above many in this field. "Army is there to serve the Government of the day, and we should make sure that it does not get mixed up with party politics. A soldier is above politics and should not believe in caste or creed," was another insight of this soldier.

He lived and remained, as he said, "an Indian and to the last breath would remain an Indian. To me there is only two Stans - Hindustan (India) and Foujistan (the Army)."

During the 1965 War, his son a IAF Pilot was shot down in Pakistan. He was captured and imprisoned as a POW. When Ayub Khan learned about this, he informed Kariappa, he will not be kept in a POW Camp like other Indian POWs, since they had worked together before independence. But Cariappa politely declined the offer, saying every soldier in the Indian Army was his son, so he couldn't request special privileges for only one.

Cariappa settled down amidst greenery and nature, in his house 'Roshanara' at Madikeri in Kodagu, after his retirement from public service. He loved the environment and the flora and fauna around him. He spent a lot of his leisure time educating people about cleanliness, pollution control and other essential issues.

On 15 May 1993, Field Marshal Cariappa died in Bangalore, aged 94.

KAREEM ABDUL JABBAR

A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group

Basketball player. Born Lewis Ferninand Alcindor on April 16, 1947, in New York, New York. Standing an amazing 7 foot, 2 inches tall, Abdul-Jabbar was one of the best players in basketball history. He started at basketball starting at an early age. Playing for Power Memorial Academy, he was chosen as an All-American player three times during high school. His talents on the court led to a scholarship at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Playing for UCLA from 1965 to 1969, Abdul-Jabbar became one of the country’s top college players. He helped his team to win three national championships from 1967 to 1969 and was named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament's Most Outstanding Player for those years.

In 1969, Abdul-Jabbar turned pro, joining the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Milwaukee Bucks. His career started out strong, scoring more than 2,000 points in his first season with the team. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1970. The next year he led his team to victory in the 1971 NBA championships. Also that year, he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which means "noble, powerful servant," as a part of his conversion to the Islamic faith.

Abdul-Jabbar moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975, and continued to dominate the game. He helped the team win six NBA championships and was named the league's MVP six times. He was known for his signature jump shot known as the "skyhook." While with the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record. He also was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1985. His success on the court led to some acting opportunities. Abdul-Jabbar appeared in several films, including the 1979 martial arts film Game of Death and 1980 comedy Airplane!

When Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he was the NBA's all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points and became the first NBA player to play for 20 seasons. During his impressive career, he played more than 1,500 games.

Since his retirement, Abdul-Jabbar hasn’t strayed too far from the game he loves, working for the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers. He even spent a year as a coach on the White Mountain Apache reservation in Arizona—an experience that he recorded in the 2000 book, A Season on the Reservation. He has written several other books, including 2007's On the Shoulder of Giants about the Harlem Renaissance. Abdul-Jabbar has also worked as a public speaker and spokesperson for several products.

A father of five, Abdul-Jabbar has four children from his first marriage to Habiba Abdul-Jabbar and a son from another relationship.