From zero to hero

History is replete with examples of super achievers who failed to sparkle in school

Many great people who changed the world were academically average.

Thomas Alva Edison, who transformed the world with his inventions, was regarded as a dull student by his teacher. His teacher had described Edison as “a student who cannot learn.”

Isaac Newton, who altered the course of physics and mathematics with his brilliant formulations such as law of gravitation and Calculus, was regarded as an ordinary student.

Similarly, the great scientist Albert Einstein was never considered a good student in his school days. Celebrated writer author HG Wells and successful businessman Richard Branson were school dropouts.

AR Rahman, Oscar-winning music composer, has not received any formal education. But due to his sheer musical genius, he is today in a league of his own.

The late Dhirubhai Ambani, entrepreneur par excellence and founder of Reliance Industries, had no formal education. But that didn't prevent the industrialist from achieving his goals. The Wright brothers, inventors of the aeroplane, could hardly be called educated by any scholastic standard. But their powers of observation and intelligence were so sharp that they were the first to see that man could fly.

This list will be incomplete without the mention of Sachin Tendulkar, who had failed in his 10+2 examination. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s wealthiest men, was a college dropout. The legendary Indian mathematician Ramanujan was a brilliant mind, but he was weak in all other subjects.

source: www.thesundayindian.com

graphic pic: andamansikkim.blogspot.com

MINISTER RESIGNS

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa's School and Mass Education Minister Bishnu Charan Das resigned on Friday after allegations that he directed the officials of his department to increase the marks of his son in the high school certificate exams held this year.

Das denied the charge and attributed his son's increased marks to a possible computer error. However, he was facing protests from opposition parties and various student organisations across the state for the last few days.

He submitted his resignation in the afternoon to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the state secretariat here. "I have resigned on moral grounds," he said.

The resignation has been accepted, an official of the chief minister's office said.

Trouble started for Das after Debendra Chandra Mishra, a top official of the Board of Secondary Education Orissa, got a phone call from an unknown person in the first week of this month. The caller alleged that marks of several students whose parents and relatives were in top government jobs were manipulated. As an example, he gave the roll number of a student.

After investigation, officials found that the number belonged to Bijoy Shankar Das, the minister's son.

In the mark sheet, Bijoy was awarded 89 in Oriya in place of 39, 80 in English against 50, 60 in Mathematics paper-II in place of 40, 50 in Science instead of 40 and in Social Science paper II, it was 54 instead of 45.

Patnaik had earlier deputed the state's chief secretary to probe into the allegation. But he has not submitted his report yet.