Beauty Queens Priyanka Aishwarya Chopra Rai Diana Lara Hayden Dutta Sushmita Yukta Sen Mookhey Businessmen

essmen Azim H. D. H. Premji Ambani J. Tata Swraj Paul

Dancers Mallika Sarabhai Anita Ratnam Sonal Mansingh Yamini Birju Maharaj Krishnamurthy Chitra More... Vishweswaran Alarmel Valli Film Personalities Amitabh Bachchan Aparna Sen Aishwarya Dadasaheb Rai Phalke Guru Gulzar Dutt Ismail Kamal Merchant Amrohi Mira M.N.ShyamalanNair Priyanka Nargis Dutt Chopra Satyajit Raj Kapoor Ray Shabana Azmi more..

G. D. Birla NRN J R D Tata Murthy Sabeer More... Bhatia

Literary Figures Arundhati Kalidasa Roy R.K.Narayan Salman Mirza Rushdie Madavikutty Ghalib R. Tagore S. Bharati More...

Musicians Asha Bhonsale Dr. Balamurali Krishna Dr. L. Subramaniam K.S.Chitra Lalgudi Jayaraman Mohammed Rafi Politicians A. B. Vajpayee C Shekhar Azad Manmohan Singh Subash C Bose Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Ravi Shankar Ustad Amjad Ali Khan A.R.Rahman Dr. M.S. Subbalakshmi Kishore Kumar Lata Mangeshkar Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia S.Janaki Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan Yesudas More...

Mahatma Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi

 Dr.Abdul Kalam Jawaharlal Nehru

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Indira Gandhi

K. R Gowri Amma More...

Social Reformers Annie Besant Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Mother Teresa More...

Painters M.F.Hussain Sportsperson Anju Bobby George Gama Pehalwan Karnam Malleswari Mahesh Bhupathi Milkha Singh Pullela Gopichand Rahul Dravid Sourav Ganguly Tenzing Norgay Dhyan Chand Kapil Dev Leander Paes

Religious Thinkers Sri Satya Sai Baba Mata Amritanandamayi Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Swami Vivekananda Ramakrishna Gautama Buddha Paramahansa

Mihir Sen Prakash Padukone P.T.Usha Sachin Tendulkar Sunil Gavaskar More...

Scientists C.V.Raman Dr. H. Khorana Meghnad Saha Shakuntala Devi Personalities Abroad Amartya Sen Sabeer Bhatia Jagdish N. Bhagvati

S. Ramanujan Dr.H.J.Bhabha J.C.Bose

Dr. S. Chandrasekhar Shanti.S.Bhatnagar Vikram.A.Sarabhai

Manoj Night Shyamalan Ismail Merchant Swraj Paul

G. D. Birla more..

Sushmita sen:

Sushmita Sen, the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant held at Manila, Philippines 1994 was born on November 19, 1975 in Hyderabad , Andhra Pradesh. Daughter of an Air Force Commander her family of Bengali origin was posted in Nagpur, then Jorhat, and finally in Delhi. She did her schooling with English Honors predominantly in the Air Force Silver School. She was interested in modelling and took part in one or two fashion shows during her school days. After she finished her plus two, she participated in the Femina Miss India contest and from then on there was no looking back. 172.5cm tall girl, with her girl next-door looks shot to fame when she became The Femina Miss India in 1994. Her main assets- an intelligent mind, poise and linguistic competence finally won her the coveted Miss Universe Crown. Eighteen year old Sushmita Sen, the youngest among the 76 contestants charmed a million viewers as well as the judges with her amazing mental acumen. BIRJU MAHARAJ Kathak Dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj, internationally renowned Kathak dancer, was born on 4th February 1937 in an illustrious family of dance masters of the Lucknow gharana. Birju gave Kathak Dance a new dimension by developing his own unique style and popularised this classical dance of North India all over the world. Birju alias Brij Mohan Nath Mishra mastered Kathak from his father, Achchan Maharaj and later from his uncles Shri Lacchu Maharaj and Shri Shambhu Maharaj. He gave his first performance at the young age of seven at Lucknow and since then there was no looking back. Gradually the talents of this genius spread to other areas. Apart from dancing, he has shown his talents as a superb musician, percussionist, composer, teacher, director, choreographer and a poet. He composed many dance dramas like 'Gobardhan Leela', 'Makhan Chori', 'Malti-Madhav', 'Kumar Samvav', 'Phag Bahar' etc. He also composed two classical dance sequence for Satyajit Ray's film 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi'. He has a special flair for playing percussion instruments like Tabla, Pakhawaj, Dholak, Naal and string instruments like Israj, Violin, Swar-Mandal, Sitar etc. He has performed in thousands of concerts in India and abroad. This great guru has imparted his immense knowledge and produced several renowned artists. He has taught in Sangeet Bharati, Bharatiya Kala Kendra and headed the teaching faculty Kathak

Kendra in Delhi till he retired in 1998. His two talented sons Shri Jai Kishan and Deepak Maharaj are following the footsteps of their father. He still continues to impart training to a lot of budding dancers. Birju Maharaj has won several honours and awards like the prestigious national award for the central 'Sangeet Natak Academy', the Indian Government's highest civilian award 'Padma Vibhushan' in 1986, 'Kalidas Samman' by the Madhya Pradesh Government, 'Soviet Land Nehru Award', 'SNA Award', 'Sangam Kala Award' etc. He was also the recipient of two honorary doctorate degrees and the 'Nehru Fellowship'. His talent, dedication, innovation, training, repertoire and performances have earned him the status of a living legend in India. DADASAHEB PHALKE Producer
Dada Saheb Phalke is known as the 'father of Indian Film Industry'. He was born in 1870. Phalke laid the foundation for the start of a regular feature film industry in the country. He has produced about 175 films. His famous films are 'Satyavan Savitri', 'Mohini Bhasmasur' and 'Raja Harichandra'. The outbreak of World War I plunged Phalke into extreme financial crisis. In 1917, he made a grand reappearance with the revised version of Raja Harischandra and India s first big box office hit Lanka Dahan. Phalke has been honoured by naming an award for

the outstanding works in the field of films. It is called Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Arundhati Roy Writer & Social Activist Susanna Arundhati Roy the first Indian woman to have won Britain's prestigious Booker Prize, was born on 24th November 1961 in Bengal and grew up in Aymanam village, Kottayam, Kerala. She was born to parents Mary Roy a well known social activist who won a landmark Supreme Court verdict that granted Christian women in Kerala the right to their parent's property and father a Bengali Hindu tea planter. Arundhati's parents separated when she was small and she did her formal education in Corpus Christi school run by her mother in Kottayam District, Kerala. When she was just 16, she left her home and settled in Delhi. There she did her degree in Architecture at the Delhi School of Architecture. During this period she met Gerard Da Cunha a fellow architecture student and married him but their marriage lasted only four years. After a brief stint in the field of architecture, she found that it was not for her. She left for Goa, making a life out at the beach, got tired of it after a few months, came back to Delhi. She took a job at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, met Pradeep Krishen, a film director now her husband who offered her a small

role in 'Massey Saab'. She went to Italy on a scholarship for eight months to study the restoration of monuments. She realised she was a writer during those months in Italy. After she returned from Italy she worked with Pradeep Krishen and they planned an episode television for Doordarshan called the 'Banyan Tree' which didn't materialise and was shelved by the producers after shooting 2-3 episodes. She wrote and starred in 'In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones', a film on college life in India, based on her experiences in the University of Delhi, and wrote the screenplay for Pradip Krishen's film 'Electric Moon' (1992). She quickly became known for her work as screenwriter. Then she wrote a series of essays called 'The Great Indian Rape Trick' which attracted media attention, in defense of former dacoit Phoolan Devi, who she felt had been exploited by Shekhar Kapur's film 'Bandit Queen'. Then came her debut novel 'The God of Small Things' which shot her into prominence in 1997, by winning the prestigious British Booker prize in London and becoming an international best seller. The book, which took almost five years to complete, gives an insight to the social and political life in a village in South India through the eyes of seven year old twins and how it effects/disrupts their small lives. The book won 20,000 as prize and sold nearly 400,000 copies globally by October that year. In the years following her success, she has turned to activism, writing 'The Cost of Living' a book comprising two essays 'The Greater Common Good'(1999) and 'The End of Imagination'(1998); the former against Indian Governments massive dam projects which displaced millions of poor people and the latter; its testing of Nuclear weapons. She has been an active participant in public demonstrations against the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river in Western India and has donated a substantial amount around 1.5million rupees, equivalent to her Booker Prize money, for the cause. She was even arrested along with other protestors for campaigning for the cause. 'Power Politics' her latest book published, takes on Enron the power corporation based in Houston trying to take over Maharashtra's energy sector. She has also spoken on and published several articles such as 'Promotion of equal rights' supporting equal rights for lower caste in India and 'War on Terrorism' (2001)against the Iraq war. Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in May 2004 for her work in social campaigns and her advocacy of non-violence. In January 2006 she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award for her collection of essays on contemporary issues, The Algebra of Infinite Justice, but she declined to accept it. With her latest publications, Arundhati is carving a niche for herself as a political journalist. This unusual women who has been on several lists of 'the 50 most beautiful women in the world' is not intimated by her success and fame but is an inspiration to all those who seek to speak up against the powers in support of the poor and the oppressed. MOHAMMED RAFI Playback Singer Mohammed Rafi was a famous playback singer. He was born on 25 December 1924 in Punjab. Even at a young age he was more fond of music than studies.

He started learning music from the famous Hindustani singer Chotte Gulam Ali Khan. Later he became the disciple of Firoze Nizam. When Firoze was appointed as a music director in Lahore Radio Station, Rafi got an opportunity to sing in the radio. It was a turning point in his life. He sang first for a Punjabi movie. Then in Nazeer Khan's 'Leila Majnu', Rafi began his career as a singer in the Hindi film field. But as a singer he succeeded for his songs in the film 'Gavom ke gori'. His songs in films like 'Jugnu' and 'Baiju Bavra' made him very popular. He also used to sing in various other languages. More than 26,000 songs are recorded in his name. Famous music director Naushad and Rafi had a remarkable relationship. Their team work created many hit songs. He was very punctual and faithful to his profession. He encouraged and welcomed new comers. His famous songs are 'oh duniya ke rakwale' (Baiju Bavra), 'ghun ghuna rehe hai' (Aradhana), 'kya hua tera vaada' (Hum kise se Kum nahin), 'yaham badla vaham kya he' (Jugnu) etc. He has performed in around thirty eight musical concerts abroad. He got Padmashree Award in 1965 from India Government and National award twice. He also got Film fare Award for the best singer several times. His last recording was on May 26, 1980. He died on July 31, 1980. INDIRA GANDHI Ex Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was the first women Prime Minister and an important world stateswoman. She was born in Allahabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. She was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. She was a great crusader of world peace. When she was just 13 years old, Indira organized a 'Monkey Army' (Vanar Sena) comprising of young teenagers which proved her intention to fight for the independence of her country. In 1942, she got married to Feroze Gandhi . Two sons were born to her- Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi. Indira Gandhi became the third Prime Minister of India on January 24,1966 and remained in this post up to 1977. In 1975, her election to Parliament was declared invalid and she declared internal emergency, which led to her defeat in 1977 elections . Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980 with an overwhelming majority. She was one of the most efficient Prime Ministers of India and is credited with great achievements. Noteworthy among them are nationalization of banks, liberation of Bangladesh and 20 point programme for the upliftment of the poor. She was honoured with

'Bharat Ratna' in 1971. Mrs. Gandhi, met her tragic end on 31st October 1984, when she was brutally assassinated by her own guards. MOTHER TERESA Founder of Missionaries of Charity Mother Teresa the 'angel of mercy' dedicated herself to the service of mankind and served god amongst the poorest of the poor, sick and the dying for more than 50 years of her life. Teresa was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhin on 26th August 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia to Albanian parents. She was the youngest of three children. Exposed early to prayer and service, she was deeply religious. At the age of 18, she left home for Dublin, Ireland, to join the Loretto abbey and become a nun of the Roman Catholic church. After her training, she was given the name of Sister Teresa. Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto, were very active in India, doing missionary work. She came to India on January 6, 1929 to become a teacher and was moved at the sight of the crippled and helpless people on the pavements. She taught in St. Mary's convent school in Kolkata for 15 years later on became the headmistress. In 1937, she took her final vows as a nun, in Darjeeling. In 1947, on a journey to Darjeeling later referred by her as the most important journey of her life she had a vision or call to leave the convent, to live among the poor and to take care of the sick and the dying, the hungry, the homeless, to be God's Love in action to the poorest of the poor, which was the beginning of the Missionaries of Charity. At first she did not get the permission to leave the convent but in 1948 she got the permission specifically from Pope Pius XIII to leave the the Loreto community and work among the city's poor. She left the convent, took basic training in nursing and went to live in the nearby slum. She wore an inexpensive and simple white sari with a blue border, which became the most recognised symbol of the Sisters of Charity. Following one of her former student, others joined her in her mission. In 1948, she opened the first slum school. As the congregation grew she sought approval from the Pope and shifted to 54A Lower Circular Road, which became the Mother House. The Missionaries of charity was officially established as a religious congregation for the Archdiocese of Calcutta in October 1950. The organisation devoted to the working for the destitute, now have thousands of homes and members all over the country and abroad. Calcutta became the center of her humanitarian activities. Her first home was 'Nirmal Hriday' (pure heart) for the sick and the dying, and then ' Shishu Bhavan' for the disabled, orphaned and mentally retarded children, 'Shanti Nagar', a colony for lepers where they were cared for, they could learn a skill, build their own houses and could work on their own fields, AIDS hospices and so on. The first home outside India was founded in 1965 in Venezuela. Others were later opened in Italy, Tanzania, Australia, US, Communist Cuba, former Soviet Union etc.

Mother Teresa became an Indian citizen in 1962. She has received many national and international awards in recognition of her noble work for humanity. The first award being Padmashri for distinguished service (1962), then the Magsaysay Award the same year, Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971), Good Samaritan Award (1971), John . F. Kennedy International Award (1971), Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International peace (1972), Nobel Peace Prize (1979), Bharat Ratna (1980), Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award (1993) etc. were some of them. In 1983, at the age of 72, Mother was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and her health steadily worsened. In 1990, Mother had decided to step down as the head due to her failing health and so called a conclave of sisters to choose a successor. But in a secret ballot, she was reelected with one dissenting vote, that was her own. In 1991 she underwent heart surgery and in March 1997, Sister Nirmala a former Hindu converted to Roman Catholic was elected to succeed Mother Teresa as leader of Missionaries of Charity. On September 5, 1997 the 87-year old mother died of severe cardiac arrest at the Missionaries of Charity headquarters in Kolkata. The late mother taught the world the beauty in giving and left behind an enormous organisation with the will to continue her work. Mother was beatified by Pope John Paul II at St. Peters square in Vatican, on October 19th 2003, seven years after her death. Henceforth the mother will be referred to as the The Blessed Teresa of Kolkata. SACHIN TENDULKAR Cricketer The pride of Indian cricket Sachin Tendulkar, was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, in a five-day match series against Australia on the 31st of March 2001. He has scored a world record, 28 hundreds and 50 half-centuries in his 10,000 runs. A perennial crowdfavorite, he is the only Indian cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour for his performance in 1997-1998
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973, in Mumbai.

Young Sachin wanted to be a fast bowler. He even undertook trials at the MRF pace foundation, Chennai, but his short stature proved to be a hindrance for bowling. Meeting Mr. R. Achrekar, his Cricket Coach and changing his school to Shardashram Vidya Mandir in Dadar marked a turning point in Sachin's cricket career. Sachin at the age of 16, made his International debut in ODIs India v Pakistan at Gujranwala and Tests debut India v Pakistan at Karachi around 1989/90. He then went to England as a part of the national team, and has not looked back ever since. He knows every shot in the book and and makes his own improvisations. His shots have tremendous power and he times the ball perfectly, making him one of

the best batsman in the world. He is also an effective bowler and also one of the best fielders. This all rounder has been the captain of the Indian cricket team twice. On the personal front, Sachin is god fearing and he is married to a doctor Anjali and they have a two children- Sara and Arjun. In 1998, he won the Coopers and Lybrand Award for 'Player of the year' and has been in the number one position in the Wisden Cricket ratings. CHANDRASEKHAR VENKATA RAMAN Physicist, Nobel Prize Winner C.V.Raman was a scientist in Physics, who won noble prize in 1930. His discovery of the 'Raman Effect' made a very distinctive contribution to Physics. He was knighted by the British Government in 1929. He was also conferred the highest title of 'Bharat Ratna' in 1954. Raman was born on 7th November,1888 at Ayyanpettai in Tamil Nadu. He had his education in Visakhapatanam and Madras. After getting top ranking in the Financial Civil Service Competitive Exam, he was appointed as Deputy Accountant General in Calcutta (Kolkutta). In 1917 he became the professor of Physics at the Calcutta University. After 15 years service at the Calcutta University, Raman shifted to Bangalore and became the Director of the Indian Institute of Science in 1933. In 1943 he founded 'Raman Research Institute', near Bangalore. The 'Raman Effect' was a demonstration of the 'Collision' effect of light bullets (photons) passing through a transparent medium, whether solid, liquid or gaseous. Raman's publications include 'Molecular Diffraction of Light', 'Mechanical Theory of Bowed Strings' and 'Diffraction of Xray's', 'Theories of Musical Instruments' etc. Raman conducted pioneering research in musical acoustics, particularly on Tamboura, the well known Indian musical instrument.