Inspiration and Life Lessons

Health Lessons From the Tumultuous Life of a Lesser-Known Indian Prodigy

I summarize a mathematician’s inspiring yet tragic life whose theorems indicated a connection with Indian Gods, but he died young and miserable.

Unique Life Lessons from Srinivasa Ramanujan’s Personal and Professional Life

Srinivasa Ramanujan lived only 32 years. However, he left a valuable legacy behind, empowering contemporary scientists and technologists. His mathematical theorems look mysteriously enriching to some of us. However, his personal life ended in misery and distress.

Some geniuses like Einstein, Edison, Shakespeare, Currie, Mozart, and my favorite inventor Tesla became so popular that their bios filled our textbooks.

They were quoted so frequently that they became household names. However, some geniuses like Srinivasa Ramanujan are not known by university graduates and not even by those with advanced degrees in science.

I came across the work of Ramanujan in math classes when undertaking my first degree in my early 20s. During that time, his work was just another mathematical theory for me.

However, in later years, when researching the lives of prominent geniuses, Ramanujan’s life and work gave me inspiration and important life lessons. His life depicted that even in poverty and disadvantaged environments, people still could gain intricate knowledge in their passionate areas.

This story touches on how Ramanujan’s life and work affected me as a lifelong learner and what lessons I elicited by reviewing his biographical information.

It is impossible to cover 32 years of his intense life in a single story. Thus, I provide a very high-level view of his life with a few key points relevant to lessons I learned as an inspiration to knowledge seekers.

1 — Lack of formal education is not a barrier to knowledge acquisition and dissemination.

Ramanujan was born to a poor family in a small town in India. He did not get private tuition and did not have access to vast information sources as we have now. Unfortunately, he did not get an opportunity to get a degree in maths. A simple math book that he borrowed from the library ignited the metaphorical knowledge fire in his psyche.

He earned an interesting scholarship to an art school because of his sharp mind. Nevertheless, he unfortunately failed and had to drop from school. Despite stern challenges and dramatic roadblocks in his life, he continued his research informally under deplorable living conditions. He even suffered from starvation in India. But he pursued to realize his dreams faithfully and adamantly.

He got a clerk position by writing a letter begging, “Sir, I understand there is a clerkship vacant in your office, and I beg to apply for the same. I have, however, been devoting all my time to Mathematics and developing the subject. I can say I am quite confident I can do justice to my work if I am appointed to the post. I, therefore, beg to request that you will be good enough to confer the appointment on me.”

Ramanujan, as a teenager, exceeded in his knowledge so much that the math professors at the time couldn’t believe in the content he created. Academic authorities simply labeled his work as a fraud. However, some angels in human format rescued his authenticity. Finally, his work was published in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society, opening the door to realizing his dream.

2 — Knowledge can be gained by tapping into our higher self intentionally.

Even though Ramanujan gained basic knowledge from the borrowed books in his local library, he gained esoteric knowledge that was not covered in books by tapping into his higher self, as he called divinity. As a devoted Hindu, he credited his vast expertise to the goddess Namagiri Thayar. He famously said, “An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God.”

I am not religious like Ramanujan. However, his perspective resonated with me. For example, what I learned about metabolic and cognitive health, was not through merely academic textbooks, even though I leveraged the knowledge to validate my understanding from them. Instead, I gained insights from my meditative thoughts and feelings that encouraged me to experiment. Via formal education, I gained theoretical knowledge, which made a minimal impact, but I gained insights that greatly impacted my personal health through informal learning.

According to conventional knowledge, most of what I practice is wrong. But my self-acquired knowledge and understanding help me survive and thrive. I am not referring to my knowledge as the authority by any means. Being far from such arrogance, I never recommend and give advice to others in my writing. My point is what I learned through my personal experimentation by leveraging the knowledge from other sources worked better for me and empowered my life. However, I still believe that Our Greatness Comes from Understanding and Accepting How Little We Know.

3 — Hunger for specific knowledge can ruin our life, creating an imbalance.

Ramanujan, as a passionate learner, loved maths. He ignored every other subject creating an imbalance in his life. For example, he lost two hard-earned scholarships because of his obsession with maths ignoring and missing other subjects.

Despite his lack of social intelligence, Ramanujan managed to reach out to an authority (professor G. H. Hardy) in maths in England at the time, who opened an unusual path for his growth. After leaving his beloved wife to stay with his parents in India, Ramanujan went to England by ship in 1914. His hard work for five years allowed him to become the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

However, his obsession with math got more intense in England. He even achieved a research degree as a precursor for a Ph.D. in maths. Sadly, he did not pay attention to his health. For example, his body got dehydrated with dysentery and got very sick, having the symptoms of hepatic amoebiasis. As a result, he lost physical balance preventing him from working in England. Unfortunately, he had to return to India.

Despite his severe sickness, he ignored his debilitating symptoms by continuing to intense focus merely on creating more mathematical theorems. He compiled more than 3,500 theorems primarily related to equations and identities. However, naturally, his body couldn’t survive the sickness anymore. So, heartbreakingly, he had to say goodbye to life at the age of 32, leaving his beloved wife as a widow.

Conclusions and Takeaways

In the Western world, some people just start learning about life and realize their goals after the age of 30. However, Ramanujan lived only 32 years, leaving a treasure trove including thousands of mathematical theorems empowering scientists and technologists.

My favorite part of his work was related to his improper integrals, continued fractions, and infinite series, giving a taste of spirituality in the scientific sense. Like my genius mentor Mandelbrot with his fractals, Ramanujan, as a mastermind, gave us clues about infinity and universal mystery.

Knowledge acquisition is vital for personal and professional growth. However, obsession with a single type of knowledge and ignoring other important ones can cause an imbalance in life.

For example, I was obsessed with extensive knowledge acquisition in academic libraries when I started my doctoral studies. This obsession caused me so much pain. Gratefully, an angel (similar to that I described in a story) helped me stop my work addiction, leading me to achieve more by doing less in my later years, reducing my chronic stress.

Since my undergraduate years, I have read many articles and book chapters about Ramanujan’s life. It is impossible to cite those references listed in my journal. However, Wikipedia contributors created an impressive entry introducing and detailing his life and sample work with 114 online references.

From my reviews, his life is not just a model for mathematicians globally but for anyone passionate about mastering any discipline. In addition, his life also reflects two valuable life lessons for anyone, one positive and one negative.

The positive lesson is reaching out to others for help assertively and proactively. The negative point is ignoring the body’s alarming messages, causing sickness, and ruining health. Nothing matters in life when we lose equilibrium, vitality, and physical and mental health.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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Disclaimer: Please note that this post does not include health or professional advice. I shared my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only for information. If you have disease symptoms, please consult your healthcare professionals.

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