‘Contentment is the real wealth’ - Alfred Nobel

'A week dedicated to the beautiful souls who brought laurels to the world'

Human life is a gift of God to us. We may or may not acknowledge the fact but anything done for the benefit of mankind is one humanitarian deed being counted in our names. On a random morning, Swedish Scientist Alfred Nobel, after reading his own obituary, wondered how he would be remembered after his death. This sudden realization made him amend his financial Will with an aim to leave a major portion of his wealth for the establishment of series of prize for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind".

Courtesy: AK Mishra Library

“We rise by lifting others"

Thus, Alfred Nobel introduced this Prize for a cause which otherwise would have never been acknowledged. Although, on November 27, 1895, when Alfred Nobel signed his last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, he would not have thought that his decision will be taken forward with such grace and glee, throughout the globe; bringing up and cherishing the names of some extraordinary people who will be remember by all forever.

Commemorating Death Anniversary of Alfred Nobel on 10^th December, World’s most renowned and prestigious Nobel Prize is given for the outstanding contributions towards humanity. Nobel Prize week is celebrated from 6^th – 12^th December and the award is bestowed in several categories by the Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural or scientific advances at the beautiful States of Norway (Peace Award) and Sweden (awarding for Chemistry, Literature, Physics and Physiology or Medicine).

It is a privilege to be able to bear witness to someone’s story when they may not have had the chance to tell it before. Nobel Prize gave us this proud moment by awarding these notable Indians for their contributions in varied fields:

·         Ronald Ross (Physiology or Medicine 1902, British India)

·         Rudyard Kipling (Literature 1907, British India)

·         Rabindranath Tagore (Literature 1913), C.V.Raman (Physics 1930)

·         HarGobind Khorana (as a US citizen, Physiology or Medicine, 1968)

·         Mother Teresa (Peace 1979)

·         Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (as a US citizen, Physics 1983)

·         14^th Dalai Lama (Peace 1989)

·         Amartya Sen (Economics Sciences 1998)

·         V.S. Naipaul(Literature 2001)

·         Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (as a UK citizen, Chemistry 2009)

·         Kailash Satyarthi(Peace 2014)

Small acts, can transform the world, when multiplied by millions of people. Learning from these role models, we must make our little moves towards benefit of the Society in bits and pieces no matter where and how.

'We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’