Yash Chopra - Indian film Director, Screenwriter and film Producer

Yash Chopra was an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer Born : 27 September 1932 Lahore,(British India) Died : 21 October 2012 (aged 80) Mumbai Occupation : Director, Filmmaker, Script writer, Producer Years active : 1959–2012 Spouse (s) : Pamela Chopra (1970–2012) Children : Aditya Chopra Uday Chopra Relatives : B.R. Chopra (Brother) Dharam Chopra (Brother) Signature :

Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 – 21 October 2012) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer, predominantly working in Hindi cinema. Chopra began his career as an assistant director to I.S. Johar and his elder brother, B.R. Chopra. He made his directorial debut with Dhool Ka Phool in 1959, a melodrama about illegitimacy and followed it with the hard-hitting social drama Dharmputra (1961). Encouraged by the success of both films, the Chopra brothers made several more movies together during the late fifties and sixties. Chopra then rose to prominence after the commercially and critically successful drama, Waqt (1965), which pioneered the concept of multi-starters in Bollywood. In 1973, Chopra founded his own production company, Yash Raj Films, and launched it with Daag: A Poem of Love (1973), a successful melodrama about a polygamous man. His success continued in the seventies, with some of Indian cinema's most successful and iconic films, including the action thriller Deewar (1975) which established Amitabh Bachchan as the "angry young man" of Bollywood, the romantic drama Kabhi Kabhie (1976) and Trishul (1978). The eighties marked a professional setbacks in Chopra's career as several films he directed and produced in that period failed to leave a mark at the Indian box office, notably Silsila (1981), Mashaal (1984) and Vijay (1988). However, in 1989, Chopra directed the commercially and critically successful cult film Chandni which became instrumental in ending the era of violence in Bollywood and bringing back music into Hindi films. Chopra then directed and produced the cult classic Lamhe in 1991. Starring the then-débutant Shahrukh Khan, it showed a sympathetic look at obsessive love and defied the image of the conventional hero. Since then, Chopra directed three more romantic films, all starring Khan; Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Veer-Zaara (2004) and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) before he announced his retirement from directing in 2012. Chopra is chairman and founder of both the motion picture production and distribution company Yash Raj Films which ranks as India's biggest production company as of 2006 and the Yash Raj Studios. BAFTA presented him with a lifetime membership for his contribution to the films, making him the first Indian to receive the honour in the 59-year history of the academy. His last movie was Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012). Early life Chopra was born on 27 September 1932 in Lahore, British India (now in Pakistan), to a Punjabi family. The youngest of eight children, the oldest of whom was almost 30 years his senior, he was largely brought up in the Lahore house of his second brother, B.R Chopra, then a film journalist. Chopra went to Jullundur in 1945 to continue his education and later moved to Ludhiana in Punjab (in India) after the partition. He was originally ought to pursuit a career in engineering. However, his passion for filmmaking led him to travel to Bombay (now Mumbai) where he initially worked as an assistant director to I. S. Johar, and then for his director-producer brother, B.R. Chopra.

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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - BAPU

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Born : 2 October 1869 Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency, British Indian Empire Died : 30 January 1948 (aged 78) New Delhi, Dominion of India Cause of death : Assassination by shooting Resting place : Cremated at Rajghat, Delhi. Nationality : Indian Other names : Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu, Gandhiji Alma mater : Alfred High School, Rajkot, Samaldas College, Bhavnagar, Inner Temple, London Known for : Prominent figure of Indian independence movement, propounding the philosophy of Satyagraha and Ahimsa advocating non-violence, pacifism Children : Harilal Manilal Ramdas Devdas Child who died in infancy Parents : Putlibai Gandhi (Mother) Karamchand Gandhi (Father) Spouse : Kasturba Gandhi Signature :

Early Years Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), also known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born in Porbandar in the present day state of Gujarat in India on October 2, 1869. He was raised in a very conservative family that had affiliations with the ruling family of Kathiawad. He was educated in law at University College, London. In 1891, after having been admitted to the British bar, Gandhi returned to India and attempted to establish a law practice in Bombay, without much success. Two years later an Indian firm with interests in South Africa retained him as legal adviser in its office in Durban. Arriving in Durban, Gandhi found himself treated as a member of an inferior race. He was appalled at the widespread denial of civil liberties and political rights to Indian immigrants to South Africa. He threw himself into the struggle for elementary rights for Indians. English barrister In 1888, Gandhi travelled to London, England, to study law at University College London, where he studied Indian law and jurisprudence and to train as a barrister at the Inner Temple. His time in London was influenced by a vow he had made to his mother upon leaving India, in the presence of a Jain monk, to observe the Hindu precepts of abstinence from meat and alcohol as well as of promiscuity. Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs, including taking dancing lessons for example. However, he could not appreciate the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and was frequently hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Henry Salt's writing, he joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee, and started a local Bayswater chapter. Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original. Not having shown interest in religion before, he became interested in religious thought. Gandhi was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family had kept the news from him. His attempts at establishing a law practice in Bombay failed because he was too shy to speak up in court. He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants but was forced to close it when he ran afoul of a British officer. In 1893, he accepted a year-long contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire. Struggle for Indian Independence (1915–47) In 1915, Gandhi returned to India permanently. He brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and organizer. He joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of the Congress Party best known for his restraint and moderation, and his insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish traditions and transformed it to make it look wholly Indian. Gandhi took leadership of Congress in 1920 and began a steady escalation of demands (with Intermittent compromises or pauses) until on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India. The British did not recognize that and more negotiations ensued, with Congress taking a role in provincial government in the late 1930s. Gandhi and Congress withdrew their support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war on Germany in September 1939 without consulting anyone. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942 and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders for the duration. Meanwhile the Muslim League did cooperate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947 the British partitioned the land, with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms Gandhi disapproved.

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Larry Page - Co-founder and CEO of Google Inc

Co-founder and CEO of Google Inc. Born : Lawrence Page March 26, 1973 (age 39) East Lansing, Michigan, U.S. Residence : Palo Alto, California, U.S. Nationality : American Alma mater : University of Michigan (B.S.) Stanford University (M.S.) Occupation : Computer scientist, internet entrepreneur Known for : Co-founder and CEO of Google Inc. Salary : $1 Net worth : US$ 18.7 billion (2012) Title : CEO of Google Spouse : Lucinda Southworth (m. 2007) Signature :

Lawrence "Larry" Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Sergey Brin, is best known as the co-founder of Google. On April 4, 2011, he took on the role of chief executive officer of Google, replacing Eric Schmidt. As of 2012, his personal wealth is estimated to be $18.7 billion, ranking him #15 on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. He is the inventor of PageRank, which became the foundation of Google's search ranking algorithm. Together, Brin and Page own about 16 percent of the company's stock. Early life and education Larry Page was born in East Lansing, Michigan. His father, Carl Page, earned a Ph.D. in computer science in 1965 when the field was in its infancy, and is considered a "pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence." Both he and Page's mother, Gloria, were computer science professors at Michigan State University. Page's mother is Jewish but he was raised without religion. During an interview, Page recalled his childhood, noting that his house "was usually a mess, with computers and Popular Science magazines all over the place". His attraction to computers started when he was six years old when he got to "play with the stuff lying around". He became the "first kid in his elementary school to turn in an assignment from a word processor." His older brother also taught him to take things apart and before long he was taking "everything in his house apart to see how it worked". He said that "from a very early age, I also realized I wanted to invent things. So I became really interested in technology and business. Probably from when I was 12, I knew I was going to start a company eventually". After enrolling in a Computer Science Ph.D. program at Stanford University, Page was in search of a dissertation theme and considered exploring the mathematical properties of the World Wide Web, understanding its link structure as a huge graph. His supervisor Terry Winograd encouraged him to pursue this idea, which Page later recalled as "the best advice I ever got". Page then focused on the problem of finding out which web pages link to a given page, considering the number and nature of such backlinks to be valuable information about that page, with the role of citations in academic publishing in mind. In his research project, nicknamed "BackRub", he was soon joined by Sergey Brin, a fellow Stanford Ph.D. student. "At the time Page conceived of BackRub, the Web comprised an estimated 10 million documents, with an untold number of links between them. The computing resources required to crawl such a beast were well beyond the usual bounds of a student project. Unaware of exactly what he was getting into, Page began building out his crawler. The idea's complexity and scale lured Brin to the job.

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Steve Jobs - Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc

Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Apple Inc. Born : Steven Paul Jobs February 24,1955 San Francisco, California, U.S. Died : October 5, 2011 (aged 56) Palo Alto, California, U.S. Cause of death : Pancreatic cancer Nationality : American Ethnicity : Syrian, German Alma mater : Reed College (dropped out) Occupation : Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Apple Inc. Co-founder and CEO, Pixar Founder and CEO, NeXT Inc. Years active : 1974–2011 Board member of : The Walt Disney Company Spouse : Laurene Powell (1991–2011, his death) Signature :

Synopsis Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, to two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave him up for adoption. Smart but directionless, Jobs experimented with different pursuits before starting Apple Computers with Stephen Wozniak in the Jobs's family garage. Apple's revolutionary products, which include the iPod, iPhone and iPad, are now seen as dictating the evolution of modern technology. Steve Jobs - Early Life Steven Paul Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, to Joanne Schieble (later Joanne Simpson) and Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave their unnamed son up for adoption. His father, Abdulfattah Jandali, was a Syrian political science professor and his mother, Joanne Schieble, worked as a speech therapist. Shortly after Steve was placed for adoption, his biological parents married and had another child, Mona Simpson. It was not until Jobs was 27 that he was able to uncover information on his biological parents. As an infant, Steven was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs and named Steven Paul Jobs. Clara worked as an accountant and Paul was a Coast Guard veteran and machinist. The family lived in Mountain View within California's Silicon Valley. As a boy, Jobs and his father would work on electronics in the family garage. Paul would show his son how to take apart and reconstruct electronics, a hobby which instilled confidence, tenacity and mechanical prowess in young Jobs. While Jobs has always been an intelligent and innovative thinker, his youth was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. In elementary school he was a prankster whose fourth grade teacher needed to bribe him to study. Jobs tested so well, however, that administrators wanted to skip him ahead to high school—a proposal his parents declined. After he did enroll in high school, Jobs spent his free time at Hewlett-Packard. It was there that he befriended computer club guru Steve Wozniak. Wozniak was a brilliant computer engineer, and the two developed great respect for one another. Apple's origins Woz, whose interest in electronics had grown stronger, was regularly attending meetings of a group of early computer hobbyists called the Homebrew Computer Club. They were the real pioneers of personal computing, a collection of radio jammers, computer professionals and enlightened amateurs who gathered to show off their latest prowess in building their own personal computer or writing software. The club started to gain popularity after the Altair 8800 personal computer kit came out in 1975.

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Bill Gates - Co-founder and Chairman of Microsoft

Synopsis Entrepreneur Bill Gates, born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, began to show an interest in computer programming at the age of 13. Through technological innovation, keen business strategy, and aggressive competitive tactics, he and his partner Paul Allen built the world's largest software business, Microsoft. In the process, Bill Gates became one of the richest men in the world. Bill Gates - Early Life He had an early interest in software and began programming computers at the age of thirteen. In 1973, Bill Gates became a student at Harvard University, where he meet Steve Ballmer (now Microsoft's chief executive officer). While still a Harvard undergraduate, Bill Gates wrote a version of the programming language BASIC for the MITS Altair microcomputer. Did you know that as young teenagers Bill Gates and Paul Allen ran a small company called Traf-O-Data and sold a computer to the city of Seattle that could count city traffic? Bill Gates & Microsoft In 1975, before graduation Gates left Harvard to form Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen. The pair planned to develop software for the newly emerging personal computer market. Bill Gate's company Microsoft became famous for their computer operating systems and killer business deals. For example, Bill Gates talked IBM into letting Microsoft retain the licensing rights to MS-DOS an operating system, that IBM needed for their new personal computer. Gates proceeded to make a fortune from the licensing of MS-DOS. On November 10, 1983, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Microsoft Corporation formally announced Microsoft Windows, a next-generation operating system. Bill Gates Philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have endowed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with more than $28.8 billion (as of January 2005) to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning. MS DOS The Operating System History From a Quick and Dirty Operating System a giant walks (ms-dos), in 1980, IBM first approached Bill Gates and Microsoft, to discuss the state of home computers and Microsoft products. Windows 1.0 To Windows Beyond 2000 Windows is the graphical user interface for IBM and IBM compatible machines, this article discusses the origins of Windows and where Windows is heading. Top Books on Bill Gates Authorized and unauthorized books on Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman and the youngest self-made billionaire in history. Personal life Bill and Melinda Gates, June 2009 Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. They have three children: daughters Jennifer Katharine (born 1996) and Phoebe Adele (born 2002) and son Rory John (born 1999). The family resides in The Gates's home, an earth-sheltered house in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina. According to King County public records, as of 2006 the total assessed value of the property (land and house) is $125 million, and the annual property tax is $991,000. His 66,000 sq ft (6,100 m2) estate has a 60-foot (18 m) swimming pool with an underwater music system, as well as a 2,500 sq ft (230 m2) gym and a 1,000 sq ft (93 m2) dining room. Also among Gates's private acquisitions is the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci, which Gates bought for $30.8 million at an auction in 1994. Gates is also known as an avid reader, and the ceiling of his large home library is engraved with a quotation from The Great Gatsby. He also enjoys playing bridge, tennis, and golf. Gates was number one on the Forbes 400 list from 1993 through to 2007 and number one on Forbes list of The World's Richest People from 1995 to 2007 and 2009. In 1999, Gates's wealth briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to call him a "centibillionaire". Since 2000, the nominal value of his Microsoft holdings has declined due to a fall in Microsoft's stock price after the dot-com bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he has made to his charitable foundations. In a May 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished that he were not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention it brought. Gates has several investments outside Microsoft, which in 2006 paid him a salary of $616,667 and $350,000 bonus totalling $966,667. He founded Corbis, a digital imaging company, in 1989. In 2004 he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by long-time friend Warren Buffett. In March 2010 Bill Gates was bumped down to the second wealthiest man behind Carlos Slim.

Gates at the World Economic Forum in 2007 Born : William Henry Gates III October 28, 1955 (age 56) Seattle, Washington, U.S. Residence : Medina, Washington, U.S. Nationality : American Alma mater : Harvard University (dropped out) Occupation : Co-founder and Chairman of Microsoft Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO of Cascade Investment Chairman of Corbis Years active : 1975–present Spouse : Melinda Gates (m. 1994) Net worth :  US$ 61 billion (2012) Signature :

- r@j

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Mark Zuckerberg - Chairman & CEO of Facebook

Synopsis Born on May 14, 1984 in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Mark Zuckerberg co-founded the social-networking website Facebook out of his college dorm room. He left Harvard after his sophomore year to concentrate on the site, the user base of which has grown to more than 250 million people, making Zuckerberg a billionaire. The birth of Facebook was recently portrayed in the filmThe Social Network. Early Life Mark Elliot Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984 in Dobbs Ferry, New York, into a comfortable, well-educated family. His father, Edward Zuckerberg, ran a dental practice attached to the family's home. His mother, Karen, worked as a psychiatrist before the birth of the couple's four children—Mark, Randi, Donna and Arielle. Zuckerberg developed an interest in computers at an early age; when he was about 12, he used Atari BASIC to create a messaging program he named "Zucknet." His father used the program in his dental office, so that the receptionist could inform him of a new patient without yelling across the room. The family also used Zucknet to communicate within the house. Together with his friends, he also created computer games just for fun. "I had a bunch of friends who were artists," he said. "They'd come over, draw stuff, and I'd build a game out of it." To keep up with Mark's burgeoning interest in computers, his parents hired private computer tutor David Newman to come to the house once a week and work with Mark. Newman later told reporters that it was hard to stay ahead of the prodigy, who began taking graduate courses at nearby Mercy College around this same time. Zuckerberg later studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, an exclusive preparatory school in New Hampshire. There he showed talent in fencing, becoming the captain of the school's team. He also excelled in literature, earning a diploma in classics. Yet Zuckerberg remained fascinated by computers, and continued to work on developing new programs. While still in high school, he created an early version of the music software Pandora, which he called Synapse. Several companies—including AOL and Microsoft—expressed an interest in buying the software, and hiring the teenager before graduation. He declined the offers. Time at Harvard After graduating from Exeter in 2002, Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard University. By his sophomore year at the ivy league institution, he had developed a reputation as the go-to software developer on campus. It was at that time that he built a program called CourseMatch, which helped students choose their classes based on the course selections of other users. He also invented Facemash, which compared the pictures of two students on campus and allowed users to vote on which one was more attractive. The program became wildly popular, but was later shut down by the school administration after it was deemed inappropriate. Based on the buzz of his previous projects, three of his fellow students—Divya Narendra, and twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss—sought him out to work on an idea for a social networking site they called Harvard Connection. This site was designed to use information from Harvard's student networks in order to create a dating site for the Harvard elite. Zuckerberg agreed to help with the project, but soon dropped out to work on his own social networking site with friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin.

Zuckerberg at the 37th G8 summit in 2011. Born : Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (1984-05-14) May 14, 1984 (age 28) White Plains, New York, U.S. Residence : Palo Alto, California, U.S. Nationality : American Occupation : Chairman & CEO of Facebook, Inc. Years active : 2004–present Known for : Co-founding Facebook in 2004; world's 2nd youngest self-made billionaire (2012) Net worth : US$ 10.2 billion (2012) Awards : TIME Person of the Year 2010

- r@j

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Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj !

Coronation Day of Shivaji Maharaj

The Saffron morning of the Rising Sun of Hindavi Swarajya

On the 13th day (trayodashi) of the first fortnight of the month of 'Jyeshtha' as per the Hindu calendar, in the year 1596, the coronation ceremony was held to enthrone Punyashlok Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as the King of Hindavi Swaraj. The grand function took place atop the 5,000-ft high Raigad fort in Maharashtra. He became thereafter a full-fledged Chhatrapati - a Hindu emperor in his own right. The occasion holds up for the Hindu people inspiring lessons for their future march - perhaps unequalled by any other single event during the past 3-4 centuries of their history. It is the golden day of glory in the history of Hindusthan and Hindus.

A tribute to Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj

When Hindustan was burning under barbaric attacks by the Mughals and when Hindus were loyally serving the Muslims Adilshahs and Badshahs all over India, there was oppression of women, cows, language and temples. The Sultans had converted the whole country into a slaughterhouse. Hindu society was going towards annihilation under Muslim assaults and the blazing Sun of independence had set. In such adverse conditions, exhibiting great bravery, valour and sacrifice, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj established the independent sovereign Hindavi Swaraj by defeating Mughal kings and thus protected Hindus, Hindu Dharma and Hindustan. It was these almost superhuman challenges that Shivaji had accepted even as a teenaged boy. He encouraged Hindus to obliterate Muslim attackers. He created a great future for Hindustan. Thus unto Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, undoubtedly, belongs the chief credit of lighting up the torch of the final freedom struggle against the backdrop of several centuries of Islamic aggression, and ultimately reducing that foreign slavery to ashes. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj created self-confidence amongst Hindus. He made Hindus realize that they had the might of lions but were leading their lives like sheep.

Shivaji Maharaj visited major shrines in Maharashtra before his coronation. He also performed pujas for Mahadeva, Bhavani and other Deities. The ceremony was going on from 30th May to 6th June i.e. for a full week. The crowning was being done with the chanting of holy Veda-mantras and sprinkling holy water from seven rivers and seven seas. People from all castes were allowed to anoint (sprinkle) the king with Panchamrit and holy waters from different places. While anointing him, they used to say. "You are our crowned king (Chhatrapati Raje), you are our protector. We pray unto you to please look after us like a father." Simultaneously the Ved Mantras were resounding in the hall.

As Shivaji mounted the throne for the coronation, the priests chanted the holy verses. Musical instruments began to play and the artillery of all the forts fired salvos of their guns. The main priest held the royal umbrella and hailed him as Shiva Chhatrapati. He was conferred the title of 'Kshatriya Kulavantas Sinhasanadheeshwar Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj' by the priest.

This uprising by the Marathas was to protect the Hindu religion, to toss away the yoke of foreigners and to establish an independent and powerful Hindavi Samrajya (empire). All efforts of Shivaji were overflowing with intense patriotism. People also had become aware of it and hence he was welcomed every where in India, be it the South, North, East or West, as 'the protector of Hindus'. Hindus thought him to be a supporter of their cause.

The contemporary history, legends and literature of that time are full of appreciation and respect for him. There were requests pouring in for Shivaji to rescue Hindus from many towns and states of India. When the Marathas tore the green flags of Muslims and hoisted saffron flags, no Hindu had dared to get crowned after the fall of the kingdom of Vijayanagar. This crowning ceremony was a blow to the invincibility of Muslims. Shivaji had the feeling that he was not protecting his own kingdom but was striving for the protection of Dharma.

Rightly did the great Hindi bard Bhushana, who forsook the royal favours of the Mughal court to come over to Shivaji to record his glories, sing :

Kashiji ki kalaa jaati, Mathura masjid hoti |

Shivaji na hote to sunnat hoti sab ki ||

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Maharana Pratap - Mewar's greatest hero - History Of Chittorgarh

Born: May 9, 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan
Father's Name: Maharana Udai Singh II
Mother's Name: Rani Jeevant Kanwar
Died: January 29, 1597 in Chavand

Maharana Pratap was born on May 9th 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan. His father was Maharana Udai Singh II and his mother was Rani Jeevant Kanwar. Maharana Udai Singh II ruled the kingdom of Mewar, with his capital at Chittor. Maharana Pratap was the eldest of twenty-five sons and hence given the title of Crown Prince. He was destined to be the 54th ruler of Mewar, in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs.

In 1567, when Crown Prince Pratap Singh was only 27, Chittor was surrounded by the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar. Maharana Udai Singh II decided to leave Chittor and move his family to Gogunda, rather than capitulate to the Mughals. The young Pratap Singh wanted to stay back and fight the Mughals but the elders intervened and convinced him to leave Chittor, oblivious of the fact that this move from Chittor was going to create history for all times to come.

In Gogunda, Maharana Udai Singh II and his nobles set up a temporary government of the kindom of Mewar. In 1572, the Maharana passed away, leaving the way for Crown Prince Pratap Singh to become the Maharana. However, in his later years, the late Maharana Udai Singh II had fallen under the influence of his favorite queen, Rani Bhatiyani, and had willed that her son Jagmal should ascend to the throne. As the late Maharana's body was being taken to the cremation grounds, Pratap Singh, the Crown Prince decided to accompany the dead body of the Maharana. This was a departure from tradition as the Crown Prince did not accompany the body of the departed Maharana but instead prepared to ascend the throne, such that the line of succession remained unbroken. Pratap Singh, in deference to his father's wishes, decided to let his half-brother Jagmal become the next king. However, knowing this to be disastrous for Mewar, the late Maharana's nobles, especially the Chundawat Rajputs, forced Jagmal to leave the throne to Pratap Singh. Unlike Bharat, Jagmal did not willingly give up the throne. He swore revenge and left for Ajmer, to join the armies of Akbar, where he was offered a jagir - the town of Jahazpur - in return for his help. Meanwhile, Crown Prince Pratap Singh became Maha Rana Pratap Singh I, 54th ruler of Mewar in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs.

The year was 1572. Pratap Singh had just become the Maharana of Mewar and he had not been back in Chittor since 1567. His old fort and his home beckoned to him. The pain of his father's death, and the fact that his father had not been able to see Chittor again, troubled the young Maharana deeply. But he was not the only one troubled at this time. Akbar had control of Chittor but not the kingdom of Mewar. So long as the people of Mewar swore by their Maharana, Akbar could not realize his ambition of being the Jahanpanah of Hindustan. He had sent several emissaries to Mewar to get Rana Pratap to agree to sign a treaty but the letter was only willing to sign a peace treaty whereby the sovereignty of Mewar would be intact. In the course of the year 1573, Akbar sent six diplomatic missions to Mewar to get Rana Pratap to agree to the former's suzerainty but Rana Pratap turned down each one of them. The last of these missions was headed by Raja Man Singh, the brother-in-law of Akbar himself. Maharana Pratap, angered that his fellow Rajput was aligned with someone who had forced the submission of all Rajputs, refused to sup with Raja Man Singh. The lines were completely drawn now - Akbar understood that Maharana Pratap would never submit and he would have to use his troops against Mewar.

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True Friend !

Friend gives you smile
But true friend gives you happiness

Friend will lie about you
But true friend won’t tell your weakness

Friend knives your back
But true friend will slog your face

Thousands friends come when you’re happy
But only one true friend comes when you cry

Friend comes when he needs you
But true friend comes when you need him

Friend leaves when everybody does
But true friend comes when everybody leaves

Friend comes and leaves
But true friend is yours foreve.

- r@j

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