Vilayanur S. "Rama" Ramachandran is a neurologist best known for his work in the fields of behavioral neurology and psychophysics. He is currently the Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, Professor in the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studie


"What do we mean by "knowledge" or "understanding"? And how do billions of neurons achieve them? These are complete mysteries. Admittedly, cognitive neuroscientists are still very vague about the exact meaning of words like "understand," "think," and indeed the word "meaning" itself.”

“The law of perceptual problem solving, or peekaboo, should now make more sense. It may have evolved to ensure that the search for visual solutions is inherently pleasurable rather than frustrating, so that you don’t give up too easily.”

“Even though its common knowledge these days, it never ceases to amaze me that all the richness of our mental life - all our feelings, our emotions, our thoughts, our ambitions, our love life, our religious sentiments and even what each of us regards us his own intimate private self - is simply the activity of these little specks of jelly in your head, in your brain. There is nothing else.”

“The human brain, it has been said, is the most complexly organised structure in the universe and to appreciate this you just have to look at some numbers. The brain is made up of one hundred billion nerve cells or "neurons" which is the basic structural and functional units of the nervous system. Each neuron makes something like a thousand to ten thousand contacts with other neurons and these points of contact are called synapses where exchange of information occurs. And based on this information, someone has calculated that the number of possible permutations and combinations of brain activity, in other words the numbers of brain states, exceeds the number of elementary particles in the known universe.”

If there is anything about your 'self' of which you can be sure, it is that it is anchored in your own body and yours alone. The person you experience as 'you' is here and now and nowhere else.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/vilayanur_s_ramachandran.html#McLccYpoPZZEqY4T.99

If there is anything about your 'self' of which you can be sure, it is that it is anchored in your own body and yours alone. The person you experience as 'you' is here and now and nowhere else.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/vilayanur_s_ramachandran.html#McLccYpoPZZEqY4T.99

Ani Pachen, also known as Lemdha Pachen, was born in 1933 in the Gonjo district in the Kham province of Tibet. Her father, Pomdha Gonor, was the chieftain of Lemdha. When the Chinese soldiers started invading the Gonjo district, her father started sending men from Lemdha to fight the invading Chinese soldiers in Lower Gonjo. He distributed a pamphlet to every home listing the number of men, horses, swords and guns each family should contribute. After her father's death, Pachen took the responsibility of leading this group of six hundred troops and started off towards Nachen Thang. Most of the families in their village left their homes to fight the Chinese soldiers hoping to move towards Lhasa or flee to the camps of Chushi Gangdruk (Tibetan resistance fighters). Her group was captured and taken to Lhodzong, a collection center, and was later taken to Chamdo prison. From 1961 to 1963, she was imprisoned at Deyong Nang along with five hundred other Tibetans. Prisoners were beaten and forced to confess their guilt. Pachen's legs were shackled and she was often called for interrogations. She stuffed pieces of cloth between the metal shackles and her ankles to ease the cold and the rubbing of the metal. Later, she was transferred to Silthog Thang, a secured prison, situated between Zachu and Ngomchu rivers, where those who were considered guilty of the most serious crimes were sent. In this prison, iron shackles were removed and she was made to wash the clothes of the Chinese soldiers and make bricks out of mud to build new cells in the prison. Ani Pachen was transferred to Drapchi Prison in 1965. She was forced to do military-style exercises and work in the brickyards near Sera Monastery. The prisoners had to dig earth, mix the earth with water to make clay, then heat the clay to make bricks. After the bricks were dried, prisoners had to carry 10 bricks at a time. In 1976 shortly after Mao's death, Ani Pachen was transferred to the fifth division of Tramo Dzong Labour Camp in Nyingtri. Prisoners of the fifth division were sent to work in a forest miles from the prison. She repeatedly sent applications to the Prison authorities that she had not visited her home in twenty years. In 1979, she was granted permission to leave for two months, which came as a result of the visit by the delegates from the Tibetan government in exile and the international exposure it gained. After two months, she returned to the labour camp. Announcement of her release came as a surprise in the first month of 1981. She left for Lhasa, as per Chegye Lama's advice. She worked along with hundreds of other Tibetans, who were volunteering their time, moving earth and stones from the ruins of Gaden monastery. Later, she left for pilgrimage. Ani Pachen was an active participant in all the three major protest demonstrations organized by the monks of Drepung, Sera and Gaden in Lhasa on the 27th September 1987, 1st October 1987 and March 5th 1988 respectively. In order to avoid re-arrest by the Chinese, she escaped into exile in 1989. Once in exile, Ani Pachen never ceased to work for the freedom struggle. "Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun," was published with the help of Adelaide Donnelley. Ani Pachen has given lectures about the Tragedy of Tibet and her experiences to hundreds of Tibetan and foreign audiences. She had also participated in Peace Marches in various countries of the world. She died at the age of 69 at her home in Dharamsala on 2 February 2002 at 6.30 p.m. shortly after she had returned from Bodhgaya. We deeply mourn the loss of Ani Pachen - a brave Tibetan nun who chose to be more of a warrior than.

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Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone