Remembering Ramanujan

Famous Mathematician, G. H. Hardy, told of S. Ramanujan, "This poor and solitary Hindu pitted his brains against the accumulated wisdom of Europe". Srinivasa Ramanujan, as most of us know, was one of the most brilliant Mathematicians, 20th Century Europe and the world collectively saw. But most of us don't know much about his life. Most of us probably wouldn't understand anything of his work. His intellectual products in maths field are still being explored by modern Mathematicians. Prof. G. H. Hardy told the world that he did not discover Ramanujan, but Ramanujan discovered himself.
Srinivasa Ramanujan, born in a poor Tamil family steeped in traditions, was nonetheless stubborn, adamant in his views on religion, vegetarianism and Hindu values. But he also had an innocence which made him likeable in the eyes of everyone who met him. He failed in all subjects except math, failed to obtain a degree even after many attempts. Without a degree, he could not work, nor could feed his family. He applied for help to every noted person in Madras and landed a job as a clerk.
Almost after 10 years of working on Maths, his theorems and results were thought as the work of a crank. Only Hardy took it seriously. Through Hardy's help, he could go to Cambridge. Even though English understood his worth, they could not make him comfortable in an alien weather, culture and customs. It is said that a Bengali student of Cambridge, P. C. Mahalanobis once went to see Ramanujan in his suite on a cold day. He saw Ramanujan shivering in cold in front of fire looking pale and haggard.
Then, to his shock and dismay, he found that, Ramanujan, ignorant of the customs of the British, slept on the mattress with the blanket underneath him, shivering the whole night, every night, since his arrival. Such was his innocence to the ways of British. Yet, he astonished the most profound Mathematicians by his intuitions, which he called “inspirations and dreams from God”.
India, in past and present, is a country which has always remained uncaring about its geniuses. Intelligence, especially in scientific field has gone almost unnoticed in our country. We always recognize genius after it has been applauded in a foreign land. That is what happened in the case of S. Ramanujan.
He begged for recognition here but got it in Cambridge. Indians recognized his worth only after he received scholarship to Cambridge, received the Fellowship of the most prestigious Royal Society and Trinity. If Prof. Hardy had not helped him, he would forever have remained an obscure clerk.
He died at a very young age of 33, unable to adjust to English weather, to change his habit of South Indian food, avoiding outdoors etc.
He lived for Maths, working till his death. His obsession with Maths was entirely spiritual, as he himself said, "An equation for me has no meaning, unless it expresses a thought of God".