The Man who knew Infinity : Film Review

'The man who knew Infinity' - a movie about Indian Mathematician S. Ramanujam, was eye-opening at many levels for me. I realised, with embarrassment, that I knew so much more about the genius of -say Einstien, or Stephen Hawking, than I did about the life and work (admittedly completely unintelligible to me) of a fellow Indian, a fellow Tambrahm. Why have our history books taught us so little about a man, so clearly brilliant, that he was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Society even during a hugely racist, bigoted era ?; one whose work continues to be used by mathematicians worldwide ? The other element that stood out for me is that for truly inspired, their work isn't really work, it is what they live for, it is a compulsion almost. They create/produce not for fame, but to not create/to not be consumed by their passion is death itself.What I couldn't also ignore is how little has really changed - both in traditional brahminical society and the world at large in the 100 years. Brahmins continue to be a pretty religious set, and we continue to propagate the belief that any form of non-vegetarianism is blasphemy at best and an unpardonable sin at worst - one that must be adhered to irrespective of personal costs (which admittedly in today's times are not that many). Finally, 100 years ago, it took a group of white men to bring Ramanujam's work to global recognition; 100 years later - it still takes a group of white men, to show Ramanujam's genius, even to his own countrymen.