Stephen Hawking remained wheelchair-bound, yet lived among stars

He reveled in the wonders of cosmos, while nations fought ugly wars

We bow to this genius in gratitude for helping us know about our universe

His death we mourn and write odes to him in high prose and sad verse

Alas! A Super star who studied stars  is no more alive

                                                      

                                                     

Stephen Hawking’s passing away is a sad loss to the world. His contribution to our understanding of the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos and its mysteries, the stars, black holes and extra planetary life has been tremendous. By the cruel irony of fate his crippling motor neurone disorder (a ‘neuromuscular wasting disease’) confined him to a wheelchair for life at the prime of his life when - this another ‘Einstein’ as he was popularly called in school - was a young 21, and was pursuing his PhD at Cambridge University. Yet one can’t help but marvel at his passion, dedication and love for science that helped him triumph over this serious handicap. While the doctors gave him mere 2 years more to live post diagnosis, displaying incredible grit and the will to live - and live beautifully like a shining star - he died at 76 after unraveling the world of stars before us. What makes Stephen Hawking so endearing and extraordinary is that he never let his ailment overhwhelm and turn him into a sullen, gloomy, irritable, sulky, lab-confined scientist. Putting his ailment aside he aimed for the stars and never let his zest for life leave him. In spite of his being engrossed in his calculations and astronmical discoveries, he was accessible to all and charmed every one with his wit and sense of humour. He loved good company, partying and was adept at firing off sizzling, delectable one-liners. When asked about his joy  after having made a discovery his comment  was:  “I wouldn’t compare it to sex, but it lasts longer.”

I happened to read his “runaway best seller”  ‘A Brief History of Time’ many years ago. The astounding popularity of the book which sold 10 million copies catapulted this wheel-bound physicist to the status of a rock star.  Although, having been a bad student of Physics (but a good friend of fellow physics teachers), most of it was beyond my comprehension, but still I could definitely get some valuable insights into the black holes, the mindboggling intricacies, and the unsolved puzzles of our cosmos. He lived a physically disabled life and died relatively young. Imagine how much more would he have contributed to enhancing our understanding of the cosmos had he lived a healthy, longer one.

He has written a personal memoir also, titled ‘My brief history’ which I intend to order and read soon.

He has left the world poorer by his loss. As we mourn his death I reproduce below some of his famous quotes to leave you richer:

On motor neurone disease 
My disabilities have not been a significant handicap in my field, which is theoretical physics. Indeed, they have helped me in a way by shielding me from lecturing and administrative work that I would otherwise have been involved in.

To Theresa May on Brexit 
I deal with tough mathematical questions every day, but please don’t ask me to help with Brexit.

On aliens 
Meeting an advanced civilisation could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus. That didn’t turn out so well.

On Jeremy Hunt and the NHS 
Hunt had cherry-picked research to justify his argument. For a scientist, cherry-picking evidence is unacceptable.

On Trump 
He is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

On death 
I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.

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There is no heaven or afterlife; Heaven "is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

A culture that discounts, devalues or denies objective truth is headed for chaos and dysfunction at every level: families, friendships, work, education, politics. Sound familiar?

My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.

The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired. (The Brief History of Time)

The "theory of everything," the unifying theory of the universe, "would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God."

Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe. 

Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. "But now science offers a more convincing explanation, what I meant by 'We would know the mind of God' is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn't. I'm an atheist."
                  

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