India remains a mystical land to the foreign eye. Most notably, those neighbouring the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. And some others! Even in the 21st century, you come across people who cannot shake off the image of India as the land of rope charmers and flying carpets and who truly believe that Indians still commute on elephants and horses. The curators of the National Science Centre in New Delhi have therefore decided to set the record straight. They have decided to open the Science and Technology Heritage Exhibition. Yes, there was a history of science in India! The exhibition showcases the scientific breakthroughs and advances made in India dating back to 600 BC. These include the discovery of the fact that the world's first plastic surgeon was an Indian doctor named Susruta.
He pioneered nose reconstruction in northern India, which entailed removing skin from the forehead of a person to re-build the facial feature a good 150 years before Greece's "father of medicine," Hippocrates. His medical text named 'Susruta Samhita', also details 650 types of drugs, 300 operations, 42 surgical procedures and 121 types of instruments, according to available records.
Right, then. So the world's first celebs were perhaps also Indian. Celebs, of course, being the largest consumers of plastic surgery in genenral. And that would beg another claim: A-list is probably an Indian invention too. Jus' sayin!
