The Coronavirus outbreak is spreading rapidly in the world and people are advised to avoid touch with others. One of the measures suggested by the World Health Organisation, of preventing oneself from deadly COVID-19 is to reduce touch and wash hands frequently. Amidst all this, people are adopting to Namaste,  a non-contact form of Indian greeting. Prince Charles, France President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump all of them recently opted for Namaste as a greeting over handshakes. This brings us to a point, how Indians have given many such important things to the world, that is appreciable. Be it the most important discovery mathematical discovery of zero or Ayurveda, the oldest science of medicine, let us look at some of the most important discoveries that India has given to the world. Coronavirus in India: 'Greet With Namaste Instead of Handshake', Advises Maharashtra Health Minister to People to Avoid Spread of COVID-19 Infection.

  1. Namaste: Namaste or Namaskaram is a customary non-contact form of greeting which is found on the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and among the Indian diaspora worldwide. Not only to greet someone, but it is also used while taking a leave. People also utter the word 'Namaste' while doing a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards, thumbs close to the chest. The word Namaste has appeared in the Vedic literature.

  2. Zero: Aryabhatta, legendary mathematician invented zero in 5th Century AD. The concept of zero as a digit in the decimal place value system was developed by him. This number made arithmetic calculations simple. The value of zero may be nothing, but this number now fulfils a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures.

  3. Ayurveda: Ayurveda is a system of alternative medicine, that has a belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit. Often called the "Mother of All Healing," it stems from the ancient Vedic culture.

  4. Snakes and Ladders: The very popular game of 'Snakes and Ladders' has originated from 'Mokshapat' or 'Moksha Patam', an ancient board game. The game was played to give mortality lessons. But during the British rule, the game went to England and then adapted as 'Snakes and ladders.'

  5. Cataract Surgery: One of the breakthroughs in the field of medicine came from India.  Sushruta, an Indian physician performed the cataract surgery in the 3rd century. With the use of a curved needle (called Jabamukhi Salaka) that loosened the lens and then pushed the cataract into the back of the eye, he performed a first of this surgery. This operation later extended to the rest of the world.

  6. Yoga: The practice of Yoga was developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization about 5,000 years ago. The word 'yoga' was first mentioned in the oldest sacred texts, the Rig Veda. It is a practice that gives a person a perfect harmony between the mind and body. Today, the Western world is also adopting Yoga on a large scale. 10 Health Benefits of Yoga That Are Too Good To Be True.

  7. Shampoo: The word shampoo comes from the Hindi word chāmpo. It dates to 1762 and in the ancient times, a variety of herbs and their extracts were used for cleaning hair. The colonial traders then introduced it to European countries.

  8. Button: In the oldest civilization, the Indus Valley civilization, people used carved seashells as decorative items on their clothes. These were used as buttons, some of them have holes carved in them.

  9. USB: Ajay V. Bhatt, an Indian-American computer architect was the one who developed the Universal Serial Bus, a plug and play interface that allows a computer to communicate with peripheral and other devices. A small easy-to-carry device, allows us to carry a lot of data at a time.

These are some of major inventions and discoveries from the Indian subcontinent which have benefitted the world. These are not the only things that some of our greatest scholars, mathematicians, people from different civilizations have presented to the world. But these are some things that will definitely beam us with pride.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 13, 2020 04:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).