He wanted nothing—and everything. He sought no wealth, certainly none beyond what he needed to carry out his work, and to give to his family what he felt was expected of him. He did crave respect, understanding, perhaps even a favorable judgment from history. But what Ramanujan wanted more, more than anything, was simply the freedom to do as he wished, to be left alone to think, to dream, to create, to lose himself in a world of his own making.
