Babies can learn skills in womb: UP minister

UP minister for urban development Suresh Khanna stirred controversy at the ongoing International Science Festival here, when he said that babies can learn skills in mother's womb and referred to a mythological story in the Hindu epic 'Mahabharata' to substantiate his claim.

Khanna referred to the story of Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, who, according to the mythology, had learnt the battle skills in the womb of her mother Subhadra and displayed the same during his fight against the 'Kauravas'.

''Abhimanyu had learnt the skills of war in the womb of her mother... he showed it during his fight with the warriors from the Kaurava's side,'' Khanna said, while speaking at an event in the fest on Friday evening.

The mythology says that Arjuna had told his wife about the ways to break "chakravyuha' (a battle formation). His wife was pregnant then. It is said that Abhimanyu also heard the same and acquired the skill.

The minister claimed that the babies in the womb could acquire the skills their mothers were taught during their second, third and eighth month of pregnancy.

Earlier UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, who was a faculty at Lucknow University, also said that Sita, the wife of Lord Rama, was an example of ''test tube baby'.