Dawn of 2020 : A Special once in a century year

Dawn of 2020 : A special once in a century year

The count down has begun to welcome the new year 2020, a special once in a century year, on the occasion of which I wish to borrow Lord Tennyson to say let us “Ring out the old, Ring in the new, Ring happy bells ....... The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, Ring in the true.” Wishing you and all your loved ones a very happy new year.

I am sure by now most of you may have received multiple what’s app forwards,  which caution us not to write the abbreviated year while writing the dates on any important documents - for example, we were habitual of writing today’s date as 30.12.19, by abbreviating the year, this habit may create a problem in the new year and therefore needs to be changed and written in full as 2020. The first 2 digits of the year (20) match the second two digits (20) and such coincidence only occurs once each in a century (1919,1818 etc). So, all of us are privileged and fortunate to welcome this special new year. Not everyone gets to experience such special years, experiencing it twice in once life time is almost impossible or extremely unlikely so let us celebrate the dawn of the special year and pray that it augurs well for the well-being of humanity. 

At the dawn of the new year when it is time to replace the old 2019 calendar with the new calendar for 2020, it is also time to spare a thought for what calendars are. Calendars are inextricably linked with our lives and are designed by humankind based on scientific system to reckon time in periods convenient to the conduct of our lives. Calendar has its origin from the Roman word Calends or Kalends,  meaning a method of distributing time into certain periods adopted for the purpose  of civil life. The story of the calendar begins with the fascinating history of mans endeavour to organize our lives in accordance with celestial cycles. Three of these celestial bodies - the earth, moon and the sun - are central to the formulation of calendars. All calendars are founded upon some combination of the movement of these celestial bodies. Moon has always influenced the timing of different religious festivals, and seasons, and the Sun has influenced the time of sowing and harvesting. Calendars based on observations of moon are called the lunar calendars and those based on the observations of the Sun are called the Solar calendars and these two calendars have been used widely in different cultures of the world; Chinese, Hebrew, Islamic, Gregorian and our very own Hindu calendars. While each of these calendars are unique in how they are used, however they all share a set of common features borrowing from each other.  Like all great efforts that require dedicated collective work of a group of people, the establishment of a standardised calendrical system was no trivial matter. It required knowing how to make observations, which observations to make, and how to keep records over a long period of time. 

One of the oldest calendar systems is our very own Hindu calendar, which is based on the lunar revolutions and included adjustments (intercalation/extracalation) to solar reckoning. It divides an approximate solar year of 360 days into 12 lunar months of 27 days each according to the Taitriya Samhita and also Atharva Veda. The resulting discrepancy was resolved by the intercalation of a leap month every 60 months. The months were counted from full moon to full moon and were divided into two halves Shukla paksa of waxing period and Krisna paksa of waning period. The new moon days were observed as amavasya and full moon as Purnima’s and most religious rituals were performed around these two events. Each of the months has thirty days (tithi) and the day (divasa) thirty hours (muhurta). A new form of astrology that is in vogue today is based on the old Hindu calendrical system, which did under go a change in its classic form according to the Surya siddhanta in 4-5th century AD. The year was divided into seasons, ऋतु, spring (वसॉन्था) from mid March until mid May; summer (ग्रीष्म), from mid May until mid July; the rains (वर्शा), from mid July until mid September, autumn (सरद) from mid September until mid November and winter (हेमन्त) from mid November until mid January and the Dews (सिसिरा), from mid January until mid March.

Most calendars had some or the other discrepancy which needed correction. The discrepancy in the Indian calendars and controversy associated with it can be traced back to the period of the great epic Mahabharata. The epic mentions two periods - the Vanavasa (period of exile) and the agnyatavasa (the period of incognito living) - which the Pandavas were mandated to observe in obeisance of Yudhisthar’s commitment to the Kauravas. The epic battle of Kurukshetra was fought with a consideration that the Pandavas, according to Duryodhana, failed to keep their promise to stay in exile for twelve years and in hiding for one. However, Bhisma reckoned that the Pandavas adhered to their promise and observed the two periods. Bhisma substantiated his argument with the fact that the calendar adds an extra month every five years. The interpretation of the calendar or the complications involved in the calendar making are therefore legendary.

From historic times calendar makers have relied on the sunrise and sun set to determine the day, while the period between the full moon determined the month. Even in modern times the celestial bodies continue to provide the basic standards for determining the measurement of the day, month and the year. The day can be measured either by the stars or by the sun. If stars are used, then the interval is called the “Sideral day” and is defined by the period between two passages of a star across the meridian. The mean Solar day is 24 hours, 3 minutes and 56.55 seconds long. The measurement of the month is determined by the passage of the moon around the earth. There are two kinds of measurements for the month, first the period taken by the moon to complete an orbit of the earth and second, the time taken by the moon to complete a cycle of phases. The former is defined as the orbital month. However, the problem with this is that the moon's orbit is elliptical and it will be travelling faster when closer to the earth (perigee) and slower when further away (apogee) and therefore it has anomalies. The Anomalistic month is the time between perigees (27.55455 days mean value). The second measurement of the month by the phases of the moon is called the synodic month (synod = meeting, in astronomy it means conjunction or lining-up) which measures 29.53059 days.The synodic month forms the basis of the calendar month.

Determining the length of the year also has its own problems. The Earth does not rotate whole number of times for each revolution of sun. The Sidereal year is the time for the Earth to return to the same position relative to the fixed stars, which measures  365.25636 days and its mean value increases by 0.00000012 days per century. Because it is slightly longer than the tropical,  the equinoxes will gradually creep westward around the ecliptic by 1 in 71.71 years or 360 in 25800 years. The common year is called the Tropical year meaning the time between spring equinoxes (365.24219 days mean value decreasing by 0.00000614 days per century). Because the Earth's orbit is elliptical it will travel faster at perihelion (closest, now early January) and slower at aphelion (furthest, now early July). This means that the season around perihelion will be shorter than the one around aphelion. Currently the gaps between equinoxes and solstices are, starting at the Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox, 92.72, 93.66, 89.84, and 88.98 days. The southern hemisphere gets a few extra days of winter and the northern hemisphere gets a few extra days of summer. Choosing either of the years leaves the calendar maker in an awkward position of having the following New Year beginning in the middle of the day.

The Julian Calendar : Of the several calendars of antiquity, the Egyptian and the Roman calendars developed into the Julian calendar, which was used for more than 1500 years. The Roman republican calendar, introduced around 600 BC, was a lunar one, short by 10.25 days of a Tropical year. It included an extra intercalary month, every two years, which fell in late February. Nonetheless, by around 50 BC, the lunar year had fallen eight weeks behind the solar one, and it was clear that the Romans were out of Sync. There was total confusion when Julius Caesar came to power as the Roman’s 355 day lunar calendar was 80 days out of sync with seasons when Caesar took the throne. Julius Caesar, it is believed got acquainted with the Egyptian calendar on the same trip during which he got to know Cleopatra. He then came in contact with the famous Greek Egyptian astronomer, Sosigenes. In the year 46 BC, Sosigenes convinced Julius Caesar to reform the calendar to a more manageable form. Sosigenes' message to Caesar was that the moon was a nice god but knew nothing about when things happen. Armed with this information Caesar returned to Rome and made big changes. The old lunar system with intercalary months was abandoned and a new solar system was introduced with fixed month lengths making 365 days and an intercalary day every forth year in February which would have 29 or 30 days. To shift the equinox back to March 25 he added three extra months to 46 BC, making it 445 days long ('the year of confusion') and the Julian calendar began on 1st January 45 BC.  In recognition of his contribution to the calendar reforms the month of July is named in his honour.

Caesar’s nephew Augustus (originally named Octavius) also did some cleaning up of the calendar, details of which however are not very clear. One source (Britannica) suggests that the priests got the leap years wrong having one every third year for forty years so he had to skip a few until 8 BC. In recognition of this, they renamed Sextilis with August in his honour but had to pinch a day from February to make the month of August have the same length of days as July. The tradition has lasted until today and therefore contrary to any logic the immediate months of July and August have 31 days each.

Anno Domini : Things went smoothly for a while; the seasons were finally put in proper place in the year and festivals were happening at sensible times - almost. At the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, Easter was decreed to be the first Sunday after the full moon after the vernal equinox. The early Christians were keen to cleanse contrary ideas (like the spherical Earth) so in 526 AD; the Abbot of Rome, Dionysius Exiguus proclaimed that the birth of Christ should be the event from which years are counted. He also calculated the event to be from December 25 and asserted that it should be called 1 AD (Anno Domini = in the year of our Lord) and the year preceding it should be called 1 BC (now meaning Before Christ) with prior years counted backwards. The omission of a year zero was a dumb idea.  About this time the seven day week was introduced. Although it may have appeared earlier in the Jewish calendar and also in the Hindu calendar, it was tidied up in the fourth century. Cycles of four to ten days had previously been used for organising work and play. Seven was chosen apparently in acknowledgment of the Genesis story where God rested on the seventh day although there is a strong suggestion that it also reflected the seven gods visible in the sky as the planets, sun and moon. 

Pope Gregory XIII : By the middle ages the seasons had slipped again. Pope Leo X tackled the problem in 1514 AD by engaging a number of astronomers, including the famous Copernicus, who quickly recognised that there was a more fundamental problem than rearranging the calendar and suggested the rearrangement of the universe by putting the sun at the center as against the earth. The Church though did not accept the suggestions. Half a century later Pope Gregory XIII was sane enough to have another go to sort out the discrepancy and assembled a team of experts, led by the German mathematician Christoph Clavius(1537-1612) and Italian physician and Astronomer Aloisius Lilius who spent ten years finding a solution to the problem. By 1582 AD the Julian calendar was full 13 days behind the seasons. By then the Christian churches had scheduled certain of its feasts, such as Christmas and the saint’s days, on fixed dates. The Julian calendar, which was running 13 days behind the sun, had little or no effect on the lives of the ordinary folks, but it disturbed the functioning of the Church, because it pushed the holy days into wrong seasons. This prompted the church to issue clearance to Pope Gregory XIII to implement necessary changes in the calendar.

Gregorian Calendar : The change made by Gregory XIII to the calendar envisaged skipping ten days, sometime to bring the seasons back in line and skip a few leap years now and again. The extra day every fourth year is too much so skip the leap year at the end of the century. This is now a touch short so put back a leap year every fourth century. The leap year is therefore defined as a year if it is a multiple of 4. However if the year  is a multiple of 100 it is not a leap year. There is an exception to it. If the year is a multiple of 400 it will once again be a leap year. Since this still produces an error of a day in 3,323 years we will also be skipping the leap year in 4000 AD. Applying all these principles in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII, decreed that the day after October 4, 1582, would be October 15, 1582. And according to the prescribed rule 1600 was a leap year but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not and the year 2000 AD was again a leap year.  

The changeover to the Gregorian calendar was not smooth. France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal changed in 1582; Prussia, Switzerland, Holland, Flanders and the German Catholic states in 1583; Poland in 1586 and Hungary in 1587. The Protestant countries weren't too keen to follow, so for nearly two centuries there were two calendars running in Europe ten days apart. Matters came to a head in 1700 when the Protestants had a leap year and the Catholics didn't, increasing the gap to 11 days. Denmark and the German Protestant states changed in 1700 and Sweden came up with the brilliant plan of simply skipping all leap years until they caught up in 1740. England and America switched over in 1752, skipping 11 days by making September 3 as September 14 and shifting the start of the year to January 1. There was much unrest in the US - 'give us back our eleven days' was a popular campaign slogan.  Many other countries were slow to adopt the standard and it was not until the early twentieth century that the entire world was finally synchronised. Japan changed in 1872, China in 1912, Bulgaria in 1915, Turkey in 1917, Yugoslavia and Rumania in 1919 and Greece in 1923. The Gregorian calendar is now recognised world wide although there are still many other calendars running alongside it, for religious purposes. 

Calendars in India : In India calendar reform took place in 1957.  The National Calendar of India is a formalized lunisolar calendar in which leap years coincide with those of the Gregorian calendar (Calendar Reform Committee, 1957). However, the initial epoch is the Saka Era, a traditional epoch of Indian chronology. Months are named after the traditional Indian months and are offset from the beginning of Gregorian months. In addition to establishing a civil calendar, the Calendar Reform Committee set guidelines for religious calendars, which require calculations of the motions of the Sun and Moon. Tabulations of the religious holidays are prepared by the Indian Meteorological Department and published annually in The Indian Astronomical Ephemeris. Despite the attempt to establish a unified calendar for all of India, many local variations exist. The Gregorian calendar continues in use for administrative purposes, and holidays are still determined according to regional, religious, and ethnic traditions. Years are counted from the Saka Era; 1 Saka is considered to begin with the vernal equinox of 79 AD. The reformed Indian calendar began with Saka Era 1879 AD, Caitra 1, which corresponds to 22nd March, 1957. Normal years have 365 days; leap years have 366. In a leap year, an intercalary day is added to the end of Caitra. 

The Millennium confusion : When did the 21st century begin?  Because we have no zero year the first century comprised years 1 to 100, the second, years 101 to 200, the third years 201 to 300 and so on. Clearly 2000 AD is the last year of the 20th century and 2001 is the first year of the 21st century. The new millennium technically has begun on 1st January 2001. This technicality however did not deter people from feeling that 1st January 2000 was the millennium changeover just as they did in the Middle Ages for 1000 AD. 

Calendars have held sacred status, for they help in maintaining social order, provide the basis for planning of agricultural, economic and industrial activities. Calendars also provide basis for maintaining cycles of religious and civil events. As we prepare ourselves to welcome yet another new year, let us spare a thought for the makers of the calendars.

Once again wishing you all a very happy and special new year 2020.

Merry Christmas : Remembering Atal Bihari Vajpayee on this auspicious occasion.

Merry Christmas : Remembering  Atal Bihari Vajpayee on this auspicious

Most Indians profess to be experts in two areas - Cricket and Politics - and almost every Indian will have a comment or an advice on these subjects. I am one of those few, who plead ignorance in Politics and Political issues and therefore have restrained from commenting or posting on this subject in public. This Christmas Day, I am making an exception to post my reverence to a political stalwart, Bharat Ratna, अजातशत्रु , Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, whose parents were blessed to give birth to this  great son of India, on this extraordinarily pious occasion - Christmas Day - in 1924. December 25, the birthday of Jesus Christ, the son of God, is celebrated world over as Christmas Day and it was on this auspicious day that Lord Jesus - God's redemption, mercy and Grace - was born in Bethlehem. While wishing everyone of you a merry Christmas, I also take this opportunity to wish Atal ji a very happy birthday and pray for his reverential  soul to continue to rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode, which is now home to him. 

The memory of Atalji as a great statesman and an extraordinary opposition leader - particularly post the abrogation of article 370 in the Parliament and the enactment of CAA by the NDA Government - is some thing, which the whole nation will truly look up to and remember. Stalwarts like Narasimha Rao and Atal ji are now most wanted in the utterly and viciously divided ruling and opposition parties. In the current era, the political parties have translated their मतभेद ( difference/ division in opinions)  into मन भेद ( difference/ division of mind) and cannot come together on any issues, including on issues of national interest. How I wish, our Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, and the opposition leader/s take note of what former Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, and the then opposition leader in the Loksabha, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, collectively could achieve that triumphant diplomatic victory against Pakistan at the UHCR session in Geneva in 1994. India was represented at this UN convention by a team headed by the opposition leader,  Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which was chosen by Narasimha Rao. Other members of the team included External Affairs Minister Mr. Farooq  Abdullah, the state Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid and the Indian Ambassador to the UN, former Vice President, Dr. Hamid Ansari. Atal ji led a combative defence against the vitriolic and diabolical attack by Pakistan, who had got the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to move a resolution at the Geneva session of the UNCHR to censure India for the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. Atal ji and his team collectively came triumphant to heroes welcome back home in India. It was a historic occasion when India’s voice had to be heard as one voice and the ruling and opposition parties put their ideologies in the back burner to come together as one great nation to defeat the enemy. Will we ever be able to replicate this now or in near future? Time and and time alone will reveal and what you and I can do at present, is only to pray that such moment comes soon.

Bharat Ratna, Atal Behari Vajpayee - former PM, Poet, politician, pragmatist orator and statesman- who passed away at an advance age of 93 on the 16th of August, last year, after a prolonged illness, will truly be missed in current times. Although, after almost three decades of passing through an era of coalition politics, the ruling party - BJP -  has managed to get a back to back majority on its own, yet the need for coalition cannot be wished away, more so when the regional parties are getting stronger by the day across states. The BJP and the NDA leaders will know this better post the recent elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Atal ji was master of coalition politics and had the unique distinction of successfully running a coalition government with diverse political ideology for full term. It is firmly hoped that his political strategy and coalition धर्म can serve as a beacon in the current era of bitterly divided acrimonious ridden polity. Atal ji is the first and only person, since Jawaharlal Nehru, to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three Lok Sabhas (1996, 1998 -2004)

Atal Ji, fondly remembered as the Poet Prime Minister of India, was blessed with brilliant oratory skills. A liberal at heart and secular in practice, Atal ji was often described as “the right man in the wrong party”.  His words could easily sway hearts and minds of people. It was this oratory skill that attracted innumerable people to his election rally heralding a new era for his party. BJP is now reaping the benefits of  stalwarts like Atal ji who laid the foundation for his party, which has now managed to have a back to back majority on its own strength in the Loksabha. I was one of those millions of Indians who were swayed by the oratory skills of Atal ji, as an young adult. I vividly remember the very first time we heard Atal ji speak during an election rally in Gulbarga (Kalaburgi now). We had endured an inordinately long delay of more than 4 hours along with tens of thousand others to listen to him. That was the year 1977, a watershed year for the Indian democracy, which was grievously wounded during the Emergency. Our impatient wait turned out to be one of the most rewarding one when Atal ji took to stage. His poetic articulation of thoughts to critic his primary opponent - the indomitable Smt Indira Gandhi, the then PM of India - was tempered by the good will of geniality contrary to what we now see, not just in the electioneering but also in the parliamentary debates. Atalji’s speech was as mellifluous as his inimitable oratory skills.

The oratory skills of Atal ji was first noticed by the then prime minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru way back in 1952. After his maiden speech in the Lok Sabha as a first time Member of Parliament in 1957, in front of Pandit Nehru, the whole of India and the world took notice of Atal ji’s oratory skills and greatly admired him as a witty and humorous orator with spark. There is also an anecdote that Nehru ji had once introduced Atal ji  to a foreign dignitary as the ‘future prime minister of the country’. It took time (4 decades) for Nehru’s prophecy to come true and Vajpayee became the head of the state on three different occasions – the first time  for just  13 days, the second for 13 months and his third and last stint, which he interestingly commenced on the 13th May, 1999, lasted the full term of five years, thus becoming the first non-Congress leader to complete a full term in office of the Prime Minister in 2004.

Atal ji notwithstanding his political wit, humour and niceties, was a seasoned politician and an outstanding parliamentarian. Contrary to what some may feel, Atal Ji was known for his cultural moderation, liberal views and political equanimity. Vajpayee ji will ever be remembered for his contribution in ushering in the coalition era and stitching disparate alliances to form a government. The coalition era and the alliances - be it NDA or the UPA - that we are witnessing today, largely vow their genesis to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was the master of coalition politics who steered his party to garner regional political party’s support that ultimately became the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Atal Ji deservingly became the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a full five year term in office, a historic accomplishment considering the failed earlier attempts of the non congress governments. Atal ji’s never say quits attitude (फिरसुबह होंगी the film that he and Advani ji saw together post Atal Ji's defeat in the by-election), complemented with the efforts of his 65 years friend and fellow compatriot Advani ji, and hundreds of thousands of his party workers has perhaps paved the way for BJP and his protege, Shri Narendra Modi ji, to form the BJP led Government with a majority of its own, just over a decade later. Vajpayee’s legacy and his contribution in ushering in the coalition era and proving that even disparate alliances could serve and survive the entire tenure of a government will continue to be celebrated.

Born into a middle class family in Gwalior on the 25th December 1924, Vajpayee’s first brush with politics came at an young age in 1942 when he joined the Quit India Movement against the British. After completing his education, he became a journalist and then joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a fore runner of the BJP, formed by its founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in 1951. From being political secretary to Mookerjee, to raising to the pinnacle of Indian democracy of becoming the PM of the largest democracy of the world, Atal Ji has endeared all of it in his long political career, during which he was elected nine times to the Lok Sabha and also served two terms in the Rajya Sabha. He led his party (BJP) to its first national electoral victory in 1996, but his government lasted just 13 days before he resigned as the PM of India in the face of a no-confidence motion. He returned to power in 1998 to once again form the Government and ruled for another brief tenure of 13 months forging an alliance with 22 parties, mostly regional parties, with disparate local appeal. 

It was during this period that India successfully conducted the nuclear tests at Pokhran and he famously rephrased Lal Bahadur Shastri’s quote जय जवान जयकिसान with जय जवान जय किसान जय विज्ञान। Conducting the Nuclear test was one of the historic moment which needed an extraordinary courage and conviction for the political leadership. Narasimha Rao Government had considered this option but before it could succeed the news had leaked out to the US and Narasimha Rao came under pressure from US President and other international leaders and the plan had to be abruptly halted. Although Atal ji succeeded Narasimha Rao as PM in 1996, his government could last just for 13 days and between 1996 and 1998, two successive prime ministers, HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral could not muster the courage to even think of any nuclear tests. After the 1998 mid-term elections, Vajpayee once again got an opportunity to form his government heading a coalition NDA government. The first thing he did was to order nuclear tests at Pokhran, which were conducted on May 11 and 13, 1998, a delicate task which the Indian scientists accomplished with great precision putting India in the elite global nuclear club. Dr Anil  Kakodkar, who was then the Director of BARC and part of the Pokhran 2 team, has written about this exercise and also the Indo - US nuclear deal that followed, in his recently released book. India’s successful conduct of the nuclear test was something which the Americans could never take it lying down. It was therefore no wonder that Atal ji’s government collapsed within a year of the Pokhran tests during India had to face severe economic sanctions by most western powers. But then riding on this success Atal ji was once again elected to form the Government in the 1999 elections and this time his government lasted for its full term (1999-2004) and Atal ji became the first non congress PM to serve a full term in independent India. Most unfortunately although the BJP fought the 2004 elections under Atal ji’s leadership, the shining India campaign could do no help and UPA came back to power and stitched an alliance to form the government under the leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh. 

Atal ji went into oblivion suffering from medical ailments. He finally gave up his battle for life and breathed his last on Thursday 16th August 2018. It was a truly solemn and emotional moment througout the country, as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister of India and BJP icon, finally passed away at 5.05 pm at AIIMS Delhi, surrounded by top national leaders from all parties across the country amid tight security. The funeral procession of Atal ji witnessed some of the most moving moments with waves of humanity joining the nation to mourn his death. 

लौट के आऊँगा, कूँच से क्यू डरूँ - Laut ke aaunga, kooch se kyun daroon - (I will come back, why should I fear leaving), one of Vajpayee’s  poem was selected by the party top brass to be put up on two large flex canvasses along with a smiling portrait of Atal ji on the gun carriage, which was carrying his body. The lines sum up the emotions that many who turned up from across the country felt for their leader. Every Christmas day, when the world celebrates the birthday of the merciful Jesus, in India, Atal ji will be remembered on this auspicious day with immense love, affection, respect and gratitude. 

I am tempted to quote a statement of Atal ji, which he made while addressing one of the Indian Science Congress, where he cryptically alluded to the circuitous and procedure intensive methods, which the scientists working in Government funded scientific institutions are expected to follow. He said ‘ Our scientists are becoming prisoners of procedures rather than achieves of excellence’. Can this issue be one aspect of Good Governance, which the Honourable Prime Minister, Modi ji, has announced to be commemorated on the birthday of Atal ji? Let us wait and see.

Once again wishing you all Merry Christmas. Long  live Atal ji.

Tribute to Srinivas Ramanujan ( B. 22nd December 1887 - D. 26th April 1920)

Srinivasa Ramanujan -  Bradman class mathematician, A Tribute. 

(22nd December 1887 - 26th April 1920)

India celebrates 22nd, December, the birthday of the legendary mathematician - Srinivasa Ramanujan, as the National Mathematics day, in his memory for it was on this date -  22nd December, that Ramanujan was born in Erode, Tamilnadu in the year 1887.  This year happens to be the centenary of the Punyatithi of Ramanujan who died at a very young age of just 32 years on 26th April 1920 in Madras (now Chennai). The genius of Ramanujan and his goddess - Namagiri, gifted mathematics has remained an enigma, which is made out from the foreword that was written by CP Snow, friend of Ramanujan’s mentor GH Hardy, a great mathematician of his time in England. C.P. Snow, in his preface to Hardy’s remarkable memoir, ‘A Mathematician’s Apology’, writes ‘Hardy did not forget that he was in the presence of a genius - Ramanujan’. It must be remembered that GH Hardy was considered as one of the leading mathematicians of the world during this period. Hardy’s respect for Ramanujan and his genius in maths can be seen in another incident, which Hardy narrates. In one of his interaction with CP Snow, Hardy says ‘His protégé Ramanujan really had natural genius in the sense that the greatest mathematicians had it’. Hardy on another occasion modestly says ‘ I have done one thing that most others could never have done, and that is to have collaborated with the greats like Ramanujan on something like equal terms’. The legend and the myth that surrounds Ramanujan and his gifted mathematics therefore comes from such examples and on this centennial punyatithi year it is an honour for me to be paying my respect to the legendary Ramanujan by recalling the blogpost, which I had written last year with some minor changes.

My admiration for Ramanujan grew exponentially during the time of the 125th birth centenary of Ramanujan - 2012. I was then posted at the Visvesvaraya Museum in Bangalore. The government of India rightfully decided to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of the great Srinivas Ramanujan and while announcing this birth anniversary celebrations, the then Prime Minister of India, Shri Manmohan Singh,  also announced that the birth day of Ramanujan will also be celebrated as the National Mathematics Day, in memory of Ramanujan and ever since the 22nd December - the Birthdate of Ramanujan, is celebrated in India as the National Mathematics Day.  In the previous year - 2011, which was the sesquicentennial birth anniversary of the legendary Sir M Visvesvaraya, I had volunteered to develop an exhibition on the life and works of Sir MV and this exhibition was highly appreciated and perhaps this success of making the biographical exhibition prompted DG NCSM to once again ask me to develop an exhibition on the life and works of Srinivas Ramanujan. Although we were tied up with many projects, I took up this challenge to develop the exhibition. The first thing that comes to mind when developing an exhibition on Ramanujan was the outstandingly well researched biography book on Ramanujan which was published by Robert Kanigel under the title - Srinivas Ramanujan : The Man who Knew Infinity’. The first things that we did before we started developing the curatorial concept for the exhibition was to name our exhibition after the title of Robert Kanigel Book. I assigned the task of developing this exhibition to one of my colleague curator Mr Sajoo Bhaskaran. We wrote a request letter to Kanigel and sought his consent and approval for naming our exhibition  ‘Srinivas Ramanujan : The Man who Knew Infinity, which he so very kindly agreed and granted us permission to use the title of his book for our exhibition. We worked on a different presentation style for the exhibition and for the first time attempted some new digital interactive to present the complex works of Ramanujan in a manner easily understandable for common people using some of the interesting digital interfaces. This exhibition was developed at the Visvesvaraya Museum when I was its Director in the year 2012, and was successfully opened on the 22nd December 2012, which happened to be the 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan. 

The exhibition was received very well by the people, particularly the new presentation technique which we had attempted for the first time in our council - the National Council of Science Museums. One of the most important lessons that our youngsters can learn from the life and works of Ramanujan, which was very well researched and presented in the exhibition is that failure is something which must not necessarily be allowed to ruin ones life. In his authoritative biography of ‘Ramanujan, The Man Who Knew Infinity’, Robert Kanigel  states that ‘Ramanujan appeared for the Intermediate examinations four times and failed in all of them. “Except for math he did poorly in all his subjects. … He’d take the three-hour math exam and finish it in thirty minutes.” T.V. Rangaswami’s Tamil biography (‘Ragami’) on which Kanigel’s account of Ramanujan’s early life is largely based, states that he sat for the F.A. examination three times and failed. Ragami however adds that in his last attempt, in 1907, he got a hundred out of hundred in mathematics. In yet another novel based on extensive research, David Leavitt’s ‘The Indian Clerk (2007)’, underlines the repeated failures of Ramanujan in his intermediate examinations, a point reiterated by the Ramanujan Museum’s website: “Appeared privately for F.A. examination, secured centum in mathematics, but failed to secure pass marks in other subjects.” We effectively communicated this lesson for the young students that failures have also been integral to some of the greatest of scientists and therefore they should not run away from such failures in life. 

Notwithstanding his multiple failures in the intermediate exam one thing remained certain for Ramanujan. His love and passion for maths never went down, rather he pursued his passion for maths with that much more focus and managed to publish quite a number of papers in leading mathematical journals in India until managing to earn a job as a Clark in the Madras Port Trust from where he wrote that famous letter to his mentor, G H Hardy in the year 1913 and the rest what they say is now history. Ramanujan was invited to the Trinity College, Cambridge by Hardy.   In just five years of his stay in Cambridge, Ramanujan made a profound contributions in mathematics and that too during the most testing times of the World War 1.  In 1916 the Cambridge University conferred on S. Ramanujan, the B.A. degree ‘by research’. This was a momentous occasion for Ramanujan who had no formal college degree until this period. This was the first of many great recognitions and honours, which were destined to follow for Ramanujan in the years ahead at England and in India. The Trinity College, London and so also the prestigious Royal Society conferred fellowship on Ramanujan. Incidentally Ramanujan became the first Indian to be so honoured with the fellowship of the Trinity College when he was only thirty. 

Ramanujan is almost a household name in India and most students in India will certainly have heard the name of Ramanujan, though not quite familiar with his works in mathematics. Notwithstanding the inspiration that the great Ramanujan has provided for our youngsters, most unfortunately over the years maths as a subject has been overly segmented as a subject meant only for the so called intellectuals, distancing the subject from common folks. Mathematics is one of the most important subjects, which acts as a tool to solve problems of every other science subjects. It provides students an opportunity to think in his or her way and seek solutions to the problems. It makes a student systematic and methodical and encourages them to make their lives orderly. It is perhaps for this reason that Mathematics is often called as the mother of all sciences and it is befitting that the birthday of Ramanujan, the greatest of mathematicians of India, is celebrated as the National Mathematics Day. 

Ramanujan, the naturally gifted, non traditional mathematician ( 1887-1920) has been befittingly hailed as an all-time great mathematician of India in modern times and is famously clubbed with the other international greats like Euler, by his discoverer G H Hardy. It is very well known that Hardy was a die hard cricket fan and used cricketing parlance in every field, including in rating scientists and mathematicians in a scale he termed ‘Bradman Scale’. He included the likes of the great mathematician Euler and Newton in the highest scale - the Bradman scale, measured in memory of Hardy’s all time favourite cricket player - Don Bradman from Australia. What his rating for Ramanujan would have been can best be seen in the quote of another mathematician, Bruce C Berndt, who says ‘Paul Erdos has passed on to us, Hardy's personal ratings of mathematicians. Suppose that we rate mathematicians on the basis of pure talent on a scale from 0 to 100, Hardy gave himself a score of 25, Littlewood 30, Hilbert 80 and Ramanujan 100’. From this yardstick of marks assigned by the great Hardy on different mathematicians including himself and Ramanujan, whom he gave 100 marks, it is a given that Ramanujan was a Bradman scale mathematician for Hardy and that Ramanujan fell in the league of the greats like Euler and Newton. It is so heartening to know that Hardy, who was one of the great all time mathematicians of his time and also the man who is credited to be the discoverer of Ramanujan, has rated his prodigy -Ramanujan, far higher than what he rates himself and his close associate Littlewood, two of the great mathematicians of their time.

Although Ramanujan lived only for 32 years out of which he spent just five years in the company of Hardy and Littlewood in Cambridge, he has left behind a very large volume (4000 original theorems) of his works (including the famous works left behind in his ‘lost note books’), which continue to fascinate greatest of mathematicians of  the world even today.  Legend has it that Srinivas Ramanujan’s mathematical genius came from his goddess Namagiri - his family deity in Kumbakonam - in whose reverence Ramanujan had undying faith. It is often said that Ramanujan credited his ideas and solutions to Namagiri, his family deity, who helped him decipher mathematical theorems in his dreams. An evidence to Ramanujan’s god gifted ability to provide solutions to problems can be seen in another anecdotal story associated with the number 1729. G H Hardy, his mentor, in his memoir, says that he once went to see Ramanujan who was ill and lying in the hospital bed in Putney. Hardy says that he rode to the hospital in a taxi with dull and unimpressive number 1729, and he hoped that it was no bad omen number for him. This dull and unimpressive taxi number has now been immortalised by the genius of Ramanujan’s god gifted ability to seek problems and find their solutions. On meeting Ramanujan in hospital, Hardy informs Ramanujan of this unimpressive number, but then, lo and behold, Ramanujan turns around to say that it is not a dull number, rather it is a very interesting and unique number. Ramanujan with some mental calculations told Hardy that 1729 is a very special number and it is the smallest number expressible as sum of two cubes in two different ways. He instantly  gave solution to his thoughts;  1729 = 12cube + 1cube = 10cube + 9 cube.  (1³ + 12³ = 1 + 1,728 = 1,729) and 9³ + 10³ = 729 + 1,000 = 1,729. Because of this incident, 1729 is now known as the Ramanujan - Hardy number.  Such was his god gifted talent for numbers. It is therefore no wonder that, Little Wood, an associate of Hardy who also mentored Ramanujan, once said ‘Ramanujan could remember the idiosyncrasies of numbers in an uncanny way ‘ courtesy Namagiri Goddess’ and for Ramanujan ‘every positive integer was one of his personal friend’.

Mathematics, which is often referred to as the mother of all sciences, is most unfortunately seen as a subject meant only for the studious and therefore curating an exhibition on this abstract subject, particularly addressing the mathematical contributions of the great Ramanujan, was truly challenging for any curator. Therefore we were confronted with a challenge when we were curating the exhibition Ramanujan- The Man Who Knew Infinity, How do we make it interesting for the visitors who may not be initiated in maths, was our moot question and after several discussions and brain storming we narrowed down on using immersive techniques to make the visitors,  part of the story. The best technologies that could adopt this principle became our tools for the development of the exhibition. Two such technologies included what we now most regularly use - projection mapping and Kinect based gaming. Projection mapping technology was used as a story telling medium through which we presented the childhood days of Ramanujan. The house where Ramanujan was born was used as a relief backdrop on which the projection mapping was made to present the story of his childhood days, and this presentation turned out to be very popular among the visitors who had a nostalgic feeling of looking at the historic house, where Ramanujan was born, come alive. We also used the Microsoft Kinect - for the first time in our council (NCSM)) - to present abstract concepts in mathematics and Ramanujan’s profound  interest and in-satiable quest for numbers.  One of the exhibit was presented in an immersive experience manner where the visitor could immerse herself as a traveller crossing the Cauvery river in Kumbakonam, on the catamaran with two hands raised. As the catamaran moves forward, series of simple arithmetic problems keep coming and the visitor has to either bend left or right to answer the questions. The Kumbakonam ambience provided a world full of mathematical problems for Ramanujan, which the visitors experienced while interacting with this exhibit.

Srinivas Ramanujan, was born to a poor orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on the 22nd of December, 1887 in his grandmother's house in Erode, Tamilnadu. His father worked as a clerk in a cloth merchants shop in Kumbakonam. When he was just 2 years old, Ramanujan contracted smallpox, whose marks were conspicuous during his childhood days. Ramanujan confronted a life of extreme poverty during his younger days. His early studies were in different schools in Kumbakonam from the age of five until entering the Town High School at the age of 11 years. From his childhood, Ramanujan had a huge passion for mathematics. So much so that at the age of 12 he had mastered trigonometry ( SL Loney : Plane Trigonometry) and developed many theorems on his own with no assistance. Ramanujan was a precocious child and did very well in school and hardly evinced any interest in any other activities or games other than his studies. While his friends played, Ramanujan engaged himself in nothing but academics. The first sign of his extraordinary talents in maths was noticed when he was 13 years. It was when he began to work on his own on summing geometric and arithmetic series, far beyond his class. He engaged himself in solving cubic and other fairly difficult problems some of which he failed. He would engage his teachers in some unorthodox questions. He once questioned a teacher, who was teaching the class that any number divided by that number equals one. He asked him whether zero divided by zero would be one.

The major turning point in the life of Ramanujan came when he came across a mathematics book by G S Carr called ‘Synopsis of elementary results in pure mathematics’. This book was simply a compilation of thousands of mathematical results, with most of the results not explained properly with adequate proof. This book was written as an aid to coaching English mathematics students facing the notoriously difficult Tripos examination, which involved a great deal of wholesale memorization. But this book greatly influenced Ramanujan and it inspired him to pursue his passion in maths with great vigour and at a feverish pace. He worked through the book's results and beyond at the cost of other subjects. The style and approach of Carr to write the equations and solutions without giving the proof parts of the problems and equations. Ramanujan fell in love with this book and worked extensively on his slate which was far cheaper than the paper and pen which he could not have afforded. In 1904, he joined Government Arts College in Kumbakonam. Unfortunately Ramanujan by now was completely engrossed in maths with Carr Synopsis and this left him no time for other subjects, which he rarely cared for. The result was expected. He failed in all the subjects in college except excelling in maths. The failure did not help his cause and he had to loose the much need scholarship that he had managed to get while joining the college. Failure played on his mind and he ran away from home to Andhra Pradesh only to return back to get enrolled at Pachaiyappa’s college in Chennai. Here, too, he engaged himself mostly in maths and couldn’t comprehend subjects like physiology and once again failed in the BA Fine Arts exam. He had no way but to leave his college, without attaining a degree. This did not deter him from continuing his independent Mathematics research.

Ramanujan even after failing in his BA Fine Arts exams, decided to concentrate completely on his maths research and it is during this period, 1903-1914, he meticulously kept a record of the final results of his original research work in the form of entries in two large-sized Note Books. By now his works in maths were beginning to be noticed. He worked extensively on his slate and recorded his final results in note books. He was lucky that he could show some of his recorded notebooks to eminent citizens in the city; Diwan, Bahadur Ramachandra Rao, V. Ramaswamy Iyer (Founder of Indian Mathematical Society) R. Narayana Iyer (Madras Port Trust), and to several others to convince them of his abilities as a Mathematician. Fortunately it paid rich dividend and he was employed by the Madras Port Trust as a clerk at a salary equivalent to about 25 Pounds a year. By this time he had already established himself as a fairly well recognised scholar in maths and reports of his unusual abilities had begun to spread far and wide. Fortunately his talents in maths reached Dr. G. T. Walker, in Madras University and courtesy his influence Ramanujan obtained a small scholarship, which relieved him from the necessity of office work and set him free for research.

During this period Ramanujan published several papers in influential Indian Mathematical journals. He also sent his long list of complex theorems to three academics of Cambridge. One of them was G H Hardy. Ramanujan had come across a book by Hardy titled ‘ Orders of Infinity’ which motivated him to write his now famous letter to Hardy. Ramanujan’s life took a major turn in 1913, when his 10-page letter containing 100 statements of theorems on infinite series, improper integrals, continued fractions, and number theory, reached Professor GH Hardy. The letter was a collection of Ramanujan’s self-derived equations and unproven theorems. Hardy was perplexed to see this letter from an ordinary clerk from India who had professed to have discovered some infinite series and had posted some 100 odd findings in his letter. Hardy knew that the letter warranted some merit but was also skeptical. After his dinner he met his compatriot mathematician Littlewood. Hardy mentioned to Littlewood some of the claims he had received in the mail from an unknown Indian. He said some of the assertions made in the letter of Ramanujan were well known, others could be proven, while some others they could disprove. Hardy and Littlewood decided to have a relook at the letter, which they did and agreed that many of the statements made in Ramanujan’s letter were not only fascinating and unusual but also impossible to resolve. 

Hardy and Littlewood continued their discussion on this letter over the next couple of days and soon they were convinced that the clerk who wrote this innocent letter must be a genius. Hardy therefore replied to Ramanujan, encouraging him on his works. This was the beginning of a series of letter exchanges between the two of them. Although Hardy by now was sure that Ramanujan was an exceptional mathematician, however, in spite of his amazing feats in mathematics, Hardy realised that Ramanujan lacked the basic tools of the trade of a professional mathematician. Hardy knew that if Ramanujan was to fulfil his potential, he had to have a solid foundation in mathematics, which are normally possessed by the best of Cambridge graduates. For this Hardy extended an invitation to Ramanujan to come to Cambridge. Hardy was completely taken aback when Ramanujan could not make up his mind to accept the rare invitation from a well known mathematician from Cambridge, which most others would have jumped on. He later realised that as a Brahmin, Ramanujan was not expected to cross the ‘seven seas’. His mother was totally opposed to the idea of Ramanujan’s sea voyage. But fortunately Ramanujan could manage to convince his mother and get her consent. Hardy soon swang into action. He asked E.H Neville, another fellow of Trinity College, who was on a trip to Madras, to secure Ramanujan a scholarship from the University of Madras. Neville’s wrote in a letter to the university that “the discovery of the genius of S. Ramanujan of Madras promises to be the most interesting event of our time in the mathematical world ..."

What followed next is now a legend that has entered into the annals of history. Courtesy Hardy and Neville, the Madras University offered Ramanujan the first research scholarship of the University. Hardy also ensured that Ramanujan was offered a scholarship of 250 pounds a year for five years with 100 pounds for passage by ship and for initial outfit to go to England in 1914.  Ramanujan, at the age of 26 years set sail to England and reached Cambridge, just before the outbreak of World War I. In the very first year of his stay in Cambridge- 1914 - Ramanujan made some path breaking contributions. However his journey to success faced some hurdles in the initial part of his stay in Cambridge. Ramanujan who may majorly influenced by Carr’s style of summing up his end findings and stating the formula for a infinite series or such other mathematical problem without assigning any deductive solution was something which did not please his mentor Hardy. This incident has been so beautifully depicted in a scene from the film Ramanujan The Man who Knew Infinity. The scene shows the excitement of Ramanujan to publish and in his discussion with Hardy he presents to him two of his note books adding to the 100 formulas, which he had already sent to him and other problems which he had been corresponding with Hardy.  One of this  was an interesting series which was mind boggling for Hardy to comprehend how Ramanujan could even visualise it. The very equation looks quite deceptive and it goes as follows ; 1+2+3+4+5...... = -1/12. Interestingly Hardy immediately had recognised this to be the theory of analytic continuation ( Reimann Zeta Function) from complex analysis. However Hardy was convinced that Ramanujan must learn to produce mathematical solutions for the answers that so naturally come to Ramanujan so that other mathematicians take him seriously. The scene shows a brief argument that ensues between the two in which Ramanujan- role played by Dev Patel, is seen arguing with Hardy, a role played in the film by Jeremy Irons. Ramanujan expresses his desire to publish while Hardy insists that he must first learn to communicate his mind in the exacting standards that befit the standards of Cambridge. He therefore advises Ramanujan to take some basic lectures to learn a more formal language in maths which he could use to communicate his findings to his fellow compatriots in Cambridge. Hardy managed to convince the need for a formal learning for Cambridge when he takes Ramanujan on a walk through the famous library of Cambridge. He says to Ramanujan that if area of maths are to be challenged you must give proof to the formulas and that too in manner which are understandable to the people. Hardy takes Ramanujan to the hall where Newton’s Principia book is preserved. He says Newton produced this monumental findings which took long time for the people to understand. Hardy says to Ramanujan that if you provide proof to your formulas, which you have noted in your note books, the time will not be far when your note books could find a place in this very precinct of Cambridge where Newton’s book finds his place. Hardy was proved to be right, Ramanujan’s lost note books finally have made their way to Cambridge and are in their priced possession even today. The scene depicts the dichotomy of relationship that existed between Hardy and Ramanujan.  

Ramanujan and Hardy had one of the most productive collaborations ever and during his five years of stay in Cambridge, Ramanujan wrote some 30 papers some on his own and some jointly with Hardy. Most of his works transformed the field of mathematics. On his way to achievement Ramanujan had to overcome severe hardships, sense of racism, difficulties of the World War 1 effects on his uncompromising vegan habits. Hardy was no doubt a great mentor for Ramanujan but then there is an argument that he may not have shown that much needed humanitarian considerations for Ramanujan which could have ensured a better living conditions for Ramanujan in England. 

Ramanujan’s contributions were soon recognised by his compatriots in Cambridge and he was elected ‘Fellow of Trinity College’, Cambridge, even though he didn’t have a college degree. But unfortunately his stay at Cambridge was the most harshest for Ramanujan. He was a strict vegetarian and he remained uncompromising about his dietetic observance. The World War too did not help his cause, which made availability of choice materials for Ramanujan very scarce. Ramanujan always cooked his own food and most often neglected his health. During his five years stay in England, Ramanujan was mentored by Hardy and he cemented a five year-long outstanding partnership with Hardy. It was during this stay in England that Ramanujan was awarded a BSc (later renamed PhD). In 1918, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), as a Research student in Mathematics Distinguished as a pure mathematician, particularly for his investigations in elliptic functions and the theory of numbers. A rare honour for the not so formally educated, that too at a very young age. Ramanujan was also elected to the Trinity College Fellowship, in Oct. 1918 (a prize fellowship worth 250 pounds a year for six years with no duties or condition). Most unfortunately he was not destined to avail of this fellowship.

His health kept deteriorating in England and Ramanujan was often times admitted to hospital. When his health improved slightly he preferred to return back to India. Now an acclaimed mathematician, Ramanujan returned to India in 1919 after World War I, but years of stay in an unfamiliar climate in England clubbed with his uncompromising life style, had taken a heavy toll on his health.  When he returned back to India he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In January 1920, he wrote the last letter to Hardy about his discovery of “Mock Theta functions’ another master class contributions from a man who was almost in his death bed. He died on 26th April of that year. In his small lifetime, Ramanujan compiled more than 3,000 results on equations and identities, many of them posthumously proven right. His ‘Lost' Notebook was found in 1976 by Prof. George Andrews of Pennsylvania State University, and its facsimile edition was brought out by Narosa Publishing House in 1987, on the occasion of Ramanujan's birth centenary. Besides his published work, Ramanujan has left behind several notebooks, which have been the object of much study. 

There is no question about the fact that mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan has left behind a rich legacy of problems for mathematicians to solve. In his short life of little over 32 years, he reached unimaginable heights. What is surprising is that his mathematics, done over a hundred years ago, finds applications today in areas other than pure mathematics, which were not even established during his time. Two among these are signal processing and Black Hole physics.

What could have been the contributions of Ramanujan if conditions were more conducive to him and if he had lived longer is some thing which will continue to remain in the realms of speculation. It was a great tribute that his life and works were chosen for making of  Dev Patel starrer film ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ (2015), which was another great tribute paid by the cinema to the legendary Ramanujan. May he continue to inspire millions not just Indians, but globally.

Rest in Peace Ramanujan.

Superbugs Exhibition and the Saga of raise and fall of Antibiotics.

The story of the ‘accidental’ discovery of penicillin has been frequently told and this story has transcended across countries. Even in India, most of us, including the school children, are familiar with the story of Alexander Fleming and his serendipitous discovery of penicillin. The accidental discovery of Penicillin won Fleming and two other scientists, Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey, the coveted Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the year 1945,  "for their discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases."  Our understanding that infectious diseases are caused by microbes - bacteria and other microorganisms - came about thanks to the research work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch, who explained the nature of the infectious diseases and the connection that exist between them and the disease causing bacteria and other microorganisms. This profound understanding opened research opportunities for scientists to advance medicine, which could help in prevention and treatment of important group of diseases that are caused by bacteria and other microorganisms.

Penicillin and other antibiotics and vaccines developed over the past few decades, which have saved millions of lives, owe their genesis to the fundamental understanding of the nature of the microbial diseases. The story of the accidental discovery of the penicillin (antibiotics) and its benefits for humankind is now pervasive. But then the saga of antibiotics including how scientists and engineers toiled hard to mass produce this wonder discovery - penicillin - is less known. What is even lesser known part of the antibiotics story is that, Alexander Fleming had also predicted the rise of Superbugs - microbes, which will, over time, become immune to antibiotics and may lead to fall of the wonder drug, penicillin (antibiotics). In a talk recorded by the BBC in 1945, Fleming himself had highlighted the dangers of improper use of penicillin. He had said, ‘If the dose is too small, the microbes will not be killed and there is a danger that they will be educated to resist penicillin’. He added, ‘we might then have someone who has a simple sore throat treating himself inadequately with penicillin and educating his microbes to resist the drug. These educated microbes could then be passed on to his best friend who might get pneumonia, for which…penicillin would do no good’. Fleming added, in this case, ‘the first man through thoughtless use of penicillin would be morally responsible for the death of his best friend’. Fleming’s prophetic statement is turning out to be true in modern days.

Fleming’s  statement summarizes the significance of what has now become a global health menace - The Antimicrobial and Antibacterial Resistance - AMR and ABR - which may eventually lead to disastrous consequences and make penicillin - the life saving drug - completely ineffective and helpless. It is therefore time for all of us, the global community, to stand unitedly in addressing this global menace and for this, the first step is to create a much needed awareness among the general public about this problem. It is in recognition of this necessity that an exhibition ‘Superbugs: The End of Antibiotics?’ has been curated and developed jointly by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, the Science Museum, Group, London, with support from the Wellcome Trust (UK) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). This exhibition was opened by two distinguished scientists Padma Vibhushan, Prof Man Mohan Sharma, Emeritus Professor,  Institute of Chemical Technology ( formerly UDCT) and eminent Physician, Padma Bhushan, Dr Farukh Udwadia in the presence of Mr. Crispin Simon, British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India and Ms. Helen Jones, Director, Global Engagement & Strategy, Science Museum Group, UK and several other dignitaries both from India and UK including a large number of students,  on the 18th of December at the Nehru Science Centre. One of the important features of the exhibition is that it has several original historical objects, which narrate the story of the raise and fall of penicillin and these objects have been beautifully blended in the thoughtfully curated exhibition. The exhibition also contains large number of models, which are interactive and completely engaging. Artistically created giant model of a Superbug - made of large number of of hyper sized medicine pills - antibiotics, injectables, microbes etc. welcomes the visitors to foretell what the consequences of superbugs could be for humankind, if timely interventions are not made. An antique looking telephone ear piece, belonging to Fleming’s era, when picked from its cradle, plays out the original voice of Alexander Fleming, where he prophetically talks of the problems of antibiotic resistance.

The Superbugs exhibition has been divided into three sections: Microscopic, Human and Global. Microscopic Section explores the hidden world of bacteria. Be it their size or characteristics, evolution of superbugs or history of antibiotics; the exhibits of this section will take you on a journey in which the visitor can zoom into the world of microbes, explore the touchscreen multimedia to understand how bacteria evolve into superbugs or flip a digital e-book to know the brief history of antibiotics. 

The Human Section showcases several stories, specifically from India, of how different stakeholders of Indian society are reaching out to combat the challenge of antibacterial resistance. When antibiotics stop working, lives are put at risk. People catch infections that can’t be treated. Hospitals find it difficult to keep the spread of bacteria under control. Farmers can’t treat their animals when they become ill. Our environment poses several risks of spreading ABR in human and animals. This section highlights how Doctors, Patients, Scientists, Researchers, Nurses, Campaigners, Pharmacist, Farmers all need to work in tandem to cope up with this problem.

Bacteria are without borders and can travel further and faster around the world than we do. Moving through our bodies, food and water systems, Superbugs on a farm in one country can spread to hospitals on the other side of the planet. The Global Section explores the global initiatives in search of new antibiotics or alternate ways to combat the menace and the initiatives to create awareness on the issue. This travelling exhibition, a joint Indo-UK initiative, expressly designed and developed for the purpose of creating awareness on AMR, was first presented at the National Science Centre, Delhi, from where it has now travelled to  our Centre. It will be on display for a period of two months at the Nehru Science Centre and will conclude on the 16th, February 2020.  From here it will travel to  Visvesvaraya Museum, Bangalore and then to Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, Kolkata.

Superbugs are those evolved microbes, which have become immune and resistant to most of the antibiotics and other medical intervention resulting in major global health crisis. The superbugs mostly fall under AMR. The gravity of the AMR menace is a cause for concern for everyone of us and it needs collective global efforts to address this problem. AMR is an ability of microorganisms (bacteria, virus, fungi, parasites) to overcome the effects of antimicrobials (antibiotics, antivirals, antifungal, ant parasitic agents). Antibacterial Resistance (ABR) is of equal global concern that refers to the ability of bacteria to overcome the effect of antibiotics and continue to grow rapidly. While all types of AMR are concerning, ABR is currently posing the most serious health threat, particularly for India, with serious political and economic implications. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that AMR is a global public health security concern, which needs to be urgently addressed. This issue has been reiterated by the WHO in numerous World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions. 

India is one of the countries which faces the highest burden of microbial (bacterial) infections. As per the ICMR estimates, an estimated 410,000 children aged five years or less die from pneumonia in India annually; with pneumonia alone accounting for almost 25% of all child deaths. ICMR further estimates that crude mortality from infectious diseases in India today is 417 per 100,000 persons. Therefore, the impact of AMR is likely to be higher in the Indian setting and one way to try and address this issue is to create awareness and understanding on the issue of AMR. It is hoped that the Superbugs exhibition, helps in taking the message of AMR to all the stakeholders, particularly the students who visit our science centre in large numbers.

India carries one of the largest burdens of drug-resistant pathogens worldwide and therefore the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) has identified AMR as one of the top ten priorities for the ministry’s collaborative work with the WHO. The AMR is also prioritized under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), in which India is one of the contributing countries. The Indian National Health Policy, 2017, identifies antimicrobial resistance as a problem and calls for effective action to address this menace. It calls for a rapid standardization of guidelines regarding antibiotic use, limiting the use of antibiotics as over-the-counter medications, banning or restricting the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal livestock, and pharmacology vigilance  including auditing prescription and antibiotic usage in the hospital and community. The emergence of AMR  is not only limited to the older and more frequently used classes of drugs ( antibiotics) but there has also been a rapid increase in resistance to the newer and more expensive drugs. The ICMR finding shows that there is an increased rates of AMR, across multiple pathogens of clinical importance at the national scale. For example, according to ICMR, in 2008, based on the available data about 29% of isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were methicillin resistant, and by 2014, this had risen to 47%. Therefore the AMR issue has emerged as a major challenge in hospitalized patients as well as in the community. In contrast, in countries which have established effective antibiotic measures and infection prevention and control programs, the proportion of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates have been decreasing. India was the largest consumer of antibiotics for human health. However the per capita consumption of antibiotics in India (10.7 units per capita) is lower than that seen in many other countries (22 units per capita in USA).

Penicillin and other antibiotics have saved millions of lives and have been considered as the greatest of boon the humankind could get from scientific research. The saga of antibiotics- Penicillin - is an extraordinary episode of scientific history that heralded unprecedented international cooperation and collaboration among scientists, engineers and pharmaceutical companies, particularly between England and the United States.  It all began on that eventful morning of Sept. 28, 1928, when Professor of bacteriology, Alexander Fleming, had cut short his vacation and returned back to London, hoping to help his colleague. Fleming was already working on Staphylococcus bacteria and had left behind some of his Staphylococcus samples, which he had cultured in some Petri dishes, before going on vacation. On his return to England he used some spare time in his laboratory sorting out petri dishes bearing cultures of Staphylococcus. It was when Professor Merlin Pryce dropped in to his lab to speak to Fleming. One of the Petri dishes, where Staphylococcus bacteria were being cultured by Fleming, caught their attention. A large colony of greenish mold had grown in the Petri dish and around this area no bacteria were found. It was a fascinating serendipity about which Fleming wrote that the bacterial colonies around the mold colony had “dissolved away.” The greenish colour fungus, which had inhibited the growth of staphylococcus bacteria, turned out to be ‘Penicillium notatum’, which was destined to herald a path breaking future in the history of medicine.  

Although Fleming had identified that the strain of Penicillium, which he had accidentally discovered, had killed a host of Gram- positive bacteria, including those that caused scarlet fever, pneumonia, gonorrhea, meningitis, and diphtheria, yet he was uncertain that penicillin could actually be cultivated for medical use.  Cultivating penicillin indeed was a very difficult challenge and the small quantities that could be produced were mostly unstable and therefore Fleming was more or less convinced that penicillin would never be an important drug, for treatment of any of the bacterial infections. The penicillin therefore remained a laboratory curiosity for the next decade, until Sir Howard Walter Florey, Ernst Boris Chain and a team of researchers at Oxford University demonstrated the potential life-saving properties of penicillin.  Unfortunately by then the World War II had begun and England too was at war. War times made it difficult for the mass production of the Penicillin, since the priorities of the nation were completely different. But then with more and more soldiers dying of infections, which perhaps could have been avoided had there been a very large quantity of Penicillin, people started to think seriously on producing penicillin on a large scale. This was an Herculean task. The saga of mass production of penicillin is an extraordinary story of cooperation between nations (primarily UK and USA) and undying spirit of collaboration between scientists and engineers, who took up this challenge. With several triumphs and tribulations, the combined efforts of scientists and engineers finally yielded the desired results, which led to the mass production of penicillin antibiotics by companies like Pfizer in USA, who continue to be the leaders in this industry even today. Many of those who were behind this success story are unsung heroes, whose names have been confined to anonymity in the annals of history. This article makes an attempt to bring to light the roles of some of those unsung heroes - scientists and engineers - whose works made this possible. 

The term Antibiotics was first coined by an US meteorologist, Matthew F. Maury, in 1855 in his book entitled ‘Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology’. The reference of Maury to the term antibiotics however had nothing to do with the antibiotics that we now universally recognise. Maury was an enthusiastic observer of the sky and was keen in trying to understand the possibilities of existence of life in outer space. After serious observations, he was convinced that there is no possibility of life in outer space. But then he used an interesting phrase to express how he arrived at this conclusion that life does not exist in outer space. He wrote “I incline to the antibiotic hypothesis”, there was no alien life out there in space. The first medical recognition of the role of Penicillium (antibiotics) dates back to London in 1871, when Sir John Burdon Sanderson noted that thick bacterial growths quickly formed, if broth were exposed to air. But, if a mold like Penicillium grew on the surface of the broth then the bacteria would die. The current modern meaning of the term antibiotics gained momentum courtesy a French microbiologist, Pierre Vuillemin, who in 1890 defined an “antibiotic” as any substance that was “injurious to or destructive of living matter, especially microorganisms.” Sir Sanderson’s crucial observations were confirmed by another English Surgeon of eminence, Joseph Lister, who introduced carbolic acid as an antiseptic for use in operating rooms. Lister’s objective was to ensure that post surgery bacteria must never gain entry to an operation wound, which continues to be the main cause of concern even this day. Lister recorded that samples of urine contaminated with the mold would not support the growth of bacteria. Two other French scientists, Louis Pasteur and Jules Francois Joubert,  also observed the inhibition of growth in a culture of anthrax bacteria when contaminated by Penicillium. This phenomenon was named as ‘ antibiosis’ by Pasteur and Robert Koch.  

The first person to come very close to discovering the antibiotics- penicillin - as we know today for its curative reasons, was a French medical student, Ernest Duchesne, who was probably born in Paris in 1874. He became fascinated with microbes in medical school, which he joined at a very young age and legend has it that Pasteur Institute rejected Duchesne’s thesis on the grounds that he was too young (23) for his medical thesis. He was however able to get another guide with whose guidance he worked and completed his thesis on microbial antagonism in 1897. His thesis suggested that application of penicillin fungi could alter the virulence of the microbes. Duchesne was able to concentrate his antibiotics in broth, which he used to show that it could be used to treat animals infected with bacteria. He was also successful in experimenting and growing Penicillin Glacum. But then before he could attempt any further work, fate had its own wish and Duchesne died of pulmonary infection at a very young age (37) afflicted with TB. Most unfortunately the young doctors work of developing an effective penicillin antibiotics remained unfulfilled. Had Duchesne lived longer  may be the course of antibiotics history may have been different. There were other investigators who are believed to have noticed the effects of penicillin before Fleming, but then it was only Fleming who could finally manage to discover what we now call penicillin the antibiotics.

Fleming, even before his serendipitous discovery of the staphylococcal colonies on his Petri dish, had been working for years on bacterial infections and in 1921, he had observed that nasal mucus and tears could prevent the growth of bacteria. He also discovered that nasal mucus and tears contained an active agent, which  he named lysosome, an enzyme that dissolves bacterial colonies. It is perhaps this experience of Fleming, which helped him with that accidental discovery of penicillin on that historic day in September, 1928. But then from where did the Penicillium colony come from, which had inhibited the growth of his microbes the staphylococcus? When Fleming tested all their cultures for antibiotic-producing strains, he was able to find only one strain, which was identical to the fungus that had already contaminated his petri dish. Fleming identified the contaminant as a strain of Penicillium and he found that it killed a host of Gram- positive bacteria, including those that caused scarlet fever, pneumonia, gonorrhea, meningitis, and diphtheria. Fleming with the help of his colleagues tried to isolate pure penicillin from the mold. But then he observed that the pure penicillin is an unstable compound and therefore extremely difficult to cultivate and purify penicillin. Even those small quantities, which they could cultivate were unstable. All of these experiments convinced Fleming that penicillin would never be an important antibiotic for treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore for the next decade, there was not much progress in harvesting the antibacterial properties of penicillin and it remained only a laboratory curiosity, until an Australian British, Sir Howard Florey and a team of researchers at Oxford University demonstrated its potential life-saving properties. By then the WWII had begun and the British were a part of this bloody war.

As the war progressed the fatalities of soldiers increased substantially and a large number of deaths happened because of infections suffered due to battle injuries. By then the therapeutic effects of the new found penicillin against bacterial infections were known but the quantity of the penicillin produced during this time was not even sufficient to cure one single adult patient. This compelled the British Government in 1941, to seek the help of their war ally the US in solving the problem of mass producing penicillin. In response to the calls made by the British government four chemical and pharmaceutical companies in US, including Pfizer, who were eventual winners in the race, responded to the British call thus plunging into race different companies to mass produce the world’s first antibiotics drug. One of the pioneers who made mass production of penicillin possible was a lady American Chemical Engineer  Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau.

Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau was an innovative chemical engineer who is credited to have designed the first commercial penicillin plant using a process called the Deep Tank Fermentation process. This new process enabled scientists to produce large quantities of the life-saving drug. She is also credited with other accomplishments, which include developing high-octane gasoline. She is also the first woman to join the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Margaret Hutchinson, while working at E.B. Badger company, was involved in designing production plants, such as those used to generate synthetic rubber. It was here that she met here future husband Mr Rousseau. Margaret Hutchinson’s modified deep tank fermentation process helped scientists to produce penicillin on a large scale. As a result, she created the first commercial penicillin plant, the use of which helped people gain access to this much-needed drug. Around the same time, a group of researchers including Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin discovered the structure of penicillin, which accentuated the manufacturing process of penicillin. Thanks in part to Ms. Rousseau’s work, the advancements made in penicillin production saved many lives, both in the 1940s and today. 

The Pfizer company was one of those who decided to take the gamble of using the new deep tank fermentation process. In September 1943, they purchased one of the old Ice Plant in a nearby building and rebuilt this facility into the world’s first large-scale penicillin factory. On March 1, 1944 Pfizer’s penicillin plant opened. It contained fourteen 7,500- gallon tanks. Very soon Pfizer started producing five times more penicillin then originally estimated, making Pfizer the leading supplier of the drug. This was the war time and most of the penicillin that was produced by Pfizer plant on Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn, was transported in service of the Allied forces. 

The success of the mass production of the penicillin goes to the marvel of chemical engineering which was practiced at Pfizer and other chemical companies in US.  The production of penicillin began with a sterile culture of the penicillin mold, which was then propagated in stages from litre flasks to leading up to larger tanks of 200 gallons  “seed” tanks. From this stage the culture was transferred to huge fermenter tanks containing microbe fodder, chiefly corn steep liquor, milk sugar, salts, and minerals. The mold was allowed to grow for two to four days. The next and trickiest part of the process was extracting penicillin from the broth, since penicillin constituted a small fragment of just four parts drug per 10,000 parts broth. The extracted material was then purified and bottled in sterile rooms as extreme care had to be taken in these last steps to avoid contamination. After the bottles were filled, the penicillin moved through a freezing apparatus and then into a vacuum drier which dehydrated the drug. The final product helped the allied forces to decisively win World War II.

Alexander Fleming and the his co-discoverers - Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey -  truly deserve the credit for their discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics. But their monumental discovery would have remained only in the laboratory shelf if not for the extraordinary contributions by other scientists and chemical engineers who helped translate their lab discovery in to the development of deep tank fermentation which eventually turned out to be a game changer. Unfortunately after serving humankind for several decades and saving millions of lives, this very wonder drug penicillin and antibiotics have now lost their potency largely due to human neglect and misuse. It is therefore time that we rethink on what has led us to this stage of helplessness and it is hoped that the Superbugs exhibition will help in creating that much needed awareness on the proper use of the antibiotics and hope that the global community comes together once again to address this issue of Superbugs. It was science that saved millions and it is hoped that science clubbed with society will once again help the wonder drug antibiotics to claim that pinnacle position that it once had climbed.

Jai Vigyan.