6, June 2020, has an extraordinary significance for practitioners of science, science communicators and rationalists in India. It happens to be the birth centenary of Dr H Narasimhaiah, a preeminent educationist, rationalist and an epitome for creating scientific temper and a culture of science in India. Gandhian Narasimhaiah, led a life long crusade against blind beliefs, superstition, obscurantism, which plagued Indian society and in the process often times he had to take on high and mighty self styled god men to disprove their, so called, god given or divine magical powers for dispelling rampantly prevalent blind beliefs. In short, he was an embodiment for propagating the much needed scientific temper in Indian society, which is one of the major objectives of our Science Centres that function under the aegis of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) that has been tasked to create scientific temper in society and promote culture of science. Inculcation of scientific temper among the citizens of our country was an outstanding vision that our founding fathers envisaged. Accordingly, the term scientific temper has been enshrined in the Indian Constitution under the fundamental duties in Article 51 A (h) of our Constitution, which states “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India
to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”.
Asking questions; why, what, how etc. and searching answers to these questions is one of the important tenets that is central to creating culture of science & scientific temper in society. Padma Bhushan, Dr H Narasimhaiah, fondly referred to as HN, was a pioneering advocate of this philosophy, all through his life. A red colour printed message, on the wall of his office at the National College, Bangalore, with which he was associated for seven decades, describes what HN preached and practiced all his life - Scientific temper. And the message says in Kannada, his mother tongue, ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸದೇ ವೊಪ್ಪಬೇಡಿ (Prashnisade Oppabedi - Do not agree without questioning). HN also advocated another saying in Kannada ‘ ಪ್ರತ್ಯಕ್ಷ ಕಂಡರೂ ಪ್ರಮಾಣಿಸಿ ನೋಡು’ ( Prathyaksha kandaru pramanisi nodu’ meaning - Verify what you see, your eyes could be deceptive). As we celebrate his birth centenary, it is an honour and privilege and privilege for me to be writing this tribute for Dr HN.
Dr H Narasimhaiah - a preeminent rationalist, freedom fighter, Gandhian, teacher, physicist, writer, thinker, educationist, founder of Bangalore Science Forum, and the only Indian Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP International), set up by Paul Kurtz in the USA and a coveted Padma Bhashan recipient - was born one hundred years ago on 6th June, 1920, in a small town, Hosur in Karnataka. HN was a die hard rationalist who advocated and practised scientific temper all his life, including challenging internationally acclaimed spiritual guru, Sathya Sai Baba and other self styled god men to subject their ‘divine and magical powers’ to the exacting standards of scientific scrutiny and announced that their divine powers are nothing but magic tricks, which are meant to fool and exploit some of their gullible followers.
HN spent most part of his life in trying to eradicate blind belief and superstitions that plagued Indian society, particularly in Karnataka. I am among those who come from one of the most backward areas in Karnataka - Raichur district of the Hyderabad Karnataka region - and I am privy to one of the worst superstitious practices, witchcraft - ‘Bhanumathi, that was practised in this area. This evil practice was rampantly prevalent in most parts of the Hyderabad Karnataka region that included the districts of Raichur, Gulbarga, Koppal, Yadgir, and Bidar. This social obscurantism was also portrayed on celluloid in 1982 in a film titled गहरायीं (Gehrayee) directed by Vikas Desai and Aruna Raje and the film was based on a real life experience of a family from this area, where the father, Chennabassappa, portrayed by veteran actor Sreeram Lagoo, their adolescent daughter, Umakka (Padmini Kolhapure) gets possessed by a so called spirit and they have no clue what to do about it. Their elder son Nandu (Anant Nag) is rational but he can’t remain one when he sees the condition of his sister keeps deteriorating, despite limited medical help. Amrish Puri plays the role of the evil tantrik, who disrobes Umakka for a ritual, meant to rid her of the evil spirit. This film helped in bringing to focus the spread of black magic or witchcraft practices that were rampant in India. This issue needed to be addressed from scientific point of view.
HN waged a frontal attack on this age old witchcraft / black magic practice, which was affecting hundreds and thousands of innocent lives and the fear of Bhanumati used to send spine cracking pain among the people of this area. I have witnessed several incidents of this black magic during my childhood days and some of my distant relatives have also been a victim of this evil practise. Prof HN, during his tenure as an independent legislature in the Karnataka Legislative Council, in the early 1980s, helped in the constitution of a committee, which he headed, that was tasked to probe the practise of Bhanumati menace, which had reached alarming proportions in North Karnataka. After a thorough investigation with experts from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences, (NIMHANS), Dr HN and his committee came to the conclusion that Bhanumati was a fear-complex perpetrated by vested interests on psychologically weak villagers, or those who were afflicted with some mental health issues. His work as chairman of the legislative committee, that probed incidents of Bhanamati (black magic) in Kalaburagi and Bidar in 1980, played a key role in creating awareness that the so called evil spirit of Bhanumati were nothing but manifestations of mental health issues, which were treatable. The efforts of Dr HN and his findings gradually helped in majorly reducing this centuries old menace, which had thrived in Karnataka and many parts of India. Courtesy the efforts of HN, the instances of black magic or witchcraft practise has more or less become extinct or has come down substantially, across
Due to centuries of our subjugation, foreign rule and oppression of the worst kind, which India faced prior to our Independence, there perhaps developed in Indian society, superstition, which accentuated evil practices of black magic, witchcraft and such other superstitious practices that were founded on blind belief and obscurantism of the worst kind. These superstitious practices were exploited by vested interest groups including some babas and gurus who fooled gullible people for their personal gains. Most of such horrendous black magic practices and witchcraft like the Bhanumati, used to ruin the lives of many families. Most mental illness health issues were passed off as black magic problems. People blindly believed babas, gurus, sadhus and such other so called godmen or religious or spiritual leaders, who professed to possess some divine powers, which they used and abused to exploit ordinary citizens, who believed in these obscurantist practices. Centuries of foreign rule, illiteracy and poverty added to the miseries of the superstitious practices. HN firmly believed that Scientific temper alone can get rid of such superstitious practices. Fortunately very recently - on the occasion of the birth centenary of HN - the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India has constituted a Joint science Communication Forum to promote scientific temper by adopting common policy and best practices and facilitating interaction, cooperation and coordination amongst various public sector science communication institutions and agencies one of which is our organisation - NCSM
HN was born hundred years ago on 6th June, 1920, to poor parents in Hosur, Gauribidanur taluk in Kolar district of Karnataka. His father was a casual teacher - ‘coolie meshtru' - who earned bread for his family by teaching Kannada to the children of his village. His mother was a daily wage-worker. Unfortunately the village did not have a high school and therefore HN had to discontinue his studies after he completed his class 7 in the on,y existing school in his village. Fortunately for HN, his school headmaster was transferred to Bangalore for joining a new school - the National High School, in Bangalore. HN was around 14 years and by then he had already dropped one year of his studies due to non availability of High school in his village. His head master asked HN to come to Bangalore to join his new school. This was a god sent offer for HN and this moment proved to be a defining moment in his career.
Legend has it that HN, in the year 1935, at a young age of 14 plus years and without any money in his pocket, walked all of 85 kilometres distance, in two days. He had to walk this distance on foot because he could not afford to pay the bus fare from his native village Hosur, near Gauribidanur, to Bangalore, to join the National High School for his studies. Fortunately, this historic foot journey led HN to an institution that would become the biggest vision and mission of his life for the next seven decades. He joined the National High School, Bangalore, in 1935 courtesy his head master, who was also very kind to help him with an accommodation in the ‘Poor Boys Home’ in the premises of the school. Subsequently, Narasimhaiah and the National High School and College became inseparable, and in a bond that lasted seven decades, HN remained constantly connected with this institute. Dressed in his characteristic Gandhian attire - khadi dhoti, jubba and a Gandhi cap, HN was almost always seen surrounded by students in the National College premises. The National High School in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru (then Bangalore), which HN joined in 1935, was founded by the legendary Dr. Annie Besant in 1917, the year she became the president of the Indian National Congress. Besant wished to set up similar educational institutes across the country that would instil the values of patriotism and self-reliance among the young students and the next generation of freedom fighters. HN became one of the major beneficiaries of this school, who also engaged himself in freedom struggle.
The 1930s was a period of intense freedom struggle activities in India, which was spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi - the father of the nation. In 1936, just one year after HN had joined the National High School, Mahatma Gandhi visited his School, to gather support for the freedom movement, from Bangaloreans. Gandhi spoke in either Hindi or in English wherever he travelled across India. In some of the places, where none of these two languages were understood by the people, Gandhi ji preferred to have his speech translated and spoken in the native language, by one of the selected translators. In Bangalore too Gandhi ji felt the need to have his speech translated into the native Kannada language at the National High School, where he had come to speak. This was the defining moment in the history of HN. HN writes in his book “I met Gandhi in 1936 when he came to Bangalore. We, students of NHS ( National High School ), were waiting in the shade of a tree in Kumara Krupa (Government Guest house in Bangalore) to meet him. Gandhi ji wished to speak to someone who knew Hindi and could translate his speech into Kannada. My teachers sent me forward, and Gandhi asked me: ‘Naam kya hai?’ I told him. Then he asked me, ‘Hindi aata hai?’ and I said, ‘Thada-Thoda’ and he laughed. How could a 9th standard student like me translate his Hindi speech?” From that day onward, HN became a dedicated follower of Gandhian values. This first assignment of translating the speech of Gandhi ji from Hindi to native language Kannada, would set the future course of Hosur Narasimhaiah’s life. There is a famous photograph of HN sharing space with Gandhi ji during this period, which is included in this blog. HN was so influenced by Gandhi ji that ever since his first meeting with Gandhi ji, he decided to start wearing khadi dress, which he continued until his last. In one of his interviews he says ‘ I started wearing khadi then, and still do, and this decision is based on economic grounds as well. By my wearing khadi, a poor villager gets his meal”.
Six years after HN met Gandhi ji at the National College, Gandhi ji launched his Quit India Movement in 1942 and HN was one among those millions of Indians who joined the Mahatma in this freedom struggle and for the next two years, HN took break from his undergraduate studies and actively participated in the Quit India movement campaign and freedom struggle. HN describes his decision to take a break from his studies to join the freedom movement as “the most momentous decision in my life”. The Quit India movement was one of defining moment in the freedom struggle. Hundreds of thousands of protestors got arrested during this freedom movement that spread across the country. HN too was arrested for his participation in the Quit India movement and he was put behind the bars for nearly a year in three different jails - Yeravada Central Jail, Pune, Mysore Jail and the Central Jail in Bangalore. Interestingly, decades later HN recalled his stay in these jails and compared them with his free stay in hostels. He said ‘throughout my student days, I stayed in free hostels. So when I was in Central Jail, which was just opposite my Central College hostel, I found no difference between them, both gave me free boarding and lodging”. HN always had his own special way of looking at things, this is one such example, which evidences his thoughts.
After completing his high school studies at the National High School, HN joined the Central College in Bangalore for graduate studies in physics and it was during this period that he got engaged in freedom movement for the country and thus lost two years of his studies. He got back to his college for continuing his studies and completed his graduation in Physics in 1944. He also completed his post graduate studies and obtained a MSc in Physics in 1946. Soon thereafter, HN was offered a teaching assignment in the National College, an extension of the National High School in which he had studied, which he readily accepted and joined as a lecturer at National College in the year - 1946. He served as a lecturer and Professor at the National College for about ten years, before deciding to move to the US for his doctoral studies for which he obtained a Fulbright scholarship. HN was deeply influenced by Gandhian values, which he put to practise in his teaching. Although most of his students remember him as a strict disciplinarian, but several of them also remember him for his simplicity and extraordinary sense of humour. He often laced his lectures with humour and wit and used interesting anecdotes to make modern physics, the subject that he taught, quite interesting. He explained complex physics concepts in Kannada, which made his classes very attractive and accessible to students who couldn’t completely follow English. In the year 1957, HN chose to move to the United States for his higher studies. He obtained his Doctorate degree in Nuclear Physics from the Ohio State University, Columbus, U.S.A. (1957-60). All through his three plus years of his stay in the US, HN lived a very simple life. In one of his interview HN says that during most part of his stay in the US he ate Ragi mudde and Uppittu ( Upma ), an Indian breakfast dish, three times a day and was not bored of eating the simple dish.
After completing his doctoral studies in the US, HN returned back to India in 1960, and rejoined his favourite college - the National College as a Professor of Physics. In just one year, the management decided to name him the Principal of the college. Prof HN served as the Principal of the National College, from 1961 to 1972. The National College had a scheme to reserve two days in the year for special science programmes, which used to be organised at the college with an inaugural and valedictory programs. An ardent advocate of science that he was, HN was not convinced that there should be just two days in a year, marked for the celebration of science in the college. He said; science should always be a way of life and not confined only to those ceremonial two days of inauguration and valedictory. In order to take science to his students more closely, HN established a separate forum, which was detached from the formal curriculum of the college. The outcome was an establishment of one of the best organisation for the promotion of science in the country - The Bangalore Science Forum (BSF), which he established in 1962. The main objective of the foundation was to help people see science in everyday life. Today, the Bangalore Science Forum is one of the best respected science organisation with a public outreach in the country, which has organised over 3,000 lectures with eminent scientists from around the world gracing the stage. HN also started a Science Festival - in July 1978 - under the aegis of the BSF, which continues to be one of the best events in science, even today.
Karnataka was one of the first states to start private engineering colleges, which were also commercial. The demand for the private engineering colleges was unprecedented and so was the profits that these colleges earned for their management. As a result the demand for pure sciences courses, started declining in the early 1970s. The management of the National College were tempted to diversify into engineering education, which they believed were employment driven that also earned good profits for the management. However HN remained steadfast and firm in the face of this challenge and decided not to start an engineering college. He wanted National College to be on top but not as a profit-making business, which the engineering colleges were. In hindsight one can appreciate the fundamental difference between today’s education system and what HN practised. A S Kiran Kumar, former Chairman of ISRO, who graduated in Physics from the National College, in 1971 when HN was the Principal, has said ‘HN always believed that education is not to be equated only with employment, rather, HN believed that you need to educate a person for him to deal with life in general’.
HN remained attached to the National College all his life. He served as the President of the National Education Society, which runs the National High School and the National College and other educational institutions under one administrative set up, until his demise on 2005. In the year 1972, while he was serving as the Principal of the National College, HN was selected as the Vice Chancellor of the Bangalore University. He served his two terms as the Vice Chancellor of the prestigious Bangalore University from 1972 to 1978 until stepping down due to his differences with the Chancellor, on an issue related to Sathya Sai Baba. During his term as the VC of Bangalore University, the campus was shifted to the current magnificent Jnana Bharati Campus. I had the honour to study briefly in this campus, while I was admitted for my first year Engineering in 1978 at the University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering. HN was also instrumental in starting many new departments - Performing Arts, Psychology, Business Administration, and Mass Communication. The Bangalore university’s sprawling campus off Mysore Road owes much to HN’s vision and zeal. Among his many contributions to the university is the Centre of Gandhian Studies.
HN also instituted the first ever Committee to Investigate Miracles and Verifiable Superstitions within Bangalore University, when he was the Vice Chancellor of the University. It is perhaps the only University which commissioned such a committee. Unfortunately this committee ran into an internationally acclaimed spiritual guru - Sathya Sai Baba, who had ‘whose who’ in his list of followers. The committee’s efforts to probe the miracles by Sathya Sai Baba, who often conjured sacred ash, lemons, watches, and gold ornaments out of thin air, led to a heated debate in the State. “If Sai Baba can create objects out of thin air, I request him to give me a pumpkin,” HN once famously said. The devotees of Sathya Sai Baba were high and mighty and there was always a clash between the followers of Sai Baba and the Committee, particularly HN. This clash would ultimately cost HN his Vice Chancellorship. Narasimhaiah resigned as Vice-Chancellor when Govind Narain, a Sathya Sai Baba devotee, took charge as Governor of the State in 1977. HN writes about this in his autobiography ‘Horatada Hadi’ (A Path of Struggle) “I thought about it. The Chancellor is a devotee of Sai Baba, while the Vice-Chancellor is the chairman of the committee to investigate his ‘miracles’. I resigned to avoid any conflict.” The very next day, he returned to his tryst with destiny institute - the National College and resumed teaching.
HN’s biggest contribution has no doubt been in the field of science education, however he has also made substantial contributions in the fields of arts and social sciences. He started the Bangalore Social Science Forum (BSSF), which he envisaged will work on the lines of his famed Bangalore Science Forum, in the fields of social sciences. He also established the Bangalore Lalitha Kala Parishat (BLKP) in 1992 to promote arts in its various forms, including stage plays and other programmes, which were held on every first and third Friday of the month. Dr. Narasimhaiah was elected the president of Indian Rationalist Association during the 12th National Conference held at New Delhi in 1983. Narasimhaiah served the office of the President of Indian Rationalist Association till 1985. Ever since he joined the National College, HN has been inextricably associated with their institution.
Every institution is the shadow of a great individual, and HN was at the forefront of National Education Society (NES), which grew from strength to strength during his tenure. The institutions functioning under NES are now among the best in the country, with which HN remained attached until his demise on the 31st January 2005. As a mark of respect to HN and his contributions to the institute, his body was kept for public viewing at the National High School, where thousands of people from different walks of life including the Chief Minister of Karnataka, former Prime Minister, Mr Deve Gowda, Prof U R Rao, and several students of National school and college and others who paid their last respect. His body was cremated with full state honors at his native village Hosur near Gauribidanur in Kolar district. The cremation took place in accordance with Dr. Narasimhaiah's will, for which he had constituted a committee for conducting his last rites and had set aside Rs. 2000 for the expenses. The mortal remains of HN may have been been confined to the holy fire and he may not be present in physical form but the ideals that he has left behind “Do not accept anything without questioning”, will continue to remain eternal for generations to come. He is one of those great spirits, whose ideals will remain central to all those practitioners of science and advocated of scientific temper.
Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jia Vigyan.
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