Birth Centenary of Abdul Rahim Appabhai Almelkar : A Tribute.

 Birth Centenary of  Abdul Rahim Appabhai Almelkar : A Tribute.

Images : Courtesy NGMA, Mumbai.

This day, 10th October, 2020, marks the birth centenary of Abdul Rahim Appabhai Almelkar (10th October1920 - 12th December 1982), a well known artist known for his own distinct ‘Almelkar style’, which was inspired by Indian miniatures. The NGMA, Mumbai has an outstanding collections of Almelkar. Of the 1456 art collections, which NGMA Mumbai has in its collections, nearly 1200 of the works are that of Almelkar. It was therefore no wonder that the NGMA, Mumbai, developed a major retrospective exhibition of Almelkar titled ‘AA Almelkar : Inspiration and Impact‘. This exhibition was curated by Shri Suhas Bahulkar. I had the honour to be the Director of NGMA, Mumbai when this exhibition was planned, curated and hosted at NGMA Mumbai and subsequently at NGMA Bangalore. 

Although Almelkar works formed major collections of NGMA, Mumbai, yet there was not a single well researched and curated exhibition of the works of Almelkar.  Fortunately the then Advisory Committee of NGMA Mumbai, under the chairpersonship of Dr. Pheroza Godrej, rightfully decided and recommended that NGMA Mumbai must present a curated retrospective exhibition that is primarily centered on the collections of the works of Almelkar, from NGMA Mumbai collections. The recommendations of the committee provided a much needed impetus for planning this exhibition, abiding to all the rules and procedures that underpin the functioning of the NGMA and planning an art exhibitionM which befits the stature of the NGMA. The result was an exhibition which was titled  ‘A A Almelkar: Inspiration and Impact’. This exhibition was very well researched and curated by Mr Suhas Bahulkar.

Almekar played an important role in the history of Indian Art. His style of paintings, which depicted rural and tribal life & culture, made his work distinctive and unique. Decorative elements dominated his works and made the compositions very diverse, innovative and ingenious. His works were influenced by the cultural ingredients prevalent in the Indian art world during the first half of the twentieth century. The use of texture and the synthetic graceful lines were the soul of his paintings. His works also reveal a simple unassuming art with brilliant rhythmic fluid lines, local colours, people and landscapes that were predominantly a visual documentation of western India.

Almelkar was obsessed by traditional values of Indian art and by Indian ethos, while the Progressive Artists Group, who were making a major mark on the Mumbai art scene,  was challenging all forms of traditional art traditions in Mumbai. Almelkar started working vigorously on his Indian style and remained faithful to it all through his life. The experimental modernists from the Bombay Progressive Group, dismissed his style in derogatory terms and stated that  ‘he recites the same old Raga’. Almelkar remained unfazed and never took their comments seriously. He had deep faith in the roots of Indian Art and truly believed in the traditional methods. He had no support for his style of art, yet he was  confident to lead a lonely crusade against the well established artists who identified themselves as ‘Modernists’. It was a period when the art  movement in India was divided in two major streams, one led by radical reformists, which included eminent artists like Souza, Husain, Raza and others from the Progressive group and the other explored by artists like Almelkar and few other the traditionalists. 

Almelkar created his paintings by making a skillful use of luminous colours and decorative elements in a variety of compositions. Bahulkar, the curator of the exhibition, often said that Almelkar applied colours with his fingers instead of brush. Texture created by jute, comb and rags was the hallmark of Almelkar’s style. His paintings were completed after defining the contours with lyrical and tender black lines. Almelkar was known for his landscapes, which he painted with emotive colours. His paintings bear a signature of his attraction to Indian miniatures. His other works included, paintings based on kings and consorts, heroes and heroines and Raga-Raginis of the Hindustani music.  Subsequently he spent a major part of his time in to studying the primitive world of adivasis, which he has depicted in most of his drawings that are in the collections of NGMA, Mumbai. He has painted Indian villages in their full diversity exhibiting their rich culture along with nature, birds and animals, which are a treat for the eyes.

He visited several tribal areas, forests, villages all across the western India, especially Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kutch, Maharashtra and the whole of the western costal line right up to Kerala, to make a visual documentation survey of people and their natural landscape. He remained largely untouched by the influence of his peer groups who were mostly impacted by the western world aesthetics, classics or subjects. He never followed any typical school of traditional art, though he had worked with different mediums such as oil on canvas, water color on paper, predominantly ink, and pencil line drawings on papers. Almelkar was majorly inspired by the Ajanta and Ellora Buddhist murals, frescos and sculptures. His works bear true signs of his perfect and minute observations,  which can be witnessed in his paintings that depict plants, animals, birds, hills, mountains, rivers, towns, villages etc. There are very few artists who exhibit a particular signature style of art, as does Almelkar, and therefore the Almelkar retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, was a befitting tribute to this truly deserving artist, who most unfortunately has not been given the due that he rightfully deserves. 

Mr Suhas Bahulkar who was chosen by NGMA Mumbai to curate the retrospective exhibition of Almelkar, was well acquainted with Almelkar and he had also invited Almelkar for a demonstration at Sir. J.J. School of Art, while he served there as a teacher. Bahulkar’s personal association with the artist was vividly seen in the passion with which he was involved in this exhibition, which he titled ‘A. A. Almelkar - Inspiration and Impact’.  The exhibition consisted majorly selection of sketches and paintings from the collection of NGMA, Mumbai. Bahulkar also collected a wide variety of archival materials that included photographs, original letters, articles and documents related to his works and exhibitions, which formed a part of the exhibition. The collections of the archival information was an outcome of an overwhelming response from Almelkar's intimate friends and their families from various places like Mumbai, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur etc. Almelkars family also extended a whole hearted support for the exhibition. The copious amount of archival material collected by Suhas Bahulkar was used in the well researchedM visually rich exhibition catalogue, which was published by NGMA Mumbai. The result was on expected line and the exhibition was a grand success. Interestingly enough Almelkar, who hails from the Solapur, which adjoins its area with its neighbouring districts of Bijapur and Gulbarga in Karnataka, is quite famous in Karnataka as well and therefore it was no wonder that the then Chairman of the Advisory committee of NGMA Bangalore decided to host this exhibition in NGMA Bangalore, where too the exhibition was very successful. 

Almelkar was a recipient of 20 Gold Medals, 24 Silver Medals and several cash awards. He had organised 44 exhibitions in India and abroad. On the occasion of his birth centenary, I take this opportunity to pay my tribute to this great artist. May he continue to remain in the hearts and minds of people.

MADAM’ Moment in Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the Year 2020

 MADAM’ Moment in Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the Year 2020

The Nobel Prize in chemistry, 2020 was announced yesterday and it has been  awarded to ‘Madam’ scientists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier for their pioneering work on the development of CRISPR tool for gene editing, a discovery that holds out the possibility of curing genetic diseases. This years Nobel Prize in Chemistry is an extraordinary moment for the global scientific community since it is a rarity that Nobel Prizes are awarded exclusively for lady scientists. This historic ‘Madam’ moment is significant considering the fact that the Nobel club is majorly populated by gentlemen scientists, particularly in the field of sciences and that there  are only seven scientists including Marie Curie - winner of two Nobel Prizes, and her daughter Irene Juliet Curie and this years winners  Charpentier and Doudna, among the 182 scientists who have received this coveted Nobel prize in Chemistry till date. 

The word ‘Madam’ used in the caption of my article in a way is quite significant for this years Chemistry Nobel prize. It reveals the very nature of the works for which the two Madam scientists - Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and will share the prize money of 10 Million Sweedish Krones. They have been awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize Prize in Chemistry for this year, in recognition of their scientific research, which has led to the development of a technological tool that can be used for editing the very book of life - Genome editing. Their discovery, known as CRISPR-Cas9, helps researchers to make specific and precise modifications to the DNA contained in living cells. The term CRISPR is an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeat. Palindromic represents a word or a sentence, which reads the same both backward and forward. Take for example the word ‘Madam’, used specifically in the title of the article. It reads the same when read both ways ; forward and backwards. The two Nobel ‘Madam’ laureates have harvested the fundamental scientific understanding  of this naturally occurring palindromic biochemistry phenomenon -  a region of DNA in which the sequence of nucleotides is identical with an inverted sequence in the complementary strand (GAATTC is a palindrome of CTTAAG), to develop their CRISPR - CAS9 technique. The CRISPR/Cas9 is a gene-editing tool that can be used to remove, add, or change a portion of the DNA sequence of a target gene of interest. It is based on a quintessential “cut-and-paste” mechanism, which we routinely use in our document editing, in which the enzyme Cas9 is guided toward a specific DNA region with the help of a small guide RNA molecule. This path breaking technique and use of the guide RNA has opened up a revolutionary way forward for harvesting immeasurable applications of this technology, which are destined to present themselves in the form of therapeutic medicines for genetic disorders like the sickle cells, haemophilia etc. 

According to a recent report (5th October 2020), Genome Editing Market by Application (Cell Line Engineering, Animal Genetic Engineering, Plant Genetic Engineering), the market valuation of this CRISPR - CAS 9 and other similar technologies, is estimated to be valued at around 10 Billion US Dollars by 2026. It is also estimated that there will be an increase in government support for the biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the better treatment of genetic diseases using this technique. Industry captains are certain that this technology will lead to a paradigm shift in investments in the field of genetic engineering and that its impact will be felt across biomedical research, clinical medicine, agriculture and wider society, besides its potential to treat or prevent human diseases particularly the genetic disorders. The current Covid 19 pandemic will accentuate the governmental support and investment in such technologies. India in a way is a leading global manufacturer of vaccines. It is one of the major countries which the global community is looking towards for mass manufacturing of vaccines and such other pharmaceutical products that can reach a vast population. Therefore it is earnestly hoped that the benefits of this technology, which have already began to play out in the international market, will accrue to the Indian pharmaceutical companies and to the global human society.

However, it must also be noted with circumspection that this technology also brings with it major ethical concerns and critics have cried foul and are afraid that this technology may prove to be a Frankenstein monster that may lead to creating gene edited babies and such other unethical practices and end up interfering into the very act of ‘God’. It is worth recalling the claim made by the Chinese scientist - He Jiankui, of illegally altering the genetic make up of twin girls which was reported in late 2018. This information shook the world and called the attention of the global community on the ethical concerns that such technology comes with. Fortunately, He Jiankui was found guilty of illegal practices in trying to alter the genetic makeup of twin girls and was jailed for three years. The alertness of the global community in combating such unethical and illegal practices give hope that this technology will not go unchecked nor will it be abused. Scientific community and human society is now aware that the Chinese scientist by engineering mutations into human embryos, which he used to produce babies, was capriciously nosediving into an era in which science could rewrite the gene pool of future generations by altering the human germ line. The Chinese scientist had also flouted established norms for safety and human protections along the way. Although there was no definitive evidence that the Chinese scientist actually succeeded in modifying the girls’ genes — or those of a third child expected to be born later, the experiments had attracted so much attention that the incident has created an alarm for the human society and may very well alter scientific research for years to come. This incident has also divided the society in their opinion on scientific research in the field of genome editing.

But then the ethical concerns of scientific research have not been new to the human society. Ever since the Nobel prize winning discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, by James Watson and Francis Crick, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962, which was followed the successful sequencing of the entire Human Genome fifty years later in 2003, there have been debates in favour and against such scientific research and ethical concerns have been voiced by the society. Interestingly, it is in anticipation of such ethical concerns that the Human Genome Project (HGP) has specifically had earmarked a portion of the HGP budget (3%) which was meant to address the ELSI - Ethical, Legal and Social Issues, associated with the sequencing of the human genome. Hopefully there will be requisite funding, legislation and laws which will be framed by countries to ally the fears that the CRISPR technology may create. 

While speaking of the benefits and concerns debate, which crops up during such scientific research, particularly in the context of this years Nobel winning works in Chemistry - the CRISPR technology tools, I am reminded of two quotes from history one relatively recent and the other from the eighteenth century, which reveal the two sides of the divide that are natural to such debates, which span centuries. Jonathan Swift in his famed ‘The King of Brobdingnag, “Gulliver’s Travels”, wrote in 1727 ; ‘Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before would ....do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together”.  Perhaps his statement can be appreciated in the Indian context where the benefits of scientific research were applied in agricultural practices by scientists like Normal Borlaug and M S Swaminathan, who heralded the green revolution in India and helped us in combating hunger and famine quite effectively. However, there is another side to any scientific research and that relates to the concerns that come with some of the scientific research, which can be seen from the statement of Prince Charles, made in 1998. He said “ I believe that we have now reached a moral and ethical watershed beyond which we venture in to realms that belong to God, and to God alone. Apart from certain medical applications, what actual right do we have to experiment, Frankenstein like, with the very stuff of life?” 

As exemplified in the above quotes, throughout history, there have been those who have embraced change, which emanates from scientific research and those who have expressed concern and have preferred to clung to old ways, feeling known risks are better than unknown benefits. So we should not be surprised that history may be  replayed as we come to grips with this new technology, which is a result of the wonderful research work of the two Nobel Madams who have been awarded this years Chemistry Nobel Prize. 

May Science triumph and may humanity triumph as well.

 Discovery of the Hepatitis C wins the 2020 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

Images : courtesy Nobel Foundation and Wiki Commons.

Liver cirrhosis - a dreaded medical jargon, which affects the liver - primarily due to the Hepatitis virus, is something that has caused immense sorrow for me and other students and alumni of Sainik School Bijapur - the Ajeets. Two of my very close friends - Tipusultan and Gurupad Hegadi, fellow Ajeets, have succumbed to this dreaded disease - Liver Cirrhosis, within a year of each other on July 13, 2019 and 17th August, 2020, respectively. One of the major causes for liver cirrhosis is a virus - the Hepatitis virus, which comes in three major variants A, B and C. World Health Organisation - WHO, estimates that worldwide some 290 million people are living with the Hepatitis virus including  the Hepatitis C virus, which alone infects more than 70 million people, and kills 400,000 people annually. It is therefore no wonder that the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute has decided to award the coveted Nobel Prize (2020) for Physiology or Medicine, jointly to three scientists, Harvey J Alter, the US National Institutes of Health, Maryland, Michael Houghton, British virologist presently at the University of Alberta in Canada and Charles Rice, Rockefeller University, New York, “ for their discovery of the Hepatitis C virus”. The three of them will share the handsome Nobel Prize  money of 10 million Sweedish Krone (8.2 Crore Indian ₹). This years laureates and their works reminds me of yet another connect with my school, where we were assigned an interesting task - treasure hunt, the finding of which depended on clues each navigating to the final destination for finding that illusive treasure. The discovery of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) by the three scientists has followed this path with each of them - Alter, Houghton and Rice, in that order, getting a clue or to use the words of Newton in the context ‘standing on the shoulders of the other’ to reach their final treasure destination of the discovery of the HCV. 

The ultimate result - the discovery of the Hepatitis C Virus by the three scientists, has helped in decisively fighting against the blood-borne hepatitis transmission, a major global health issue, which causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world. It is perhaps this discovery and understanding the underpinnings of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) that has prompted the UN to announce, in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG - 2015), their aim for the elimination of this dreaded disease by the year 2030. The discovery of Hepatitis C virus is a landmark achievement in that direction. Thanks to this discovery, highly sensitive blood tests for the Hepatitis virus are now available and these tests have essentially eliminated post-transfusion hepatitis in many parts of the world, thus helping in greatly improving the global health. The seminal discovery of Hepatitis C Virus by this year’s Nobel Laureates, has also paved the way for the development of effective antiviral drugs and in the development of the HCV vaccines, which will help in not only reducing the mortality rates but also in guiding the global health workers on to the right path towards elimination of this virus. 

The significance of the discovery of the HCV and understanding of the viruses can be appreciated and well recognised in the current context of the Covid 19 global pandemic, which is caused by yet another virus - the SARS- COV2, virus, which is the cause for the current ongoing Covid 19 pandemic that is plaguing the world. The study and understanding of the viruses help the medical fraternity in bringing down the mortality with pharmaceutical therapeutics and so also finding  candidate vaccines to get rid of the virus. Scientists and pharmacists from across the world, including India, are striving hard to invent variety of pharmaceutical therapeutics like the Remdesivir, which we understand has been used for the treatment of President Trump, who is admitted with Covid infection and so also for inventing vaccines for combating the Covid pandemic. Lot of the vaccine candidates are already in advanced trials stages and it is anticipated that by next year there will be definitive vaccines to combat the Covid 19 pandemic. The rapid pace at which the medical research has progressed for Covid 19 has been aided by the understanding of the viruses including the discovery of the HCV. In all cases the beginning of the vaccine development starts with the understanding of the virus, which causes the disease and therefore it is natural that the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, which is the cause for many global deaths, by this years Nobel laureates is destined to play a pivotal role in not only combating and elimination of the HCV virus by 2030 but also in combating the current Covid 19 pandemic.

The Hepatitis C virus is a silent killer whose mortality rates are much higher than the ongoing Covid pandemic that is caused by another virus - SARS - Cov-2 ( Severely Acquired Respiratory Syndrome - Corona Virus 2). The Hepatitis Virus adversely affects the liver and causes liver cirrhosis, which may lead to cancer and death, if not attended timely with the liver transplant.Global studies estimate that there are 8.7 million people living with chronic HCV in India. Delhi-based, Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS), in the year 2014, had highlighted the approximate number of people living with chronic Hepatitis C infection to be around 12 million. According to another analysis it is estimated that the prevalence of chronic HCV infection in India could be somewhere around one per cent. In India HCV disease is mostly prevalent in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. According to one estimate Hepatitis C is killing more people than HIV/AIDS in India. All this means that we, Indians, must hail the decision of the Nobel committee to recognise the discovery of the hepatitis C for the coveted Nobel Prize award in Physiology or Medicine for this year.

The word Hepatitis is derived from two Greek words hepar - meaning "liver", and itis - meaning "inflammation". The HCV causes the deadly liver disease and accounts for nearly 12-32 per cent of liver cancer and 10-20 per cent of liver cirrhosis cases in India alone. Most unfortunately Hepatitis is a silent killer disease and most people with chronic Hepatitis B or C are not even aware of this infection and therefore are at very high risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer. HCV is also a major global health issue and in its recognition and with an objective of creating global awareness about hepatitis, every year the world observes ‘World Hepatitis Day (WHD) on 28 July and this year (2020) the theme for WHD was ‘Find the Missing Millions’. The WHD theme helps in creating awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis and hopes to influence real change in global society. As stated above, an estimated 290 million people are living with the Hepatitis Virus and therefore identifying and finding the ‘ missing millions ‘ and linking them to medical care is of paramount importance, failing which millions will continue to suffer, and many of these precious lives will be lost. In that sense the Nobel recognition this year to the three scientists, who have played pivotal role in the discovery of Hepatitis C virus, is quite befitting and this discovery is helping their fellow scientists to understand the underpinnings of not just the HCV but also other viruses like the SARS- COV2 virus which causes Covid 19 virus. 

A look back in history reveals that the first description of hepatitis dates back to approximately 400 B.C.E and this is ascribed to the Greek physician Hippocrates - father of western medicine. By the middle of the twentieth century - 1940s, the doctors knew there were two main types of infectious hepatitis. The first, transmitted by the hepatitis A virus, which could spread via contaminated food and water and caused a short-term infection that is typically resolved within weeks. Hepatitis A is far less lethal in comparison with its cousin viruses B and C. Hepatitis B and C are spread by blood and body fluids and they are more harmful and insidious, since they silently infect the patient for years before serious complications like the liver cirrhosis and cancer are evidenced. By the 1960s researchers started studying about a new variant of the hepatitis virus.  In the year 1967, Baruch Blumberg, an American scientist, discovered the hepatitis B virus, while working for the National Institute of Health, USA, for which he received the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Unfortunately, even the discovery of the hepatitis B was unable to explain all cases of chronic hepatitis infections, a disease that was becoming more common even in apparently healthy people who had received or donated blood. This pointed to the presence of yet another type of virus, which was then classified under the category of Non A Non B Hepatitis-NANBH. 

This years Nobel laureate, Harvey Alter was working as an young scientist  at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, where his senior Blumberg had discovered the hepatitis B virus. While studying hepatitis spread by blood transfusions, during the early 1970s, the young Alter discovered that plasma from patients who didn't have hepatitis B could also transfer the disease. He observed and inferred that some patients were being infected by an unknown virus agent - NANBH. He later conclusively demonstrated that blood from these patients could transmit the disease to chimpanzees. Despite this significant progress, the identity of the new virus responsible for NANBH remained illusive. The unsuccessful search for the unknown agent (NANBH) employing all the traditional methods that had allowed the discovery and characterization of hepatitis A and hepatitis B continued for more than 10 years.

Michael Houghton, while working at a Pharmaceutical company - Chiron Corporation, was one of those scientists was in the hunt for the NANBH agent. In the year 1982, using a molecular approach based on the screening of DNA fragments, which were isolated from infected chimpanzees, Houghton and his team were able to arrive at a preliminary understanding of the illusive agent, which was causing liver cirrhosis. The initial screenings identified only genetic material from the host. Attempts to enrich viral sequences by eliminating host sequences that were also found in an uninfected control liver did not yield any result and were unsuccessful. They realised that Isolating the hepatitis C virus was harder. 

The breakthrough came in 1989, when Michael Houghton, who holds a PhD from Kings College, London, and his former coworkers, George Quo and Qui-Lim Choo, used a combination of molecular biology and immunology-based techniques to clone the virus by introducing viral DNA from an infected animal into bacteria, and using human antibodies to the virus to screen for its genetic sequence and identified  the mystery pathogen and sequenced the genetic code of the new virus. This new discovery came to be known as the hepatitis C virus. They discovered that the new virus - Hepatitis C, resembled viruses from a family called flaviviruses. These findings formally established a relationship between infection with the newly discovered hepatitis C virus and the occurrence of NANBH around the world. This discovery also led to a blood test that could screen for hepatitis C, which was quite revolutionary and it helped in vastly reducing the number of disease cases that resulted from blood transfusions worldwide.

The works of Houghton and his team were still unable to provide that conclusive answer to one question. Did the virus alone cause the disease? But then Houghton and his teams combined work had established a critical link between the unknown agent NANBH and HCV infection. The answer to this question was provided by Rice, who was then working at the Washington University in St. Louis, and his colleagues. Interestingly enough Rice had no intention to study the hepatitis C virus. He was more interested in studying yellow fever virus, which is also a family of the flavivirus, to which HCV belongs. However, by then Alter and Houghton had published their seminal papers on a ‘mysterious hepatitis virus’ in Science in 1989 and this paper fortuitously came to the notice of Rice. The paper gave that  uch needed impetus to Rice to study this new virus. To start with Rice’s interest in studying this new virus started off as a small side project and he says ‘that really nobody in lab was excited about this new study’. It was that time of the period when the scientists could not even grow the virus in cells and therefore the attenuated interest his team was understandable. From there, Rice and his team used the works of Houghton and his colleagues to build on their works and were successful in fleshing out the pathogen’s genome sequence, clone the viral RNA and infect it with animals. Rice and his teams works ultimately demonstrated that the hepatitis C virus alone was responsible for the cause of the disease. 

The combined works of the scientists has saved millions of lives and their works also demonstrate that science does not have any barriers. This years Nobel laureates  — Harvey J. Alter Michael Houghton and and Charles M. Rice — have ‘built on the discovery of the Hepatitis A and B viruses”, the Nobel Committee said, and their "discovery of Hepatitis C virus has revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines will continue to save millions of lives until this deadly HCV is eliminated as envisaged in the SDG of the United Nations. Their seminal works and their discovery has helped fast forward the development of effective antiviral drugs, which are now the need of hour in the current Covid 19 pandemic times, which is plaguing the world and India alone accounting for six million plus cases and fatalities which have just exceeded hundred thousand. The positive part of it is that close to 5.6 million people have recovered from this pandemic. Had it not been for our better understanding of the virus, part of which stems from the works of the three laureates of this years Medicine Nobel prize, there would have been that many more fatalities and lesser recoveries. 

Thanks to the pioneering work of the three laureates- Alter, Houghton and Rice, and many of their colleagues who built upon their findings to identify HCV carriers, the global health workers are now able to eliminate contaminated blood and blood products and develop effective drugs, to combat the global menace  of HCV. We have now come to a stage where HCV induced hepatitis in many cases has become a curable disease. Their works have also aided in the development of anti viral pharmaceutical medicines, which can cure more than 95% of the hepatitis patients. Therefore the joint discovery of the HCV by the three scientists and their team can be rightly characterized as a “landmark achievement in our ongoing battle against viral infections”, particularly in combating causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world.

Long live science and scientific temper, which alone is rational and non canonical.

Commemoration and culmination of the 150th Birth Anniversary of the Mahatma : Gandhi and Science

 Commemoration and culmination of the 150th Birth Anniversary of the Mahatma : Gandhi and Science.

Gandhi ji is perhaps the most prominent leaders of the world on whom unending essays, books, films and documentaries have been written and produced the world over, yet, strangely, not much has been written or documented on Gandhi and his interest in Science and Technology and even lesser, his interest in Astronomy. Therefore we made an attempt to connect Gandhi with science during this years Gandhi Jayanti celebrations. Among other events programmes and activities that we organised, as a tribute to the Mahatma there were two webinar lectures, which were delivered by Dr. Ratnashree, Director Nehru Planetarium, Delhi on ‘Gandhi and Khagolshastra’ and Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, Author and Columnist, on ‘Gandhi and Science and Technology’, which were organised on 29th September and 1st October. respectively. Dr. Ratnashree, shed light on Gandhi ji’s interest in Astronomy - star gazing. In fact, his liking for astronomy became so intense that for some time it became an obsession for him. Sudheendra Kulkarni ji, based on his extensive research and monumental study and his publication of a book ‘Music of the Spinning Wheel - Mahatma Gandhi’s Manifesto for the Internet Age’, delivered an inspirational lecture on Gandhi and Science. He unravelled the enigmatic Gandhi ji and his association and interest in science, with his well reasoned articulations of Mahatma Gandhi’s Life and Work.  His lecture was so very insightful that it is bound to dispel the myth, which we all have that Gandhi ji was anti science and anti-modern, which is based on our apocryphal beliefs. Here is a brief summary of Gandhiji’s association with astronomy and science based on the two lectures.

Gandhi ji had an unprecedented influence on people and that influence perpetuates even todaय। His principles, for which he is known globally - सत्या और अहिमसा ( Truth and Non Violence), are relevant, rather more relevant, even today. It was his strength of character and of practice, as distinguished from precept, that enabled Gandhi to influence so deeply his thought on millions of his followers, not just in India but globally. Therefore, for us, the science communicators, Gandhi’s interest in science and technology and stargazing is an interesting new attribute of the Mahatma, which must mandatorily be communicated to the people, particularly the youngsters, to kindle their interest in sky observation and science and technology.  Mahatma always believed that science and technology must be used for larger social good of human society.

 

Notwithstanding the fact that so much has been written and documented about the Mahatma, yet, Gandhi ji, in a way continues to be an enigma, with so much more to know about him and his extraordinary life that touched the lives of tens of millions of people. Interestingly enough even though so much is known of the Mahatma, and that there is hardly any private life for Gandhi ji, yet there is that much more, which we can learn and be inspired from him. During the two years celebrations of the sesquicentennial birth anniversary of the Mahatma, which started on 2nd October 2018 and will be ending today, the Government has initiated many projects to bring Gandhi ji closer to the people. One such project, which was announced in the budget speech of the honorable Finance Minister was the Gandhipedia project, which I had the honour to prepare the detailed project report and get it approved from the Ministry of Culture. Incidentally this artificial intelligence based web portal that has been developed by IIT Kharagpur and IIT Gandhinagar, is likely to be launched very soon and it is hoped that this will provide a much needed platform for the Gandhian researchers to dive into understanding Gandhi ji better with AI based search that the web portal will provide to the people, when launched. There is also another exhibition ‘A Digital Tribute to the Mahatma’, which too will be opened at the Nehru Science Centre very soon. Speaking of Gandhi ji, I am reminded of a famous Poet, Bhavabhuti who had said, “Who, indeed, can claim to know the mind of the Great?" Mahatma Gandhi, in that sense, fits into the Poets classification. Although Gandhi had laid bare his life and mind in its fullness before his people and had permitted no secrecy or personal life of his own, yet there is much of an enigma that remains attached to the Mahatma, particularly when it comes to knowing him from the stand point of science.

 

Gandhi and science perhaps have not been much talked about and therefore in my limited language understanding and inability to use better words, I would say Gandhi and Science were considered  as an oxymoron.  Fortunately post the two lectures of Dr Ratnashree and Sudheendra Kulkarni, which we organised, there will be a better understanding of the Mahatma when it comes to his association with science and technology and these lectures may inspire younger generations to research more on this subject. Gandhi continues to be a role model for the nation and particularly for the students who wish to become political and social scientists but then lack of our understanding of Gandhiji’s feelings for science have not helped the scientific community in making Mahatma a role model for those who aspire to be scientist and technocrats. Hopefully  this will change with better understanding of his views in science and help us use the name of Mahatma to influence the interest of our audience in science and technology and how it can bring about transformational changes in society, which was what Gandhi ji aspired all his life.

It was also generally believed that Gandhi ji was against use of technology, which is evidenced from his sayings like Industrialise and Perish and his advocacy against industrialisation,much to the consternation of people like Sir M Visvesvaraya, whose thoughts were diametrically opposite to the Mahatma. Visvesvaraya used the slogan Industrialise or Perish to oppose the views of Gandhi ji. Despite such diametrically opposing views of Gandhi and Sir MV, both of them had the highest respect for each other’s position and often Sir MV cited his seniority in age to drive home his position but not with much success. Gandhi ji is perceived as a saintly person who had always valued faith more than reason. However, Sudheendra ji reveals that Gandhijis opposition to the ways of modern western civilisation did not imply his lack of interest in science and scientists. Sudheendra ji highlighted that the Mahatma was not anti-science and that he was always appreciative of the great scientists and how science benefits society. Incidentally it was Gandhi ji on whose instance Pandit Nehru requested Sir M V to inspect Odisha and study the floods and  suggest technological measures to combat Orissa floods. The reservoir across Mahanadi – The Hirakud dam, is an outcome of Sir Visvesvaraya’s recommendation for the construction of the reservoir, to Pandit Nehru who called such works temples of modern India.

Gandhiji’s opposition to industrialisation or over reliance on science and technology is legendary and therefore it is no wonder that little is known about Gandhiji’s interest, albeit-short-lived, in star gazing and astronomy. Mahatma Gandhi ji, during his jail term in Yerwada jail, Pune, took sudden and keen interest in astronomy. He likened the observation of unending expanse of stars and the celestial bodies to a spiritual experience, which humbled him and made him feel how insignificant he is in comparison with the vast and unending expanse of the universe, about which he seemed-to have some basic understanding. His interest in astronomy was created by the company of Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar popularly called Kaka Kalelkar, a graduate in Philosophy-from the Fergusson college. Kaka Kalelkar too was a political thinker who used to write for a nationalistic Marathi paper -‘Rashtramat’, and is believed to have walked on foot to the Himalayas. He became a follower of Gandhi and was one of the residents of the Sabarmati Ashram. Gandhiji, while incarcerated in the Yerwada Pune Jail, briefly had the company of Kaka Kalelkar, who was deeply interested in astronomy, which he rubbed on to the Mahatma. Kaka urged Gandhi to use the telescope to observe, closely, the celestial objects and this use of optical technology - Telescope, mesmerised Gandhiji and kindled his interest in astronomy. In the brief period that he spent in Pune jail, during February to May 1932, Gandhiji acquainted himself with sky charts and maps and also ended up reading quite a number of essays and books on astronomy. Gandhiji used to often sleep in the open air with his fellow jail mates Mr Desai and Sardar Patel and looked at the night sky and engaged his associates with his new found hobby of sky observations. There is also an anecdotal reference of the jailor not permitting technical persons to visit Yerwada Jail for the assembly of the new telescope, which Gandhiji wanted in the Jail. Fortunately Gandhiji appealed against the decision and managed to get the telescope commissioned.

 

Gandhiji prepared articles on his new found hobby of sky observation and titled them “Watching the Heavens I and II”, and distributed his writings to the inmates of the Sabarmati Ashram, urging his followers to observe the twinkling stars and other planets in the night sky. Mahatma, believed that a look at the unending expanse of the sky, with hundreds and thousands of twinkling stars, made him experience that humbling feeling, which was a ‘spiritual' experience for him. He even prepared some sketches of the group of constellations like the Orion constellation. Gandhi jis liking for star gazing can be appreciated in one of his statements where he says ‘My room may have blank walls; and I may even dispense with the roof, so that I may gaze out at the starry heavens overhead that stretch in an unending expanse. What conscious Art of a man can give me the panoramic scenes that open out before me, when I look up to the sky above with all its shining stars? He adds, ‘These beauties of a sunset or a crescent moon that shines amid the stars at night’ are truthful, in as much as they make me think of the creator at the back of them. How else could these be beautiful, but for the Truth that is in the center of creation? Dr. Nandivada Rathnasree, Director of Nehru Planetarium, has done fair amount of research on the interest that Gandhi ji developed during his stay at the Yerwada Jail and has managed to dig out some rare archival material from the NMML library records, which she has used to develop a new full dome planetarium show that she has tilted ‘ Gandhi and Khagolashastra’.

This new planetarium show extensively quotes Gandhiji and one such quote of Gandhi says  “Astronomy has always interested me. Now it has become a passion with me. Every free minute I get, I devote myself to it. It is a wonderful subject…”. There are records which suggest that there were two large-sized telescopes, which were placed in the open yard of the Yerwada central prison, which were used by the Mahatma for star gazing, while he was incarcerated at the Yerwada Jail. While sending the articles Gandhi wrote on astronomy ‘Watching the Heavens I and II’ to his ashram inmates in 1932, Gandhiji advised them to take up regular observations of the night sky. According to Rathnasree, Gandhiji “combines his view of the celestial objects… with practical instructions for sky observations and even sketches of the Orion constellation. Following the sketch, he goes on to say that none of the sketches he has seen in print show all the stars which he can see in the constellation and advises ashram inmates to make their own sketches, one reason being…that the constellation as seen from different locations on Earth would have differing orientations. He exhibits his understanding that sky charts vary from place to place. The “possibility of a measurement of time by looking at the changing position of the Saptarshi asterism” was also raised by the Mahatma in his article. Gandhiji also desired that lucid books be written on the life of great astronomers and their discoveries. Nehru Planetarium along with NCSM have taken initiatives to highlight Gandhiji’s writings on astronomy and his wonderment at observing stars, through Bapu Khagol Mela, which was spearheaded by Dr Ratnashree.  

As a lifelong seeker of truth, Gandhiji’s interest in astronomy was genuine and to him sky observation was a deeply spiritual experience. But the same sky observation for Meghnad Saha, was different. Saha’s observation was quest for the hidden laws of nature using the methods of modern science, which resulted in the development of the Saha Ionisation equation.  Although Gandhi ji is known to have been adversarial to use and implementation of technology for national progress, yet Sudheendra ji in his evocative lecture highlights how receptive Gandhiji was for new technology that would change the lives of the common people. Sudheendra ji even highlights a technology challenge or a competition that Gandhi ji announced and allocated a hefty prize amount of Rs 1 Lacs ( equivalents to present day 4 Crores of Rupees) for any one who could develop a improved spinning wheel that would help improved efficiency and productivity for the people. This, Sudheendra ji says, conclusively proves that Gandhi ji was not ‘per say’ opposed to the technology. All he wanted was that technology must and should serve the people in the bottom of the pyramid.

He argued that Gandhiji has often admitted that there have been contradictions in his life. Gandhiji far from excusing himself for them, he has stated, ‘I have never made a fetish of consistency. I am a votary of truth and I must say what I feel and think at a given moment on the question, without regard to what I may have said before on it’.  So one can’t summarise that he was a compulsive opponent of science or technology, rather Gandhi was a prime follower of the principles of science - ability to question and reason. 

Ratnashree briefly talked about the new planetarium show - ‘Bapu and  khagol shastra’ which is based on Gandhis interest in sky. The program uses Gandhi’s quotes, which  were curated after months of research into Gandhi jis collected works. Volume 90 of the collected works of Gandhi (CWG), which are now in public domain, says Gandhi asked his ashram inmates to observe the skies regularly as a “peace and health-giving exercise”. The works also reveal that Gandhi ji arranged for the telescope in Yerwada Jail and this was was facilitated by the Poona observatory. The archival records of the CWG show that Gandhi ji lamented about not having enough time or the wherewithal to observe the magnificence of the heavens, as much as he would have wanted. Dr. Rathshree in her illustrated lecture also showed a letter of Gandhi written to Kelkar in August 1932, where he advises Kaka Kalelkar that his book on astronomy "should give the names and short lives of Western astronomers, some of whom, were men of great courage and spirit and of noble character".  He went on to add that the book on astronomy, which he wishes to publish, should be as perfect as possible and should give an account of all discoveries to date in the field. Gandhi ji also mentioned that the book should give some knowledge about physics. All this clearly and unambiguously establish the fact that Bapu was well aware, not just about the positional astronomy aspects of watching the stars, but also his reading had allowed him to realise that physics underlay an understanding of stars. In a letter to Mathuradas Trikumji, Bapu lamented that he came rather late to this appreciation - astronomy. He says “I myself have been watching the stars every night and enjoy the experience immensely. I have woken up in old age. But what harm can there be in waking up even on death-bed if watching the stars helps one to have a glimpse of the soul?"

Sudheendra Kulkarni recalled an incident, when Bapu was at the Yerwada Jail, when reporters from the Associated Press set foot inside the Yerawada Jail premises to interview Gandhi. The reporters have quoted that they saw two large-sized telescopes placed in the open yard occupied by Gandhi in the Yerawada Jail and this sight presented an unusual spectacle amidst the severe simplicity of the Jail surroundings. This is also chronicled in the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi - CWG. Gandhi told the reporters. "Astronomy has always interested me. Now it-has become a passion with me. Every free minute I get, I devote myself to it. It is a-wonderful subject, and more than anything else impresses upon me the mystery of god-and the majesty of the universe. To be lying on your back in the open air on a starry night and regarding universe after universe in the immeasurable expanse, you cannot help becoming a worshipper of God. My mind leaps with joy as I do so. Oh, it is marvellous, this incident has been quoted in a report in The Hindu, published on April 3, 1933.

Ratnashree also spoke of Gandhi jis inquisitiveness to observe a celestial object called  'Parijata', by Gandhi ji, which he was unable to do. However Dr Ratnashree was unable to connect whether the Parijata, which Gandhi ji was referring to was a star or constellation. May be researchers can throw more light on this with better study and understanding of Gandhi jis works. There are other interesting facts about Gandhi and his love with sky. Bapu has recorded practical instructions for sky observations and has even sketched the Orion constellation. Bapu writes that none of the sketches, which he has seen in sky maps and prints show all the stars that he could see through the telescope. He also says that the sky maps or sketches, vary from one region to other and cites the reason for it and says it is because the constellation as seen from different locations on earth would have differing orientations. Therefore Bapu advises the beginner stargazers to observe from a fixed place at a fixed time, and sketch the constellations. He further adds  that once they are familiar with the constellations, they would be able to identify these even if their locations and the constellation orientations change. Bapu also discusses the possibility of a measurement of time by looking at the changing positions of the 'Saptarshi', Ursa Major constellation. All this clearly shows that Gandhiji was in love with astronomy and advocated his followers to learn about it. Dr Ratnashree also said that Gandhiji refers to the constellations of Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor,Lepus, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, the Pole star, as also the imaginary creatures that are seen in the mythologies, which are connected with these constellations. He also immediately clarifies that the mythological creatures of constellations are "beautiful fancies", and that there are no such real figures in the sky. 

Sudheendra Kulkarni discussed  many phases of Mahatma Gandhi’s Life and Work at various levels. Based on this he articulated that Gandhi ji was not anti-modern, as many still believe. He also addressed several questions which are normally raised when speaking about Gandhi and science and technology.  ‘Was his philosophy of self-sufficiency anti development? Has the Age of Information and Communication Technology altered the meaning of swadeshi?  Has it altered the meaning to the extent of making it meaningless? Based on his research he dispels each of these myths which are associated with Gandhi and argues that Gandhi was always in sync with reality and technology for him was a life enabler, what he argued was that it must be used to change the lives of the people at the bottom of the pyramid and not used to create a larger difference between the haves and the have nots. He argued that Gandhi his thoughts on technology are more relevant in the modern world when sustainable development goals are of primary concern for the world. He recalled the prophetic statement of Gandhi ji who had said ‘Nature provides everything to fulfil the needs of the people and not their greeds’, which is so very relevant even today when we are speaking of issues like climate change, which is primarily man made. He highlighted the support that Gandhi ji advocated for telegraph and juxtaposed it to modern times to say that Bapu would have been a great advocate of the Internet which has democratised information. He highlighted how this technology can be harvested by Indians in the fourth industrial revolution which he seems to be a great advocate of. 

Kulkarni said that Gandhi can under no circumstances be dismissed as an eccentric, stuck with the Spinning wheel. Rather he must be associated with progress but a progress which is beneficial to the last man in the developmental ladder. He shared his thoughts that in the course of his studies,  he had discovered that Gandhi was not against elaborate machinery. Indeed, Gandhi is quoted as saying that he would favour the use of such machinery if thereby India’s paupers could be thereby saved from poverty. Kulkarni said that the spinning wheel may have been symbolic in the early twentieth century but actually the Mahatma would have discarded it if someone had showed him a better way of making a person self reliant. Gandhi’s primary concern was the chronic unemployment of millions of people in India’s villages and therefore Gandhi ji used the spinning wheel as  a means, to gaining economic freedom. Sudheendra ji argued with reasons that If the Mahatma was alive today, he would have embraced the Internet. 

I was one of those who had gone by those here say opinion that Gandhi and science had no commonality but after the two lectures and my own study which was compelled based on the two lectures, I am fairly convinced that Gandhi ji was a man of science who believed in questioning and central to science is asking questions and considering none but reasons and logic to be canonical. Long live the ideals of the Mahatma. On this birth anniversary of the Mahatma it is also time to celebrate the birth anniversary of another greatest leaders of India Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kissan continues to reverberate in the hearts and minds of people and it is this monumental saying which kick started the green revolution in India and helped India to be self reliant on food production.

Jai Hind.