Milkha Singh Ascends to the Ultimate Podium in life, at age 91 - Long Live Milkha Singh.

Images courtesy : Wikipedia and PTI.

The Flying Sikh ascended to the ultimate podium of his legendary and endearing life, at age 91, to join his life partner at the heavenly abode to which she had departed just a week ago.  They both succumbed to the dreaded Covid 19 pandemic that was wreaked on the world from Wuhan, China. After getting affected with Covid 19 and fighting it out to become Covid negative, Milkha Singh most unfortunately succumbed to the Covid 19 complications at the PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh on 18th June, 2021, at 11 PM. Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the nation in paying his tributes to the legendary athlete, ‘befittingly described as independent India's first sporting superstar’. The PM tweeted ‘ In the passing away of Shri Milkha Singh Ji, we have lost a colossal sportsperson, who captured the nation’s imagination and had a special place in the hearts of countless Indians. His inspiring personality endeared himself to millions. Anguished by his passing away’.

Milkha Singh was given a befitting epithet of ‘Flying Sikh’ by General Ayub Khan - the military ruler of Pakistan, the land where  Milkha Singh was born in the British India. Milkha Singh has inspired and will continue to inspire generation of Indian athletes. He has shown the path that with determination, passion, commitment, sacrifice and undying zeal to achieve what you have set out to achieve, success is sure to come by. What is more inspiring is that Milkha Singh was a teenager and one of those millions of displaced Indians who had to leave behind their land of birth to migrate to India during the partition of India by the British. Milkha Singh lost both his parents and three of his siblings in that merciless killings that spawned for weeks during the partition of India. The last words that young Milkha Singh heard his father speak to him, before he was brutally killed in that deadly act of inhuman violence that was perpetrated on the Hindus and Muslims in Pakistan during the partition and the resulting migration to India, was ‘ Bhag Milkha Bhag ‘. These words from his father proved to be providential for Milkha Singh, who on the orders of his father ran for safety and migrated to India, Jalandhar, in the Military Truck and lived a life that began from penury with existential crisis, which compelled him even to cheat and steal and in the process be jailed at Tihar Jail in Delhi. But then those prophetic  ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’ words saw him through this testing period, which was filled with unending trials and tribulations that ultimately led to those extraordinary triumphs and achievements, which are now legendary and revered across India. The extraordinary life of Milkha Singh came to an end on the 18th June due to the Covid 19 complications. The achievements of Milkha Singh, when seen contextually are that much more heralding and therefore it is no wonder that he has been an inspiration for generation of athletes and will continue to be so for many more generations.

Having inspired millions of his admirers as Flying Sikh for nine decades, putting his body to those extreme tests of endurance, which have been so beautifully portrayed in the scripts of Prasun Joshi on the celluloid in his biopic ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’ enacted by Farhan Akhtar, who plays his role in the film, it is time for the nonagenarian Milkha Singh to rest in peace eternally as ‘ RelaxSingh’ in the heavenly abode, which is now home to him. Milkha Singh had put his body to the toughest of tests and conditions while practising passionately for achieving those unparalleled successes in athletics, which helped him not just in winning the four Asian Championship Gold medals and the Common Wealth Gold Medal in 1958, but so also in breaking the world record on way to his legendary achievements at the 1960 Rome Olympics in 400 metres sprint, in which he missed the podium by a whisker. The film Bhag Milkha Bhag, so beautifully has characterised and captured those great moments of trials, tribulations and triumphs of Milkha Singh. Flying Sikh will continue to inspire millions of his followers, who are constantly trying to emulate his endearing feats, and will continue to do so for generations to come. 

Much before the biopic Bhag Milkha Bhag that was produced in 2013 by Bollywood, the All India Radio - part of India's largest public broadcasting agency Prasar Bharati, had produced a multi-part radio autobiography of Milkha Singh and this radio program was recorded by the great Milkha Singh himself for the AIR. The news of the demise of the legendary Sardar, made Prasar Bharati to go back in time to sift through its archives, a treasure trove of memories, and post their homage to the Flying Sikh by posting their three parts radio autobiography that Singh had recorded for the agency, on their You Tube Channel. Here is the link to this wonderful radio autobiography of Milkha Singh in his own words for those who may be interested.  This autobiography, titled 'The Flying Sikh', is divided into three parts. In this radio interview Milkha Singh goes on to narrate his career as a former track and field sprinter, remembering his experiences at the Asian Games, the '56 Melbourne Summer Olympics, the '60 Summer Olympics in Rome, and the '64 Tokyo Olympics, among others.

Milkha Singhs achievements and the bollywood film - Bhag Milkha Bhag, in a way can be considered as an outcome of a providential blessing of his parents and three of his siblings, who were so mercilessly murdered in that hour of madness, which the undivided British India witnessed during its partition. The last word that the young Milkha Singh heard from his father, who along with his mother and siblings were brutally murdered while attempting to cross over from their home in Pakistan to India, was ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’. Providentially the young Milkha Singh did manage to run away from that scene of death and madness to survive that horror to leave behind a legacy to be heralded for generations. 

Milkha Singh was born in to a very large family of 15 children in a village called Govindpuri near Muzaffargarh city in the undivided Punjab on the Pakistani side, on 20th November 1929. Milkha Singh had grown up in this village, which was part of the undivided British India. But then the partition of India changed all that. Milkha Singh’s family was one of those innumerable families of Hindus and Sikhs who were caught in the midst of that horrendous partition of India which resulted in the creation of a new Muslim nation, Pakistan, in 1947. A tale of unspeakable horror and merciless killings continued for days and weeks, during the partition in which millions of Hindus and Sikhs, including Milkha Singh’s family, were trying to migrate to India from Pakistan. Both the parents of Milkha Singh and so also three of his siblings were killed during this period. Milkha survived this massacre to tell his story. Milkha Singh, in one of his interviews recalled the partition horror and remembered the last words of his father, before falling prey to that senseless massacre. His father even while he was dying said  "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", exhorting his son to run for his life. The teenager Milkha ran - first to save his life, and then to herald his own successful career in athletics. 

Milkha Singh landed in Ferozepur in a military truck after a nightmare journey from Multan in a train soaked in blood. Still a teenager boy, Milkha had to pass through testing times after he arrived in India. He lived a life of penury often times forced to steal ration to feed his empty stomach until managing to join the Indian army after several failed attempts. It was in the Army that Milkha Singh discovered his athletic abilities, when he joined EME, Secunderabad. It was here that he was short listed as one of the 10 members, out of the 500 people who participated in 10 kilometres run. His performance came to the notice of Havaldar Gurdev Singh, who became his first coach. Gurudev Singh took Milkha Singh under his tutelage and started coaching him for athletics, particularly 200 and 400 metres sprint. Very soon Milkha Singh made his mark by winning the competition at inter-services meet, which resulted in his selection for an India camp in 1956. It also earned him a berth for the Melbourne Olympics. Thus began his tryst with the 400m athletics sprint. It was here that Milkha was exposed to the greatest of world athletes and watching these greats streak past, Milkha Singh harboured an ambition to run as fast as them. Milkha Singh was eliminated in the heats in the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne. However this exposure to world athletes instilled an ambition in Milkha that helped him train that much harder and often times Milkha Singh continued his training till he dropped down and out. The uni-focus ambition and desire to excel and run as fast as the worlds best and his obsession to win, helped Milkha to set national records. One of the athletes who inspired him majorly at the Melbourne 1956 Olympics was Charles Jenkins, who had barely managed to finish third in the two heats before to get selected for the finals in 400 metres event. In the finals Jenkins left every one behind to win the Gold Medal, he also added another medal in the 4x400 metres relay. Milkha Singh who was eliminated in the heats thus harboured an ambition to try and emulate Jenkins, who notwithstanding his relatively poor performance in the heats managed to pull all his strength in the finals to win the coveted 400 metres Olympics Gold Medal. 

Milkha Singh soon started creating a space of his own with extraordinary exploits on the track and field, which are now legendary in India. He won five golds in international athletic championships and was awarded the Helms World Trophy in 1959 for winning 77 of his 80 international races. His first Gold medal came at the 1958 Asian Games, which was held in Tokyo, Japan. Milkha Singh won two Gold medals at this event in 400 metres and 200 metres, which was soon followed by the Gold medal in 400 metres - India's first Commonwealth gold, in 1958at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff. He was running in the sixth and outermost lane, at Cardiff Arms Park in this event which was being witnessed by a record  70,000 plus audiences. Major attraction of this event was the world record holder, South Africa’s Malcom Spence, who was pipped by Milkha Singh in this race. Milkha Singh clocked a record 46.71 seconds to win the Gold Medal while Malcom Spence had to contend with a silver clocking 46.90 seconds. Thus Milkha Singh created history by becoming the first Indian to win the Gold medal for the country in the Common Wealth Games. He received his his Gold medal from Queen Elizabeth. After the race, addressing the BBC, he said ‘ he had fulfilled his duty towards his motherland’.

The year 1960 is inextricably linked to Milkha Singh in the annals of athletics history of India. He was once again selected for the Rome Olympics Indian squad and this time he successfully sailed through the 400 metres heats rounds to get selected for the finals. In one of most fascinating finals that has ever been witnessed in Olympics, four of the six finalists in the 400 metres surpassed the world record with the American athlete Otis  Crandall Davis, winning the Gold medal in 44.90 seconds. He was tied with Karl Kaufman of Germany, who too finished the race winning the Silver in 44.90 seconds. Malcolm Spence, the South African athlete, who was beaten by Milkha Singh at the 1958 Common Wealth Games, won the Bronze Medal with a timing of 45.50 seconds, leaving behind Milkha Singh by one tenth of s second. Milkha Singh who clocked 45.60 seconds in the race ended up in the fourth position, which considering the background from which he grew was heralded as one of the greatest of any athletics race by an Indian. 

It was in this very year 1960, that Milkha Singh got an opportunity to go nostalgic when he was given an invitation to participate in an athletics event in Pakistan. He was invited to take part in the 200m event at an International Athletic competition in Lahore, Pakistan. Ever since that traumatic partition experience of fleeing to India from Pakistan, where he had lost his parents and three of his siblings in the partition violence, Milkha Singh had not been to Pakistan, where he was born. The trauma of the partition, which he had witnessed while fleeing from Pakistan to India, haunted him badly and therefore Milkha Singh, initially refused to go to Pakistan to take part in this event. However, he eventually did go to Pakistan. The local hero - Pakistan's Abdul Khaliq, was one of his main opponents in the race. Despite the thunderous and roaring support from the local audience in the stadium for Abdul Khaliq, Milkha Singh went on to win that race, while Khaliq took the bronze medal. The race was also witnessed by General, Ayub Khan, Pakistan's second president, who awarded Milkha Singh and other winners their medals. It was here that Singh received the nickname that would stick with him for the rest of his life. In one of the interviews Milkha Singh recalled that Gen. Ayub said to him “ Milkha, you came to Pakistan and did not run. You actually flew in Pakistan. Pakistan bestows upon you the title of the Flying Sikh.' If Milkha Singh is known as the Flying Sikh in the whole world today, the credit goes to General Ayub and to Pakistan," Singh had told the BBC later. In this very interview he also said that even though he never won an Olympic medal, his only wish was that "someone else should win that medal for India". 

Bollywood is one platform which always looks for a plot to make Merry at the box office and one story that appealed to the industry was that of the legendary Milkha Singh. Those words Bhag Milkha Bhag, which remained etched in the young mind of Milkha Singh became a befitting title for the biographical film on the Flying Sikh, which was produced by Rajiv Tandon and Director by Rakesh Mishra. The script for this film was written by Prasoon Joshi and Farhan Akhtar played the role of the protagonist and brought the life and works of Milkha Singh to the people of India in melodramatic way thus heralding the success of Milkha Singh to Indians. It was therefore no wonder that the whole of the Bollywood industry joined the PM and others in expressing their sorrow at the demise of Milkha Singh. Farhan Akhtar, who played the role of Milkha Singh in the film, said that he had spent a lot of time with him and got to know Singh personally while playing the lead role in the 2013 biopic ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. He added “ A part of me is still refusing to accept that you are no more. Maybe it's the stubborn side I inherited from you...the side that when it sets it's mind on something, just never gives up. And the truth is that you will always be alive”. All those who have known Milkha Singh, have described him as a large-hearted and down-to-earth man, who exemplified and showed that hard work, honesty and determination one can touch the sky and realise ones dream and aspirations.

The Covid 19 pandemic has rampaged the world and taken away many a precious lives and that most unfortunately included Milkha Singh and his wife as well. Milkha Singh was admitted to the ICU at the Covid-19 Hospital of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh with Covid symptoms and dipping oxygen levels on June 3. He managed to recover from Covid while his wife had succumbed to it. However, due to post- Covid complications, Milkha Singh was shifted out of Covid Hospital to medical ICU at PHIMER. Despite the best of efforts by the medical team, Milkha Singh could not recover from his critical condition and after a brave fight, he left for his heavenly abode at 11.30 pm on 18th June 2021. His death was announced by Prof. Jagat Ram, Director, PGIMER who also expressed his deepest condolences on the sad demise of this 'most revered' sporting icon, who he said will be remembered for his exceptional accomplishments on and off the field and his endearing and humane personality.

Last Sunday, 13th June, wife and life time companion of Milkha Singh, Mrs. Nirmal Kaur, who was also a former national volleyball captain, had died due to Covid complications. His family members issued a statement, which read “He fought hard but God has his ways and it was perhaps true love and companionship that both our mother Nirmal ji and now Dad have passed away in a matter of 5 days”. An era has ended with the passing away of Milkha Singh but his legacy will leave on for eternity and will continue to inspire generations of new athletes to follow his path. 

Long live Milkha Singh. Rest in Peace.

Prof. Richard Ernst - The 1991 Nobel Prize Chemistry Winner, A Tribute.

Prof. Richard Ernst - The 1991 Nobel Prize Chemistry Winner and the man who delivered lecture at NSC Mumbai in 2013, Deceased, on 4th June, 2021 - A Tribute.

Images - Courtesy Nehru Science Centre and Suhas Naik Satum. 

Within two months of my assuming the charge of the Director, Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai (13th February,2013) I had the honour and privilege to host two high profile lectures by two extraordinary people - Sunita Williams, Indian American, NASA Astronaut (4th April 2013) and Dr Richard Ernst (24th April, 2013) the 1991 Nobel Prize winning scientist in Chemistry, who singularly was awarded the coveted Prize “for his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy."  Dr Ernst’s contribution laid the foundation for the evolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a noble medical diagnostic tool, which precisely and non invasively depicts and produces the images of tissue and organs in the body. The news of the death of Prof Richard Ernst has refreshed my memory of the lecture that Dr Ernst delivered at the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai on 24th April, 2013.  Dr Richard Ernst died at the age of 87, in the very city - Winterthur, outside Zurich, Switzerland, where he was born.

Three weeks before the lecture by Dr Ernst, we had hosted the lecture of Ms Sunita Williams on 4th April, 2013, which was followed by a mega press conference and interaction. These two events, particularly the press interaction of Sunita, Williams, helped our Centre get great publicity and good will. Dr. Ernst’s lecture and his unending patience to oblige almost every student with his autograph, post his outstanding and highly motivational and inspirational lecture, is something which everyone who attended the lecture will always remember. Dr Ernst’s talk, titled ‘Science and Society’, was interspersed with wit, humour and a personal touch. We were able to host the lecture of Dr Richard Ernst courtesy, Prof RV Hosur, TIFR, who had the honour to work with Prof Ernst and know him very closely in person. Just before his arrival in India, Prof Ernst had sent an email to Prof Hosur, indicating what he had in mind to speak and his email makes an interesting read which reveals his wittier part. He wrote ; “ Because I am not too certain to whom I will have to lecture in Mumbai and on which level, I prepared one lengthy show with about 500 slides with the title: Academic Opportunities in Preparation of a Prosperous Future to be cut on the spot to an acceptable length. It contains some historical information on NMR and on my personal history, some more recent scientific stuff, some slides on MRI, some slides on Tibetan art, some slides on our responsibility as scientists, some slides to illustrate my view of India with its attraction and its problems regarding its future science place”. Here comes the wittier part of his email. He wrote “ Of course, the entire lecture would take about 2-3 hours and would put everybody to sleep, including myself”.  It is a different matter that although he spoke for more than 90 minutes, at our Centre,  to a packed audience, forget about putting the audience to sleep, contrarily every minute of his lecture was applauded by not just the 300 plus students, teachers, parents and dignitaries who were seated in the main auditorium but also by another 200 plus students who witnessed the event through the CCTV in the neighbouring hall on a large screen - since they could not be accommodated in our main auditorium.

Although it has been 8 years since the lecture, I vividly remember one of the answers that he gave to a student. In response to a query as to what motivated him to be a scientist, Dr Ernst had an interesting story, which he shared with the students to a thunderous applause and laughter all around. He said “like most kids he too was curious and one such experience of a curious surprise was the beginning of his interest in science”. He added  “ In our attic, I discovered a box full of chemicals, which belonged to an uncle. I took the chemicals in the basement and started to play with them and I was excited by what happened - a huge explosion. Fortunately I survived and so did our house and thus began my love for chemistry”. He continued “experimenting is one best way to get attracted to Science, which is what made him take to Science”. He urged the teachers and some parents - who were in attendance,  to let the students perform experiments. He said, sometimes people say chemistry is too dangerous – you can’t do this and that with children – but that’s not really true. There are a few rules, which one has to obey, but otherwise you can do a lot of experiments and experience the joy of discovery very often in chemistry.”

Dr Ernst also spoke about his love for Asian arts, particularly, Tibetan scroll paintings -  called thangkas, a unique and most exciting form of religious art, which exhibit outstanding creative talents of the artists. He showed images of quite a few of his collections of the Thangka paintings. 

The family of Dr Ernst - his wife Ms Magdalena announced that Dr Ernst had died on Friday, 4th June,  2021, to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich - ETH Zurich, with which he was closely associated as the Professor Emeritus. The ETH, Zurich announced the death of Dr Ernst on their website, on Tuesday, 8th June, 2021. Dr Ernst is survived by his wife and three daughters. In his Nobel Prize autobiography, Dr Ernst praised the support of his wife in binding together his family and in helping him in concentrate on his passion for science. He said “I am extremely grateful for the encouragement and for the occasional readjustment of my standards of value by my wife Magdalena who stayed with me so far for more than 28 years despite all the problems of being married to a selfish work-addict with an unpredictable temper”. He added, “Magdalena has, without much input from my side, educated our three children: Anna Magdalena (kindergarten teacher), Katharina Elisabeth (elementary school teacher), and Hans-Martin Walter (still in high school). I am not surprised that they show no intention to follow in my footsteps, although if I had a second chance myself, I would certainly try to repeat my present career.”

Beginning in the late 1950s, but accelerating at an ever-faster pace in the twenty first century, science and technology has dramatically transformed modern medicine. However, before the World War II, the typical physician had a modest toolkit which only consisted of a thermometer, stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, and an occasional access to x-ray machines and electrocardiograph. Along with these medical devices a limited cabinet of pharmaceuticals assisted the physician of the 1940s, including sulfa drugs and negligible quantity of penicillin. After the War, biological research was transformed with the efforts of great scientists like Dr Ernst and others that helped in creating a new armamentarium of biophysics instruments- Electron Microscopes, Ultracentrifuges, Mass Spectrometers and new agents such as radioactive isotopes. A revolution in microelectronics and semiconductors initiated during the War together with the development of computers led the way to new fields of biomedical imaging such as Ultrasound, Computerized Tomography (CT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners and most importantly the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging which is now famously referred to and known as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). 

NMR - nuclear magnetic resonance, is a phenomenon that exploits the fact that all atomic nuclei that contain odd numbers of protons or neutrons have intrinsic magnetic characteristics. The NMR and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are perhaps the most important non-invasive diagnostic tools in today's medicine. The basic components of any MRI system are the magnet, RF transmitter, gradient coil, and the receiver coil, along with a computer to analyse the incoming signal and produce image. MRI is a diagnostic technique that provides profound insights by revealing the picture of the inside of the body - without using X-rays or other potentially harmful radiation, for aiding the medical professionals. Dr Richard Ernst rightfully can be considered as the father of MRI, since it was he who developed the technique to make sense of the images by filtering out the noise component, using the Fourier Transforms and computers. 

The MRI has proven to be invaluable for the diagnosis of a broad range of medical conditions in all parts of the body, including neurological and behavioral disorders, musculoskeletal injuries, cancer, heart and vascular diseases. MRI is also used to create maps of biochemical compounds within any cross section of the human body. These maps give basic biomedical and anatomical information that provide new knowledge to allow early diagnosis of many diseases, including the dreaded cancer. Since MRI has the ability to provide information about the state of health of organs and tissues, in addition to giving details of their shape and appearance, this imaging technique has major advantages over other diagnostic methods. And in all these cases, MRI works with no harmful intervention.

The MRI is significant and applicable to the human body because we are all filled with small biological magnets, the most abundant and responsive of which is the nucleus of the hydrogen atom, the proton. Remember that the human body is made up of nearly 70% of water, which consists of hydrogen. The principles of MRI take advantage of the random distribution of hydrogen protons, which possess fundamental magnetic properties. This process involves three basic steps. First, MRI generates a steady-state condition within the body by placing the body in a very strong (30,000 times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field) and steady magnetic field. Secondly, it changes the steady-state orientation of protons by stimulating the body with radio frequency energy. Thirdly, it terminates the radio frequency stimulation and listens to the body transmitting information about itself at the special resonant frequency using an appropriately designed antenna coil. The transmitted signal is detected and serves as the basis of the construction of internal images of the body using the mathematical analysis of Fourier Transforms and using computers to process this information.

Earlier in the twentieth century, Scientists tried to improve and expand on the amazing images produced by X-rays through the discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. The first successful nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiment was made in 1946, independently by two scientists in the United States. Felix Bloch, working at Stanford University, and Edward Mills Purcell, from Harvard University, found that when certain nuclei were placed in a magnetic field they absorbed energy in the radio frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum, and re-emitted this energy when the nuclei was transferred to their original state. They studied the hydrogen atom, because of its favorable nuclear properties. They chose to study the proton - the nucleus of the hydrogen atom (H), because the hydrogen nucleus is composed of a single proton and it has a significant magnetic moment. Hydrogen would turn out to be the most important element for MRI because of its favourable nuclear properties, nearly universal presence and its abundance in the human body as part of water (H2O). Befittingly Bloch and Purcell were awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for physics, and their discoveries led to the NMR in condensed matter. There have been three other Nobel prizes associated with the fundamental discoveries arising from NMR and the most important one is the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which was awarded to Richard Ernst for his contributions to the development of high resolution NMR spectroscopy, an important analytical tool in chemistry. The significance of his works can be seen in the citation of the Nobel Prize which said “ NMR spectroscopy has, during the last 20 years, developed into perhaps the most important instrumental measuring technique within chemistry. This has occurred because of a dramatic increase in both the sensitivity and the resolution of the instruments, two areas in which Prof. Ernst has contributed more than anybody else." The findings of Dr Ernst helped NMR spectroscopy to be used in all branches of chemistry, at universities as well as in industrial laboratories.

In the initial period the NMR was more of an esoteric tool when Ernst had completed his PhD in 1962 and there was no sight of its use in solving complicated chemical structures. The main Achilles heel of NMR was that radio signals sent out from these magnetic nuclei were very feeble, and so it was extremely difficult for an experimental observer to discriminate these weak signals from noise. As the sensitivity of NMR was disappointingly low, small amounts of nuclei were almost impossible to detect. It is here that Dr Ernst made a profound contribution in vastly improving the sensitivity of the signal. A major breakthrough occurred in 1966 when Ernst and Anderson, USA, discovered that the sensitivity of NMR spectra could be increased dramatically if the slow radiofrequency sweep that the sample was exposed to was replaced by short and intense radiofrequency pulses. The signal was then measured as a function of time after the pulse. The next pulse and signal acquisition were started after a few seconds, and the signals after each pulse were summed in a computer. The NMR signal measured as a function of time is not amenable to a simple interpretation. It is however possible to analyze what resonance frequencies are present in such a signal – and to convert it to an NMR spectrum – by a mathematical operation using the Fourier transformation, FT, which was performed rapidly in computer. This discovery by Ernst and his associates forms the basis of modern NMR spectroscopy. The ten-fold, and sometimes hundred-fold, increase in sensitivity has made it possible to study small amounts of material.  The enormous potential of the new technique – called FT NMR – quickly became obvious to NMR spectroscopists. The chemical research community got access to it in the early seventies through commercial FT NMR instruments.

By the end of the sixties, NMR spectroscopists had begun to use new magnet designs, based on superconducting materials, and the quality of spectra – expressed both in terms of sensitivity and resolution – improved quickly during the seventies. Consequently, more complex systems could be studied and more sophishcated questions answered. However, if this finding was to move to very large molecules, macromolecules, another breakthrough was necessary. This breakthrough again carried the signature of Ernst. Inspired by a lecture of Jean Jeener, Belgium, at a summer school at the beginning of the seventies, Ernst and co-workers showed in 1975-76 how “two-dimensional” (2D) NMR experiments could be performed. Their demonstration of the 2D FT NMR opened entirely new possibilities for chemical research and the rest what they say is history. 

Richard Ernst was born on 13th August,1933 in Winterthur, northeastern Switzerland, near Zurich, and he was the oldest of the three children (two sisters and Richard)born to Robert Ernst and Irma Brunner. Richard Ernst’s father taught architecture at the technical high school of Winterthur. By the age of 13 years, Richard developed interest in music and chemistry. However his love for music was short lived and he decided to become a chemist rather than a musician and a composer. Richard completed his high school in Winterthur and subsequently he enrolled at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (“the Federal Institute”), and in 1956, he was awarded a diploma in chemistry. He continued his education at the Federal Institute and, in 1962, was awarded a PhD degree. Between obtaining these 2 degrees, Ernst spent some time in military service as well. He completed his doctorate in physical chemistry in 1962 with a dissertation on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the discipline of physical chemistry. After completing his doctorate, Ernst spent the next year (1962-1963) as a researcher and teacher at the Federal Institute. However, in 1963, Ernst left Switzerland for the United States to become a research scientist and worked in the private sector at Varian Associates in Palo Alto, California, where he worked until 1968. In 1968, he returned to Switzerland to join the faculty of the Federal Institute to direct a research group on NMR at the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry. He went on to become a full professor at the Federal Institute (ETH, Zurich) in 1976.

As stated in the earlier paragraphs, Ernst's work on NMR spectroscopy began in the early 1960s at the Federal Institute. His contributions to the field—increasing the sensitivity and the resolution of the instruments—have made it possible to determine both the nature of a nucleus and the local structure of the molecule of which the nucleus is a part. In 1966, Ernst and a colleague found that NMR spectroscopy could be more effective if the slow sweeping radio waves traditionally used to bombard a sample were replaced by short, intense pulses. They used a computer to perform a complex series of mathematical operations (Fourier transformations) in the received signal. This improved the sensitivity by as much as 100-fold. Ernst's second major contribution to the field of NMR spectroscopy was made in the mid-1970s, when he developed 2-dimensional NMR techniques to study exceedingly large molecules. By the 1990s, various NMR techniques were in use to determine the 3-dimensional structure of organic and inorganic compounds and large complex molecules such as proteins; to study the interaction between biological molecules and metal ions, water molecules, drug molecules, and other substances; to identify chemical species; and to study the rates of chemical reactions.

Throughout his life, Ernst had an extremely broad range of interests and commitments. From his early youth, chemistry and art enthralled him in equal measure. During a trip to Asia, he developed a great interest in Tibetan art - Thangka Paintings, which he went on to collect, study and restore. Although not a Buddhist himself, Ernst was a great admirer of Tibetan Buddhism and thus his interest in India. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, on the invitation of Prof Ernst, visited the ETH Zurich, as its guest in the year 2005. Ernst had a great interest for classical music. He was also concerned about the social issues and their context. He once said that he had never intended his research to be the exclusive reserve of the ivory tower of academia, but wanted it to be used in the development of meaningful and useful applications. He was considered a perfectionist. One of his recipes for success was that he put his all into everything he did, and did nothing by halves – anything else was a waste of time for him.

Ernst is credited with numerous inventions and holds several patents in the field. Besides the Nobel Prize, he has received many honors and awards, including honorary doctorates, the Marcel Benoist Prize (1986), the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1991), and the Louise Gross Horwitz Prize (1991) of Columbia University (New York City). In 2002, Ghana issued a stamp to honor him as Nobel laureate. It was truly an honour and privilege for us to host his lecture at the the Nehru Science Centre, and I am certain that of the 400 plus students who attended his lecture, there will be more than a couple who may have made a choice to be a chemist, inspired his lecture and interaction. I join countless other scientific fraternity across the globe in praying for the noble soul of Prof Richard Ernst to rest in peace, while the humanity continues to be benefitted for perpetuity with his invention, that paved the way for MRI.

RIP