First day Visit to the Andaman Islands : Serene, yet immensely touching experience.

First day Visit to the Andaman Islands : Serene, yet immensely touching experience.

India’s tryst with destiny has been inextricably intertwined with the turbulent history of its freedom struggle, and the cellular Jail - at the Port Blair in the Andaman Islands - declared as the national monument, is one of the standing testimonies and an important edifice to the unending struggle that the freedom fighters endured, during the British Raj.

It was my first ever visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the serenity of the Islands was revealed to us as a picturesque birds eye view of the nature’s wonders, while landing at the Veer Savarkar, Airport, Port Blair. My wife - seated on the window seat - was awe struck by the magnificent aerial view of the lush green islands with turquoise beaches, which appeared seemingly unending. She was overly excited that during our brief visit to the islands (vacation that we hardly had the luxury to enjoy until 2016), over the next six days, we will have a close encounter and date with some of these beaches that abound the islands , at close proximity. Our first day itinerary at the Port Blair included visit to the Carbyne’s beach followed by the visit to the Cellular Jail.

While my wife was craving to see the beaches, I was anxiously looking forward to our visit to the Cellular Jail, which as a school student, I knew as the Kala Pani. The “Kala Pani”, an epithet symbolising black waters of certain death, is an integral part of India’s freedom struggle, which inanimately narrates untold miseries of hundreds of freedom fighters struggle and endurance to survive in the most inhospitable, inhuman conditions at this dreaded Jail manned by the most inhuman Jailors. Freedom fighters unending never say die attitude, in the most adverse of conditions, to fight for their country was a folklore story often talked about in Sainik School, Bijapur (now Vijayapur) -where I had the privilege to study - to instil patriotic fervour has remained etched in my memory from school days. We were told the heroic stories of the freedom fighters, many of whom were martyred in the cellular jail resisting not just the incomprehensible torture and miseries thrust upon them by the Jailors but also the hellish experience that they had to endure yet continue with their freedom struggle at the cellular jail. Not withstanding their unspeakable miseries, they offered all possible resistance to the inhuman atrocities meted out to them at the Cellular jail and continued to lend their support for the freedom of their mother land, often times at the peril of their lives. These and such other patriotic and war heroes stories were part of our daily experience at the school, which helped us in cementing our deep rooted national pride and instilled in us, at a very young age, the honour and sacrifice that each one of us are expected to make while serving our motherland as commissioned officers in the military. Most unfortunately, as fate would have it, I was deprived of the honour to serve in the military because of the so called heart murmur that I was diagnosed, post my clearing the enjoyable SSB (Service Selection Board) at Mysore, during my medical examination at the Command (military) hospital in Bangalore. If there are any regrets that I may have in life, not serving in the military is and will always be on top of the list.

Cellular Jail (name derived from the solitary cells which prevented any prisoner from communicating with any others) is situated on the South Andaman Island, one of 572 islands forming Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. Inhabited since 2000 years, the islands were occupied by Europeans in the middle of the 18th century. Few years later, British established naval base and a penal settlement on the Chatham Island which was later shifted to the Viper Island.

The Cellular Jail building is quite unique in its architecture and originally had seven straight wings each connected to a central tower in the middle, which looks something like a bicycle wheel with each of the seven wings attached to the centre tower like a spoke of the wheel. This design of the building was based on English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham’s concept of the Panopticon. Bentham, in the mid-1700s, invented a social control mechanism that would become a comprehensive symbol for modern authority and discipline in the western world and this prison system was called the Panopticon. The basic principle involved in this design, which Bentham first completed in 1785, was to monitor the maximum number of prisoners with the least possible guards and other security costs. The layout consisted of a central tower for the guards, surrounded by a ring-shaped building of prison cell. This concept formed the genesis for the design of the Cellular Jail.

Even today, more than a century later, the architecture of the Cellular Jail building remains majestically elegant with its puce coloured bricks that were brought from Burma to construct the building. The tower in the centre that formed the point of intersection of all the seven wings served as a watch point for the guards of the jail to keep vigil on prisoners. The tower had a large bell for raising alarm. The seven wings, each of which had three storeys, were constructed in such a manner that the front of one wing faces the back of another so that one inmate in a wing cannot see or communicate with another inmate in any of the adjacent wings. Even of the cells in a wing were in a row so that inmates in the same wing also cannot communicate or see each other. Each of these cells housed only one prisoner ensuring minimal chance of communication among inmates thus isolating them from each other. This feature of solitary confinement in individual cells earned the jail its name, “Cellular”. There were a total of 693 cells, each measuring 4.5 m by 2.7 m in size with a ventilator located at a height of 3metres.

Our visit to the Cellular jail, the accompanying museum and the experiential light and sound show has been a very touching experience that will remain etched in my memory. The serenity of the islands, which had occupied our mind while landing at the airport was pushed back to be overwritten by this indelible experience that the cells, the solitary confinement chambers, the gallows hall, the roll of honours of the freedom fighters, whose names are listed, and the well curated exhibits at the museum including the memorabilia and artefacts that are on display is something, which will remain in my memory unto my last.

The Cellular Jail silently narrates the minimal triumphs and often the tribulations that the selfless freedom fighters experienced - shedding unending sweat, blood and just about managing to keep their mental faculty alive, amidst the horrendous, inhuman incarceration that all the freedom fighters, including Veer Savarkar, in whose honour the Port Blair Airport is named after, faced at the cellular jail while sacrificing their present hoping for a better tomorrow for their countrymen. Several of the prisoners - laid down their life and faced their martyrdom at this historic national monument.

June 25 an indelible date in the history of Cricket in India

June 25 an indelible date in the history of Cricket in India

This day, the 25th of June, remains eternally etched in the annals of Indian Cricket. It was on this day, way back in 1932 that India was baptised in to the International Cricket playing its inaugural Test match against the English team and on this very day, in 1983, Kapil Dev’s Devils rewrote history by winning the Prudential World Cup beating the invincible West Indies to lift the coveted World Cup. I am confining this post only to India’s baptism into international cricket since most Indians are aware of India’s World Cup victory in 1983.

Although the origin of Cricket in India dates back to as early as 1721 - yet - it was not until another 200 plus years (1932) that India was baptised in to the International Cricketing arena. The team selection for India’s maiden test debut tour to England was shrouded in controversy and mystery. Despite all the intrigue over captaincy and team selection, a young Indian side made giant strides by undertaking their first official foreign tour in 1932 to England amidst political tension brewing in India. Mahatma Gandhi was making his defiant journey - famously called the Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, an act of nonviolent civil disobedience - to produce salt from the sea water in the coastal village of Dandi. Under these circumstances of nationalistic fervour the Bombay Quadrangular was suspended, so it was not possible to gauge performances in this influential tournament to select players for the inaugural test series.

Some of the prominent players, that included LP Jai, VM Merchant and Champak Mehta, were unavailable because of the Hindu Gymkhana's opposition to the tour in protest against the jailing of Indian political leaders. KS Duleepsinhji, in whose honour the Duleep Trophy is played in India, was prevented by his uncle Ranjitsinhji, who was the chairman of selectors, from participating in the tour. The Nawab of Pataudi (senior) had also made himself unavailable for the tour, citing short notice although the actual reason was because he had not been offered a position of responsibility. It was therefore suggested that an Englishman playing in India either AL Hosie, CP Johnstone or RB Lagden, should skipper the side, to mollify the inevitable factions within the tour party. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) quickly resolved that the captain would be an Indian.

The Maharaja of Patiala, one of the richest patrons of Indian cricket, was first named captain, with Prince Ganshyamsinhji of Limbdi as vice-captain, while the Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram, was made deputy vice-captain. The tour party was announced on February 4, 1932. Two weeks before the tour, the Maharaja of Patiala withdrew for reasons of fitness, and Vizianagram also withdrew from the team citing poor health and lack of form. On March 15, the choice of captain fell upon the Maharaja of Porbandar, while Jahangir Khan was drafted into the party as a player in place of Vizianagram. He too eventually stepped down in favour of C.K. Nayudu, who captained the team at the only Test at Lord’s on June 25, 1932.

The All-India cricket team that was finally selected to travel to England for the inaugural test match was an extraordinary microcosm of the diversity that constitutes India. Soon after the Indian team arrived in England, on April 13, 1932, the Evening Standard commented on the socio-political significance of the tour: “No politics, no caste, just cricket. This is the unofficial slogan of the cricket team that has come from India after a lapse of 21 years.... There has never been such a team of contrasts meeting on the common footing of cricket. The 18 players speak eight to ten languages among them (and belong to) four or five different castes.” The team contained six Hindus, five Mohammedans, four Parsees and two Sikhs. The Mohammedans forswear alcohol by religion and most of the others did so by choice. The Sikhs, who would play cricket in turbans, are similarly denied smoking. The Hindus do not eat beef, and the Mohammedans avoid pork and ham.

The Indians played 38 matches in all, including 26 first-class fixtures. The team won 9 first-class matches, drew 9 and lost 8. The team's outstanding batsman was the right-handed CK Nayudu, who played in all the first-class matches, scoring 1,618 runs at an average of 40.45. The team also had a fine pair of opening bowlers in Amar Singh (111 wickets in first-class matches at 20.37) and Mohammad Nissar (71 wickets at 18.09).

The Indian team played its first official three day Test against England at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground during 25-28 June 1932. England won the toss and elected to bat. The Indians shocked the English in the first half-hour itself. The MCC was reduced to a dismal 19-3 by some excellent Indian bowling and fielding. It was an extraordinary start to the match. The Birmingham Post summed up the excellent start that the Indian’s made in their debut match “The All India cricket team has administered a few shocks to the dignity and confidence of England today. If there were among the 24,000 spectators at Lord’s some who imagined that the granting of a Test match by the MCC to the tourists from the Indian empire was merely an amiable concession, then they had a very rude awakening before the close of play....”. England came out of the initial shock and recovered to beat India in the inaugural test by 158 runs. Notwithstanding the defeat, June 25, 1932, will forever go down in India’s cricket history as a red letter day and 51 years later this very day in 1983, India lifted the World Cup and made this day an indelible day in the history of Indian Cricket.

An Appeal for support to a truly deserving NGO - ADHAR

Appeal for support to a truly deserving NGO - ADHAR ( www.adhar.org) that works 24x7x365 days a year, in providing life time shelters to the severely mentally challenged adults.

Mental health is a major concern worldwide and India is no different. Dr. Brock Chisholm, the first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1954, had presciently declared that “without mental health there can be no true physical health”. More than 6 decades later, the scenario has not altered substantially. The situation is more serious for the severely mentally challenged, and their family and care givers, who may mandatorily be needing residential shelters for life.

Unfortunately there are very few institutions who work in this most neglected area. Adhar is perhaps a lone shining star, that has been providing life time shelter to the severely mentally challenged for more than two decades. Adhar - an organisation of the association of parents of the mentally retarded adults - was founded by the visionary, Mr Prabhakar Gore, with support from few hapless parents, in the year 1993. Ever since Adhar has toiled hard, and continues to do so, often times struggling to meet both ends, to provide respite to the the 300 plus severely mentally challenged adults and to their care givers.

Adhar, now in its silver jubilee, has witnessed triumphs and tribulations and its management was and is a continuous challenge, struggle and often times mere hysterical, yet the institution has moved on undeterred and now boasts of housing 300 inmates (both male and female)in their 2 residential shelters one in the outskirts of Badlapur and the second in the outskirts of Nashik. Under its current dynamic leader, Mr Vishwas Gore, the son of the founder, Adhar has dared to dream big and to befittingly celebrate its silver jubilee, it has tasked itself to reach out to every benevolent individual and corporate houses and the society at large through friends, stakeholders, and well wishers to continue to help and patronise Adhar and also for creating an awareness on the dying needs of life time residential shelter for the severely mentally challenged among the society.

Among the unending challenges that Adhar faces is its constant struggle with its finances specially the mandatorily required recurring expenses that come with managing the 300 plus residents 24x7x365 days a year. The parents of the inmates of Adhar are unable to cope up with the ever increasing expenses leading to a huge widening gap in the budget, which can only be bridged from benevolent contributions from individuals, well wishers, and from corporate houses.

The Chairperson and members of the Adhar have some how managed to keep Adhar afloat out of sheer madness in the compassion and commitment that they have for the cause. Even the staff of Adhar who look after the inmates like their own wards, have been working passionately with commitment and have also made sacrifices by not demanding the salary that they deserve. Although Adhar has been lauded and has won national and international awards and recognition yet financial debts have continued to increase year after year and the struggle to keep this great institution continues.

Through this post, I am appealing to all my friends and contacts to please join in this noble task of spreading awareness about the needs of Adhar and join me in contributing to the Adhar in any which way either through donations or promoting Adhar by creating awareness about Adhar. Every single act of benevolence and contribution howsoever small it may be will immensely help in benefitting this great institution which is badly in need of continues support. Your benevolent contribution and creating awareness about the institution among your friends, relatives and contacts will go a long way in continuing to bring smiles on the faces of the residents and their caregivers.

Mumbai Metro and Mumbai

Mumbai Metro and the the city that never sleeps.

Ms Ashwini Bhide, MD, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), who is featured today in the front page of Times of India, inaugurated the “Making of Mumbai Metro - 3” and “Scientific Antiquities” exhibitions and delivered an overwhelming lecture on the Metro line 3 in front of a packed auditorium with nearly 300 people in attendance, at the Nehru Science Centre, on the 11th of May, 2018, to commemorate the National Technology Day.

Mumbai suburban Rail transport (central, western and harbour line) is inextricably linked to the life of most Mumbaikars. Every single day millions of people use suburban rail transport to commute in Mumbai. Although, daily, more than 2000 plus train services in Mumbai are commissioned to hurtle through the city, carrying millions of Mumbaikars to their destinations, yet the ever increasing population and unending migration of people to the Mumbai metropolis is making it extremely difficult and often times dangerous for people to commute by suburban rail. Most rail commuters in Mumbai, specially during the peak hours, are confronted with every day challenge of searching for foot-space in a train that does not even have an additional square inch of space left. Realising this hard fact, the civic infrastructure planners have long been struggling with solutions and have firmly believed that the time has truly come for ‘the lifeline’ of Mumbai to now change to Metro (rail based Mass Rapid Transit System).

Accordingly the Government of Maharashtra, taking on board all stakeholders, has committed to implementing the ‘Metro Rail Projects’ to improve traffic & transportation scenario in Mumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR) and has entrusted this task to the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), with the Chief Minister as it’s Chairman, to implement its vision. The ambitious Metro Rail Master Plan includes 9 corridors covering a length of 146.5 k.m., out of which 32.5 k.m was proposed underground and rest elevated. One of the most challenging corridors in this master plan that employs the best of technology, is the Metro 3 project. We at the Nehru Science Centre had the honour not only to host an exhibition, which briefly presents the making of this challenging metro line but also were privileged that the MD of MMRC entrusted with this mammoth task, Ms Ashwini Bhide, was personally there to open this exhibition and to deliver an outstandingly informative and fear allaying lecture on this project. This exhibition and the commemorative lecture, we feel, was the most befitting manner in which we could celebrate this year’s National Technology Day at the Nehru Science Centre.

The exhibition, provides a glimpse into the technological marvels that are used in the making of the The Metro-3 corridor. This metro corridor is a fully underground line connecting south Mumbai to the city’s western suburbs. The 33.5 kilometres long line will have 27 stations and is expected to be operational by 2021. Ms Bhide spoke on the technological challenges involved in the project while honestly touching upon some societal issues including displacement of people and also uprooting of several trees. She was honest about the sound pollution and such other medium term problems that the project will create but was unequivocal in stressing that they are most concerned about these issues and are doing all that is possible to mitigate the hardships. She listed out details of the rehabilitation plans and also the plans for plantation of innumerable number of trees in lieu of the ones which were mandatorily required to be uprooted. She informed the audience that they have achieved an important mile stone of completing more than 2kms of tunneling in a short span. She spoke on how the MMRC is using Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) at various launching shafts for tunnel construction and added that the metro line 3 has so far received eleven TBMs, out of which eight have been lowered and have started main drives. Ms. Bhide further said, that 15 TBMs have already completed Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) and that they are hopeful that they will have all the 17 TBMs running by July 2018.

The presentation was richly illustrated with site photos and artistic visuals of how the system would look like when completed. She addressed concerns of public in terms of environmental issues, mobile connectivity, security concerns, evacuation plans in times of emergency etc. With full-scale operations of MML-3, the city would witness significant reduction in traffic volumes and the local transit facility would get a boost. She added, the MML-3 would bring multiple benefits such as comfortable Air conditioned travel for more than 16 lakh commuters daily, reduction in travel time, reduction in air & noise pollution, improving safety & security of the citizens etc. Upon completion, this fully underground corridor with 27 stations would connect Six business districts, 30 educational institutes, 30 recreational facilities and domestic as well as international airport terminals.

Metro transport has revolutionised public transport in most parts of the world including the city of Delhi, which now boasts of an advanced metro rail system.

As per the data available from the Advancing Public Transport (UITP) site, which provides the statistics of the world metro figures, as of April 2014, there were 168 metro system in 55 countries. The site further states that the last 15 years have seen a considerable expansion in terms of metro systems and infrastructure globally. It adds that a total of 194 metro lines (both existing and new networks) accounting for approximately 40% of the length of metro infrastructure worldwide, have been opened in this period. It goes on to add that in 2014 alone, 513 km of new metro infrastructure and 355 new metro stations were put into service. Among the new metro systems that were inaugurated in this period, Mumbai is one of them and the others include ; Salvador (Brazil), Changsha, Ningbo and Wuxi (China), Shiraz (Iran) and Panama City (Panama). The Mumbai Metro 1 (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar) corridor was opened to commuter traffic in June 2014. It has now emerged as the most hassle free transportation mode and its ridership per weekday jumped to 3.55 lakh commuters in 2017, up from 2.96 lakh in February 2016.

The Metro Transport is one of the most preferred transport in the world with several densely populated cities adopting this means of transport. The busiest metro network in the world is Tokyo, which boasts close to 3.6 billion passenger journeys per year. Chinese metro systems, have experienced even more significant passenger growth, with Beijing (+39%) and Shanghai (+25%) rising to 2nd and 3rd busiest networks. Taken together, metro systems in Asia carry over 80 million passengers per day, nearly half the world total passengers and with most Indian cities preferring this mode of transport this number is only heading north words.

This year’s National Technology Day was truly memorable for us. We opened the Machined to Think Gallery (opened by Dr Anil Kakodkar), organised the OCSC valedictory event of the International Astronomy Olympiad, opened the Making of Metro line 3 and the scientific antiquities exhibition to commemorate this important day. We firmly believe that Applied science or Engineering or Technology has been central to human ingenuity. From the dim millennium of prehistory, ever since woman became the tool maker, she has applied her mind in developing technology, which has been central to the primacy of human evolution that plays a pivotal role in benefiting human society. Technology continues to be one of the key drivers for empowering individuals, societies and countries. Therefore we must owe our debt to Atal ji who recognised the importance of technology, in the growth of our nation, and declared 11th of May, back in 1998, to be celebrated as the National Technology Day.

“Jai Jawan Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan”

“Jai Jawan Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan”

“Machined to Think” one of its kind exhibition inaugurated at the Nehru Science Centre on 9th May, 2018

On the occasion of the National Technology day (11th May)- the day when in 1998 the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to commemorate the peaceful successful testing of the Pokhran 2, modified the profound slogan that Prime Minister Lal Bhahadhur Shastri had coined “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” by stating “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan” - an exhibition titled “Machined to Think”, which provides a bird’s eye view into the developments in science and technologies that are destined to usher in, what is now hailed as the, “fourth industrial revolution", was inaugurated (on the 9th May 2018) by Padma Vibhushan, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, one of the key architect and scientist who was responsible for the Pokhran 2 tests, at the Nehru Science Centre.

Addressing the gathering Dr Kakodkar, also the architect of the “Technology Vision 2035” document of the TIFAC that was released by the Honourable Prime Minister of India during the India Science Congress in 2016, said that the exhibition provides an excellent opportunity for the young minds (the students) to have a glimpse in to the technological developments of future in the areas of Cutting edge science and technology like the Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Internet of Things , 3D printing and such other technologies that are shaping the modern world. Appreciating the title of the exhibition he said the human intelligence is helping in shaping the 4th industrial revolution with machined to think technologies that are destined to shape our future. He added that India which could not join the first three industrials Revolutions has a golden opportunity to join this fourth Industrial Revolution to benefit our citizens. He appealed the young students, who had gathered in large numbers, to harvest the benefits of science and technology by understanding the principles of science so as to maintain our competitiveness in technology. He complimented Nehru Science Centre for developing this timely exhibition. Also present on the occasion was Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni, Chairman, ORF, Mumbai.

Some of the fascinating immersive exhibits of the gallery include the Virtual Reality where the visitors are taken to the Antarctic to to be in the company of the Polar bears and penguins. The other exhibits include the Virtual topography, Brian waves controlled drone, peg mirror, augmented reality, robotic Rubik cube solver, artificial intelligence and others. These are some of the extraordinary technologies, among several other disruptive technological developments that will lead us to the fourth industrial revolution the term articulated by Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. The benefits of the new technologies in the fourth industrial revolution will lead to reaping in benefits in fields like agriculture at an accelerated speed and transition toward high yield productivity and other rural economic benefits. This will immensely benefit India which has almost 60 percent of its population living in rural areas with agriculture as their main profession.

The combination of IoT technologies, digital tools, robotics, machine intelligence and 5G networks and all their building blocks will be central to the fourth industrial revolution, which will provide a wealth of opportunities for cooperation between machined to think technologies and humans to bring about a paradigm shift and vastly improve productivity and speed up the delivery of services for the welfare of citizens.

The response to the exhibition just after its opening was phenomenal. Although there are challenges a plenty in maintaining this gallery yet we are confident that this exhibition will immensely benefit our audience.

Antiquity s&t objects of historical importance

Antiquity s&t objects of historical importance

One of the major events to commemorate the India - UK year of Culture was the historic exhibition “Illuminating India 5000 years of Science and Innovation” that was displayed at the Science Museum London. Our Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, paid a visit to this exhibition recently. Nehru Science Centre had the honour to be the Nodal Agency for this exhibition and 6 antiquity objects of historical significance were sent from India for this exhibition besides 8 other non antiquity objects. These objects have now come back to India and they will be displayed for public viewing at the Nehru Science Centre just for three days from 11th May, the National Technology Day to the 13th May 2018.
A brief write up on each of the antiquity objects is given below. The Mid Day has covered in today’s paper.

CARY'S GREAT THEODOLITE

Cary’s Theodolite, an instrument that measures the angles between distant points using a moveable telescope, was the most advanced theodolite in use anywhere in the world, which was produced in the year 1830. This remarkable surveying instrument was extensively used by Lambton and Sir George Everest for the monumental Survey of the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century. This great trigonometrical survey, by triangulation method, is now etched in the annals of history as the Great Trigonometric Survey of India. This also provided the first accurate measurement of the arc of longitude -the curvature of the earth from pole to pole.
This survey helped in calculating not only the exact size of the Earth but also the height of the world's tallest mountain, the Everest, named after Sir George Everest. This theodolite, even today, is still in working condition. The boundary of India that we are most familiar with and see in the India map, was mapped by this very theodolite. In the early 1800s, the British, then ruling India, set out to make a precise map of Indian continent. With the help of this theodolite and Ramsdens’s 100ft chain, the basic surveying tool of that time, the herculean task of survey of India was completed. It took 70 long years to complete the task.
Currently this precious theodolite is under the possession and custody of the Indian Institute of Survey and Mapping, Survey of India, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

COMPENSATION BAR
The Compensation Bar is a Precision Measuring Instrument that uses the principle of thermal expansion. This very bar was used for the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in 1800's by the Surveyor general of India George Everest. It was developed by Thomas Colby the superintendent of Irish survey between 1926 to 1928. The Compensation bar that works on the principle of difference of expansion rates of metals is a precision measuring equipment made up of two equal bars, one of iron and one of brass, each being 10 feet long. The bars are firmly clamped at the middle with brass members so that they do not move. At each end of both the bars an aperture is worked out to admit a conical pivot, and the two pivots, one is the brass and the other the iron bar, are adjusted to a flat iron tongue. The bars are supported by brass rollers and enclosed in deal boxes, from which only the Tongues project. There is a Glass encased spirit level fixed at the centre, in between the two bars. The metal clamps at the centre that keep the bars fixed along the central portion and allow expansion only towards the end.
Currently this precious object is located at the Indian Institute of Survey and Mapping, Survey of India, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

COMPOUND LEVER CRESCOGRAPH
This is a very delicate and precision instrument, which was fabricated under J C Bose's supervision by goldsmiths and silversmiths who were adept at precision work. This unique instrument was invented and used by Acharya J C Bose to measure plant growth. The instrument uses a series of clockwork gears and a carbon coated glass plate to record the movement of the tip of a plant (or its roots) at magnifications of up to 10,000. Marks are made on the plate at intervals of a few seconds, demonstrating how the rate of growth varies under varying stimuli. Bose experimented with temperature, chemicals, gases, and electricity. It is a two-tier instrument and currently a plant sample is still preserved in the system.
It is constructed with multiple materials including painted iron, brass, glass (for the plate, tubes and beaker), silk thread, wood and carbon that coat the glass plate. Additionally, an old Plant fragment and a glass beaker with Cotton are also seen with the instrument.
Presently it is not in working condition The Instrument is kept at the Acharya Bhavan (now called the Science Heritage Museum) in Kolkata and is placed inside a glass box (without a base) on a wooden stool.

OSCILATING PLATE PHYTOGRAPH
This instrument too was invented and used by Acharya J C Bose in his quest to prove that plants respond to environmental factors. The Phytograph, could amplify the oscillation of leaves for instance under different environmental conditions to record effects on them. Bose published his findings in 1906.
This Instrument is presently kept at the Acharya Bhavan (now called the Science Heritage Museum) in Kolkata. It is a precision instrument with various delicate mechanical parts which are believed to have been fabricated under Bose's supervision by goldsmiths and silversmiths who were adept at precision work.

RAMAN SPECTROMETER
It was made around 1928 or few years earlier. The functioning of this path breaking instrument was first published in the renowned international magazine, Nature, 121, 3053,711(1928). It has 6 different components, namely the Mercury Vapor Lamp, Collimating Lens, the Sample holder, the Collecting lens, the Violet Filter. The first 5 components have been mounted on a new wooden base and the Spectrometer is separate. The Sample holder and the Violet Filter are new. Today the position of the Violet Filter is yet under discussion.
There is an additional tapered glass tube with a blackened end which has been displayed with the instrument and features in a historic photography. The Raman Spectrometer is not in working condition now as the inner contraptions of the spectrometer are missing. It was originally used to identify materials that display Raman Scattering. Sir, C V Raman got the Nobel Prize for the discovery of an effect named after him in the year 1930, using this very instrument. This scattering today is known as Raman effect. Today the spectrometer is in the custody of IACS. (Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science)

RAMSDEN'S 100 FEET CHAIN
Like the theodolite it was also a basic surveying tool. The length of each link is 3.43 feet and Width – 1 feet, Depth: 0.65 feet. The chain is made up of steel. The brass plates help the folded chain to be held in place. like an enormous ruler the chain was used to measure the distance between two points. It was used to measure the distance while surveying India in the year 1830. It was invented by the British mathematician and surveyor Jesse Ramsdens. Its length was 100-feet. It was first brought to India by General William Lambton from England. The chain weighs 20 kilograms and had 40 steel bars 2.5 feet in length fitted with double hinged joints to allow for easy folding and portability. It requires lengthy calibration to correct the expansion and contraction it goes through due to change in temperature. moreover, it stretches with use.
Currently this object is preserved at the Indian Institute of Survey and Mapping, Survey of India, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, inaugurated the “Hall of Oceans” exhibition

Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, inaugurated the “Hall of Oceans” exhibition at the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium, Kozhikode.

In the infinitely vast and unending cosmos, which boasts of billions of galaxies each home to billions of stars, one of which is our very own galaxy the Milky Way of which our Sun is one of those billions of stars that our galaxy is made up of, our Earth is one of those eight planets that our solar system supports. The Sun and our planet Earth are very unique. Earth is the only known “spec” of dust, in the unending cosmos, that harbours life in its varied life forms. Earth, also called the Blue Planet, is home to the most precious substance, Water that makes life possible. 70+ percent of our earths surface is made up of water, which gives earth its unique “blue” identity. It is the Sun, water and nature’s cycles of natural phenomenon, spread over millions and millions of years, that resulted in the formation of life on this unique planet. In recognition of the role that the oceans play in the inextricable linkage of formation of life on earth with the oceans, that RSC Kozhikode was tasked to design and develop the exhibition “Hall of Oceans”. My colleague Mr V S Ramachandran, the head of the Centre, and his team have developed this wonderful richly illustrated exhibition with support from the Nehru Science Centre. The exhibition has several hands on exhibits with models, multimedia, videos, dioramas, simulator etc. It was an honour and privilege for us that this new facility was inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan on 5th May 2018.

The inextricable linkage of life on earth with the oceans, has now been very well established. Even in our mythology evolution of life forms from ocean have been elucidated in the dashavaratara, the eight avataras of lord Vishnu. Yet, the oceans have remained majorly mysterious. This mystery is borne out from the fact that the oceans are still 90% unexplored, and less understood than perhaps the surface of Mars. Despite occupying 70% of our planet’s surface, what we know about ocean is far less than what it calls for. However over the years the mystery of Oceans is gradually getting demystified. The Hall of Oceans exhibition, it is hoped will help in exciting the young minds to understand the oceans better and that some of these young minds may well go on to be the Syed Zahoor Qasim of tomorrow’s India.

Ocean has been the cradle of life forms. From the seemingly infinite ways in which the light and water intermingled to dramatically produce those bioluminescent bacteria, twinkling like stars in the deep ocean, or the way rays of sunlight fall on water to evaporate a vast volume of the salty water that the oceans and seas are made up of, to form clouds and result in the water cycle producing rain and fresh water that aid the biodiversity of life, the study and understanding of oceans has been very important. The exhibition, Hall of Oceans, covers a wide ranging topics. One of the exhibits is the Millers experimental model. Stanley Miller is considered as the father of chemistry of origin of life. Millers experimental set up, a model of which is presented in the exhibition, almost overnight transformed the study of the origin of life into a respectable field of inquiry. Working in Urey's laboratory, Miller placed the four gases in a closed system over a reservoir of water that simulated the early ocean. He heated the water to fill the system with water vapour and repeatedly passed an electrical discharge through the gas to simulate lightening, which showed that some particles in the ocean can melt together to form different particles, amino-acids the forerunners of the RNA and DNA biological molecules. These primordial particles are the ‘bricks’ that built life on earth. Over millions and millions of years, this process led to the creation of the first bacteria and single cell organisms from which ‘higher’ lifeforms evolved leading upto the human species as evidenced and revealed to us by the great Darwin, through his monumental works on the Origin of Species by Natural Selection.

The exhibition has models and information that highlights the multitudes of the Oceans including the socioeconomic importance of oceans to the Indian Peninsula highlighting specifically on Kerala. One of the dioramas depicts the speciality of the Kerala coast - the mudbanks (known in Malayalam as chakara). Mud banks are formed as a result of the formation of clay and organic matters on the coast that occurs after monsoon with the sea remaining calm, thus resulting in good harvest of fish. The Indian Ocean matters today, arguably more than ever. It is a major conduit for international trade, especially energy, which has been high lighted in the gallery. Other exhibits including colourful corals, and varied other life forms in ocean are included in the exhibition as models and visuals, which are spread across the gallery aimed at educating and creating interest among the students in particular and public in general. Other models in the exhibition include working models on plate tectonics, tidal waves, tsunami, simulator, large video screen with some stunning videos.

The Chief Minister, who spent his precious time to visit the exhibition and impressed with what he saw, pledged complete support to the Centre including committing to allot additional land for the expansion of the Science Centre. With a humble beginning back in 1996, when the Centre was opened, the Calicut Science centre and planetarium has now come a long way with several new facilities that have been added and we are now at a stage when the 6 acres of land where it is located does not have any further scope for expansion. The Centre and planetarium now attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually and has become a people’s centre.

I take this opportunity to complement Mr V S Ramachandran, who has been the prime mover for the great achievements of this Centre, and his entire team who have strived hard to make this possible. Kudos to each one of them and a special thank you to Mr Ramachandran for whom my support as the head of the Nehru Science Centre, which is the head office of the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium, Kozhikode, has been incidental to the team RSCC’s success.

Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, inaugurated the “Hall of Oceans” exhibition at the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium, Kozhikode.

Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, inaugurated the “Hall of Oceans” exhibition at the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium, Kozhikode.

In the infinitely vast and unending cosmos, which boasts of billions of galaxies each home to billions of stars, one of which is our very own galaxy the Milky Way of which our Sun is one of those billions of stars that our galaxy is made up of, our Earth is one of those eight planets that our solar system supports. The Sun and our planet Earth are very unique. Earth is the only known “spec” of dust, in the unending cosmos, that harbours life in its varied life forms. Earth, also called the Blue Planet, is home to the most precious substance, Water that makes life possible. 70+ percent of our earths surface is made up of water, which gives earth its unique “blue” identity. It is the Sun, water and nature’s cycles of natural phenomenon, spread over millions and millions of years, that resulted in the formation of life on this unique planet. In recognition of the role that the oceans play in the inextricable linkage of formation of life on earth with the oceans, that RSC Kozhikode was tasked to design and develop the exhibition “Hall of Oceans”. My colleague Mr V S Ramachandran, the head of the Centre, and his team have developed this wonderful richly illustrated exhibition with support from the Nehru Science Centre. The exhibition has several hands on exhibits with models, multimedia, videos, dioramas, simulator etc. It was an honour and privilege for us that this new facility was inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala.

The inextricable linkage of life on earth with the oceans, has now been very well established. Even in our mythology evolution of life forms from ocean have been elucidated in the dashavaratara, the eight avataras of lord Vishnu. Yet, the oceans have remained majorly mysterious. This mystery is borne out from the fact that the oceans are still 90% unexplored, and less understood than perhaps the surface of Mars. Despite occupying 70% of our planet’s surface, what we know about ocean is far less than what it calls for. However over the years the mystery of Oceans is gradually getting demystified. The Hall of Oceans exhibition, it is hoped will help in exciting the young minds to understand the oceans better and that some of these young minds may well go on to be the Syed Zahoor Qasim of tomorrow’s India.

Ocean has been the cradle of life forms. From the seemingly infinite ways in which the light and water intermingled to dramatically produce those bioluminescent bacteria, twinkling like stars in the deep ocean, or the way rays of sunlight fall on water to evaporate a vast volume of the salty water that the oceans and seas are made up of, to form clouds and result in the water cycle producing rain and fresh water that aid the biodiversity of life, the study and understanding of oceans has been very important. The exhibition, Hall of Oceans, covers a wide ranging topics. One of the exhibits is the Millers experimental model. Stanley Miller is considered as the father of chemistry of origin of life. Millers experimental set up, a model of which is presented in the exhibition, almost overnight transformed the study of the origin of life into a respectable field of inquiry. Working in Urey's laboratory, Miller placed the four gases in a closed system over a reservoir of water that simulated the early ocean. He heated the water to fill the system with water vapour and repeatedly passed an electrical discharge through the gas to simulate lightening, which showed that some particles in the ocean can melt together to form different particles, amino-acids the forerunners of the RNA and DNA biological molecules. These primordial particles are the ‘bricks’ that built life on earth. Over millions and millions of years, this process led to the creation of the first bacteria and single cell organisms from which ‘higher’ lifeforms evolved leading upto the human species as evidenced and revealed to us by the great Darwin, through his monumental works on the Origin of Species by Natural Selection.

The exhibition has models and information that highlights the multitudes of the Oceans including the socioeconomic importance of oceans to the Indian Peninsula highlighting specifically on Kerala. One of the dioramas depicts the speciality of the Kerala coast - the mudbanks (known in Malayalam as chakara). Mud banks are formed as a result of the formation of clay and organic matters on the coast that occurs after monsoon with the sea remaining calm, thus resulting in good harvest of fish. The Indian Ocean matters today, arguably more than ever. It is a major conduit for international trade, especially energy, which has been high lighted in the gallery. Other exhibits including colourful corals, and varied other life forms in ocean are included in the exhibition as models and visuals, which are spread across the gallery aimed at educating and creating interest among the students in particular and public in general. Other models in the exhibition include working models on plate tectonics, tidal waves, tsunami, simulator, large video screen with some stunning videos.

The Chief Minister, who spent his precious time to visit the exhibition and impressed with what he saw, pledged complete support to the Centre including committing to allot additional land for the expansion of the Science Centre. With a humble beginning back in 1996, when the Centre was opened, the Calicut Science centre and planetarium has now come a long way with several new facilities that have been added and we are now at a stage when the 6 acres of land where it is located does not have any further scope for expansion. The Centre and planetarium now attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually and has become a people’s centre.

I take this opportunity to complement Mr V S Ramachandran, who has been the prime mover for the great achievements of this Centre, and his entire team who have strived hard to make this possible. Kudos to each one of them and a special thank you to Mr Ramachandran for whom my support as the head of the Nehru Science Centre, which is the head office of the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium, Kozhikode, has been incidental to the team RSCC’s success.

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State funeral for the reel heroes but not for the real heroes : What an irony

State funeral for the reel heroes but not for the real heroes : What an irony

We in India have always lived with the hard reality that not withstanding the proclamation by the constitution of India, which says “all are equal”, we know there is an unwritten suffix to this dictum “some are more equal”. This unwritten, reprehensible system was followed by the Government of Karnataka and its CM depriving the truly deserving state funeral for VrC. Col. Ravindranath the Kargil Hero, whose mortals remains were laid to rest recently at his ancestral village.

This unwritten “some are more equal”, dictum is almost always for the Reel heroes, which includes not just the cine artistes but also the high and mighty including the politicians, who are treated more equal than the rest of us. While, we the lesser mortals, the common people in India, have resigned to this hard reality, what is more shocking though is, that even the real heroes are differentiated when compared to the reel heroes. Sridevi, the reel hero, and so also Gauri Lankesh, both of whom died an untimely death were accorded the state funerals by their respective governments Maharashtra and Karnataka, God bless the two and so also their governments, which accorded them the state funerals. But the real hero Col. Ravindranath, Vir Chakra, and the Kargil hero, under whose leadership the Tololing was captured while many of his men gave the supreme sacrifice, was denied the truly deserving state funeral honour by his own government. Is it not the time for us to raise our voice in unison against such gross misdemeanour by the Government of Karnataka and its chief minister who had no time even to heed to the appeals of the ex service men from Bangalore and an MP who made a fervent plea to him to accord state funeral to the man who led his men to safeguard the nations integrity even at the peril of his men.

The mortal remains of the immortal soldier, VrC Col. Ravindranath, who, honestly and faithfully served the Indian Army and his motherland and in true allegiance to the indomitable spirit of the Army, went wherever ordered, leading his men to scale at night, the near vertical, most treacherous of hills facing the enemy, strategically and deceitfully entrenched atop the peaks that rightfully belong to us, to conquer the Tololing hill and to change the very nature of the Kargil war from certain defeat to major conquests for the nation, was buried and laid to rest, on Monday, following the traditional rituals of the Lingayat community to which he belonged.

It was this very Kargil Hero, Col Ravindranath, who had successfully planned and led his men, including a night-blind carpenter Uttam Singh who lugged ammunition, trekking every night for eight hours, catching the coat tail of the soldier in front of him, to move 15 tons of ammunition in the most treacherous of terrains, very close to the enemy, to build up the assaulting troops. The success of the battalion relied on the exceptional leadership of their leader, Col Ravindranath, whose constant motivation and instilling the pride for the nation could lead to his battalion achieving the near impossible feat of conquering the Tololing peak and hoisting the tricolour on its top. Ravindranath and his men had launched the most ferocious and determined attack on an enemy holding strategic high ground with exemplary valour,grit. In doing so, Col Ravindranath was witness to great privation, faced adverse physical and professional challenges and had to risk his men, junior leaders and officers of 2 RAJRIF, who after a night-long operation, were able to wrest Tololing Top from the enemy to hoist the tricolour atop the hill. Unfortunately, at a irreplaceable cost with 11 dead besides 92 injured.

With the lowering of his mortal remains in a specially created trench in the precincts of the family owned rice mill of the Magod family, to which Col Ravindranath belonged, in the village of Holesiregere in the state of Karnataka, the deafening sounds of long live Ravindranath rented the air with hundreds of thousands of moist eyes paying homage and respect to their brave soldier, looking on as their very own son of the soil was soon to be consumed by the very sacred land where he was born to lead a life par exemplary in service of the motherland to which the land he was born belonged to. Scores of Ajeets including the Principal of the Sainik School Bijapur were present to pay their respect to the departed soldier, a hero and role model to every Ajeets.

The least the government of Karnataka could do to pay their respects was to send a representative of the government and to accord him the truly deserving state funeral which did not happen. It was not very long ago that this very government of Karnataka had accorded state funeral to a journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead at point-blank range at her home. The police had also given a gun salute to Ms Lankesh. I am not in any way taking away the contributions, if any, of the lady journalist who had the temerity to express her opinion on the so called growing intolerance. But then what is most shocking is that when the government could extend a state funeral to Ms Gauri Lankesh why not for Col Ravindranath. Several ex servicemen and so also a sitting MP had appealed to the Chief Minister to accord state funeral, which went in vain and fell on the dear ears of the Hon. CM. What is more shocking is that there was none to represent the state. This very government including the CM and several ministers had lined up for the funeral of the journalist while they did not feel it worthy to be present during the funeral of the Kargil hero. No matter whether the state recognised his services or not the nation owes its debt to the likes of Col Ravindranath who sacrifice their today for our tomorrow. Long live Col Ravindranath. Amar Rahe Amar Rahe. Jai Hind.

Dhvani se Shabd aur Chinh an exhibition dedicated to the innumerable unsung heroes of art and science.

Dhvani se Shabd aur Chinh an exhibition dedicated to the innumerable unsung heroes of art and science.

An interesting exhibition “Dhvani se Shabd aur Chinh”, which celebrates the relatively unknown artists who are connected with south India is now on display at the NGMA Mumbai. This exhibition curated by Mr AAdwaita Gadanayak DG NGMA, and his team, was inaugurated at the NGMA Mumbai on Saturday the 22nd April by three Director Generals of leading Museums, Dr BR Mani, DG, National Museum, New Delhi, Mr Sabyasachi Mukherjee, DG, CSMVS, Mumbai and Mr Adwaita Gadanayak, DG, NGMA. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures and mixed media works of some of the unsung heroes of modern art who come from the Madras art movement including the cholamandala group. Their works are as inspiring and awe striking as those of their contemporaries from Bengal and Bombay. Yet, most of the artists whose works are on display at the exhibition are not very well known nor much has been written about them. The impact of these artists on the art scene in India at most gets a footnote mention unlike their other contemporaries from the Bengal school of art and Bombay progressives on whom scores of books and articles are written.

After presenting three canonical exhibitions from the collections of NGMA Delhi, namely, the Last Harvest exhibition of the paintings of Rabindranath Tagore, the Passionate Quest an exhibition of the paintings of Amrita SherGil, and the works of Jamini Roy, the NGMA Mumbai is now privileged to present the current exhibition -Dhvani se Sabd Aur Chinh- that exhibits works of 40 odd artists, from south India whose names, unfortunately, are not very well known even in the art circles. These works, which were confined to the art storage area and other inconspicuous areas of NGMA Delhi, have been very painstakingly culled out by Shri Adwaita Gadanayak the curator and his team to put together this great show, which weaves a memorable story that symbolically and metaphorically connects these works with shabd and chinh identities. While one looks in awe of the works of art, the 40 plus artists, whose works form the exhibition, are unfortunately not so very well known as those of their other contemporaries from the Bengal School and the Bombay progressives. This exhibition is therefore all the more creditable for it reintroduces us to the forgotten painters, such as K.C.S. Paniker, R.B. Bhaskaran, and others who were central to the 1960s Madras Art Movement.

The exhibition draws an uncanny parallel with the world of science which too is full of unsung heroes whose names too are as inconspicuous as those of the artists whose works are on display at the NGMA exhibition. Take for example the discovery of the structure of the DNA, which is central to all life. James Watson and Francis Crick are two instant names that most associate the discovery of the structure of DNA for which they were awarded the 1962 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine, which they shared with Maurice Wilkins. However there is one another name - a lady scientist Roslyn Franklin - whose X Ray crystallographic image was central to solving the structure of the DNA, which was shamelessly and clandestinely stolen and used by Watson Crick to decipher the double helix structure of the DNA and also to solve the central dogma riddle of the DNA. Like the artists from the Madras school of art, whose works are on display at the NGMA Mumbai exhibition, Roslyn Franklin too is not very well known. Similarly when we speak of antibiotics, whose serendipitous discovery earned Sir Alexander Fleming, Chain and Florey, the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1945, people hardly ever have heard the unsung heroes works that made possible industrial scale production of antibiotics. The unsung hero (heroine in this case) whose painstaking engineering works made this possible was Margret Hutchinson Rousseau a Chemical engineer. She used the deep-tank fermentation process for mass producing Penicillin, and we finally had a method that could implement the benefits of the great discovery of the Penicillin. Her impact often gets a footnote, or at most a paragraph, in the history of Penicillin. But she arguably had as much of an impact as Fleming and the others when it comes to the penicillin antibiotics, which has saved tens of millions of lives.

I am therefore particularly happy that Mr Adwaita Gadanayaka the curator of the exhibition and DG NGMA has created this wonderful exhibition which must be dedicated to all those unsung heroes in the fields of arts and science who work ever so passionately and painstakingly without having to look at the results, name and fame.

Eulogy for an exemplary leader and Brave decorated military officer, Vir Chakra, Col. MB Ravindranath

Eulogy for an exemplary leader and Brave decorated military officer, Vir Chakra, Col. MB Ravindranath, who led his men admirably and captured the Tololing peak: The battle that decisively changed the course of Kargil war

An exemplary leader and an extraordinarily brave, decorated military officer of Kargil Fame, Commanding Officer of the 2 Rajputana Rifles that captured the Tololing peak, the primary battle that changed the course of the Kargil war, and an even greater human being and a man who epitomised humility, Vir Chakra Col. MB Ravindranath died of a massive heart attack this morning in Bangalore leaving the entire Ajeet fraternity in utter shock and disbelief. He is an alumnus (Ajeet)of the Sainik School, Bijapur (Vijaypur 1969-76 batch) just one year senior to us in school. With profound grief and tears in eyes, I join my fellow Ajeets and the entire nation - in whose service he selflessly dedicated himself while serving in the Army- in praying for his supreme soul to rest in eternal peace and to give his family the strength to bear this irreparable loss.

Friends please please Lend me your eyes and mind to read through this long post, for it is the likes of Col Ravindranath and his ilks that keep us and the entire nation safe, by sacrificing their life for our today and tomorrow.

Before I recount the valour that he and the men he ably led during the Kargil war and the capture of the Tololing peak - dominant position overlooking Srinagar- Leh Highway (NH-1D) that was so strategic that after it was conquered it was only a matter of six days for Indian troops to notch up a string of successes by evicting well-entrenched Paki enemy intruders in four nearby outposts - permit me to be selfish to recount an incident of my personal meeting with Col Ravindranath, who had just returned back from the Kargil war, at the National Science Centre in Delhi.

The Kargil war was all over the print and electronic media and one such coverage in the Times of India, Delhi edition, was an erroneous news of the death of Col MB Ravindranath, who was declared dead while capturing the Tololing. Through our school friends I managed to get a confirmation that the news was grossly wrong. There is a saying that if some one is declared dead while he is alive he will go on to lead a long life, so I thought about our dear Ravindranath, but the almighty felt he could not live without him by his side and snatched him from us, the mortals to make him immortal.

I was so very proud of the achievements of Col Ravindranath that I had already informed my friends and colleagues at the National Science Centre boasting myself, like most lesser mortals do, that I am his friend. When my colleagues came to know that Col Ravindranath was coming to meet me at the National Science Centre, just when his name was all over the news after capturing the Tololing, they perhaps were sure that he will give a first hand account of the battle that he and his men fought in the most treacherous of conditions. I did introduce him to some of my colleagues, my memory fails me, but some one asked him to narrate the Kargil war. While they were waiting with bated breadth to listen first hand from the soldier what transpired at Tololing, they were hugely shocked with his response. He just said “he and his men did what they were tasked to do”. When further cajoled to talk about war and its risks he said “every job comes with its own risk, you all have your job risks so do we”. What a profound statement with such greatest of humility. Salutes to you my dear friend.

I also had the honour to meet him at the HKES Engineering college hostel in Gulbarga. Col Ravindranath’s entire platoon was passing through Gulbarga in train and two of his Sainik school classmates, Sanganna Asuti and M Sajjanar and three of us myself, Viju Patil and Ramesh Patil from Sainik School were staying in the same hostel. Col Ravindranath came to meet us and chatted with us in his military attire. As I keep writing this eulogy I am so very struck with emotion that some times I feel blacked out. I must write so that you all know who he was. So friends please once again I implore you to lend me your eyes and minds for I am now going to narrate his valour, whose first hand account can be seen from the personal compliments “well done” that he and his men received from the Chief of the Army, during the Kargil War, General Malik.

It was for good reason that the General Malik had complimented Col. Ravindranath. Once the Tololing was captured by Col Ravindranath and his men, it took just six days for Indian troops to notch up a string of successes by evicting well-entrenched intruders from four nearby outposts with names that had become the talking points across the nation - Point 4590, Rocky Knob, Hump and Point 5140. It also lead to the recapture of a similarly strategic height of Tiger Hills.

On the 13th of June, 1999, at 4.01 am, Colonel M.B. Ravindranath, commanding officer of the 2 Rajputana Rifles, who along with his men had scaled the near vertical peak to fight the enemy to claim the Tololing peak, radioed the most awaited message to the commander of the 8 Mountain Division, Major-General Mohinder Puri, camping some 20 km away. It was the most simplest of message, which to General Puri was as profound as the message of Edmond Hillary when he landed on moon. Col Ravindranath had messaged “Sir, I'm on Tololing Top." Until then the enemy was entrenched on top of the Tololing and was able to observe the movement of the Indian soldiers making progress excruciatingly slow. Regardless, Col Ravindranath and his dare devil troops captured the Tololing peak in the Drass Sector after a fierce, night-long hand-to-hand battle. One officer, two JCOs and seven jawans, among his men, had made the supreme sacrifice for the nation and lay dead before him on the most treacherous of rock that often tilted at 80 degrees. The only cover for Ravindranath and his men while capturing the Tololing peak were the prayers of his countrymen and their ammunition a combination of bayonet, bare hands and dare devilishly bravery. Books written by General Malik and General Puri on the battle of Kargil provide more insights, which those interested may like to read.

Col Ravindranath is no more but his deeds and those of his men will remain etched in the annals of Indian history and he will continue to live in the hearts of all Ajeets. RIP

Eulogy for Stephen Hawking

Eulogy for Stephen Hawking.

Stephen Hawking, a symbol of human hope and inspiration for hundreds and thousands of people with debilitating disabilities and the man who defied all odds and known medical diagnosis and prognosis of definitive death to lead a creative and productive life for well over 50 years, is no more.

Hawking,died in the early hours of 14th March at his home in Cambridge, England, at the age of 76. For well over 50 years, Hawking had lived with a disease - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - in which motor neurons die, leaving the brain incapable of controlling muscles. His frail yet indefatigable appearance - stuck to the wheel chair with his characteristic voice synthesized speech - will surely be missed by hundreds of thousands of his admirers all across the globe. And for the innumerable differently-abled and their caregivers, for whom he continued to be a shining star of hope and aspirations, his death means the star has collapsed into a black hole creating an unconquerable vacuum.

Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford, England, in 1942. He was not one of those precocious child who was destined to be famous from the word go. Rather, Hawking didn't excel in school as a child. It was only after he entered the college that he started enjoying his subject and got immersed in his studies. While pursuing his PhD in cosmology at the University of Cambridge, he was diagnosed with the ALS disorder. By then he had already noticed that he was getting clumsy had even fallen once or twice for no apparent reason. His father then took him to the family doctor to ascertain reasons for his unnatural fall and clumsiness. Suspecting some thing serious the family doctor referred him to a specialist, who after conducting a series of diagnostic tests diagnosed that Stephen had motor neuron disease.

Unlike many who would have been crestfallen and feared for their future, the diagnosis helped him to be more focused and to overcome his so called “bored with life attitude” that he possessed before this diagnosis. Addressing an audience of disabled students at Seattle University he had said “Before my condition was diagnosed, I had been very bored with the routine life and that it is only after coming face to face with death that the diagnosis offered for him, that he became more focused over his research”. It was this indefatigable attitude that helped him keep cheating death. No one, not even Hawking himself, expected that he would survive so long. Even today while the medical fraternity continues to debate as to how he could survive this long with ALS, hundreds of thousands of disabled people and their care givers continue to look upto him with a ray of hope that this miracle could happen to them as well.

Hawking was one of the most successful scientist who brought science to the masses and we as science communicators owe a special debt to him. His public popularity can best be seen from the number of copies that his best selling book “A Brief History of Time” sold. Almost 10 million copies of his book were sold in 40 different languages and he was on the best-seller list of several newspapers and magazines for several weeks including a record 237 weeks for the Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper. While hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe, who brought and read his book for the profoundly simplified manner that he adopted in dealing with a complex subject of cosmology to the general reader in its most easiest of ways, yet there are thousands of others who brought this book but never cared to read it. This book therefore is also infamously referred to as "one of the most unread books of all time".

I was one of those lucky few, with couple of colleagues at the National Science Centre Delhi, who had an opportunity to listen briefly to Stephen Hawking at Delhi on 15th January 2001, during his India visit. During his Delhi visit he also met the then President K.R. Narayanan at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President had described his 45-minute meeting with Hawking as "an unforgettable experience". Stephen Hawking, knowing well that the President was from TamilNadu the land of the great Ramanujan, is believed to have told the him that “Indians are so good at mathematics and physics". Hawking won the hearts not just of the President but the entire nation.

In his demise, while the world has lost a great scientist, the global differently abled community have lost their ideal, a role model, who defied all odds of disability well over 50 years, to shed a Ray of hope into the lives of hundreds of thousands of differently abled section of society and their caregivers.

Long live Stephen.

ISRO’s GSAT-6A May be lost

ISRO’s GSAT-6A May be lost

ISRO’s confirmation of loosing contact with its GSAT - 6A satellite, which was launched on March 29 by the indigenously designed geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle, the GSLV, comes as a huge setback for the Indians whose impeccable trust that ISRO can do no wrong, may come down. Although ISRO officials, after remaining tight lipped about the status of the satellite for quite a long while, have confirmed this news, their saying that they are trying to establish links with GSAT-6A has kindled a ray of hope that all is not lost with this mission. I hope ISRO is honest about this information and does not unduly create an aspiration of hope in the minds of the public.

It was not long ago that news reports and Information that 39 Indians (from Punjab) were killed in Iraq by the ISIS, was denied by the Government only to announce much later in the parliament that the news of death is confirmed. This understandable stand of the government, while providing temporary relief to the family of these departed souls, had unfortunately created a false sense of hope, which came crashing down when the honourable Videsh Mantri on the floor of the house confirmed the news of their death. Therefore it is hoped that ISRO is honest about the condition of its satellite and does not unduly create a false sense of hope and aspirations, primarily to assuage the sentiment of the people who by now have started feeling ISRO is infallible.

The environment of outer space is quite hostile to the spacecrafts that continue to be deployed in Earth orbit and beyond. There are many hazards in terms of severe thermal gradients, space weather from the sun and beyond, and intense radiation as well as strong magnetic forces. Although ISRO has been highly successful and made India proud by repeated successes, that too at such unimaginable low costs, it must not be forgotten that space missions are a highly complex technological challenges and therefore we Indians and the ISRO scientists must be prepared for failures, which can and may happen. After all it is not for nothing that there exists what is called the Murphy’s law.

Assuming that the current mission is a failure and that the satellite cannot be retrieved, let us not take away any credit from the indefatigable engineers, scientists and others at ISRO who work with passion, commitment and dedication to make India proud with their space missions. However, let us hope that the current missions setback will hopefully lead to more circumspection by the team ISRO in future. Kiran Kumar former chairman of ISRO was known for his over arching insistence to check and re check and recheck flight and mission parameters innumerable times before the actual mission. Many insiders will confirm that most times the scientists and engineers used to be irritated with Kiran Kumar that he goes overboard while it comes to pre mission testing and simulations. Perhaps this attitude of, more you sweat in peace less you bleed in war, Kiran Kumar resulted in back to back successful launches. Time for the new chief to introspect. Redundancy is central to every engineering marvels and therefore even if the checks and rechecks are an irritant and time consuming let there not be any shortcuts to this. I continue to remain a great admirer of ISRO even if this mission turns out to be a failure. Jai Vigyan.

Frank Oppenheimer, the Exploratorium and their inextricable linkage with the Science centres in India.

Frank Oppenheimer, the Exploratorium and their inextricable linkage with the Science centres in India.

My dear friend Amrit Gangar ji tagged me today in his post on the National Science Drama Festival 2017 that we organised at the Nehru Science Centre, which he so kindly agreed to grace and release the NSDF souvenir. In his brief narrative about the NSDF event, he posted about Frank Oppenheimer. The genesis of my posting today on the inextricable linkage of the Nehru Science Centre with Frank Oppenheimer, therefore rightfully must go to my friend Amrit Gangar.

The first of the science museums (under CSIR) to be set up in India, with the government patronage, was the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) that was opened at Kolkata in 1959 the credit for which must go to the visionary BC Roy the first Chief Minister of West Bengal who with support from the benevolent Birlas and patronage of Nehru was responsible for the establishment of the BITM, the mother of National Council of Science Museums (NCSM). It was not until another 6 years that the second science museum - the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) - came up at Bangalore in 1965. The seed for the VITM was however sown during the centennial birth day celebration of the legendary nation builder Sir M Visvesvaraya, in whose honour the VITM has been established. The celebration was organised in 1962 at the Lalbagh and was graced by none other than Pandit Nehru, the PM of India, who declared establishment of a science museum in memory of Sir M Visvesvaraya. Both BITM and VITM functioned under CSIR until formation of a separate council the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM).

The next in the series of the science centres (museums) to be set up was the Nehru Science Centre that adopted a completely different approach the approach of a science centre with hands on approach, the genesis of which goes back to the father of modern science centres - Frank Oppenheimer and his Exploratorium.

Every science centre curators and professionals vow their interactive type of exhibition concept and designs to the great Frank Oppenheimer and when I and my other colleagues joined the NSCM, Exploratorium and Frank Oppenheimer were the almighty words which every single curator learnt about in early days of their joining the council. Unfortunately though, even after 32 long years of my service with NCSM and having completely internalised the Exploratorium design approach, I have not had the privilege and honour of visiting the Mecca for science centre professionals - the Exploratorium. With just about three years left for my service I am afraid my dream of visiting Exploratorium may remain but a dream.

It is befitting that Nehru Science Centre whose genesis stems from the Exploratorium type of exhibits that are inextricably linked with its founder -Frank Oppenheimer-

came up in Mumbai the city which was to be the host for Frank Oppenheimer for his research in Cosmic Rays, which he wished to peruse with Homi Bhabha at the TIFR.

Frank Oppenheimer is father of modern science centres, of which the Nehru Science Centre is the first in the series of the science centres in India, which adopted hands on approach that Frank Oppenheimer introduced at the Exploratorium.

Frank Oppenheimer is the brother of Richard Oppenheimer of the project Manhattan fame. If luck would have it and had it not been for his sympathy towards communists in America and his own leaning towards communism in his early days, Frank would have come to India to pursue his research on cosmic rays with Homi Bhabha. He was denied travel by the FBI who were so very suspicious of any communist leanings during the Cold War times. Author K.C. Cole in his book about physicist and Exploratorium-founder Frank Oppenheimer “Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens” digs into FBI files and personal memories to describe Frank Oppenheimer, who was also called the "Uncle of the Atomic Bomb."

Frank Oppenheimer the physicist and tinkerer was also a chain smoker and a notable pacifist who also worked on the atom bomb. His lasting gift to society is the Exploratorium, the wonderful hands-on Science Centre. He carved out a career in science that was no less fascinating, pioneering the investigation of cosmic rays and championing technology. In 1969, he founded San Francisco’s Exploratorium, a science museum that invented a new way to introduce nonscientists to the profession. Stocked with mind blowing experiments demonstrating the underpinnings of fields such as optics and electricity, the hands-on gallery has been educating visitors ever since and been a role model for all science centre professionals. The word Fun Science that most science centres in India use comes from the Exploratorium experiments.

A document which provides evidence to the denial of permission for Frank Oppenheimer to visit India for pursuing his research interest in cosmic rays is found here.

Heritage on Wheels: Vintage Car Exhibition at Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai

Heritage on Wheels: Vintage Car Exhibition at Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai

I crave for your indulgence in reading through this long post, which is about the forthcoming Vintage Car exhibition that will be opened tomorrow (15th March 2018) at 6 PM at the Nehru Science Centre.

The biennial Auto Expo held this year at Noida, from Feb 9-14, 2018, attracted more than 600000 visitors to the exhibition, and the event also witnessed extraordinary response on the social media with more than 1.5 lakh tweets on its official hashtag. The automobile industry is a marker to the design ingenuity and creativity of mankind. This industry is now destined for a paradigm shift with an ever increasing brain power that is continuing to be machined into the cars by their makers to make the next generation cars - the thinking cars. Such next generation autonomous cars - the “full self-driving car” - that Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced, are destined to revolutionise the automobile industry over the next few decades.

Notwithstanding the rapid pace developments taking place in the Auto industry, there has never been any fall in the curiosity and interest among the people in wanting to see the ageless beauties “the vintage motor vehicles” of yesteryears. It is for this reason that the Nehru Science Centre, in collaboration with Vintage and Classic Car Club of India (VCCCI), are organising the "Heritage on Wheels: Vintage Car" exhibition at the Nehru Science Centre. This exhibition will be inaugurated by Shri Satish Sahney Ji, former Commissioner of Police, and the Chief Executive of Nehru Centre, Mumbai, on 15th March, at 6 PM at our centre.

On display will be some 30 plus ageless beauties (cars and motorcycles) manufactured during the period from 1886 until the 1950s including the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first ever car that was built by its creator Karl Benz, in 1886. This car is regarded as one of the world's first 'production' automobile, which was designed to be propelled by an internal combustion engine. Benz had unveiled his invention to the public on 3 July 1886, on the Ringstrasse in Mannheim, Germany. The other assortment of cars on display include the Rolls Royce, Bentley, Humber, Daimler, Ford, Packard, Chrysler etc. These cars belong to the period referred to as the golden age of design in which some of the cars are so beautifully designed and exquisitely engineered that they transcend mere transportation to become works of art. The cars on display can be considered as rolling sculptures, and to see them is to think, “That car belongs to an art gallery.”

The automobile design did not evolve in a vacuum. The designers borrowed ideas and thoughts from other industries and from popular culture. Whatever was handy, trendy or so called sexy, was fair game for the designers to incorporate in their designs. They incorporated aspects of Art Deco and Art Moderne into their styling in the 30's. Streamlining, a catchword that had much less to do with aerodynamics than with shapes, was also incorporated by the designers in these beauties, besides incorporating design influences from nature.

The “Heritage on Wheels” exhibition presents a range of artistically designed models of cars that were produced by artistically creative team of inventors, manufacturers, engineers and designers who combined to create these early automobile beauties, which continue to attract people. The end-product reflects the marriage between the beauty of line and mechanical ingenuity. These vintage cars of yesteryear’s come with speed and elegance clubbed with a perfect combination of line and curve that makes these cars so very beautiful and aesthetically stunning.

The early carmakers at the turn of the 20th century not only cared for their cars to be reliable but were equally concerned for the look of their machines. The cars of the last century looked more like the horseless carriages. It took a while before these mechanised buggies sprouted fixed roofs, and very much longer before all their many exposed parts were pulled together in one more or less smoothly integrated designs. The book “Moving Beauty: A Century in Automobile Design” by Musee Des Beaux-Arts De Montreal chronicles the excellence achieved by the early car makers.

The importance of art, which was exemplified by the early car designers, continue to remain relevant even in modern times. The overwhelming success of most of Apple products owe their genesis to the artistic looks that are embedded in the apple products which was the mantra of its founder Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs likened himself and his employees to artists; he deployed his mercurial personality in the ruthless way that artists sometimes do. Steve Jobs, like the early car designers who used a perfect combination of line and curve to make their car beautiful, cared about his products the way that artists care about their art.

It has been more than 5 long years that I am compelled by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India to shoulder the additional responsibility of Director of NGMA Mumbai the premier Art institution of the country, that too with zero benefits. But one thing, I must confess, that I have learnt from this additional responsibility is to appreciate art and care to look at art, which to me was completely alien until not long ago. I abhorred art classes in early days and was one of those very few who did not even doodle. But then as luck would have it, I am now heading one of the premier art institute of the country and indulge in art talks with leading artists and may be this has influenced me in organising some interesting exhibitions like the recently concluded Death of Architecture, Toilet Manifesto exhibitions at the Nehru Science Centre, which were more art type exhibitions rather than science and the current Vintage car exhibition too may fall under this category which our science centre has now started organising very frequently.

FB friends are requested to visit the exhibition which will be on display until the 1st of April 2018 at our centre