Tribute to  Dr. Vikram Sarabhai : The Father of Indian Space Program

Images - courtesy Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai.

Every year 12th of August is celebrated as International Youth Day, which for India is quite special for it also happens to be the birth anniversary of one of the visionary scientists of India - Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Space programmes in India and the scientist who established the Indian Space Research Organisation - ISRO, an acronym, which has now become a household name in India. While wishing everyone, particularly the youths, a very happy International Youth Day, I wish to take this opportunity to recall a tribute, which I had paid to one of India’s greatest of Sons - Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who has made profound contributions for India. Dr Sarabhai, while  establishing ISRO charted out a special path, which was almost impossible to dream of. What is even more special is that he founded the famous Physical Research Lab - PRL, in 1947 when he was a youth, at a very young age of just 26 years and it is this institution, which has played pivotal role in the shaping of space programs in India. Dr Sarabhai invited the Nobelist scientist and his guide and mentor, Prof C V Raman for laying the foundation stone of PRL. 

Fast forward to 2021 and it is the youth of India who have brought smiles on 1.3 plus billion Indians by winning the highest number of medals for the country, including an elusive Gold in the track and field events, in the recently concluded Tokyo, 2020 Olympics. The spectacular Olympics performance of our athletes was witnessed by many people live on TV, courtesy the Indian Space program. Just a couple of days ago, the whole of India erupted in joyous celebration watching live the Gold medal winning performance of Neeraj Chopra in the Javelin throw competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. This is the first ever Gold medal for India in the track and field events at the Olympics. While Neeraj and his compatriots are rightfully basking in the glory and love and affection of their countrymen, for their extraordinary achievement, it is time for us to remember how youths can inspire India. Today, when we are celebrating the International Youth Day, we must also remember Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who was born on this day in 1919. It is his creation, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which ushered in that extraordinary revolution in communication that enabled the whole of the nation to watch live the unforgettable gold winning performance of Neeraj Chopra and so also that of other Indian athletes who participated and won glory for India in Tokyo. Neeraj Chopra’s performance, which was beamed live from Tokyo, will remain etched in the hearts and minds of people for generations to come. I earnestly hope that this performance will inspire millions of other youths of our nation to tread the path of Neeraj and his compatriots. 

On this international youth Day, I also earnestly hope that millions of Indian youths will be inspired by Dr Vikram Sarabhai who founded the PRL when he was a youth. The PRL became a crucible for churning out the space programmes and space scientists for India. India now needs many more youths who must go on to be the next generations of Dr Sarabhai’s and Neeraj Chopra’s. The significance of Sarabhai’s contributions to the development of India can be appreciated by looking at the role that PRL, an institution that Dr Sarabhai founded when he was a youth, has played in shaping the destiny of India.

PRL is a premier research institution of our country, which is devoted to the scientific research in space, planetary sciences, astronomy and astrophysics.  It has played a seminal role in initiating space science activity in the country and has produced highly motivated cadre of space scientists and technologists of highest international calibre. Many of the scientists who started their career in PRL have made important contributions in space sciences and cosmic rays in India and have gone on to holding important positions in ISRO and other organisations in many parts of the world. The revolutionary benefits of telecommunications, which we are now witnessing in India owe their genesis to the Indian space Program that was founded by Dr Sarabhai, and that too when he was a youth. 

Dr Sarabhai most unfortunately, like his fellow compatriot scientist - Dr Homi Bhabha, died at a very young age - 52 years. But then his vision and aspirations for harvesting the applications of space technology for the larger benefits for Indians have been fructified by generation of space scientists in India and his creation ISRO continues to benefit not just Indians but also the whole of human society. 

Once again wishing you all a very happy International Youth Day and hoping and praying that India produces many many more youths who will go on to become the future Sarabhai’s and Neeraj Chopra’s of the country.

Here is the tribute that I had paid to Dr Sarabhai last year on his birthday.

The year long birth centenary celebrations of the father of the Indian Space programme and the architect of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) - Dr Vikram Sarabhai (12th Aug, 2019 - 12th August, 2020), which had kick started with the inaugural function of this event last year on 12th August, 2019 - the birth centenary year of Dr Sarabhai - at Gujarat University Convention Centre, Ahmadabad, comes to a close today, without much fanfare owing to the Covid pandemic.

The opening program of the birth centenary celebration of Dr Sarabhai - organised  on 12th August,2019 - was tele addressed by the Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, to an August gathering of scientists from DAE, ISRO, PRL and students and heads of institution. During the year long Sarabhai centenary celebrations, several programmes were organised across the country and one of the significant program - one day Vikram Sarabhai Centenary conference - was organised by the Nehru Science Centre in collaboration with the National Centre for Science Communicators, at the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai. Leading scientists from ISRO, DAE and other key policy makers from other  organisations - Dr R Chidambaram, Dr AS Kiran Kumar, Dr S Banerjee, Prof Chitre, Dr Mallika Sarabhai, Dr Kiran Karnik, Shri Ashok Dalwai and Dr AP Jayaraman spoke on the occasion. During the concluding program of this conference, on behalf of the organisers of the conference, I had announced to the audience that the Nehru Science Centre will dedicate an exhibition - Hall of Aerospace- to Dr Sarabhai and this new exhibition will be launched on his 101st birthday. Most unfortunately due to the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, we are unable to open this exhibition today, as promised. However, the Hall of Aerospace Exhibition, which is supported by the Airports Authority of India, is nearing completion and it will be opened as soon as the Covid situation improves and we are permitted to open our science centre for public. We are certain that the Hall of Aerospace exhibition will be a befitting tribute to Dr Vikram Sarabhai. 

Dr. Sarabhai died at a very young age of just 52 years at Kovalam, Kerala on December 30, 1971. Most shockingly and in a very rare coincidence Dr. Sarabhai’s predecessor Chairman of DAE, Dr Homi Bhabha  too has died at a very young age in an air crash in 1966. Just before his untimely death Sarabhai had witnessed firing of a Russian rocket at Thumba and had inaugurated the Thumba railway station before retiring for the night, which most tragically was to be his last. There are several controversies doing the rounds regarding his tragic and untimely death, which compare his death in sleep to that of Lal Bahadur Shastri ji. However, I shall not delve into this emotive issue. 

Unity in Diversity - the often used phrase for India that all of us have grown up living with - is one of the greatest attributes of our country, which is inseparable to this great nation, notwithstanding the unending differences and diversity that exist in our country that gets played out during the heated debates on the news channels. Unity in Diversity, an unique attribute  of India - the worlds largest democracy - is vividly visible and is exemplified through the medium of Cinema, Cricket and Chilly, which connects we Indians, without exception, to one common Indian nationhood. The efforts Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the founding father of the Indian space program and creator of ISRO, has now resulted in the fourth common connecting chord for all of us to rejoice - achievements of ISRO. The evidence of this was vividly seen when the entire nation was seen united in hailing the successful launch of the Chandrayaan 2, by ISRO. On-board this historic mission was the Vikram Lander, named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai. Most unfortunately the mission came very close to achieving its unique and highly complex objective of landing the Vikram Lander on the southern pole of Moon and manoeuvring the Pragyan rower on the surface of the moon. The Vikram lander would have been extraordinary centenary tribute to Dr Sarabhai, the celebrations of which had kick started from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad.

The PRL was kind of a crucible for the foundation of ISRO and it was in the backyard of Sarabhai house in Shahibagh, Ahmedabad that PRL was founded on 11th November 1947, before moving to the MG Science College and finally to its current location of Navrangpura campus where ISRO was conceived on third floor of the PRL building. PRL started functioning immediately, in two small rooms in the nearby M G College of Science pending the construction of its own building and facilities on a neighbouring plot of land provided by the Ahmedabad Education Society. After collecting enough funds, Sarabhai requested C V Raman to lay the foundation stone of the PRL building in 1952, which was done in the presence of Homi Bhaba, S S Bhatnagar and many other luminaries in the field of science. All the research activities in M G Science College were subsequently shifted to the new PRL campus in 1954, after it was declared open by none other than the Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

The initial focus of research at PRL was on cosmic rays, which gradually spread over to atmospheric science, theoretical physics, radio physics etc. PRL churned out the idea for the Space programme for India and was also the place where prominent ISRO scientists, Sarabhai, U R Rao,  Kasturirangan, Prof Yashpal and others were groomed and what is now described as ISRO culture was cultivated at the PRL. It was Vikram Sarabhai who put Ahmedabad on the world map of scientific and industrial research by establishing several institutes and organisations in various fields, notable among them include the PRL, Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association (ATIRA), Indian Institute of Management, National Institute of Design (NID), and Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VSCSC). The Community Science Center ( currently the VSCSC) set up in Ahmedabad is an important centre for educating children and general public about various branches of science. It has played an important role in ‘Science Teacher’ education. Interestingly the foundation stone of Community Science Center was laid by Sir C. V. Raman, who also delivered his famous lecture; ‘Why the sky is blue’. Darpan Art and culture centre were also started by the family (Mrinalini Sarabhai). The famed Space Application Centre (SAC/ ISRO) was set up at Ahmedabad courtesy Sarabhai and PRL, which acted as an intellectual springboard for ISRO. Incidentally most of the museum professionals and archeologists will recognise PRL for the Carbon 14 dating of their antiquity objects, which most often were carried out at the PRL. Today when we remember Dr. Sarabhai, we don’t remember him only as a scientist but we also remember him as a person with varied interests.

Vikram Sarabhai - visionary, businessman, scientist and also an art connoisseur - the sixth child among the eight children of Ambalal and Sarladevi Sarabhai, was born on the 12th, August 1919 in Ahmedabad into an illustrious Gujarati Jain business family. He had a privileged childhood and grew up in ‘The Retreat’ a colonial style mansion in which the Sarabhais lived. Among the decorated luminaries who visited the Sarabhais at the Retreat included Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Bhulabhai Desai, Rukmini Arundale, J Krishnamurthi, Prithviraj Kapoor and several others. It is therefore no wonder that Vikram Sarabhai had great vision for his country, the seeds of which were sown early on in life by the visits of such great nationalist stalwarts to his house. Nehru and Indira Gandhi also visited the Sarabhai mansion as guests. 

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore who, having spotted the spark of genius in the young Sarabhai, aged 16 years, wrote a letter of recommendation to the authorities of Cambridge University, for enrolment of Sarabhai into St Johns College, Cambridge, which he joined in 1936 and completed his natural science tripos in 1939. Tagore letter of recommendation for Sarabhai dated 01 November 1935 read ; “It is with great pleasure that I recommend the application for admission of Mr. Vikram Sarabhai. He is a young boy with a keen interest in Science and I am sure a course of study in Cambridge will be of immense value to him. I know him personally and his people. He comes from a wealthy and cultured family in the Bombay Presidency and he has a brother and a sister studying at Oxford at the moment. In my judgement, he is a fit and proper person for admission to the University” - Rabindranath Tagore.

The onset of World War II forced him to return to India. After coming back to India from Cambridge he joined the Tata Institute (now Indian Institute of Science) Bangalore to carry out research on time variation of cosmic Rays, the subject that was assigned to him by his illustrious teacher, Nobel Laureate, Sir C V Raman. The TAta institute provided a highly encouraging atmosphere for researchers, which was created by C V Raman and also Homi Bhaba, who too was at the institute where he was working on theories of mesons and cosmic ray showers. Raman was known for building low cost apparatus for experimentation and his discovery of nobel winning Raman effect ( Raman scattering of light) was the result of a low cost Raman Spectroscope, measuring instrument, which he had developed with his students at the Indian Association of Cultivation of Science, Calcutta. Sarabhai, with help from his guide Raman, built an experimental set-up with Geiger Muller counters' to carry out continuous measurements of cosmic ray intensity at Bangalore and subsequently at very high altitude at Apharwat (about 4 km above sea level) in Kashmir. Sarabhai published first scientific paper 'Time distribution of cosmic rays' in the Proceedings of the Indian Academy ofSciences in 1942. Sarabhai met his would be wife, Mrinalini Swaminathan in Bangalore. As soon as the World War II ended, Sarabhai returned back to Cambridge to finish his doctoral dissertation. In 1947, he received a doctorate from Cambridge with a thesis on "Cosmic Ray Investigation in Tropical Latitudes", the study which he had started at the Tata Institute under the supervision of Raman. Immediately after receiving his PhD, Sarabhai returned back to India. By then India was an independent nation. Sarabhai, like Bhabha, was from an aristocratic family with sound business and he too set out to carve his own ‘space’ for the development of the nation using the applications of science and technology. Sarabhai was able to persuade charitable trusts controlled by his family and friends to fund a research institution near home in Ahmedabad and the result was the formation of the Physical Research Laboratory. Thus began Sarabhai’s journey to transform India and its space aspirations.  True to his prophetic aspiration and vision, PRL played a pivotal role in the early days of the formation of ISRO.

Dr. Sarabhai had a conviction on the importance of applications of Space Technology in improving day today lives of people India. Subsequent to the successful launch of Sputnik by the Russians on the 4th of October 1957, the first man made artificial satellite to orbit the Earth in low orbit, there was a flurry of activities on space research by the Russians and Americans. And in the early years of the sixties (1962 to 1964) it had become very clear that Satellite based Meteorological Earth Observations and Space Communications will be immensely helpful for not only developed nations but also for the developing countries. Therefore Dr. Sarabhai envisaged harvesting the applications of space technology for the societal benefit of Indians. He had a vision that India should develop indigenous technology for building of satellites and launch vehicles. However, not many people in India believed that India should venture in to Space Technology primarily because both Russia and America were competing with each other in this field and spending unprecedented time and money. Against many odds Sarabhai managed to carry forward the Indian space program by convincing people at the highest echelons, including Pandit Nehru, of the possible benefit that space applications could bring to the people of India. 

In the early 1960s there were many studies which had confirmed that the equatorial region, particularly the magnetic equator is highly significant in the investigation of the Earth's magnetic field and the ionosphere, and therefore the region is most suitable for for meteorology. Considering that the magnetic equator passes over South India and that this region has tremendous influence on the dynamics of the equatorial ionosphere, Sarabhai decided to establish ‘The Equatorial Rocket Launching Station’ (TERLS) at Thumba, near Thiruvananthapuram for carrying out aeronomy and astronomy experiments. By the time TERLS was established in 1968, Sarabhai had been appointed as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the position which was held by his illustrious colleague Dr Homi Bhabha, in May 1966 under most tragic circumstances. Dr Bhabha, the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, was travelling by AI - 101 Boeing 707 flight - Kanchenjunga, which was flying from Mumbai to NewYork with 117 passengers and crew onboard including Dr Bhabha, who was travelling to Vienna (via Geneva) where he was scheduled to attend a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Commission. In one of the worst air disasters, Air India flight, AI 101, crashed as it was preparing to land at Geneva airport in Switzerland, while flying over Alps near Mont Blanc, on 24th January 1996. All 106 passengers including Dr Bhabha and 11 crew members were killed in this accident.

Sarabhai, knowing the importance of the TERLS project,  fast tracked the project and the project was completed in 1968. In his inaugural speech delivered during the opening of TERLS, Sarabhai elaborated his vision for harvesting the space technology. He said “ There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the ex- plorations of the moon or the planets or manned space flight. But we are convinced that if we are to playa meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society, which we find in our country". His vision on the development of space technology and its extensive application for the betterment of society continues to be the guiding light for Indian space programme even today. 

Sarabhai envisaged harnessing the power of space science to find solutions to the problems India was facing in the field  of communication, meteorology, and education. Sarabhai thus conceived the establishment of a dedicated institute ‘Indian Space Research Organization’ for achieving this. ISRO was formed on 15th August 1969 and it was placed under the Department of Atomic Energy. Sarabhai used his scientific stature to connect with NASA, leader in space science, to  start the first experiment of commencing TV programs in rural villages in India with an objective of using TV as a medium of education for the Indian villages and the result was a successful Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) program, which received global recognition. SITE was one of the largest sociological experiments conducted anywhere in the world involving educational television broadcasting via the US satellite, ATS-6, to rural masses spread over six states and covering 2,500 villages. The SITE program was launched in 1975-76 after the death of Dr Sarabhai, and it became the first  major India-US partnership in space. This partnership has grown from strength to strength, notwithstanding the cold era period and the sanctions that India endured during this period. SITE was India’s first  attempt to use technology for education through TV broadcasts. Courtesy the success of the SITE program, India began launch of communication satellites beginning with the INSAT 1 and also brought about a revolution in establishing Low Power Transmitting TV stations from 1982, which helped India in taking giant leaps in the field of mass communication, particularly the TV transmission. Today when we see hundreds of TV channels beaming non stop content to every home, we must remember and credit and pay our homage to Dr Sarabhai who made this possible. 

Indian Space programme has now come a long way from the humble beginning of launch of our first launch vehicle - SLV- and the satellite Aryabhatta, to the current era in which ISRO is able to create, build and launch gigantic rockets, including the most successful PSLV - the work horse- and the GSLV, which carry Indian and international payloads, satellites, and complex spacecraft not just for our country but also for several other countries. Projects like the Chandrayaan, Mars Orbit Mission, built at frugal costs, not only exemplify Indian excellence in Space but also kindle an outstanding sense of Indianness among the people, particularly the children. Today, courtesy Sarabhai’s vision the Indian Space programme can rightfully claim to be in the elite club of nations. Sarabhai had a deep belief in India and her people. He was inspired by India’s yearning to be self reliant and not dependent on other nations for our every need. He did not want India to be vulnerable to pressures that would make us take decisions that would harm the nation or our people. He had a great belief in India and people in ISRO have proved him right and continue to behold a sense of needing to contribute for the nation.

Sarabhai was a doting and hands-on father to Kartikeya and Mallika, who followed their parents footsteps to become India’s celebrated luminaries in their own ways.  Mallika Sarabhai, the eminent daughter of Vikram and Mrinalini Sarabhai, during her Sarabhai Centenary conference address at the nehru Science Centre, Mumbai said that her father used to attend most of the parents meeting.  Dr Sarabhai’s wife, the noted Bharatnatyam dancer, Mrinalini Sarabhai, travelled extensively performing all across the world and it was left to Vikram Sarabhai to attend most of the parents meeting. The fatherly love and affection of Sarabhai can be seen in the way he guided his children, which Mallika emphatically stated in her address “I grew up as papa’s daughter, not as Dr Vikram Sarabhai’s. He was papa. With little time but loads of love and fun. He would whistle ‘Bridge On The River Kwai’ and have me marching around the carpet”.  The lessons that he taught to his children to think independently is something which holds value even today.  Sarabhai too was fallible and human and this could seen in his relationship with Kamla Chaudhury, who became the first Research Director of IIM Ahmedabad, which was established by Dr Sarabhai.

Dr Sarabhai received innumerable recognition and awards including the Padma Bhushan award which he received in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan award which was awarded to him posthumously in 1972. On this 101st birthday - 12th August 2020, I join a billion plus countrymen in paying my reverence and rich tribute to this great visionary, who died so early at the age of 52 leaving behind so much of his unfinished vision for the nation. I truly believe he could have contributed much more to the nation and influenced our path as a nation differently had he been alive a little longer.  

Fortunately the organisation he built - ISRao - and the people who he mentored have left no stone unturned to live up to his expectations in contributing to the nation. May ISRO, the living embodiment of Dr Sarabhai continue to liveup to the ideals of this great Visionary for eternity. 

Long live Sarabhai and the institution he built - ISRO - in the hearts and minds of Indians.

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Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Never Again

This date seventy five years ago - 6th August1945 - will ever remain

etched in the annals of human history.  It was on this date and month that the “Little Boy” and the “Fat Man”, two nuclear bombs were detonated on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August, 1945 respectively by the Americans, which ultimately led to the end of World War II.  As we commemorate the 75th Anniversary of this unprecedented human tragedy of the nuclear holocaust of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing, it is hearting to note that the lessons learnt from the disaster that the atom bomb can create on humanity, have helped the world leaders to see to it that this dastardly act will never ever be repeated and that whatever nuclear arsenals that nuclear weapon countries have, including India, will only continue to serve as a deterrent against nuclear adventurism.

This occasion reminds me of an exhibition ‘Hiroshima-Nagasaki Never Again’ which I coordinated and this exhibition was organised at the National Science Centre in 1998. To commemorate the golden jubilee of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Mayor of the city of Hiroshima, with support from the Government of Japan, had decided to showcase an exhibition ‘Hiroshima-Nagasaki Never Again', in different countries and this exhibition came to India in 1998 after travelling to many other countries starting in August 1995. I had the honour to be the coordinator for this exhibition, while I was the curator at the National Science Centre, Delhi. The exhibition contained fifty six exhibitions panels and original artefacts from the bombing sites in Hiroshima, which depicted the horrors of a nuclear holocaust. The exhibition with rare photographs, original objects and antiquities, was expected to create an awareness on the dangers of nuclear weapons. An NGO from Delhi, Centre for Science and Industrial Policy Research, were the partners for the exhibition. I was responsible for communicating and collaborating with Hiroshima authorities to present this exhibition in National Science Centre, Delhi.  

I vividly remember one of the major problem that I faced during this exhibition, which I thought I must share. India was not a signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. (CTBT and NPT) and therefore the Japanese were critical of our stand. One part of the exhibition, dealt with CTBT and NPT and the information contained in the section was critical,of Indians stand on NPT and CTBT and the panel portrayed as if India is against world peace and it also highlighted that it was unfair on the part of India not to be the signatories to CTBT and NPT and the information was also critical of the Government of India stand on this issue.  Coming from the background of Sainik School, Bijapur with that indomitable patriotic feeling embedded in the heart and mind, the fauji in me over came the Curator that I was and I decided to consult the DAE on the matter before permitting these panels to be displayed. The DAE too  thought that it will not be wise to display five of the panels and accordingly I prevailed over the Japanese team and the five panels which were critical of the stand of India on matters pertaining to NPT and CTBT were not included in the exhibition. 

The exhibition was inaugurated by the mayor of Hiroshima, Takashi Hiraoka, together with the mayor of Delhi, Shakuntata Arya, at the National Science Centre, Delhi in April 1998. The exhibition vividly portrayed the horrors of the atomic bomb, through panels which showed the devastation wrought by the two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While most of the exhibition comprised familiar photographs of the mushroom cloud and the cities before and after that fateful day, it also included such objects as window glass, which had fused, coagulated pieces of mortar, pictures of clocks which had stopped to record the moment of horror, agonising photographs of survivors of the holocaust and detailed descriptions of the effect of radiation on the human body. Unfortunately during the press interaction the Mayor of Hiroshima mentioned about the panels which were not included in the exhibition. 

Next morning there was a shock waiting for us. There was an editorial coverage of this issue with the headline “National Science Centre Censors Hiroshima exhibition’. This editorial news of Hindustan Times, highest circulated news daily in Delhi  then, reached the corridors of power. The Ministry of Culture, under whom the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) functions, was then a department under Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD).  Hon’ble Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi ji was the Minister of HRD.  Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi had directed the then Secretary-Culture Shri R. V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar to enquire into the matter. Although in the history of NCSM, it was for the first time ever that any of the centres under NCSM was  mentioned in an editorial, yet the way we were portrayed as the ones who had censored the Japanese exhibition was not a pleasant experience.

 

Unfortunately, Shri P. K. Bhaumik, the then Director of National Science Centre, Delhi was on leave and the then Director General of NCSM (Mr. I. K Mukherjee) was not in headquarters in Kolkata and was on tour to North East Zone. The Ministry had tried to contact the Director General in Kolkata and in his absence and in the absence of Director of our centre they contacted the Administrative Officer of our centre and informed him that the Director of NSC Delhi must immediately meet the Director and JS Culture in the Ministry to clarify the matter and why we we had made the Japanese to remove five panels.

During those days a peculiar system existed in our centre.  In the absence of the Director the a Ministry always contacted the Administrative Officer and not the Curators.  Although, I was hierarchically No. 2, in our centre and also the curator for the exhibition, yet the Ministry preferred to call Mr. Bandyopadhyay, the then Administrative Officer for the clarification. Mr. Bandyopadhyay, unfortunately was an armchair Administrative Officer and was not knowing anything  about the exhibition and therefore, he had no way but to request me to accompany him to the Ministry.  We first went to the Office of the Under Secretary, who had called our AO, by then, the matter had already heated up and there was commotion and as soon as we reached, the Under Secretary’s office, he immediately took us to the Office of the then Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture.  One of the greatest insult/embarrassment awaited me in the Office of Joint Secretary.  There were three chairs in front of the Joint Secretary. The Director Culture occupied one chair, Under Secretary occupied second and the Under Secretary asked made the Administrative Officer, Mr. Bandyopadhyay to occupy the third chair and I was made to stand behind.  The then Joint Secretary started asking the Administrative Officer regarding the exhibition. She also informed our AO that the matter is very serious and has gone to the notice of Hon’ble Culture Minister and therefore, Secretary wanted a report on this matter urgently. Mr. Bandyopadhyay, was unable to address any of the questions of JS and he was repeatedly looking back towards me whenever he was asked a question by JS. Soon the Joint Secretary noticed this and asked him why is he looking back at me. Mr. Bandyopadhyay answered that I was the curator of the exhibition and that he is not in the know of this matter. She asked Mr. Bandyopadhyay to get up and I was offered that chair. I answered all her questions forthrightly and gave the reasons why we had not included five panels in the exhibition.  It appeared that she was partially convinced and she immediately called the Secretary-Culture and took an appointment to meet him. I was given two hours time to prepare a noting on this for meeting the Secretary-Culture.

 

We immediately rushed back to the Office and I prepared an elaborate note on the circumstances under which I had taken the decision to not to include five panels. With this note, with no lunch, I immediately rushed to the Ministry and with Joint Secretary we met Shri R. V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar, the then Secretary-Culture.  This experience perhaps was one of the best experiences that I have ever had dealing with the top Bureaucrat.  Shri R. V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar, JS and I had long discussions in his office on the matter and the Secretary also read my note and after about 30 minutes of discussion, Shri Ayyar took me to the then Hon’ble Culture Minister.  There again we had discussion on the issue and I clarified the reasons why we did not include five panels in the exhibition. The best outcome of the meeting was that Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi appreciated our stand and even praised me for the stand that I had taken not to include those panels, which were definitely not in the interest of the Government of India. In my 34 years of service in NCSM,  this will be one of the best moment, which I will cherish. My learning from this experience is that, if as a Curator, one has a conviction that the decision he or she takes is in the larger interest of the organisation, irrespective of what difficulty one faces, he/she will ultimately prevail. 

On the occasion of the seventy five years of the Hiroshima bombing I am reminded of the exhibition and those objects which were witness to the deadly nuclear holocaust continue to remain etched in my memory even today. May the world never ever face such a situation again and may the nuclear energy be used only for the good of humanity be it for the purpose of energy or health, which is what we use the nuclear energy for in India. 

In the seventy five years post the bombing, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have completely transformed themselves into modernity yet the scars of the holocaust will continue to live on and remind us of the terrible consequences that the nuclear weapons can cause. May no other cities or place ever face what Hiroshima and Nagasaki encountered on 6th and 9th August 1945.

Eulogy for Ebrahim Alkazi : The Doyen of Indian Theatre.

A nonagenarian, father of modern Indian theatre, whose monumental retrospective exhibition, ‘The Theatre of E. Alkazi : A Modernist Approach to Indian Theatre’ was organised at the NGMA Mumbai during September-October 2016, a reputed artist and art connoisseur, the creative genius in theatre, one of the founding Directors of the National School of Drama, the position of which he distinguishably occupied for 15 long years, winner of all the three coveted Padma Awards - Padma Vibhushan (2010), Padma Bhushan (1991) and Padma Shri (1966), passed away on Tuesday, 4th August, 2020,  in Delhi. He was 95 years old. Alkazi suffered a massive heart attack and died at 2.45 PM. He was admitted to the Escorts hospital the day before for age related ailments. Alkazi will ever be remembered for his outstanding contributions to the field of theatre including his contributions to the National School of Drama of which he was the Director for 15 long years. As director of NSD, he shaped the course for modern Indian theatre, establishing links between traditional vocabulary and modern idiom. Alkazi will be remembered as a towering theatre giant who was associated with training and mentoring some of the best known theatre artists and talents in the country, including Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Uttara Baokar, Rohini Hattangadi, Pankaj Kapoor besides a host of other major theatre directors in the country. He was an outstanding creative genius in theatre. Some of the major plays, which he  directed include "Tuglaq" (Girish Karnad), "Ashadh Ka Ek Din" (Mohan Rakesh), Dharamvir Bharti's "Andha Yug" besides several other Greek tragedies and Shakespeare's works.

It was a great honour for me that his retrospective monumental exhibition, on his theatre creativity, was organised at the NGMA, Mumbai while I was the Director of NGMA Mumbai. The exhibition was inaugurated on 9th September, 2016,  by HIs Excellency Saud-Al-Sati, the Ambassador of Kingdom of Soudi Arabia to India, in the August presence of noted Ad. film maker and theatre veteran Alyque Padamsee, and veteran theatre and film Director Vijaya Mehta, who was the student of Alkazi at the NSD. Also present on the occasion was Alkazi’s daughter Ms Amal Allana, theatre director, costume designer and former Chairperson National School of Drama, and her eminent theatre designer husband, Nissar Allana, eminent artist and Chairman NGMA Advisory Committee, Mr Suhas Bahulkar and several other distinguished guests including some of the eminent students of Alkazi from the NSD  and other distinguished guests. The exhibition (9th September - 18th October, 2016) was a fitting tribute to Ebrahim Alkazi’s life and times on the Indian stage, which was presented in the very city - Mumbai - where Alkazi commenced and established his long dramatic innings.

Alkazi was born to a wealthy Saudi Arabian business man, trading in India, and to a Kuwaiti mother, on 18th October 1925 in Pune. He was one among the nine siblings born to his parents. He did his schooling at St. Vincent’s High School, Pune and subsequently moved to Bombay (Mumbai now) and studied at the St. Xavier college. He learnt Arabic, English, Marathi and Gujarati. While studying in St. Xavier College in Mumbai, Alkazi joined Sultan Padamsee's English theatre company, the Theatre Group. He subsequently moved to UK for his training in theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, which he completed in 1947. During his association with RADA he staged more than 50 plays and enjoyed a distinguished career and he also won the BBC Broadcasting Award in 1950. Although he was offered good career opportunities in London after being honored by both the English Drama League and the British Broadcasting Corporation, Alkazi preferred to return back to India to rejoin the Theatre Group, which he ran from 1950 to 1954 in Mumbai. In the very year of his return to India (1947) the rest of his family migrated to Pakistan while Alkazi stayed back in India. 

The Theatre of E. Alkazi — A Modernist Approach to Indian Theatre’, exhibition, which was showcased at NGMA was  a retrospective of the life and works of Alkazi. The driving forces behind this exhibition was his daughter, Amal Allana, a theatre doyen in her own right, and her husband, the stage designer Nissar Allana. The exhibition was planned to conclude on the 91st birthday of Alkazi on the 18th  October, 2016 and Alkazi was to grace the occasion, which unfortunately did not happen due to travel restrictions on Alkazi, who was not keeping well. I had the honour to be present during one of the many curated talks, that Allana conducted during the exhibition in which she shed rare insight into the man - E Alkazi, who single-handedly can be credited with overhauling the National School of Drama into a legitimate national institution, during his long tenure as its director from 1962 to 1977. She also shared insights into the world of Alkazi’s theatre including speaking about his eventful innings in Bombay, where under the aegis of the Theatre Group and the Theatre Unit, Alkazi galvanised the English theatre scene in the city. She also spoke about Alkazis association with the Bombay Progressive Artists including MF Hussain, who painted for his theatre. 

The retrospective exhibition at NGMA Mumbai included some of the rare archival material, which was aesthetically displayed in the majestic semicircular galleries arranged around the central stairwell at the NGMA. The exhibition included Mockups of posters of Alkazi’s celebrated productions, which  adorned the walls of the entrance hall. The Alkazi Times’ panels presented the signposts of Alkazi’s life as news clippings, interspersed with actual microfiche footage — ascensions of kings and Prime Ministers, declarations of war and independence, and even snapshots from theatre history. The exhibition was monumental in scale, filled with information about Alkazi’s genealogy, childhood, education and his illustrious career. Although Alkazi settled in Delhi, he started his creative career in theatre in Mumbai. The exhibition presented how Alkazi was destined to take up the reins of Theatre Group after the untimely passing of Sultan ‘Bobby’ Padamsee, the young genius, who had great influence on Alkazi.

Alkazi brought about revolutionary changes in Indian theatre and he was able to beautifully blend native Indian folk traditions and international acting techniques to create modern Indian theatre. He was also credited with the introduction of revolutionary ideas in theatre through scenic design and lighting. Alkazi is believed to have been a strict disciplinarian at the NSD who evolved new training methodologies for student actors, directors and stage designers. He introduced new ethics and philosophy in theatre. Until the arrival of Alkazi on the Indian theatre scene there was hardly any importance for the theatre settings in the plays. He laid extraordinary emphasis on the setting for theatre, which subsequently became integral to modern Indian theatre.  Alkazi believed that theatre was not just about the performer. He stressed on the importance of other aspects of the theatre, namely the set design, lighting, costume design and music, which he said were as integral to a play as was the actor. 

Alkazi has lived his life and has left behind an indelible Mark and the internationally acclaimed NSD will continue to perpetuate his contributions. Long live Ebrahim Alkazi. Rest in Peace.

The Perfect Ten : Jim Laker, Anil Kumble, AK 74 & Richard Stokes.

Images : courtesy Nehru Science Centre exhibition catalog.

Compulsively obsessed and crazy that most of us are for the game of cricket - gentleman’s game (apologies to the women who deservingly are now a part of this club), I am certain that most of my friends will immediately identify an inextricable relationship between Jim Laker, Anil Kumble and The Perfect Ten. But then why have I included other two terms - AK 74 and Richard Stokes -  in the title of my blog, which apparently appears to be incongruous in the company of Kumble, Laker and Perfect Ten? Can any of you make a guess? For those who can and for those who can’t, I hope this post will be of interest to you all, more so because one of the video clips, which has gone viral on WhatsApp on 31st July, is the highlights of the cricket test match in which Jim Laker created history by becoming the first man in the annals of history of cricket to take all the ten wickets in an test innings and the only man to take 19 wickets in a cricket match in any form of cricket. He achieved this unique feat on 31st July 1956 while playing against their arch rivals Australia. To commemorate this historic occasion a video highlights of Laker taking all ten wickets has gone viral and I too received this video clip from more than one group on my WhatsApp. Our very own Anil Kumble -  the Jumbo - is in the August company of Jim Laker having taken a perfect ten in an innings in the cricket test match. Equally significant is the opponents against whom they have achieved this unique honour. Laker did it against their arch rivals, the Australians and Kumble achieved it against our arch rivals - the Pakistanis. 

During the 140 plus years of long cricketing history there have been extraordinary moments that have been played out on the cricketing field, which indelibly etched in the annals of cricketing history and in memories of cricket loving audience. The Perfect Ten wickets that Anil Kumble and Jim Laker achieved in their respective test match innings will definitely be on top of those cricketing moments. During the ‘Cricket Connects : India - England Cricket Relations’, exhibition, which I had the honour to curate commemorating the seventieth year of Indian Independence, one of the eleven sections of the exhibition was titled ‘Hits and Misses’. This section covered those extraordinary hit and miss moments in history of Cricket relationship between India and England and one of the hits included in the section is the perfect ten common connect that Anil Kumble and Jim Laker share. The section also covered some of the infamous incidents (misses) between the two teams. The exhibition and the accompanying richly illustrated exhibition catalog, captures these hits and misses cricketing moments that the two countries - India and England - share as a common connect. 

Jim Laker was the first player in the annals of cricketing history to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings. He achieved this remarkable feat, while playing against their arch rival Australia, in the second Australian innings of thr fourth Test match that was played at Old Trafford, during the Ashes series in 1956. Laker returned with a magical and unachievable match figures of 19 wickets for a paltry 90 runs (9 for 37 in the first innings and 10 for 53 in the second). England won the Test  match by an innings and 170 runs, with just over an hour to spare and retained the Ashes cup. This memorable game will always be known as Laker's Match.

The Old Trafford Test match was full of drama and will continue to be recognised as one of the most exciting yet controversial matches for a long time. The controversy arose over the preparation of the pitch and for days’ cricketers, officials, critics and the general cricketing public could talk of little else than this game and the pitch. The culmination of the excitement was when Laker successfully appealed for a LBW decision against Len Maddocks. Moments later the match was over and Laker had taken all the ten wickets in an innings. Maddocks, who with Laker entered the cricketing history, was livid about the pitch and his post match statement sums up the frustration that he and his teammates had on the nature of the pitch, which the curator of the Old Trafford had prepared for the match. He said ‘Bradman wouldn’t have lasted on that pitch”. 

Tension had mounted as Laker captured his eighth and ninth wickets. Time was ticking by and rain had all but ruined the match. The only wish in the minds of the English players was victory and retention of the Ashes and no one ever bothered who took the wickets to earn them the coveted victory. The question of giving Laker his tenth wicket, to go down in history as the first man to do so,  was never on the minds of England players since time was ticking by and rain had all but washed out the Test Match to end in draw. Destiny had other plans for England and Laker. With just one wicket standing between England and Australia and rain almost a certainty, the bowler entrusted to bowl from the other end was Lakers spin partner Lock, who repeatedly kept beating the bat, fortunately for Laker it was not Lock’s day. The momentous occasion came at twenty-seven minutes past five when Laker scalped the last Australian wicket of Len Maddocks and ended up with a perfect 10 in an innings to spin Australia to an innings defeat to win the Test and series for England. Laker had earned his triumph by remarkable control of length and spin. The significance of this historic feat can be seen in the statement of the legendary Don Bradman, who said ‘it was a feat unlikely to be equalled’ and it continues to be so. But while those 19 wickets and Lakers perfect 10 are still remembered, what has largely been forgotten is that it was the dusty and controversial Manchester pitch, which commanded almost as much attention during and immediately after the game.

Kumble’s Jumbo Feat.

Jim Lakers unique feat of a perfect ten was repeated 43 years later by the Indian spinner Anil Kumble. It was on February 7, 1999 that Kumble achieved the ‘Jumbo’ feat of scalping all 10 wickets in an innings against their arch rivals Pakistan at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi. The leg-spinner’s figures of 10 for 74 were instrumental in India’s 212-run win over their arch rivals. Kumble had single-handedly crushed the Pakistanis. This was the time when terrorism was reigning in the Kashmir valley and Pakistani sponsored terrorists and their arsenal AK-47 used to hog national headlines. The AK-47 is a compact automatic rifle, which Stalin’s engineers clandestinely unveiled in 1947. This gun, with the fall of the erstwhile USSR, reached the hands of most terrorists. Dubbed the Avtomat Kalashnikova-47, AK-47, it became the amoral massacre machine in the hands of the terrorists across the globe and more particularly in Kashmir. The decade of 90s was a period when Kashmiri terrorists wielding AK 47 and killing innocents had hogged headlines all across Indian media. Knowing well the connect that this deadly, Pakistan sponsored AK - 47, weapon had on the minds of the Indian audience, the Indian Express disrupted this term imaginatively to herald the momentous achievement of Kumble, which they  captured in their newspaper with a headline ‘AK-74 : Kumble guns down Pakistanis’ referring to Anil Kumble’s dismissals of all ten wickets of the Pakistani players for 74 runs. Referring to this occasion Kumble later said ‘A 'Perfect Ten' isn't something you set out to achieve as a cricketer. I would attribute the events of 7th February 1999 to destiny’. 

Incredibly there was one man who was witness to both these feats -  Richard Stokes. He witnessed both these incidents on the cricket ground. He was 10 years old when he went to watch the 1956 Ashes Test at Old Trafford with his father. Stokes, a die hard cricket fan, recalled that he had witnessed Jim Laker becoming the first man to take all 10 wickets in a Test match at the Old Trafford in 1956. Coincidentally Stokes was on a business trip to New Delhi from Germany where he was working and on knowing that a cricket match is going on between India and Pakistan, he preferred to take a break from his business and went to watch the cricket match on 7th Feb 1999. Incidentally it was also his birthday and therefore he wanted a break from his work. As luck would have it he gave himself a unique birthday gift for he had watched both the feats of Laker and Kumble from the cricket ground create history of taking perfect 10.

Kumble, unlike Laker, was supported by his team mates in his achievement of a perfect 10. Sachin (Tendulkar), who is often known to be a believer of some kind of a superstitious thinking on ground, did his bit to turn things around. He started handing Kumble’s cap and sweater to the umpire at the start of an over, in an attempt to 'bring Kumble luck’ and it worked and it so happened that whenever he did that, a wicket fell. The floodgates opened with Afridi's dismissal. When Kumble got the first 8 wickets in fairly quick succession, post a century opening stand by the Pakistani opening pair, the teammates strategized to grab all ten for Kumble and provide him an opportunity to enter in the elite club of Laker. Javagal Srinath was bowling at the other end when the ninth wicket fell, He bowled wide of the stumps with a clear strategy not to take a wicket. Waqar Younis, the last man, went for a heave in that over, and skied the ball in the long-leg region. The ball was going straight into the hands of Sadagoppan Ramesh, but Srinath and his team mates yelled Ramesh not to go for the catch and it was Srinath - the bowler – who shouted the loudest. Kumble finished off the innings from the other end by taking the tenth wicket of Wasim Akram, caught by Laxman to herald a celebration. 

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114 Year old Steam Waggon, Restored to its Pristine Elegance.

114 Year old Steam Waggon, Restored to its Pristine Elegance.

All of our esteemed visitors, who have visited the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai will recollect seeing the 114 year old Steam Waggon / Lorry, artefact, which is displayed in the science park of the centre. Unfortunately, you may have noticed that this Steam Waggon was not in good condition due to its ageing and wear and tear because of the sultry and humid climatic conditions in Mumbai. We had received feedback from many of our visitors asking us to try and restore our precious artefacts. Fortunately the Covid 19 challenge, which has compelled all museums including our science museum to be closed for visitors, has given us an opportunity to take up restoration of our precious locomotive collections during this lockdown period. I am extremely happy to present the outcome of our restoration of the Steam Lorry. We have also completed the restoration of another artefact the Horse Drawn Carriage and we will be taking up restoration of other locomotive artefacts one at a time and hope to complete the restoration of all the outdoor artefacts by March 2021. I would appeal to all our esteemed visitors to please visit the science centre as soon as the lockdown is lifted for seeing this newly restored Steam Lorry, which was gifted to our centre by Mazagaon Dock Ltd and commissioned at our park on 10th January 1980.

The open air Science Park of the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, was a trendsetter for the science museum movement in India. The first two Government science museums in the country, which preceded the Nehru Science Centre (NSCM in India, were the Birla Science and Technology Museum in Kolkata and the Visvesvaraya Industrial Technology Museum in Bangalore, both of which did not have an open air Science Park, which is one of the major attraction of the NSCM. Incidentally the science park in Mumbai spread across six acres of land, was inaugurated on 22nd December 1979, six years before the NSCM was formally dedicated to the nation - on 10th November 1985 - by the then Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The science park of NSCM is the first such science park in India and  most likely it is also the world’s first science park, which has inspired other science centres in US to adopt this unique concept. Incidentally the UNESCO recognised this new concept as an unique informal science learning ambience. The science park has several hands on outdoor science exhibits demonstrating different principles of science and adding to the attraction of the science park are the vintage locomotive vehicles (precious artefacts) of yesteryears - the Railway locomotive engines (steam and electric) Horse drawn Car carriage, Tramcar, HAL HF 24 Marut Fighter aircraft and the Steam Waggon. These precious historic artefacts were acquired by the centre from different sources in India and the Steam Waggon, the topic of my blogpost today, was purchased by the Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd (MDL) for transportation of goods from the Sentinel Company, UK in 1906 which after serving for more than half decade was donated by MDL to NSCM in 1980. Incidentally the MDL donated two such Steam Waggon  to NSCM,  which arrived at the science park on 10th January 1980 and one of the Waggon which then transferred to our sister unit VITM, Bangalore.

It has been more than four decades since one the Steam Waggon donated by MDL to NSCM was commissioned for public display in the open air science park in NSCM, yet it continues to attract visitors, who routinely are seen posing for a photograph in front of the steam lorry (Waggon). Not just the steam lorry even the other locomotive artefacts have fascinated and are continuing to attract visitors, particularly young children who visit the NSCM in large numbers. Most unfortunately these outdoor artefacts, notwithstanding the best efforts taken by NSCM to avoid corrosion and damage due to unwelcome environmental conditions of humidity in Mumbai, have been damaged and over the years the damage has been quite severe. NSCM is among the very few museums in the country, which remains open to the public all days of the year, except on two days - Holi has Deepavali. Visitors to our museum, despite our best efforts to keep them away from physically touching the precious artefacts, have engaged themselves in touching these precious artefacts. Unlike the art and archeology museums, the science museums in India have been designed with an objective of engaging the visitors with hands on models and exhibits, which they can touch, interact and play and learn science in an informal non coercive ambience. Unfortunately or fortunately this welcoming and non coercive approach of NSCM, though has helped countless children and adults to learn and be attracted to science, has been counterproductive when it comes to preserving our artefacts In the science park.  Visitors in large numbers actively engage themselves with science park exhibits like swing ( scientific swings with with different time periods) etc. and this engagement unfortunately stretches on to the locomotive artefacts as well. But then since majority of the visitors to NSCM are children the science centre has never been strict and coercive when it comes to enforcing the discipline of not to touch the precious locomotive artefacts. Therefore, over a span of four plus decades the climatic conditions of Mumbai and visitors handling of the artefacts has led to substantial damage and wear and tear on the artefacts. 

The Covid 19 pandemic, which is plaguing the world with India counting for 9 lac plus confirmed Covid cases ( fortunately we are doing very well with recovery rate in excess of 60% and fatality less than 3%) has disrupted the global society and this disruption has badly hit museums across the world. In the four plus decades history of NSCM, it is for the first time that our museum has remained closed to the public for more than four long months.  Fortunately, even during this lockdown period we have been able to establish an extraordinary online connect with our audience through a plethora of well conceived and curated programmes, activities and content. For example the live annular eclipse program that we live streamed on our social media has been seen by more than three hundred thousand plus audience from across the world. Similarly most of our other online activities have been receiving an extraordinary response. The Covid challenge has also provided us an opportunity, notwithstanding the financial crisis that we are facing, to try and restore some of our precious artefacts during this lockdown period. During this period we have already completed the restoration of the Horse Drawn Carriage and also the Steam Lorry(Waggon). We have taken up the restoration of the electric locomotive which we hope to complete in the next couple of months and we re also aiming to restoring other locomotive artefacts as well, which we hope to complete during this financial year.

The historically significant Steam lorry also called the Steam Waggon ( note the spelling of Waggon not wagon) artefact, was purchased by MDL from England in 1906 and was used by MDL until the late 1950s when it became obsolete, In the early 1970s the work for the development of the Science Centre in Mumbai commenced and the first phase of the project was the opening of a Science Park on 22nd December 1979. By then the officials of NSCM had managed to convince the authorities of MDL to donate two of these precious Steam Lorries to NSCM, one of which was to be sent to Visvesvaraya Museum Bangalore. Immediately after the opening of the Science Park two of the Steam Lorries were collected from MDL and were brought to the Science Park campus in worli on 10th January 1980. One of the Steam Lorries great in colour was commissioned at Science park in Mumbai and the second one was transported to Bangalore Museum and this has been commissioned inside the Engines Hall in the main building in Visvesvaraya Museum, Bangalore. MDL, which donated these artefacts to us, is the oldest ship building company in India. The history of the MDL company and the shipbuilding yard, dates back to 1774, when a small dry dock was constructed in Mazagon by the two Williams - William Mackinnon and William Mackenzie, founders of the British India Steam Navigation Company. In the year 1906 two Steam Lorries were purchased by this company from Sentinel from UK, for transport of goods to the dockyard and back. 

In 1914, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company took over the ship operations at the dock from the British India Steam Navigation Company. This company was later registered as a public company in 1934. By then the steam lorries which were purchased earlier were in active use for transporting ship building materials. One of this Steam Lorries also called as Steam Waggon is now on display at the science park in our campus in NSCM. In the modern world of fast paced transportation that is primarily propelled by combustion engines, gas turbines and nuclear reactors, the steam engine transports may seem like a dinosaur relic of the past. But then without this game-changing historic invention of the steam engines, the modern world of transportation would never have advanced to this stage and perhaps the world of transportation may not have reached the current stage where the next generation Elon Musk envisaged Hyper-loop public transport now appears to be a reality sooner than later. Arguably we are now headed towards what is called the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, which is destined to be governed by intelligent machines that have been engineered to think using quintessential Artificial Intelligence, which will drive future public transports like the Hyper-loop. A look back in history reveals that the prime mover for the shaping of the Industrial Revolution ( also dubbed as technology revolution) was the invention of the Steam Engine, which was the most important development of the Industrial Revolution that facilitated major advancements in the fields of mining, manufacturing, agriculture and most importantly transportation. The invention of the steam engine, which primarily moved the Steam lorry, not only shaped the Industrial Revolution but it also helped in bringing about rapid social and technological change that has shaped today’s world. Industrial Revolution was a period of great innovation and many of the machines and tools that we see today have been shaped by the inventions which happened during the Industrial Revolution. 

The invention of the steam engine would eventually lead to the revolution in road, sea and rail transportation around the globe. Steam Locomotive transportation allowed large-scale movement of resources and people over long distances. Previously the industry relied on man -and animal-powered wagons and carts for transportation and the ushering of the steam engine changed this forever and brought world a lot closer. The use of steam locomotives became quite common all over Europe. The steam engines were also most commonly used in other jobs like mining and agriculture. The genesis for the invention of the steam engine may go to  several prominent figures of the 18th and 19th centuries, who are credited with developing and improving the steam engine, however it was primarily the work of  British (Scottish) engineer James Watt, who deserves major credit for the invention of his wonder machine -  the Steam Engine -, which heralded new muscle power to the machines paving the way for the first Industrial Revolution. 

When James Watt (1736-1819) invented and created the first reliable steam engine in 1775, his invention would literally change the world. Watson’s invention of the steam engine relegated the older, less efficient models, like the Newcomen Engine to history and most of these machines were replaced by the more efficient Watson Steam Engine.  James Watson’s innovation, of adding a separate condenser, significantly improved steam engine efficiency, especially latent heat losses. Increased efficiency helped Watson’s new engine to instantly become very popular and ended up replacing all old Newcomen Engines that were installed in mines and factories across the world. The Watson’s Steam Engine served as one of the greatest inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Watson integrated a crankshaft and gears in his steam engine design, which became the prototype for all modern steam engines. The efficacy of the steam engine was so profound that it eventually led to incredible improvements in almost all industries, primarily the textile industry, across the world. Steam engines would also lead to the development of transport locomotives, which gained massive leap forward particularly in ship propulsion. 

The massive success of the steam engine in mining industry paved way for its utility in the transportation and this eventually shaped a revolution in transportation around the globe. Locomotives allowed large-scale movement of resources and people over long distances. Previously the industry relied on man -and animal-powered wagons and carts for transportation of men and materials. While several prominent figures of the 18th and 19th centuries are credited with developing and improving the steam engine, it was primarily the work of James Watt, who is credited with the invention of the Steam Engine -, which heralded new muscle power. Although the credit for the invention of the Steam Engine goes deservingly to James Watt, however, the history of steam-powered machines goes back to the early first century AD, almost 1800 years before the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. 

Greek inventor named Heron of Alexandria is credited with the design of the world's first aeolipile, or primitive steam turbine during the first century AD. Heron's aeolipile was designed to harvest the power of the steam and demonstrate it in rotating a sphere. Heron envisaged that steam power could be used as a means of propulsion. His experimental system consisted of a hollow sphere, mounted on a pair of tubes. When heated from below by fire, the tubes ‘transported’ steam to the sphere, where it was released through another series of tubes projecting from the sphere's centre. This movement of steam through the device caused the sphere to revolve, thus demonstrating the potential of the steam as a means of propulsion. Heron’s aeolipile can therefore be described as the first known device to transform steam into rotary motion. But it wasn't until the 17th century that attempts were made to harness the power exhibited by Heron's aeolipile for practical applications.

Although the basic concept for harnessing the power of the steam was envisaged much earlier but no substantial progress made until late seventeenth century. Newcomen, an ironmonger at Dartmouth realised that the high cost of using the power of horses to pump out water from the mines can be reduced by introducing a machine, which could do the task of the horse. With his assistant John Calley, a plumber, Newcomen experimented for more than 10 years on a steam pump. The outcome was an engine, which was superior to the  Johan Savery, Pump that were in vogue. Unfortunately since Savery had obtained a broad patent for his pump in 1698, Newcomen could not patent his engine. He therefore joined hands with Savery and entered into a partnership for producing Newcomen engine, the first of which was commissioned in 1712. Newcomen Engine was used extensively in pumping out water from the coal mines, which was earlier carried out by horse. However the arrival of Watson’s Steam Engine in 1776 soon pushed the Newcomen Engine to history and Watson’s steam engine proved to be a very efficient machine, which while improving the efficiency also brought down the cost.

Watson steam engine helped Britain lead the Industrial Revolution, which was impacting the world and the steam engine helped in the development of agricultural machineries, which arrived on British farms in the 1790s. This was followed later by portable and traction engines as well as cable-operated cultivation equipment’s all of which used steam engines. Steam offered the first opportunity to significantly increase farming productivity by replacing horses with engine power, and steam engine sales reached a peak in the 1890s. The supreme efficiency of the steam engine and its reputation for speed helped it to spread its reach beyond agriculture and mining circles, into other areas of the industry from metalworking to textiles and steam engine locomotives for transport. Watson was savvy businessman and pitched and marketed his invention by highlighting the number of horses his engine would replace and in the process a new term was coined for the measurement of power "horsepower" HP for short. The steam engines utility exponentially spread its net onto the transportation. 

One of the first companies to start harvesting the power of Watson’s steam engine in transportation was Alley & MacLellan, which was founded in 1875 in Glasgow by Irishman, Stephen Alley and his Scottish partner John Alexander MacLellan. This company was initially manufacturing valves and compressors for steam engines. Later they diversified into manufacturing steamships. Alley & MacLellan acquired Simpson and Bibby of Horsehay, manufacturer of steam powered road vehicles, in 1903. They then began producing steam road vehicles in 1905 and in 1906 introduced a 5 ton vertical-boiler wagon, which featured a 2-cylinder under type engine and chain drive. The MDL was among the first companies to purchase steam Lorries from Alley and MacLellan company in the very first year of its production - 1906. The demand for the steam wagons started raising exponentially and by 1915 the demand was so high that Alley & McLellan was forced to establish a separate works at Shrewsbury with the name of Sentinel Wagon Works Limited, which was solely dedicated for wagon production. Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd steam wagons were so successful that they remained in production with relatively few updates until the launch of Sentinel's famous Super in 1923. During this period the company was also producing steam railway locomotives and railcars, for railway companies and industrial customers.  Sentinel, along with another company Foden, dominated the steam road transportation market for nearly three decades. M/S Alley and Mclellan continued to be known for their high quality marine steam engines. 

The Steam Lorry or the Steam Waggon, which is displayed in the science park of the NSCM was purchased  from Alley and MacLellan by British India Steam Navigation Company, in the year 1906 and this company later became the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. This Steam Lorry / Waggon was extensively used mainly to haul ships into the dry-dock and for transportation of materials. This Steam Lorry continued to remain in running condition till 1971, when it participated in a vintage car rally in Bombay. Steam used to be generated at 230 PSI by a vertical water tube coal fired boiler, which passed through a super heater to produce superheated steam at 150 degree Centigrade. Total heating surface in the boiler of the steam lorry was 36.5 Square feet and the grate area is 2.6 sq ft. Load carrying capacity of the wagon is 4 tons and maximum speed of Lorry was around 20 Kilometres per hour (12 Miles per hour). 

Accompanying photographs to this post show the condition of the steam lorry at different times even since it was gifted to the NSCM by MDL in 1980. In a span of four decades during which it was on display at our Centre, the Steam Lorry had deteriorated over time and this can be seen in the images. However during the lockdown period we have managed to restore this precious artefact and it now looks fairly new and has that majestic appeal. I earnestly hope that the lockdown to our Centre is lifted soon and we open our doors to our esteemed audience who will be in a position to see this newly restored precious artefact which is 114 years old.

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