Vintage, 90+ years old, Electric Railway Engine Restored to its Pristine Condition @ Nehru Science Centre.

The Mumbai suburban Rail transport (central, western and harbor line) is inextricably linked to most Mumbaikars, for whom Rail is their lifeline. The EMU ( Electric Multiple Unit) services are a house hold name in Mumbai. Every day more than 2000 plus train services (EMU) are commissioned to carry millions of Mumbaikars to their destinations. But then has any one ever wondered when did it all begin? Well the electric rail transport started on February 3, 1925, when the the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) introduced the first electric train (EMU) that ran between Bombay VT ( now CSMT) and Kurla Harbour. It used 1500 volt DC electric supply, which was supplied by the Tata Electric Company, who had set up their first electric power plant in Khopoli, Maharashtra in 1915. The first electric train service in Mumbai ran with 4 cars and was flagged off by Sir Leslie Orem Wilson, the then Bombay Governor, on 3rd February, 1925. Very soon, to cater to the burgeoning population of the city eight car rakes were introduced in the year 1927 and an estimated 700 plus people could travel. Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai is privileged to be in possession of one of the earliest electric locomotives, which ran in the city of Bombay (Mumbai) during the period from 1930 to 1960s. This 90 plus years old Electric locomotive engine was donated by the Central Railway to our centre in the year 1979. This majestic locomotive has now been completely restored to its pristine beauty of yesteryears and is awaiting to be rededicated to the people of Mumbai very soon.

Incidentally It was this very electric locomotive which served as an engine to the Deccan Queen express - a super luxurious train - which was started on 1st June 1930.  This train took just 2 hours and 45 minutes from Mumbai to Pune when it was started in 1930.  This was India’s first superfast train, first long-distance electric-hauled train, first vestibuledtrain, the first train to have a lady only car and also the first train to feature a dining car. Incidentally the Deccan Queen express today (12123) takes 3 hours and 15 minutes to travel from Mumbai to Pune

Mumbai (Bombay then), incidentally also has that unique distinction of operating the first passenger train services in India. This train service ran from Mumbai (Bombay then) to Thane on April 16, 1853. Mumbai therefore has that rare honour of witnessing the first steam locomotive train service and so also the first electric locomotive train service in India. It is therefore no wonder that the city of Mumbai has a rich rail history, which is exemplified by the monumental architectural edifice - the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) building. The CSMT building is individually listed as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.  This 19th century majestic building  is now the headquarters of the Central Railway. It was christened originally as the Victoria Terminus (VT), in honour of the then reigning British Queen Victoria, and it continues to be the most famous architectural landmark of Mumbai. The VT building also served as the headquarters of the GIPR, the predecessor of the Indian Railways. Therefore it is really a great honour that  Nehru Science Centre is in proud possession of a electric locomotive engine which belongs to the rich rail heritages of India. This precious artefact was donated by the Central Railway to our centre  in 1979.

 

The founding fathers of the Nehru Science Centre - Dr Saroj Ghose and others, realised the connect of railways to the city of Mumbai and its people and therefore made efforts to collect the Heritage railway locomotives for display in the open air science park. Two important heritage locomotives – one Narrow Gauge Steam Engine & one Electric Locomotive rail engine, were collected for display at our centre. In addition to these two precious collections we also have four other equally precious locomotives – The Steam Lorry/wagon, Electric Tram Car, Horse drawn Tram car and the HF 24 Marut Fighter Aircraft. All these six artefacts were collected in 1979 and they were transported from their respective places to the Science park premises of our centre in December 1979, six years before the opening of the Nehru Science Centre. Ever since these precious locomotives are on public display and have been seen by tens of millions of people who have visited the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai.

This blogpost is dedicated to one of these six locomotives, which is displayed in our science park - the Electric Locomotive Engine, which dates back to 1929/30. This precious electric railway engine, which initially operated under the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) during the British period and subsequently was transferred to the Central Railway, was graciously gifted by the Central Railway to the Nehru Science Centre in 1979. There is an interesting story of how this massive 112 tonne black beauty was transported from the Sion railway yard, on that historic night - 13 December 1979, to the Science Park of our centre. The Times of India, which briefly covered the transport of the engine from Sion to Worli, in its  14th, December, 1979 edition quoted ‘A nearly 50 year old locomotive, stated to be one of the first electric engines in India, will be handed over to the Nehru Science Centre at a ceremony by the Central Railway at 11:00 a.m. on December, 14, 1979’. The report added that ‘the locomotive, weighing a massive 100 plus tonnes, was put on a trailer on the night of 13th December, using a very cumbersome and complicated operations of loading the massive engine on to the trolley of the lorry, for road transportation from Sion railway station to the Science Centre. 

This historic journey of the massive black locomotive began just after midnight on 13th December from Sion.  The electric engine sitting on a special trailer travelled via Bandra, Mahim and Dadar to reach the Science Centre in Worli on the early morning of 14th December, 1979. It travelled in the mid night through  some of the most congested routes in the city. From the Times of India report, which quoted one Mr. N. R. Naidu, an engineer of the Central Railway, we learn that this electric locomotive was one of the oldest railway engines, which was operational in Bombay (Mumbai now). This locomotive after its retirement in the 1960s had been kept at the Kalyan locomotive shed for 15 years and was occasionally used for small jobs, before being gifted to the Nehru Science Centre. The report also adds that the complicated process of the transportation of this engine from Sion station to our centre in Worli was undertaken by a company called National Transport Services and this process was directly over seen by its proprietor Mr. Viay Papriwala. The report also includes the name of driver - Mr Brijal,  who drove the trolley to transport the engine from Sion to Worli. The report ends by stating that Mr Papriwala was perhaps the proudest man when the engine reached the Science Centre the next morning on 14th December, 1979. Another report, which covered this historic journey of the black beauty 

from Sion station to Worli, says that not many people witnessed the transportation of the giant electric engine. It adds  ‘Perhaps only a few pavement-dwellers, who were about to retire for the night, witnessed this unusual drama and will remember it in the days to come’.  The report says ‘All of a sudden they saw a strange sight in the distance, breaking the silence and emptiness of the area, slowly move past them and gradually fade out of sight: a nearly 100 year old railway engine, weighing 112 tonnes, on a trailer’. The report adds that ‘a few passing motorists at night were bewildered, amused and confused when they caught sight of the engine being transported on the trolley. The electric locomotive therefore has a very interesting story of its transportation to our centre.

If the transportation was a challenge so was the preparation that went into loading the locomotive from the Sion Railway shed on to the Lorry. One report which covered the loading of the engine into the trolley, says  ‘Everyday, several men, some bare-bodied and some in vests, sweated it out in the hot sun to lift the engine and place it on the trailer’. Very carefully they put “sleepers” below the loco and gradually lifted it with the help of jacks. Each time it moved up, they felt a sense of relief as though the entire job had, at last, been done. They patted each other and sang songs with a feeling of satisfaction’. The report adds that ‘ hundreds of people watched the drama of the loading of the engine and many of them took photographs’.  Several trains passed by and many of them stopped at Sion station but neither the passengers nor the train staff seemed to know what was happening.  Even in the neighbouring building, the favourite topic of discussion seemed to have been the mysterious drama of the black engine getting loaded onto the trolley.  The loading of the engine on to the trolley took three days and several men worked for more than ten hours a day to complete the task. One report says that at the end of three days they saw the fruit of their endless efforts: the engine was firmly placed on the trailer.  The report, which covered the loading operation says  ‘the workers felt as though they had climbed a peak after several days’.  The loading task was quite tedious since it was for the first time that such a massive Electric railway engine was to be transported by road. From the Central Railway side one Mr. N. R. Naidu supervised this operation. The news paper report says ‘Mr. Naidu said, it was one of the oldest engines and all these days it had been kept at the Kalyan loco shed.  It was “retired”15 years ago, but was occasionally used for small jobs’.

This 90 plus years old engine, which operated between Mumbai and Pune for several years, was one of the prime attractions of the centre for four plus decades. Unfortunately, the humid climatic conditions of Worli had caused severe damage to this black beauty and also to all the other five precious collections. The electric engine was the worst hit. Most of the metallic parts of this electric engine body, was badly rusted and majorly damaged and in several places the body had crumbled into pieces. The pre-restoration images of the locomotive reveal the terrible extent to which this historic electric rail engine was damaged. We were therefore making our best efforts to get this precious artefact restored through a professional agency. We first approached the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow, which is the premier organization for the research in conservation of the cultural property including monuments and sites, as well as museums, library and archive collections. However, the NRLC, although it functions under our Ministry - the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, was unable to take up this specialised work. We then approached the Rail Heritage wing of the Railway Board, through Mr Rajesh Agarwal, who was formerly the Director of National Rail Museum, New Delhi. He referred us to Ms Vinita Srivastava the Executive Director of Railway Heritage, New Delhi. She very kindly helped us to reach the Central Railway (CR) and also wrote a letter of recommendation to the CR. After a series of our interaction with the officials of CR and after a couple of rounds of inspection of the locomotive by the CR engineers and some of their authorised vendors, the CR finally agreed to take the challenge of restoration of this precious electric locomotive. In the meanwhile we had searched some of the old photographs and other records and also researched on this engine and gave all possible reference materials, including old photographs and other research material as reference to the CR engineers so that they could carry out the restoration in the best possible way and in most professional manner. The successful restoration of the engine is a result of cohesive working between our centre, CR and the agency who undertook this task under the supervision of multidisciplinary teams, such as engineers, artists and other experts. All these collective efforts have helped us to restore the electric locomotive Engine to its original beauty. 

Our centre remains open to the public 363 days a year and therefore it was a challenge to restore our precious collections while the centre remained open to public. There was not much of a progress in the restoration of our artefacts until the beginning of the Covid lockdown in March 2020, when our centre was closed to the public. We used the lockdown period of nearly 8 months to majorly restore the electric locomotive and all other five precious collections in our possession. All the six artefacts have now been brought back to their pristine condition and are waiting to be rededicated to the public through a formal opening very soon.  We are quite confident that these restored locomotives will be very popular among our visitors we are also certain that our visitors will line up to take a selfie or two with these yesteryears beauties.

Railway is one of the major legacies, which the British has left behind. The introduction of the railways by the GIPR was primarily for the benefit of the Britishers who built the Railway network in India to help their governance and to establish connectivity between the different regions of India to aid trade, communication and defence and to further their own personal gains. The establishment of the railways helped the British in strengthening their control and exploitation of their colony. The postal system, policing and many other machineries principally depended on the development of railways as the mass mobility system. The railways, as a spin off benefit, helped the native Indians to adapt from the medieval life styles to a modern one and it also laid the foundation for a partial shift from rural to industrial economy. The Genesis for the introduction of railways in India goes back to mid 19th century. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by an Act of the British Parliament. The GIPR soon entered into a formal contract with the East India Company for the construction and operation of an experimental railway line, 56 kms long in Bombay. The main station from which the operation was to begin was Bori Bunder.

The GIPR had a share capital of 50,000 pounds, when it was incorporated. On August 17, 1849 GIPR entered into a formal contract with the East India Company for the construction and operation of an experimental line, 56 kms long. The construction and operation of the first passenger railway in India - 16th April 1853 in Mumbai - received global headlines and attention. A report of the historic first train journey says that large groups of people had gathered along the two sides of the railway track from Bori Bunder to Thane on the inaugural day of the steam engine-driven locomotive. It was almost some kind of a dream for the people to witness a carriage running without harnessing animal or human power. The black beauty steam railway engine appeared like a mythical creature that was spewing out white smoke as it moved ahead at speed,  which was inconceivable at that time. Very soon the the scientific principle of the steam operated machines and its power was understood and the steam power was put to wide use in setting up industries or looms, or even the early road transports like the Steam Waggon and cars that reshaped Bombay’s  geography in those early years.

British engineers received wide acclaim for the Railway line they had constructed and for commissioning of the rail transport in India. The global media hailed their accomplishments of building a railway line in a tropical country like India with varied problems that ranged from snakes and animals to building embankments over difficult stretches. Three decades after the inaugural rail transport in Bombay, the old wooden structure of Bori Bunder was pulled down and replaced with a new station called Bombay Passenger Station. In the meantime the Britishers started a mega plan to construct a massive terminus, which was then christened Victoria Terminus - VT. The construction of the VT station began in 1878 and ten years later, in May 1888, the majestic building of VT (CSMT now) that we see today was completed at a cost of Rs 16, 35, 562. The building was very unique and was something the citizens of Bombay had never seen before. The construction and operation of Railways had proved the engineering skills of British Engineers, which was further exemplified by the construction of the majestic VT building. The VT building was designed by the consulting British architect, Frederick William Stevens. He has to his credit design of some other Gothic Heritage note worthy buildings in Mumbai, which include among others ; the Bombay Municipal Corporation building, the Royal Alfred Sailor’s Home, the Post-Office Mews at Apollo Bunder. The CSMT building continues to be an engineering marvel even to this day. 

The railways also brought about a social revolution in Bombay with scores of workers travelling from different parts of India to Bombay to be a part of the industrial growth, which Bombay was witnessing. The legend of Bombay as a city of textile mills and Indian cinema began with the introduction of Railways, which attracted masses from across the country to the city to work as labours or for leisure. The elegant CSMT building has symbolically represented the cosmopolitan character of the city which witnesses travel of diverse people and ideas. 

Our electric locomotive engine was initially stored at the Kalyan loco shed from where it was shifted to Sion and from there to our centre. The electric loco shed at Kalyan holds a unique record to its name. It is the first electric loco shed of Indian Railways. The Kalyan electric loco shed was established on 28 November 1928 under the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR). The electric loco shed at Kalyan during its journey of the last 93 years has maintained nearly 16 different types of electric locomotives. The loco shed has undertaken a long journey since its formation when it used  to maintain electric locomotives EA/1 and EF/1, which were having horsepower of 2160 HP & 2230 HP respectively in 1928 and operated on 1500 Volts DC. 

The electric locomotive in our collection most likely falls under the category of EA/1, the earliest type of locomotives, and has a horse power of 2160. This locomotive was supplied by the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company and it was intended for high speed service over the same routes as the freight locomotives.  The engine has three pairs of driving wheels, a four-wheel bogie at one end and a pony axle at the other. It had Six 360 Hp, 750 volts DC driving motors that are mounted in tandem pairs over the three driving axles, each pair driving through an intermediate gear to a hollow gear wheel surrounding an axle, but carried in journals mounted on the locomotive frame. The form of drive employed gives relatively high centre of gravity and good balance essential for an easy riding locomotive at high speeds. The body of the locomotive contains a driver's cab at each end, the cabs being connected by a central corridor. Adjoining one of the driving cabs is a compartment containing auxiliary machinery such as vacuum pumps, air reservoirs, brake apparatus, and blowers for main motors. A centre compartment contains the various cam groups, etc., a compartment at the other end holding the resistances and unit switches. The apparatus is mounted on frames placed on either side of the central corridor. All live parts are protected by interlocking doors to prevent access while current is on. 

One can see the two two pantographs that are prominently visible on top of the locomotive. These two pantographs could be operated from either of the drivers cabin. The pantographs are mounted on a shield plate insulated from the pantographs and also from the main roof. The motor combinations in the locomotive were so arranged as to give one-third speed with all six motors in series, two-thirds speed with two circuits of three motors in series, and full speed with three circuits of two motors in series, all with full field.  In addition, a field tapping was also used with any of the three combinations. All these arrangements of the six DC motors, which gave a power of 2160 HP to the locomotive, enabled the locomotive to be driven with a total of six running speeds. The National Rail Museum in New Delhi too has in its collection an electric locomotive whose name plates and the number reveal the series and name used during the British era, while the name plate of our engine shows it to be CR, the engine definitely belongs to the GIPR and perhaps was one of those engines under the series 4000, which after independence and its functioning under the CR was given the number 40024. The restored electric locomotive looks majestic and giving it company is another beauty - a narrow gauge steam engine, which too has been restored to its pristine elegance. Unfortunately due to paucity of funds we have not been able to change the four decades old shed in which these two rail,locomotives have been sheltered. However, we hope that we will either be given funds to change the sheds or renovate them during the next financial year. 

Through this post I appeal all those who are in Mumbai to please do spare some time to visit our centre to have a look at this Electric locomotive which has been completely restored and so also the other precious locomotives. 

Prof SM Chitre - Stalwart of the Indian Astronomy, An Eulogy.

Prof SM Chitre - Stalwart of the Indian Astronomy, A Tribute 

This afternoon I was informed by a friend that Prof. Shashi kumar Madhusudan Chitre (84), one of the very well known scientists closely associated with Science Communication and the one who was even more closely associated with the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai as a member of our EC and so also in several other capacities for many decades, had passed away today 11th Jan, 2021, at the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. This tragic news reminded me of the close association of Prof Chitre with our Centre since the inception days and the stellar role that he played during those early years of the making of the Nehru Science Centre, starting with an exhibition on light and sight in 1978 in a temporary shed and then developing, perhaps the worlds first open air science park in 1979. He was also involved in one or the other was in the development of the massive castle like Nehru Science Centre main building - so elegantly designed by the renowned architect late Achyut Kanvinde, and developing for the very first time in India three hands on interactive types of exhibitions on Sound, Light and Sight and a gallery on Science for Children and so also a Vintage car exhibition. Chutre’s association with our centre is as old as the centre itself and he was one of those distinguished scientists who was perhaps present during the opening of the centre by the then PM of India in November, 1985.

Just a few days back - 7th January, 2021, while making a presentation about our Centre to Mr Rajendra Pawar, the Chairman of the Agricultural Development Trust, Baramati and his team, we had used couple of the images of Prof Chitre addressing the students from our auditorium and his ever smiling face is so very fresh in my mind and suddenly the tragic news of his death came as a big blow for me. Prof Chitre’s association continued with our centre for more than four decades. He was one of those galaxy of scientists who turned up at the opening of the Vigyan Samagam exhibition in May 2019. This massive frontiers of mega science exhibition, showcasing international science projects in which India is a partner, was organised by NCSM in collaboration with the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology.  

The Nehru Science Centre in association with the National Centre for Science Communicators, Mumbai had organised a National Conference on “India in Space and Nuclear Energy: Achievements and Challenges” at our Centre. This mega event was organised as a mark of our respect and tribute to Dr. Vikram A Sarabhai, the father of Indian Space Program and the founder of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at our Centre on his birth centenary. This event was inaugurated by Prof Chitre and some of the images of the event are included in this tribute. Some of the dignitaries present on the occasion included Dr. R. Chidambaram, Former Principal Scientific Advisor to the PM and to the Union Government; Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Former Chairman, ISRO; Shri Srikumar Banerjee, Chancellor, Homi Bhabha National Institute; Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO, National Rainfed Authority,  Dr. Mallika Sarabhai, daughter of Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai and others.  I vividly remember that Prof Chitre delivered an outstanding inaugural lecture and spoke of some of the most memorable moments of his association with Dr Sarabhai. He, in his quintessential elegant style, also spoke about how Dr Sarabhai and Dr. Bhabha, kind of a, courted the famous classical Bharatnatyam dancer, Mrinalini at IISC Bangalore and that Sarabhai won this race and went on to marry Mrinalini, who then became Mrinalini Sarabhai. Dr. Mallika Sarabhai, daughter of Mr and Mrs Vikram Sarabhai, who was present in the audience during his lecture was the one who enjoyed this anecdotal rememberance of her father by Prof Chitre, the most. 

I have had so many occasions to meet Dr Chitre on different platforms not just at our Centre but also at other places and his vivacious nature is so very fresh in my mind which will never be removed from my memories. He was one of the members of the Executive Committee of the Nehru Centre Trust, which is chaired by Sharad Pawar Ji and in my capacity as the Director of the Nehru Science Centre I am one of the invites to this meeting, which Prof Chitre attended quite regularly. He always invoked his experience with Nehru Science Centre during these meetings. 

Prof Chitre was an eminent Indian Astronomer who excelled in Solar Physics.  His scientific research was focused on solar physics, astrophysics and gravitational lensing. He is credited with an outstanding research on the Sun's magnetic activity cycle, the solar dynamo theory, and the role of neutrals in the solar atmosphere. Prof Chitre was a classmate of Prof Roger Penrose, who won this years Nobel Prize in Physics, at Cambridge. He served as the faculty member at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research  from 1967 until his retirement in 2001. He was the UGC National Lecturer in Physics during 1975-76 and held several visiting positions both nationally and internationally including the ones at Universities of Cambridge, Princeton, Sussex, Amsterdam, Columbia and Virginia. He was also a MaxPlanck Fellow at the MaxPlanck Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik, Munich. He was the Senior Research Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, USA at Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA. Some of his other acclaims in academics include a Perren Visiting Fellow and a Visiting Professor of Astronomy at Queen Mary and Westfield College of the University of London, during 1992-1993, 1994-1995 and 1997 and a Visiting Professor at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad during 1999-2000. He also was the Leverhulme Visiting Professor at Queen Mary College, University of London, 2001 & 2002 and a Visiting Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge during the Easter terms of 2003-2005 & 2007. 

Prof Chitre was the Raja Ramanna Fellow at the University of Mumbai during 2001-2006. He also served as President of the Astronomical Society of India, Chairman of the Indian National Committee for Astronomy, Chairman of the Bombay Association for Science Education, a member of the Management Boards of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics and the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, a Council Member of the Indian Academy of Sciences Bangalore, the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi and the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad, India. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai. Prof Chitre was also the Fellow of some of the most eminent societies in India and abroad namely ; Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences, India, Third World Academy of Sciences, Maharashtra Academy of Sciences, Royal Astronomical Society, International Astronomical Union and others. 

Prof Chitre was born on the 7th May, 1936 and graduated in Mathematics from the Elphinstone College Mumbai in 1956. He was awarded the Duke of Edinburgh Scholarship to study abroad and he joined the Peter-house College, University of Cambridge where he completed another bachelor's degree in 1959. In 1960, he was selected as the Peterhouse Scholar, with which he completed his master's degree. Dr Roger Penrose was one of his classmates at Cambridge. Dr Chitre completed his PhD from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics of Cambridge, in 1963. He started his professional working career as a lecturer at the University of Leeds the same year and continued to work there till 1966. It was during this period that Prof Chitre obtained another fellowship to join the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. After completing his fellowship at the prestigious Caltech, Prof Chitre returned back to India In 1967 to join the faculty at the TIFR. He remained with TIFR, where he continued to perused his research in physics and astronomy until his retirement in 2001.

Prof Chitre has received innumerable awards and felicitations including the prestigious Padma Bhushan, award which he received in 2012. Prof Chitre has also served as a member of innumerable committees including the member of the Executive Committee of our Centre. He was also on the board of Nehru Centre trust. He was an extraordinarily committed science communicator and was very passionate about science education. He has delivered number of lectures in our centre and so also in  schools and colleges. Prof Chitre was the voice behind first ever astronomy show in Mumbai's iconic Nehru Planetarium. He was also the former president of Astronomical Society of India and was member of multiple committees in recent decades which shaped India's science policy. Prof Chitre was also a member of the prestigious Tata Sons on their Tata Endowment Fund. 

Prof Chitre had that quintessential look of a scientist and he was admirably loved by school students, who used to throng our Centre for listening to his lectures. I have had the pleasure and have been very lucky to have shared a common platform with Prof Chitre on several occasions both at Nehru Science Centre and so also in other places, whose memory will remain etched in my memory. Today when Prof Chitre has bid us final good bye for his journey to the heavenly abode and as the mortal remains of Prof Chitre have been confined to the holy flame,  his outstanding contribution to Solar physics and astronomy and Science Communication and also to our council and our centre,  will ever be remembered. I join innumerable other scientific fraternity and country men in praying for his noble soul to rest in eternal peace and for his family to be blessed with the strength to bear this irreplaceable loss. 

Om Shanti

Ring Out the Old (2020), Ring in the New (2021)

 Ring Out the Old (2020),  Ring in the New (2021) and Hope that Covid 19 too will be history, sooner than later.

The dawn of a new year is time again to invoke Alfred Tennyson whose saying is so very relevant when we look back at the bygone year 2020, which completely rampaged the world. “Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.” - Alfred Tennyson. At the dawn of each new year we roll out those ubiquitous old calendars hung on our homes and offices and everywhere to make way for the new calendar with a hope and aspiration that the new year dawns a better future for all of us. This new year every one of us, across countries and continents , are inextricably connected with the Covid pandemic which has spared none and therefore the world must stand united as one to pray that the Dawn of the New Year 2021, herald a beginning of a kindly light, which once and for all lightens up the darkness that the SARS-COV2 created in 2020, and may the Covid vaccines - collectively created by the genius global scientists and health workers and the extraordinary selfless service that the Covid warriors rendered during the pandemic, serve as a God sent ammunition to terminate the deadly virus. achieving this. Once agin wishing you all a very happy new year 2021. 

On December 31, 2019, while welcoming the new year 2020, I had cited it as a special year, which comes once in a century since such years come once each in a century (2020, 1919,1818 etc). Most unfortunately little did I ever imagine that my calendrical classification of the year 2020 as a special year, actually turned out to be prophetic with most part of the year 2020 going down the memory line as an infamous year which was plagued by the Covid Pandemic. Nearly two million people across the world have already succumbed to this pandemic and India too has been adversely impacted with more than ten million people affected by Covid and more than one Lac people, including our dear classmate Vice Admiral Srikant, have fallen victims to this dreaded SARS-COV2 virus. 

The Covid 19 has reminded the world of how fragile we are in front of the all encompassing nature and its attributes and how even a minuscule SARS- COV2 virus can rampage the world. We must  therefore learn to respect nature, which has enough to meet the needs of everyone but not our greed. Just about 100 years ago the Spanish Flu had rampaged the world in 1918-19 and wiped out more than 50 -75 million people including 7-10 million people in India. Our Centre, Nehru Science Centre in collaboration with Smithsonian Institution and Harvard Global Health Institute had  organised an exhibition ‘Outbreak - In a Connected World’, in December 2018, which was based on the Spanish Flu of 1918-19. This exhibition was expressly aimed towards  educating the public and highlighting the concerns of Outbreaks and epidemics in a connected world. Most shockingly in just about 14 months after we organised the Outbreak exhibition, Covid struck the world and it is yet to be completely defanged. Hopefully with the promises of various vaccines that are knocking at our doors, including the Covid Shield vaccine of Serum Institute, which the Government has cleared yesterday, and so also the untiring efforts of global health workers, scientists and others I am optimistic that the dawn of the new year -  2021, will see the beginning of the end for this pandemic. I also hope that the lessons that we have learnt from this pandemic will help humanity to realise how vulnerable we are so that we learn to respect nature. 

Not everyone gets to experience first hand the ordeal of the pandemic, which we have all endeared and therefore let us all pledge and continue to be a responsible global citizen and take all prescribed precautions and follow Covid protocols while  celebrating the dawn of the new year 2021.  Now that the year 2020 is behind us it is time to spare a thought for human ingenuity to create calendars that have defined years, days and month, which are inextricably linked with our lives. The calendars  are designed based on scientific system to reckon time in periods convenient to the conduct of our day today lives and help us knit in sync with each other cutting across time and space and also in chronicling our collective history for posterity. But then how did these calendars come about? Well here is a brief note on the evolution of calendars.

Calendars are inextricably linked with our lives and are designed by humankind based on scientific system to reckon time in periods convenient to the conduct of our lives. Calendar has its origin from the Roman word Calends or Kalends,  meaning a method of distributing time into certain periods adopted for the purpose  of civil life. The story of the calendar begins with the fascinating history of mans endeavour to organize our lives in accordance with celestial cycles. Three of these celestial bodies - the earth, moon and the sun - are central to the formulation of calendars. All calendars are founded upon some combination of the movement of these celestial bodies. Moon has always influenced the timing of different religious festivals, and seasons, and the Sun has influenced the time of sowing and harvesting. Calendars based on observations of moon are called the lunar calendars and those based on the observations of the Sun are called the Solar calendars and these two calendars have been used widely in different cultures of the world; Chinese, Hebrew, Islamic, Gregorian and our very own Hindu calendars. While each of these calendars are unique in how they are used, however they all share a set of common features borrowing from each other.  Like all great efforts that require dedicated collective work of a group of people, the establishment of a standardised calendrical system was no trivial matter. It required knowing how to make observations, which observations to make, and how to keep records over a long period of time. 

One of the oldest calendar systems is our very own Hindu calendar, which is based on the lunar revolutions and included adjustments (intercalation/extracalation) to solar reckoning. It divides an approximate solar year of 360 days into 12 lunar months of 27 days each according to the Taitriya Samhita and also Atharva Veda. The resulting discrepancy was resolved by the intercalation of a leap month every 60 months. The months were counted from full moon to full moon and were divided into two halves Shukla paksa of waxing period and Krisna paksa of waning period. The new moon days were observed as amavasya and full moon as Purnima’s and most religious rituals were performed around these two events. Each of the months has thirty days (tithi) and the day (divasa) thirty hours (muhurta). A new form of astrology that is in vogue today is based on the old Hindu calendrical system, which did under go a change in its classic form according to the Surya siddhanta in 4-5th century AD. The year was divided into seasons, ऋतु, spring (वसॉन्था) from mid March until mid May; summer (ग्रीष्म), from mid May until mid July; the rains (वर्शा), from mid July until mid September, autumn (सरद) from mid September until mid November and winter (हेमन्त) from mid November until mid January and the Dews (सिसिरा), from mid January until mid March.

Most calendars had some or the other discrepancy, which needed correction. The discrepancy in the Indian calendars and controversy associated with it can be traced back to the period of the great epic Mahabharata. The epic mentions two periods - the Vanavasa (period of exile) and the agnyatavasa (the period of incognito living) - which the Pandavas were mandated to observe in obeisance of Yudhisthar’s commitment to the Kauravas. The epic battle of Kurukshetra was fought with a consideration that the Pandavas, according to Duryodhana, failed to keep their promise to stay in exile for twelve years and in hiding for one year. However, Bhisma reckoned that the Pandavas adhered to their promise and observed the two periods. Bhisma substantiated his argument with the fact that the calendar adds an extra month every five years. The interpretation of the calendar or the complications involved in the calendar making are therefore legendary.

From historic times calendar makers have relied on the sunrise and sun set to determine the day, while the period between the full moon determined the month. Even in modern times the celestial bodies continue to provide the basic standards for determining the measurement of the day, month and the year. The day can be measured either by the stars or by the sun. If stars are used, then the interval is called the “Sideral day” and is defined by the period between two passages of a star across the meridian. The mean Solar day is 24 hours, 3 minutes and 56.55 seconds long. The measurement of the month is determined by the passage of the moon around the earth. There are two kinds of measurements for the month, first, the period taken by the moon to complete an orbit of the earth and second, the time taken by the moon to complete a cycle of phases. The former is defined as the orbital month. However, the problem with this is that the moon's orbit is elliptical and it will be travelling faster when closer to the earth (perigee) and slower when further away (apogee) and therefore it has anomalies. The Anomalistic month is the time between perigees (27.55455 days mean value). The second measurement of the month by the phases of the moon is called the synodic month (synod = meeting, in astronomy it means conjunction or lining-up) which measures 29.53059 days.The synodic month forms the basis of the calendar month.

Determining the length of the year also has its own problems. The Earth does not rotate whole number of times for each revolution of sun. The Sidereal year is the time for the Earth to return to the same position relative to the fixed stars, which measures  365.25636 days and its mean value increases by 0.00000012 days per century. Because it is slightly longer than the tropical,  the equinoxes will gradually creep westward around the ecliptic by 1 in 71.71 years or 360 in 25800 years. The common year is called the Tropical year meaning the time between spring equinoxes (365.24219 days mean value decreasing by 0.00000614 days per century). Because the Earth's orbit is elliptical it will travel faster at perihelion (closest, now early January) and slower at aphelion (furthest, now early July). This means that the season around perihelion will be shorter than the one around aphelion. Currently the gaps between equinoxes and solstices are, starting at the Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox, 92.72, 93.66, 89.84, and 88.98 days. The southern hemisphere gets a few extra days of winter and the northern hemisphere gets a few extra days of summer. Choosing either of the years leaves the calendar maker in an awkward position of having the following New Year beginning in the middle of the day.

The Julian Calendar : Of the several calendars of antiquity, the Egyptian and the Roman calendars developed into the Julian calendar, which was used for more than 1500 years. The Roman republican calendar, introduced around 600 BC, was a lunar one, short by 10.25 days of a Tropical year. It included an extra intercalary month, every two years, which fell in late February. Nonetheless, by around 50 BC, the lunar year had fallen eight weeks behind the solar one, and it was clear that the Romans were out of Sync. There was total confusion when Julius Caesar came to power as the Roman’s 355 day lunar calendar was 80 days out of sync with seasons when Caesar took the throne. Julius Caesar, it is believed got acquainted with the Egyptian calendar on the same trip during which he got to know Cleopatra. He then came in contact with the famous Greek Egyptian astronomer, Sosigenes. In the year 46 BC, Sosigenes convinced Julius Caesar to reform the calendar to a more manageable form. Sosigenes' message to Caesar was that the moon was a nice god but knew nothing about when things happen. Armed with this information Caesar returned to Rome and made big changes. The old lunar system with intercalary months was abandoned and a new solar system was introduced with fixed month lengths making 365 days and an intercalary day every forth year in February which would have 29 or 30 days. To shift the equinox back to March 25 he added three extra months to 46 BC, making it 445 days long ('the year of confusion') and the Julian calendar began on 1st January 45 BC.  In recognition of his contribution to the calendar reforms the month of July is named in his honour.

Caesar’s nephew Augustus (originally named Octavius) also did some cleaning up of the calendar, details of which however are not very clear. One source (Britannica) suggests that the priests got the leap years wrong having one every third year for forty years so he had to skip a few until 8 BC. In recognition of this, they renamed Sextilis with August in his honour but had to pinch a day from February to make the month of August have the same length of days as July. The tradition has lasted until today and therefore contrary to any logic the immediate months of July and August have 31 days each.

Anno Domini : Things went smoothly for a while; the seasons were finally put in proper place in the year and festivals were happening at sensible times - almost. At the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, Easter was decreed to be the first Sunday after the full moon after the vernal equinox. The early Christians were keen to cleanse contrary ideas (like the spherical Earth) so in 526 AD; the Abbot of Rome, Dionysius Exiguus proclaimed that the birth of Christ should be the event from which years are counted. He also calculated the event to be from December 25 and asserted that it should be called 1 AD (Anno Domini = in the year of our Lord) and the year preceding it should be called 1 BC (now meaning Before Christ) with prior years counted backwards. The omission of a year zero was a dumb idea.  About this time the seven day week was introduced. Although it may have appeared earlier in the Jewish calendar and also in the Hindu calendar, it was tidied up in the fourth century. Cycles of four to ten days had previously been used for organising work and play. Seven was chosen apparently in acknowledgment of the Genesis story where God rested on the seventh day although there is a strong suggestion that it also reflected the seven gods visible in the sky as the planets, sun and moon. 

Pope Gregory XIII : By the middle ages the seasons had slipped again. Pope Leo X tackled the problem in 1514 AD by engaging a number of astronomers, including the famous Copernicus, who quickly recognised that there was a more fundamental problem than rearranging the calendar and suggested the rearrangement of the universe by putting the sun at the center as against the earth. The Church though did not accept the suggestions. Half a century later Pope Gregory XIII was sane enough to have another go to sort out the discrepancy and assembled a team of experts, led by the German mathematician Christoph Clavius(1537-1612) and Italian physician and Astronomer Aloisius Lilius who spent ten years finding a solution to the problem. By 1582 AD the Julian calendar was full 13 days behind the seasons. By then the Christian churches had scheduled certain of its feasts, such as Christmas and the saint’s days, on fixed dates. The Julian calendar, which was running 13 days behind the sun, had little or no effect on the lives of the ordinary folks, but it disturbed the functioning of the Church, because it pushed the holy days into wrong seasons. This prompted the church to issue clearance to Pope Gregory XIII to implement necessary changes in the calendar.

Gregorian Calendar : The change made by Gregory XIII to the calendar envisaged skipping ten days, sometime to bring the seasons back in line and skip a few leap years now and again. The extra day every fourth year is too much so skip the leap year at the end of the century. This is now a touch short so put back a leap year every fourth century. The leap year is therefore defined as a year if it is a multiple of 4. However if the year  is a multiple of 100 it is not a leap year. There is an exception to it. If the year is a multiple of 400 it will once again be a leap year. Since this still produces an error of a day in 3,323 years we will also be skipping the leap year in 4000 AD. Applying all these principles in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII, decreed that the day after October 4, 1582, would be October 15, 1582. And according to the prescribed rule 1600 was a leap year but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not and the year 2000 AD was again a leap year.  

The changeover to the Gregorian calendar was not smooth. France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal changed in 1582; Prussia, Switzerland, Holland, Flanders and the German Catholic states in 1583; Poland in 1586 and Hungary in 1587. The Protestant countries weren't too keen to follow, so for nearly two centuries there were two calendars running in Europe ten days apart. Matters came to a head in 1700 when the Protestants had a leap year and the Catholics didn't, increasing the gap to 11 days. Denmark and the German Protestant states changed in 1700 and Sweden came up with the brilliant plan of simply skipping all leap years until they caught up in 1740. England and America switched over in 1752, skipping 11 days by making September 3 as September 14 and shifting the start of the year to January 1. There was much unrest in the US - 'give us back our eleven days' was a popular campaign slogan.  Many other countries were slow to adopt the standard and it was not until the early twentieth century that the entire world was finally synchronised. Japan changed in 1872, China in 1912, Bulgaria in 1915, Turkey in 1917, Yugoslavia and Rumania in 1919 and Greece in 1923. The Gregorian calendar is now recognised world wide although there are still many other calendars running alongside it, for religious purposes. 

In India calendar reform took place in 1957.  The National Calendar of India is a formalized lunisolar calendar in which leap years coincide with those of the Gregorian calendar (Calendar Reform Committee, 1957). However, the initial epoch is the Saka Era, a traditional epoch of Indian chronology. Months are named after the traditional Indian months and are offset from the beginning of Gregorian months. In addition to establishing a civil calendar, the Calendar Reform Committee set guidelines for religious calendars, which require calculations of the motions of the Sun and Moon. Tabulations of the religious holidays are prepared by the Indian Meteorological Department and published annually in The Indian Astronomical Ephemeris. Despite the attempt to establish a unified calendar for all of India, many local variations exist. The Gregorian calendar continues in use for administrative purposes, and holidays are still determined according to regional, religious, and ethnic traditions. Years are counted from the Saka Era; 1 Saka is considered to begin with the vernal equinox of 79 AD. The reformed Indian calendar began with Saka Era 1879 AD, Caitra 1, which corresponds to 22nd March, 1957. Normal years have 365 days; leap years have 366. In a leap year, an intercalary day is added to the end of Caitra. 

We have no zero year hence the years that predate Christian Era are chronicled as Before Christian Era - BCE and those that come later are chronicled as Christian Era CE.  Calendars have held sacred status, for they help us in maintaining social order, provide the basis for planning of agricultural, economic and industrial activities and so also in chronicling our collective history for posterity.  Calendars also provide basis for maintaining cycles of religious and civil events. As we prepare ourselves to welcome yet another new year, let us spare a thought for the makers of the calendars.

Once again wishing you all a very happy New Year 2021.

Remembering Vajpayee - the Ajat Shatru, on his 96th Birthday.

 Remembering Vajpayee - the Ajat Shatru, on his 96th Birthday. Merry Christmas 

Image Credits - Wiki Commons.

25th December - the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ,  the son of God - is an auspicious day, which is celebrated the world over - in more than 150 countries, as Christmas Day. It was on this pious day that Lord Jesus - God's redemption, mercy and Grace - was born in Bethlehem and his birth marks an important epoch in the measurement of history of humanity. The period after his birth is now measured by historians as the Christian Era (CE), and the period before his birth is measured as BCE ( Before Christian Era). it was on this auspicious Christmas day - 25th December, in 1924, that Atal Bihari Vajpayee - an outstanding parliamentarian, poet, orator, political stalwart, coalition builder and the recipient of Bharat Ratna and the man who has rightly been given an epithet ‘Ajat Shatru’ (enemy less), was born to a blessed parents in Gwalior. Although the Covid pandemic has disrupted the otherwise colourful and bright celebrations the world over, including the midnight Christmas mass that was so special in Mumbai, yet the spirit of the people to endeavour the long raging Pandemic has not dimmed, rather it has only further strengthened their resolve to endear it and hopefully everyone’s prayers on this holy occasion will be answered and the pandemic ends sooner than later. While wishing all my friends a merry Christmas and seasons greetings I also take this opportunity to remember Atal ji and wish him a very happy birthday and pray for his reverential  soul to continue to rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode, which is now home to him. 

The memory of Atal ji as a great statesman and an exemplary parliamentarian and an extraordinary opposition leader is some thing, which the whole nation will truly look up to and remember. Stalwarts like Narasimha Rao and Atal ji are now most wanted in the utterly and viciously divided ruling and opposition parties. In the current era the political parties have translated their मतभेद ( difference/ division in opinions)  into मन भेद ( difference/ division of mind) and cannot come together on any issues, including on issues of national interest. I wish, our political leaders while paying respect and remembrance to Vajpayee ji on this day also take note and emulate what former Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, and the then opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, collectively could achieve that triumphant diplomatic victory against Pakistan at the UNHCR session in Geneva in 1994. Narasimha Rao had chosen a team to represent India at this important UN convention  and the team was headed by the opposition leader,  Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.. Other members of the team included External Affairs Minister Mr. Farooq  Abdullah, the state Minister, Mr. Salman Khurshid and the Indian Ambassador to the UN, former Vice President, Dr. Hamid Ansari. Atal ji led a combative defense against the vitriolic and diabolical attack by Pakistan, who had got the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to move a resolution at the Geneva session of the UNCHR to censure India for the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. Atal ji and his team collectively came triumphant to heroes welcome back home in India. It was a historic occasion when India’s voice had to be heard as one voice and the ruling and opposition parties put their ideologies in the back burner to come together as one great nation to defeat the enemy. Will we ever be able to replicate this now or in near future? Time and and time alone will reveal and what you and I can do at present, is only to pray that such moment comes soon so that issues like the ongoing farmers agitation, which is threatening to further derail our economy that is already adversely affected by the Covid pandemic are resolved by the political parties together as one team India. in the interest of our nation and are not further instigated on political considerations. 

Bharat Ratna, Atal Bihari Vajpayee - former PM, Poet, politician, pragmatist orator and statesman- who passed away at an advance age of 93 on the 16th of August, 2018, after a prolonged illness, will truly be missed in current times. Although, after almost three decades of passing through an era of coalition politics, the ruling party - BJP -  has managed to get a back to back majority on its own, yet the need for coalition cannot be wished away, more so when the regional parties are getting stronger by the day across states. The BJP and the NDA leaders will know this better post the recent elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Atal ji was master of coalition politics and had the unique distinction of successfully running a coalition government with diverse political ideology for full term. It is firmly hoped that his political strategy and coalition धर्म can serve as a beacon in the current era of bitterly divided acrimonious ridden polity. Atal ji is the first and only person, since Jawaharlal Nehru, to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three Lok Sabha (1996, 1998 -2004)

Atal Ji, fondly remembered as the Poet Prime Minister of India, was blessed with brilliant oratory skills. A liberal at heart and secular in practice, Atal ji was often described by opposition parties and the critics of BJP as “the right man in the wrong party”.  His words could easily sway hearts and minds of people. It was this oratory skill that attracted innumerable people to his election rally heralding a new era for his party. BJP is now reaping the benefits of  stalwarts like Atal ji who laid the foundation for his party, which has now managed to have a back to back majority on its own strength in the Lok Sabha. I was one of those millions of Indians who were swayed by the oratory skills of Atal ji, as an young adult. I vividly remember the very first time we heard Atal ji speak during an election rally in Gulbarga (Kalburgi now). We had endured an inordinately long delay of more than 4 hours along with tens of thousand others to listen to him. That was the year 1977, a watershed year for the Indian democracy, which was grievously wounded during the Emergency. Our impatient wait turned out to be one of the most rewarding one when Atal ji took to stage. His poetic articulation of thoughts to critic his primary opponent - the indomitable Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then PM of India - was tempered by the good will of geniality contrary to what we now see, not just in the electioneering but also in the parliamentary debates. Atal ji speech was as mellifluous as his inimitable oratory skills.

The oratory skills of Atal ji was first noticed by the then prime minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru way back in 1952. After his maiden speech in the Lok Sabha as a first time Member of Parliament in 1957, in front of Pandit Nehru, the whole of India and the world took notice of Atal ji’s oratory skills and greatly admired him as a witty and humorous orator with spark. There is also an anecdote that Nehru ji had once introduced Atal ji  to a foreign dignitary as the ‘future prime minister of the country’. It took time (4 decades) for Nehru’s prophecy to come true and Vajpayee became the head of the state on three different occasions – the first time  for just  13 days, the second for 13 months and his third and last stint, which he interestingly commenced on the 13th May, 1999, lasted the full term of five years, thus becoming the first non-Congress leader to complete a full term in office of the Prime Minister in 2004.

Atal ji, notwithstanding his political wit, humour and niceties, was a seasoned politician and an outstanding parliamentarian. Contrary to what some may feel, Atal Ji was known for his cultural moderation, liberal views and political equanimity. Vajpayee ji will ever be remembered for his contribution in ushering in the coalition era and stitching disparate alliances to form a government. The coalition era and the alliances - be it NDA or the UPA - that we are witnessing today, largely vow their genesis to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was the master of coalition politics who steered his party to garner regional political party’s support that ultimately became the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Atal Ji deservingly became the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a full five year term in office, a historic accomplishment considering the failed earlier attempts of the non congress governments. Atal ji’s never say quits attitude (फिरसुबह होंगी the film that he and Advani ji saw together post Atal Ji's defeat in the by-election), complemented with the efforts of his 65 years friend and fellow compatriot Advani ji, and hundreds of thousands of his party workers has perhaps paved the way for BJP and his protégé, Shri Narendra Modi ji, to form the BJP led Government with a majority of its own, just over a decade later. Vajpayee’s legacy and his contribution in ushering in the coalition era and proving that even disparate alliances could serve and survive the entire tenure of a government will continue to be celebrated.

Born into a middle class family in Gwalior on the 25th December 1924, Vajpayee’s first brush with politics came at an young age in 1942 when he joined the Quit India Movement against the British. After completing his education, he became a journalist and then joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a fore runner of the BJP, formed by its founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in 1951. From being political secretary to Mookerjee, to raising to the pinnacle of Indian democracy of becoming the PM of the largest democracy of the world, Atal Ji has endeared all of it in his long political career, during which he was elected nine times to the Lok Sabha and also served two terms in the Rajya Sabha. He led his party (BJP) to its first national electoral victory in 1996, but his government lasted just 13 days before he resigned as the PM of India in the face of a no-confidence motion. In his famous speech in the Lok Sabha, while facing this no confidence motion against his government, Atal ji made an extraordinary speech before announcing his decision to submit his resignation to the Honourable President. I distinctly remember those words which have been etched in my memory. I am loosely translating the gist of his concluding remarks “Governments will come and go, parties will come and go parties will be elected to power or made to sit in the opposition but then he said "Desh Rahna Chaiye, Is Desh ki Loktantra rahna chahiye”. What a profound statement which must reverberate and touch the hearts and minds of the political parties so that the disruption which we see in parliament and outside comes down. 

Atal ji was returned to power in 1998 to once again form the Government and ruled for another brief tenure of 13 months forging an alliance with 22 parties, mostly regional parties, with disparate local appeal. It was during this period that India successfully conducted the nuclear tests at Pokhran and he famously rephrased Lal Bahadur Shastri’s quote जय जवान जयकिसान with जय जवान जय किसान जय विज्ञान। Conducting the Nuclear test was one of the historic moment which needed an extraordinary courage and conviction for the political leadership. Narasimha Rao Government had considered this option but before it could succeed the news had leaked out to the US and Narasimha Rao came under pressure from US President and other international leaders and the plan had to be abruptly halted. Although Atal ji succeeded Narasimha Rao as PM in 1996, his government could last just for 13 days and between 1996 and 1998, two successive prime ministers, HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral could not muster the courage to even think of any nuclear tests. After the 1998 mid-term elections, Vajpayee once again got an opportunity to form his government heading a coalition NDA government. The first thing he did was to order nuclear tests at Pokhran, which were conducted on May 11 and 13, 1998, a delicate task which the Indian scientists accomplished with great precision putting India in the elite global nuclear club. Dr Anil  Kakodkar, who was then the Director of BARC and part of the Pokhran 2 team, has written about this exercise and also the Indo - US nuclear deal that followed, in his recently released book. India’s successful conduct of the nuclear test was something which the Americans could never take it lying down. It was therefore no wonder that Atal ji’s government collapsed within a year of the Pokhran tests during India had to face severe economic sanctions by most western powers. But then riding on this success Atal ji was once again elected to form the Government in the 1999 elections and this time his government lasted for its full term (1999-2004) and Atal ji became the first non congress PM to serve a full term in independent India. Most unfortunately although the BJP fought the 2004 elections under Atal ji’s leadership, the shining India campaign could do no help and UPA came back to power and stitched an alliance to form the government under the leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh. 

There are many anecdotal reference to the wit and poetic skills of his articulations when it comes to facing tough questions particularly on his political ideologies of which he was very proud of. However, many veterans have said even during his times that Atal ji is a good man in a bad party. The genesis for this goes back to the writing of Sardar Kushwant Singh who in one of his books had made this statement. In one of his interview with Rajat Sharma in his Ap Ki Adalat  programme when confronted by Rajat Sharma with this question, Atal ji in his inimitable style says " I love Kushwant Singhs writings, but I do not agree with his opinion. He further gives the reason for his disagreement by stating " I am good I cant be in the wrong party. If I am in wrong party, I cant be good person."  Interestingly this very case came up once in the parliament. Atal ji in one of his speech in Parliament had said that he has heard voices in the house saying Vajpayee is good but not in the right party (BJP). Vajpayee responded, ‘SO, what is it that you intend to do with this good Vajpayee’ (“To is achhe Vajpayee se aapka kya karne ka irada hai). The whole house left the whole House reeling in laughter.

There is another interesting anecdotal incident of his wit. During his bus diplomacy visit to Lahore, before the Kargil conflict, in one of his interaction with the Pakistani journalists he was confronted with a Pakistani female journalist, who told him that you are still a Batchelor, so I am ready to marry you, but with one condition that you have to give Kashmir in the customary traditions of giving gifts to the newly wed bride for showing her face. Atal Ji, in his poetic style, replied in such a way that the journalist's was silenced. He said that I am ready to marry you and also agree to your demand but you have to give the whole of Pakistan to me in dowry. 

Atal ji went into oblivion suffering from medical ailments. He finally gave up his battle for life and breathed his last on Thursday 16th August 2018. It was a truly solemn and emotional moment througout the country, as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister of India and BJP icon, finally passed away at 5.05 pm at AIIMS Delhi, surrounded by top national leaders from all parties across the country amid tight security. The funeral procession of Atal ji witnessed some of the most moving moments with waves of humanity joining the nation to mourn his death. 

लौट के आऊँगा, कूँच से क्यू डरूँ - Laut ke aaunga, kooch se kyun daroon - (I will come back, why should I fear leaving), one of Vajpayee’s  poem was selected by the party top brass to be put up on two large flex canvasses along with a smiling portrait of Atal ji on the gun carriage, which was carrying his body. The lines sum up the emotions that many who turned up from across the country felt for their leader. Every Christmas day, when the world celebrates the birthday of the merciful Jesus, in India, Atal ji will be remembered on this auspicious day with immense love, affection, respect and gratitude. 

I am tempted to quote a statement of Atal ji, which he made while addressing one of the Indian Science Congress, where he cryptically alluded to the circuitous and procedure intensive methods, which the scientists working in Government funded scientific institutions are expected to follow. He said ‘ Our scientists are becoming prisoners of procedures rather than achieves of excellence’. Can this issue be one aspect of Good Governance, which the Honourable Prime Minister, Modi ji, has announced to be commemorated on the birthday of Atal ji? Let us wait and see.

Once again wishing you all Merry Christmas. Long  live Atal ji, you will continue to live in the hearts and minds of people of India and I earnestly hope that our political class will emulate your ideals in the larger interest of India. 

The Great Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn - 21st December 2020 ( A rare celestial spectacle last seen in 1623) 

The year 2020 is inching towards its closure and hopefully the Covid 19 pandemic, which has rampaged the world and taken away millions of lives including that of our dear friend, Vice Admiral Srikant will begin to fade away with the ever increasing number of vaccine candidates lining up to be introduced into the health care system. Fortunately there is a rare celestial spectacle - The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn - that is now getting played out in the evening sky and hopefully it helps us in diverting our attention from that singularity of Covid focus and lifts our spirits from the depressing news of Covid 19 pandemic. This celestial spectacle of the great conjunction of the Jupiter and Saturn,  which is getting enacted on the south western skies in most parts of India, is scheduled for its climax on the 21st of December - the winter solstice day. This will be one of the rarest of the rare celestial events that one can’t afford to miss more so since the last time such an incident happened was way back in 1623 and even this incident may not have been witnessed by people since the two planets were too close to the Sun. In that sense and realistically speaking the earliest previous instance of such a spectacular celestial event, which we will be witnessing on 21st December, occurred only in the year 1226. Therefore brace ahead and look up to the evening sky to get a glimpse of this spectacle.

The term Conjunction in the current context is used to describe the meetings of planets in our solar system. And when two of the largest planets in our solar system - Jupiter and Saturn, meet it is called the ‘Great Conjunction’, and on the 21st December we will be witnessing the Great Conjunction in our south western sky immediately after the sun set. The great conjunction happens thanks to the orbital paths of these two giant planets coming into alignment, as seen from Earth. It is well known that the Jupiter orbits our Sun every 12 years or so, while Saturn's orbit around the Sun takes nearly 30 years. This means that approximately every 20 years the two planets - Jupiter and Saturn, come into an alignment to form the Great Conjunction. However, it must be noted that although the Jupiter and Saturn planets will align about every 20 years and that the last such Great Conjunction in this century occurred in 2000, the Great Conjunction that will happen on the 21st December, 2020, will be the most spectacular of most of such Great Conjunctions between the two planets. Primarily because it is the closest observable great conjunction of the two planets for almost 800 years.

Therefore, let us all lift our spirit from that Covid conundrum, now that there seem to be light at the end of the tunnel both in terms of the falling rate of Covid cases and fatalities in India and so also the fact that scientists have managed to develop more than one effective vaccine candidates to combat this  pandemic.  Let us all, for the next week or so,  divert our attention from Covid to the Great Conjunction and focus on the rare celestial event and look to the South West sky every evening -  after sun set, from today to watch the two prominently visible giant gaseous planets - Jupiter and Saturn, of our solar system, inch closer and closer to each other until the D day - 21st December. On this day - 21st December, at around 11 PM Jupiter and Saturn will apparently appear as twin planets, which will be separated by a mere .07 degrees apart. This astronomical phenomenon, as stated above, is called the Great Conjunction, a relatively rare cosmic event. So please don't miss this opportunity to keep tracking these two planets in the evening sky every day, until December 21, 2020, when you will notice that Jupiter and Saturn will be a mere 1/5 of the moon-diameter apart. What an exciting moment it will be to watch this rare spectacle and hopefully the clouds will cooperate and not play spoil sport and deprive us of this unique opportunity. 

Like most planetariums and science museums and such other like minded institutions from across the globe, our Centre - Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, too has been webcasting live telescope observation of this event for our esteemed audience, and has also organised two lectures on this subject and a very successful workshop. If any of you are priveleged to have a telescope, you can see in one view both Jupiter and Saturn and the three moons of Jupiter and one moon of Saturn in one single window of the telescope. This will truly be a momentous occasion for any one of us to see the Jupiter and its three moons and Saturn and one of its satellite in one window. To see this rendezvous, you will have to look towards the southwest sky immediately after the sunset to locate the more prominently visible planet Jupiter first and to its left will be a relatively less bright object -  the Saturn. 

The Brihaspati - Jupiter, the fifth planet in our Solar system, as stated above, takes nearly 12 earth-years to complete one full orbit of the Sun and the Shani - Saturn, the sixth planet in our Solar system, takes nearly 30 earth-years to complete one full orbit around the Sun. This means that both these giant gaseous planets - Jupiter and Saturn, come close to each other every 20 years. The next time these two planets will come close to each other will be in 2040. This celestial event is also called heliocentric conjunction. The super proximity between Jupiter and Saturn will be again visible after 60 years, i.e. 2080. When Jupiter overtakes Saturn while orbiting around the Sun, the two planets will be separated by more than a degree. But this December, the event will be different as they will be separated by just about one-tenth of a degree - almost nil.

Jupiter or Brihaspati is considered as Guru in Indian Astrology and is the largest planet in our solar system. Guru means one which is vast and great. In Hindu mythological texts all the major planets are called Navagrahas. The planet Jupiter - Brihaspati, has its own legend. The Navagrahas are worshipped as  Surya - Sun, Chandra - Moon, Mangala - Mars, Budha - Mercury, Brihaspati - Jupiter, Sukra - Venus, Sani - Saturn, Rahu and Ketu as Gods. There are dedicated temples for each of the Navagrahas and Alangudi temple in Tamilnadu is famous for Lord Brihaspati, where the lord Dakshinamoorthy is propitiated for Brihaspati and moola Shivalingam as the celestial power source for the temple. In this temple Lord Brihaspati is seen riding on a chariot pulled by eight horses and these eight horses are representing eight branches of knowledge.  Brihaspati is known as the Deva Guru of all Gods and also he is praised in Rig Veda.  Sani or Saturn is considered to be the son of Lord Surya and brother of Lord Yama. He has a chariot, or a buffalo or a vulture to ride. Sani has three hands holding an arrow, bow and javelin but the fourth one is in Varada Mudra. There is a famous Sani temple in Shingnapur, Maharashtra close to Nashik, where Lord Sani is worshipped in all his grandeur. 

Many in India are enamoured by these two giant planets - Jupiter and Saturn, now that there is an opportunity to look them up closely and literally as one, don’t miss it walk out and look up the sky to watch the great conjunction on the 21st December. Happy viewing.