Ganesh Festival : A Religious Socio - Cultural Public Festival with rich history.

Wish you all a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi. May Bhagwan Ganesh remove all obstacles. 

The ten-day Ganesh Festival in Mumbai is the most important festival which is celebrated by the devotees of Lord Ganesh – cutting across religion, language, region, caste, creed, etc. -, the god of wisdom and good fortune, to mark “his birth” during the Chaturthi of Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada month. This year, the Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai will be celebrated today 19 September. This 10-day mega festival will end with the Visarjan – immersion - on the tenth day, Anant Chaturdashi, Friday, September 28. Ganesh is known by several names and his birth on this day is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi and is celebrated with much enthusiasm and religious fervour across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, and Kerala, among other states.

The festival's origins can be traced back to the Maratha Empire in the 17th century, when the great Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a revered figure across India more particularly in the state of Maharashtra, initiated public Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations to promote unity and nationalism among his subjects. The festival took on a more organized and public character in the 19th century during the British colonial era.

This year’s Ganesh Festival has a special significance since it happens to mark the 350th anniversary of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who is known for his exemplary valour. Incidentally, ‘Wagh Nakh’ - an iron weapon shaped like tiger claws - a legendary weapon which was used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj  for killing the Bijapur Sultanate’s General, Afghan Khan,  in 1659 was in the news all over Maharashtra. This weapon which was in the possession of Victoria and Albert Museum, London will return to India in November this year.

To mark this special occasion, the Lalbaugcha Raja, Ganesh Pandal, one of the most famous Ganesh Pandals, has created a special setting where the lord Ganesha will be seen seated on a specially designed throne, which resembles the decorated throne of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the Raigarh fort. The design of the Ganesh Pandal with the Raigarh Fort in the background at the Lalbaugcha Raja Pandal was created by stage designer late Nitin Desai, who unfortunately passed away recently. Nitin Desai has been associated with the design of the Lalbaugcha Raja pandal since 2008. Two other Pandals – Mumbaicha Raja and Andhericha Raja – are also using the theme of 350 years of the coronation of Shivaji Maharaj and are decorating their pandal with the Raigad Fort as their main theme.

 

The Ganesh Festival has a rich history and holds significant importance not only as a religious celebration but also for its extraordinary role in the Indian freedom struggle. The Sarvajanik Ganesh festivals have played their role in the freedom movement by uniting all sections of the Hindu society to gather under one platform as devotees of Lord Ganesh and to seek his blessings for a free India. The Genesis for the celebration of the Ganesh Festival in public goes back to the nineteenth century – 1893 to be precise.

The first battle of Indian independence fought in 1857 - dubbed the Sepoy Mutiny by the British - had given an impetus for the freedom movement in India. After a communal flare-up between the Hindus and Muslims in 1870 and the fear that it could adversely affect their governance, the British Government, in the year 1892, imposed a ban on any gathering of native Indians, more than 20 in number. This made it difficult for the nationalist leaders and reformers to create awareness and awakening of public for 

freedom and for creating socio-political awareness among the masses. The ban, however, allowed only public gatherings in the form of Namaj or Muharram processions by the Muslim community, who are known for offering their prayers in public. The British were clever not to hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslims and in a way also create a division between Hindus and Muslims. They were at their worst when it came to dividing the Indians on religious lines, the deep fissures which they created between the two communities- Hindus and Muslims - in undivided India, ultimately led to the bloody partition in which millions were displaced and hundreds of thousands of people were killed and that bloody divide continues even today aided and abetted by vested interest people. 

Realising how adversely the 1892 ban was impacting the public gathering and how impartial the ban was towards the Hindus, Bal Gangadhar Tilak conceived an innovative idea to bring Lord Ganesh out of individual homes and onto the public space. Moreover, Tilak needed a platform where he could bring together all Hindus, who were divided on caste lines - this division was aided, abetted and encouraged by the British who believed in the policy of divide and rule.

Tilak was aware that Lord Ganesh was a God of the masses in Pune and Maharashtra and that Lord Ganesh was worshipped by all sections of the Hindu community. The city of Pune, from where the movement for the Sarvajanik Ganesh festival started, was ruled by the Peshwas who served as the Prime Ministers to the Maratha kings.  Peshwas worshipped Ganesh as their kul devta - God of the family. Therefore, it is no wonder that Poona is surrounded by the Eight Temples of Ganesh - Astha Vinayak. Incidentally even today the Ashtavinayak Yatra or pilgrimage covers the eight ancient holy temples of Ganesh, which are situated around Pune. Each of these temple has its own individual legend and history that is distinct from the other.

The history of the annual worshipping of Ganesh - by consecrating the statue of lord Ganesh and offering Pooja in individual houses -  dates back to as early as 16 Century in Maharashtra. However, in early days the Ganesh Festival was mostly observed in the aristocratic individual households of the Peshwas - the Prime Ministers in the Maratha regime, who were also responsible for making Ganesh the God of the masses. In 1892, the year when the British imposed a ban on public gatherings, Bal Gangadhar Tilak wanted to defy this order but lawfully. He knew how intricately Lord Ganesh was connected with the people of the region. Taking advantage of the British allowing the gathering of Muslims for their prayers, Tilak conceived of an idea to bring Lord Ganesh out of the individual royal households and onto the public space to channelize, unite, and ignite a divided Hindu society for a larger national sentiment against the oppressive British rule. 

Incidentally, this movement also helped lord Ganesh to become Lord Ganapati, the God of the masses. Bal Gangadhar Tilak had commissioned two newspapers, Kesari, in Marathi and Mahratta in English, which were published from Kesari Wada, Pune. Tilak used the loophole in the 1892 ban imposed by the British, which exempted the Muslims from their Friday prayers, to appeal to his readers to start the Sarvajanik Ganesh Festival. He was sure that this being a religious festival the British would be afraid to ban it. More so since the British had permitted the Friday prayers for the Muslims. Tilak used his Kesari Marathi paper to drive home this message among the Hindu community and he appealed to the people to organise community Ganesh Festival.

This was a well-thought-out strategy. Tilak knew how religious the Indian society was. He was therefore sure that the British, who were successfully managing to crush the freedom movement - particularly gathering of large number of people on the streets with that inhuman and barbaric force that is associated with the colonial rule in India - would not succeed in disrupting a religious gathering of people. He knew that the call for the Sarvajanik Ganesh Festival would serve two purposes, first, it would unite the divided Hindu community under a single platform and second, the platform could be used to strengthen the freedom movement by creating a sense of cultural unity among the people. The Ganesh festival provided the much-needed impetus for the freedom struggle and ever since the Ganesh Festival has come on to the public space in Mumbai and Maharashtra and has also spread across different cities and towns in India. The Ganesh Festival, particularly in Mumbai, connects people of all faiths and is considered more of a cultural worship space. One can witness this across different sections of society in Mumbai, which I have been privy to for several years.

The first Public Ganesh Mandal - Keshavji Naik Chawl Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal at Girgaum - in Bombay, as it was known then, was commissioned in 1893, and ever since the Ganeshotsav Mandal in Girgaum has been celebrating this auspicious Ganesh festival in the same traditional way each year. The statues of Lord Ganesh, the elephant god - there are several mythological stories associated with the birth of Ganesha, the son of Bhagwan Shiva and Goddess Parvati and his appearance - come in varying sizes and in different shapes and styles, which depend on where the lord is commissioned for worship. The Girgaum Ganesh pandal does not use loudspeakers, expensive lights, or any of the modern-day style pooja traditions, which are observed in most of the Ganesh Pooja pandals across Mumbai and other cities in the country. The Keshavji Naik Chawl Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal in Girgaum has continued the simplistic tradition of the Ganesh Pooja tradition for over a century now.  However, there are other public Ganesh Pandals, across the city including the famous Lalbaug ka Raja and so also in various other cities in India - Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, etc.- which celebrate the Ganesh Pooja and the festival with modern-day fanfare with DJs and lights, sound and crackers and what have you.

Post-independence, the festival has undergone a change and during these 10 days of celebration, the economic activity gets accentuated leading to increased employment, income, and production of a variety of goods and services. In that sense, the Ganesh Utsav has become a ‘cultural product’ of the city, which has great economic and market value. Today, the Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav is the most celebrated festivals of Mumbai. One of the primary reason for the success of the auspicious Ganesh Festival in Mumbai is the Mumbaikars - the rich and mighty, the powerful and powerless, the poor and the insignificant, the lettered and unlettered, sheltered and unsheltered, the males, females and the transgender, the believers and non-believers, Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, the religious and non-religious, young, middle-aged, old and the very old. That undying spirit of unity in diversity in India is exemplified during this festival in Mumbai.

The economic impact of the Ganesh Festival is also seen in the opportunities for employment and income generation that this festival offers for the Mumbaikars around the ten days of the festival. This festival creates demand for the music industry - in terms of the composition and production of devotional music albums. It creates market opportunities for Gold, silver, and gems & jewelry - both for the purpose of offerings to Lord Ganesh as well as for personal use. The flower and decoration markets will experience a much larger turnover during these ten days. The sales from the food industry – primarily sweets -will increase many more times than regular. The city enjoys a higher number of offers for sale and discounts from the real estate sector and financial sector. 

Whether a sombre pooja or an ostentatious collective celebration, one thing remains central to the Ganesh Festival, which every Mumbaikar and Maharashtrian celebrates - the festival is celebrated with Shradha and Bhakti. This in essence is the very spirit of India - the socio, cultural, religious and spiritual land that is home to most religions of the world. The administration and all other stakeholders, including the public, who ensure that this extraordinary 10-day Ganesh Festival passes off peacefully with the immersions of the Ganesh murtis and the festival becomes a grand success time after time and festival after festival, must be saluted for their efforts to make this grand festival successful.

The Ganesh Festival has a special significance for our family. It was on the Ganesh Chaturthi day in 1958 that my elder brother Dr Sharanabasava was born and ever since our family has been celebrating the Ganesh Festival bringing home Lord Ganesh and offering Pooja to the God.

May Ganapati Bappa bless us all and may he guide this nation to ever-increasing heights with peace and prosperity and may the people living at the bottom of the pyramid and all other disadvantaged sections of the society be blessed to lead a happy life, devoid of obstacles.

Ganapati Bappa Morya.

Tribute to Richard Ernst - Nobel Prize Winner Scientist and a diehard collector of Thangka Paintings, on his 90th birthday, 13 August.

 

Professor Richard Ernst, the 1991 Nobel Prize, Chemistry winner, who we had the honour to host at the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai in 2013, would have been 90 today, if he was alive. Dr Ernst was born on this day, 13 August, 1933 in Switzerland. Unfortunately, he passed away on 8 June, 2021 in the very city - Winterthur, outside Zurich, Switzerland, where he was born.

 

Prof Ernst was a frequent traveller to India, particularly because of his love for the Thangka paintings. Although, science was his first love, Dr Ernst was equally in love with his second love, Art – evidenced in his collections and research on the Tibetan Thangka paintings. In that sense he was an exception to the “Two Cultures” concept, which CP Snow articulated.

 

In April 2013, just two months after I assumed the charge of Director of Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, I was privileged to host Dr Ernst at the Nehru Science Centre. He was on a visit to the TIFR and we used the opportunity to request Dr Ernst to spare his precious time to interact with the school students at Nehru Science Centre, which he so very kindly agreed. He delivered an outstanding lecture to an over packed auditorium with several more students sitting in the adjoining hall witnessing the event on a close circuit TV that we had to organised for an additional 200 plus students who had turned up for the lecture in addition to the nearly 400 students who had already over populated our auditorium. Dr Ernst mesmerised the students and had extraordinary patience to take so many questions and patiently interact with students, a rare attribute for a scientist of his high calibre.

 

Here is a link to a blog tribute which I had penned on 10 June 2018, when he passed away. https://khened.blogspot.com/2021/06/prof-richard-ernst-1991-nobel-prize.html

 

This blog covers the scientific contributions of Dr Ernst and so also touches upon his interaction with the students at the NSC Mumbai, while leaving out his second love – Thangka paintings. Therefore, I will therefore be confining this tribute to Dr Ernst and his love for the Thangka paintings.

 

Although Science was his first love, Dr Richard Ernst was equally in love with his second love, Art, which is evidenced from his outstanding collections, research and publications on the Tibetan Thangka paintings. In that sense Dr Ernst was an exception to the “Two Cultures” which CP Snow spoke about.

 

In a 1959 lecture by a British scientist and author C. P. Snow, titled "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution”, Snow articulated his thoughts about an apparent divide that exists between the two main intellectual cultures of the modern world: the literary or humanistic culture and the scientific or technological culture. Snow observed that there was a growing gap between these two cultures, with intellectuals from each culture often having little understanding or appreciation for the other. He argued that this divide was harmful to society, as it hindered an effective communication and collaboration between scientists and those in the humanities and other areas of creativity.

 

In my career spanning 37 plus years in the field of science museums, I have experienced first-hand, this divide which exists between scientists and artists. As a science museum professional and a science communicator I have been privileged to interact with many scientists and fortunately for me I got another opportunity to work and interact with artists when I was given an additional charge to be the Director of the NGMA Mumbai for nearly six years.  During this period, I also had an opportunity to interact with many renowned artists at NGMA, Mumbai and this interaction and experience has made me to affirm to the Two Cultures, which C P Snow spoke about, with no disrespect to either the scientists or the artists.

 

Dr Richard Ernst is an exception to the “Two Cultures”, like our very own scientist Dr Homi Jahangir Bhabha, who was both a scientist and an artist and a great art connoisseur who helped TIFR collect and build some of the best collections of paintings and other art works. Post my retirement, I am engaged, in a way, with creative people in the field of arts and humanities at the CSMVS where I am currently working as the Advisor. Among the nearly 70 thousand plus encyclopaedic collections of objects which the Museum has, couple of the collections are the famous Thangka Tibetan paintings, which are on display in the Tibetan gallery of the museum. Whenever I see these paintings at the Museum, I am reminded of Prof Ernst and his enormous collections of the Thangka paintings and so also his study and research on these unique paintings. In my tribute to Dr Ernst I had not written much about his second love – Tibetan Thangka Paintings and therefore in this write up I am briefly writing on his works as an artist or an art lover. 

 

Sotheby’s catalogue, “HIMALAYAS – The RICHARD R. & MAGDALENA ERNST COLLECTION OF IMPORTANT TIBETAN PAINTINGS AND OTHER HIMALAYAN WORKS OF ART” published during the Paris auction in December 2022, exemplifies the passion and love of Dr Ernst for the Thangka paintings. The catalogue carries an excellent essay by Dr Ernst, where he articulates his thoughts on how he fell in love with the Thangka paintings. He says “Human beings are “collectors” by nature. They want to preserve their glorious history forever. They try to leave indelible traces of their past. But not everybody is a creative artist and most humans depend on the creativity of others to design a worthy tombstone or a respectable monument. Naturally, this is true also for me”.

 

Dr Ernst’s interest in chemistry started with his curiosity to explore an old wooden box full of chemicals, which his grandfather had stored in their attic in their old house away from people. It ended in a disaster when the young tried experimenting with the chemicals leading to an explosion. Fortunately, no one was injured. This disastrous beginning of experimenting with chemistry, however, did not deter him from the subject, rather it kindled an interest in chemistry for Ernst. He quotes “Fortunately, our house and I survived (from the explosion), nurturing my decision to study chemistry at ETH Zürich. In particular, spectroscopy became my preferred tool of exploration. My thesis advisor suggested that I acquaint myself with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), an upcoming analytical method that was “worth investing a lifetime”. And the rest is history, winning Dr Ernst the coveted Nobel Prize singularly in Chemistry the details of which I have described in my blog whose link has been shared above.

 

During one of his early travels in 1968, from California back to his home in Switzerland, Dr Ernst and his wife began their tryst with the Thangka paintings. His wife Magdalena and Dr Ernst were exploring the market of Kathmandu when they first encountered the Thangka paintings in a store. It was love at first sight for Dr Ernst who says “I was struck by their fantastic colourfulness”. Although Dr Ernst was initially unaware of the spiritual messaging that these paintings carried, and his love for these paintings was primarily because of the vibrancy of the rich colours - the chemistry of which was a major attraction to the scientist in Ernst, it did not take long for Dr Ernst to understand and appreciate the socio religious spiritual messaging that the Thangka paintings carried.

 

Thangka Paintings serve as a window in to the spiritual realm of Buddhism, which was one of three main religions of the world that originated in India, a land where Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism was born. Thangka paintings are a distinctive form of religious art originating from Tibet, which hold a profound significance within the realm of Buddhism. These intricate and colourful scroll paintings serve as more than mere artistic creations; they are windows into the spiritual and philosophical world of Buddhism. With their intricate detailing, vibrant colours, and portrayal of deities, mandalas, and sacred scenes, Thangka paintings play a significant role in conveying Buddhist teachings and guiding practitioners on their spiritual journey.

 

The Thangka paintings have a rich history that dates back centuries. They have served as instructional tools for conveying complex Buddhist spiritual concepts to a large population using vibrant visual means. In monasteries and homes, these paintings became tangible manifestations of Buddhist philosophy and devotion, allowing practitioners to connect with the teachings of Buddha on a visual level. Thangka paintings are not merely artistic creations; they are meticulously crafted visual representations of Buddhist beliefs. Every element in a Thangka holds symbolic significance, often rooted in the teachings of the Buddha. Deities, bodhisattvas, and mandalas are rendered with precision to convey specific qualities and attributes. The symmetry and geometry within the paintings reflect the cosmic order and the interconnectedness of all things – central tenets of Buddhist thought. One can witness the reverence that the Buddhist monks and the followers of Buddhism have for these paintings at the Himalayan Gallery at CSMVS, where two of these paintings from the collections of CSMVS have been displayed. Incidentally the National Museum, New Delhi and also Bihar Museum, Patna also have a large Thangka Paintings in their collections.

 

Dr Ernst fell in love with these paintings primarily because of the rich and vibrant colours, chemistry to Dr Ernst, embedded in these paintings that lend them their unique aesthetic beauty. But then deeper study and understanding helped Dr Ernst learn the significance of these paintings for Buddhists and very soon he became a collector of Tibetan scroll paintings, whose passion he carried all through his life.

 Dr Ernst started collecting Tibetan thangkas from late 1960, and his collection initially started with the purpose of trying to understand the chemical composition of their paint pigments. He used non-invasive techniques to see through certain layers of coloured paint in the paintings and for this his first love – NMR came in handy. He used the NMR Infra-red spectroscopy to study the layers of coloured paints in the Thangka paintings. Dr Ernst also used another technique - Raman spectroscopy, named after Indian Nobel Laureate Prof CV Raman who discovered a new type of inelastic scattering, the principle of which is used in developing the Raman Spectroscopy, which also allows the chemical composition of the paint to be determined non-destructively and enables distinction of the Nepalese and Tibetan paintings, each of which have their own signatures that are captured by Raman Spectroscopy.

Dr Ernst established from his research findings of the study of the Nepal and Tibet Thangka paintings that Nepalese paintings contain a green colour, which is a mixture of indigo (blue) and orpiment (yellow) pigments, while Tibetan uses malachite which is a bright green pigment. Although there were some objections to the study of these paintings using Raman Spectroscopy by some sections of the art conservators – due to the risks of using Raman spectroscopy is that holes can be burnt into the painting if the laser power is too high, Dr Ernst, convinced the conservators that the holes created during the object examination are so small that if he looks at another area and then returns, he can't find the holes again. Later in his career, Dr Ernst established a lab for investigating the Thangs paintings in his home. Dr Ernst has delivered many lectures around the world on the Thangka paintings to art audience shedding new light into these paintings.

Ernst's collection of thangkas is one of the most important collections in the world. It includes thangkas from all over Tibet, as well as from other parts of Asia. The collection is on display at the Ernst Museum in Basel, Switzerland. Ernst's interest in thangkas was more than just a hobby. He believed that thangkas were important works of art that deserved to be preserved and studied. He also believed that thangkas could play a role in promoting understanding between cultures. His collection serves as a valuable resource for scholars and students of Tibetan Buddhism and helps us to remind ourselves of the importance of cultural preservation, more so when Tibet is now under the control of the Chinese and there is a heightened fear of this culture getting lost once and for all.

Dr Ernst has also authored several essays and books on Thangka Paintings. His book, Thangkas: Tibetan Sacred Art, is a “comprehensive overview of thangka painting”. It covers the history, symbolism, and techniques of thangkas. In his scholarly article “Arts and Sciences. A Personal Perspective of Tibetan Painting”, Dr Ernst highlights the “relationship between the arts and the sciences from the standpoint of a scientist and passionate art lover”. He says that these “two playgrounds of human creativity have much in common and have cross fertilized each other over centuries”. He has subjected his own collections to scientific study and analysis of pigments and also the dating.  

Dr Richard Ernst truly defied CP Snow’s concept of  “Two Cultures”, which is exemplified in his interest in thangka paintings, which ultimately led to his appreciation for beauty, his love of learning, and his commitment to cultural preservation. His collection of thangkas is a lasting legacy that will continue to inspire and enlighten people for generations to come.

CSMVS Collections of Thangka 

Thangka Paintings: From the collections of CSMVS

Since my post on the love for Thangka Paintings of Dr Richard Ernst, was triggered by the Thangka Paintings which are in the collections of CSMVS, I am writing this foot note to high light the Thangka Paintings which are in the collection of CSMVS, for which my thanks and acknowledgement are due to Ms. Manish Madam and Ms Prachee of CSMVS, who very kindly shared the images of the Thangka paintings from their collection and so also information on these paintings. which I am adding in this post to highlight the love which Dr Ernst had for the Himalayan Thangka Paintings – both Tibet and Nepal Thangka paintings, that he was very fond of collecting, researching and documenting.

The two Thangka paintings, which are shown above at the end are the Green Tara an Embroidery on Cloth from Tibet, 17th century. The second Thangka painting is a painting on silk titled Chundhaa, Thangka from Nepal from the 17th century.

Green Tara is a 300 plus year old Embroidered Thangka which depicts the protective Tibetan deity, Green Tara, one who personifies transcendent wisdom and is often thought of as the universal mother figure to Buddha. The role of Tara is to guide and save individuals, especially monks and travellers from the perils of travel, both physically and spiritually. She is renowned as the protector from the Eight Great Perils. The perils represent actual physical dangers faced by monks and pilgrims in the Himalayas and are symbols of impediments to attainment of selfhood as well.

The second Thangka is a work titled Goddess Chundhaa, a deity related to Buddhist mysticism whose powers include elimination of epidemics and other diseases. She also purifies negative karma. This 200-year-old gum-tempera painting on cloth, is a tangkha, from Nepal. The tangkha is not considered complete without its mounting.

Images and Text for the CSMVS Thangka paintings : Courtesy : Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT): A Noble Diagnostic Biomedical Imaging Tool & my Tryst with it.

 

A fortnight ago, I had written about my right eye ailment and how it got aggravated due to a delayed diagnosis, which later turned out to be what is medically termed as ‘Anterior Uveitis’. Fortunately, the doctors could accurately diagnose my eye condition courtesy a biomedical engineering diagnostic tool – the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Modern advancements in OCT and Raman spectroscopy hold great promise in providing new insights into the retina, which can serve ophthalmologists in saving many vision losses for their patients.

 

Uveitis is a serious eye condition characterized by inflammation of the uvea - middle layer of the eye, iris, ciliary body, and choroid. If left untreated, Uveitis can lead to disastrous consequences, a glimpse of which I had begun to experience with blurred vision and other complications. Uveitis can be classified based on the part of the uvea that is affected and, in my case, it was the Anterior uveitis (iritis): Inflammation of the front part of the uvea, including the iris and ciliary body. The technology that helped my Doctors - Dr. Jaydeep Walinjkar, Dr. Hitesh R Sharma, Dr Smit and my good friend Dr Natarajan - at the Aditya Jyot Hospital diagnose my symptoms - red eye, pain, light sensitivity, blurred vision - as Anterior Uveitis, was this noble biomedical diagnostic tool - OCT. I have accordingly been advised a proper regime of treatment for the Uveitis, which I am undergoing and hope to recover completely.

 

Now that I have been making the rounds to the Aditya Jyot hospital and my Doctor,  Dr Hitesh Sharma, and so also my good friend Doctor Natarajan - the man who founded the Aditya Jyot Hospital - have been very kind to discuss about my medical condition with me in some simple scientific terms, including showing me on screen OCT images and explaining how they are seen and interpreted, I am assured that by the time the six week Uveitis treatment regime - with the corticosteroids - are done with, my eye can come back to near normalcy - fingers crossed, they murmur. Having spent most of my professional career in science museums, I have learnt the skill of communicating complex science subjects in an easier to understand way with the public by interacting and learning the subject from experts. The challenge that I was facing with my eye provided me an opportunity on a platter to know more about Uveitis and how science and technology has helped its diagnosis. Therefore, I decided to use this opportunity to try and create an awareness about Uveitis and how early diagnosis can save patients from a possibility of permanent loss of vision and how technologies like the OCT help in early detection of such eye disorders. 

 

Doctors have helped me to understand the importance of OCT in early diagnosis by showing me and explaining the OCT images of my eye and how the data from these images can be interpreted for better understanding of the retina. OCT and such other medical diagnostic tools have resulted from harvesting the knowledge of science of nature that serves as an underpinning for development of any technology, including the medical tools that serve human society.

 

Just a couple of days ago the Times of India reported of a very high prevalence of conjunctivitis in Mumbai. In fact, I too was under the impression that I was affected with it. But then, it turned out to be something completely different and my experience has motivated me to appeal to all my friends and family that if you or any of your near and dear one’s experience symptoms such as eye redness, pain, light sensitivity, blurred vision etc. don’t neglect it as a conjunctivitis or some un harmful infection, it could be Uveitis or something else and therefore you must not delay in seeking professional medical advice as early as possible.

 Beginning in the late 1950s, but accelerating at an ever-faster pace thereafter, leading into the twenty first century, science and technology has dramatically transformed the landscape of modern medicine. The importance of S&T in modern medicine cannot be understated, more so when we  notice that before the World War a typical physician had a modest armamentarium as his toolkit in his arsenal, which included a thermometer, stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, and an occasional access to x-ray machines and electrocardiograph. These tools supplemented a limited cabinet of pharmaceuticals including sulfa drugs and negligible quantity of penicillin, which the Doctors had access to in the 1940s. 

 

There has been  a paradigm shift in the advancement of medical diagnostics, thereafter. After the World War, biological medical diagnostics research has witnessed unprecedented development with the efforts of many scientists and engineers who have helped in creating a new armamentarium of biophysics instruments- Electron Microscopes, Ultracentrifuges, Mass Spectrometers and new agents such as radioactive isotopes. A revolution in microelectronics and semiconductors initiated during the War together with the development of high computing devices, that can crunch elephantine data, have led the way to new fields of biomedical imaging such as Ultrasound, Computerized Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners,  Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and the instrument which helped in diagnosing my eye problem,  ‘Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This essay will however, be confined to OCT.

 

The importance of OCT as a marvel engineering technology for benefitting medical professional can be seen from the fact that the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a premier American institution that provides engineering leadership to the nation for advancing the welfare and prosperity of the people has awarded a highly prestigious Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize (2017) for Biomedical Engineering to a group of scientists and engineers  - James G. Fujimoto, Adolf F. Fercher, Christoph K. Hitzenberger, David Huang, and Eric A. Swanson - for their contributions to the invention of the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This $500,000 biennial prize - considered as prestigious as the Nobel Prize in the field of Biomedical engineering - recognises a bioengineering achievement that significantly improves human condition. The citation for the prize reads; “leveraging creative engineering to invent imaging technology essential for preventing blindness and treating vascular and other diseases." The recipients of this Prize “personify how engineering transforms the health and happiness of people across the globe," said NAE President C. D. Mote, Jr, while making this announcement. The creators of OCT  have dramatically improved the quality of life for people with diminished eyesight.

 

As the name suggests the OCT works on the principle of optics - interferometry, where a beam of light is split into two arms - a reference arm and a sample arm. In the sample arm, the light is directed towards the tissue being examined. Some of this light is reflected back, while some is scattered or absorbed by the tissue. The light that is reflected back from different depths within the tissue is then combined with the reference light in the interferometer. By comparing the time delay of the reflected light with the reference light, OCT creates a depth profile of the tissue being examined. This information is used to construct a detailed cross-sectional image of the internal structures, allowing doctors to visualize and diagnose various medical conditions non-invasively. OCT is majorly used in ophthalmology for retinal imaging and in other medical fields like cardiology and dermatology for examining various tissues and organs.

 

OCT has now grown to become one of the most widely used technologies for imaging the human eye and is an essential tool for the treatment of blinding diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. It has helped doctors in diagnosing millions of patients with eye disease at early treatable stages, before irreversible loss of vision can occur. Infrared light is used in OCT because of its relatively long wavelength, which allows it to penetrate the scattering medium. The concept of OCT was first introduced in the 1960s, but significant progress was made in the 1980s and 1990s when several researchers independently developed different OCT systems. 

 

The first two-dimensional picture of the fundus - inside, back surface of the eye made up of retina, macula, optic disc, fovea and blood vessels - of a human eye in vivo ( Latin word for ‘within the living’ ) was created by Adolf Friedrich Fercher, using white light interferometry. Fercher’s visionary ideas laid the basis for the development of OCT and the first in vitro OCT images were published by German and United States researchers in 1991. Fercher began his works in this field in late 1960s, while working for a private company. Post his graduation in physics, in 1968, Fercher had started working at Carl Zeiss, Germany, on optical testing, computer holography and holographic interferometry. In 1975, he became a professor at the University of Essen, Germany. Thereafter, he served as professor of medical physics and chair of the Department of Medical Physics, at the Medical School of the University of Vienna.  Fercher published his first paper on the biomedical applications of optics while he was still working for Carl Zeiss, by  calculating light scattering in a simplified model cell. He showed that the scattered signal oscillates as a function of scattering angle and that the oscillation length is related to particle diameter. It was during his time at the University of Vienna that Fercher and his colleagues worked on low partial coherence and white light interferometry for in vivo imaging of biological tissue. Their focus was on the human eye. Although the image quality of Fercher’s 2-D interferometric depth scans of the fundus was poor compared with modern standards, the retinal thickness and the excavation of the optic disc were visible.  His works created a spark for advances in this field of biomedical optics.

 

The next major development in this field came in the United States of America. In the late 1980s, a team of researchers, led by Dr. James Fujimoto at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and assisted by ophthalmologists Joel Schuman, David Huang, and Carmen Puliafito, worked on this concept by using low-coherence interferometry for the measurement of corneal thickness. Unfortunately, they had limited success and therefore the group decided to test its potential in retinal imaging. This decision proved  to be providential and in 1991, leading to a widely acclaimed publication by Huang and others on the very first retinal OCT images of an ex-vivo human eye. Dr Huang named this new diagnostic technique ‘optical coherence tomography.’ Soon thereafter, the first commercially available OCT device was launched by Humphrey Instruments in 1996.

 

One of the earliest OCT systems was time-domain based OCT (TD-OCT), which used a low-coherence interferometer to measure the echo time delay of backscattered light from tissues. However, TD-OCT had limitations in terms of speed and resolution and therefore it gave way to a Spectral-Domain OCT (SD-OCT). In the early 2000s, the advent of SD-OCT dramatically improved imaging capabilities. SD-OCT employs a spectrometer to measure the entire spectrum of backscattered light simultaneously, allowing for faster acquisition rates and higher resolution. This technological leap significantly enhanced the utility of OCT in ophthalmology, enabling more detailed visualization of retinal layers and facilitating the diagnosis of various retinal pathologies. Another significant advancement in OCT technology was the development of Swept-Source OCT (SS-OCT), which uses a tunable laser as a light source. SS-OCT offers superior imaging penetration, making it especially valuable for imaging deeper structures such as the choroid. Additionally, the integration of OCT with angiography techniques has enabled the visualization of blood flow in retinal vessels, enhancing diagnostic capabilities for vascular conditions.

 

The future for the OCT would be facilitated by added functionality of biochemical analysis, which can be provided by Raman scattering. This could provide critical molecular signatures for clinicians and researchers to understand the intricacies of the problems at the cellular level. OCT microscope for ex-vivo imaging combined with Raman spectroscopy will be capable of collecting morphological and molecular information about a sample simultaneously. Raman spectroscopy - spectroscopic method based on inelastic scattering of photons - allows the intrinsic biochemical composition of a sample to be identified.  Although there are challenges in the development of this dual-mode instrument and so also certain limitations for future in-vivo retinal imaging using such a dual mode instrument, however, looking at the pace with which science and technology develops the future seems to be brighter. The combination of OCT and Raman spectroscopy could provide new insights into the retina helping shed light into the lives of darkness that many people lead due to blindness and vision loss.

 

May the benefits of science and technology continue to benefit society.

Jai. Vigyan.

 

India - West Indies Test Series Begins today: Nostalgic account of the ‘Coming of Age’, two back-to-back 1971 Test series victories for India against West Indies and England.

After losing the ICC World Test championship (2021-23 cycle) to the deserving champion team, Australia, at the Oval, in the one-off test, India takes on the West Indies today to kick start their 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle, with a two-test series and three ODIs to be played in West Indies.

 Although the West Indies team have gone down the hill from their once mighty pivotal position in the cricketing arena, where they had ruled the world of cricket with back-to-back championship victories in the ICC Prudential World Cups in the inaugural championship in 1975 and 1979, historically speaking the India West Indies cricket series has always been of great importance for us. India, which was considered as a minnow’s team in the world of Cricket, came of the ages by winning the five-test series against the West Indies in 1971, which they followed it up by registering an emphatic historic series victory against the invincible England by defeating them on their home soil. 

 The impact of the back-to-back series wins by the Indian cricket team on foreign soil was so profound that it prompted the Films Division to produce their first ever full-length documentary film on Cricket under the title ‘Victory Story’. This outstanding black and white documentary film - nearly two hours duration - was directed by the veteran journalist Raju Bharatan. The Victory Story, produced in 1974, chronicled the first-ever maiden test series victory of the Indian cricket team over England during the tour of 1971. 

The Victory Story (1974), the first full-length cricket documentary for Films Division, which chronicled the first-ever maiden series victory of the Indian cricket team over England during the tour of 1971 and ran to packed houses across the country on its release. 

Films Division was one of the institutions that was created by Pandit Nehru in 1948 with a task to lead the development, production and distribution of documentary films on socially significant subjects with an objective of nation building, integration, and development that Nehru felt was necessary for the newly independent and democratic Republic of India. True to its objectives, the Films Division produced some of the best documentary films, particularly in the first three to four decades, and one of them was the Victory Story documentary. This film, directed by Raju Bharatan - a veteran journalist and a prolific writer on Indian cricket and Bollywood films - ran to packed houses across the country on its release. Its success had prompted me to use this film prominently as a part of the ‘Cricket Connects: India - England’, exhibition, which I had the honour to curate and present at the Lord’s stadium, Nehru Centre, London and in two other venues in Birmingham and Edinburgh in England in 2017. 

Today, as India takes on the West Indies at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica in their opening test of the two-test series, I am reminded of that historic 1971 five test series that India played and won against the mighty West Indies. This series served as the beginning of the story of the coming of ages in the colonial game for India, which they now proudly lead the world in its administration. The Indian team followed up its historic 1971 win against the West Indies with a maiden test series victory against England in England in the same year. I had used these two series victories in the Cricket exhibition - Cricket Connects: India England - under the title ‘Coming of Age’. Incidentally, The Eastern Eye Title had nominated the Cricket Connects: India England Cricket Relations exhibition for the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre in the Eastern Eye Community Engagement Award category in England. 

Raju Bharatan, the Director of the film Victory Story, was a multi-talented journalist and prolific writer on Indian cricket and Bollywood films. The Victory Story (1974), the first full-length cricket documentary for Films Division, which chronicled the first-ever maiden series victory of the Indian cricket team over England during the tour of 1971 and ran to packed houses across the country on its release. 

Coming of Age: (1971

The watershed year for Indian Cricket) Ever since India’s debut in the test cricket at the Lord's, England, on 25 June 1932, for nearly forty years, India continued to be a weak team in comparison with other Test cricket teams, such as Australia and England. The year 1971 was a watershed year that remains etched in the annals of cricket history in India. It was in that year and under the new captain – Ajit Wadekar – India registered her first-ever away-series victories in the West Indies and England to inject a refreshing self-belief in the Indian cricket, hitherto unseen. The team backed up the two back-to-back series victories over seas with a series win against England in India a year later thus achieving a remarkable three series wins on the trot. 

The West Indies team of 1971 wasn’t their strongest side, yet it consisted of some of the most well-known names in international cricket. Roy Fredericks, Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers and Clive Lloyd formed the backbone of the West Indies team. India, too, had a number of veterans in their ranks like ML Jaisimha, Salim Durrani, Dilip Sardesai and EAS Prasanna. But the one player who would go on to make a monumental difference to the team India in the years to come was a 21-year-old collegian with no international experience. The youngster – Sunil Gavaskar – made the kind of debut that Test cricket has not seen till this day. The 5 Test series that India played against the West Indies in 1971 is now synonymous with Sunil Ganvaskar’s majestic batting and Sar Desai’s rock-like presence at the other end. 

India did not field Sunil Gavaskar in the first of the five Tests at Kingston, Jamaica due to injury. Indians made a remarkable beginning to the 5 Test series by enforcing a follow on to the West Indies in this Test, which shocked the conscience of West Indies captain Sobers. The Test though ended in a draw. 

The second Test was at Port of Spain, Trinidad and it marked the beginning of one of the greatest Test careers of Sunil Manohar Gavaskar. He walked out to open batting for India for the very first time after Bedi and Prasanna had bowled out the West Indies for 214. Gavaskar laid the foundation of the Indian innings scoring 65, which was strongly cemented by Sar Desai (112) and Solkar (55) leading to an Indian score of 357. India’s chances of winning a historical Test depended a lot on how quickly and cheaply they could get rid of the two left-handers – Clive Lloyd and Gary Sobers. 

Durani came into the party and bowled Sobers for duck and, followed it up with the wicket of Lloyd caught by Wadekar. Venkat then ran through the bottom half of the Windies with a five-wicket haul to restrict the home team to 261. With 124 needed for victory, Gavaskar led the run-chase with 67 not out helping India to achieve a historic win for the Indians. 

The next two Test matches at Guyana and Barbados ended in draws in which Gavaskar (116, 117*) Sardesai (150) and Sobers (108*, 178*) helped themselves with plenty of runs. The fifth and the final Test was played at Trinidad. Since it was the last Test of the series, it was to be a six-day match. India batted first and scored 360 on the back of Gavaskar’s 124 and Sardesai’s 75. West Indies, intent on winning the match to level the series, which India was leading 1-0, piled on 526 and it was India who had to save this match. Gavaskar then played the most crucial innings of the whole series. He scored a classy 220 out of India’s 427 that too with a severe toothache. West Indies set a target of 262 to win ended on 165 for eight at the end of the sixth day’s play and that meant India had won the five-match series 1-0. Gavaskar amassed a mammoth 774 runs in four Tests in this historic series. 

The England series 

Ajit Wadekar, the successful captain had learnt captaincy from Tiger Pataudi who had helped the team in improving the attitude of the players and also in vastly getting better in fielding. The Indian Team could now aim to beat other teams away from home due to the new-found confidence from series win in the Caribbean. That confidence was further boosted when they followed it up with another series win in England later that year. 

The Indian team went to England - to play a 3 match Test series - 2 months after its tour to the West Indies in the same year 1971. The Test matches were played in July-August that year by which time the pitches tended to wear in England and support spin. The Indian spin quartet included Bedi, Chadrasekhar, Prasanna, and Venkatraghavan. 

The England team was in high spirits for they had just won the 7 Test Ashes series 2-0 against their arch rivals Australia. The England team, led by a thorough professional, Ray Illingworth, was clear favourites to win the series against India. The team also included BL D’Oliveria, a central figure in the ante apartheid and boycott of South Africa from International cricket. The Indians opened their England tour with the tour match against Middlesex at the Lords (23-25 June, 1971) which they won by 2 wickets. They however lost the next match to the Essex. They played 6 other tour matches four of which were won by the Indians and two were draw. The Indians went into the First Test, at the Lords (July 22-27) with full of confidence. 

India dominated the first Test of the series, which ended in a draw. Aided by three scores of fifty plus by Captain Wadekar, Vishwanath and Solkar the Indians were able to score 9 runs more than the England team in the first innings. England was bundled out for 194 in the second innings. Set to score 183 to win in the fourth innings India ended the last day with a score of 145 for 8 thus ending the first test in a draw. The Indian spin trio of Venkat, Chandra and Bedi had dominated the England team. 

This test also witnessed an untowardly incident. Sunil Gavaskar and Snow were involved in this incident when the mightily looking Snow collided with Sunny while Sunny was taking a quick run. Sunny went tumbling down due to the massive impact. Snow was unfortunately dropped for the next Test. The second Test was played at the Old Trafford, Manchester. England chose to bat first after winning the toss. Aided by captain’s century knock, England scored an imposing 386 runs. The Indians were bundled out for 212. Gavaskar and Solkar scored half centuries for the touring team. England declared their second innings at 245 for 3 with the opener Luckhurst scoring a century. The Indians, set to score a massive 420 runs for the win or bat out the remaining time for a draw, were aided by the rain and the match was called off when Indians were 65 for 3. 

With the series level at 0-0, both teams then met at the Oval in the final match. England who won the toss and elected to bat first was bowled out for 355. In reply, India made 284 runs as the hosts took a 71-run lead in the first innings. Chandrasekhar then spun magic with the ball picking up a match-winning 6-wicket haul to bundle out England for a paltry 101 in the second innings. Chandra finished with figures of 8 for 114 in the match. India chased down the target of 173 with four wickets in hand to record the historic series win at the Oval on 24th August, 1971. 

The scene of this historic victory at the Oval in London was ecstatic with scores of Indian fans thronging to the ground, where Ajit Wadekar’s team had beaten England by four wickets to end the hosts' run of 26 Test matches without defeat. Each member of India's XI was a hero during and after this magnificent win, but the one who really stood out was the legendary leg spinner Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, who had helped the team to the historic win. 

The three Indian spinners along with Prasanna took 197 of the 244 wickets to fall in the entire series thus dominating the bowling and paving the way for an era of spin that was to follow in India. The England team came to the subcontinent the following year (1972) and found the spin trio too hot to handle once again on the spin-friendly tracks in India. The visitors were handed a 2-1 defeat in the subsequent five-match series at home with Wadekar registering his third successive series win as captain of the Indian team. 

The year 1971 and the three successive series victories including two overseas for the Indians has helped the team come off ages and ever since the Indian team has continued to move up in the ranking, both in Test cricket and One-day Internationals. India now stands among the top ranking cricket nations and is one of the most talented cricket teams in the world and the roots for this success were sown by the teams that won three back to back series that started in West Indies in 1971.

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