Centenary of WW1 (Armistice): Remembering the countless thousands of Indian Soldiers who lost their lives.

Centenary of WW1 (Armistice): Remembering the countless thousands of Indian Soldiers who lost their lives.

It was on this date, 102 years ago, that the dreaded World War 1, also called the Great War of west, came to an official close, ending with the Armistice on the 11th of Nov 1918. The World War I, which started on the 28th July, 1914, took a heavy toll on humanity and Indians, who had nothing to do with this senseless menace  were not spared either. Indians were drawn into this deadly war courtesy our colonial rulers, the British.

More than a million Indian soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder alongside their colonial masters against the Germans and the Ottoman Empire in the unknown territories across Europe, Mediterranean, North and East Africa, Mesopotamia and so also in the deadly battle of the Gallipoli, which was fraught, in the most inhuman conditions and in the treacherous trenches, during the World War I. An estimated 75,000 of our soldiers died on the battlefield and many more were injured. Most unfortunately, not many Indians remember our soldiers who were part of this infamous battle. Unfortunately, the martyrdom and sacrifice of our soldiers during this war have been forgotten for long and therefore it is time that we remember them and accord the very same respect, reverence to our soldiers who were part of this Wat and made their supreme sacrifice fighting this bloody war for our colonial rulers. The Britishers had promised that post the WWI we will be given our independence and therefore our political leadership had endorsed the decision that the Indian army should join the British army and join this WWI. When the war ended the British went back on their promise and this served as an insult to injury and all that promise made by the Britishers for our independence were nothing but pack of lies perpetrated by the British on our leadership and luring them into joining the WWI. A soldier is always a soldier and his duty has always been to fight for the dignity and honour of the country and its flag and command under which they serve. 

A loss of life of even one of our soldiers in any of the battles is one too many and the nation comes together to salute the loss of men in uniform and unitedly pay our reverence to the martyrs and their family. However that was not to be for all those Indian soldiers who made the same supreme sacrifice fighting for the nation during the WW1. While the whole nation has rightfully been paying and will continue to pay respect and saluting our soldiers who fought in the various wars, both external and some internal (against the militants/terrorists) post our independence, most regrettably we have not given a fraction of that respect to the one million plus Indian Soldiers who fought the WWI and so also the WWII. As we commemorate the 102nd Armistice Day (11th November 1918) the anniversary of the end of WWI, it is time that we make amends and remember our soldiers who were part of this WW1 and pay our respect to them. Fortunately there are now scores of researched works, and books published that have chronicled in details the engagement of our soldiers in this war, which is helping us to remember the sacrifices of our soldiers during this war. Hope in the years to come, the role played by Indian soldiers during this war becomes a folklore and every Indians will learn of our soldiers participation in this war. On this day - the 102nd year of the Armistice, I join all my countrymen in paying my respect, salutations and homage to all our soldiers who are drawn in to the war of different kinds and pray that their sacrifice continue to be etched in the hearts and minds of every one of us. Hope that there will not be any more wars of this magnitude.

The world over the centenary celebration of the Armistice and the grand commemoration of the supreme sacrifice of the tens of millions of the soldiers, who fought this deadly World War1, ended two years ago on this very day with a hope and aspiration that the world will continue to remember this war and hope that there will never ever be another war of this kind. I also hope and pray that the WW1 has taught us an unforgettable lesson that such wars must be a big NO in future, irrespective of what the provocation is. The world over, particularly in those countries who were part of this deadly war, this day is remembered and commemorated with a hope and aspiration that the world will never face such wars in future. The day is also commemorated as a reverence day for the soldiers. Scores of published material is available on WW1 but there was not much research and published material available on the role played by the Indian soldiers during the WW1 and 2. Fortunately over the years many scholars have researched this subject, particularly the role of Indians in the war and now there are quite a number of published books and researched material available on this subject. This has helped in understanding and appreciating the role played by the Indian Soldiers during the WWI, which has now become more obvious not just to the Indians but also to the global community with several scholars publishing on this hitherto neglected issue.

I was one of those who were completely ignorant of the role played by the Indian soldiers during the WW1. Fortunately an exhibition’ Cricket Connects - India Australia’, which I was tasked to curate helped me to study and understand this subject. We, at the Nehru Science Centre, had the honour to curate two Cricket Connects exhibitions (India –Australia and India – England) in which we tried to connect the bonhomie between the Indian and British and Australian soldiers who fought together in this war. There are also records to suggest that the soldiers did partake in playing cricket during those rarest of the rare occasions.  We paid our homage to the Indian soldiers who fought to shoulder to shoulder with their buddies - the British and Australian soldiers during the WW 1 and 2. The Indian soldiers had an extraordinary connect with the British and the Australians, often times they played a side game of cricket for enriching the bond between the two. On the occasion of commemoration of the 102nd Armistice Day, it is again my honour to pay our homage to all those forgotten Indian Soldiers, who perished during the WW1. Accompanying archival photos of the Battle of Gallipoli, which were collected from Imperial War Museum in Australia and also from Turkey depict the role played by the Indian Soldiers during the World War 1 and 2. I am particularly tempted to write about the battle of Gallipoli which is one of the most legendary battle which has even been covered in the Hollywood films. 

Battle of Gallipoli: An Entente Most Remarkable

The Indian and Australian (ANZAC- Australia, New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder during the World War I at Gallipoli. The extent of the Indian participation at Gallipoli is only now becoming apparent. The ANZACs landed on the Gallipoli peninsula on the 25th April 1915, and fought in the trenches and on the frontline and in the process thousands perished and several thousand more were either wounded or scarred for life. The Australians and Indian soldiers united fight during the war is something that would not have been countenanced in a “White Australia” during this period. While the battle itself was a defeat for the ANZAC, the soldiers were relentless in their heroic gallantry and displayed incredible valour, courage and endurance in the most hostile environment in which this battle was fought. This has led to the ANZAC legend which every Australian and New Zealanders celebrate on April 25. The Sikh community, who fought alongside the Australians, has proudly joined in this tradition of paying homage to their forefathers and since 2005, there has been a Sikh contingent in the ANZAC Day march in Perth, comprised of direct descendants of those who fell in Gallipoli and other campaigns.

The Gallipoli battle, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign, or the Battle of Çanakkale (Turkish: Çanakkale Savaşı), was a British campaign of World War I fought with the aim of capturing the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). The Indian soldiers, Sikhs and Gurkhas, fought shoulder to shoulder with the ANZAC and the respect of the Australians for the Indian soldiers is evidenced in a war record statement; “The [Indians] batteries did so well and gallantly that the Australians have metaphorically taken them to their hearts. All are the greatest pals imaginable, and the political effect of this cordial friendship should be good for both India and Australia.”

The best tribute for the battle heroes, the brave ANZAC - including the Indians -, who were martyred and buried at Gallipoli is evidenced in the famous words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), an army officer who founded an independent Republic of Turkey out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives; you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well” Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Jain Jawan

Lt. Col. Ajit Bhandarkar (25 RR) : श्रधांजलि to the brave शौर्य चक्र Soldier.

Shaurya Chakra, Lt Col. Ajit Bhandarkar - श्रधांजलि to the martyrdom of the brave Soldier.

AJIT BHANDARKAR’s Wife and two Sons (both in defence services) during their visit to the Sainik School Bijapur for the opening of the Ajit Dwar.

This day last year - 30th October, 2019, was the twentieth year of the martyrdom of our dear friend Lt Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, who made the supreme sacrifice in service of his motherland on this very date in 1999. Colonel Anirudh Gudi, another classmate of ours (1970-77), from the batch of Ajit Bhandarkar, at the Sainik School Bijapur, posted his tribute to our dear friend Ajit in our Ajeet 77 group with some very nostalgic and memorable photographs of our dear friend Ajit and his family. I have therefore updated the tribute which I had posted last year in my blog. Here it is for all my dear friends who have been gracious to follow my blog.

Lt. Col. Ajit Bhandarkar (25 RR) : श्रधांजलि to the brave शौर्य चक्र Soldier

(My Blog post posted on 30th October 2019)

It was on this fateful day – Saturday the 30th October, 1999 - two decades ago, that our classmate, an illustrious alumnus of the Sainik School Bijapur (SSBJ 1970 - 1977 batch) and one of those India’s brave heart soldiers, Lt. Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, of the 25 Rashtriya Rifles (25RR), on deputation from his Madras Regiment and posted in Jammu and Kashmir, was killed in action while combating and trying to neutralise a group of terrorists at Surankot near Poonch, Kashmir.

Today, being the twentieth anniversary of Lt Col Ajit’s supreme sacrifice in service of the nation, Col. Pradeep Bhat, the crème de la crème of the SSBJ 1977 batch, started off our morning musings and interaction, on the What’s App group, with a sombre note by reminding the batch of the supreme sacrifice of our beloved chaddi dost, Lt Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, in whose memory the entire batch had  come together to construct a memorial - the Ajit द्वार - at one of the entry gates to our school, a year earlier.

The whole of the day, every single one of us - Ajit’s batch mates - kept pouring their hearts out remembering our beloved Ajit. The remembrance stretched back to the early seventies and to the days when Ajit joined the Sainik School Bijapur, with all of us, at an impressionable age of just about 9 years. The day - though started with a tragic note- was one of the most nostalgic of all times with everyone in the batch going back in time to sketch a memorable canvas of the immemorial deeds of our beloved Ajit, stretching right up to the period of his last days. While the nation will eternally remember the valour of Shaurya Chakra, Lt Col. Ajit and his other brethren’s - who have made supreme sacrifice in service of the nation - we, the classmates, the fellow Ajeets from the 70-77 batch of Sainik School Bijapur,  join millions of our countrymen in paying our श्रद्धांजलि to Lt Col. Ajit. All of us had got together to conceive to develop a Ajit Dwar, at the Sainik Sxhool Bijapur in memory of our dear Ajit Bhandarkar and the lead for this work was taken by two of our classmates Arjun Misale and our PWD Engineer classmate, Guru S Patil, who really worked hard to complete this beautiful gate as a mark of our respect for our classmate Ajit. This gate at SSBJ, the Ajit द्वार, was very graciously opened at the hands of Mrs Shakuntala Ajit Bhandarkar, the exemplary widow of the military hero in the presence of their two sons, who are very proudly following the foot steps of their illustrious martyr father and are serving are in the military.

Ajit was born in Mumbai,  the city where I am currently posted, on 31st December 1960 and from our school days we were aware of his leadership qualities, and his born leader attributes, the example of which he exhibited in our Sainik School many times. Only the best of the best students manage to get into the coveted Sainik School and our batch had about 90 students and were divided among the 5 houses. Lt Col Ajit was in Hoysala House, which was our  neighbouring house, which also housed Vice Admiral, Srikant among others from our batch. Ajit was one of the most well behaved, idealistic and brilliant all rounder student, nicknamed ‘Manav’ by our batch, his classmate, in memory of the idealistic character role that Dharmendra had played in the famous Hindi Cinema ‘Dosti in 1974. The role that matinee idol Dharmendra played in Dosti was practised in reality by our dear Ajit and hence he earned the epithet of Manav for his idealism. He excelled in most activities of the school and rightfully was chosen to be the School Captain. Sainik School Captain is the most coveted position for the school with only one among the 500 plus students getting this rear honour. In the true spirit of our alma mater Ajit joined the NDA and then the IMA and was commissioned into the Madras Regiment of the Indian Army. Ajit joined 59th Course at National Defence Academy (NDA) Khadakwasla Pune in Dec 1977 and was commissioned into 18 MADRAS on 19 Dec 1981. On successful completion of Staff course at DSSC Wellington, Ajit served as a Brigade Major in Military Secretary Branch of Army HQ, which were clear indicators of a bright future in Army hierarchy. He was promoted to the post of Lt Col and posted as the Second in Command (2IC) of 25 RASTRIYA RIFLES (MADRAS), which was deployed in Jammu & Kashmir to fight the insurgency in Kashmir.

On the 30th of October, 1999, Lt Col Ajit’s unit (the 25RR) had received intelligence inputs about the presence of Kashmiri terrorists - who are disgracefully and most unfortunately referred to as militants - in Faizalabad village in Poonch district. The inputs were properly analysed and the situation was assessed and a decision taken to launch a operation. Our dear friend, Lt Col Ajit, was chosen to lead this operation. Ajit and his men launched a cordon and search operation with an objective of eliminating the five dreaded, hardcore terrorists who, like cowards, had taken refuge in the midst of the innocent civilians and were hiding in the village. Lt Col Ajit led his men from the front and managed to spot the terrorists who were trying to escape towards a नल्लाह. Ajit chased them, shooting down one terrorist. The second terrorist, who was hiding inside the nullaha  fired indiscriminately, and injured Lt Col Ajit grievously. Despite being injured, he moved ahead and lobbed a grenade on the terrorists. He then crawled forward and shot down another one. His daredevil action and that of his men resulted in the elimination of all the five hardcore terrorists. Most unfortunately, Lt Col Ajit later succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. Three other Jawans were also killed in the encounter along with him. For this act of exemplary courage and supreme sacrifice, Lt Col Ajit Bhandarkar was awarded the “Shaurya Chakra” posthumously.

I vividly remember that darkest day for the batch of 77 Sainik School Bijapur. I was then posted at Delhi and was working as the Curator at the National Science Centre and staying in Timarpur office campus area. The telecom revolution, led by the visionary Shyam Pitroda, had just about begun to yield its fruits, the genesis for which was sown by the CDoT company, which had tested the revolutionary RAX (acronym for the Rural Automatic Exchange) the forerunner for the telecom revolution in India at a place called Kittur in Karnataka. Thirteen of the officers and staff working at the National Science Centre were staying in the residential quarters in the campus and we had just one common phone, whose number I vividly remember even today (2523737), which was kept at the security and was used as an emergency means of communication for all the thirteen families. My door bell rang at around 2 AM on the night of 30th October, 1999, and the guard knocking on my door informed me of an emergency call from a friend. When I rushed into take the call the man on the other side was Col. Neeraj Roy, our class mate from Sainik School, who was posted in Delhi. He broke the tragic news of our martyred friend and asked me to join him and others to receive the mortal remains of our hero. I joined him and several others at the dead of the night and all through this period Neeraj with his army friends and colleagues successfully planned for taking the mortal remains of our beloved friend to his native place, Bangalore, which he succeeded. The plane carrying the mortal remains of our hero reached Bangalore on Sunday the 31st October, 1999 and thousands joined Mrs Bhandarkar, the exemplary role model widow of Ajit in paying their last respect to the great son of India.

Lt Col. Ajit, Bhandarkar is survived by his wife Shakuntala and two sons Nirbhay and Akshay. Shakunthala Bhandarkar, having gone through the personal experience of being a martyr’s wife, is passionate about helping other martyrs’ families and is engaged in conducting various programmes for the welfare of the families of martyrs. Like her illustrious husband, Shakuntala too has inherited the undying passion to serve the nation. She has bought up her two sons, who were just 7 and 5 when Ajit was martyred, in an ambience of service to the nation and as a result both her sons are now treading the path of their illustrious father and are serving in the army and navy. Whilst the elder son Capt Nirbhay Bhandarkar has joined his father’s unit in the army, after passing out from OTA Chennai, Sub Lt Akshay Bhandarkar has joined the Indian Navy after graduating as an Engineer. Mrs Shakuntala Bhandarkar is now working tirelessly to publish a memorial book on our dear friend Ajit, her beloved husband, with rich visual and archival images. I take this opportunity to wish her all the very best in this extraordinary endeavour and assure her of all our assistance. I also wish to thank Col Anirudh Gudi.

I am posting this श्रद्धांजलि on behalf of all of Ajit’s class mates, the SSBJ 77 batch and I am sure we will be joined by millions of our countrymen in saluting our beloved Lt. Col Ajit Bhandarkar and countless other brave soldiers, who have made the supreme sacrifice in service of our nation.

जय हिंद । जय जवान

The Russian Cosmonaut, Mikhail Kornienko

The Russian Cosmonaut, Mikhail Kornienko, who was expected to visit us at 12 noon today turned up 2 and a half hour early to attend the opening of the Rosatom Festival of Science & Culture. The programme started with the formal opening of the Festival. There was not one media person present, it was not expected as well more so we had announced that Mikhail Kornienko will be addressing the students at 12 noon. We had a series of events including art demonstrations by Sir JJ School of Art, courtesy my friend Prof Sable, the Dean.

I just took a chance to enquire if Mikhail would spare 30 minutes for his on the spot portrait painting, which one of the JJ School of art student volunteered to do in front of large number of students and audience. Truly grounded, incomparably humble, an extraordinary human being that Mikhail is, accepted our request in less than blink of an eye. Unfortunately the spot chosen by the artist where a chair was placed for Mikhail to sit had no fan and was relatively hot, yet Mikhail sat through his committed 30 minutes intermittently asking how was his portrait painting progressing. In the promised time the artist could complete the painting, which Mikhail very happily signed and this painting rightfully will adorn the office of the Director Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai once it is duly framed.

Mikhail addressed the jam packed auditorium supported by several video clips of his stay at the International Space Station with his compatriots and innumerable stunning images of Earth from the space station. He took several questions from the students and media. Although no where near to the 70 plus media team that we had encountered with tens of cameras during the visit of Sunita Williams visit to the centre, courtesy the hype that NASA had created and our very own efforts of trying to rope in as many press as possible reaching them through PIB, the Press Club etc, yet for the Mikhail’s visit, we had about 12 media persons including the die hard compulsive space correspondent, Srinivas Laxman in attendance. We also had 3 TV reporters who along with other journalists had a special closed door interaction with the Cosmonaut. Mikhail was at his diplomatic best during the press interaction. When pinned by Srinivas to comment on what his relationship was with his American counterpart Kelly, Mikhail surprised Srinivas with his master stroke answer. He said “ I could mix with him and chat with him much more than his Russian fellow cosmonauts” and added “ that at the ISS all the astronauts (for the Americans) or Cosmonauts( for the Russians) irrespective of whether they are from Russia, USA or Japan we are all one small family in a confined space”. He patiently answered every question. The challenge of avoiding collision with space debris was some thing that press may pick up. He said they came so very close to one of the space debris, which at the speed at which it was travelling - 30metres per second- would have wiped out the ISS had they not avoided the collision.

What was most amazing was the humility and simplicity of Mikhail Kornienko the National hero of Russia. He patiently posed with innumerable students and visitors for a selfie, and signed several autographs. While we expected him to spend an hours time at the centre he ended up spending more than 5 hours. The experience was truly memorable, which we will remain etched in our memories. A big thank you Mikhail and the Rosatom team.

THANK YOU NGMA and every one associated with the institute.

THANK YOU NGMA and every one associated with the institute.

My 6 plus long years of association as the Director, NGMA, (Director, NGMA Bangalore for 4 months, from October 2012 to January 2013, and Director, NGMA, Mumbai for 5 years and 8 plus months, from 13th October 2013 till today) ended today with my signing and exchanging of the “Certificate of Transfer of Charge” with my successor, Ms. Anita, Roopavataram, who has taken the charge of the regular Director of NGMA Mumbai.

I take this opportunity to thank a whole lot of stakeholders of NGMA starting from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, to the staff of all the three NGMAs, particularly NGMA Mumbai, the respective past and current advisory committee members of NGMA, Dr Pheroza Godrej, Dr Suhas Bahulkar and Mr Sudhakar Rao (the former two chairpersons of NGMA Mumbai and the later the Chairperson of NGMA Bangalore) and a whole lot of outstanding creative artists, art connoisseurs, visitors and art lovers, for your extraordinary support, encouragement and well wishes, which made this unexpectedly long tenure a memorable experience.

Handling responsibility of two national level museums - one a Art Museum and another a Science Museum - has been challenging and often times too taxing requiring burning of midnight oil more so for the NGMA works. I have tried my best to do full justice to the additional responsibility of the Director NGMA, and that has been possible primarily because of the support that I got from art community and the members of the advisory committee both past and present of NGMA.

While I say good bye to NGMA, I must place on record the untiring work of my colleague Mr Ajay, my personal assistant at the Nehru Science Centre, who had to bear the major brunt of my additional responsibility and often times had to work very late hours with absolutely no financial or other rewards, whatsoever.

Last but not the least my special thanks to my beloved wife and life partner, Vidya, Khened, who had to endure quite a lot of hardship and had to majorly take care of our home affairs because of my two responsibilities.

A big thank you to one and all and wishing my successor all the very best.

I will continue to be the Director of the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai.

All are equal but some are more equal

“All are equal but some are more equal” is a proverbial statement, which most of us have learnt to live with in India. This unwritten edict cuts across different fields and professions and perhaps explains why some get the due that they truly deserve while others fall in the category of also ran - and going into oblivion blaming their fate to destiny - may be because they do not know how best to market themselves or be practical. History is replete with such instances, cutting across areas and countries, of some making it to the headlines globally while others do not even find a mention in the subtexts. This perhaps sums up the reason why we are not finding the kind of a buzz or hype among the media or student fraternity for the visit of Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko to the Nehru Science Centre, that is scheduled at 12 noon on the 25th of October.

I am reminded of the extraordinary hype and buzz that we had experienced, at the Nehru Science Centre, when we hosted the visit of Sunita Williams, NASA astronaut with part Indian roots, in the year 2013. We had the highest ever contingent of media both print and electronic including at least 9 OB vans the first for the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai. The Russian space achievements, which until that historic moment of “One small step for man and Giant leap for mankind” was achieved by Neil Armstrong for the Americans, had always pushed the Americans to the second position. But then when it comes to remembering the achievements most of our younger generations will hardly remember the Russian contributions in Space sciences. After all who can beat the Americans in marketing themselves to glory while almost obliterating the achievements of others. So no wonder that the Nehru Science Centre’s hosting the Russian Cosmonaut, Mikhail Kornienko’s visit on the 25th October, is yet to get even a fraction of the attention that we got when we last hosted Sunita Williams.

Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai with support from the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, Russia, is organising the ‘Rosatom Festival of Science & Culture’ at our centre during October 25-26, 2018 and the special attraction of the event will be an interaction with the Russian Cosmonaut, Kornienko, flight engineer on International Space Station(ISS) who with NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, served Expedition 43-46 and spent a whopping 340 days on the International Space Station (ISS)during their yearlong flight. The "one-year crew" mission—which began on March 27, 2015 and was the longest by any astronauts aboard the ISS and seen as a vital chance to measure the effects of a prolonged period in space on the human body. This, almost a year long stay in space of Kelly, was also the longest period for any American astronaut. Russia however continues to rule, though not known very well among the public, when it comes to long-duration spaceflight. The world record of 438 days was set by a Russian doctor during the mid-1990s more than 25 years before the achievements of Kelly.

The Soyuz capsule carrying Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and his 340-day roommate, Scot Kelly, landed back on Earth on the 1st of March 2016. The Russian and Americans duo had travelled 232 million kilometres through space, circled the world 5440 times and experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets during the longest single spaceflight by an American. The news of Kelly returning back to planet Earth after spending almost a year in space made media headlines across the globe while his companion Russian Cosmonaut was pushed to the subtext. Leading the marketing for the American Astronaut, Kelly, was none other than the President of USofA, Barack Obama, whose tweet “Welcome back to Earth, @StationCDRKelly! Your year in space is vital to the future of American space travel. Hope gravity isn’t a drag!” did not find the mention of two of Kelly’s fellow travellers from Russia including Micheal Kornienko.

During the mission, the ISS crew conducted almost 400 investigations to advance NASA’s mission, of preparation for mans landing on Mars by 2035. Kelly and Kornienko particularly conducted research into how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight, the knowledge of which are expected to guide future missions to deep space destinations.

Space missions have always been the turning point in the history of supremacy of nations. However with the onset of the global era the space missions have now become a global cooperation with more and more countries joining hands in the spirit of true humanity for the good of science and humanity. This global cooperation was aptly articulated by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden who said “It’s incredibly important that we all work together to make what is seemingly impossible, possible.” For NASA, that mission possible is its gearing up for human expeditions to Mars in the 2030s. Radiation will be a top challenge, along with the body and mind’s durability on what will be a 2-year journey round trip to Mars. He added “With his one-year mission, Kelly has “helped us take one giant leap toward putting boots on Mars,”.

While Kelly made it to the headlines, on the 1st/ 2nd of March 2016, globally the time is here and now for those of you who wish to meet the man who was Kelly’s room mate, Mikhail Kornienko, for all of 340 days in space on-board the ISS, in flesh blood at the Nehru Science Centre on the 25th of October at 12 noon. Come one come all don’t miss this unique opportunity to meet the Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko.

Nobel Prize Chemistry 2018.

Nobel Prize Chemistry 2018.

This year’s coveted Nobel Prize for Chemistry (2018) - that carries a prize money of ₹ 7.4 Crores - has been awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy for Sciences, to three distinguished scientists - Frances Arnold, who shares half the prize money and the other half will be shared by George Smith and Gregory Winter - for their “research using directed evolution to produce enzymes and antibodies for producing new chemicals and pharmaceuticals”.

Enzymes are one of the most fascinating chemical proteins, which most of us have studied as biological catalysts during school days. The Nobel laureates in Chemistry, have used their enzyme knowledge to successfully bio-mimic evolution in ultra-fast forward mode to engineer enzymes that are beneficial to humankind.

Life on our unique planet Earth - the only known celestial body in the unending, infinitesimally vast cosmos, that harbours life - has been evolving ever since it came into existence some 3.7 billion years ago. Nature has used the power of evolution to create a vast diversity of life on Earth and in the process molecules with divergent chemical capabilities have also evolved. Darwin’s findings “On the origin of species by natural selection”, that was published as an outcome of his Beagle voyage to the Galápagos Islands, has revealed the process of evolution of life and its adaptation. This evolutionary process on Earth, which is loosely referred to as “Survival of the fittest”, takes a long process and is the best known source for adaptation.

Dr Arnold, a biochemical engineer at Caltech, has harnessed the “survival of fittest” adaptation power of evolution and has used the principles of Darwin’s evolution in the test tube to speed up the process of enzyme production to create never-before-seen chemical reactions in a process called “directed evolution”. Dr Smith, of the University of Missouri in Columbia and Dr Winter, of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, have used Dr Arnold’s findings of “directed evolution” to produce new chemicals and pharmaceuticals for the benefit of human society. This process has opened up new vistas in fields from materials science to immunotherapy. Directed evolution will enable scientists to use nature's prowess in searching through trillions of different molecules to try and find solutions to problems, which humans could never have imagined.

Arnold - only the fifth female Nobel laureate in Chemistry - who has survived breast cancer and is also a single mother to three sons, started conducting her first “directed evolution” experiments at Caltech in 1993. Her works began in a fit of desperation since she was pretty “clueless and did not know how to make proteins”. She began tinkering with proteins - using her mechanical engineering training - and started doing lots of experiments simultaneously and in the process realised “that's exactly what nature does”. Many considered her approach to be lunatic but she remained undeterred. She was certain that her way of addressing the protein engineering problem - with a completely different perspective, which was akin to what nature does always - was the only way forward. Her conviction and self-belief in what she was doing was right, notwithstanding the adverse comments and criticism that she constantly subjected to, led her to the path breaking discovery of “directed evolution”.

Arnold created random mutations - by shuffling genes artificially by figuring out which elements have a fighting chance of producing proteins that actually work and maybe even do something useful - to produce desired enzymes. She then slipped these mutated genes into bacteria, which helped in pumping out thousands of different variants of the enzyme. Sifting through these enzymes, she identified variants that were useful for the chosen task. She used these new variants to produce a new round of mutations in this variant. The result was a new enzyme, which worked better than its predecessor. This is exactly what happens in nature, which produces the best variant that is capable for adaptation, albeit over hundreds of thousands of years. Dr Arnold’s experiments have fundamentally changed the way scientists think about working with enzymes. She says “By doing what nature does, you can get the job done much more quickly.”

George Smith, developed an “elegant method” known as phage display, where a bacteriophage - a virus that infects bacteria - can be used to evolve new proteins. His technique of phage display is now used in producing antibodies that can neutralise toxins, counteract autoimmune diseases and cure metastatic cancer. Smith, according to his colleagues, is one of the most genius scientists whose humility is par excellence. He showed a glimpse of his exemplary humility, modesty and generosity by thanking the university and his co-winners for “winning him the Nobel prize”. Addressing the press on his winning the Nobel, Smith said “There have been enormous numbers of people in this web of science, and I happen to be somewhere in the middle of that, and that’s why I’m getting this prize,” further exhibiting his extraordinary humility.

Party loving Cambridge Professor, Sir Gregory Winter, on being informed of his Nobel award ordered Champagne, worth ₹2.5 Lacs, for his lab colleagues. Sir Winter adopted Dr Arnold’s “directed evolution” approach and Dr Smiths phage display technique to create useful antibodies and proteins, which could target and grab onto disease-related targets. His findings have been used to produce the first pharmaceutical medicine - AbbVie's adalimumab- that was approved for sale in 2002.

Pharmaceuticals for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases have resulted from the research of this year’s Nobel laureates in Chemistry. Their research has further helped in developing anti-bodies that can neutralise toxins, counteract autoimmune diseases and cure metastatic cancer, rightfully earning the trio their coveted Nobel Prize.

Nobel Prize in Physics (2018)

The coveted Nobel Prize in Physics (2018)- an award worth a staggering 9 Million Swedish Kronor (7.4 Crores of Indian ₹) - was announced today by the Royal Swedish Academy for Sciences and has been awarded to three distinguished scientists Dr. Arthur Ashkin, Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, USA, Dr. Gérard Mourou, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA and to Dr. Donna Strickland, University of Waterloo, Canada, “for their groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics”. Ashkin has been awarded half the prize “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems”, while the other half is shared by Mourou and Strickland for “their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses”.

The immense fecundity that the field of “Laser Physics” carries can be visualised in the best spirit of Alfred Nobel – for the greatest benefit to humankind.

Two of the three awardees - Arthur Ashkin and Donna Strickland - have created a sort of an unprecedented record. Ashkin ( born September 2, 1922) aged 96 years, is the oldest living person to have received this honour. When the Royal Swedish Academy broke this news to him and requested him for a live telephonic interview with the press, the actively young scientist - in his later part of the 90s - excused himself by stating that he was engrossed in his new scientific paper and don’t have time to spare for the live interview. So much for the love of science. Donna Strickland is only the third woman winner of the Physics Nobel award, along with Marie Curie, who won in 1903, and Maria Goeppoert-Mayer, who was awarded the prize in 1963.

Arthur Ashkin invented optical tweezers that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers. He succeeded in getting laser light to push small particles towards the centre of the beam and to hold them there. A major breakthrough came in 1987, when Ashkin used the tweezers to capture living bacteria without harming them. He immediately began studying biological systems. Optical tweezers are now widely used to investigate the machinery of life.

Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland paved the way towards the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by mankind. Their revolutionary article was published in 1985 and was the foundation of Strickland’s doctoral thesis. Using an ingenious approach, they succeeded in creating ultrashort high-intensity laser pulses without destroying the amplifying material. First they stretched the laser pulses in time to reduce their peak power, then amplified them, and finally compressed them. If a pulse is compressed in time and becomes shorter, then more light is packed together in the same tiny space – the intensity of the pulse increases dramatically. Strickland and Mourou’s newly invented technique, called chirped pulse amplification (CPA) soon became standard for subsequent high-intensity lasers. Its uses include the millions of corrective eye surgeries that are conducted every year using the sharpest of laser beams.

The inventions being honoured this year have revolutionised laser physics resulting in shedding new light into extremely small objects and incredibly fast processes that can now be studied in a new light. This will not only help physics, but also other sciences - chemistry, biology and medicine - which will be benefitted from the resulting precision instruments that can be used in basic research and practical applications.

No other scientific discovery of the 20th century has been demonstrated with so many exciting applications as laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). The basic concepts of laser were first given by an American scientist, Charles Hard Townes and two Soviet scientists, Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov and Nikolai Gennediyevich Basov who shared the coveted Nobel Prize (1964). T H Maiman of the Hughes Research Laboratory, California, was the first scientist who experimentally demonstrated laser by flashing light through a ruby crystal, in 1960. Ever since new applications of lasers have been announced in various fields almost regularly. Laser finds applications In the fields of communication, Industry, medicine, military operations, scientific research, etc. Besides, laser has already brought great benefits in surgery, photography, holography, engineering and data storage.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, which helped in the discovery of the first gravitational waves produced by two giant merging blackholes last year leading to a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017, also owes its genesis to Lasers. Incidentally a new gravitational wave detector to measure ripples in the fabric of space and time is set to be built in India by 2025, in collaboration with universities from across the globe, thus helping Indian scientists.

Laser is a powerful source of light having extraordinary properties, which are not found in the normal light sources. The unique property of laser is that its light waves travel very long distances with very little divergence. Laser light is created through a chain reaction in which the particles of light, photons, generate even more photons. These can be emitted in pulses. Ever since lasers were invented, almost 60 years ago, researchers have endeavoured to create more intense pulses.

Many applications for the new laser techniques are waiting just around the corner – faster electronics, more effective solar cells, better catalysts, more powerful accelerators, new sources of energy, or designer pharmaceuticals. There is already speculation about the next step: a tenfold increase in power, to 100 peta watts and may be extending it further to the power of a zettawatt (one million petawatts, 10 to the power 21 watt), or pulses down to zeptoseconds, which are equivalent to the almost inconceivably tiny time of 10 to the power -21 seconds. New horizons are opening up, from studies of quantum physics in a vacuum to the production of intense proton beams that can be used to eradicate cancer cells in the body.

Along with the development in the research in laser technology and modern optics theory and their application, optics has been completely endowed with new contents and is playing an important role in scientific and technological progress. In recent years, the discipline has put great emphasis on updating the contents and collaborative research programs interdisciplinaryly.

My tryst with Dengue

My tryst with Dengue

The novel Corona Virus continues to hog international headlines and the number of casualties is now inching towards one thousand, even as two Indians, on board the Ship, stranded in Japan, are reported to have shown positive for the virus. In this season of heightened alertness on global public health emergency, which is of international concern, I am reminded of another viral infectious disease, Dengue - a mosquito borne viral infection -, which causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication leading to fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). I became one of its victims, some time during the year 2018 and here I am sharing my tryst with dengue.

एक मच्छर आदमींको हिजड़ा बाना देता हैं। meaning - One Mosquito can make a masculine man a transgender - (No disrespect to the LGBT community please). With this cinematic dialog, Nana Patekar highlighted the nuisance value of the mosquito - the carrier of dengue virus - which could temporarily incapacitate any sound body and so it did to me confining me to the bed at home and subsequently at the Nanavati Hospital for well over two weeks, with Dengue Fever.

Unfortunately, though not ostensibly fatal, the scare that the Dengue offers is palpable, particularly to the family members of those afflicted with suspected Dengue. The highly publicised death of an affluent veteran Bollywood Director, Mr. Yash Chopra, due to Dengue, gained such ill fame that, I had no way but to yield to the advice of friends and family- particularly my wife- to immediately shift from the family physician that I was consulting to consult doctors at the Nanavati hospital, since my platelet counts were consistently falling. The Nanavati Hospital was already handling a number of dengue cases.  I had no way but to yield to my wife’s dictate and as my fate would have it the Doctor at the Nanavati Hospital saw my reports and after preliminary investigation wasted no time in advising me to be admitted immediately and thus I landed in room 306 of the hospital. By then four of my blood reports were consistently showing fall in platelet counts and the last report revealed platelet count of 50,000. Thus began my tryst with Dengue at the Nanavati Hospital, which incidentally was for the first time ever in that I have ever been admitted to a hospital in my entire lifespan. 

Dr Desai, the physician at the Nanavati Hospital, who attended to me and his  entire team of sisters and support staff at the hospital were overwhelmingly supportive in ensuring that I fight it out and come victorious sooner than later. My days at the hospital were spent with unending stream of messages, well wishes and phone calls that kept coming from friends and relatives. It took six days for me to be discharged from the hospital and another week or so to recover from weakness. Subsequently it was time for me to record my gratitude and appreciation to all my friends and well wishers, who had kept boosting my confidence and kept calling, sending messages and several of them visited me at the hospital. I had then posted a brief note on my experience with dengue and also thanked everyone of them and posted it on Facebook. The current Corona virus saga has tempted me to write about it on my blogpost to highlight the importance of health workers in times of such health calamities and once again pay my reverence to each of them, particularly the nurses. The year 2020, which happens to be the bicentennial birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, has been designated as the “Year of the Nurse and midwife”, in honor of Florence Nightingale, by the Executive Board, of the World Health Organisation (WHO). This proposal will be presented to Member States of the 72nd World Health Assembly for consideration and endorsement. 

Dengue is a mosquito-borne, viral infection, which causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication leading to fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). Dengue is commonly referred to as the break-bone fever’ हड्डी थोड बुखार। The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades. The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. It is estimated that close to 100 million infections are known to occur annually in over 100 (only 9 counties in 1955) endemic countries and almost half of the world’s population is known to be at risk with Dengue.

The Dengue virus belongs to the family Flaviviridae, having four serotypes, which are spread by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. It causes a wide spectrum of illness from mild asymptomatic illness to severe fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS). Approximately 2.5 billion people live in dengue-risk regions with about 100 million new cases reported each year worldwide including India which has always been at the receiving end of the dengue virus.

The origin of the word “dengue” - a Spanish word - is believed to have come from the word dinga from the Swahili phrase “Ka-dinga pepo” - meaning “cramp-like seizure” - which describes the disease as being caused by an evil spirit. The first clinically recognized dengue epidemics occurred almost simultaneously in Asia, Africa, and North America in the 1780s. Benjamin Rush is believed to be the first person to have reported the incidence of the clinical case of dengue in the 1780 epidemic in Philadelphia. He coined the term “break bone fever” for the dengue, which has now become quite common a phrase, even in India.

In India, the first epidemic of clinical dengue-like illness was recorded in Madras (now Chennai) in 1780 and the first virologically proved epidemic of dengue fever occurred in Calcutta (Kolkata now)and Eastern Coast of India in 1963-1964.  Subsequently the Dengue spread its tentacles northwards and reached Delhi in 1967 and Kanpur in 1968. Simultaneously it also spread to the southern part of the country and gradually the whole country was involved with wide spread epidemics followed by endemic/hyperendemic prevalence of all the four serotypes of Dengue Virus (DV). The DHF started simmering in various parts of India since 1988. The first major wide spread epidemics of DHF/DSS occurred in India in 1996 involving areas around Delhi and Lucknow and ever since it has spread to most parts of the country.  The epidemiology of dengue virus and its prevalent serotypes has been ever changing.

Dengue disease continued to spread to newer areas, newer populations with increasing magnitude, epidemic after epidemic. Every aspect of dengue viral infection continues to be a challenge; the pathogenesis of severe dengue disease is not known and therefore no vaccine is yet available for protection and the vector control measures are inadequate. Dengue virus was isolated in India in 1944, but the scientific studies addressing various problems of dengue disease have been carried out at limited number of centres. Though clinical studies have reported on dengue disease in India, but these are largely based on diagnosis made by kits of doubtful specificity and sensitivity. A lot more remains to be achieved for creating an impact.

Like in the cases of most epidemics and outbreaks including the current novel Corona Virus outbreak,  enhancing public awareness on most infectious microbial diseases is one of the major challenges for the global health professionals. This global public health problem can be controlled with active participation of the community and with no finger pointing of blame to any one country including China in the current case of nCoV. There is an urgent need to organise health education programmes about infectious diseases and epidemics to increase community knowledge and sensitize the community to participate in integrated vector control programmes. It is time that a whole lot of stakeholders join hands and work as a team to combat this menace before it takes a huge toll on the public health system in India.

Don Bradman: The Gods God

Don Bradman: The Gods God

On the occasion of the 111th birth day of the legendary Sir Don Bradman, Google has paid its tribute to the legend and listed him on their Google Doodle on their home page. I join Google and million others to pay my tribute to the one and only Don Bradman. India and Australia share an extraordinary parallel in hero worshipping of their cricket legends. In India, cricket legend, Bharat Ratna, Sachin Tendulkar is considered as God by many of the cricket lovers and for Sachin, Sir Don was his God.

In the 1930's, with the country in deep economic depression and still grieving for the thousands killed in World War I, Bradman's achievements were a cause for Australian National pride. The spirit of the Don is evidenced from a statement by the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, who, during his visit to Sir Donald a few days before Bradman’s death, said “He had a great impact on Australian life, especially during the desperate years of the Depression. His prowess on the cricket field lifted the hopes and spirits of the people, who at times felt they had little else”.

The Nobel Laureate, Nelson Mandela, also the recipient of the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour of India, was an avid follower of the Don. One of Mandela's first questions to the former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, when Fraser met him in Cape Town's, Polls Moor Prison in 1986, was, “Tell me, Mr Fraser is Donald Bradman still alive?” Such was the charm and following of Bradman all across the globe. Four years later, when Mandela was released from the prison, Fraser handed over Don's signed bat for Mandela, which read “To Nelson Mandela in recognition of a great unfished innings – Don Bradman”.

In a career that spanned from 1928 to 1948, Bradman's winning scores, and rare failures, were the cause for celebration and despair that made National headlines, and delayed business and government meetings in Australia. Experts were found wanting in search for words of praise for his legendary batting skills.

Donald George Bradman was born in Cootamundra, NSW, on 27th August 1908, the youngest of five children of George and Emily Bradman. He was just 21 years old when he scored the highest number of runs by a single batsman in one day's play (309 runs not out) in the third Ashes test on 11 July 1930. He enjoys an unprecedented record average for the tests, which reads a staggering 99.94. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that was involved in broadcasting several of his memorable innings, has its postal address in all capital cities of Australia with a Post Office Box number 9994, Bradman's Test batting average (99.94). Bradman, known for his powerful forearms and swift footwork, was self-taught. He was a batting champion in high school at 12 and on the National team at 20, subsequently recording unprecedented scores and averages in the 52 international games that he played, which will remain eternally etched in the annals of cricket history.

He played his historic last innings, where he scored a rare “DUCK” bowled second ball by Eric Hollies, at the Oval, London in 1948. He scored runs on uncovered, uneven pitches at a staggering average, which represents the mental toughness that this man had. Even when England devastated Australia in the infamous body-line series of 1932-33, it was Bradman who stood apart with an average of 56 wearing protective gear, which can hardly be compared to the safety that modern gear provides. Bradman's achievements have been contextualised by comparing them with those of other sporting legends in a book, ''The Best of the Best,'' by Charles Davis, a Melbourne sports statistician. He has rated stars from different sports by measuring champions who were so far ahead of their rivals that they were in a class of their own. As per Davis's calculations, Bradman led the elite club of career-long achievers with a 4.4 rating followed by a fair distance by the legendary Brazilian soccer player Pelé at 3.7 and American Basketball player, Michael Jordan at 3.4.

A small museum has now been established at Bowral, where the Don grew up, with his consent, alongside the cricket field to record his career, which is now a tourist favourite. We had the offer and honour to present our Cricket Exhibition at the Bradman Museum but for reasons beyond our control we could not present our exhibition.

Sir Don played just five Tests against India, which was the first Cricket series tour for Independent Indian cricket team. The India-Australia series in 1947-48, was to be the last season at home for Don Bradman. The Indian fans who had heard legendary tales on the achievements of the Don were more keen to see how many runs 'Sir Don' would get against their team rather than what the outcome of the tour would be. The Don didn't disappoint, scoring over 700 runs as well as getting his 100th first class hundred playing against the Indians during this tour. The Don showed his class by welcoming the Indian touring team with a century, scoring 156 for South Australia.

In the year 2016 we (Nehru Science Centre) had the honour to present “Cricket Connects: India Australia” exhibition as a part of the Festival of India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and I was privileged to curate this exhibition. The richly illustrated exhibition catalogue can be downloaded for free from our website : www.nehrusciencecentre.gov.in

Although the Don has not played in India, he remains the most venerated cricketer in India for generations of cricketers including Sachin Tendulkar.

 
May he continue to throng the hearts of millions.

Doodles and creativity

Doodles and creativity

Scribbling or doodling on the margins of papers including books - some times called the Freudian slip - has been a pastime for many including yours truly. My post today “Doodles and Creativity”, owes its debt to my friend R G Kulkarni, my Sainik School classmate.

One of the groups among the many that each one of us are a part of, in the social media whatsApp groups, is the Ajeets 77 group. This group was formed by our friends Arjun Misale and Shrishail Deginal to connect the 1970 to 77 batch of Sainik School Bijapur, our cherished alma mater. This morning R G Kulkarni (510), a member of this group, a highly successful businessman and a great achiever and the only scientist nerd of our batch who belonged to the class of “Ranchoddas” of “Three Idiots fame” during the school days, now on a sojourn to USofA and keeps posting images and write up on his visit, posted a wonderful photograph of the Space Needle. His posting of the Space needle image has prompted me script this post.

The Space Needle, an iconic structure that forms the skyline of Seattle, measuring 605 feet tall was built in less than a year. This monumental structure owes its genesis to the humble doodle. It is intriguing to note that the shape of this remarkable structure was conceived by Eddie Carlson in Stuttgart, Germany in the form of a doodle in 1959. Carlson was the Chairman of the Seattle World’s Fair Commission and while he was dining at Stuttgart atop a city’s broadcast tower he got this idea that he scribbled as a doodle. His doodle creation was later given its current form and shape by three architects ; John Graham Jr. Victor Steinbrueck, and John Ridley and built with private funding in record time.

It is interesting note that some of history’s most influential people were doodlers and in most libraries one can notice scribbled figures that decorate the margins of the books. Notable doodlers include some of the U.S. presidents and legendary authors and our very own Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose paintings owe their debt to his doodling habits. Some may say doodling is kid stuff produced while not paying attention. The truth is your daydream drawing gives you an unobstructed view into your own mind. It was perhaps this day dreaming that led to the discovery of the Ulam Spiral.

Doodling has left an indelible mark in mathematics as well. The Ulam spiral, a popular visual aid for mathematicians, was developed by the mathematician, Stanislaw Ulam, based on a doodle that he made while listening to the fellow mathematician at the mathematics conference in 1964. Ulam was an important mathematician of the twentieth century. Born in Poland in 1909, he was a key player in the Manhattan project. In his doodle, Ulam drew the positive integers on a square spiral of the number line, with 0 at the center. Then he marked the primes on this folded up number line and immediately noticed that under this unusual transformation, many primes tend to fall on diagonal line fragments. Ulam explored his curious doodle a bit further using one of the very first powerful computers and went on to produce some of the very first purely mathematical computer graphics. Ulam wrote a short paper titled "A Visual Display of Some Properties of the Distribution of Primes" in 1964 and used the computer images to illustrate his findings.

Rabindranath Tagore’s artistic adventure began with doodles that turned crossed-out words and lines into images that assumed expressive and sometimes grotesque forms. I was privileged to host the 150th birth centennial exhibition of Tagore at the NGMA Mumbai during April 2013. “The Last Harvest” (aptly titled since the paintings were his last creative constructs that he began to paint at the age of 60 plus) exhibition developed under the auspices of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore, showcased the paintings by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore at the age of 67, to use his own words, "fell under the enchantment of lines" when he discovered that his hand was moving automatically across the pages of his manuscripts transforming the scratches and erasures (doodles) into designs. For the next 12 years of his life he harnessed his new-found love for painting and produced nearly 2,000 paintings all of which owe their genesis to his doodling. Tagore’s paintings are now the national treasures.

These days doodle has found its way to the hearts and minds of most netizens courtesy the Google Doodles. The humble Google Doodle has become synonymous with Google as a company and a brand. Important commemorative events are marked by unique designs (Doodles) that appear on Google’s homepage. There is also an interesting history to the usage of doodles on the Google home page. The first Google Doodle appeared on Google’s front page on August 30th 1998. It was used as an out of office marker by Google creators Larry Page, and Sergey Brin.

Thank you RG for sending the image of the Space needle, which prompted me to write this post and take some inexcusable shelter that I too possess some artistic talents since I too have resorted to doodles some of which have found place in the margins of books that I possess and also in those books that I read and returned back to the libraries in the college. Most times I used to feel guilty that a person who is more or less unlettered in the field of practical art has been given the unique responsibility to be the Director of one of the premier art institutions of the country the NGMA Mumbai, but then from now on I shall take shelter to my habits of doodling and try and not be guilty about my inability as an artist.

Happy doodling to one and all cutting across ages.

Floods in Gods own Country : Are we responsible for the Natures (Gods) Fury?

Floods in Gods own Country : Are we responsible for the Natures (Gods) Fury?

Kerala, “Gods own country”, the idyllic tourist destination, is facing one of its worst floods in nearly a century, with torrential rains killing more than 300 people, and shuttering just about everything. The monsoon floods have inundated most districts of Kerala and severely affected men and material, inflicting an estimated economic loss of 8000 plus crores of Rupees. Is this because of the torrential rains alone. May not be. Most ecological experts are attributing the devastating floods and landslides to the extensive quarrying, mining, mushrooming of high-rises on the hillside as part of tourism and illegal encroachment of forestland by human environmental fundamentalists. It is therefore not the “Gods fury” that is responsible for the catastrophic consequences but the act of the environmental fundamentalists, who do not understand the value of coexistence with nature. A closer look at the regions impacted by this unprecedented catastrophe shows that they are majorly part of the western ghats and most of these places were classified as ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), also known as the Gadgil Committee.

The WGEEP panel under the chairmanship of Prof Madhav Gadgil, ecologist and founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, painstakingly crafted their monumental report addressing some of the ecological consequences in the very regions that are now adversely affected. Prof Gadgil, in his preface to the report, says “the report embodies among other things (i) categorisation of the Western Ghats into three zones of varied ecological sensitivity, based upon careful analysis done by WGEEP, (ii) broad sectoral guidelines for each of these zones, and (iii) a broad framework for establishment of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority”.

This report was submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2011. The report recommended that the whole Western Ghat be divided into 3 zones, and that no new mining licences should be given in zone 1 and 2. It further said that the Government must stop all existing mines in Zone 1 by 2016 and it must also stop illegal mining activities immediately. Unfortunately no action was taken on the report since the recommendations in the report were considered as a bitter pill, which no Government would wish to swallow, particularly because the implementation of the report would hurt the powerful mining lobby of South West India with deep pockets and high level political connections. The report therefore started gathering dust and the ministry also did not release this report to the media for public discussion. An RTI activist from Kerala learnt of this report and sought for the report from the union Ministry under the RTI. The government did not furnish the information citing security concerns. Undeterred, the applicant agitated the matter right up to the CIC and finally the CIC ordered the government to make the report public, which the Ministry earnestly followed.

The Gadgil committee report sparked much controversy in Kerala especially as the opposition CPI-M accused the report of being too environment centric. This resulted in no action by the Government. The Supreme Court intervened in the matter and directed the government to act on the report. The result was formation of another committee, the Kasturirangan committee, which was set up to review the Gadgil committee report and suggest changes so that the states can implement the recommendations of the Gadgil report, keeping in mind the welfare of the inhabitants as well. Kasturirangan led-High Level Working Report (HLWG) was submitted in April 2013. The Ecologists say the HLWG is a dilution of Gadgil report and, therefore, unacceptable. There were agitations and protests even against the Kasturirangan report by quarry owners and farmers specially in the Idukki and Wayanad districts, the very districts that are now worst affected. Political leaders and mining companies too joined hands to fight against the report resulting in hardly any action on either of the reports.

Would the consequences of the torrential rains be the same as we are now witnessing had the Gadgil report been acted upon? Well my guess is as good as most of my friends. Professor Gadgil himself however feels the current catastrophe is man made. Let us hope we learn lessons from this tragedy.

A brighter side to this tragedy is the exemplary role played by the rescue teams. The brave heart Indian army, the common Samaritans and the NDRF team. They are reaching out far and wide to the most afflicted areas. Kudos to the untiring team of our defence personnel including my fellow Ajeet (alumni of the Sainik School Bijapur), Wing Commander Girish Komar, who is working with his 7 helicopters team untiringly and has managed to rescue 1000s of people and will continue to do so till they manage to reach out to the last needy person. Nation owes its debt to such committed armed forces and other Samaritan’s and governmental and non governmental agencies who are committed as ever in ensuring the safety and security of their countrymen. Jai Hind.