C V Raman – Remembering the Legend on his 133rd Birth Anniversary

Sir C V Raman – Remembering the Legend on his 133rd Birth Anniversary

Images - Courtesy Raman Research Institute and Wiki Commons

Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman -  C V Raman – holds the unique distinction of being the first Asian and the first non-white to win the coveted Nobel Prize in Sciences and the one and only Indian Scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1930, for the discovery of the effect, known after his name - The Raman Effect. CV Raman was born on 7th November, 1888 in a small town of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.

Imagine you shine a light on an object, and most of that light simply bounces back, but a small part of the light changes its colour (wavelength) slightly and this change is dependent on the nature of the molecules with which it interacts. This change in color or the wavelength of the scattered light is what we call the Raman Effect. When light interacts with molecules, some of the light’s energy can cause the molecules to vibrate or move. These vibrations can make the scattered light change its colour or wavelength. By studying this change, scientists can learn a lot about the molecules and their behaviour, which causes this change.  In simple terms, Raman Effect is like our unique ADHAR card number, which establishes each of our identities based on our fingerprint and iris scan. Raman Effect is a fingerprint of molecules, helping scientists understand the world at a tiny, molecular level by looking at how light interacts with these molecules.

Raman was born on 7th November 1888 in the small town of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu to R. Chandrasekhar Iyer and Parvathi Ammal. Interestingly enough Raman did not begin his career as a professional scientist, rather, like most other brilliant students of the era, he too was attracted to the Indian Civil Service (ICS), which unfortunately he could not undertake owing to the medical restrictions for his travel to England to appear for the ICS exam. He chose the next best option and succeeded in becoming the Assistant Accountant General in the colonial Indian Finance Department in Calcutta in 1907 and served this post for nearly a decade before resigning from the post to start his full-time career as a Palit Professor in Physics at the Calcutta University in 1917. During the period from 1907 to 1917, Raman worked part-time at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, where he pursued his research and passion for science. Raman had barely worked for 13 years as a regular and professional scientist, before receiving his coveted Nobel Prize at a relatively young age of 41 years, and that too singularly. Raman pushed those barriers of colonialism and a slave mindset to make a mark not just for himself but also for our entire country and that too in the field of sciences, which was believed to be the sole fiefdom of the whites who had loads of money. Raman also broke the myth that great science can only be practiced and performed in labs that invest loads of money in scientific research. Raman must therefore be considered as a scientist who deserves to remain alive in the hearts and minds of people for which his achievements must continue to be hailed and communicated to the people, particularly to the student community.

 It is now a legend that Raman started his scientific career as a part-time activity in a nondescript building - with unkempt and ill-equipped laboratory -  at the Indian Association for the Cultivation Science, Calcutta (IACS). It was here that Raman created his tryst with scientific destiny and conclusively discovered the Raman Effect on the evening of 28th February 1928. The IACS, an eponymous Institute, was famously and laboriously created by yet another great Indian nationalist, Dr Mahendra Lal Sircar, who envisaged building an institute of excellence in science where Indian students could perform science in the very Institute created by an Indian for the Indians. It was here that Raman looked at light differently and laid the foundation, with his other illustrious fellow scientists, for the emergence of modern Indian science. Raman, though not a believer, was firmly grounded in his beliefs in Indian ethos and traditions and sported his religious sacred thread conspicuously on his bare chest and that quintessential symbolic ‘pigtail’ was dangling behind his head, which was almost always covered by that trademark Raman Head gear.

 As a science communicator and a science museum professional, what appeals to me most about Raman was his love for taking science to the children. Notwithstanding the fact that he was the most famous scientist in India, Raman loved to invest his time and interact with school children, a much needed attribute for scientists, particularly in India where scientific research is mostly public funded. Unfortunately, that is not the case with most of the Indian scientists who shy away from interacting with school students. One of the incident, which a renowned photojournalist TS Satyan narrates, highlights Raman’s interest in children and speaks of the extraordinary quality of Raman to connect very easily with children. Satyan recalls a visit of group of school children from the local school in Bangalore to the Raman Research Institute, an institute, which Raman painstakingly created with help from the Mysore Maharaja, where he continued his research, post his retirement from the Indian Institute of Science, until his last (1948-70). Satyan writes ‘Raman bubbled over with joy in the company of school children answering their questions in his characteristic, simple way’. Raman later guided them to a room saying: "I will show you something beautiful." One of the research interests of Raman, while spending his time at the Raman Research Institute, was in minerals, stones and gems. Raman guided the students to one of the rooms in the Institute where he had stored a variety of stones of many sizes and shapes, besides crystals, diamonds and minerals, which were beautifully displayed in the dark walled room. Raman then suddenly switched off the lights in the room. Standing in the centre of the dark room, he switched on a portable ultraviolet lamp and directed his lamp on the stones and minerals, which were exhibited in the room. The stones and minerals came alive and began to glow in breathtaking bright colours - violet, indigo, blue etc. and in their myriad combinations. A bright little girl screamed in joy "Alice in Wonderland". Delighted, Raman joyously hugged her and planted a soft kiss on her tender cheek. Such was his innate love for children and he was quite innovative in exciting the young minds to the fascinating world of science. Having shown the children, the beauty of nature, which for Raman was central to scientific research, Raman went on to explain the scientific basis of the phenomena of fluorescence and phosphorescence. He also took children around the campus showing them colourful flowers and spoke about the discovery of what came to be known as the Raman Effect, which concerns the molecular diffraction of light that won him the Nobel Prize for Physics. It is such experience that motivates children to pursue science as their career and that too with passion.

 C.V. Raman, can be rightly described as one of the key architects who laid the foundation for modern science in India. Raman and some of his illustrious colleagues at Kolkata, which included among others, JC Bose, P C Ray, MN Saha, and S N Bose, are befittingly credited to be the founders of the Indian Scientific Renaissance, a period of great reckoning for science in India. They excelled in scientific research, bringing in name and fame to Indian Science during the pre-independence era. The period from the early twentieth century to the epoch year 1947, when India attained its tryst with destiny, is of great importance for Indian science. Although it is considered that the inception of Western science in India is of recent origin, it is a matter of records that India did produce eminent scientists during the pre-independence period and the scientific research that emanated from India during this period is of international repute. Raman and his colleagues made their mark in the world of Western science by their original contributions during the early decades of the twentieth century. Raman was amongst the pioneers of that period, self-taught and fully self-trained, who, while pursuing research on his own, created a new ambience and a new school of thought for scientific research in India.

 Raman’s association with the city of Joy, Kolkata, is legendary. It was in this city that Raman once again fell in love with his passion for science on seeing the historical ‘Indian Association for Cultivation of Science (IACS)’ board, while travelling in a tram on way to his office as the Assistant Accountant General, a highly lucrative job of the Indian Financial Services with the British Indian Government. The rest, what they say, is history, which ultimately led Raman to the most coveted Nobel Prize in Physics.

Raman and his students developed an indigenous Spectroscope at the IACS some times during the period from 1924 to 27.  The path-breaking experiments, which were carried out at the IACS using this instrument, culminated in the publication of the findings of a ‘new light’, which was first published in the renowned international magazine, Nature, in 1928. This very instrument, which won Raman the Nobel Prize, was one of the six precious antiquity objects that were sent from India to be a part of the historic exhibition ‘Illumination India - 5000 years of science and Innovation’ that was exhibited at the London Science Museum from October 2017 to April 2018. Fourteen significant objects of importance were sent for the exhibition from India, which included six antiquity objects - including Raman’s original Spectroscope, and 8 other non-antiquity objects. Yours truly was honoured and privileged to be the national coordinator for this coveted exhibition. The original Raman Spectrometer, which was displayed at this exhibition which is now with the IACS, had 6 different components, namely the Mercury Vapour Lamp, Collimating Lens, the Sample holder, the Collecting lens, and the Violet Filter. It was used by Raman and his students to identify materials that display Raman Scattering, a scattering of light that will depend on the medium through which the light gets scattered and the wavelength of the scattered light will change according to the medium and will be higher or lower in frequency. This was completely a path-breaking finding, which befittingly won Sir, C V Raman the Nobel Prize.

 Raman was an extraordinarily precocious child, excelling in academics all through his career. Raman’s father served initially as a school teacher and later became a lecturer in mathematics and physics in a college in Vishakhapatnam where Raman studied in St. Aloysius Anglo-Indian High School from where he passed his matriculation examination at a very young age of 11 years, in 1899. At the age of 13 he passed his F.A. examination (equivalent to today’s intermediate examination) with a scholarship. He then moved to Madras and joined the Presidency College in 1902 from where he completed his B.A. in physics in 1904. He topped the exams and won the gold medal. Three years later, he earned his M.A. degree in 1907. His interest in science was kindled from a very young age. Raman successfully managed to publish two of his initial research papers in the Philosophical Magazine, UK, when he was still pursuing his MA degree in Madras. Raman was interested in music from his childhood days and it was

the sound of the veena which inspired him to try and understand how the musical notes of the veena is produced and what the significance of the Bridge was in generating the musical notes in the Veena. His research on Indian musical instruments led him to publication of several papers including his paper ‘Acoustic Knowledge of Ancient Hindus’.

The first paper that Raman published, while he was still a student in Madras, was in the prestigious Philosophical Magazine, one of the oldest scientific journals in London. Raman had worked on this paper and sent a copy to one of his professors asking for a review. Unfortunately, the Professor had not bothered to look at Raman’s paper, and therefore Raman dared to directly send his paper, under title Unsymmetrical diffraction-bands due to a rectangular aperture directly to Philosophical Magazine in London. His paper, which was about the behaviour of light was accepted by the magazine and was published in the year 1906 when he was still a student. Interestingly, Raman received a letter from Lord Rayleigh, the eminent scientist, addressing Raman as “Professor Raman”, not knowing that Raman, the author of the paper, was still a student and was just nineteen years of age.

 During this period, the best possible career opportunities for the bright students in India were the Indian Civil Services, the former avatar of the modern day Indian Administrative Service - IAS, which continues to be a coveted career even today. But then for competing for the ICS it was mandatory for the aspirants to travel to London for appearing for this exam. Unfortunately, Raman was too frail and the doctors had advised his parents that Raman will not be able to endear this long and arduous sea journey. Therefore, Raman’s father advised Raman to try for the next best possible career option, which was the Indian Financial Services. Raman qualified in the Indian Financial Services Exam and was selected to serve as the Assistant Accountant General in the British Government. His first posting was in the city of Calcutta. He moved to Calcutta in the year 1907 and joined the British government service as the Assistant Accountant General. Serendipitously, one day while travelling in the tram to his office, Raman came across a board on the Bow Bazar Street titled ‘Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science’ (IACS), which completely changed the career path of Raman in the years ahead.

 Raman’s love for experimental science bloomed in the dusty ambience of IACS, which in a way is inextricably linked to the Indian Renaissance in science. It was this very place where Raman worked, part time, painstakingly on his passion that compelled him to let go of a highly lucrative career with the British Government in the financial services, to settle for a lesser salary job at the Calcutta University - as the Palit Professor. Interestingly enough the Palit Professor position, which was offered to Raman by Professor. Ashutosh Mukherjee, the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University who was also the father of Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, had a condition that the incumbent of the chair must mandatorily be trained abroad (Europe). However, Prof Ashutosh Mukherjee, knowing the merit and scholastics that Raman possessed for the job and so also his passion for science, managed to convince his senate to overlook this condition, which Raman did not fulfil, to offer the Palit Professor position to Raman. Raman had never travelled abroad nor did he have any western training in science. This new opportunity, so graciously given by Prof Ashutosh Mukherjee, provided Raman a chance to represent the Calcutta University in a conference in England in the year 1921.  By then Raman had already produced some of the best scientific works at the IACS and he had already attained some reputation in the study of optics and acoustics. Raman’s works were known to the English physicists J. J. Thomson and Lord Rutherford, who gave Raman a warm reception in England, during his tour. Raman’s specialty had been the study of the vibrations and sounds of stringed instruments such as the violin, the Indian veena and tanpura and so also the Indian percussion instruments, the tabla and the mridangam, which he had proved had some unique characteristics that produced pure harmonics unlike the western percussion instruments. Raman made an impression on his western counterparts including the legendary JJ Thomson and Rutherford during his stay in England. 

 It was the return trip from London to Bombay, aboard the SS Narkunda that would change forever the direction of Raman’s future interest in science. During the fifteen-day return voyage, Raman became fascinated with the deep blue colour of the Mediterranean. He was not inclined to accept the widely believed Lord Rayleigh’s explanation that the colour of the sea was just a reflection of the colour of the sky. He therefore proceeded to outline his thoughts on the matter, while still at sea, which he had arrived at experimenting using a Nicol’s prism. He sent a letter to the editors of the journal, Nature, as soon as his ship docked in Bombay (Mumbai now).  Under the title “The Colour of the Sea” Raman wrote ……. “the view has been expressed that “the much-admired dark blue of the deep sea has nothing to do with the colour of water, but is simply the blue of the sky seen by reflection. This is what was believed in wake of a paper published by Lord Rayleigh, whose scientific paper published in Nature in 1910 had articulated this idea. Raman in his letter to the Nature questioned whether the blue of the ocean is due to the reflection of the sky. He wrote the reason for blue of the sea “is really true is shown to be questionable by a simple mode of observation used by the present writer, in which surface-reflection is eliminated, and the other factors remain the same”. This was the beginning of his tryst with the scattering of light works with his Raman fell in love ultimately winning the coveted Nobel Prize for his discovery of a phenomenon that is now called the Raman scattering.

Raman was able to show conclusively that the colour of the sea was the result of the scattering of sunlight by the water molecules. Raman then became obsessed with the phenomenon of light scattering. Immediately on his return to Calcutta, he and his group began an extensive series of experiments and started measurements of light, scattered primarily by liquids but also by some solids. In less than a year after his return from England - in 1922 - Raman published his work on the “Molecular Diffraction of Light”, the first of a series of investigations with his collaborators, which ultimately led to his ultimate discovery, on the 28th of February, 1928, of the radiation effect which bears his name (“A new radiation”, Indian J. Phys., 2 (1928). One of his collaborator for this work was Dr K S Krishnan, who some people believed must have been recognised equally for the Nobel Prize. As a matter of fact, although Krishnan and others worked with Raman on this subject at the IACS, it was truly Raman who firmly believed that the scattered light was a new radiation, which produced higher or lower frequency in the scattered light depending on the medium through which it passed. In one of the interviews that Krishnan had given, he firmly says that the credit for the discovery must mandatorily go to his teacher and mentor Raman, his guru and that he and his associates were incidental to the path breaking discovery by Raman. Unfortunately, the controversy to pit Raman against Krishnan gained impetus, courtesy some politics, which provided momentum to the issue, after Raman was conferred the Nobel Prize.

It was on the 16th March, 1928 in Bangalore that Raman for the first time talked about their new discovery, in a public function.  Raman began his lecture in Bangalore with these prophetic words “I propose this evening to speak to you on a new kind of radiation or light emission from atoms and molecules.” Professor Raman delivered this lecture to the South Indian Science Association in Bangalore. Raman, during the course of his lecture, described the discovery that, according to him, resulted from a deceptively simple experiment. This famous experiment was conducted by Raman and his colleagues at the IACS, Kolkata, far away from those great centres of scientific research in the Western world. Raman and his students had used the simplest of inexpensive equipment for their measurement. Although Raman’s original experiments were done by visual observation, precise measurements were made with their low cost spectrograph. Raman, during the initial experiments, had used only a mercury lamp, a flask of benzene, and a direct vision pocket spectroscope. The results that they obtained went on to capture the attention of scientists around the world and bring many accolades, including the Nobel Prize to Raman.

Raman was known for his immodesty and one such instance, which exhibits his immodesty was witnessed in Calcutta. Raman’s travel to London in 1921 and his interaction with the scientists had ensured that his works at IACS were recognised and Raman was nominated for the Fellowship of the Royal Society, London. He was subsequently elected to this prestigious body in 1924. During one of the reception parties that Raman attended in 1924 in recognition of his election to the coveted FRS, Raman is believed to have famously and immodestly stated that in less than five years he will be awarded the Nobel Prize, which later turned out to be a reality.  Raman’s immodesty, his famous ill-tempered, autocratic and “arrogant” approach was probably also responsible for some of the antagonism, which in a way continued to trouble him later in his career.  This coupled with politics and parochialism led to Raman’s ouster from the institute he loved most, the IACS. The coveted recognition of Nobel Prize for Raman was the beginning of a long standing rivalry between him and Meghnad Saha another great scientist from Bengal. Saha too was an aspirant for the Nobel Prize, which most unfortunately eluded him. Moreover, Saha had to move out of Calcutta to take the teaching position in Allahabad and it was not until Raman moved out of Calcutta that Saha could return back to his city, Calcutta. Saha believed that Raman was patronising South Indians at the IACS and that was at the cost of the Bengalis. All these incidents were to have a long lasting impact on the relationship between Raman and Saha. The Bengali Bhadralok’s in Calcutta started a movement in the name of Bangla Nationalism to get rid of Raman. The Nobel Prize also added to the accentuated immodest behaviour of Raman, which only complicated the matters. By the end of 1932 the fissures started coming out in the open and there were letters to the editor in the local newspapers against Raman’s management of the IACS and the Palit Professorship. The accusations were that he had only south Indians around himself as scholars, and that physics was given too much prominence, to the exclusion of other sciences. Adding to the allegations were the major grouse that Bengalis were being side-lined in their own state. This ultimately resulted in Raman’s decision to hesitantly move out of Calcutta, the city he had made home, once and for all. In 1932 he permanently shifted to Bangalore after spending 25 long years in Calcutta.  Raman was at the receiving end of his behaviour and political opportunism of his detractors even in Bangalore. 

By the time Raman left Calcutta, the IACS and the School of Physics in the University of Calcutta had made spectacular progress in several areas. Raman’s stay at Calcutta was a ’golden era' for Physics in India. Several monumental and international quality research was produced in the field of Physics at Calcutta, including works on musical instruments and of course the Raman Effect. In one of the short biographies published on Raman by P. Krishnamurthy, in 1938, he gives a list of about eighty-five students who worked with Raman at Calcutta. He also lists some of the prominent areas in which Raman and his collaborators were engaged in research and the list also includes the number of research papers in these areas which are shown in parentheses. Vibrations and Sound (31); Theory of Musical Instruments (30); Wave-optics (65); Colloids (20); Molecular Scattering of Light (65); X-rays and Electron Diffraction (45); Magnetism and Magneto- optics (40); Electro-optics and Dielectrics (10); Raman Effect (100); Viscosity of Liquids (16); Atomic Spectra (8); Optical and Elastic properties of Solids (20). Krishnamurthy also states that among these published papers Raman was co-author of about 170 papers. It was not just the vast number of papers which are creditworthy but the quality of research was truly international and it caught the attention of the leading scientists of the world.

JN Tata, a benevolent industrialist par excellence and a nationalist with the spirit of humanism, started the Tata Institute (Indian Institute of Science now) in Bangalore in the year 1909. The institute started with three departments, which were primarily focusing on applied sciences. Most of the faculty at the institute were Europeans, primarily the British including the Director of the Institute. In the year 1931, in anticipation of the fact that Sir Martin Fraser, who was the Director of the Institute, was to retire from the post of Director in early 1933, the Tata’s approached the Royal Society, London, and requested them to suggest an appropriate successor to Sir Martin Forster.  Rutherford, the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, who was then the President of the Royal Society, suggested Raman's name. Raman’s name for the post of Director of the Institute was later approved by two selection Committees, one in England and one in India.  Raman took over the Directorship of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore in July 1933 shifting his base completely from Calcutta to Bangalore.

When Raman assumed the charge of the Director of the IISC, the institute did not have a Physics Department. Moreover, the research output of the Institute was not significant either by way of quality or quantity. Raman, having been a witness to the quality and quantity of the scientific research that was produced at Calcutta in IACS and the Calcutta University, felt that the IISC had become quite a ‘sleepy place’ where little work was done by a large number of “well paid people". He therefore was in a hurry to act quickly and reorganize the functioning of the Institute so that results could be seen and seen fast. Subconsciously the first thing that came to his mind to improve the situation was to start a Physics Department. He also set out to reorganise the existing Departments including the workshops. This was a time when scientists from Germany were prepared to move out of Germany. He also believed that bringing in non-British European scientists to work for the institute will be beneficial to the restructuring of the Institute. Raman therefore sent out request letters to some of best scientists including to Max Born and Erwin Schrodinger and asked them to visit or even take up long term appointments at the IISc. Although his objectives were for the larger good of the Institute, there was resentment amongst the British faculty in the Institute, against this decision of Raman, to invite non British Europeans as faculty members at IISc. Raman knew that most nations were making attempts to recruit German scientists fleeing the new Nazi regime and therefore he was firmly of the opinion that India too should not lose this opportunity. He therefore had managed to attract Max Born to Bangalore in 1935 on a temporary readership, which Raman intended to convert into a new chair in Mathematical Physics.

The appointment raised hackles among the faculty. An English professor of Electrical Engineering described Born as a “second-rate foreigner”. Others with nationalist commitments wanted an Indian appointed – Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who was on the IISc council, was campaigning for a Bengali candidate. There was other reason for friction between Raman and his detractors one of which was the resentment building against Raman’s emphasis on physics. Raman had established Physics department even while the institute was facing budget cuts in the era of the Great Depression. Raman had established the physics department with a capital that nearly equaled the combined annual contributions of the Tata’s, the Government of India and the Government of Mysore to the Institute. The resulting reorganization of the other departments, together with an emphasis on hands-on workshop training also caused resentment among the class-conscious faculty members.

The Director of the IISc was to function under the aid and advise of IISC Council, which most unfortunately had several of Raman's detractors, including Professor Meghnad Saha and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee with whom Raman had developed serious differences while at Calcutta. Therefore, Raman’s plans for the improvement of the IISc did not go well with his detractors. His plans to invite non-European scientists, though very well intentioned, became an Achilles heels for Raman and eventually on the issue of appointing Max Born, as Professor of Mathematical Physics, the Council outvoted Raman and got a Review Committee appointed to look into the affairs of the Institute. Here too Raman was at a disadvantage. The Committee mostly consisted of Raman’s detractors and included Sir James Irvine, Vice- Chancellor of St. Andrews University, Dr. S.S. Bhatnagar, Professor of Chemistry in Punjab University, Lahore and Dr. A.H. Mackenzie, Pro-Chancellor of Osmania University. The outcome of the committees finding became a foregone conclusion even before the committee submitted its formal report. When the report was submitted by the committee, it was not at all charitable to Raman and the politics was evident in its report. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee played a role which was diametrically opposite to the patronage that his father provided to Raman. All this led to the inevitable resignation of Raman from the position of the Director of the Institute. Raman was baselessly targeted for some ill doings in the institute. Raman could serve as the Director of the Institute for just around four years from 1933 to 1937. However, Raman continued to work at the institute as Professor of Physics until his retirement in 1948, from the IISc.

Raman had major differences even with Pundit Nehru and he firmly believed that Nehru had his priorities wrong in investing majorly in institutes like the CSIR, which was the brainchild of Bhatnagar. He cautioned Nehru that major investments in CSIR, Atomic Energy etc., will be at the cost of the university research, which he felt would be adversely effected. He coined the phrase “Nehru- Bhatnagar effect” to describe the mushrooming of CSIR laboratories in the 1950s, predicting they would achieve little despite the massive sums spent.

Post his retirement from IISc, Raman spent all his money, time and energy, for the next 22 years of his life, in establishing the Raman Research Institute. The Mysore Maharaja helped him with 11 acres of land for the establishment of the RRI. Raman continued to remain active with his research at RRI and he was also associated with the activities of the Indian Academy of Sciences, an institution, which he had founded in 1934. Raman, apart from his sustained interest in the standard fields of Optics and Acoustics, was also engaged in other areas of science, which included varied topics such as the structure of crystals (especially diamond), the plumage of birds, the colours exhibited by minerals, the colours of flowers, the perception of light by the eye and the theory of hearing, the science of meteorology and so on. Perhaps, the most well-known contribution, which Raman made during this period was on the diffraction of light by high frequency sound waves, now known as the Raman - Nath theory. 

Raman did not participate actively in freedom movement nor was he actively engaged in any of the political activities. But then that in no way must take away the merit of his nationalistic feelings. Raman, in one of his interviews has said ‘National awakening has got other fields than politics in which it can show itself. ... I think scientific endeavour has certainly a national value, and I have heard it said that what Indian scientists, particularly physicists have done, has helped more to raise the esteem of India in the world than recent political events.” He made this statement in an interview to the Free Press of India after he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Raman had his own way to show his patriotism. There is also an apocryphal belief that Raman had tears in his eyes while receiving the Nobel Prize at the Nobel Ceremony standing under the Union Jack and not under an Indian Flag.

Raman received many Prizes and honours including the Fellow of the Royal Society (1924), Nobel Prize in Physics (1930), Hughes medal (1930), Franklin Medal (1941), Bharat Ratna (1954), Lenin Peace Prize (1957) and honorary doctorates from several prestigious universities. After serving for eight decades, Raman died of a cardiac arrest on November 21, 1970, at the age of 82. He has left behind a scientific legacy which continues to inspire generations of scientists and the Raman Research Institute (RRI), which he painstakingly built and the Museum within the precincts of the RRI - that he was personally involved in setting up including partaking in the design and commissioning of the wooden cabinets – houses a treasure trove of materials that relate to the life and works of CV Raman. The Raman effect will continue to perpetuate the legend of Raman for eternity. Today, on the occasion of his 133^rd birth anniversary let us join in remembering this colossal Indian scientist whose contributions will ever remain etched in golden letters in the annals of history of modern science in India.

May you continue to remain in the hearts and minds of people, Prof Raman.

 

 

 Wishing you a very happy Deepawali - A Festival which resonates with all Indians.

Deepavali or Diwali, is a major Hindu Festival celebrated by over a billion Indians and expats across India and in other lands wherever they are home to. The ancient celebration of Deepavali is linked to multiple mythological stories in religious texts, and it is extremely difficult to say which of the stories came first, or when exactly did the celebration of Deepavali begin. One thing though is certain about this festival that it is a major festival of India, celebrated all across the country with great fervour. Deepavali is the festival of lights, which marks and celebrates the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. There are different ways in which this festival is celebrated across the country and the diversity of the ways in which this festival of light is celebrated across different regions of India, in a way, is an embodiment of that adage that we all use to represent our vast and culturally, historically and religiously rich country - Unity in Diversity. Deepavali or Diwali is a five day long festival, which is celebrated in diverse way across India with one central theme of the festival - victory of good over evil.

Derived from Sanskrit dipavali, which means “row of lights,” Deepavali or Diwali, is a Hindu festival known for the brightly burning clay lamps (Diyas in their creative best colours and vibrancy) that the celebrants line up outside their homes. The time, period and dates when this festival is to be celebrated is determined based on the Hindu Lunar Calendar, which marks each month by the time it takes the moon to orbit Earth. Deepavali begins just before the arrival of a new moon between the Hindu months of Asvina and Kartika —which typically falls in October or November of the Gregorian calendar. This year (2021) Deepavali festival has commenced on November 2, and the most important festival day of this five festival is celebrated today, 4th November. This five days long Festival of Lights - Deepavali - is marked by colourful Diyas, prayers, feasts, fireworks, family gatherings, and charitable giving. For some, Diwali is also the beginning of a new year of book keeping. One common connect for the celebration of Deepavali is reverentially honouring and remembering the incarnations of Lord Vishnu (Bhagwan Ram and Bhagwan Krishna) and Goddess Lakshmi. 

Diwali is also observed with same reverence and fervour among Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists, who have their own significance to this Festival of Lights. The Sikhs recognize Diwali as a celebration of the release of their Sixth Guru, Hargobind, who was one of their spiritual leaders, from captivity by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir. In his reverence, it is said that Guru Hargobind’s followers decorated and lit up the entire path, all the way to the Golden Temple, with colourful and decorative lamps. The festival also has a significance for the Jains in India. For them, Diwali is the day Lord Mahavira, the last of the Jain Tirthankaras, achieved moksha or enlightenment/nirvana.

The Buddhists too have their own significance for celebrating the Festival of Lights. They celebrate Deepavali as Ashok Vijayadashami day and they believe that it was on this day that King Ashoka the Great embraced Buddhism as his faith and it was he who helped in spreading this new religion across the present day India and beyond. 

The Hindi heartland of India - North Indians - commemorate the festival of Diwali to mark that historic event when the people of Ayodhya joined the welcome celebration, by lighting the auspicious lamps (brightly burning colourful clay lamps), of their favourite reverential king, Bhagvan Ram, back to the city of Ayodhya. Bhagwan Ram returned back to Ayodhya after those gruelling 14 years of Vanvas during which Bhagwan Ram had vanquished the demon King Ravan who had deceitfully kidnapped Ma Sita. In this part of our country, the five day festival of Diwali begins with Dhanteras and ends with Bhratri-dwitiya or Bhai-dooj after full five days of celebration. 

This year Dhanteras was celebrated on 2nd November followed by Chhoti Deepavali on 3rd November and today is an occasion to celebrate the main Diwali festival when Laxmi Puja is also performed across homes praying Ma Laxmi to grace their homes. Homes across north India are brightly light with burning clay lamps (Diyas in their creative best colours and vibrancy) and also modern day electric lamps and LEDs, which are lined up outside every home. Today is also the day when fire crackers are bursted, although this tradition has unfortunately been at the receiving end of the environmental activists over the years. Tomorrow is the day when Govardhan Puja is celebrated, when Lord Krishna is invoked through Govardhan Puja and on this occasion the venerated cattle’s are also worshipped and this tradition of veneration for cattle finds special mention all through the centuries including finding a mention in article 48 of the Constitution of India under the Directive Principles, which directs the state to make efforts for banning animal slaughtering of cows and calves. The last day of the five day festival, which will be celebrated on 6th November, is celebrated as  Bhratri-dwitiya or Bhai-dooj and that brings an end to the Diwali festival. It is customary for people to acquire some expensive items like gold and jewellery or even a household object on Dhanteras. These age old traditions helped in ensuring that the artisans who are involved in the making of these ornaments are fruitfully engaged and rewarded to partake their shares of the agricultural wealth.

In Southern part of India Deepavali is celebrated as the victory and vanquishing of the high and mighty Narakasura by Bhagavan Krishna, another incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu. Bhagwan Krishna was supported by his beloved wife Sathyabhama in the killing of Narakasura and freeing some 16,000 women who were held hostage by this Rakshas. The mythological story of Narakasura, the son of Bhumidevi (Mother Earth), reveals that although he was the son of a divine spirit, he gave into wicked temptations of power and greed, and became evil in his thoughts and actions. Narkasura was a curse to the people of his kingdom, who caused all round destruction on everything around him. He misused his divine gifted strength to conquer neighbouring kingdoms including Svargaloka. His unstoppable misadventures led him to kidnapping all the beautiful young women in the kingdom of Svargaloka. The residents of Svargaloka sought divine intervention from Bhagwan Krishna, an incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu, to save them from Narkasura’s terror. Krishna fought in a fierce battle and helped by his beloved wife Sathybhama he could defeat and kill Narakasura thus helping people of Svargaloka to celebrate victory of good over evil.

There is also a mention of the importance of Diwali in the Vedas. According to the Vedic legends, it was on the night of Diwali when Goddess Lakshmi chose to marry Bhagwan Vishnu. In the western parts of India, particularly in Gujrat, Diwali is celebrated as a new year day and old accounting systems continue to treat this day as the beginning of new accounting year and on this day they worship not only Goddess Lakshmi but also Lord Ganesha, whose worship is considered to bring good omen for the new year. In some parts of western India, the Diwali festival marks another story in which Lord Vishnu banished the demon King Bali. People of East India, particularly Bengal, associate Diwali with Goddess Durga and her fierce Ma Kali avatar. 

Deepavali - the festival of light - which is celebrated over five days in its diversity across India embodies the spirit of India as a land of righteousness and piety whose age old values and traditions are timeless and have continued to perpetuate unhindered even while we were invaded innumerable times over centuries. This festival therefore has always been of paramount importance to Indians from historic times, who have celebrated it as a festival  of light, which commemorates the victory of good over evil. It is a festival which is celebrated with diversity and observed not only by Hindus, but also by Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists.

Diwali is therefore a quintessential festival of India which exemplifies India as a country of diversity with many different cultural customs and traditions, with a common connect that touches the chord and resonates with all Indians. In that sense the festival of Diwali embodies the poetic expressions of the incredible plurality and diversity of India. Deepavali festival exemplifies the process of unity in diversity through which the extraordinary unity of Indians has been stitched into the very fabric of our Indianness, that is blessed from a land of virtuousness and piety. This is evidenced in the rich diversity in which the festival Deepavali or Diwali is celebrated in all its diversity across India with one central commemoration - Victory of Good over evil and Light over darkness.

Images - courtesy Wiki Commons.

Happy Deepavali 🙏🙏

 Karnataka Rajyotsava - ಜಯ ಹೇ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾತೆ.

It was on this  date, 1st November, 1956, that a new state Mysore (later named as Karnataka in 1973) was born out of a divided Kannada speaking people who were until then torn between different provinces that the colonial rulers had put them under. Until 15th August 1947, when India attained its tryst with destiny, after many struggles, trials, tribulations and sacrifices of thousands of revolutionaries and common men and women to rightfully gain a life of freedom and dignity, the undivided India was fragmented into some 570 odd princely states by the British for helping them rule dictatorially and with their selfish interest. On that historic midnight, when we attained Independence, the founding fathers and constitutional makers of India, having learnt the lessons of divide and rule policy of the British and keeping the unity of India to be of paramount importance, decided to merge all the princely states  and provinces - which had justly acceded to India courtesy Sardar Patel - to form 27 states, which had no relation to the language of the people. Language, however was to play its role in the formation of the states in the years ahead including in the formation of the state of Karnataka. 

It was the father of the nation - Mahatma Gandhi, in the year 1921,  who articulated an idea of a linguistic division of India. He told the Home Rule League “to ensure speedy attention to people's needs and development of every component part of the nation" and.. "strive to bring about a linguistic division of India”. In the year 1936, the Britishers took queue from Gandhi’s idea and separated the Oriya speaking people from the states of Bihar and Bengal, to carve out a separate state for Oriya speakers. 

Immediately after our independence, in the year 1948, the government of India having noticed that there were some murmurs and simmering to base the formation of the states on linguistic lines, formed a commission under Justice SK Dhar, an Allahabad High Court judge, to address the need for linguistic division of the states. However, Dhar committee did not agree for restructuring the states on linguistic lines. Instead they advocated restructuring of the states for administrative convenience. Accordingly, in December 1948, a JVP Committee was constituted  - with three veteran Congressmen Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya - to address the issue of restructuring of the states. JVP committee believed that linguistic states would only weaken the unity of a new nation and therefore the committee submitted their report in April 1949, dismissing the idea to restructure the states on linguistic lines. 

 

Although the JVP committee had opposed the idea of a division of the country on linguistic lines, down South the Telugu speaking people - who were torn between different states - were not happy with the decision of the JVP committee. One of their leaders, freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu, decided to up the ante for their demand for a unified Telugu speaking state. Unfortunately the Madras State led by C Rajagopalachari, was not particularly sympathetic to this  demand.  Pandit Nehru was swayed by the sentiments and opinion of Rajagopalachari and therefore he too was not very sympathetic to the demands of the Telugu speaking people. This led to an agitation, which was spearheaded by Potti Sreeramulu, who started that quintessential Gandhian style of satyagraha - fast unto death - on 19 October, 1952. The then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, assured his support for the creation of Andhra Pradesh and requested Potti Sreeramulu to end his fast. But since there was no written commitment nor was a formal public statement made to this effect by Nehru, Sreeramulu continued with his fast. This led to the spread of agitation in the Telugu speaking region of the Madras state and resulted in public unrest. On that eventful day - 15 December 1952 - Sreeramulu died after 56 days of his fasting. His death resulted in widespread rioting and violence in many regions in Andhra. A few people were killed in firing by the police. Protests continued and when things seem to take uglier turn, on 29 December 1952, Pandit Nehru announced his decision to form a separate Andhra state on linguistic basis. Accordingly, on 1 October, 1953, the Andhra State was formed with its capital at Kurnool, near to my native place Raichur. 

As expected the decision to accord a separate statehood to Andhra led to the demands for other states to be formed on linguistic lines. Therefore in December, 1953, Pandit Nehru constituted a commission, under Justice Fazl, to address the demands of the people to restructure the states on linguistic lines. The committee submitted their report in 1955, emphasising that India should be divided into 16 states. This report was debated in the parliament and in August 1956, the Parliament enacted the States Reorganisation Act, which called for states to be redrawn along linguistic lines by November 1 of that year. Thus in November 1956, India was split into 14 states and six union territories, which included four new southern states – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madras (renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969) and Mysore. The State of Mysore was formed on  1st November, 1956 and it later became the state of Karnataka in 1973.  Until 1956, the states in India had largely retained the political boundaries left by the British. The state of Mysore was formed out of four different parts of India, which had majorly the Kannada speaking population namely ; - Mysuru Karnataka, Mumbai Karnataka, Kalyan Karnataka and parts of Madras Presidency.  The States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which was based on linguistic division, has enabled people to nurture and promote their language and their respective culture in which the language is inextricably intertwined with culture. Ever since 1st November is observed as Karnataka Rajyotsava day. 

Karnataka - my home state - is resplendent with world renowned architecture, which are evidenced under the rule of different kingdoms, be it the mighty Chalukyas, the Hoysala, Vijaynagar, Adilshahi, Wodeyars, the Rashtrakutas. It has two UNESCO world heritage sites in Hampi and Pattadakal that are popular destinations and major tourist attractions. The state is home to the largest number of the majestic Tigers and Elephants and is a land of Sandalwood and coffee. The rich Kannada literature has helped eight of the scholars to be bestowed with the highest literary award - the Jnanpith award. It is dubbed the silicon valley of India, whose strength created a fear even for Barack Obama, who spoke of people of Buffalo loosing jobs to Bangaloreans,  thus making the word Bangalored enter into the lexicon of the English dictionary. Karnataka stands fifth when it comes to its GSDP contributions to the nation with Maharashtra leading this pack. 

Karnataka also boasts of a vibrant industrial culture the history of which goes back to the period of Sir M Visvesvaraya who started some of the best of industries in Mysore, when he was the Diwan of Mysore. Today Karnataka boasts of an excellent industrial culture and is home to many industries that include among others, automobile, agro, aerospace, textile and garment, biotech, and heavy engineering industries. Karnataka state also has sector specific special economic zone (SEZs) for key industries such as IT, biotechnology, and engineering, food processing and aerospace. Karnataka is the IT hub of India & home to the fourth largest technology cluster in the world. It has 34 operational SEZs as of October 2020. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the state’s cumulative FDI inflow stood at US$ 11.95 billion between October 2019 and March 2021, the third highest in India after Gujarat and Maharashtra, and Karnataka accounted for 14% of India’s cumulative FDI inflow. Karnataka is also home to a diverse flora and fauna and a 320 km natural coastline, which makes it a natural tourist's paradise.

Karnataka is also a land where great men were born. Some of the prominent leading lights of the state of Karnataka include Ranna, Pampa, Basavaveshwara, Allama Prabhu, Akkamahadevi, Sarvgna, Shishunala Sharif, Kuvempu, Bendre, Shivraam Karanth, Masti, Gokak, Karnad in literature. Much before the first war of Independence was waged by the legendary Rani Jhansi, Rani Kittur Channamma in Karnataka had blown the bugle of freedom from the British and was helped by her strong man Sangolli Rayanana in taking on the Britishers. Here is a link to the blog on Sangolli Rayanna.

One of the preeminent engineers of India and a great nation builder,  Sir M Visvesvaraya is from Karnataka and he has made profound contributions to the nation building, which rightfully won him the Bharat Ratna. Karnataka is also home to some of the earliest  public sector companies - BEL, HAL, BEML, ITI etc - which were part of those early temples of modern India that Pandit Nehru established. The Krishna Raj Sagar dam and the garden in Mysore and so also the Mysore Zoo are visited by innumerable tourists both from India and abroad.  

One of the foremost pride that India and the world takes in the governance of any nation is when the country is run as a democracy. Although the World credits British to be place where the Magna Carta or the first form of democratic governance began, the reality is quite different. It is the state of Karnataka, which gave birth to the first of democratic governance in the form of Anubhava Mantapa. It was one of the foremost democratic parliamentary style of governance that began during the 12th century in Karnataka. This was commissioned and run by the seers in Karnataka led by Basaveshwara, a remarkable visionary.

Wishing you all a very happy Karnataka Rajyotsava Day. 

Images - Courtesy Wikipedia and Wiki Commons.

ಜಯ ಭಾರತ ಜನನಿಯ ತನುಜಾತೆ,

ಜಯ ಹೇ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾತೆ.

Here is a link to two of my blog posts on Sangolli Rayanna one of the first revolutionary who helped her king Rani Channamma to take on the British and another on another revolutionary thinker Basaveshwara for those who may be interested in reading.

https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/04/basava-jayanti-birth-anniversary-of.html

https://khened.blogspot.com/2019/10/sangolli-rayanna-forgotten-freedom.html

Here is a link to my blog on Gol Gumbaj.

https://khened.blogspot.com/2021/04/gol-gumbaz-glorious-monument-which.html 

Here is the link to my blog on the Ibrahim Roza 

https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-majesty-of-ibrahim-rauza-monument.html

Link to the blog on Shravanabelagola 

https://khened.blogspot.com/2019/10/shrikshetra-shravanabelagola.html

India - Pak T20 World Cup Match - A Theatre for Hyper-Nationalism.

 

India - Pak T20 World Cup Match - A Theatre for Hyper-Nationalism. Time to recall how the two arch rivals came together.

The stage is all set for the India Pakistan inaugural match in the 7^th T20 World Cup 2021 tournament, which begins later today. The Super 12 stage matches have commenced yesterday with Australia and England winning their inaugural matches and India is all set to begin its campaign against their arch rival Pakistan today evening. The T20 World Cup 2021 was originally scheduled to be played last year between 18^th October to 15^th November 2020 in Australia but then the tournament was affected by the global COVID 19 epidemic and it had to be postponed and shifted to the current location in UAE. The 7^th T20 World Cup 2021 will now be played between 17^th October 2021 and 14^th November 2021 in UAE and Oman and this tournament will now be hosted by India.  

As we prepare to watch the media go hyperbolic with hyper nationalism in building up the match between India and Pakistan as another war like event, it is time to look back to understand as to how such a great primacy is being given to Cricket matches, particularly the world cup matches and how India is dominating the world Cricket administration and finances. It is time to recognise that Pakistan and India came together to help India achieve cricket administration supremacy.  It all began post the 1983 World Cup winning performance by team India the under dogs who were never expected to go that far. But they did and the rest is what they say is history. India wining the Prudential World Cup in 1983 helped the game of cricket. which was already a darling of the masses to become the darling of the business and political class, who used the game to further their interests and also that of the game.

Most Indians, particularly the Indian media, have two constant punching bags - the Politicians and the Businessmen, who are blamed for anything and almost everything, including sports, that is wrong with India. But then they forget that it is these two class of people who are also majorly responsible for sowing the seeds for the unprecedented scale of success, which the Cricket World Cup in all its format and its reach has been receiving over the years. While majority of Indians are well informed about the game of cricket, their cricketing heroes, ICC Cricket World Cup in all its formats- including our World Cup victories in 1983 and 2011 - but not many are aware as to what has made India to be an undisputed global leader in the cricket administration. Therefore, before the titanic clash between India and Pakistan unfolds this evening with which both India and Pakistan will begin their T20 World Cup 2021, I am writing this post not about the game per se but about the robust foundations that went into making India a predominant force in international cricket administration and for paying respect to those extraordinary people Politicians and business men and women who helped India to be the undisputed leader of International Cricket administration - NKP Salve, Mrs Gandhi and Dhirubhai Ambani and Reliance Industries Ltd

The Cricket World Cup, a flagship event of the International Cricket Council, is one of the world's most viewed sporting events. The participation of tens of millions Indians, and several hundreds of thousands of overseas Indians as spectators, the companies who sponsor the game, the men who manage and influence this game is what makes the World Cup - including the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 - so very special. This greatest of the sporting spectacle, World Cup in all its format, which the whole of India is now perhaps glued to, is hosted on rotation basis by different Cricket playing nations once every four years or so. It was not the case when the World Cup Cricket event began in 1975. The first three versions of the Cricket World Cups - The Prudential World Cups (named after the sponsors) - were hosted only by England in 1975, 1979 and 1983. Until then England alone was thought to be capable of organising huge resources to stage an event of such magnitude. The first three World Cup matches consisted of 60, six-ball, over per team, played during the daytime in traditional form, with the players wearing cricket whites and using red cricket balls. The power dynamics of the game of cricket was mostly with England who were unwittingly supported each time and every time by their arch cricketing adversary the Australians, while other teams including India were mostly bystanders. The fourth World Cup in 1987 changed all of this for good and ever since India has been a dominant player in administering and controlling the game of Cricket.

The Reliance CUP 1987 marked the first step towards altering international cricket's power dynamics, and gave birth to the rotation system for hosting the World Cups. The Indian Cricket administrators, led by NKP Salve, buoyed by India winning the 1983 Prudential World Cup, emboldened their bid for the staging rights for the 1987 World Cup, jointly with Pakistan. It is interesting to note that both India and Pakistan, which are viewed as arch rivals - not just on the cricketing grounds but even otherwise - joined hands in ensuring the cricket monopoly that England had in hosting World Cup matches changed forever.

Moving the World Cup away from England was not so simple, since it involved one of the most complicated negotiations, unprecedented financial resources, political manoeuvring not just between India and Pakistan but also with the other cricket playing nations, the ICC, leaders, politicians, cricket administrators and businessmen. It was the combined spirit and efforts of Dhirubhai Ambani, N K P Salve and Mrs Indira Gandhi among others who made this impossible looking task possible. But most unfortunately, their contribution has not adequately been acknowledged by the cricket loving fans in India. The three of them, supported by many other cricket aficionados, showed how politicians, professionals and industrialists can help to shape the world through the medium of sports including bridging the political divide and other fissures that existed between India and Pakistan. Can the ongoing T20 World Cup repeat this and help India and Pakistan to build better relationship and will it help Pakistan to move away from their terror activities against India and changed their polarised vision of India so that it leads them to helping their countrymen, who are suffering from complete economic inadequacy, unemployment and such other problems? We will have to wait and watch.

The efforts of NKP Salve for breaking the monopoly that England had on cricket administration and hosting of the Cricket World Cup in India started with one phone call from the PMO to Dhirubhai Ambani on one of those monsoon mornings in Mumbai, way back in 1983. Dhirubhai was asked to urgently meet Mrs Gandhi, the then PM of India, within a couple of days. Dhirubhai did not know the reasons for the urgency of the meeting nor did he want to know, all he wanted was to take the earliest flight to meet the PM. The very next day he landed in Delhi and was at Mrs Indira Gandhi’s residence, at 10 Janpath to meet the prime minister. N K P Salve, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was also asked by the PMO to be present for the meeting. Salve was then a cabinet minister in Mrs Gandhi’s cabinet and was very highly rated by her for his integrity and commitment, both as a Minister and as a lawyer politician. Salve had sounded Mrs Indira Gandhi about his plans for shifting the World Cup Cricket from England to India.

Mrs Gandhi came straight to the point and asked Dhirubhai whether he would financially support the initiative of her government to try and bring the Cricket World Cup to India, which to her was a prestigious issue. Dhirubhai Ambani, having heard the PM, realised that the image and prestige of India was at stake and with no hesitation whatsoever, agreed to bear all the financial liabilities associated with the event without even bothering to understand what the financial scope of this commitment was. He nodded in agreement and uttered, “Madam, yes, I would be too happy to give a blank cheque to cover the entire cost of the tournament since it is for a national cause.” Dhirubhai, the grand visionary that he was, had immediately realised that the Indian honour was at stake and for him this in itself was reason enough to offer a blank cheque to the PM.

But then what prompted Mrs Gandhi to stake her claim for hosting the 1987 World Cup Cricket in India? Well it is an interesting story, which began at Lord’s on the 25th of June 1983, the day when Kapil’s men made history. The Indian team - the underdogs in the tournament with a ridiculously low possibility of winning any single match, let alone the tournament, had miraculously reached the finals and were to play the defending champions, the indomitable rampaging West Indies, led by their legendary captain Clive Lloyd’s at the Lord’s. India had defeated the hosts, England in the semi-final, to reach the finals. N K P Salve, the president of the BCCI, had requested the authorities at Lord’s to provide two tickets for the final, which were meant for Siddhartha Shankar Ray, the Indian High Commissioner to the US at the time, and his wife Maya. Most shockingly, the authorities at Lord’s had turned down the request of the BCCI president. He was not even provided the priced tickets let alone the complementary VIP passes to watch the finals. This was too embarrassing even for Salve, an epitome of gentlemanliness. The president of one of the finalist teams could not offer even two tickets to an Indian ambassador. It was at this instance that Salve, perhaps, decided not take this insult to his country lying down. As luck would have it, Indian team won the 1983 Prudential World Cup and Salve lost no time in taking the Indian winning team on their return to New Delhi from Heathrow, to meet the Prime Minister, Mrs Gandhi and it was during this meeting that Salve narrated about his insult to the PM and expressed his interest to consider hosting the next edition of the world cup in India. Salve also had informed the PM about his discussions of a joint bid for hosting this event with Pakistan, which he had with Pakistan's cricketing chief, Air Marshall Noor Khan.

The political commitment for the game shown by Mrs Gandhi was ably supported by her Pakistani counterpart. With financial and political commitments in place the ball was set rolling for luring the eight full members and 21 associate members of the ICC for agreeing to shift the World Cup from England to the Indian subcontinent. Every one of them including the players and cricketing boards were offered such an extraordinary financial allurement that it was just a matter of time that the English opposition was blow away and there was consensus in shifting the next World Cup to India. Most unfortunately when everything had fallen in place, Mrs Gandhi was assassinated in October 1984 and there was huge uncertainty on the continued political and financial commitments, which was not to be. Mr Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister and continued his patronage to the game. Dhirubhai assigned the work of managing this mega event to his younger son Anil Ambani, who did an admirable job in most professionally managing this entire event including providing more than adequate financial resources for the tournament. NKP Salve was later made the Chairman of the India-Pakistan Joint Managing Committee for the Reliance Cup. The massive success of that tournament saw the World Cup live up to its name as a world event played in all the continents. The Reliance Cup also marked a step in the shifting of the cricket headquarters from Lord's to Eden Gardens, culminating in the election of Jagmohan Dalmiya as the first Asian president of the ICC.

The Reliance Cup, was a major success with packed crowds and huge stadiums playing host to every single match. Both the host teams, India and Pakistan, performed exceptionally well with impressive performances in the group stage and ended up group toppers and qualified for the semi-finals. India lost in the Semi-finals to England, in a match that was played in Mumbai in front of a massive crowd. Pakistan too lost its semi-final match against Australia and in the finals played in front of a mammoth Eden garden crowd of more than 100,000, the Australians defeated the English team to begin their dominance over the cup. Ever since every single ICC World Cups have been a roaring success with huge audience, mostly Indians, and unprecedented sponsors for whom the ICC World Cup including the T20 World Cup 2021 and so also the IPL are extremely important events from the advertising standpoint.

 As India takes on Pakistan their arch rival Pakistan in their inaugural T20 World Cup match later today, it is time for us to look back and see how both these two countries came together to break the monopoly of England and look forward as to how they must come together to solve all their bilateral issues for the larger good of their citizens who are great ambassadors for the game of Cricket. We must also remember and credit Mrs Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, NKP Salve, Anil and Dhirubhai Ambani, Reliance Industries and all other stake holders who helped India becoming a global leader in cricket administration. We must also appreciate all these leaders for their extraordinary political and business leadership, shown for the game of Cricket, which to every Indian is nothing short of a religion.

 All the best team India.

Images - Courtesy Wikipedia 

Growth of Science Museums in India - A Historical Perspective

6^th Dr. Fredie A Mehta and Mrs Keti F Mehta Memorial Lecture.
Growth of Science Museums in India - A Historical Perspective 

I was pleasantly surprised to receive an invitation from the prestigious CSMVS Museum for delivering the 6^th Fredie A Mehta and Mrs Keti Mehta Memorial Lecture. Unfortunately, although a museum has not necessarily been regimented to be confined to a specific subject, somehow there has not been an innate connect between the art, archaeology and cultural museums with the science museums in India. This may also stem from the fact that the science museums in India have been rechristened as Science Centres, thus further distancing the two communities of science and art museums in India. Mr Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the dynamic DG of CSMVS, who is on the board of the EC of the Nehru Science Centre, has always been advocating for a more participatory engagement between the two museums. I am therefore very happy to be a part of this engagement between the two museums and to be delivering the 6^th Fredie A Mehta and Mrs Keti Mehta Memorial Lecture on the topic Growth of Science Museums in India - A Historical Perspective. Dr F.A. Mehta, Freddie to friends, has an unique distinction to be the first recruit to the now famous Tata Administrative Service, which was conceived by Bharat Ratna, JRD Tata. Freddie earned his PhD in economics from the London School of Economics and joined the TAS in 1956 and earned an illustrious career spanning nearly 50 years with the Tata Group.

My talk scheduled for 4^th October will focus on the genesis of connecting science with people, through museums. This connect between science and society has always been a necessity for a broader inclusion of the society in the acceptance of the applications of science, and adoption of modern technological gadgets. It necessitated strengthening of the widely accepted model of learning science in a formal setting, where the teacher explains established scientific laws, concepts, and theories to her passive audience. The scientists and the society looked at other more adventurous ways of connecting science to people through large exhibitions, demonstrations etc. which led to the growth of Science Museums in England and other western countries. India too has a resonance for the genesis of the science museums and centres in India with the west. Those interested may please like to join this event by registering on the link given below.

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7n5vawZXRwK1t7ZPpORCKA