Rabindranath Tagore: A Tribute to the Polymath on his 81st Punyatithi

It was on this day - 7th August - in the year 1941, that Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore departed for his heavenly abode at Calcutta (now Kolkata) at the age of 80 years. He was the first Asian and also the first non-white to be conferred with the coveted Nobel Prize in Literature (1913). Rabindranath Tagore was an exemplar polymath whose outstanding contributions in the multitudes of creative endeavours continue to inspire generations. Today, on the occasion of his 81st Punyatithi, while I am writing this tribute and paying my reverence to this great Indian genius polymath - a versatile poet, a par excellence short story writer, great nationalist, novelist, playwright, essayist, artist, rationalist, as well as a talented painter - I am reminded of those last few years of Tagore which preceded his passing away. The later incident relates to a surgery that Tagore underwent, which he was not prepared to. There were different opinions that experts had whether Tagore should or should not undergo the surgery. Tagore himself was averse to the surgery and any allopathic medications and believed more in the traditional Ayurveda and homeopathic medicines. Unfortunately, he went by the advice of his Doctors and Tagore could not survive the surgery and passed away on 7th August 1941. 

 The last four years of Gurudev’s life - 1937 to 41 - were marked by chronic pain, urinary and kidney problems and two long periods of illness, which Tagore had to endear. It all began on 10 September 1937 in Shantiniketan where he collapsed and lost his consciousness due to an attack of ‘erysipelas’. He remained in a state of comatose and near death, for some sixty odd hours. In those days, there was no proper means to send out SOS communication for the medical team to arrive from Calcutta (now Kolkatta). Therefore, Tagore remained in a state of Comatose at Shantiniketan until the arrival of the medical team from Calcutta and their effective medical treatment. Miraculously, Tagore started responding to the medication and regained his consciousness fully on 15th September. The creative genius that Gurudev was, who had fallen in love with painting in his sixties - the last of his creative contributions - as soon as he regained full consciousness on 15 September, the indefatigable Gurudev asked for a brush and colours. Notwithstanding the fact that he had just recovered from his painful ailment, Tagore started painting a landscape on a piece of plywood. The result was “a dark wood with streaks of yellow light breaking through its gloom,”. This was one of his many remarkable paintings all of which are now classified as national treasures. Ten days later, 25 September, he wrote the first poem of a series of eighteen poems, which he scripted on life and death, dying and after death. These poems were published under the title ‘Prantik’. 

 In just three years, September, 15, 1940, while in Kalimpong, Tagore once again faced another attack and he complained of pain in his bladder. He was unable to pass his urine and suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed. He was rushed back to his Jorasanko house in Calcutta. With dutiful attendants attending to Gurudev in the presence of his near and dear ones and under the supervision of Nilratan Sarkar and Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, Tagore was soon on the path to recovery. But then he continued to suffer from his urinary problems and prostate issues, which aggravated. On 16 July 1941 Doctors advised him to go for a surgery. Tagore preferred homeopathic and Ayurvedic medications and he was against allopathic treatment and that included the surgery, which he was advised to undergo by his Doctors including by Dr BC Roy. Tagore had great faith in Dr BC Roy, who incidentally is also responsible for the establishment of the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, the mother museum, which later gave birth to the NCSM an organisation with which I was associated for 35 long years. 

 Dr BC Roy was considered as one of the greatest of Doctors of his time and incidentally even today his birthday, 1st July, is commemorated as the National Doctors day in India. On his advice a makeshift operation theatre was created at Jorasanko Thakurbari and Tagore, against his own wishes, was asked to undergo surgery. Although most Doctors, including Dr BC Roy had decided that operation is the only solution to Tagore’s ailments, there was another famous Doctor, Nilaratan Sarkar, who had a different opinion. Dr Sarkar was of the opinion that due to his old age, Tagore will not be able to withstand the operation. Dr Sarkar and Dr BC Roy, it is said, argued bitterly and even had fight on this issue. But then sadly the opinion of Dr BC Roy and those who supported him prevailed. 

Dr Lalitkumar Bandopadhyay was tasked to perform the operation on Tagore on 25 July, 1941 at the make shift operation theatre which was created at the residence of Tagore. Dr Bandopadhyay was assisted by Dr Satysakha Maitra and Dr Amiya Sen. The operation for ‘suprapubic cystostomy’ was carried out by the Doctors, who inserted a drainage tube into the urinary bladder of Tagore to help him drain his bladder via the urethra. Unfortunately, after the operation, Tagore complained of a burning sensation, and fell unconscious. His condition continued to deteriorate even while he was unconscious. His kidneys stopped functioning on August 4 and he was kept on medical support with saline and oxygen administered extraneously. His condition could not improve, despite the best of efforts from the team of Doctors who were attending to Tagore. Finally, on the night of August 6, his condition worsened and Doctors gave up all their hopes and Rabindranath Tagore was declared dead on 7 August, 1941. 

Today when we are observing the 81st Punyatithi of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, I am happy to share a tribute, which I had written for Tagore on his birthday in 2020 on my blog whose link is appended for those interested.

https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/05/rabindrnaath-tagore-tribute-to-polymath.html

Jai Ho Long live Tagore. 

Images : Courtesy Wikipedia and NGMA Mumbai.

Kargil Vijay Diwas, Screening of Saga of a Brave Heart and NGMA Bengaluru – My Connect.

 

 

Kargil Vijay Diwas, Saga of a Brave Heart and NGMA, Bengaluru resonate with yours truly and therefore it was a pleasant surprise to receive an e invite for the celebration of the Kargil Vijay Diwas - which included screening the Saga of a Brave Heart Documentary, from NGMA Bengaluru.  Speaking of Kargil Vijay Diwas, commemorated to celebrate the Indian victory over our enemy, Pakistan, it reminds me of the exemplary courage shown by the Indian Armed Forces, which included my one year senior Ajeet, at the Sainik School Bijapur, Colonel M B Ravindranath, Vir Chakra, under whose command Indian Armed forces achieved their path breaking success of capturing the Tololing peak. Here is a link to the blog which I had written on Kargil Vijay Diwas last year, as my respect and tribute to Col M B Ravindranth and about the extraordinary valour, which the Indian Army exemplified while winning the Kargil battle.

https://khened.blogspot.com/2021/07/kargil-vijay-diwas-remembering-col-m-b.html

My second connect is with the Saga of the Brave Heart. And this saga, so beautifully and passionately scripted and published as a book by our dear Bhabhi ji, Smt Shakuntala Bhandarkar, the Veer Nari and the exemplary wife of Late Lt Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, Shaurya Chakra (Posthumous), relates to my class buddy Lr Col Ajit Bhandarkar, who made that supreme sacrifice in service of his nation. Ajit was my class buddy at the Sainik School with whom my class mates and I spent seven long years at the residential Sainik School Bijapur during the most impressionable age - 9 years to 16 years. All of us, the classmates of Lt Col Ajit Bhandarkar, had joined hands to create a memorial in honour of our dear buddy and that memorial now stands tall as Ajit Dwar at Sainik School Bijapur. Here is the link to the Blog and a tribute which I had paid to our dear class buddy Lt Col Ajit Bhandarkar.

https://khened.blogspot.com/2019/10/lt-col-ajit-bhandarkar-25-rr-to-brave.html

 The Third connect relates to NGMA Bengaluru, which is celebrating the Kargil Vijay Diwas by organising three days’ event (29-31^st July) at the NGMA. I had the honour to head NGMA Bengaluru - as the Director of NGMA Bengaluru – for four months from October 2011 to January 2012. This was an additional duty which I had the honour to shoulder over and above my main responsibility of Director Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bengaluru.  Although my association with NGMA was very brief, I had fallen in love with that extraordinary creative ambience of the Manikyavelu Mansion which is now home to NGMA, Bengaluru. I have therefore requested my classmates in Bengaluru to use this opportunity to visit NGMA Bengaluru to witness the screening of the Saga of the Brave Heart in the beautiful auditorium of NGMA.  

 

Manikyavelu Mansion, which now houses NGMA Bengaluru, has an interesting history which dates back to many years before the foundation for the NGMA was laid some times in 2001. This beautiful building - Manikyavelu Mansion – which exhibits a rich, vibrant and an extravagant Victorian-style bungalow belonged to the royal dynasty of the Wodeyars -  the Mysuru Wadiyars. In the 1920s this beautiful mansion was bought by a mining baron, Raja Manickyavelu Mudaliar, from the Mysuru Wadiyars. When Manickyavelu Mudaliar died in 1939 this white mansion was inherited by his son. The junior Mudaliar was not as successful businessman as his illustrious father -  Manickyavelu Mudaliar, and therefore this mansion was put under auction due to financial problems in 1964. This building was then acquired by the City Improvement Trust Board (Bengaluru Development Authority) and was transferred to the Housing Board in late 1960s. This mansion and the beautiful complex in which it is situated was used - in the 1970s and 80s - to house the UN’s Asian and Pacific Regional Centre for Transfer of Technology. Subsequently, this building remained unused and unfortunately with passage of time the condition of this beautiful mansion started deteriorating.

 

The deteriorating conditions of this beautiful white mansion, located in the green ambience of 3.5-acre campus, came to the notice of art lovers of Bengaluru and rest what they say is history. Courtesy the efforts of many of the stalwart art lovers of the city and so also the government of India, Ministry of Culture – Late Ananth Kumar, Ms. Maneka Gandhi, K.N. Srivastava, Chiranjeev Singh and others -  that this magnificent building was restored for housing the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), which was opened in the year 2009. Architect Naresh Narasimhan was assigned the task of redesigning Manikyavelu Mansion to house the NGMA Bengaluru. The grandeur to which this building has been restored to house the NGMA Bengaluru can be seen when one visits this magnificent campus. NGMA Bengaluru stands testimony and demonstrates how a heritage building can be effectively reused to create the best of public cultural spaces in the city. A new annexe building was added in the same style as the white mansion to create the requisite additional space for the NGMA. The NGMA campus now boasts of the best of the greenery in the garden city of Bengaluru, interspersed with some exquisite art pieces and sculptures in the garden that is flanked by old trees, a beautiful open air cafeteria, water body and a lovely auditorium, where the Saga of the Brave Heart documentary will be screened tomorrow – 31^st July. During my brief stay at NGMA Bengaluru, I had the honour to host three exhibitions and many outreach educational programmes including film shows. I also had the honour to unfurl the national flag on the Republic Day in 2013. 

I take this opportunity to appeal to my school buddies and other friends in Bengaluru to please join NGMA Bengaluru in the celebrations of Kargil Vijay Diwas and witness the Saga of the Brave Heart documentary tomorrow.

Jai Hind and Jai Hind Ki Sena

 

Tribute to our Guru, the nonagenarian, Shri G D Kale Sir.

The day started with an extremely sad news - received in our Sainik School Batch group - that our beloved Guru, the nonagenarian, Shri G D Kale Sir, aged 91, had breathed his last, this morning around 10 AM. For all Ajeets – the students of the Sainik School Bijapur, where Kale Sir served as a teacher- Shri Kale Sir has always been that quintessential ‘Guru’, whose significance has been defined in that age old Sanskrit hymn; “Acharya Devo Bhava”. In the Indian traditions, the Guru (teacher) is equated with God and is placed on that same high pedestal, which is reverentially reserved for the Gods/goddesses in the Indian society. Kale Sir was that Guru, described in those times less Sanskrit scriptures, for all of us - the Ajeets – spanning all batches (1963-2022). He remained connected to every single Ajeet who studied and passed out from the Sainik School Bijapur, until his last breath. For every single Ajeet, Shri Kale Sir resonates with all those Gurus - Dronacharya, Kripacharya or Vashisth - who have been immortalised in our age old scriptures and so will he be for all of us and the entire Ajeets family. 

 He was a moving encyclopaedia, a computer in true sense, who strived all through his nine decades of his enduring life to create and continue to update an encyclopaedic data base of all the Ajeets, tracing them with their roll numbers, batch, year of passing out, date of birth, their current postings and many more data related to each and every Ajeet. He would call up most Ajeets and commandingly address each of them by their first name and most importantly with our roll numbers. He would make it a point to trace every single Ajeet and update their whereabouts in a database which he would share with respective batches.

 The Ajeets Alumni Association ( AAA) and the website of the Sainik School Bijapur alumni - www.ajeets.org which has connected all Ajeets, cutting across continents, owes its Genesis to our beloved Guru, who was befittingly felicitated during the Diamond Jubilee of our SSBJ at the hands of the Honourable President of India, late Pranab Mukherjee. Today every single groups of Ajeets - which are more than fifty for sure - have poured out their emotions and tributes to our beloved Guru and there was one point which was constant in remembrance of our Guru. Almost every one of the Ajeets had received a call from him which ensured that, even today, the Ajeets, stood up speaking to him on phone, such was the respect and reverence that he commanded from all of us all through his life. May 14, 2022, was the last major events of Ajeets - the Ajeets Knowledge Forum event - which Kale Sir attended. 

 I join the entire Ajeet fraternity in praying for the noble soul of our beloved Guru, father figure to all of us ( grand father to the youngsters) to rest in peace in the heavenly abode which is now home to him and May he continue to bless us all. Kale Sir and his memory and his unparalleled service to the Sainik School, Bijapur and to the AJEET Alumni Association will remain eternally etched in golden letters in the annals of the history of SSBJ. Ajeet Hain Abheet Hain.

Role of Education and Information Technology in India’s Economic Development: A talk by Dr Lalit Kanodia under the auspices of Ajeet Knowledge Forum

 

The Ajeet Knowledge Forum (AKF), one of the verticals under the Ajeet Alumni Association (AAA)– a formal association of the Alumni of Sainik School Bijapur, will be hosting its sixth talk, which will be delivered by one of the founding fathers of IT industry in India Dr Lalit Kanodia, the founder of Datamatics and so also the founder CEO of Tata Communication Services (TCS) on 11th June, Saturday, 2022, at 6 PM. He will be speaking on a subject entitled “Role of Education and Information Technology in India’s Economic Development”. This is for the first time that this talk will now be open to everyone, unlike on earlier occasions when the talks under the AKF were mostly confined to the members and family of the AAA. I am happy to share the link to the You Tube where it will be live webcast and also a link for registration to the talk for those who may be interested.

The Ajeet Alumni Association (AAA) is a formal association of the alumni of Sainik School Bijapur (SSBJ). AAA is being majorly transformed and getting institutionalized by our senior Ajeets led by the untiring and indefatigable Dr Ashok Dalwai, IAS, with support from Mr Gopal Hosur, IPS, the President of AAA, senior mentors that include among others the first School Captain of SSBJ, Colonel BGV Kumar, Captain Gopinath - the founder of Deccan Airways - and many other serving and retired Generals, admirals and air vice Marshals and so also other Military officers and many more fellow civilian Ajeets from across the country and abroad. True to the motto of SSBJ : Ajeet Hain Abheet Hain – and so also its objective of preparing the boys academically, physically and mentally for entry into the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla (Pune) and also to be the leaders in other walks of life, SSBJ has produced the best of military officers and has prepared us to be the leaders in many different areas – Civil Service, engineering, medicine, entrepreneurship, legal, social service, political service, sports etc. The office bearers of AAA, senior Ajeet mentors and all the Ajeets, have now come together and are brain storming to contribute to the society in the nation building and one of the forums through which AAA is aiming to connect Ajeets and their families (and others) with the knowledge society - in which we live today - is to bring them face to face with the best of nation builders in different walks of life through the AKF platform.

 
 Under the umbrella of AAA, different chapters and forums have been constituted and one such forum is the Ajeet Knowledge Forum (AKF). The AKF was launched in August 2021 with the opening online talk by one of our legendary Ajeets – Captain Gopinath, who spoke with passion and emotion about his life journey from his school days in Sainik School Bijapur to his joining the National Defence Academy and then getting commissioned into the Indian Army and taking part in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war and then establishing his own Air Ways – Deccan Airways, which revolutionised aviation industry in India. AKF has organised 5 such lectures under its umbrella and the speakers, besides Captain Gopinath, included, Mr Subroto Bagchi, the founder of Mind Tree, eminent scientist, Padma Vibhushan, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, Eminent Film Director, Padma Vibhushan, Shyam Benegal, Eminent Oncologist Dr Devi Shetty and Ms Rubi Ahluwalia the cancer survivor and Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma.

 The AKF organizes their session on every second Saturday of the alternate month and the sixth session under the AKF will be organised tomorrow between 6 – 7.45 PM and the speaker for this session is Dr Lalit Kanodia, a well-known industrialist and the founder CEO of Tata Consultancy Services and Datamatics. In this sixth session of the AKF, besides the main speaker – Dr Lalit Kanodia, we will also be having two of our distinguished alumni of SSBJ – Vice Chief of Indian Army Lt Gen. B S Raju, UYSM, AYSM, YSM and Vice Admiral M A Hampiholi AVSM, NM – the two senior serving military officers, who will be addressing the audience and inspiring young Ajeets.

 A brief information on Dr Kanodia is warranted, which I am happy to share in this blog.  Modern world of knowledge society is shaped by some of the most brilliant minds whose discoveries and invention of products and services in digital technology has ushered us into this era which is shaped by information technology led by the technological marvel – Internet. Internet is inextricably woven into the very fabric of our day today lives. Therefore, AKF is privileged to host Mr Lalit Kanodia, one of the key architects of IT in India who founded the Tata Computer Centre, which later grew to become the giant TCS company and Dr Lalit Kanodia becoming its founder CEO. Incidentally, Dr Kanodia has also played a role in Project MAC, a research project of MIT. As a member of the Project MAC, he helped build a Compatible Time-Sharing System and MULTICS (the first two multi-user computer operating systems & pre-cursors to UNIX).

He was one among many brilliant engineers in Project MAC, who laid the foundation for development of remarkable technologies, under the auspices of ARPA and DARPA (Defence Advanced Products Research Agency) founded by JCR Licklider, USA. This project later grew to become the Internet that is driving our connected world today. Dr Kanodia has a brilliant academic record with a graduation from IIT-Bombay in 1963, and masters and doctorate from MIT, USA. 

In 1965, Mr. JRD Tata, the then Chairman of Tata Group was contemplating to start a software company. He chanced upon the CV of Lalit Kanodia, who had returned back to India from US. Impressed by the CV of Kanodia, JRD Tata invited him and tasked him to study the feasibility of computerization within the Tata Group. Lalit Kanodia, after studying the feasibility wrote three Papers for the Tata Group, which led to the automation of the Load Dispatch System of the Tata Electric Companies by Westinghouse, Computerization of the electricity billing system of the company and formation of a software development Centre. He then returned to MIT for his Doctorate, which he completed at the MIT. While in the USA, Dr Kapadia consulted to Arthur D. Little and the Ford Motor Company.

Dr Kanodia was coaxed to return to India to form and head the software development centre for the Tata Group. The result was the formation of a Company called the Tata Computer Centre in 1967, which later grew in Himalayan proportions to become the Tata Consultancy Services and Dr Kanodia became its founding CEO. He handed over the charge of TCS to the legendary F C Kohli.  
Dr. Lalit Kanodia was born March 30, 1941 in Calcutta ( now Kolkata) to Shri Surajmal Kanodia, a bullion merchant and Smt. Chandravati Kanodia, a home maker. His family moved to Bombay ( now Mumbai) in 1942. Although his family was very well to do, unfortunately tragedy struck them and his father was killed in an air crash in 1951. His mother Chandravati Kanodia brought up her children by giving them the best of education and as luck would have it and so also her dedication to educate her children, all her four children including Dr Lalit Kanodia graduated from the prestigious IIT Bombay. Dr Kanodia had a brilliant academic career. He was ranked the Best Student in the entire high school for 3 years. He then studied Science in Elphinstone College, Bombay University for 2 years where too he was ranked at the top of the class. He then joined IIT, Bombay, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. After graduating in 1963, Lalit secured admission to MIT, Cambridge, MA, where completed his MS in Management in 1965 with the highest grade in the graduating class. He was awarded the Ford Foundation Fellowship while at MIT. He returned to MIT in 1966 for his PhD in management, which he completed in 1967.

 Dr Kanodia continues to be a very active Indian Business Entrepreneur. He is befittingly credited to be responsible for creating a Software Industry of India, Dr Kanodia established the Datamatics company in 1975. Datamatics crafted an extraordinary way forward for many Indian IT companies including the BPO industry. Datamatics company started with a modest team of 10 employees, which has now grown to become a very large company with more than 10000 strong employees with its footprints across the globe. In 1979 he set-up the first dedicated offshore development centre for Wang Laboratories. He also established the first satellite link for Software development from India, between its software development centre in Mumbai and AT&T Bell labs USA in 1991. This led to the foundation of BPO services in India and Dr. Kanodia formally started another company "Datamatics Technologies Limited" with 100% focus on BPO and KPO services. The start of BPO services helped Datamatics spread its wing globally and it acquired SAZTEC and CorPay, two US based companies in 1997 and 2003 respectively. Since then, Datamatics has acquired several other companies globally to enhance its offerings and footprints across the globe.

It was the foundation and vision that Dr Kanodia had in the late sixties and early seventies of harvesting the bountiful benefits of IT for Indian companies that led to the revolutionary changes in IT in India whose benefits are evidenced today across the country, particularly in Bangalore, which is now called the Silicon Valley of India. Dr Kanodia is currently the Chairman of Datamatics Group of Companies. As Chief Mentor at Datamatics, Dr. Kanodia drives all innovation, new product development and quality initiatives. His inspirational leadership has led Datamatics to be conferred with various awards over the years, including the Most Innovative Software Product Award, the International Asia Pacific Quality Award and being ranked among the top 50 best-managed outsourcing vendors by ‘The Black Book of Outsourcing’.

Dr Kanodia has also been a teacher. While at MIT, he taught a course on Statistical Decision Theory to MBA students. Later, in India he taught MBA students for 2 years at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Bombay University. Dr Kanodia has held several important positions including the position of National President of the Indo - American Chamber of Commerce and Vice President of the Indian Merchants Chamber. He has also served as President of the Management Consultants Association of India. Today the IT industry has come a long way in India and it accounts for 8% of the Indian GDP and it is poised to increase further. IT sector is the number one employer in India and it accounts for nearly 5 million people who are working in the IT sector in India and for this we owe our reverence to Dr Kanodia and other founding fathers of IT in India.

Those interested in listening to Dr Kanodia the Doyen of IT Industry in India may please like to join the webinar by registering on the link given below or you can see it on the You Tube, whose link is given below.
Ajeet Hain Abheet Hain

https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_ajKs0au8SIqu3JfplD412Q
 
https://youtu.be/Z-0wgkNPrp0
 

World Environment Day - Only One Earth.

 

Today as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the ''World Environment Day', with the campaign 'Only One Earth', it is time for us to remind ourselves of what the father of our nation - Mahatma Gandhi - famously said 'the earth has enough resources for our need, but not for our greed'.

In the unending expanse of our ever expanding universe, which harbours billions and billions of galaxies, including our very own Milky Way Galaxy, and each galaxy birthing billions of stars that include our very own life giving and life sustaining star - the Sun - which is just one among those billions of stars that make up our 'Akash Ganga' galaxy, our Sun, as we know it today, is perhaps the only known star in the universe, which cradles our life sustaining planet Earth, where life in its myriad forms and unending diversity has evolved on our pale blue planet.

Speaking of the uniqueness of our planet, on this world environment day, we are reminded of that famous book with that poetic out look for our earth - 'Pale Blue Dot' book - written by Carl Sagan. This book was inspired by a pale blue dot image taken, at Sagan's suggestion, by Voyager 1 on 14 February 1990. The book reveals the uniqueness of our planet in those inimitable words of Sagan " Pale Blue Dot" and it makes a fascinating reading. It stresses the importance of campaign theme for the World Environment Day.
'Only One Earth'. It also reminds us all for a collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet.

Image Credit - Wiki Commons

Let us all join hands to achieve this.
Wishing you all a very happy world environment day.

Vertical Urbanism - Elisha Graves Otis & his patented ‘Life and Labor Saving Hoisting Machinery’.

The skyline of the metropolitan cities across the world are populated with Manhattan like skyscraper buildings. There has been an exponential growth in the high-rise structures -  vertical urbanism - which is necessary in the ever increasing population and the vertical urbanism has the potential to decongest urban sprawl. Indian cities are witnessing immense demographic expansion due to migration from surrounding places, leading to urban sprawl, housing demand, rise in cost of land and therefore vertical urbanism is a best way forward. It is helped by an ever improving technology that makes vertical urbanism a safe reality. The first major technological marvel that helped in the growth of vertical urbanism can best be attributed to the Otis invention of Patented “Life and Labor Saving Hoisting Machinery", which would make it possible to lift men and materials safely to their tops.

It was not until Otis’s invention of this device and its adaptation and commissioning in high raise buildings in the 1880s, that the silhouettes of most cities consisted of buildings which were rarely taller than four or five stories. However, all this changed with a dramatic public demonstration of a patented ‘Life and Labor Saving Hoisting Machinery’ by Elisha Graves Otis. The Great Exhibition - Crystal Palace Exhibition, London - of 1851 and its success had paved a way for another exhibition of its avatar in 1853 in New York,  USA. This exhibition too was named the Crystal Palace Exhibition and it was aimed at displaying an unprecedented progress in technology, industry,  arts and crafts to the public in New York. It was here - in this exhibition - that a bearded man in a frock coat and top hat - Elisha Graves Otis - attracted a large crowd when he made an announcement that he is prepared to risk his life to demonstrate his technological invention. 

In a melodramatic setting, which he had created in an open ambience in the precincts of the Crystal Palace exhibition in New York, Otis stood on an open platform that began to rise towards the ceiling of the hall, where he had assembled his machine. The platform was steadily lifted up on the vertical guide rails by the power of a steam engine until it reached a height of about 50 feet. The visitors could notice a conspicuous counterweight, which was gradually coming down as the platform, on which Otis was standing, was raising upwards. It is now evident that this was an underpinning of a principle mechanism that Otis had used, which essentially functioned like a seesaw -  when one side goes up the other side comes down. In Otis contraption as the platform, on which he stood, went up the counterweight came down. As soon as the platform rose to the highest vertical point, Otis ordered his assistant to cut the rope on which the platform was resting. There was an eerie silence in the crowded audience and when the rope was cut the crowd was stunned to notice the platform fall freely. Before they could think of the worst eventuality that it was the end of Otis, suddenly the platform jerked and halted and remained stationary, high above the onlookers's heads. ‘All safe, gentlemen, all safe’, Elisha Graves Otis yelled to his stunned but relaxed audience. He assured his audience that he was here for a live demonstration of his technological invention, which he described as an "improvement in hoisting apparatus”. This was an improvement in an automatic device, which Otis had designed to prevent the platform from falling. This mechanism was destined to become one of the most successful 19th-century technological development, which helped make possible the urban skylines, which we witness across the world.

Today, the elevators - with the safety mechanism designed by Otis - are found everywhere and there is an inextricable linkage of a lift / elevator and high rise buildings that blend into each other and share a symbiotic relationship in their mutual existence. From the legendary Tower of Babel to the iconic Burj Khalifa, tall buildings are seen all over the world. In Mumbai we have several skyscrapers, which appear to touch the Mumbai skyline. It is estimated that Mumbai has over 4000 skyscrapers, which has earned it a ‘high rise  urban city’ epithet. 

From historic times there is an evidence that humans have always aspired to build to ever greater heights. Over the centuries, different cultures have constructed towering edifices to celebrate their culture and promote their cities -- or simply to show off to the external world. In the early times majestically tall structures were the preserve of great rulers, religions and empires. For instance, the Great Pyramids of Gaza, built to house the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, or the magnificent Brihadeeshwar temple, which represents the temple building traditions of the great Hindu Kings, were built by the great rulers. Such examples of tall structures are seen across the world. Most of these tall structures were not meant for human dwelling.

However, the 19th century changed all that. It witnessed two revolutionary developments, which  paved the way for rapid rise in skyscrapers. The first and most important development was the safe elevator that was demonstrated by Otis at the Crystal Palace exhibition in New York in 1854. Primitive elevators were used prior to the commencement of safe elevators. These elevators were mostly used to carry materials in factories and warehouses. They were not considered safe for carrying people, because if the cable broke, the elevator car would fall to the bottom of the elevator shaft. This problem of safety was solved by Elisha Graves Otis, an American inventor, who  created a safety device that was meant to keep elevators from falling, even if the cable broke loose. This safety mechanism embedded into the new elevators helped safely carry and transport people. Subsequently, with the introduction of motors the elevators became even more practical and found a place in almost all vertical buildings. 

The second important development that helped in the vertical urbanism came about in the revolutionary changes that were introduced in the building technology. The city of Chicago had witnessed a huge fire accident in 1871. Following a devastating fire, the city experienced an explosive demand for growth. However, there was scarcity of land for meeting the increasing demand for new buildings. The only option was to  go vertical. And for this the technology used in the construction had to change. This led to the changed construction design, which started using high strength bearing grid of steel columns and beams that would support any forces that the building may experience at taller heights. With the passage of time engineers were able to combat all foreseen forces in the skyscraper buildings, which included the dead weight of the building, contents and floor, wind, seismic conditions etc. This new construction method coupled with the safe elevators for vertical transport gave birth to the skyscrapers, leading to a race to construct the ever increasing taller buildings. The results are there for every one to see. Today, the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, stands at a staggering height of 828 metres and movements in this building is helped by the safe elevators supplied by the Otis company. 

Until the successful demonstration of the safety mechanism in the elevator, riding in an elevator used to be dangerous business. It changed with the May 1854, public demonstration by Elisha Graves Otis. The 42-year-old engineer was a carpenter who was making bed-frames.  He was also a tinkerer with a passion for fixing faults and frailties. He had engaged himself in trying to find solution to the frailties associated with the safety of the elevators and had developed a mechanism for solving the problem of cable failure in platform elevators. There were some faults in his design, which he had improved. He had tested and tried his newly designed device that could prevent a passenger elevator from falling if its rope broke. His design made use of a hoist with a passive automatic braking system. 

Although he was very confident of the safety of his new device, unfortunately none of his devices were sold fearing for the safety of people. Therefore, Otis had chosen the occasion of the Crystal Palace exhibition to demonstrate publicly the safety of his device to win the confidence of the people and builders. Until his safety mechanism got embedded into the new elevators, earlier elevators would often catastrophically brake down in granaries and warehouses, killing and maiming their passengers. Otis realized that his design, though superior and straightforward, needed showmanship. The World’s Fair was his moment to flaunt his vertical flight of fancy and function. His sustained public demonstrations of the safety of his device at the Crystal Palace world fair in New York ( now Bryant Park) during the period from May to November 1854 ensured that his new device became commercially successful. It debuted at the E.V. Haughwout and Company store in Manhattan on March 23, 1857.

From May to October 1854, Elisha Graves Otis gave repeated performances at the Exhibition in New York City. In the previous year Otis had founded the E. G. Otis Elevator Company in Yonkers, New York, in September 1853. But having received only one order in his first seven months of business, he was happy to accept an invitation to introduce his apparatus to the public. In the Crystal Palace on Forty-Second Street.  

Otis device  was model of engineering simplicity, the safety device consisted of a used wagon spring that was attached to both the top of the hoist platform and the overhead lifting cable. “Under ordinary circumstances, the spring was kept in place by the pull of the platform’s weight on the lifting cable. If the cable broke, however, this pressure was suddenly released, causing the big spring to snap open in a jaw-like motion. When this occurred, both ends of the spring would engage the saw-toothed ratchet-bar beams that Otis had installed on either side of the elevator shaft, thereby bringing the falling hoist platform to a complete stop.” It was no wonder that the invention of this type of safe elevator also played its part in the industrial revolution. This device “transformed real estate in America”.  Prior to the safe elevator coming along, the cheapest rent one could get was the top floor of the building. However all that changed and the top floors became one of the most expensive real estates in New York and this trend continued across the world.  

The US Patent Office granted Otis a patent for his invention of the ‘Improved Hoisting Apparatus” on Jan. 15, 1861. Just three months after he received his patent, he died on April 8, 1861.  His legacy had lived on and today Otis Elevator Company is one of the worlds leading elevator manufacturers, whose elevators are found in most high rise buildings in the world including in the Burj Khalifa building. There was time when Otis became synonymous with elevators and had a monopoly in this business. However the increased demand has brought in many more players in this market. 

Next time when you ride any elevator spare a thought for this show man Elisha Graves Otis, who helped revolutionize vertical urbanism to decongest the cities. 

Images - Courtesy Wiki Commons 

 

Dr. Srinivasan Varadarajan – A Tribute to the great Nonagenarian.

Dr Srinivasan Varadarajan, known for his exemplary, yet forgotten, role in combating the post Bhopal Gas Tragedy, which killed thousands of people and the man who was majorly responsible for developing two of the well-known consumer products – Rin Detergent Soap and the Fair Lovely Cream - for the Hindustan Lever Limited company, which went on to make heavy fortunes from these two products and also the man who served as a two term Chairman, Governing Body, National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) from 1982-83 to 89-90,  and a scientist who held many top positions in the government of India institutions including occupying the position of Secretary DST and DG, CSIR and so also the man who headed many public sectors companies like the IPCL and EIL, breathed his last on the National Technology Day - 11^th May 2022 - at the ripe age of 94 years.  

 I was one among many old timers in NCSM who had an opportunity to meet and interact with Dr Varadarajan on several occasions. He was a regular visitor to the National Science Centre, Delhi (NSCD), where I served in two tenures as Curator from 1988-2001 and as Director from 2007 to 2010. Incidentally, the iconic castle like building of the National Science Centre, New Delhi, located in the prime location - in the Pragati Maidan premises - owes its genesis to Dr Varadarajan, who was responsible for the allocation of this plot of land in Pragati Maidan for the development of the NSCD.  

 In the later part of my tribute, I will cover briefly the contributions of Dr Varadarajan in taking NCSM to greater heights and highlight the constant mentoring and support that he extended to the founder DG of NCSM – Padma Bhushan, Dr Saroj Ghose. Looking at the gigantic contributions that Dr Varadarajan made in multifarious fields, his contribution to NCSM will stand dwarfed and seem insignificant in comparison with his other stellar contributions to the nation. So, I will begin this essay by highlighting his other contributions and let me start it by writing about, what I feel, one of his most significant contributions to India – leading from the front to combat the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and in ensuring that another leak of the deadly MIC gas from the second tank was arrested. Most unfortunately, Dr Varadarajan’s contribution in mitigating the Bhopal Gas Tragedy has not been adequately recognised.

The importance of his contribution in combating Bhopal gas tragedy can best be appreciated when we look at the tragedy that happened at Bhopal and the news headlines that this tragedy received. India Today front paged this incident and covered it under the caption “City of Death” in their December 31, 1984, issue of the fortnightly. The Time magazine front paged this incident under the caption “India’s Disaster—The Night of Death” on the front cover of the December 14, 1984, issue. Almost all the national and international dailies covered this horrendous manmade disaster. There was politics as well in the news coverage with The Wall Street Journal inhumanly stating “of those people killed, half would not have been alive today if it weren’t for that plant and the modern health standards made possible by wide use of pesticides”.

 Bhopal Gas tragedy, which happened on that dark night in December 1984, will continue to be haunted as one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. It is appalling to note that this disaster happened because of the complete lack of professionalism and human failure by the management of the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), who were operating this plant. There were tell-tale signs of a disaster waiting to happen but then the company had paid no heed to the earlier safety warnings and the maintenance of the plant was far from what was desirable for such sensitive chemical factories, which were manufacturing pesticides. It was past midnight on December 2, 1984, that nearly 30 of the 42 metric tonnes of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC), which was stored in one of the tanks - Tank 610 - of the UCIL Pesticide Plant suddenly leaked and escaped with great velocity. The leaked MIC gas formed a dense cloud on the skyline surrounding the plant and the gas - being heavier-than-air - started descending on to the slum and shanty areas of the town adjoining the plant. This deadly cloud of MIC gas took a heavy toll on the lives and livelihood of people in the area. Even today, the exact human death toll from the Bhopal gas tragedy is not known. However, it is estimated that nearly 5,000 people died within 2 days, and the death toll eventually reached upward of 20,000. There was another tank 611 in the plant, which too was full of MIC in large quantity. Dr Varadarajan and his team were successful in ensuring the safety of this tank and in avoiding the leakage of the MIC gas from this tank. What the impact could have been had the MIC from the second tank leaked is hard to imagine. We therefore owe a lot to Dr Varadarajan and his team for their extraordinary contribution in helping avoid such a situation.

There is so much written on the Bhopal gas tragedy, however, not much has been written on the stellar role that Dr Varadarajan and his team of scientific community played during this testing times and how they put aside their own personal safety and were engaged at site in trying circumstances to save the lives of people and so also the plant and other assets. Dr S. Varadarajan spearheaded “Operation Faith” that saved many lives and minimized other damage to a maximum extent. Dr Varadarajan was concerned about the possibility of the MIC leaking from the second tank 611, which had equal amount of MIC stored in it. He feared the possibility of Bhopal 2 happening if this tank leaked. In order to mitigate this problem Dr Varadarajan had to understand what led to the leakage of the MIC gas in the first place. The second problem was to learn from this failure and derive a mechanism to safely dispose the remaining MIC from tank 610 and 611. There was another question that needed to be answered: what were the effects of the toxic MIC gas on the people around. How and why did the MIC cause death and damage, and how can such damage be countered or avoided.

 Dr Varadarajan and his team went about understanding and solving the problem by addressing the issue scientifically and thoughtfully engineering solution for the problems. They also addressed other pathology and treatment related matters. Exceptional chemist that Dr. Varadarajan was and so also an effective leader that he had distinguished himself as, he and his team studied at lightning speed the chemistry and storage conditions of the deadly gas, MIC. He realised that MIC boils at 80°C but evaporates at lower temperature. This showed that MIC gas is best stored under refrigerated conditions - below 10°C. Unfortunately, this was not done at the factory by UCIL primarily for cutting costs. Dr Varadarajan also realised that ultrapure MIC can be inert and that trace impurities can set up a chain reaction and one of them can produce a solid polymer. This solid polymer could clog up pipes through which MIC can be transferred from the storage tank.

Immediately after the Bhopal Gas tragedy, Shri Krishnaswamy Rao, the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, directed Dr S Varadarajan, who was the Secretary Department Science & Technology, to rush to the site at Bhopal. Dr Varadarajan accompanied by his team from Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) reached Bhopal. He inspected the site and the tanks and obtained inputs from the people working in the factory and referred to manuals and protocols that were warranted. The situation was very tense and there was no support for the team from either the UCIL or from the Government of MP, who were shell shocked to react to the emergency. Dr Varadarajan decided to look into the residues still left in tank 610, in order to get an idea of what all could have happened to the MIC. This was a risky affair but then Dr Varadarajan was more concerned for the safety of the people rather than his own personal safety. 

Dr Varadarajan’s inspection of the plant and his understanding of the conditions helped him with a lead on what could be done to safely dispose the MIC off tank 611, which too had about the same 40 tonnes of MIC. He needed support from the local government in Bhopal and from the senior officers of MP and therefore he called up his Cabinet Secretary to seek this support. By then the entire case was handed over to the CBI and therefore the Cabinet Secretary told Varadarajan that “you are the in charge of the situation and that everyone including the CBI will work at your orders”. He used this opportunity to somehow manage to convince the judiciary to release two of the engineers of UCIL, who were already rounded up and arrested, to understand the factory conditions better. He was successful but with a condition that soon after they are done with them, the UCIL engineers must be brought back in jail. 

Dr Varadarajan consulted Prof M M Sharma, an eminent Chemical Scientist on this issue and also put together a team of 16 members consisting of chemical engineers and related experts, which included Dr. L.K. Doraiswamy, N.R Ayyangar, C.S.P Iyer, A .A Khan, A.K. Lahiri, K.V. Muzamdar, R.A Mashelkar, R.B Mitra , O.G.B Nambiar, V.Ramachandran, V.D Sahasrabuddhe, S. Sivaram, M. Sriram, G. Thyagarajan and R.S. Venkataraman. Dr Varadarajan and his team quickly set up temporary facilities to examine how MIC was manufactured and stored at Bhopal, what led to “the event”, and how to get rid of the MIC from tank 611. They were successful in achieving their objective and this special operation was termed “Operation Faith”, by Dr Varadarajan, which remains one of the most profound operations that was ever carried out not just in India but globally. Dr Varadarajan adopted a process of converting 21 tons of MIC from tank 611 into a chemical called Sevin, at the rate of 3-4 tons daily. They commenced this operation on Sunday, December 16th, 1984 and ended six days later. This scientifically and technically validated operation carried out under the leadership of Dr Varadarajan saved what would definitely have led to a ‘Bhopal 2 tragedy'.

Unfortunately, not many know of this extraordinary contribution of Dr Varadarajan and today when Dr Varadarajan is not with us, it is time that we must remember his services to the nation during the Bhopal tragedy and pay our reverence to him for his stellar role in the “Operation Faith”, which saved many lives.

Dr Varadarajan is also known for his report on the impact of pollution on Taj Mahal. In the year 1973, the Government of India had announced setting up a 6 million tonne per year Petroleum Oil Refinery at Mathura, which was to be commissioned by Indian Oil Corporation, a public sector company. This decision had raised some apprehensions about the possible adverse effects of gaseous emission from the refinery on the white marble of the Taj Mahal and other historic monuments in the Agra-Mathura region. For addressing the pollution concerns, an expert committee was constituted by the Government of India to submit a report on the “Atmospheric environmental quality and presentation of Taj Mahal and Agra monuments.” This committee was headed by Dr Varadarajan. Varadarajan Committee conducted studies on the atmospheric air quality in the region and estimated the extent of release of various components in the gaseous emissions, which was a landmark report that helped Taj Mahal and other surrounding monuments from further deterioration from environmental problems.

Dr Srinivasan Varadarajan was born to Smt. Kanamma and Sri V Srinivasan on 31st March, 1928 in Bangalore. He was the eldest child and had two sisters - Kamla and Lalitha. His father was a well-established lawyer and so also his grandfather, who too was a lawyer and a friend of Rajagopalachari. Interestingly, Varadarajan did not go to school till age 8 and was taught by numerous people at home. His father was traveling extensively during those days and had no time for the young Varadarajan. However, precocious child that Varadarajan was, he made great progress in his academics, studying at home and managed to get admitted straight to the high school, which he completed successfully. Varadarajan then joined the college at the prestigious Loyola College in Madras (now Chennai). During those days pursuing Honours degree was considered to be prestigious and Dr Varadarajan wanted to try his hand at the BSC Honours in chemistry. The competition for the entrance to this course was intense. Varadarajan was able to successfully clear all the tests and made it to the Loyola College for his Chemistry Honours. He completed his BSc Honours in Chemistry from the college and obtained his degree from Madras University in 1948. The same year he also obtained a MA degree. For his MSc, he went to the Andhra University, Waltair (Vishakpatnam), where he worked with Prof Seshadri and successfully completed his MSc degree and from there he moved to Delhi along with his Professor Seshadri and completed his Doctorate and obtained a PhD in 1952.

Dr Varadarajan served at the Department of Chemistry as a research assistant between 1949-51 in Delhi, subsequently he worked as a Lecturer in Chemistry from 1951-53. While serving as lecturer in Chemistry, Dr Varadarajan managed to obtain an overseas fellowship of the Royal Commission for the 1851 exhibition, which was tenable for three years. This gave him an entry to the prestigious Cambridge University, UK. His travel grants to the UK were provided by the British Council. The fellowship was tenable for three years from 1953-56. He joined Cambridge in 1953 and was attached to Prof Sir Alexander Todd. He worked in the lab of Prof Todd at Cambridge. Prof Alexander Robertus Todd was a Scottish biochemist whose research on the structure and synthesis of nucleotides, nucleosides, and nucleotide coenzymes earned him the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1957. Dr Varadarajan was privileged to be a part of this research and jointly published a paper with Prof Todd on this subject. At the insistence of his guide and mentor. Prof Todd, Varadarajan reluctantly enrolled for another PhD degree at Cambridge, which he successfully completed and earned a PhD from Cambridge in 1956. While at Cambridge he worked in several areas of research with Prof Todd and DM Brown. His research areas included synthesis of nucleosides, nucleotides, structure of ribonucleic acid (RNA) phosphate linkage etc. it was during this period that Varadarajan also acquainted himself with the application of X-ray crystallography in the Laboratory of Sir Lawrence Bragg, who jointly with his father was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.

His work at Cambridge earned him a Visiting Lecturer fellowship in Biology at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, during the period 1956-57. He then returned back to UK where he served as a Beit Memorial Fellow in Medical Research in Addenbrookes Hospital, Department of Radio therapeutics, University of Cambridge (1957-59). During this period, he also managed to obtain an ICI Post-Doctoral Fellowship and a Senior 1851 Exhibition Fellowship in 1957. During his stay in Cambridge he met his life partner Ms Lotikapurkayastha, whom he married and hosted a reception for his friends and those who attended his reception included Prof Shivaramkrishnan Chandrasekhar, known for his extraordinary contributions in Liquid Crystals and his widf Ila among others. Lotika Varadarajan, too was a great scholar, author, historian, international textile authority and an inspirational teacher. She passed away in October, 2017. Dr Varadarajan returned back to India in 1959 and joined the famous company, Hindustan Lever of the Unilever International Group, where he initiated his research work on consumer products.

His research work at Hindustan Lever led to transformation of non-edible oil and forest products to valuable industrial raw materials, such as detergents and perfumery goods. High Protein Efficiency Value Edible Nutrition Products were also formulated and provided to several million people in drought condition in Western India by HLL. Two of the products that he worked on and introduced at HLL into the market – Rin Detergent Soap and the Fair and Lovely Cream – have been the most successful fast moving consumer goods which continue to be recognised as a brand even today. Long after he left HLL, Dr Varadarajan continued to enjoy the same respect and status from the company. His research at HLL led to large volume production arising from the Indian scientific research, innovation and novel technologies, which yielded national economic output and social benefits not just to the company but also to the society. HLL company came to be recognised as a technology enterprise within the country and internationally. During 1959-74, Dr Varadarajan successfully Headed the Research and Technology group for the manufacture of new high value chemical products, while continuing his association with Unilever Research Internationally and contributing to National Science Policies in the country. Large number of Scientists from Indian research moved to high positions in General Management in Unilever in Western Europe, Asia and South America from 1975 providing for economic and social growth from science. He left HLL in 1974.

Dr Varadarajan by then had carved out a name for himself and was soon recognised by the Government of India, which offered him the position of Chairman of Public Sector Organizations such as Indian Petrochemical Corporation (IPCL) (1974-81). Petrofils Cooperative (1975-80), Engineers India Ltd (EIL) (1975-78; 1981-82), and Bridge and Roof Co. (1978-83). He brought about transformational changes in the public sector companies that he headed particularly IPCL and EIL. Incidentally the Bridge and Roof Public Sector Company, which Dr Varadarajan headed, was responsible for the construction of the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai building and the National Science Centre building in Delhi. Dr Varadarajan’s presence as the GB Chairman of NCSM, under which NSCM and NSCD function, helped us immensely in the construction of the two buildings.  His efficient ways of handling the public sector companies helped him in getting an offer to work as the Secretary, DST, Government of India. He also served as the DG Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR). It was during his association with the government, as the Secretary, that he was tasked with a mission of mitigating the Bhopal gas tragedy by the Cabinet Secretary. He also served as Vice Chairman, National Biotechnology Board, and Chief Consultant Planning Commission of India (1986-88).

Dr Varadarajan was very closely associated with the science museums in India. He served as the Chairman of the Governing Body of NCSM for two terms 1982-83 to 1989-90. It was during this period that NCSM took a trajectory of rapid expansion. Initially the museums - BITM, Kolkata and VITM, Bangalore – were part of CSIR and even the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai began as part of CSIR until a separate autonomous council – NCSM – was formed to govern the science centres and museums in India in 1978. NCSM received momentum during the tenure of Dr Varadarajan as its Chairman. The NSC Mumbai was opened in November 1985 when Dr Varadarajan was the Chairman of GB NCSM. In 1985 a mega Festival of India (FOI) exhibition was planned and organised in USA. Dr Varadarajan visited one of the FOI sites in US. From just 2 museums under CSIR, the NCSM grew rapidly and today there are 25 science centres and museums that function under NCSM and close to another 40 science centres have been developed by NCSM on turn key basis and handed over to the state governments. The major impetus for the growth of science museums in India was given by Dr Varadarajan when he served as the Chairman of the GB of NCSM. Dr Varadarajan stood by Dr Saroj Ghose, the founder DG of NCSM, and guided and mentored him and connected him to the who’s who in the powers of corridor. It was Dr Varadarajan who was responsible for getting the prime plot of land in Pragati Maidan for the development of National Science Centre, Delhi.

NCSM started a national level science seminar (NSS) for the school students and the first NSS was organised in 1982 when Dr Varadarajan was the Chairman. The event was organised in Delhi and Dr Varadarajan elevated this event to the pinnacle, which is yet to be reached till today. He ensured that the national winner student of the NSS along with other participants from different states of India met the Honourable Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi and all the participants of NSS were taken to the Rashtrapti Bhavan where they met the then President of India, Gyani Jail Singh.  The NSS event organised by NCSM also caught the attention of NASA and the winner student was sponsored by JPL to visit different NASA facilities and this too was made possible courtesy Dr Varadarajan. NCSM has been conducting the NSS ever since but then only one other time the winners have been able to go abroad and the bench mark set by Dr Varadarajan and Dr Ghose in the very first seminar is yet to be reached. I vividly recollect Dr Varadarajan attending many national level science seminars in Delhi. Two of the accompanying photos are testimony to this fact.

Dr Saroj Ghose, the founding DG of NCSM and a visionary who has been majorly responsible for the success of NCSM has stated that Dr Varadarajan was his mentor and guide and that his service to NCSM will ever remain etched in the annals of its history. But then I have also faced some awkward moments in Delhi. Dr Ghose had retired from service and Dr Varadarajan was no longer our GB Chairman. Yet, as always, he used to attend many of the programs and inauguration at NSCD. I vividly remember one such event. Dr Varadarajan turned up for an inauguration event in Delhi in the year 1999 or 2000 and most embarrassingly we were questioned as to why he has come and that we should not bother for him since he is a “spent force”. Each time he attended a program in Delhi he mixed with us freely and spoke of his reminiscence and how he was able to get the land in Pragati Maidan for building the NSCD. I also vividly remember another incident – around 1993 or so. Dr Varadarajan was shifting his house and he had called up Mr Bhaumik the then Director of NSCD and volunteered to donate most of his books from his collections to the NSC Library. Mr Hariharan, the then SPO and Mr PC Bagchi, the SMO of NSCD were sent to the house of Dr Varadarajan to collect these books. I remember the wide variety of books, which he donated to NSCD some of which were very rare. The last time I met Dr Varadarajan was in 2008. That was when I was the Director of NSC Delhi and we had inaugurated an exhibition titled Our Body Guards – Human Immune System. One fine day Dr Varadarajan accompanied by some of his friends walked into the NSCD and Mr Ramdas Iyer and I had the honour to walk him through this exhibition. He was highly impressed with this exhibition and immediately called up Dr Vijayan who was then the president of the Indian National Science Academy, and asked him to visit this exhibition. Dr M Vijayan a well-known Molecular bio-physicist and structural biologist visited our exhibition the next day and we had the honour to walk him around the exhibition. Unfortunately, Dr Vijayan too passed away last month.

There is one other significant trait of Dr Varadarajan, which will remain etched with me. Whenever Dr Varadarajan visited our centre and when either a working lunch or dinner was organised for the guests, the first thing he ensured was that his driver is treated with the same lunch or dinner that he was being offered. This showed how he cared for his staff. No wonder he was a great leader and that these traits helped him in being an outstanding leader who could command the highest of respect from his colleagues.

Given the achievements of Dr Varadarajan, many national and international awards and recognitions were befittingly conferred on him. Dr Varadarajan was very closely associated with all the science and engineering academies in India. He served as the President of Indian National Science Academy (1996-98), Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (1980-82), and Indian National Academy of Engineering (1992-95). He was also the President of the Oil Technologists Association of India (1984-86) and Treasurer Materials Research Society of India (1990-94). He was the Honorary Professor in Chemical Sciences, Technology and in Management in IIT Delhi. He was Member of International Committee of ICSU on Chemical Research Applied to World Needs (CHEMRAWN); the small India-Japan Eminent Persons Group of Governments and the INSA-Japan Science Advisory Council. He was elected Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad (Honorary Fellow), National Academy of Agricultural Sciences of India, Society of Engineers, All India Management Association, and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.

He was the recipient of the Padma Bhushan and also INSA CV Raman Medal. He also was awarded the INSA Medal for Promotion and Service to Science, Indian National Academy of Engineers Lifetime Contribution Award in Engineering, Life Time Science Award in Petroleum and also an Award in Biological Chemistry, Chemical Technology. 

After serving actively for nearly seven decades Dr Varadarajan died at the ripe age of 94 years on 11^th May, 2022 – National Technology Day. He has left behind a legacy of great achievement that must serve as a role model for many people. Most unfortunately, there was hardly any coverage of his death in any of the front-line national media. This has always been the case with most scientists in India, whose contributions have mostly been brushed under the carpet and so has it been in the case of Dr Varadarajan. 

Long Live Dr Varadarajan.

Images: Courtesy Indian Academy of Science ( IASc) Oral History Archive : S Varadarajan

Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai and National Science Centre, Delhi (Ramdas Iyer)