THE
SEARCH TO IDENTIFY THE SCIENTISTS
IN
THIS
RARE
ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPH
Then:
The year was 1968; a
galaxy of Who’s Who of Indian Science had assembled in Ahmedabad to
celebrate the 80th Birthday of Nobel Laureate C V Raman. As was the
norm, there was a group photograph to mark the occasion.
Now:
It’s June 2020, I receive
an email for Prof Irishi N N Namboothiri, Professor, Department of Chemsistry, IIT Mumbai, attaching “an
archival photograph”, probably sent to me, since I might be interested,
having been associated with the Archives and Publications Cell at the Indian
Institute of Science, IISc, Bangalore.
Alas, there were no
details about ‘The Photograph’, but I could identify a few of the legends in
the pic, Prof Vikram Sarabhai, Nobel Laureate C V Raman, Ms. Anna Mani (the
lone woman scientist in the photograph), Prof. Raja Ramanna. Prof S Ramaseshan.
Prof G N Ramachandran.
First stop, Prof P
Balaram, former Director, IISc, now DST Professor of the Year at NCBS,
Bangalore. I emailed “The Photograph” to him and bingo came the reply, he was
able to identify, Prof C N R Rao, Prof. M G K Menon and Prof. M S Swaminathan.
He did also mention that with Vikram Sarabhai and C V Raman in the pic, the
photograph might have been taken in Ahmedabad, probably an Indian Academy of
Sciences meeting and that it might be 1968 vintage.
(Credit for the above photograph goes to Prof J Srinivasan, Divecha Center for Climate Change, IISc, who provided the link to a Slideshare PPT where I found this image).
Prof Balaram suggested
that, Mr. Madhavan at the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore might be able
to help in identifying the scientists in the pic, and “The Photograph” went to
him.
In the meanwhile, I
contacted Prof J Srinivasan, Divecha Center for Climate Change, IISc and Prof E
Arunan, Chairman, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, IISc and Prof Gautam
Desiraju and Prof S Natrajan, Solid State Structural Chemistry Unit, IISc and
Prof Ananthasuresh, Chairman, Mechanical Engineering Department, IISc. Their
enthusiasm and inputs have been invaluable.
As I write this blog, Prof Madhavan has just emailed me; he has been
able to identify almost all the legends that were present on the occasion when
“The Photograph”, was taken.
(Thanks to Mr. Madhavan, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and to Prof P Balaram, NCBS, who helped in identifying the scientists in the above photograph).
Sitting (L-R): R Ananthakrishnan, NR
Tawde, _____, RK Asundi, KR Ramanathan, Vikram Sarabhai, CV Raman, Anna Mani,
______, ______, LA Ramdas, NK Panikkar,
A. Jayaraman
Standing (middle row): MGK Menon, S
Paramasivan, BN Sreenivasaiah, ______, _____, ______, GN Ramachandran, PR
Pisharoty, T Radhakrishnan Menon,
MS Swaminathan, S Ramaseshan, BS
Venkatachar
Standing (top row): CNR Rao, C
Ramaswamy, ______, Devendra Lal, R Ramanna, TV Desikachary, TS Sadasivan,
______, ______, SP Venkiteshwaran, S. Chandrasekhar.
Having, just written to Prof M S Swaminathan, I am awaiting his reply, hoping
he will be able to identify the ‘missing names’ in ‘The Photograph’.
The
credit for this amazing "SEARCH FOR THE NAMES OF THE SCIENTISTS - IN THIS RARE ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPH" should go where it is due.
It was Prof Krishna P
Kaliappan, Department of Chemistry, IIT Mumbai, who started it all, he is said
to have “Whasapped” “The Photograph” to his colleagues at IIT Mumbai, in an
email exchange, here is what he has to say, “Thanks a lot for sending the names of our
icons. I shared it with my colleagues. I thought it is important to collect
such pictures and share it with next generation
scientists”.
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WHAT IS HEARTENING TO NOTE IS THAT TWO OF THE
SCIENTISTS IN THAT ICONIC 1968 PHOTOGRAPH ARE WITH US:
PROF C N R RAO
(1) PROF C N R RAO,
National Research Professor, Linus Pauling Research Professor and Honorary
President, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR),
Bangalore, he will turn 86 in a week’s time from now. DOB: June 30, 1934.
And
Dr. M S SWAMINATHAN
(2) Prof M S SWAMINATHAN, legendary
Indian Geneticist and Founder M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, he
will turn 95 in about six weeks from now. DOB: August 07, 1925.
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