2.1.2016:
Dr. Sathyamurthy: Founding Director, IISER. Grew up in villages of TN, and his family was financially weak. His parents, though not highly educated, wanted him to study well. Was once beaten by his mother when he told he had spent time with friends instead of going to school (says Dr. Raza). Didn't have great school education or school teachers. Mentions he was helped by a temple priest who gave him one free meal a day and an atheist landlord (Ramamoorthy Gound) who allowed him to study in the lamplight in his house; helped pay his admission fees. Considers Prof. T. Rangarajan, a professor of his during his B.Sc, and now 96, to be his godfather as the latter motivated and helped him financially to go for higher studies in USA. Was fascinated by physics and maths, but did PhD in chemistry as suggested by his professor. National Science Talent Scholarship was a game-changer for him; helped him do B.Sc in Annamalai Univ. Mentions a few other eminent professors who benefited from this scholarship. Moved from US for PhD on his professor's suggestion. On his PhD professor's suggestion, went to Canada for post doctorate studies where he got to work with future Nobel laureates. Got teaching position offers from Brooklyn Univ. and IIT Kanput almost simultaneously. Based on one professor's suggestion, returned to India. Learned philosophy of science from Prof. John Palani of Toronto. Used theoretical physics, chaos theory etc. to study factors affecting rate of reaction. Worked on symmetry and pattern formation in nature - why some flowers have 4 petals, some have 5, some have 6 petals. Worked on Boron-Nitrogen-Chlorine (BNC) fullerenes; had been asked by friends to patent it but has not done that yet. Cherishes Young Scientist award received in 1980 and Bhatnagar . Eureka moment: Discovery of 5-fold symmetry.
Message to younger generation: Feels he is not old enugh to give a message, but mentions hard work pays off.
9.1.2016:
Dr. Anil Kumar Gupta: Director, Wadia Institute. Dr. Raza talks about Wadia Geological Museum which has some fascinating exhibits, like dinosaur fossils. D.N.Wadia was the first head of GSI. Dr. Gupta has studied Indian monsoon in depth. Important to study earth and climate sciences due to abrupt climate changes in the past. Though it is a highly debated issue, Dr. Gupta believes that industrial activities have had a significant impact on climate. Monsoon is a fascinating subject. Identified how oceanic changes are related to growth in height of Himalayas, and how the height change is related to monsoon pattern over past 1000 years. Published an important paper in "Nature" that establishes how monsoon patterns can be related to solar and tectonic activities. Eureka activity: National Geographic documentary on his work. National Geographic came to know about his work and contacted him. Wadia (institute?) initiated 2 big programmes - on glaciers and earthquakes. In some areas, glaciers are melting but in some other areas they are advancing. Dr. Raza: Should a country like India spend a lot of money on research on glaciers and paleontology? Will a disaster occur if that research is stopped? Dr. Gupta: If India wants its major rivers to be perennial, this research is important. Adds that we are still far behind in earthquake research - still in early learning phase; not in a position to predict earthquakes well in advance to save people. Studied at BHU and at AMU (Aligarh Univ); says both institutions were important to him in their own way. Comes from an agrarian family that was not highly educated; his parents often sent him to sell vegetables in the market!. Dr. Raza surprised that Dr. Gupta studied a geological science at a time it was not mainstream. Dr. Gupta: Geo-science unfortunately is still not a mainstream field of study!! On India's expenditure toward research: still very less. Why he went to US and Japan: international exposure was needed then, more so at a time when India's economy was poorer. Says he came back because he wanted to serve his country. If he didn't come back, he couldn't have served India well.
Life mantra: Hard work pays off. Try to serve the nation.
16.1.2016:
Dr. Gurdev Khush: World-renowned geneticist (on visit to India). Born in a small village near Jalandhar. Studied in a school that had just 1 teacher. His father was is role model; though his father had studied only upto 10th std, was convinced about the need for best education and its ability to transform the society. His father was the most educated person in the village and the wise-man of that village whose advice was sought by many. Worked in a factory in England to earn money for higher education in the US as he had been told that the US was the best place for higher studies at that time. PhD and postdoct in California; had to study and Germany and French as required (by the factory in England??). Climate and accent were challenges initially after the move. Practical, analytical approach a must was his advisor's main advice - don't take everything said in books as being absolutely correct. Initial research work was on tomata but a chance meeting with some leading scientist made him switch to research in rice. That India was facing food shortage around 1961 when he shifted research to rice turned out to be a useful coincidence. Joined IRRI in 1967. Has published around 300 papers. Worked at IRRI for around 35 years and has done 53 years of research work. Considered a hero of Green Revolution. Says research at IRRI was world-class. Visited 69 countries for research. Thanks his support staff who had only BS or MS degrees. IRRI worked on rice germplast varieties. Dr. Raza says Dr.Gurdev Khush is Borlaugh of rice. Dr. Khush says it can be said he applied to rice many of Borlaugh's approaches to wheat. Average yield of rice has doubled from 2.1 tonnes to 4.4 tones as a result of better varieties. Has won World Food Prize (considered Nobel prize for agriculture). Dr. Swaminathan and Dr. CNR Rao are 2 Indians he considers as role model scientists - former in biological, latter in physical sciences.
Life mantra: Work hard to make country great; recognition comes on its own. Inspiring younger scientists is important for the future of India.
30.1.2016:
Prof. Sudhir Kumar SOPORY: [Very soft-spoken!!] Former vice-chancellor, JNU. Plant biologist; specialized in molecular plant physiology. Joined JNU in 1973. Honoured with Padma Shri and Bhatnagar awards besides others. It was only in college that he developed an interest in science. Prior to college, he didn't have any specific career goal and was interested in arts. Specialized in botany during masters degree. Motivated by a professor who was a geneticist; published a paper along with that professor during masters degree, even before PhD. After masters program, made several failed attempts to secure a job - LIC, bank etc. Dr. Raza jokingly says Sopory would be glad he failed to get a job, as otherwise Sopory may have not entered PhD. Developed interest in doing PhD; saw an advertisement and applied for PhD under Prof SC Maheshwari of Delhi Univ; this prof too motivated Sopory. Worked on tissue culture; studied the impact of light on plant development w.r.t. aspects other than photosynthesis & made fascinating discoveries. Many plants need light for flowering. On being asked, says he decided to take this research problem only out of scientific curiosity, not with any specific practical application in mind. But it turned out that his discoveries have many practical significance now. Eureka moment - identifiying that plants have memory. Worked in ICGB for 15 years, where hee worked on gene response to salinity and dehydration. Transgenic technology promising for agriculture. Become JNU's VC in 2011. As VC, though administrative work meant very little time for research, he got to interact with every faculty and academic matters with students, handled many scientific committees. Scientific ideas not broadly explored. On funding for science research - says funding needs to be increased, but funding goes only to a few institutes that have traditionally had high fund allocation. Need to make funds available to more institutes, though identifying which other institutes are highly competetive may be difficult.
Dr. Raza asks - JNU not well-known for science - what do you say as former VC? Reply: media should focus on academic activism in JNU which is better than most other universities - lots of symposiums, student discussions, hundreds of books and thousand publications - high academic output. Two-thirds of JNU is arts and allied streams; science faculty abd students less in number; yet JNU does very high-quality research in some domains of life sciences.
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