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Home , Ashutosh Mukherjee, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, Prafulla Chandra Ray

Acharya : An epitome of scientific attitude and human values

Soumitro Banerjee ∗

The year 2010-2011 marks the 150th birth anniversary of the pioneer of Indian science, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray. Through this essay, we pay homage to the legendary scientist and humanist.

NDIA CAN perhaps boast of having the sues in their own life or in the life of the Ilargest number of trained scientists people. They may have earned name and among the developing countries. However, fame for their research, but they harbour it is also a reality that the majority of our unscientific and even superstitious beliefs students look upon science just as a ca- in their personal life; they practice science reer option. And it is also quite com- in their laboratories, but do not follow the mon that many scientists in our universi- scientific, logical method in tackling the di- ties and national laboratories—who may ex- verse problems that regularly confront the cel in expertise and knowledge in their re- individual and the society. The other com- search domains—betray an unscientific at- monly observed trait is that they are quite titude and lack of rationality about other is- aloof about the contemporary social issues; they do not think that they have any role ∗Dr. Banerjee is the General Secretary of the Break- through Science Society and a member of the Editorial to play in addressing the burning prob- Board of this journal. He is a member of the faculty of lems before the society; and they are careful the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, not to develop any link with socio-political .

12 Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 Cover Article movements. Historical background

It is in this general context that remem- In the history of , Renaissance ush- bering P. C. Ray (August 2, 1861–June 16, ered in from around mid-nineteenth cen- 1944) and learning from his life has be- tury with its mission against the age- come more relevant than ever. Acharya Pra- old feudal values, religious bigotry, blind fulla Chandra Ray’s life was the very an- faith, superstitions and a society torn tithesis of the attitudes we have just men- with casteism to establish rational scien- tioned. He was totally devoted to science tific thinking and humanist values. Raja and teaching of science, and did scientific Ram Mohan Ray lit the initial spark. It research of international standard. But at was carried forward and developed fur- the same time he envisioned making India ther through the untiring struggles of Iswar industrially self-sufficient using the knowl- Chandra Vidyasagar, who fought to intro- edge of science; he took initiative to build duce a scientific education system in the up industries such as the Bengal Chemi- country with emphasis on science, math- cal and Pharmaceutical Works; he led re- ematics, and logic. Following him, peo- lief work among people affected by natural ple like Rajendra Lal Mitra and Akshay Ku- calamities like floods and famines; he wrote mar Datta worked to spread scientific bent books for children; he was the President of of mind among the people. The Indian the Bengali Literary Society for many years; Association for the Cultivation of Science he was active in social reform movement, was founded by Dr. and was a great critique of the caste sys- in 1876 for conducting scientific research. tem in society; he took to so- This institution later presented the coun- cial service with a missionary zeal; and he try with many luminaries in science includ- did not keep himself aloof from the political ing the 1930 Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman. struggle of that time, and had close links Thus, just when the seed of a scientific with leaders like Deshabandhu Chitta Ran- culture that Vidyasagar sowed was germi- jan Das, Netaji , and nating, two great men of science—Jagadish . Essentially, Ray’s activi- Chandra Bose and Prafulla Chandra Ray— ties were not confined to his laboratory and started their journey in the Presidency Col- teaching; his activities covered all spheres lege of Calcutta. of human interest—educational reform, in- dustrial development, employment genera- The initial years tion and poverty alleviation, economic free- dom and political advancement of the coun- Prafulla Chandra was born on 2nd August, try. 1861, in the village Raruli of the District of the undivided Bengal (now in Even as a scientist, he was particularly ) in a well-educated and cul- keep to build up a band of students, rather tured family. His father Harish Chandra young scientists, in body and mind to lead was a landlord of declining fortune who the advancement of science in India. Today, spent much of his earnings on building up when we are witnessing an all-out degrada- a library in his home. He was a man of tion of human values, when the scientific taste, learning, and liberal views. He was community is obsessed with self-centred an accomplished violin player. He was pro- careerism, the need for remembering this ficient in Persian and English languages great scientist can be hardly overstated. and he had also workable knowledge of

Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 13 Cover Article and Arabic. Harish Chandra was this illness as a blessing in disguise. In closely associated with the cultural and in- his memoirs he later wrote, “Freed from the tellectual leaders of those days in Bengal. routine studies of dry school textbooks, I For his liberal views Harish Chandra was got the opportunity of studying as per my branded a mlechcha (foreign heretic) by his own will and interest.” He was already fellow villagers. Prafulla’s mother, Bhuban- acquainted with his father’s rich library, mohini Devi was also an accomplished lady which he now put to good use. of enlightened views. Prafulla was exposed After two years he came back to Calcutta, to this treasure from his childhood. Many and was admitted to the Albert School. He learned men and musicians visited their passed the Entrance Examination in 1879 home regularly. Harish Chandra started and started higher studies at the Metropoli- a school for girls and one for boys in his tan College (at present renamed as the village. Such an education-loving and cul- ). The patriot Surendra tured family atmosphere influenced Pra- Nath Banerjee, who taught English in this fulla Chandra’s character greatly in its for- college, instilled in him a sense of national- mative years. ism. Prafulla Chandra started his education In those days, chemistry was included in in the school founded by his father. By the curriculum, but there was nobody to the time he reached the age of nine, his teach chemistry in his college. So Prafulla elder brother completed his school educa- Chadra had to attend chemistry classes in tion. Now he had to go for higher education the Presidency College which were taught which was possible only in a big city, and by Prof. . Pedler was a leg- their father was eager to get his sons ed- endary teacher, who could catch the imag- ucated in the best possible way. In 1870 ination of his students by his lucid exposi- Harish Chandra decided to shift to Cal- tion and conduction of experiments in the cutta and Prafulla was admitted in the Hare class. Prafulla got so much excited by this School. exposure that he built up a small labora- The teachers in the instilled tory in his home and started doing experi- a love for learning in this young boy. He ments. Though literature was his first love, loved literature (especially Shakespeare), through this influence Prafulla decided to history, geography, and biographies of great take up the study of chemistry. men. He read voraciously literature, history By the time he passed the F.A., his fa- and biography—whatever came his way, ther’s economic condition had deteriorated and the range of his interest was not lim- seriously. Seeing that his father will not be ited to school textbooks. He took to the able to support further studies, Prafulla ap- habit of studying long hours into the night. peared in the test for the Gilchrist schol- But the excessive strain that he subjected arship offered by the Edinburgh Univer- himself to took its toll on his digestive sys- sity. That year only two students from In- tem: He got afflicted with a virulent type dia passed the test: one was a Parsee stu- of dysentery, and was forced to discontinue dent called Bahadurji from Bombay, and his studies to return to his village in 1874. the other was Prafulla Chandra. It took a couple of years for him to re- He sailed to Britain in 1882, and took ad- cover, but he was forever left with a frail mission in the Edinburgh University. He body, chronic digestive disorder, and in- passed the B.Sc. examination in 1885, and somnia. It is interesting that Prafulla saw continued to do research. In 1887 he was

14 Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 Cover Article awarded the D.Sc. degree for his thesis on “Conjugated Sulphates of Copper Magne- sium Group: A study of Isomorphous Mix- tures and Molecular Combinations.” Since this thesis was judged the best in that year, he got the “Hope Prize” which allowed him to carry on research for one more year.

During his student years in Edinburgh, his depth of thought, sense of responsibil- ity, and cordial behaviour were so much ap- preciated by his fellow students and profes- sors that he was elected the Vice-President of the Chemical Society of the University. This was indeed a very rare distinction for a student coming from a subjugated country. Prafulla Chandra in 1896. Another event from his Edinburgh years is worth mentioning. In 1885, the Rector of the University Sir Stafford Northcourt an- Prafulla Chandra, the teacher nounced a prize for the best essay on the subject “India Before and After the Mutiny.” Prafulla Chandra returned to India in 1888 Prafulla Chandra entered the contest and with a hope to get an opportunity of pursu- submitted an essay in which he showed ing teaching and research. But as a part of how the British are perpetuating colonial colonial rule the British education depart- exploitation in India neglecting the devel- ment had created two types of posts — the opment and education of its people. Nat- imperial service, and the provincial service. urally the essay did not win the prize, but it The imperial service was more prestigious won acclaim of the judges for its high stan- and higher paid, and was for all practi- dard and satirical language. Prafulla Chan- cal purposes reserved for Europeans. Even dra then got it printed and sent to the In- though Prafulla Chandra had the highest dian students, with an appeal to take steps degree from a British university, he did not to free India from colonial bondage. Not get a job under the imperial service. After only that, he also sent the essay to the par- being jobless for more than a year, he joined liamentarian , who was known the provincial service at a salary of Rs. 250 for his open-mindedness and progressive a month and started teaching at the Presi- views, for his comments. Bright wrote a let- dency College, Calcutta. ter commending the article, and permitted While teaching he was in his elements. him to use the letter to publicize the con- He would start the class with some humor- tent of the essay. Prafulla lost no time to ous comments, and then would go deep into send the article and the letter to newspa- the subject. He would explain the difficult pers, many of which printed excerpts from topics in a style that even the weak stu- the essay and Bright’s letter the next day. dents would find easy to understand. He This initiative to expose the nature of colo- would perform experiments before the stu- nial exploitation before the general public of dents to illustrate certain points. Some- Britain is quite noteworthy. times he would take a piece of bone, heat

Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 15 Cover Article it in a Bunsen burner, and then suddenly He believed that one should not engage in drop it inside his mouth—all this to show research for the sake of money and a secure that it was just calcium phosphate, and future, unless one has an internal urge and that it did not matter which animal the attraction for finding the unknown. bone came from. This way he would not Slowly he gathered around himself a only teach chemistry, but would also try to group of dedicated students who learned build a scientific bent of mind free from all the art of scientific investigation, and un- prejudices. Naturally, the students were at- dertook research with him. In the later tracted to him. years, they spread across the country in dif- ferent universities to build the foundation Prafulla Chandra, the research scientist of teaching and research in chemistry. This Even though chemistry was taught at the included (Director of Presidency College for quite some time, no IISc Bangalore and the founding Director of research was done in that subject anywhere IIT Kharagpur), Panchanan Niyogi (found- in India. Prafulla Chandra realized that if ing Principal of the Raja Manindra Chandra India is to prosper as a country in future College in Calcutta), Nil Ratan Dhar (who when it succeeds to come out of the colo- started physical chemistry research in the nial bondage, it must build a strong base of Allahabad University), Priyada Ranjan Ray scientific research. To achieve this, one not (famous researcher and Professor of Chem- only has to set examples by doing research istry, Calcutta University), Biresh Chandra of international standard; one also has to Guha (founder of biochemistry research in train a band of students who would carry India), etc. The famous scientist S. S. Bhat- forward the torch. nagar was the student of Prof. Atul Chan- So he proceeded to build the first re- dra Ghosh, who was in turn a student of search laboratory at the Presidency College Acharya P. C. Ray. from scratch. The conditions were quite un- Prafulla Chandra’s own scientific contri- favourable. Funding was scanty. The colo- bution can be judged from around 150 re- nial administration did not appreciate the search papers that he published in scien- basic necessities of a chemistry laboratory. tific journals. Most people know only about For a long time he had to work without a the discovery of mercurous nitrite. But ac- basic necessity like a fume hood. Still this tually he conducted research in many di- laboratory became the cradle of chemistry rections, which can broadly be divided into research for the whole country. three categories. One concerned the nitrite He also realized that the country needs and hyponitrite compounds and their prop- a band of highly educated and capable erties; the second concerned the organic researchers dedicated to the service of compounds containing sulfur; and the third science—who will play a vital role in build- concerned double salt, homomorphism and ing the scientific edifice of the country fac- fluorination. The discovery of mercurous ing tremendous odds. This cannot be done nitrite falls in the first category. But the by the so-called “good boys.” He later wrote other works like the preparation of ammo- “Good boys are like dolls: they have eyes, nium nitrite, the investigations on the re- but they cannot see; the have ears, but can- action of thiols and thioethers with metals, not hear. They have no personality, individ- and on mono-fluoro-acetone were no less ual character. They cannot think for them- important. About 60 per cent of his papers selves. They do what everybody else does.” were published in famous journals like Na-

16 Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 Cover Article

Prafulla Chandra with his colleagues at the Calcutta University. Seated at the extreme right is , and standing to the extreme left is .

ture, and the Journal of the Royal Society. Prafulla Chandra’s unique contribution: the in India

He took retirement from the service of From his childhood, Prafulla Chandra was Presidency College in 1916, and immedi- interested in history, and as a it ately Sir Ashutosh , the then Vice was natural to be curious about the his- Chancellor of the Calcutta University, re- tory of chemistry. In studying this aspect quested him to take charge of building the from books by European authors, he no- chemistry department in the newly con- ticed that they wrote about the develop- structed University College of Science at ments in chemistry in ancient Egypt, Syria, Rajabazar. He joined the University and Arabia and China, but there was almost no worked for more than 20 years. He lived in mention of India. From his knowledge of a room in the college building, amidst his the history of ancient India, Prafulla Chan- students. Here also he built up and trained dra knew that there had been many signif- a group of students. icant developments in chemistry in India, but at that time there was hardly any sys- tematic research to find out exactly what When a few groups of active de- was known in what period in the Indian his- veloped in different parts of the country, tory. Prafulla Chandra decided to take up the need was felt for creating a forum of that gigantic task. exchange of ideas and views among them. Today it may be difficult to figure out Prafulla Chandra then took the initiative how difficult the task was. The ancient to create the , of manuscripts that might contain concrete which he was the founder President. This information of this aspect are mostly de- society published the first research journal stroyed; some were still there, but are hid- in India, the Journal of the Indian Chemi- den moth-eaten somewhere in the personal cal Society. It became the prime medium of collections of wealthy Rajas and zamindars; publication for chemists in India. some were there in the collections of Euro-

Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 17 Cover Article from an unbiased scientific standpoint, “Prafulla Chandra became many in the how much the knowledge of acids, alkali, minds of his pupils by diffusing and metals, and alloys proceeded in different thereby reactivating himself in many epochs of Indian history. He showed that, younger minds. But this would hardly the science of metallurgy and of medicine have been possible unless he had the had advanced significantly in ancient India; capacity to give himself away fully to when Europe was practising alchemy, India others.” was not far behind. In doing so, he had to face the question: Why did science in India — decline and disappear, so that there was no (Quoted in P. C. Ray by J. Sen Gupta, cultivation of science after Bhaskara? National Book Trust, 1972) Acharya Ray identified three causes be- hind this. The first was the introduction of the caste system. “The caste system was es- pean museums. It was a Herculean task tablished de novo in a more rigid form. The to collect these, which Prafulla Chandra drift of Manu and of the later Puranas is in did over a long period of about 12 years. the direction of glorifying the priestly class, He had to learn Sanskrit and Pali to read which set up most arrogant and outrageous these (he also took help from scholars of an- pretensions”, wrote Acharya Ray. “The arts cient Indian languages like Acharya Brajen- being thus relegated to the low castes and dranath Sil and Pandit Nabakanta Kabib- the professions made hereditary, a certain husana). But a bigger challenge lay some- degree of fineness, delicacy and deftness in where else. At that time the learned com- manipulation was no doubt secured, but munity was divided into two poles in their this was done at a terrible cost. The intel- views of ancient India. The anglophiles be- lectual portion of the community being thus longed to one camp, which were all praises withdrawn from active participation in the of the language, literature, culture, and sci- arts, the how and why of phenomena—the ence of the British and could see nothing coordination of cause and effect—were lost good in ancient India. In the other camp sight of, and the spirit of enquiry gradually were those who, out of their nationalistic died out among a nation naturally prone sentiments, sang praises of an imaginary to speculation and metaphysical subtleties, glory of ancient India. For them, the men- and India for once bade adieu to experimen- tion of “pushpak vimana” was an incontro- tal and inductive sciences. Her soil was vertible proof of the discovery of aeroplane rendered mortally unfit for the birth of a at the time of Ramayana; the mention of the Boyle, a Descartes or a Newton and her very word “taranga” made them believe that elec- name was all but expunged from the map of tromagnetic waves were discovered in India the scientific world.” millennia before Maxwell. In such a cul- The reason for the decline of the tural atmosphere it was very difficult to do rich culture of medicine and surgery (of a proper analysis of India’s scientific her- Charaka and Susruta tradition), according itage. to Acharya Ray, was the introduction of the This is exactly what Prafulla Chandra did code of conduct by Manu. Acharya Ray in his book “The History of Hindu Chem- writes, “According to Susruta, the dissec- istry” (Vol. I was published in 1902, and tion of dead bodies is a sine qua non to Vol. 2 in 1908). In this book he showed, the student of surgery and his high au-

18 Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 Cover Article thority lays particular stress on knowledge gained from experiment and observation. But Manu would have none of it. The very touch of a corpse, according to Manu, is enough to bring contamination to the sa- cred person of a . Thus we find that shortly after the time of Bhagavata, the handling of a lancet was discouraged, and anatomy and surgery fell into disuse and became to all intents and purposes lost sci- ences to the Hindus.” The third reason identified by him was the spread of the Vedanta philosophy among the educated section: “The Vadanta philosophy, as modified and expanded by Samkara, which teaches the unreality of the material world, is also to a large ex- tent responsible for bringing the study of physical science into disrepute.” Science asks questions about the material world, P. C. Ray working in the BCPW Laboratory. and seeks the answers. Acharya Ray felt that if one believes that the material world itself is unreal or “maya”, it is impossible for nomic machinery. Naturally, resentment him to harbour curiosity about it, let alone had been building up among the Indian seeking truth about it. people, especially among the rising Indian In the later years many people including traders and manufacturers, which found the historian Joseph Needham and the sci- expression in the movement to boycott the entist J. D. Bernal, have written authen- British goods. tic books on the history of science. But But even at the height of that movement, “The History of Hindu Chemistry” was the people could not boycott British medicines first book on the history of chemistry, and and other chemical products, because there Acharya Prafulla Chandra was the first per- was no chemical and pharmaceutical in- son to boldly state that the Advaita phi- dustry in India. Acharya Prafulla Chan- losophy, which was held in high esteem dra realized that economic independence is by the learned section of Indians, and the as important as political freedom, and for Hindu custom of casteism were hurdles in that, it is necessary to make India industri- the pursuit of truth. ally self sufficient. He knew that in Europe and America, industry advanced by utiliz- Prafulla Chandra’s initiative in creating ing the knowledge gained through scientific industries research. He wrote, “In Europe industry Under the British rule, the Indian market and scientific pursuits have gone hand in was completely dominated by commodities hand ··· one helping the other ··· the gi- produced in Britain. The Indian mineral re- gantic progress in industry achieved in Eu- sources and the Indian working class were rope and America is a history of the tri- also ruthlessly exploited by the colonial eco- umph of researches in the laboratory ···

Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 19 Cover Article These thoughts were weighing heavy on me Bengal Enamel Works, National Tannery at the very threshold of my career at Presi- Works, Bengal Steam Navigation Company, dency College. How to utilize the thousand etc. It is noteworthy that he took no money and one raw products which Nature in her from these successful industries, and spent bounty has scattered in Bengal? How to his shares in the welfare of the workers. bring bread to the mouths of the ill-fed ···” However, in a capitalist country indus- He made a modest beginning by creat- tries do not function on the basis of ide- ing a laboratory in his own home at 91 ology. They function on the basis of max- Upper Circular Road (now Acharya Prafulla imization of profit and personal gain. For Chandra Ray Road) in Kolkata, and started Prafulla Chandra, the establishment of in- experimenting with indigenous medicines. dustry was like a dream. Naturally, his Once some experiments were successful, he ideas came in contradiction with those of invested his small savings and proceeded to the investors. Finally the contradiction produce and market these as products. The reached such a stage that Acharya Ray had professor himself went from shop to shop to dissociate himself from the BCPW, the in- with samples in his bag, and tried to con- dustry of his dreams. vince the sellers about the efficacy of his products. He had no hesitation about that. Prafulla Chandra’s role for people Slowly sales began to pick up. Thus was affected by natural calamities born the “Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceuti- Though Acharya Ray was an active scien- cal Works,” which became a limited liability tist, his mind was not closeted inside his company in 1902. Seeing this exemplary laboratory. He recognized his social obliga- struggle to establish a nationalist indus- tions and actively participated in such ac- try, a few like-minded doctors and phar- tivities. In the year 1921 there was a famine macists like the Dr. Amulya Charan Basu in the Khulna district (now in Bangladesh). came forward to help him. Later, people Repeated requests from all sections of the like Chandra Bhusan Bhaduri, Radha Gob- people fell on deaf years of the colonial gov- inda Kar, Kulbhusan Bhaduri, and Suresh ernment, which refused to take any relief Prasad Sarbadhikari joined hands. Nation- measures. Prafulla Chandra could not sit alist leaders like Chittaranjan Das and Sub- idle in that hour of crisis. He created a has Chandra Bose also helped in differ- Khulna Relief Committee, and led a sus- ent phases of the industry. Owing to the tained relief effort over many months to col- courage, single-minded devotion, and hard lect money to feed the poor people of the work of Acharya Ray, the industry slowly famine-affected district. grew in size and was shifted from his home The next year, in 1922, a devastating to a new site at Maniktala. Later another flood occurred in North Bengal. In this factory was added at . The prod- case also, the government played the role ucts diversified. He also competed with of a mute spectator. Netaji Subhas Chan- the British products and managed to re- dra rushed to the affected areas to assess place many of them. Slowly the BCPW es- the situation firsthand. Upon his return, a tablished itself as a leading medicine and meeting was called at the Indian Associa- chemicals manufacturer of the country. tion Hall, and the Bengal Relief Committee Acharya Prafulla Chandra was also in- was formed. Prafulla Chandra was elected strumental in creating many other indus- President of that Committee. He appealed tries including the Calcutta Pottery Works, to his students to come out of the labo-

20 Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 Cover Article ratory in this hour of crisis. Attracted by Casteism was still very prevalent among the the character of this great humanist, many educated sections. Acharya Ray realized students and youths toiled from morning that he cannot serve the purpose of science to evening to collect flood relief fund under without fighting the unscientific beliefs and the leadership of Meghnad Saha (who later superstitions. became a leading astrophysicist). A corre- We have earlier illustrated how he tried spondent for Manchester Guardian wrote: to inculcate a scientific bent of mind among “In these circumstances, a professor of his students even through classroom teach- Chemistry, Sir P.C. Ray, stepped forward ing. Through personal contact also he tried and called upon his countrymen to make to ensure that his close students were free good the Government’s omission. His call from all prejudices and beliefs. In many was answered with enthusiasm. The public cases his attempt was successful. It is also of Bengal, in one month gave three lakhs of true that in many cases he failed. In the rupees.” essay “Search for truth” he lamented, “I In 1923, Northern Bengal suffered a flood have been teaching for half a century; in which made millions of people homeless this period I have told thousands of stu- and hungry. Prafulla Chandra organised dents that solar and lunar eclipses are not Bengal Relief Committee, which collected caused by the demons Rahu and Ketu de- nearly 2.5 million rupees in cash and kind vouring the sun and the moon; and that and distributed it in the affected area in an eclipses do not end due to the prayers of organised manner. the humans and the demons releasing the In the year 1931, flood again struck North sun and the moon; that these beliefs are Bengal. At that time Prafulla Chandra was false and products of imagination. For half an old man of 70. Even at that age he a century I have told this to the students. braved all odds to form a “Sankat Tran They listened, and agreed. But during Samity” and led the relief effort from the the eclipses, the moment conch shells are Calcutta University. For many years he blown in the houses, the moment prayer helped the flood affected people by forming processions come out in the streets, these cooperatives. The direct participation in re- educated people also join the processions lief work and helping the poor shaped the and throw away their food.” He said that character of many of his students. Megh- emancipation of the nation is impossible if nad Saha was so touched by the experience the people engage in this type of hypocrisy, of misery of the flood affected people that, if they cannot accept truth openly. after independence, he spent a con- On the issue of casteism his pen was siderable time and energy in river planning, even more scathing, “Are we humans? All and gave shape to the Damodar Valley Cor- those haris, doms, chamars, malis, bagdis, poration. and maithals—who live like animals around your house in the darkness of ignorance— Prafulla Chandra’s struggle to develop a what have you done for them over the cen- scientific bent of mind in the people turies? You do not touch them, do not Acharya Prafulla Chandra worked at a time allow them to come close, you drive them when there was practically no scientific cul- away like dogs. You can take your pet dog ture in India. The people, from among on your lap, but if the healthy child of a whom his students came, were sunk in cobbler crawls up your stairs, you roar in a sea of unscientific beliefs and customs. the name of your caste and religion.” “If

Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 21 Cover Article a chamar comes to our door begging for food, it is true that we have not always “It is difficult to believe that the man shooed him away, we have given him food, in simple Indian dress wearing simple but before that we have told him a thou- manners could possibly be the great sand times: you are a cobbler, an untouch- scientist and professor.” able, go away and wait under a tree in the garden—when we are through with eating — M.K.Gandhi you will get the leftovers. This way we have trodden millions of Indians under our feet for centuries.” (Search for Truth) books on vitamins, and on the science of He realized before many others that nutrition to educate the youth on the ways the compromising attitude of the Congress of healthy life. leadership on the matter of casteism will A few incidents would illustrate the sim- stand in the way of creating a national plicity of his character. In those days, be- identity. In a scathing criticism he wrote, fore a professor came to a class, it was a “In our country, we need 500 stoves for custom that a bearer would come and clean 500 Congress delegates. Even that is not the blackboard and the table. One day the enough; the delegates from Madras would students saw the bearer come wearing a talk of sight-pollution: If a man from a lower coat. After he finished his job, Acharya Pra- caste looks at the cooked food of a Brahmin, fulla Chandra came in, and the students the food becomes polluted. Would these saw with astonishment that he was wear- pundits tell me if the food will become pol- ing the same coat. It was later revealed luted if one looks from a distance with a that at the onset of winter Acharya Ray had telescope?” bought warm cloth for a coat. Seeing that the bearer would also need warm clothing, Prafulla Chandra’s simple life-style he bought enough cloth and got two coats Even though Acharya Ray had substantial stitched out of the same cloth—one for him- earning, he lived a very simple life and self and one for the bearer! spent the maximum amount possible in He ate a couple of bananas everyday. various social works, helping the poor and One day a student of his, Nadia Bihari, the needy. For the last 20 years of his life saw some very good bananas in the mar- he lived in a room in the university building. ket, and bought a few him. Professor Ray This room is still maintained in the form it was very glad to see such healthy bananas. was when he died, and one can see what a But when he learned that they cost three Spartan life he led. He even considered a paisas a piece instead of one paisa as usual, ceiling fan an element of luxury and did not he got very angry, and slapped the stu- allow one to be put in his room. dent. The student thought the teacher as He was a frail and sick man with chronic a very miserly man. A few minutes later he dyspepsia and indigestion. So he under- had a visitor, Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, stood better than anyone else the neces- who asked for help to run an orphanage. sity of a healthy body for the service of the Acharya Ray asked Nadia Bihari to write a nation. Many students, mainly the poor cheque of Rs. 3000, signed it, and gave it to and needy ones, lived with him. He kept a Dr. Ghosh. The man who would not spend keen eye on what they ate, whether they did two extra paisas for himself had no hesita- daily physical exercise or not, etc. He wrote tion in giving Rs. 3000 for charity!

22 Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 Cover Article Prafulla Chandra gave away most of his earnings in charity. According to one es- timate he spent nine-tenths of his income on charity. In 1922 he made an endow- ment of Rs. 10,000 for an annual prize in chemistry, named after the great Indian al- chemist Nagarjuna. He also made an en- dowment of Rs. 10,000 in 1936 for a re- search prize in zoology and botany named after Asutosh Mookerjee. He supported many poor students. On the first Sunday of every month, they came and queued up in the balcony of the Calcutta University to Prafulla Chandra with Gandhi at the memorial collect the monthly stipend. At the time meeting after the demise of Deshbandhu of his retirement, Acharya Ray donated Rs. Chittaranjan Das. 1,80,000 to the Calcutta University for the extension and development of the Chem- istry Department. a charkha in his Calcutta University room. But when he had differences of opinion with Prafulla Chandra, the patriot Gandhi on the issue of supporting the Khi- lafat movement, he did not hesitate to air It is true that he did not take part in ac- his critical views. tive politics, but he did not keep himself aloof from the freedom struggle sweeping When the British rulers started the norm through the nation at that time. He par- of separate elections of Hindus and Mus- ticipated in the meetings and other pro- lims to the legislative forums, the Congress grammes organized by the Congress, even remained indifferent to it. But Prafulla presided over many district- and state-level Chandra opposed nationalism on the ba- meetings. sis of religion. A few Congress leaders also In 1919, the country was aflame against quit in protest, started a new party, the “Na- the infamous Rowlatt Act. A meeting tionalist Congress,” and convened a confer- was organized in the Town Hall of Cal- ence in Calcutta on 18 August 1934. Pra- cutta. Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das was fulla Chandra spoke in that meeting and the main speaker. During the meeting, exposed the opportunist policy of the then Chittaranjan noticed that Prafulla Chandra Congress leadership, which would lead to was standing at a corner. He called him to communal divide. When the Congress was the stage and requested him to speak. In divided on the question of electing Netaji an emotional voice Prafulla Chandra said, Subhas Chandra Bose to the President’s “··· There are occasions that demanded that post the second time in 1938, Acharya Pra- I should leave the test tube to attend to fulla Chandra gave a public statement sup- the call of the country ··· Science can wait, porting the election of Subhas Chandra. Swaraj cannot.” During the ascent of fascism in Europe, He actively participated in the Non- a peace conference was convened in Brus- Cooperation Movement of 1920 and cam- sels in 1935 under the leadership of the paigned in favour of boycotting foreign humanist writer Romain Rolland. A sup- goods. He began to spin khaddar cloth in porting letter was sent from India in which

Breakthrough, Vol.15, No.1, May 2011 23 Cover Article Acharya Ray was a signatory along with the body to follow; they had to be the pioneers. litterateurs Rabindranath and Sarat Chan- Acharya Prafulla Chandra not only ex- dra. When Nazi Germany attacked Russia, celled in research, but also created a school a meeting was called in the Town Hall of of chemistry, trained an army of students, Calcutta on 21 July 1941. At that time created industries using the knowledge in Prafulla Chandra was an old man in his science, and thus laid the foundation of the eighties. The meeting issued a statement onward march of science in India. He was in support of the Soviet Union’s war ef- also a pioneer in the struggle against un- fort against Nazi Germany, under the ti- scientific beliefs and superstitions. In the tle “Soviet Achievements—Indian Intellectu- character of this great man we see a socially als’ Manifesto”. The statement said, “Over conscious scientist with great love for fel- the past 20 years, overcoming great odds, low human beings. He was the product of the Soviet Union has created a new society. the renaissance movement that was initi- When that society is under attack, the Indi- ated through the efforts of Rammohan and ans cannot remain indifferent. We are help- Vidyasagar. less and subjugated; but we express our The way to pay respect to this great man best wishes. We shall wait for the day when is to follow his footsteps—in practising sci- the Soviet Union will defeat the enemies ence of the highest international standard, and will come victorious”. Prafulla Chandra in discharging the social responsibility of a was the first signatory in that statement. scientist, in fighting unscientific belief and superstitions that exist in our society even The way to pay respect to the great today, in doing everything for the society scientist-humanist and mankind; in summation—in develop- Reviewing his life’s work, Acharya Ray ing as a man in its entirety, character and wrote “I have no sense of success on any activities, committed to the cause of sci- large scale in things achieved ··· but have ence, knowledge, people, and society. the sense of having worked and of having References found happiness in doing so.” Acharya Ray passed away on June 16, 1944. The British 1. P. C. Ray, “Life and experiences of a Bengali science magazine Nature of July 15 wrote in chemist,” 2 vols. Calcutta: Chuckervertty, a requiem, “Sir Prafulla was more than any- Chatterjee & Co. 1932 and 1935. one else, responsible for the great develop- 2. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Birth Cente- ment of scientific research in India during nary Volume, Calcutta University, 1962. the past fifty years ···.” 3.“History of Chemistry in Ancient and It is noteworthy that Acharya Jagadish Mideaval India” (Edited volume of Acharya Chandra Bose and Acharya Prafulla Chan- Ray’s “History of Hindu Chemistry”), Indian dra Ray were the first scientists in India af- Chemical Society, Calcutta, 1956. Unfor- ter a large gap. The earlier scientists like tunately, some parts of Acharya Ray’s com- ments on the decline of science in India have Aryabhatt, Barahamihira, and Brahmgupta been deleted in this edited volume. lived in the fifth and sixth centuries. There was some development in mathematics at 4. Original of “The History of Hindu Chemistry,” downloaded from www.archive.org a later time, but after Bhaskara (11th cen- tury) we find no further progress in any field 5. J. Lourdusamy, “Science and National Con- of science. Thus Acharya Jagadish Chan- sciousness in Bengal, 1870-1930” Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 2004. dra and Acharya Prafulla Chandra had no-

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