LIVING LEGENDS IN INDIAN SCIENCE Jayant Vishnu Narlikar Naresh Dadhich It was late 1964; newspapers all over the set every morning in IUCAA, Pune, so Like his mentor, Hoyle, JVN preferred country had a big frontpage splash, a long as we were both on the campus.) He to work in areas not fashionable but still young Indian don at Cambridge and his grew up in Banares and had therefore fundamental. He continued to make valu- senior research collaborator had been imbibed a good bit of North Indian man- able contributions to astronomy, although able to see beyond Einstein in their new ners and language. This was combined he deserved to receive greater apprecia- theory of gravitation. It had just been with the Marathi directness and disci- tion for his work. As I will show in the announced in the meeting of the Royal pline inherited from his parents, which following that he had half a dozen new Society, London and the announcement got further reinforced at Cambridge, not ideas and predictions to his credit that had been enthusiastically received. This to mention that there was always a living were ahead of the times and hence were was precisely what the young nation was Cambridge in VVN at home. The result not taken seriously at that time. However, looking for as it was hungry for such of these cultural inputs made a wonderful they have subsequently been accepted recognitions and it was the first big one. plural mix of attitude and mannerism. and verified observationally. In science For, an independent India was aspiring to The places of learning like BHU in the the real measure of one’s work is in creati- catch up with the Western world in all yesteryears fostered this wonderful social vity, in propounding a new idea or pre- spheres of life quickly, and more so in ethos. After completing B Sc at BHU, dicting some physical phenomenon and science, which is believed to be the key like his father JVN went to Cambridge as that gets subsequently accepted or verified. transformation vehicle for material pro- a Tata Fellow and excelled there too by On this count his contributions certainly gress. This is how Jayant Vishnu Narli- finishing the formidable Maths tripos stand among the best, yet they have not kar (JVN) arose with a bang on the with flying colours in record time. At attracted the attention they deserve. Indian science horizon. One does not that time Fred Hoyle was the most sought There are two things here – obser- have to stretch one’s imagination much after doctoral supervisor in astronomy vations may not always be sharp enough to know that he became a household and JVN’s contemporaries included the to give a decisive answer, but more name overnight, a science face of emerg- most illustrious band in Stephen Hawk- importantly, all observations have to be ing and aspiring India, and an iconic ing, Martin Rees, Brandon Carter and interpreted within a framework of a theo- role model. Exceptionally, he was George Ellis, all of whom are among the retical model. It is the latter which is a awarded the civilian award, Padma best-known science faces of the day. very involved and complex issue. In all Bhushan by the President of India. He is From this extraordinary abundance of fairness and true to the spirit of truth- perhaps the youngest Padma Bhushan talent and brilliance, Hoyle chose JVN as seeking, one should always keep one’s awardee. his doctoral student, and this told a mind open at this fundamental level. This JVN was born on 19 July 1938 at Kol- mighty lot on his reputation and standing stance, howsoever desirable and rational hapur (then a princely state) in Maha- as a student. It may also be mentioned it may appear, is unfortunately sadly rashtra. His parents, Sumati and Vishnu that JVN won the distinguished Smith’s lacking in the present-day scientific Vasudev Narlikar (VVN) were both Prize as a research student, and five community at large. One often sees all scholars, the former of Sanskrit and the years later, the prestigious Adams Prize attention bestowed on bandwagon-type latter, a legendary Professor of Mathe- in the august company of Roger Penrose ideas to the exclusion of other viable matics at Banares Hindu University and Stephen Hawking. alternatives. (BHU), Varanasi. JVN therefore had an ideal intellectual upbringing with San- skrit providing a beautiful classic touch and flavour which most of us so sadly lack. It is therefore no surprise when he often effortlessly switches on to appro- priate quotes from Sanskrit classics. VVN was one of the two persons, the other being N. R. Sen (Kolkata), who pioneered work in general relativity (GR) in the country. JVN thus had relativity in his ‘janmaghunti’ – the first taste of wa- ter at the birth, and he amazingly lived up well to remarkable initiation. Right from school, JVN was an out- standing all-round student who excelled in all subjects as well as had equally engaging interest in sports. He played badminton very well. (Later he switched Jayant’s graduation in Cambridge with his parents (Sumati and Vishnu Vasudev) and to tennis, and he and I used to play one brother Anant. CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 107, NO. 1, 10 JULY 2014 113 LIVING LEGENDS IN INDIAN SCIENCE Jayant Vishnu Narlikar Jayant Narlikar was born on 19 July 1938 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra and received his early education in the cam- pus of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where his father Vishnu Vasudeva Narlikar was Professor and Head of the Mathematics Department. His mother Sumati Narlikar was a Sanskrit scholar. After a brilliant career in school and college, Jayant got his B Sc degree in 1957. He went to Cambridge for higher studies, becoming a Wrangler and Tyson Medallist in the Mathematical Tripos. He got his Cambridge degrees in mathematics: B A (1960), Ph D (1963), M A (1964) and Sc D (1976), but specialized in astronomy and astrophysics. He distinguished himself at Cambridge with the Smith’s Prize in 1962 and the Adams Prize in 1967. He later stayed on at Cambridge till 1972, as Fellow of King’s College (1963–72) and Founder Staff Member of the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy (1966–72). During this period he laid the foundations of his research work in cosmology and astrophysics in col- laboration with his mentor Fred Hoyle. Jayant returned to India to join the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (1972–1989) where under his charge the Theoretical Astrophysics Group acquired international standing. In 1988 he was invited by the Univer- sity Grants Commission as Founder Director to set up the proposed Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). Under his direction IUCAA has acquired a world-wide reputation as a centre for excel- lence in teaching and research in astronomy and astrophysics. He retired from this position in 2003. He is now Emeritus Professor at IUCAA. In 2012 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) awarded him with a prize for set- ting up a centre for excellence in science. In 1966, Jayant married Mangala Rajwade, a Ph D in Mathematics. They have three daughters, Geeta, Girija and Leelavati, all of whom have opted for careers in science. Jayant is internationally known for his work in cosmology, in championing models alternative to the popularly believed big bang model. He was President of the Cosmology Commission of the International Astronomical Un- ion from 1994 to 1997. His work has been on the frontiers of gravity and Mach’s Principle, quantum cosmology and action at a distance physics. He has received several national and international awards and honorary doc- torates. He is a Bhatnagar awardee, as well as recipient of the M.P. Birla Award, the Prix Janssen of the French Astronomical Society and an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society of London. He is Fellow of the three national science academies as well as of TWAS. Apart from his scientific research, Jayant has been well known as a science communicator through his books, articles, and radio/TV programmes. For these efforts, he was hon- oured by the UNESCO in 1996 with the Kalinga Award. Jayant recently broke new grounds in space research. Since 1999 he has been heading an international team in pioneering experiments designed to sample air for microorganisms in the atmosphere at heights of up to 41 km. Biological studies of the samples collected in 2001 and 2005 led to the findings of live cells and bacteria, thus opening out the intriguing possibility that the Earth is being bombarded by microorganisms some of which might have seeded life itself here. Jayant was awarded Padmabhushan in 1965 (at the young age of 26), Padmavibhushan in 2004. In 2011, the Government of the State of Maharashtra gave him the State’s highest civilian honour Maharashtra Bhushan. One thing that stands out is that JVN has always been interested and worked on fundamental problems defying the strong peer group ‘bandwagon syndrome’ right from his graduate student days in early 1960s at Cambridge. As mentioned earlier, he probably acquired this trait from the legendary Hoyle, who was fiercely independent and enjoyed riding against the bandwagon. But more impor- tantly, like Hoyle, JVN has a mind of his own and also the courage and conviction to challenge the established view if it does not, in his own assessment, stand the test of independent and dispassionate scrutiny. This is what he has done all through his scientific career. His subse- quent professional isolation stems from this unflinching adherence to objective and dispassionate probing of facts and Jayant with Hoyles (Barbara and Fred) and the author.