Climbing the Limitless Ladder

The following sections are included:

• Prologue

• Contents

In the 1930s and 40s, Bangalore was a quiet and peaceful city, with rustic surroundings and a leisurely atmosphere. Not too far from Bangalore, there were tigers in the jungles. In the south of Bangalore, elephants roamed freely. Life in the city was simple and there was little room for excitement. One ate simple food at home at fixed hours and went to school. Young people played simple games in the evening, and only a small number of them played cricket and other modern sports. Roaming through the streets in the vicinity of one's residence or spending time with friends was the main entertainment. Roads in Bangalore were empty except for an occasional bus of the Bangalore Transport Corporation. It seemed everyone walked to school or college and a fortunate few owned bicycles. The mode of transportation for most people was walking. There were horse-drawn carts to go to the railway station if the luggage was limited. Bullock carts were available for transferring heavy goods. On any occasion, if one wanted to shop in the city market or in the big shopping area in the centre of the city, all he/she had to do was to walk for a few miles. One could also take a bus to the city market…

My search for a direction was answered by admission to the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). I had decided to become a chemist and told my parents of my desire. As always, my parents wanted me to do what I liked most. They trusted my judgement completely. Studying in Banaras implied that my parents had to send me around Rs. 75 per month for expenses. This was a big amount those days, and my father said that he would somehow manage it. I had done much better in physics than in chemistry in my B.Sc and I hoped that someday I would study physics as well…

I decided to return home in 1959 since I thought that I could be of more use in India than in the US, and also because I wanted to make my parents happy. I reached Bombay by air and stayed there for two days to clear the luggage that was sent by sea through customs. After completing this horrendous task, I landed in Bangalore by a small Dakota aircraft from Bombay which arrived early in the morning. My parents, my grandparents and a few close relatives were at the small airport to receive me. It was an emotional welcome. It was good to be back in Bangalore. Bangalore had not changed…

I decided to return to the Indian Institute of Science from IIT Kanpur and rejoined the Institute in November 1976. Satish Dhawan had promised me just a lakh of rupees and a secretary to start a new department devoted to solid state and structural chemistry. He had also told me that I could recruit two faculty members for the new department and requested me not to ask for a house in the campus since the housing situation was difficult. I was living in a fine house in the IIT Kanpur campus, but had to rent a house in Malleswaram paying almost half of my salary. I did not want to complain at that time or to get perturbed by extraneous factors. I just wanted to start building a new department devoted to my subject. The move to Bangalore caused considerable problems with the education of my children. Indu could not leave Kanpur with me since our daughter Suchitra was taking the higher secondary examination. I went to Bangalore by air from Delhi using my own limited funds. Sanjay came by train with a student from Kanpur to join the Central School. I brought our dog, Beatle, to Bangalore by air on one of my visits to Kanpur. He was small and was allowed to sit underneath my seat. The calmpose pills that I had given him, however, had no effect. Eventually, we all got together in early 1977 after Indu and Suchitra arrived in Bangalore. Suchitra joined a college in Bangalore…

When I was young, I was always hesitant to meet administrators, commissioners, secretaries to government and so on. When minor officials from a ministry came to our institute, people looked up to them and treated them like demi-gods. When heads of institutions behaved in such manner, the young people would get more nervous. This situation probably still exists. Administrators have somehow built such an aura about themselves that there is a feeling in most of us that without them the country cannot move forward. There may be some truth in this statement, since civil servants do run the country independent of political situations…

One of the most pleasant aspects of being a scientist is the opportunity to belong to a large fraternity. One gets to know people from everywhere through science, giving a sense of belonging to the world at large. Best friends may not necessarily be from one's own country. This is true in my case. It is not because I have participated in many international conferences or because I have been a professor in a few places around the world, but due to collaboration in research and my involvement in several international scientific organizations. Such association has made me realise the bigger role of science and also of the greater power of science…

I became 75 years old on June 30, 2009, 58 years after I first entered a research laboratory and 50 years after I embarked on an academic career. In 2011, I will celebrate the diamond jubilee of my research career. I have had a wonderful life doing science, and have enjoyed doing research even more after I turned 60. I feel that I have done my best work since then. In the last forty years or so, I have been elected to almost all the major science academies of the world and have been recognized in various ways by professional societies and others. As I am getting older, I am getting an increasing number of invitations to lecture all over the world and to be a visiting or adjunct professor in foreign universities. I have been a distinguished visiting professor at UC Santa Barbara and Berkeley for sometime, but I recently decided not to move out of my base in Bangalore for long periods. A university in the Middle East offered me an unbelievable salary if I could go over there for a year or two (or even for a month each year). I took no time to refuse the offer, though politely. Money has not been the attraction in my life (fortunately). I have received 48 honorary doctorate degrees from both Indian and foreign universities. I have found real solace and satisfaction in the research papers coming out of my laboratory. I have had dedicated research students at the Indian Institute of Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Most of my research has been done through students who have given their best during their stay in my laboratory. I have always had 12 to 15 Ph.D students working with me. Including Masters' students, project assistants and post-doctoral fellows, the size of my research group is generally 20 to 25. Around 140 young people have received Ph.D degrees while working with me. I have also guided the Ph.D research of several students even though I was not formally their research supervisor. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with students and other coworkers. I have been writing research papers all my life (almost every day of my life), and without even knowing, I have become an author of over 1400 research papers and 42 books. The publishing virus that attacked me in my youth seems to have had a powerful effect. The virus is harmless and even seems beneficial. I am told that our papers have been cited widely (close to 40,000 times), giving me a high H-index. What is more noteworthy, however, is the way my research subject has grown over the past few decades…

Scientific pursuit is essentially a creative urge. Science is also an important part of our culture. Science is a demanding master, not easy to satisfy. Only those who completely submit to it seem to reap the benefits in terms of intellectual excitement and satisfaction. In this context, it is beneficial to recall the lives and work of great men who accomplished against all odds and would not give up easily. What is also wonderful is that there is no limit to scientific pursuit. It is thrilling to witness the way ideas which start off as a mere grain of pollen develop to become forests and continents. Nothing can be more rewarding to a scientist than achieving a state where doing science becomes a way of life.

The following sections are included:

• Appendices
  • Chemistry of Materials: A Letter to a Young Friend
  • Science and Spirituality: Personal Reflections
  • Science in the Future of India

• Scientific Collaborators

• Index