When
I think about our country, there are several things that come to my mind. Be it
our culture, heritage, food or history – we are unique and special in every
way. But the one thing that stands out in my mind is our intellect! Creativity,
knowledge and genius always abound in our land. Be it for the mathematical
zero, our engineering genes, insane GMAT scores or a slightly overkill IT
wizardry, our nerdiness is quite renowned across the globe. But then there
comes the bewildering paradox. History doesn’t do justice to our intellectual
legacy. Neither do we!
Ask
a child to name a few scientists and (s)he will go Einstein, Newton ,
Edison and so on. Ask elder intellectuals and
the list might find some additions like Darwin, Tesla, Madam Curie, Da Vinci
and say a few more. Trust me, if someone manages to mention J.C. Bose,
Ramanujam, C.V.Raman or Homi Bhabha then I would be over the moon. Rewind your
memory to the science textbooks of your 10th or 12th
standard and you will see my point. Did we read about Har Gobind Khorana’s
Nobel Prize for cracking the genetic code? May be! May be not! Have you heard
of “Boson” named after the legendary S.N.Bose? Probably not! How much mention
was there about Vikram Sarabhai? Sure we find a snippet here and a citation
there. But nothing beyond that!
My
point is two fold. One: we don’t celebrate our scientists enough. Two: We don’t
make them enough any more either! And for sure lack of potential or caliber is
not the reason for the latter. We live in a land extraordinaire. Here we can
find an entire spectrum of people ranging from extraordinarily brilliant,
capable and sincere all the way down to extraordinarily numb, dumb and corrupt.
This is one kind of diversity our country can live without. And in this vast
jungle of herbs and weeds interspersed by beautiful trees and carnivorous
pitchers, even the noblest of intentions and most cerebral of ideas can
disappear without a trace caught in the quicksand of something we have always
been famous for: “Officialdom”!
While
there are several obstacles to science in our country including our current higher
education system and the social perception of professional education (I intend
to write about the lack of societal respect for science, arts and humanities
later), the single most dominant force that has straggled science for ages is
the ubiquitous and obnoxiously recalcitrant Indian bureaucracy and red tape. We
all know about this perennial curse that continues to demoralize our spirits in
many ways and in many fields but the maladies suffered by science at the hands
of this demon are so prosaic and debilitating that the resulting casualties are
countless!
Does
the name Dr.Subhas Mukherjee (Mukhopadhyay) ring a bell? If it does, you are
elite and if it doesn’t; then you are not alone! He is an unsung, forgotten
hero who didn’t get anything he deserved and most certainly didn’t deserve
anything he got! Dr.Subhas Mukhrjee was the creator of India
There
were just 67 days between the births of the first test tube baby (Louise Brown
– born 25th July 1978) pioneered by Robert G.Edwards and the second (Durga –
3rd October 1978) brought to life by Dr.Subhas Mukherjee. Both Subhas and
Robert were great scientists, doctors and legends who independently gave the
world “In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)”. But the similarities end there. Dr.Robert
Edwards won the Nobel Prize for his achievement in 2010 while Dr.Subhas hanged
himself to death in 1981. His suicide note read: "I can't wait everyday
for a heart attack to kill me."
While
Dr.Edwards’s efforts were quickly recognized and glorified by his country, an
‘expert committee’ was appointed by the Government of West Bengal under the
medical association and he was tried like a convict. His crimes: he did
the impossible with bare minimum apparatus; he didn’t get it cleared by
pandering to the so-called experts and bureaucrats; he was righteous and not
subservient. Hence, for these heinous crimes, he was awarded with social ostracization
and bureaucratic reprimand which left a permanent scar in his heart. The
committee denounced all his claims and achievements. He was denied leave to
write a detailed report of his results and to attend a meeting in
A
few years later in 1986, T.C. Anand Kumar created Harsha , India India India
Science
has come a long way and certainly there have been improvements as it is slowly
chipping away from the clutches of bureaucracy. But rosy days are still far off.
Namita, Subhas’s wife, frail and bed-ridden still yearns for the day she will
see an Institute named after her husband whose only sign yet is a dust covered
plaque and a listing in some governmental file. While his own country has
abandoned him, the world continues to discover and honor him in little ways
that bring some solace to my aching heart. The international scientist
community is slowly accepting Dr Subhas Mukhopadhyay's claim and recognizing India
**
Dr Mukhopadhyay's story was immortalised in the 1991 film Ek Doctor Ki
Maut starring Pankaj Kapur and Shabana Azmi. (Watch it if you are interested)
Recognition:
Other References:
