Pune, Circa 1998. A dishevelled teenager, carrying a solitary haversack walked into our newspaper office and expressed his desire to meet renowned astrophysicist, Jayant Narlikar. “I am from Kerala and want to become an astrophysicist. I want to meet Professor Narlikar. Can you help me please?!” the teenager asked. Needless to say, all of us in the newsroom were taken aback by this sudden intrusion.
As it turned out, the teenager, who I would like to call Vinod was a Class 12 science student. Vinod had walked out of his home in north Kerala following an argument with his family over his unwillingness to attend junior college. He had boarded a train for Pune to meet the famous scientist. Being a science reporter then, I sat him down for a discussion. I told him that he needed to first complete a Masters in Physics to even dream of becoming an astrophysicist. Vinod seemed unfazed. “I do not like college, but I want to become an astrophysicist. Please take me to Prof Narlikar,” he insisted.
Narlikar was founder-director at the Pune-based Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). I therefore telephoned Arvind Paranjpye, the then science popularisation officer at IUCAA, requesting the eminent scientist’s possible intervention. I reckoned that a direct meeting with the scientist could clear the teenager’s confusion. But it was late evening and I wondered why Narlikar would waste his leisure hours on a confused teenager. However, Arvind called back saying, “You are lucky, Prof Narlikar has agreed to see the boy.”Narlikar met us on the lawns of the institute. After he had given Vinod a patient hearing, he said in his inimitable quiet voice, “Listen Vinod, I am happy you want to become an astrophysicist. However, you need to attend college and study hard before you achieve this dream.” The gracious scientist even asked Arvind to present Vinod with a couple of science books before bidding us goodbye.
The Narlikar magic worked. “I am very happy to have met Prof Narlikar. I am going to follow his advice,” Vinod said with a determined face. And while Vinod did not become an astrophysicist, he completed his software engineering and runs a successful enterprise today. As can be seen, Narlikar’s kind intervention changed a life.
A precocious talent, Narlikar completed his BSc at age 19, his Masters from Cambridge at 21 and PhD by age 25. By this time, he had also partnered with his guru, the internationally renowned astrophysicist, Sir Fred Hoyle to develop the conformal gravity theory, also known as the Hoyle-Narlikar theory. Not surprisingly, the Indian government awarded Narlikar with the Padma Bhushan at the young age of 27.
However, Narlikar has never let his many achievements affect his intrinsic humility. Once when school students were being introduced to him in the IUCAA cafeteria following an astronomy workshop, one student suddenly asked the scientist a rather awkward question— “Sir, while all of us are introducing ourselves, you have not told us, who you are?” Narlikar stepped back, smiled and said, “I am so sorry for this lapse. My name is Jayant Narlikar and I work in IUCAA.” As simple as that.
Yet another incident comes to mind. The Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) had organised an international seminar. Several noted scientists were in attendance. I was keen to get an exclusive interview with Prof Narlikar. Narlikar instead directed me to speak to Prof Govind Swarup, one of India’s foremost radio astronomers and Prof Yashpal, noted scientist and former chairman of the University Grants commission. “Both these gentlemen have contributed significantly to our nation. It will be very good idea to speak to them instead,” Narlikar said with a smile.
Narlikar has always been a visionary. During his tenure as IUCAA director, it bothered him that only two of the five doctoral seats got filled up. This is how he launched IUCAA’s college outreach programme across the country. This saw senior IUCAA scientists introduce astronomy and astrophysics to undergraduate science students and speak to them about career options in the field.
In an interview to me at that time, Narlikar said, “Interactions like these help us build bridges with young students. It is our mandate to grow human resources in this field.” According to Narlikar, most final year physics students did not know much about astronomy and astrophysics as it was not a part of their curriculum. Narlikar was of the opinion that astronomy had to be introduced in schools as part of science. “Presently, it is being taught as an off-shoot of geography. This is completely wrong,” Narlikar had said.
Narlikar is also known for his distinct humour. An excerpt from his autobiography in Marathi goes this way: “Once when I was appearing for my Class 12 mathematics examination, I completed the given paper comprising six questions in only one hour instead of the given three. I sat waiting in the examination room as we were not allowed to leave the room before a given time period. During this time an invigilator came up to me and said, “Think a little harder, you might be able to solve the paper!”.
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