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Seeking the Renaissance Man

Not many Bangaloreans know that Homi J Bhabha, the father of India’s atomic energy programme, spent a productive period in the city. A new book throws light on many such aspects of this inspiring scientist's life.

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Authors Dr Indira Chowdhury and Ananya Dasgupta feel a book on the life and work of Homi Jehangir Bhabha, considered the father of India’s atomic energy program, has been long overdue.

They mean to fill this gap with their book A Masterful Spirit, which they call more archival in nature than a biography, launched at Crossword, Residency Road, on Thursday.

“The idea of writing the book surfaced when I was setting up the archives of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. Bhabha’s unpublished letters, photographs, paintings and other personal memorabilia pieced together made for an inspiring story. I thought of writing the book in order to get the institute interested in its own history, since it was Bhabha who built the TIFR,” says Dr Indira Chowdhury.

“A book on Homi J Bhabha will certainly be educative and inspiring. I use his example to teach people even today; there is a lot one can learn from his life,” says professor UR Rao, former chairman, ISRO and secretary, Department of Space. “These days, the youth is being pushed to IT whether they have an interest in it or not. Bhabha’s story could be a great example for them. In a letter he wrote to his father, he said ‘It is no use telling Beethoven ‘You must be a scientist for it is great thing’ when he did not care for science; or to ask Socrates to be an engineer’. These words are inspiring,” says Rao.

Bhabha, India’s Renaissance Man, was one of the country’s most outstanding scientists who shouldered the beginnings of India’s nuclear programme. He was the first chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, and the builder of two of India’s most significant scientific institutions — the TIFR and the Atomic Energy Establishment, which was renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1966.

Not many are aware that Bhabha had a strong Bangalore connection — he was a Reader in the Physics Department of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, then headed by CV Raman. The book glimpses into the life and achievements of this man through previously unpublished letters, photographs, paintings, and the recollections of his family, friends, colleagues and students.

“We had the good fortune of meeting people who knew him,” says Chowdhury. “The book features letters exchanged between Bhabha and his childhood friend Homi Feervai too. We got access to these letters through Feervai’s wife Feroza Feervai in Mumbai.”
Bhabha’s story will be as inspiring to readers as it was for us, say the writers. “It’s understood that Bhabha had a few abstract thoughts as he was a scientist, but the fact that he paid attention to every little detail as well was really fascinating for me. For instance, we found a picture of a washbasin while doing the research. It had quotes from Bhabha saying that ‘this is too low, the water will splash on the shirt’. I found this quite inspiring,” says Chowdhury.
While Chowdhury was fascinated with the perfectionist in Bhabha, Dasgupta was inspired by his drive to do the best in every field. “I realised he a multi-faceted man — a scientist, a builder, a painter and much more, through the letters we collected. I was immediately pulled into his life after that,” says Dasgupta, adding that, “It’s a perfectly designed archival book that is sure to inspire readers, especially youngsters.”

Unlike other biographies, A Masterful Spirit is not written in chronological order. “We have talked about his early years at school, then college, then in Bangalore and so on. But, we’ve weaved in interesting interruptions, like his relationship with Nehru and JRD Tata, in that chronology to break the predictability of the book,” says Chowdhury.

Another aspect of the book that is unique according to the authors is its design. “After completing the manuscript of the book, we didn’t have a clear picture of how it was going to look. It was the book’s designer, Sarita Sundar of Trapeze Bangalore, who saw its design potential. She designed the book according to its content.

The Bauhaus movement that marked radical experimentation in all the arts inspired the design. Sundar has used a lot of red, steel grey and black. Each chapter of the book begins with a quote, either about Bhabha or from him,” Chowdhury elaborates.   

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