‘For him, money did not matter, ideas did’

I remember Prof MM Sharma would walk in the classroom with his hands in his pocket, would take a piece of chalk, go to the board and give a scholarly lecture without ever referring to any notes. He was simply dazzling.

I studied chemical engineering in the early sixties in what was then a University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT). It has risen to the status of a full-fledged university and has now been named as Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT). As its alumnus, I feel proud that I am its first chancellor.

I finished my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1966. Prof Sharma was my teacher during my undergraduate days. The top ranking students from ICT always used to get handsome PhD fellowships from some of the most reputed schools from the US. I had received four such fellowship offers and was all set to go abroad. But then I said to myself, ‘Where in the world could I get a better guru than Prof Sharma?’

So I broke the tradition and did my PhD under Prof Sharma. He had a transformative influence both on my work and life. So what was the first lesson I learnt from him?

ICT those days was an institution with no sophisticated equipment and with a contingency money for doing research of just Rs17,000 per year. So with no equipment and no money, how do you do your research? Prof Sharma said, “Money does not matter. Ideas matter.”

He taught to me how to do idea-based research. Prof Sharma was to later (1990) become the first engineering scientist from India to be honoured with Fellowship of Royal Society (FRS). This is considered to be one of the highest honours after the Nobel Prize. I was honoured with FRS too in 1998 for the research that I did after returning to National Chemical Laboratory in 1976.
In fact, we are the only ‘guru-chela’ combination in the history of Indian science, who both became FRS. Incidentally, only three engineering scientists have received this honour in over 350 years.

The second lesson was about ethics in science. While doing PhD with him, he refused to put his name on one of my papers and said, ‘All ideas are yours. I have not contributed.” And he showed such ethics with several other students.

The third lesson was of exceptional commitment to his duty to the students. I remember an instance where his young son had tragically passed away. Within 24 hours, he sent a message to his PhD student J.K. Gehlawat asking him to send the draft of his thesis for correction. He did not want Gehlawat’s submission of his thesis delayed. This was in the time of an incredible personal tragedy.

The fourth lesson was that in life, positions do not matter. Prof Sharma was offered the position of director general of CSIR, the position of secretary to Government of India in science departments. He refused them all. He remained a Professor all his life. India honoured this great Professor with Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

The fifth lesson was about the importance of uncompromising commitment to excellence, ethics, principles and big generosity of heart. I remember calling him on telephone from London when I got the news of my becoming FRS. He cried with joy. As I kept on growing higher, he would say, “I am so happy. Guru se chela sawai” (protégé smarter than his own teacher).

I consider myself to be so fortunate that in my life I had Prof Sharma, the most exceptional of exceptional sons of India, as my guru, guide, friend and philosopher.

Dr Raghunath Mashelkar is a renowned scientist and former director general of CSIR