Scientist, leader & institution-builder

S N Tandon

YASH PAL, scientist, educationalist, builder of institutions, and a great leader passed away on the morning of July 25. He was a popular public figure and a lot has been written about him. I will try to give a glimpse of his person. My association with him was of more than five decades — first as his Ph D student and later as a colleague and friend. 

When I saw Yash (as he was called by his friends), first in the year 1963 in TIFR, his persona, with a pipe in mouth, generated a sense of awe in my semi-rural mind. However, when I actually met him, I was put at ease within minutes by his informal and gentle style of conversation. Soon, I started working with him and his students, on problems relating to transport, interactions, and composition of Cosmic Rays. The approach was simple but new to me. A question is raised, it is thought over by individuals with rounds of group discussions to arrive at a plausible solution, before looking for solutions provided, if any, by others. This was an effective method to encourage independent thinking about any question. He was the happiest when exploring a new idea, making simple and rough estimates to check the implications and confirm that it works. The detailed calculations could follow these essential steps. Perhaps, citing an example would not be out of place here. 

During the 1960s, he was interested in experimental investigation of possible presence of anti-matter in the astronomical bodies by looking for anti-nuclei (similar to nuclei of atoms we are made of, but with an electrical charge which is opposite or negative) in Cosmic Rays. This investigation called for measuring the sense of bending of the particles in a magnetic field by an instrument flown in a balloon from Hyderabad. The challenge in this experiment was to measure bending of few tens of micrometres over some tens of centimetres. After a thorough discussion within the group, it was realised that the experiment required very thin and very flat glass plates and a measuring machine which could measure distances to a few micrometres over twenty centimetres — big demands which were not readily available in those days. Once configuration of the experiment and the basic requirements were understood, with great confidence he announced the decision to go ahead with the experiment and that solutions for the details would be found in due course. With his optimism and guidance, a successful experiment was conducted to place upper limits on the fraction of anti-nuclei, and hence fraction of anti-matter in the astronomical bodies producing Cosmic Rays.

In 1972, he took up the responsibility for setting up the Space Applications Centre of ISRO at Ahmedabad. It was a big change from being an established Professor at TIFR working on fundamental research to creating a large facility to exploit space technology for national benefit. SITE, the very first project at this centre very dear to his heart, was aimed at enabling mass education in isolated villages. It required setting up all the systems for transmission to the satellite, and reception of weak signals from the satellite in large number of villages. The success of this project in a short three-year period required all of Yash's leadership qualities: tenacity, optimism, an open mind and confidence to solve any problem, guiding and encouraging young persons to take up difficult tasks, and interdisciplinary vision. He developed a strong group of young engineers full of enthusiasm and confidence. This tradition set by him continues at the Space Applications Centre. It continues to develop systems for remote sensing and communication, which are state of the art or better, for our country.

After leaving ISRO, he was the Chief Consultant with the Planning Commission in 1983, Secretary of Department of Science and Technology for three years, and Chairman of the UGC during 1986 to 1991. During his term at UGC he oversaw establishment of inter-university centres to provide centralised facilities for research to teachers in universities. His vision of these centres was not centralisation but optimal use of expensive resources which could not be made available to individual universities. In addition, Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) was set up to provide ready access to current literature to universities through information technology. 

He was very concerned with the state of education at all levels which did not encourage the spirit of observation and enquiry. He deeply felt that through its excessive burden, our education did not allow time for free thinking and took away the joy of learning. He chaired several committees for improvements of primary-secondary as well as higher education. The reports from these committees always emphasised the need to encourage the students to observe and enquire about the nature and their surroundings, and the need to relate the material of the books to the local surroundings and culture. 

While the reports by his committees made recommendations about drastic changes to educational methods, the realist in him sensed the difficulties in implanting basic changes. 

His attitude toward learning by observation and questioning was probably best seen through the television show "Turning Point". To him, the questions asked of him were no less than learning by the curiosity of children. In the show, he discussed the questions and explain the basic concepts involved in answering these. I remember a few occasions when he discussed some of these questions with me with great enthusiasm — questions relating to phenomena which most of us see in everyday life but do not observe — such as how a simple taraju works or what all happens when a container with water is heated on a gas stove or why one layer of a puri is thicker than the other. 

For a man with so many achievements, he appeared surprisingly easy going. With his humanism, egalitarianism, broad and tolerant outlook, and generosity he was able to connect easily with people of all ages from different backgrounds and occupations. On several occasions, we were fortunate to host Yash and Nirmal (his wife) at our home. In informal conversations during these visits, Nirmal did not hesitate to make fun of him, which he always accepted with a smile or laughter. Yash is gone but his values and wisdom will guide us. 

The writer, Emeritus Professor at the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, did his PhD in Physics under the guidance of  Yash Pal at TIFR, Mumbai

Learning should be a joy, not a burden

The report on “Learning Without Burden”, by Yash Pal in its recommendations states:  There is a deeper malaise in our society, which impacts our young children. If we continue to value a few elite qualifications far more than real competence for doing useful things in life, and if the economic distance, between those who can manage to cross some academic hurdles and those who can't, continues to widen, we will probably continue to spend our effort in designing hurdles instead of opportunities for children to learn with joy.