Make Presidency College C.V. Raman University

It was 80 years ago that the epoch-making discovery that placed India on the scientific map of the world and demonstrated that Indians under British imperialist rule were in no way ­intellectually inferior to other nationals. The discovery was later called the Raman Effect. It was made by C.V. Raman on February 28, 1928. In short, it is a change in wavelength when light or radiation is scattered by liquids. The discovery was not the result of an accident but was the culmination of systematic and sustained work carried out by Raman and his students. In 1930, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery. He was the second Indian to win the Nobel Prize (the first being Rabindranath Tagore) and the first to get it in science.

Nearly 40,000 research papers have so far been published on various aspects of the Raman Effect and the number appearing every year is well over 3000. Nobody, including the discoverer himself, would have ever dreamt of this degree of activity on Raman spectroscopy.

Later knighted, Sir C.V. Raman had a good sense of humour. During a party hosted in his honour, he was offered alcoholic drinks. He declined them saying, “You can see the effect of Raman on alcohol but not the effect of alcohol on Raman.”

Rightly, Rajiv Gandhi, when he was Prime Minister, declared February 28th as National Science Day, a day to be celebrated in schools and colleges.

It is necessary that seminars and symposiums be arranged in colleges and universities on various ramifications of the Raman Effect. Madras University and Presidency College (where Sir C.V. Raman and Dr. Chandrasekhar, another Nobel Laureate studied) should take the initiative in this, get funds from the State and Central Governments, and organise such activities in the last week of February every year. That will be a great tribute to the scientist.

But the best tribute to him and his discovery would be to name the university to be formed out of Presidency College (his alma mater) as C.V. Raman University in this sadhabishekam year of the great discovery.

R. Rajagopalan
Professor of Physics (Retd.)
C-1 (First Floor), Vaishnavi Flats
22, Muthu Mohammed Street
Puzhuthivakkamm, Chennai 600 091

Homer nods

I am a long-time reader of Madras Musings. Besides, I have been a reader of newspapers and magazines for over 70 years. Your reply in the Editor’s Note appended to the reader T M Sundararaman’s letter (MM, July 1st) was needlessly petulant and acerbic. To my knowledge, no Editor has put down a reader in the manner you have done. If only your readers seriously take to your advisory admonition ‘not to read if he does not want to as we are not compelling him to waste his time doing so’ and apply it to the entire Madras Musings, you would have contributed to the death knell of an excellent magazine.

Every reader is entitled to his views, whether it is to the liking of the Editor or not. Your Note without the objectionable last portion would have been adequate.

Madras Musings of the same date carried two articles. One on snakes and the other titled Synes of the Tymes. Both had nothing to do with Chennai that was Madras. In my view, Madras Musings, as an analogy, need not be pure 24 carat gold, confining itself only to history, culture, incidents, personalities, etc. of Chennai. Like 22 carat gold it could have limited adulteration to make it interesting, peppered with other topics.

M.G. Balasubramanian
“Mangala Ganesh”
15, II Floor, IV Seaward Road
Valmiki Nagar
Tiruvanmiyur
Chennai 600 041

Editor’s Note: Point noted, reader Balasubramaniam, but I don’t necessarily agree with you. I don’t know of any reader of a journal who reads it from the first word to the last. Many a reader who claims to read a journal ‘thoroughly’, often reads only the headlines and the first paragraphs and if they don’t interest him, he skips the rest. I am sure that has also been your experience over the years. But all those readers, who skip much of what does not interest them, do not write to editors that the ‘journal’ space and their time was being wasted. I wonder whether you have come across such complaints before. I haven’t. Reader Sundararaman, however, chose to be different and received a response that you appear to consider different, but only reflected what I have said above, namely that the contents of a journal may not please everyone but that should be no cause for complaint.

I regret that you found that response “needlessly petulant and acerbic”. It was not intended to be; it was a bit of plain speaking; if a reader expresses his views frankly, surely he should expect an equally frank reply, a frank response to a frankly expressed complaint. Does an honest response have no place in the world today? Or should I have taken the time-tested way and ignored the letter, tossing it into the wastepaper basket?

Gone to seed

The late S. Ramachander’s article (MM, July 1st) has rightly observed that “South Madras has monopolised all commerce, art, culture, media, civil administration”, etc. North Madras has been left with uncivil administration and gaana paatu culture.

Like the horse whisperers and dog whisperers in the West, what North Chennai needs is a man whisperer in the form of some messiah like MGR to lead it from darkness to light.

C.G. Prasad
9, C.S. Mudali Street
Kondithope,
Chennai 600 079

Pecking fish

The snake that pecks at the eye’ (MM, July 1st) reminded me of the case of a boy I knew who, while bathing in the river, opened his eyes and a fish had pecked at them. He almost lost his sight!

T.M. Sundararaman
19, Nallappan Street
Mylapore, Chennai 600 004

Inspiring letter

It was most heartening to read Gopal Krishna Gandhi’s letter to Satyamurti.

It was really inspiring and thought-provoking and I wish our younger generation reads this letter. I have read the letter more than once. The more I read, the more I get peace and joy.

Ariyur Ramamurthy
Flat 102, Hiranmayee Residency
131A, Teachers Colony
Secunderabad 500 026

Sad, sad colleges

I recently, read an article giv-ing a history of 168-year-old Presidency College. It was accompained by a large picture and looking at it what I saw was the different coloured windows and white patches where window panes were broken or left as they were. The red bricks are no longer bricks but a wall of red, a Chisholm speciality would make such a difference and better maintained. A college that produced many a Nobel Laureate surely needs to be preserved.

A few days later, history of Queen Mary’s College, which produced the first women graduates in the city, was published. The reporter seems to have hardly noticed that it has been left to rot even while it has been elevated to the Status of a deemed University. Is just producing graduates enough? Shouldn’t some care be given to maintenance and preservation?

I am 87. Both the colleges are my alma maters of which I am very proud. But after recent visits to both, I can only weep at the state of the buildings.

Anna Varki
1D Rosemere
18 Harrington Road
Chennai 600 031

Seating in buses

When women are treated on par with males in all spheres and are enjoying all the privileges as men, why should there be reserved seats for women in buses? When women occupy the other seats (supposed to be ‘general’ seats, according to MTC), aren’t they depriving men of their rights? Yet, ‘ladies’ seats’ are sacrosanct and they force you to get up if by oversight you sit in one of them.

When this is the case, why can’t the transport corporations earmark half the seats as ‘Gents’ seats’ (like ‘Ladies’) and leave only three rows as ‘General seats’ where couples and commuters of both sexes can sit and travel? How about some equal gender justice, transport corporations?

M. Fazal
11, Mosque Street
Hasthinapuram
Chennai - 600064