Rakesh Kumar Pandit
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (C. V. Raman) was born on November 7, 1888 and passed away in 1970. He was a professor of Physics at the University of Calcutta where he did most of his research work. He was awarded Noble Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him (Raman Effect). The day on which Sir C. V Raman discovered the Raman Effect (28th February) is observed as National Science Day in India. He founded the Raman Research Institute Bangalore. He also became the fellow of Royal Society in 1924. His contribution in the development of scientific research institutes in India is immense. He was a genius and this reflects from his confidence when he wrote to G. D Birla, requesting him for funds to buy Spectrograph and assuring him that his discovery will definitely land a Noble Prize. Why our country is lagging far behind in creating new knowledge in science or to win Noble Prize in science after C V Raman. The reasons may be political as well as socio-cultural.
The life of a child starts at home. The parents and society are responsible for nurturing creativity in little minds in the early phase of life. Thereafter, comes the role of schools. At the school level, the creativity of Indian students gets killed, thanks to the joint role of parents, society and schools. The cream of the students gets selected in various Medical and Engineering Colleges of the country. Almost 80-90% students selected in Medical and Engineering Colleges are those who have not studied in regular schools but in coaching institutions/academies. These coaching institutions are being run in every small and big city in India now. These coaching institutions do not teach prescribed courses in detail but only train the students in tackling multiple choice questions being asked in competitive examinations. As a consequence sole purpose remains scoring more by solving multiple choice questions to get admission and the creativity takes the back seat. The Indian brain is as fertile as anywhere in the Europe and America, which are responsible for most of the inventions and discoveries in science. The reason being that this type of flourishing business in education is probably not there in Europe and America. At the higher level, the Colleges and Universities in India are also working in very conventional manner even after 1947. They are producing degree holders in very large numbers every year. Hence our Universities and Colleges have failed to produce world class scientists. The blame game always goes like that Indian Universities and Colleges suffered due to poor quality of infrastructure, lack of funding etc. but we should keep in mind the noble words of Noble laureate in Physics Sir C V Raman, “Good Science was not created merely by spending money, starting laboratories and passing orders. More important was the human element, and if quantity replaces quality then disaster would surely follow”. The challenge for India in new world of Science and Technology is to produce a Second C V Raman and many more out of population of 1.25 billion.
(The author is a teacher of Physics at GDC- Bhaderwah)
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