Prof. B.L Kaul
The term serendipity was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. It was suggested by a fairly tale, The three Princes of Serendip. Swarn deep is the old name for Srilanka, and serendipity means the occurrence and development of events by chance, in a happy or beneficial way. As the Princes travelled they were constantly making ‘discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’. In the fairy tale, the Princes used a considerable amount of common sense in the application and development of their discoveries.
Serendipity has played a major part in many important scientific discoveries, including the potential and nature of penicillin and the ‘double helix’ of DNA. It was by a very happy coincidence that Charles Darwin embarked with Captain FitzRoy in H.M.S. Beagle. He might well have become a member of the medical profession had he not developed an antipathy to the blood and screams that accompanied surgical operations before the days of anesthetics! So his father sent him to Cambridge to study for a degree in theology. Here he enjoyed his passion for hunting, shooting, and collecting butterflies. He made many friends including Professor Henslow, the botanist, who introduced him to Robert FitzRoy. Imagine could Newton enunciate ‘Law of Gravity’ had he not observed an apple falling from a tree.
Another classical example of Serendipity is the chance discovery of structure of benzene by the organic chemist Kekule who was working on its structure but was not able to conceive of one till one day he fell asleep and saw in his dream snakes dancing with tails in their mouths. When he woke up his dream was vivid in his mind. He worked on a circular model and to his joy discovered structure of benzene. Doubtless serendipity will have helped in many lucky breaks during the lives and researches of recent and current scientists. Indeed, but for a good deal of Serendipity in my youth I might not have become a naturalist.
I realize that this account must seem egotistical, but experiences of serendipity cannot avoid being self-centered. In the year 1959 I appeared in intermediate Examination (Present day 10+2) of the erstwhile University of Jammu and Kashmir. One of my biology practical examiners was Dr. Bhatia, an eminent Zoologist. He asked me what I would like to do after passing intermediate examination. Quick was my reply that I would study medicine. He asked me what attracted me to the medical profession. I did not have a clear answer. He then suggested that I should study natural history not medicine. Perhaps he thought that I would make a better natural historian than a doctor. Hardly did I realize then that the suggestion would change course of my life. Since my parents wanted me to pursue medicine I applied for a seat in the newly opened Government Medical College at Srinagar. Subsequently my name did not figure in the selection list though most selected candidates were lower in rank to me.
I enrolled for B.Sc degree at S.P. College Srinagar. On a particular day after performing chemistry practicals I just walked to the nearby private office of the then Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, where he used to give audience to people and listen to their grievances. I scribbled a few lines on a sheet of paper to express my disappointment for dropping my name from the selection list despite higher merit. As I approached the Prime Minister, sitting on a chair with a small table in front in a big hall with a large number of people sitting in chairs and handed over my representation to him. He flung it on the floor without reading its contents or listening to me. I felt bewildered as perhaps I was too young to understand the reason. May be he was in a bad temper at that time. I just walked away with a resolve to peruse Dr. Bhatia’s advice. I never applied for a medical seat again even against the wishes of my parents. I ended up becoming a zoologist.
Serendipity again played its role as I registered for a doctoral degree at Kashmir University under supervision of Prof. S.M. Das an eminent Zoologist and Chairman of the post-graduate department there. He had taken a liking for me as an M.Sc student selected me for perusing fish biology. My own maternal grandfather Pandit Sodhama had played an important role in establishing trout fisheries in Jammu & Kashmir as an associate of Mr. Frank Mitchel, a Scot running a carpet factory at Srinagar. In my research I had selected five indigenous and one exotic fish species. Although my supervisor had suggested to study only four species I added two more by a mere chance suggestion by my teacher Dr. P.L. Duda. On his suggestion I included two small indigenous fish namely “Kandi gurun” (Botia birdi) and “Aneur” (Glyptothorax kashmirensis). As luck would have it, study of these two species gave me wonderful results I discovered why Botia disappeared from lakes in summer and appeared in the-Jhelum river. These fish travelled to the river for the purpose of breeding. Most were caught by fisherman and ended up on our tables. The anatomy of Glyptothorax showed some features hitherto unknown in any fish species. The male possessed bottle brush-like testes and both sexes in their little kidneys possessed giant glomeruli not seen in any other fish species in the world .These discoveries were widely aplauded by fish biologists.
On a visit to England in the year 2003 I visited the famous Liverpool Museum. While I was strolling through the corridors of the museum I happened to read the name plate of Dr. John Edmondson, Head of Science Division. I sent in my visiting card through his assistant with a request to meet him. He immediately called me in. As I entered his office he received me warmly. As I told him about my back ground he felt happy and told me that he was a Botanist. A chance meeting soon turned into friendship. He introduced me to his colleagues in the sections of botany, geology, entomology, fisheries, wildlife etc. He told me about the Linnaean Society of London the oldest association of natural historians of which he was Botanical Secretary. He also got me an appointment to see Dr. Gordon Reid, a Zoologist, Director General of Zoos in North England at Chester. Dr. Gordon Reid was the current President of the Linnaean Society of London. I found him a very knowledgeable person having worked in the fish taxonomy of central Africa. He had also been an earlier President of World Wide Fund for Nature and had in-depth knowledge of Indian Wildlife. The same year he recommended my name as a Foreign Fellow of the Linnaean Society.
Serendipity had yet again played its role and made me part of a Internationally acclaimed organization where Charles Darwin had along with Wallace enunciated ‘Theory of Natural Selection’ in the year 1859. Thus I became a member of an organization where I get ample opportunities to rub shoulders with, most respected natural historians of the world.
(The author is a former Principal of SPMR College of Commerce and Management. Jammu)
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