Tag Archives: Humanity

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Gandhi, King and Mandela

On this 2nd October 2025, Gandhi Jayanti (birth anniversary), I am trying to remember these three men who had enormous influence in the World. Not just in world politics but also in influencing the masses. I had written a blog earlier about Gandhi’s visit to IISc on 12 July 1927 (1).

I am very active in Facebook and have posted my views on everything that interests me now and then. I watched the movie “American Sniper” directed by Clint Eastwood and released in 2014, recently during a long flight. The sniper (Chris Kyle, performed by Bradley Cooper) says once: An eye for an eye! I was reminded of one of the famous quote by Gandhi: Eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. I posted about this after returning from the trip. Apparently, it is an age-old concept and appears in the book of Exodus in Bible, Old Testament (Exodus 21:24) according to a Google search enabled by AI today. Humanity has been discussing about crime and punishment since we started living as a society. One of the successful movies of Director Shankar, Anniyan, lists out punishments for some crimes from Garudapuranam and it was horrifying. Nassim Nicholas Taleb discusses evolution of moral symmetry in his popular book “Skin in the Game” (2). He talks about silver rule (Do not treat others the way you would not like them to treat you) and golden rule (Treat others the way you would like them to treat you) and says silver rule is better. He points out that the silver rule tells you to mind your own business and not decide what is good for others. I see this in the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who became known as Mahatma Gandhi (Mahatma meaning a great soul).

Mohandas was born in a well-to-do family in Porbandar, Gujarat. As a child, he had read the story of Harishchnadra, who would always speak the truth without worrying about the consequences. He trained as a Lawyer at the Inner Temple in London and started practicing law when he was 22. Clearly, he was not an activist yet. After 2 years of not so successful practice in India, he went to South Africa to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He lived in South Africa for 21 years. His life in South Africa transformed him completely and he became a civil-rights activist. While traveling in First Class in a train, he was thrown out of the train as First Class was only for the Whites. Most humans, irrespective of their space and time, may have felt discriminated at some point in time in their life. Rarely, any of them recognize that they may have discriminated others in other circumstances. Gandhi was different. He immediately realized that people were discriminated in India based on caste and we had untouchability practiced at that time. He followed the silver rule quoted above. He chose non-violent means to fight for the rights of every human being. His autorbiography was titled ‘Experiments with Truth’ and he embodied truth and non-violence. He returned to India in 1915 and led the freedom movement and is widely considered the Father of Nation in India. Even today, I see a lot of people who are convinced that they should be treated well even while treating fellow citizens with contempt. Ironically, some of them now call Gandhi a hypocrite.

While on a visit to the Indian Institute of Science, he pointed out that the 30 Lakhs donated by Tata and also the generous contributions from the Mysore King, both originated from the same labour of the poor millions! He accused the elites of taking the poor for granted and acting as if ‘they knew what is good for everyone’. One can see why Taleb preferred silver rule to the golden rule. Gandhi wanted all the research efforts to have the welfare of the poor as the main objective. As I mentioned in my blog, I do not really agree with this as a true scientist has to pursue research in search of truth, which Gandhi wanted to represent. The outcome may or maynot benefit the poor immediately or eventually. He said ‘No taxation without representation’ and that is the Skin in the Game given as title by Taleb. I read about the shut down of the US Government which would affect every Government employee, except the ones in Congress and Senate and all those directly involved in the Government. All these law makers have exempted themselves from any such shutdown that would affect salary disbursement to the employees. Clearly, they have no skin in their game. Gandhi did. He influenced the world population significantly. Einstein once remarked: “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”.

Among the leaders who were significantly influenced by Gandhi are Martin Luther King, the civil rights activist from USA and Nelson Mandela from South Africa. Decades after Gandhi left South Africa, the native africans were exploited by the White settlers. Eventually, the whole world boycotted South Africa and apertheid was lifted and democracy born. Nelson Mandela was in prison for three decades. He was released and won the election to become the President of South Africa. He once remarked: If you want to make peace with your enemy, he becomes your friend. It would have been easier for him to arrest everyone who was responsible for prisoning him and put them in prision. Eye for an eye. Real leaders want everyone to grow together. Clint Eastwood made another great film on Mandela titled ‘Invictus’ with Morgan Freeman portraying Mandela. Despite the uneasy relationship with the White settlers and the native Africans based on mutual lack of trust and respect, Mandela realized the importance of building trust and respect. He also realized the importance of sport and discussed with the White captain of Rugby team Francois Pienaar, played by Matt Daemon and supported them to win the World cup. Mandela’s objective is peaceful coexistence and progress and was never divisive.

Martin Luther King was influenced by Gandhi and led a non-violent movement to end civil discrimination in the US. Though slavery was abolished by Lincoln in the 19th century, discrimination of the native americans and african americans continued until the 1960s. I had written a blog about Rosa Parks, who was asked to vacate a seat in the bus for a white man earlier (3). When a White law maker reminded King that no law will make a white man love a black man, King responded: I want a law that will forbid the White man from beating up a black man. He was particular about the well-being of all his followers. During a march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, with a brutal police force awaiting them, King called off the march and returned. His followers were upset, angry and confused. He abandoned the march as he feared for violence and loss of lives. He eventually succeeded in his attempts to get voting rights for every citizen through legal and non-violent means.

The photos taken from https://www.thehansindia.com/hans/opinion/news-analysis/relevancy-of-gandhi-king-mandela-ideals-802437

Prior to Gandhi, we had Buddha and Jesus. One of the popular songs of the cine-actor turned politician, MGR, film starts with the question ‘Why were Buddha, Jesus and Gandhi born? They were born to uplift the humans’ (4). This was written by Vaali, who had penned many songs for MGR. MGR in another film song, also written by Vaali, characterized Annadurai, the first CM of Tamil Nadu from the Dravidian movement as Gandhi of South (5). Annadurai was always against his party workers losing their life and career and he advised them to be mindful of their responsibilities. He brought in changes to the society through convincing people, winning elections and bringing in laws. One such law sanctifies marriages conducted without any rituals and not sanctifed by a religious head. Somewhat coincidentally, my marriage was conducted in this way and it is legal thanks to the law he brought in. Taleb in his book classifies people in to three different kinds: People with no skin in the game, skin in the game and skin in the game of others or soul in the game. His example for the three kinds are politicians, activists and revolutionaries (dissidents). Those with no skin in the game seek awards, prizes, honors, ceremonies and medals. Those who have soul in their game get the highest (even only) award which is death for one’s ideas and positions. He lists Socrates, Jesus, Saint Catherine, Hypatia and Joan of Arc. We have added Gandhi and King to the list. Thankfully, Mandela had a full life. Buddha managed it too. However, the powers that be who were affected by Buddha’s rebel could ensure that his fight against rituals was annuled eventually. Will the humanity ever learn and progress together?

References:

  1. https://earunan.org/2017/07/11/indian-institute-of-science-on-12th-of-july-mahatma-gandhi-and-morris-travers/
  2. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, “Skin in the game: Hidden asymmetries in daily life”, Penguin Books, printed in India by Thomson Press India Limited, New Delhi. Page 19.
  3. https://earunan.org/2015/02/01/rosa-parks-and-mooka-nadar-recent-tales-from-the-worlds-oldest-and-largest-democracies/
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TsCVgK5umM
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY3Q-PDv9qg

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Science and politics

The organizers of the Astronomy Olympiad this year decided to suspend Israel from participation over its military actions in Gaza (1). I learnt from someone that a similar decision suspending Russia was taken in the previous edition following Russia’s war against Ukraine. A group of scientists have complained to the Prime Minister of India (2). They urged the PMO to take swift action urging the government to step in and create clear guidelines to prevent future events from being politicised. My personal view on this topic is that Scientists should raise above the differences that erupt between nations from time to time and continue people to people interactions. Not only science, sports, arts and all other activities that involve participation from the public should continue as much as possible. Banning cricket with Pakistan is invariably done all the time by BCCI and Indian Government. I was lucky to have had a chance to visit Karachi to attend a scientific conference in 2014. I enjoyed my visit and found that people there are very much like us.

I have been an Editor for the Journal of Molecular Structure. After the Ukraine war, the group of Editors of this Journal decided to ban articles from authors with Russian affiliation. I strongly objected to this and asked them if they considered any such action when the US started an unprovoked war against Iraq. There was no response to this pointed question. Significant majority of the Editors were from Europe and with a majority decision, the Journal stopped accepting articles from Russia. The publisher Elsevier did not follow this policy. They permitted the Editors to reject papers from Russia, as Editors make the final decision about accepting a manuscript. None of the other Journals published by Elsevier did this. Though, I objected, I let the majority decide and did not handle manuscripts from Russia. After sometime, Editors decided to stop this ban. Both announcements were made in public in the Journal website and I am not disclosing any private information (3).

Despite my personal views on this, I find the letter written by 300+ scientists as the real, narrow political activism and not the decision by Olympiad. As mentioned above, the same organization has suspended Russian participation after the Ukraine war. Firstly, the letter misleads the Government by claiming some Indian scientists hijacked the forum and took this action to embarrass the Government. This is a very difficult conclusion to reach given the history of the organization. The event this year happened in TIFR. However, the Olympiad organization has representatives from many countries. They have released a statement clearing the air (4), which reads as follows : “The resolution to suspend Israel from future International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) editions over its military actions in Gaza was taken by an overwhelming majority of the international board consisting of over 120 individuals from 63 different countries”. They were worried about the starvation and genocide in Gaza and decided that they should take some action. On 10th August 2025, an emergency security council meeting of the UN has warned Israel from taking over Gaza (5). Clearly, the Astronomy Olympiad was not acting in isolation driven by any ideology. Perhaps, acting on humanitarian considerations and worrying about mass murder are some condemnable ‘ideology’ for the group of scientists who have condemned the faculty members from India and complained to the PMO. None of them had any clue that within a short period, Indian PM will attend the SCO meet in China and join the condemnation of US and Israel for their unprovoked attack on Iran (6).

The action by the Indian scientists is rather unfortunate. Should scientists have any consideration beyond their work? There is no right answer to this question. Saha felt Scientists should be active in nation building and join the freedom fight. He wanted to write a science policy for India before independence. Raman felt it was not for scientists to do this and was focusing on his work. The book by Abha Sur titled Dispersed Radiance discusses this in detail (7). Einstein wrote to the US president persuading US to work on nuclear bomb to stop Germany. He would not have imagined that Germany would stop before the nuclear bomb and use of nuclear bomb on Japan may not have been necessary to stop Japan which was already down. It is very difficult to justify the second bomb on Nagasaki. I did visit Hiroshima and one becomes numb looking at the museum there. Nuclear bombs are the result of chain reactions but the chain reaction this created in pushing more and more nations to go nuclear is extremely dangerous. Though Einstein wrote to the US President to go nuclear, I am not sure if he wrote to any Government urging them to take action on any other scientist. The American Chemical Society had concerns about the role played by Peter Debye in Germany and contemplated withdrawing his name from the award given for contributions to physical chemistry. The award continues in Debye’s name. I had written an article on Debye in Resonance which gives some references to this (8).

I read the letter and none of the accusations would stand any scrutiny. The Olympiad released the statement taking responsibility for the action. South Africa was practicing apartheid and international boycatt did help in bringing an end to the apertheid. India played the first cricket match with South Africa when the apartheid and boycatt ended.

I joined the International Advisory Board of the Horizons in Hydrogen Bond Research Conference in 2011, just after successfully completing an IUPAC project to redefine hydrogen bond. When I joined the board, most of the members were from Europe with few from the USA and one from Japan and none from India. I have been attending this biannual conference without fail ever since. The series of conferences goes back to 1977 and was started by Prof. Lucjan Sobczyk in Poland. This year it will be in Germany (9). In 2015, the conference was held in Poland and there was a felicitation of Prof. Sobczyk. I was moved by his talk after the felicitation. He mentioned that scientists used this conference to meet continuously during the cold war. The conference alternated between East and West Europe and was never held anywhere else in the globe. In 2011, I volunteered to organize this in India and the committee turned it down. I realized the reason when I was listening to Prof. Sobczyk. Everything changes with time and in particular politics. India will host this conference in 2027 with Prof. Aloke Das of IISER, Pune as the convener. I only wish the Scientists from India did not write any such letter to PMO accusing the fellow scientists and showed some maturity.

References:

  1. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/astronomy-olympiad-held-in-mumbai-this-year-suspends-israel-from-future-editions/article69954499.ece (accessed on 2 September 2025)
  2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/israels-ouster-from-mumbai-event-splits-indian-scientists/articleshow/123574227.cms (accessed on 2 September 2025)
  3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-molecular-structure/about/announcements (Accessed on 2 September 2025).
  4. ‘https://sciencechronicle.in/2025/08/31/ioaa-statement-clears-the-air-on-israels-suspension-from-future-astronomy-olympiad-events/ (Accessed on 2 September 2025).
  5. https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1161816 (accessed on2 September 2025)
  6. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/international/india-joins-sco-nations-in-condemning-israel-u-s-pahalgam-finds-mention-in-tianjin-declaration/videoshow/123632965.cms (Accessed on 2 September 2025).
  7. https://navayana.org/books/2012/10/10/dispersed-radiance-caste-gender-and-modern-science-in-india/?v=13b5bfe96f3e
  8. E. Arunan, “Peter Debye” Resonance, Journal of Education December 2010 http://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/015/12/1056-1059
  9. https://hbond2025.desy.de/ (Accessed on 2 September 2025)
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Family = Love, affection, duty and right in reasonable measures!

May 15 happens to to be the international day for families. This year it was right in the middle of our Ph.D. interview week and I could not write this blog. I started it later and finally decided to complete this on 31st December 2024 as the world is anxious about the uncertainties all over. We have more than two wars. Election results in USA and several other countries and states in India have been of concern to some who consider themselves as liberals. Rebecca Trager has written a commentary in Chemistry World titled, ‘Trump is a disaster for Science’.1 I am reminded of a blog I wrote in 2017 after Trump won the first term and Modi demonetized Indian currency that led to disaster for numerous poor people in India.2 Clearly, New York Times would not accept 2016 to be the worst year ever. I suspect they would dub 2024 as the worst year.

In every nation and in every society, the importance of a family has been recognized. Liberal philosophers have always pointed out that all humanity is one family. I have mentioned an ancient poem in Tamil written by Kaniyan Poongundranaar which proclaims ‘yaadum oorae yaavarul kaeLir’ (“யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்”), which means all towns are our town and all people are our relatives. When India became the head of G20 recently, the slogan ‘Vasudeva kudumbakam’ (written in Hindi in the image below) was chosen which means ‘the world is one family’.

While these are esoteric ideas, everyone knows what is practically meant by a family. I think family means, love, affection, duty and right (in Tamil காதல், பாசம், கடமை, உரிமை, kaathal, paasam, kadamai and urimai) among the members of the family and I must add in reasonable measures. Anything in excess cannot be good. The esoteric ideas pointed out above can be taken to mean that there is no need to hate anyone and we should all learn to live and let live. There is a proverb in Tamil which says “தனக்கு மிஞ்சி தான் தான தர்மம் (thanakku minji thaan thaana tharmam)”, which means you can help others and donate what you have after keeping what you need. I think this is applicable for time as well. Unfortunately, this does not tell you what one needs and that is upto the individual to decide. It is worth remembering what Gandhi said: “There is enough in this world for everyone’s need, not enough for a single man’s greed”.

A typical family, for me, starts with a husband and wife, who take a vow to share the good and bad life will bring. In typical marriages in India, this vow is implied and is not spoken loud.3 Whether the marriage is arranged by family or the individuals who are already in love with each other, this vow is important. Love and affection between them are necessary but not sufficient. There is an old proverb in Tamil which says ‘mogam muppathu naal, aasai arubathu naal (infatuation lasts for 30 days and desire lasts for 60 days). Life lasts much longer. It is important for the husband and wife to take responsibility in each others lives and also the liberty to expect help from each other as and when needed. It would be naive to assume that the husband and wife live happily ever after the marriage. Good and bad times will come. Facing them together, enjoying the good times and sailing through the bad times are essential. Love and affection could help in doing this for some time. If one does not recognize the importance of the duty and right that come with marriage, sailing together becomes difficult, especially when the going gets tough. Now, one can see how world as one family is not practical.

The major challenge for humans in a family, is balancing the interests of self and other members of the family. Between husband and wife, as equal partners, this is important from day one. Neither can expect the other person to take care of him/her all the time and it is important to give space and time for the other person. There will be situations in which one member has to do more and by nature there will be situations in which the roles reverse. With children, until they grow up, parents have to provide everything. Unlike the husband-wife relation which is expected to be that of equals, parents-children relation is typically, and rightfully, one sided. We need to take full responsibility for our children until they grow to be independent adults. Often unconditional love and support are given to children by parents. As the children grow and learn to take care of themselves, slowly some responsibility for the family falls on their shoulder. While most humans do feel sympathy when looking at everyone who is suffering, taking responsibility for everyone who suffers is impossible for anyone. Within a family, it is a responsibility and duty to do this. This is expected in a typical family and this cannot be applied to ‘vasudeva kudumbakam’. However, parents should not force or expect their children to be with them and help them always and let them do what they want in their life. In my view, parents are responsible for the children who are brought to this world by their act. This needs to be one-sided relation. Ultimately, the children have to move on and start their families.

I am convinced that every society recognized the importance of the duty and right that come with marriage. In India, Hinduism (broadly encompassing all religions originated and grew in India, perhaps except Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism) emphasized this. The most popular poet from Tamil cinema, Kannadasan, wrote several volumes titled ‘arthamulla indu matham (அர்த்தமுள்ள இந்து மதம்)’ translated as ‘The meaningful Hindu religion’. and there is a popular song of him that begins with these words. It starts by saying ‘the meaningful Hindu religion assigned duties for every human’. This includes duties to the family and also to the society, as every human has several roles to play. Thirukkural in Tamil has a chapter each, outlining the roles of different individuals as well. When one recognizes and accepts the importance of duty and right, this continues for life, and members of the family have to do it without any expectation.

Bhagavad Gita emphasized doing one’s duty without expecting anything in return. This is a deep thought that most would accept individually. However, in practice this can be used for exploitation. Ideally, every one should have the liberty to choose what is his/her duty. However, once chosen, (s)he has to remain dutyful. There will be times when some in the family feel others are not doing their part. This could be real or perceived. It would be human nature to exaggerate one’s own contributions. It would be good to have an open discussion and sort these issues out through discussion. It is important for both parties to talk AND listen. Family is an important unit for humans and every attempt to preserve it is essential in my view. As long as family survives, the humanity can survive. Any attempts to dislodge the family structure would be viewed with skepticism by people at large. Perhaps that explains some of the election results. I wish everyone a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous new year!

References:

  1. Rebecca Trager, Trump is a disaster for Science, Chemistry World, page 6, December 2024 issue.
  2. 2017 will be a great year for India and the World! | earunan
  3. I found this vow on the web: “I take you to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part”. There is a beautiful Tamil film song from Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya which has this vow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXa-wbiXiOw In case you know this song, the first line is worth remembering and it is equally important to realize that the second line implies blind love, that cannot last forever. If it does, it is comparable to fatal attraction.

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Prakash Krishnaswami: An incredible human being and a close friend!

Prakash during a visit to Urbana, Illinois in 1995

It is 10 years since Prof. Prakash Krishnaswami, a distinguished faculty member at the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department at Kansas State University (KSU) departed us. Thinking about him and the last time we met him and his family, I am reminded of one of the quotes of Einstein, that I like very much: There are only two ways to live life: One is as though everything is a miracle and another is as though nothing is a miracle. Summer of 2007 was somewhat of a miracle in our life. I do not know the context of this quote. It also taught me that Einstein’s quote misses an important aspect of life. Life has misfortunes in addition to miracles. How did this summer of 2007 teach me about miracles and misfortunes? I need to rewind by 2 more decades.

In 1986, I moved to Manhattan, Kansas to start my Ph. D. in Chemistry. Manhattan is a small University town. When I left India, my mind was blank. I had no idea how my life would unwind in a foreign land. At that time, there were about 18000 students out of which, perhaps about 100 were from Indian sub-continent. There were a few faculty members from India living with family. It turned out I had a great time at Kansas State, thanks to an excellent group of people both in the University and in the little town. One prominent member of that group was Prakash. He had just married Sujatha and they both returned to Manhattan shortly before my arrival. We became very close friends. Most students going to Kansas State University those days would have enjoyed the hospitality of Prakash and Sujatha. Between 1986-92, when I was there, there was always some friend(s) with/without family staying at their home for days, months or years. They disproved the popular proverb in Tamil which says “medicine and guests are good only for 3 days” emphatically. In Tamil, it naturally sounds better ‘Vriundhum marundhum moonru naal (விருந்தும் மருந்தும் மூன்று நாள்)

I do not remember when we met first. Prakash was unusual, unassuming, empathetic and an abundantly talented individual. I learned that he had completed his B.Tech from IIT, Madras with flying colors. Somewhere down the line, he had also learned to fly. I thought of asking him to take me along during one of his flying session but never did that. After joining KSU as a faculty member, he registered for an MS in Mathematics and completed it. During 1986-90, we lived in Manhattan as close family. In 1990, I got married to Gomathi in Chennai and Prakash and Sujatha attended our wedding. Fortunately, they were visiting Chennai during that time. Our marriage was arranged by the families. Naturally, Gomathi had concerns about leaving home and traveling with a stranger to a foreign land. I remember telling her this: “We have great people all over the world”. Prakash and Sujatha were in my mind, along with many other friends from Manhattan.

During our stay in Manhattan, we used to drive away, often late in the night with friends to exotic locations. Prakash, Sujatha, me and Gomathi on one such trip with many other friends.

During 1990-91, I became the President of the India Students Association (it was not Indian and I never figured out why). Prakash was the Faculty Advisor. That year ISA expanded its activities nearly astronomically. In 1992, we went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We missed no opportunity to visit each other or travel together. It was also helped by a sabbatical Prakash took in Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago during that time. That was another eventful time. We had taken a friend from Urbana to Chicago and stayed with Prakash and Sujatha. That friend was Prof. Ramananthan, an eminent Mathematician from TIFR who was visiting UIUC. His life was a mix of miracles and misfortunes as well. I should write about that some time. By September 1994, Gomathi and I returned to India with our first daughter. Of course, before that we visited Manhattan staying at Prakash’s home for a few days. They had their only son Azad with them at that time.

After returning to India, we continued to be in touch and were lucky to have many opportunities to spend time together. Prakash did spend a semester each at IISc and at IIT Madras. After this, he was hopeful of returning to India for good. Unfortunately for India, that did not happen.

In May 2007, Prakash and family came to Bangalore and were staying with us. Prior to their visit, I had decided to attend the International Symposium on Shock Waves to be held in Göttingen, Germany during 15-20 July 2007. As I had an Indo-French project, which required me to visit the University of Rennes, France for 2 weeks that year, I thought of going to France just before the symposium, 1-14 July. I planned these two visits one day and returned home in the evening. Gomathi informed me that she had to go to Prague during June 25-30 for an NFC meeting representing Samsung. I was amazed at this incredible coincidence. I suggested to her that we go together and take both our daughters to Prague, Rennes and then Göttingen. Our second daughter was born in 1996 after we returned to India.

I had never gone on a sabbatical myself and that was the only time, I had taken my family with me. As we had two weeks in Rennes, and they don’t work during the weekend, we decided to go to Paris during the weekend 7-8 July. We decided to leave Rennes on 6th and return on 9th. On hearing this plan, Prakash told me that they were going to Italy during the first week of July for a conference. And they were planning to spend the same weekend in Paris! Shock wave symposium, NFC meeting and the conference Prakash attended were all decided by independent international bodies!

We could not believe this. We had both planned to spend the same weekend in Paris without knowing each others plan! We were pleasantly surprised and decided to spend the time in Paris together. It turned out we had booked hotels in different parts of Paris and were discussing about where to meet. When you want to meet someone in Paris, I thought the obvious choice would be to meet at the Eiffel Tower. We decided both our families will go to Eiffel tower in the evening of 6th July. Whoever reaches there first would wait on top of the tower for the other to join. We were nearing the entrance to the tower, when Prakash and family joined the queue. We waited for them to arrive and spend perhaps the best time of our lives going around Paris. A picture taken at the Eiffel tower with both our families reminds me of the miraculous trip we had in 2007. The time stamp has Indian Standard Time. Prakash is in his slipper, his usual footwear on all occasions.

It turned out that 9th July was the wedding anniversary for Prakash and Sujatha. We knew this and had packed a small gift for them. On 9th, as we were both getting ready to part ways, Prakash offered to give us a party. He was hesitant to reveal the reason and finally told us, “It is our wedding anniversary”! We smiled and gave them the small gift. Then, we took a train back to Rennes. Prakash and family were to take a flight next morning to the JFK airport New York. Prakash had done it often. Flying in to the east coast of the USA, visiting families and friends and driving from Manhattan, New York to Manhattan Kansas. Again after this trip, he started driving back to Kansas. When they were passing Pennsylvania, the misfortune struck us.

On the 9th July morning, we both visited, Sacré-Cœur, Paris. Anytime, I see a tower I like to climb to the top. Prakash and I were generally fit and never thought twice before exerting ourselves. We decided to climb up the Church building with our kids. I thought he looked more tired than I had ever seen him before. He had driven from Italy to Paris. We had been walking around Paris as if to utilize every minute we had in our hands. I thought, he may have been tired. I had no idea what was in store.

When I was back at the University of Rennes, I had an email from a common friend, another gem of a person, Youvaraj. Prakash had health problems and had to be hospitalized in Pennsylvania. He was diagnosed with Leukemia. I was stunned. We could not believe the miracle turning to misfortune so suddenly. Prakash survived till November 2008. He used this period to ensure that he would do everything that was needed for the survivors to lead a good life. He never complained about his health. He was always focused on what needs to be done. I managed to visit him during June 2008. That visit was another near miracle in itself. May be I will write about it on another occasion.

We live in a time of post-truth, over-coverage of negativity and many appear to have genuine concerns about the future of humanity and earth. I continue to remain positive. For I know, there are people like Prakash who never worry about themselves and do things for common good. In closing, let me share some part of an email I received from Prakash’s father C. S. Krishnaswami. “Prakash is always unforgettable and lives on to inspire his large circle of friends, relatives and students. He touched so many lives in his simple, selfless and self-effacing way. That is what we found out when we were in Manhattan. He himself never spoke of himself and of what he did.” I do not know if the father could ever tell this to his son. I do hope Prakash knew this! It is thanks to Prakash and many such noble souls, humanity and earth has survived for this long and I am sure they will continue to survive.


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