Dear Editor, ‘Every good deed in life should be done in a way that is as holy as religion.” Nobel laureate Dr C V Raman, who spent his whole life as a selfless servant, was constantly engaged in scientific research and rose to great heights. He considered aspiration, courage and service as his ideal. He always told the youth to never use research for self-promotion and self-pride. According to him another name for the search for truth is science. This truth is not only true of the physical world, but also of the world of logic, of the world of psychology, and of everyday life. The true scientist always rejects lies and lies. Expressing his views on Vishwavidyalaya, he said that it is not a university which does not teach the search for truth. The search for truth alone is called discovery. It is only through research that new and evolving treasures of knowledge are obtained. The student should be like a seeker or else he will lag behind in acquiring knowledge. The great scientist was born on November 7, 1888, in the village of Thiruvankavan near Trichanapali, to Chandrashekhar Ayre and Parvati Amel. Raman’s father was a teacher of mathematics and physics at Church College in Visakhapatnam. He was also interested in astronomy and music. He was adept at playing Veena and Mirdang, which influenced CV Raman also. Raman secured first position in class X. He heard a speech by Madame Anne Besant, who was so impressed that he read her other books and studied several religious texts. Raman was interested in physics since childhood and built a dynamo while in school. While in school, she came across John Findel’s book New Fragments. There was an article in the book about water which impressed him the most. This article eventually became a tool for his research. The blue color of the sea water also inspired him to search. Raman enrolled in Presidency College, Madras to study and was the youngest student in his class. Prof Elliot was shocked to see Raman’s young age and was impressed by the confidence with which Raman responded to the professor’s words. In 1904, Raman completed BA with first place. He wanted to go to England for higher education but was unable to do so due to ill health. He enrolled in a class at Presidency College and chose physics as a subject for MA, after which Raman married Loka Sundari, who had a special interest in music. It was an inter-caste marriage which Raman made a unique thing of his time. In 1907, Raman was posted in Calcutta as an Assistant Accountant in the Finance Department of the Government of India. Despite the complexities of his government job, he continued his research in physics. One day, Raman was returning home from his office by tram when he saw a sign that read, ‘Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.’ He stopped the tram, got off and went inside the office. He met Amrit Lal Sarkar, the founder of the office and sought permission to do research in physics, which he got immediately. Thus, after leaving the office, he got involved in research work. Due to his research work, his fame spread far and wide and professors and young students from all over the world came in contact with him. After some time Raman was transferred to Nagpur. When they arrived, the plague broke out a few days later. In 1911, he was transferred to Calcutta as the Accountant General (AG) of the Department of Posts and then engaged in research work in Calcutta. The College of Science was established in Calcutta in 1914 and required a professor of physics. After much research, the Vice Chancellor spoke to Ashutosh Mukherjee. Raman fell in thought. Government gazetted jobs on one hand and private college on other? Raman’s fame was spread far and wide due to his research work. In the end, Raman agreed to the job even though his salary was about to be halved. The college was completed in July 1917 and Raman left the government service to become a professor. This was his favorite work and he got the opportunity to do research in physics. Prof Raman made valuable contribution in the upliftment of Indian Institute of Science Development. Due to his efforts the Indian Science Congress came into existence and he took over as the head of this organization. It was during these days that the Indian Institute of Science was established in Bangalore and Prof Raman became its director. In 1921, Prof. Raman reached Oxford University in England to deliver a lecture by sea. The deep blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea caught his attention during the journey. They came back to find out the secret of the blue color. In 1922, he wrote research articles on this subject which was highly appreciated. In 1922, the University of Calcutta awarded him D.Sc. In 1924, the British Association invited him to inaugurate a conference on optics at a meeting in Toronto. For about ten months, Raman studied at various universities in England, Canada, the United States and Norway. For the next three consecutive years, he along with his colleagues studied the rays produced by the scattering of light on air, ice and other liquids and solids and on February 28, 1928 discovered a unique effect which he called ‘Raman Effect’, which became famous all over the world. For this discovery, the Italian Science Council awarded him ‘Mentucci Medal’ in 1928. The Government of India conferred the title of Sir on June 3, 1929. In 1930, Royal Society of London awarded him the Hughes Medal, the highest award. For this discovery he was awarded Nobel prize on December 10, 1930 in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. From there he received invitations to speak in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Germany and a flurry of honors ensued. The following year, in 1931, he was honored by the Universities of Bombay, Kanshi, Madras and Dhaka. He retired from his post in 1933. In 1934, he was elected the President of the Indian Academy of Sciences. Until 1943, Dr. Raman was the director of the Indian Institute of Bangalore. He was awarded Bharat Ratna on August 15, 1954. In 1957, Dr Raman was awarded the International Lenin Prize. In the end we can say that Prof. Raman was not only a great scientist or researcher but above all he was a kind person, sympathetic towards the poor and a great man of high order. The day on which the discovery of Dr Raman was completed is celebrated as National Science Day every year all over India. Vijay Garg.
