surajmal Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 i9_hm2qe34s A typical story of how brilliant minds are treated in India. One can see why the R&D sector is still in the doldrums. Quote from Smt. Namita Chaudhuri "Until and unless he got his recognition from the west... In India he was not known... he was not very much known. When he got recognition from abroad, then he got recognized in India. I think it is a custom in India. If foreigners praise you, then you are great." Colonial Hangover continues to haunt...
Lurker Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 A typical story of how brilliant minds are treated in India. One can see why the R&D sector is still in the doldrums. Quote from Smt. Namita Chaudhuri "Until and unless he got his recognition from the west... In India he was not known... he was not very much known. When he got recognition from abroad, then he got recognized in India. I think it is a custom in India. If foreigners praise you, then you are great." Colonial Hangover continues to haunt... That's your takeaway from that documentary? Dude stop crying all the time. It is a rather feel good documentary, in my opinion. Talks about a stream that personally I have little knowledge of but very well presented. It is amazing to see how much effort Mr Chaudhuri puts together and yet remains so humble and down to earth. His wife's take on him is hilarious and yet cute (he was unsmart lol). The documentary revolves around Bengali culture in the background, from eating chana-chor to Old Paliganj, Presidency College etc etc. And yes he should be felicitated regardless of how West perceives him (and Indians do not do a good job of celebrating our icons be it literally, social or scientific). Still your comment was completely different to what the documentary was about. The more prominent question perhaps maybe is how many great Indian scientist/researches have we produced after Meghnath Saha, CV Raman and someone like Mr Chaudhury?? And if not then why not? Like I said it is something I am too knowledgeable about but would like to know.
surajmal Posted February 2, 2013 Author Posted February 2, 2013 Subtle things, their day to day life etc... I suppose there is a charm to it. But I just (considering the current environment of the country) wanted to highlight the general malaise all around. How mediocrity is cherished (or protected) from the Bureaucracy to the Cricket Field. I actually came across Prof. Raychaudhuri's name through general googling while I was looking for more information on Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay (another tragic story) after watching Ek Doctor ki Maut. But hey, you seem like a silver lining guy. And there is no problem with that. At the end of the day, Indians can sleep easy knowing that atleast they aren't living in Pakistan. Edit: Interestingly, Ashoke Sen's (winner of the fundamental physics prize and the Bhatnagar award) alma mater is also presidency college. So maybe he got some inspiration from Prof. Raychaudhuri. Another Silver Lining for your perhaps.
Lurker Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Subtle things' date=' their day to day life etc... I suppose there is a charm to it. [/quote'] There is more than simple charm to it. It is quintessential Indian. And possibly Bengali. I mean if I think of an Indian super-scientist that has done India proud this is exactly the kind of person that comes to mind. An elderly scholar who is super smart in his discourse, perhaps not so much in appearance, and remains upbeat in his dhoti-kurta. Sorry but I dont quite see an iPod totting MIT going scholar as quintessential Indian. If your assertion is how we dont look after our heroes, which I agree to, then you should be celebrating them every chance you get and not try to derail it into Whats wrong with us line of thinking. Couldn't agree more. Not too many things tick me off that mediocre cricket players and those belonging to Bollywood, or National Politics, and how bulk of Indian masses keep defending them. Where did Pakistan come into the picture here? Are you obsessed by Pakistan for some reason??? I sat through the documentary and was rivetted by a scholar man choosing to stay in India, when he could have easily moved abroad, going through daily grind, standing up to eminent scientists like Meghnadh Saha, creating generations of Physicists from some of the most eminent Nationak Institutes and still remaining devoid of bitterness or any sort of ego. That is a fantastic story. Why should I be bothered with anything Pakistan, or United States for that matter? Good on you for searching on other eminent Indians who have missed out on National stage by the way.:two_thumbs_up:
The Outsider Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 Raychaudhuri is hardly an unknown. He is universally accepted as one of the brilliant Mathematicians/Physicists.
Jersey #10 Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 I didn't know him but I guess he's well known b/c there is a Wikipedia page on him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raychaudhuri_equation
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