Prof. Jayant Narlikar passed away on 20th May, 2025. He was an eminent astrophysicist, noted sci-fi author, and a brilliant science communicator. I will not attempt to summarize his accomplishments in all these areas; it has been done by authors far more capable than me.
Instead, I would like to cite a couple of instances of personal interaction that exemplify his work ethic and illustrate his character. I must stress that the fact that I got to interact with such a towering personality is in no way indicative of any extraordinary qualities on my part. I was (and still am) an average student on my best days. The reason for these interactions is simply that I was in the right place at the right time. I hope the reader will indulge some reminiscing on my part.
My love for astronomy started with the beautifully published popular science books by Mir Publishers. Later on, Prof. Narlikar was a single most dominant force in igniting this passion not just for me but for countless students all over Maharashtra. Prof. Narlikar used to write regularly in Marathi magazines and newspapers. Even his PhD advisor at Cambridge, Sir Fred Hoyle, was equally known to us through his writings.
Prof. Narlikar also wrote science fiction stories in Marathi, no doubt taking a page out of Prof. Hoyle’s book whose famous novel The Black Cloud is still a favourite of sci-fi fans. One of Prof. Narlikar’s stories involved defeating an alien ship by introducing a virus in their computer. Imagine my surprise when I saw the same idea in the blockbuster movie Independence Day. I am stating this simply to indicate that his sci-fi stories were of blockbuster quality; as the story was in Marathi, there is little chance that the filmmakers could have read it.
The astronomy fans in Maharashtra received an intravenous B12 shot when it was announced that Prof. Narlikar will be heading the project of setting up Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) at Pune. We were super excited about it and regularly followed the progress updates through newspapers. Once, I even went to the site where construction was still going on and asked about studying astronomy. A gentleman in charge was kind enough to indulge me and told me to finish my studies in physics and mathematics.
Designed by the famous architect Charles Correa, every aspect of IUCAA is unique. There is a huge Foucault’s pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the earth. The garden has an apple tree from that same one that gave Isaac Newton inspiration to think about gravity. Statues of Aryabhatta, Newton, Galileo and Einstein can be seen in the garden that has a fractal geometry.
By the time I graduated in physics, IUCAA was up and running and my interest in astronomy was overflowing1. When I enrolled for my masters in physics at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), my dream had come true. The physics department, collaborating with IUCAA offered a masters in physics with specialisation in Astrophysics. I grabbed the chance without a second thought. Meanwhile, I also did a month of summer school at IUCAA.
We were really excited to start the astrophysics course. Imagine our surprise when it was announced that none other that JVN will be teaching a course in cosmology! I should pause a moment here to explain that it has been a tradition at the Physics Department at SPPU to refer to faculty members by their initials, so when we started calling Prof. Narlikar as JVN, it was like welcoming him to the Physics Department family.
Every year at our physics department, a conference was organised by students where everything was done by students – from inviting speakers and raising funds by industry sponsorships to disussing menu with caterers. Named after the nobel laurate Prof. C. V. Raman, the idea of Raman Memorial Conference (RMC) was to provide a real life organising experience to students.
When our turn came to organise the conference, we decided to invite JVN for a panel discussion. Normally, JVN was well known for refusing to attend ceremonies so we were not sure if he would accept our invitation. To our surprise and delight, after hearing about the concept of the conference and the topic, he readily agreed to grace us with his presence. Needless to say, it was one of the major highlights of the conference.
One time during our masters course in astrophysics at IUCAA, four or five of us had a difficulty and we decided to ask JVN. We could see him through the glass sitting at a table, writing. It was a small table and there were no other chairs in the room.
When we knocked and entered, he immediately stood up and stared talking to us!
It is a very common occurrence for teachers to remain seated when they talk to students. In fact, when a teacher has students visiting her all day every day, it’s the most practical solution. So it would have been perfectly normal for JVN to remain seated and answer our queries. Yet, he stood up almost as a reflex action. Here was a world renowned scientist standing up when students entered his room. We were speechless!
Owing to his deep knowledge of Sanskrit language, JVN was fond of citing Sanskrit quotations. In this case, he did not quote but rather demonstrated the famous saying – ‘विद्या विनयेन शोभते’ meaning ‘through humbleness, knowledge shines.’
It is a signature of great personalities that no matter how small the interaction with them, they always leave a mark. JVN has undoubtedly left his mark on countless students. We are forever grateful for it.
- These days, I am sorry to say, I am becoming less interested in some of the frontier science topics and the reasons are non-scientific. The dark matter lobby refuses to acknowledge accomplishments of the Modified Newtonian Dynamics theory (MOND); string theorists refuse to admit that they have been doing mathematics and not physics; most scientists and media people have repeated the aseroid-destroyed-dinosaurs theory so often that it has become a gospel, so that no one is even considering the fact that contrary evidence exists – that it could have been a series of colossal volcanic eruptions in western India known as the Deccan Traps that caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs. ↩︎
References :
What if we never find dark matter? , Stacy McGaugh, Triton Station, October 15, 2024.
The Nastiest Feud in Science, Bianca Boskar, The Atlantic, September 2018.
“String theory is not physics”, Sir Roger Penrose
