Professor Chopra's "Light Wave"

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1990: IIT KGP:

It was a warm afternoon. I was relaxing in my office reading Weinberg's "Gravitation and Cosmology".     

Our HoD, Prof KVR, walked in sweating profusely. And said: 

"I want your help desperately.  Prof  GSS (our ex-director and then Managing Director of  STEP) is asking me some intricate questions on lasers. I said I would bring Prof Sastry and he will answer all your questions.  Please let us go and don't let me down."

And he took me to Prof GSS on the pillion of his scooter. Prof GSS smiled at me and asked:

"What is the temperature of a laser beam?"

And I asked him to tell me the context...which he didn't...even after half a dozen fruitless visits.

Finally I thought I would give him a writeup titled: 

"Characteristics of Light Beams: Ordinary Light vs Laser Light" 

and be done with it. 

Which I did reluctantly. 

Prof GSS was most pleased.

Prof KL Chopra, the then Director, had just then revived our Old Building and converted it into a sparkling "Nehru Museum of Science & Technology". Of which Prof STA was the first Chairman and Prof Mandakini Majumdar the able Secretary.

One of those days Prof STA walked into my office looking for a good book on Nuclear Physics and saw the typescript of my writeup for Prof GSS and asked me to lend him a copy. I asked him what for. And he replied that he wanted to start a Publications Division of NMST and would love to publish my laser writeup as the first publication (NMST 001).

I protested that 'that' writeup was specifically meant for GSS and not for the general public. 

STA grabbed the copy and left. 

Couple of days later Prof Mandakini Majumdar called me and asked me for a suitable title for their maiden publication. I asked her NOT to go ahead with that publication since the material was not suitable for their purpose. She didn't listen.

Couple of days later Prof STA walked into my room and announced that the typescript was approved in toto by our Director Prof KL Chopra who christened it:

"Lasers: The Light Wave of the Future"

I just loved the title.

A few weeks later Prof STA walked into my office and gifted me a copy of my booklet "NMST 001" saying it was just then informally "launched" by Prof KLC in his office.

I was terribly embarrassed.

I misplaced my copy duly.

A decade and half later when I was leaving KGP on my retirement, I got all nostalgic and went to the Nehru Museum asking for a copy of my booklet "NMST 001".

I was told that all the 1000 copies were exhausted. I asked how come; and was told that most of the copies were distributed to various libraries and museums for free....

:)

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