Gravitational waves: They scorned Sanjeev Dhurandhar three decades ago, today he is the toast of modern science

He led the solo Indian group in the initial era of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) for a decade.

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Prof. Sanjeev Dhurandhar at IUCAA during the announcement of detection of gravitational waves. (Express Photo)

Three decades before international scientists announced they have detected the gravitational waves Albert Einstein had proposed, a young scientist was already talking about the idea. Sanjeev Dhurandhar’s ideas were then greeted with incredulity but, on Thursday, he was the toast of the scientific community who gathered at the Inter-University Centre of Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune.

Prof Jayant Narlikar, former IUCAA director, recalled the 1980s. “Those were the days when everyone was talking about electromagnetic waves and here was this young man talking about theories and experiments related to gravitational waves,” he said, as he introduced the Pune-born Dhurandhar as one of the 1,000 key scientists involved in detecting gravitational waves 100 years after Einstein had proposed their existence.

“In the 1980s, Dhurandhar was told by senior colleagues that he had no credibility when this remarkable individual had proposed a model with a theoretical backup to explore gravitational waves,” Prof Narlikar said.

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Ajit Kembhavi, another former IUCAA director, nodded in agreement. He said Dhurandhar never gave up and in the process trained several students and focused his research in this area. Today most of Dhurandhar’s students are with gravitational wave groups in various countries and have been involved in this exciting discovery, Kembhavi said.

“I still remember how in the 1980s people at Oxford and Cambridge used to scorn Dhurandhar and his group then,” said Prof Somak Raychaudhury, the current director of IUCAA. “But today 90 per cent of the researchers abroad working on gravitation waves have been his students and now heading their teams that has led to this pathbreaking discovery.”

Dhurandhar himself has put the incredulity he faced behind him.

“It was only natural not to believe,” said the Pune-born scientist. “We did not have enough technology 25 years ago to detect such waves. So I do not really blame people who did not believe us. All I can say is that I am overwhelmed. This is such good science — a new discipline of physics — I say.”

What they did

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The group led by Dhurandhar at IUCAA had initiated work on developing techniques for detection of weak signals which would eventually lead to detection of gravitational waves. He led the solo Indian group in the initial era of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) for a decade.

The Indian Initiative in Gravitational-Wave Observations (IndIGO), set up in 2009, involves 61 scientists from nine institutions — CMI Chennai, ICTS-TIFR Bengaluru, IISER-Kolkata, IISER-Trivandrum, IIT Gandhinagar, IPR Gandhinagar, IUCAA Pune, RRCAT Indore and TIFR Mumbai. The discovery paper has 35 authors from these institutions.

India’s current “gravitational wave community” has engaged in research over three decades at several institutes. Prominently cited in the discovery paper is the theoretical work that combined black holes and gravitational waves, published by C V Vishveshwara in 1970.

At IUCAA, Narlikar, Anil Kakodkar and Vishveshwara were among those who thumped their desks and cheered as they watched a live broadcast of David Reitze, executive director of LIGO-US, making the historic announcement —

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“Till now we have been deaf. Now the universe has spoken to us through gravitational waves.”

The congratulatory handshakes after that were unceasing.

“I never thought gravitational waves would be detected during my working period here” said Prof Raychaudhury. “We have validated physics. This is a new era, dawn of new physics.”

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. ``Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) "Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. ``At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure "For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. ``Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions X (Twitter): @runaanu ... Read More