When analysing weather data meant catching a train to Mumbai – every day

That training centre, the 81-year-old weather veteran points out, was later recognised by the World Meteorological Organization as a Regional Meteorological Training Center with climate scientists from other countries also being trained here.

As for some of the popular hangouts, Sen says the Camp area was known for its colonial bungalows. (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)

Classrooms without fans & roads without traffic jams

Pune, says Sen, was “more than a pleasant surprise” in those years. “My first impression was that of an extremely clean city where bicycles were the main mode of transportation. The IMD’s Shimla Office complex was one of the landmarks and a must-see for tourists… There was hardly any other building nearby and traffic jams were almost unheard of. The Fergusson College Road had ‘wadas’ along its length while Ganesh Khind Road was known for the trees. But what struck me the most was the lack of ceiling fans. Classrooms in Fergusson College did not have fans, there was no need for them,” he says.

As for some of the popular hangouts, Sen says the Camp area was known for its colonial bungalows. “As young scientists, the bookstore Manneys was our favourite haunt. West End was also a known landmark. Going to Camp was an adventure in itself. Most autorickshaws refused to go there as they were not sure of return passengers,” he says.

In Pune, Sen initially moved into a lodge in the Model Colony area. In 1986, he shifted to a house along Canal Road in Model Colony, where he currently stays with his wife, both of them occasionally visiting the US where their son is an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota. “In those days, Model Colony had large open spaces and a green cover. The area had very few houses. I could see the school, where my son studied, from my balcony,” he says.

Pune, says Sen, was “more than a pleasant surprise” in those years. (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)

For data analysis, catch the Deccan Queen

According to Sen, his early days in IMD’s Hydromet Section required analysis of large volumes of data. “For parameters like temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc., we had to sieve through readings of each day for 30 days. It was humanly not possible to go through so much data and we had to rely on special machines with TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) in Mumbai,” he says.

“This process involved almost a daily visit to Mumbai. In fact, a peon had a season ticket to travel to Mumbai on a daily basis by Deccan Queen. To transfer data, we had a machine that punched data along with the program code on special cards. The peon used to travel every day in the morning with the card. At TIFR, the data from the punched cards were processed and the peon would travel back in the evening with the processed data in a new card as well as printouts,” says Sen.

Computers were unheard of, he says, adding that the concept of personal computers was beyond imagination. “In the late 1970s, IMD got its first MainFrame computer. Personal computers came later. Officers of the SSC board and other offices lined up to see them. The first computer we got in my Investigation and Development section was a Desktop 386,” says Sen.