The Raman Effect

My first meeting with Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, the eminent physicist, is still fresh in my memory. One day in 1948 I telephoned to ...

My first meeting with Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, the eminent physicist, is still fresh in my memory. One day in 1948 I telephoned to ask if I could photograph him for an illustrated feature. I was apprehensive about getting an appointment from so busy a person but was pleasantly surprised when he asked, 8220;How much time would you need?8221;

8220;An hour,8221; I replied.
Raman went on to say that thirty minutes would do. I could see him the next morning, sharp at nine. 8220;Come on time,8221; he warned.

I decided to take another person with me for moral support8230; M.S. Sathyu, now a noted film director, but barely out of his teens then.

Contrary to our fears we found Raman extremely affable and gentle. He seemed very cooperative as I photographed him in his study, laboratory, library and the garden he loved. All this took twenty minutes and I still had ten minutes left to complete my job. Then, a bright idea struck me and I told Raman that I would love to photograph him with his wife. 8220;Forget about her. She is not here,8221; he said. And then a brighter idea came to my mind. Summoning the required courage, I asked, 8220;Sir, may I take one last, important picture? Will you please pose for me displaying your Nobel Prize citation?8221;

Pursing his lips, Raman gazed at me while my heart began to pound rapidly. He relaxed in a minute and to my utter surprise, said, 8220;Why not?8221; He went into a room to fetch the document.

8220;I8217;m lucky,8221; I whispered to Sathyu. I entrusted my brand-new Speed-Graphic camera to his care and set about adjusting the furniture and books in the room for the all-important picture. Raman had meanwhile returned, holding the scroll, and stood beside a blackboard which had the diagram of a galaxy and other mathematical calculations. He exclaimed, 8220;It8217;s getting late. Shoot!8221;

When I was about to take my camera from Satya, the silence in the room was shattered by the sound of metal hitting the ground. Satya had dropped the camera.

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Raman8217;s face was livid with anger. He walked up to Sathyu, gripped him by the collar and thundered, 8220;Do you know what you have done? You have damaged a beautiful instrument of science. Why weren8217;t you careful?8221; We were shaken and mumbled our apologies. Raman8217;s anger subsided within a minute. Holding the camera in hand, he carefully examined it as an experienced doctor would a patient. He wrote on a piece of paper, 8220;Prisms out of alignment. Replace one broken piece and realign. Set right the metallic dents.8221; He pressed his prescription in my hand and gave us the marching orders, saying, 8220;You may leave now.8221; My first photo session with the Nobel laureate and Bangalore8217;s most famous citizen had ended in a fiasco.

Extracted, with permission, from 8216;Alive and Kicking8217; by T.S. Satyan, Penguin India, Rs 375