The Old Physics Building
The Old Physics Building
A distinct aftertaste of Pravega was the altered vocabulary. One of the more prominent changes was the universal recognition accorded to OPB, the Old Physics Building. Earlier, the complex, which now houses the undergraduate classrooms and laboratories, had no distinct name among the community. As is well known, the building is historic, second perhaps only to the Main Building. In this article, we attempt to trace its history. The editorial team would like to thank the Archives and Publication Cell for giving Quarks access to their records.
The foundation of the Indian Institute of Science marks an interesting period in the annals of scientific education in India. The vision and monetary impetus were provided by J. N. Tata, whose dream unfortunately did not come to fruition before his death in 1904. The statement in his will called for a research university, unlike the teaching universities present in the presidency towns. The patriot that he was, he wanted the institute to solve the problems of the Indian populace. His sons, Dorabji and Ratanji Tata, aided by Burjorji Padshah, were the executors of his will. It is to be noted that both the sons, unlike Padshah, were not part of any discussions pertaining to the formation of the Institute before his demise. Thus, the only link between J. N. Tata’s vision and its execution was Padshah.
Padshah was a gifted polymath; his interests ranged from theosophy to the mathematical aspects of general relativity. Being an intellectual, he opined strongly on various matters and had great sway over the minds of the Tata brothers. The institute had three principal benefactors: the Tatas as executors of J. N. Tata’s will, the Government of India and the Government of Mysore. It was agreed by all to set up an institute; however, there was great disagreement about the nature of the institute. The Tatas felt that as they were providing a significant endowment, they had the strongest say in the matter (the endowment, properties in Bombay, amounted to an annual donation of more than one lakh rupees, and was a magnificently munificent gesture, although to bring it in perspective, the Taj at Mumbai cost more than four crores).
The Englishmen involved felt that the immediate need of India was an institution dedicated exclusively to science and industry. Padshah felt that the institute should also cater to Indian arts and philosophy. The Government (which in the 1900s was run by the English), however, did not approve, and the founding departments were Electrotechnics (which was housed in what we today call OPB) and General, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry (housed in the erstwhile building of Biochemistry). You might rightly be wondering what this has to do with OPB. Padshah had made a strong case for including Archaeology as one of the founding departments; it would probably have shared the building with Electrotechnics till the latter moved out, and we would have ended up with an OAB.
OPB was thus the site of the clashing of titanic egos, even before it had a corporeal existence. It played a role in the resignation of two directors of the institute: Morris Travers and Sir C. V. Raman.
Morris Travers was an outspoken romantic, a caring husband who taught fishing to his wife and a loving son, writing very regularly to his mother. Curiously, he was among the 110 invited guests at the coronation durbar. It is curious because these 110 2 included the likes of the Members of Viceroy’s council, the Chief Justices of the High Courts, the residents at various principalities and their wives. Travers attended the Durbar in his capacity as the Director of the Institute. We, as students of the institute, might feel smug about the relative prestige of our institution, but it caused great resentment against Travers across the rank and file of the officialdom in the nation.
While Travers was travelling on a vacation leave in England, he was accused of malpractice in the construction of the campus. The contractor and the engineer were summarily disposed of. Various other controversies ensued during the directorship of Travers. He had to finally leave the institute, leaving when the granite structure of the main building was only partly done and OPB was barely finished.
Unlike the present times, the institute did not enjoy complete administrative autonomy, with every decision being questioned by the Council of the Institute. The council consisted of a few academics, representatives of the Tatas, the government of India and Mysore. Travers called it the “stupid council”, its members as far spaced as Shimla and Madras. The dichotomy of administrative control proved to be the Durin’s Bane for Sir C. V. Raman as well.
[Morris William Travers worked with Sir William Ramsay at the University College, London, in the discovery of xenon, neon and krypton. In 1901-1902, Ramsay had been asked to advise the Indian government on the founding of a science institute. It was Ramsay who suggested Travers as a possible director for this institute, and in 1906, Travers was appointed as the director of the new Indian Institute of Science. (Source: Bawn, C. E. H. (1963). “Morris William Travers 1872–1961”. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 9:300)]
OPB was then the seat of the department of Electrotechnics. In 1933, when Sir C. V. Raman took over as the Director and head of the department of Physics, there was no separate building which could be used for the department. The Physics department thus started in the main building. It was housed initially only on the ground floor of the west wing. The east wing had the laboratories of Bacteriology. These were later shifted to the Chemistry department to the east, and the entire ground floor became the Physics department.
Raman’s primary objective was to establish the Institute as a leading centre for physics research. In his singular passion for physics, it was felt by certain faculty that their field was not getting enough attention from the director. He tried to establish a chair in theoretical physics, which was first held for a period of six months by Max Born. Despite his best efforts, research in physics at the institute always remained mostly applied in nature. Any physics laboratory worth its name requires a workshop, where special apparatus can be fabricated. It is in the demand for a workshop that sparks flew.
Raman proposed that a central workshop building be constructed. This also meant that the workshops present in the existing departments would be shifted to this building. The move was opposed by F. N. Modawalla, the department head of Electrotechnics at that time. He suggested that the entire central workshop be put under the department of Electrotechnics, a suggestion which Raman did not agree with. The central workshop came into being, and Modawalla resigned.
The OPB remained with the department of Electrotechnics for as long as Raman was at the institute. So, despite the claims made, Raman never really performed any experiment in the OPB. He did his experiments in the main building. The main building also housed, for some time, the Cosmic Ray Research Unit of Homi Bhabha in the verandah behind the Faculty Hall. OPB became the department of Physics, much later, after the construction of the various departments of Electrical Engineering.