The famous iron pillar in Delhi, erected in the Gupta period (over 1500 years ago), is a marvel. After all these years this pillar stands erect witho… - Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao

Prof Rao said he visited the Nobel prize-winning scientist’s (C.V.Raman} laboratory in Bengaluru first as an 11 year-old school boy. “He was the first to recognize my interest in science and has given me a lot of encouragement. He made me a member of the Indian Academy of Sciences when I was only 30. I can never be equal to him.

We couldn’t afford many things, but we had education. My father was a headmaster and later became an education officer. My mother was fantastic: she always told me, ‘Do what you want.’ She gave me total freedom, in fact both my parents did. But I really owe it to my mother. When I said I will go to Banaras (Varanasi) to study, she said, ‘You want to go to Banaras? Ok, go.’ She would say, ‘Don’t worry about money, reading is most important, read and then everything will come.’ My family was very open. Thanks to them I’m what I am today. I am the only child of my parents, so is my wife.

Since there was no infrared spectrometer, I managed to record routine infrared spectra of certain compounds here and there, in order to categorize group frequencies. One of these papers became a citation classic.