Monthly Archives: March 2018
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10th
The sidelined goddess of Botany
The first Indian woman botanist, E K Janaki Ammal, ought to be more widely known for her huge contributions to science. But she remains unknown within the country and outside academic circles and even our textbooks have failed to teach our children about her glorious scientific history
: Just a fortnight before the International Women’s Day, the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, UK, announced a new scholarship for post-graduate students from developing countries in honour of an Indian woman botanist. Under the scheme, 88 applicants who wish to study plant and microbial sciences can apply in commemoration of the distinguished work and contributions of Dr.E.K.Janaki Ammal who was an international alumni of the leading research and training centre between 1940 and 1945.
A heart warming gesture from an institution abroad, but may be India should have done something similar for the country’s first home grown woman scientist, who went overseas and returned accomplished breaking every caste and gender barrier through her work.
Just take a moment to think where we would be without the inventions of this brilliant mind.
After laborious crossbreedings in the laboratory of Sugarcane Breeding Institute in Coimbatore in the 1930s, she created the indigenous variety of sweetened sugarcane that we consume today. Till then India was producing sugarcane in abundance and yet importing as they were not as sweet as the ones grown in the Far East.
During the World War II bombings in the 1940s, she continued her phenomenal research into chromosomes of thousands of species of flowering plants at the John Innes Horticultural Institute, Norfolk, where she worked with some of the best names in cytology, genetics and botany . While working on the gorgeous Magnolia, she co-authored The Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants with renowned biologist CD Darlington.
The magnolia saplings she planted on the Battleston Hill in Wisley continue to bloom every Spring and one of the pure white blooms is named after her, the Magnolia kobus Janaki Ammal and apparently only few nurseries in Europe have the variety today.
At a time when most Indian women did not even attend school, she received scholarship and obtained her MS from University of Michigan in 1925 and later returned as the first Indian Oriental Barbour Fellow. She remains one of the few Asian women to be conferred honorary doctorate (DSc. honoris causa) by her alma mater in 1931. There she discovered a new variety of brinjal that exhibited triploidy instead of the normal diploid, where there are two sets of chromosomes in the cells.
At the insistence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, she returned to India in the 1950s and restructured the Botanical Society of India travelling to several remote areas of the country in search of the plant lore of the indigenous people and scouting for medicinal plants in her home State, Kerala.
A fascinating figure of the early 20th Century she was. E.K.Janaki Ammal lived a life which perhaps very few women of her time could dream of. The distinguished geneticist, cytologist, global plant geographer studied about ecology and biodiversity too and did not fear to take on the Government as an ardent environmental activist. She played an important role in the protests against the building of a hydro-power dam in Kerala’s Silent Valley in the 1970s. She made a mark with her paper on “Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth” at an international symposium in Princeton in 1955 and two decades later, she was awarded the Padmashri in 1977.
With a profile like hers, Janaki Ammal never got into spotlight. If anything she fought her status as a single woman from a caste considered backward and problems with male mentorship in her field. But she proved through her work that Science knows no caste, gender or social boundaries.
Yet for her extraordinary journey from small town Thalassery to the finest institutions across the world, there is no archive related to her in India. Her papers are available only in hard copy at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, according to Vinita Damodaran, who teaches South Asian History at University of Sussex and has also published a well researched paper on “Gender, race and science in twentieth century India: E.K.Janaki Ammal and the history of science.”
Luckily, the Nikari series of talks held under the banner of ‘Manarkeni’, a Tamil research journal, brings to light the works of lesser known women in different fields. In the previous years, the focus was on women in literature and history. This year it chose science and brought the story of Janaki Ammal to the fore.
The talk delivered by S Krishnaswamy, former professor at the School of Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University, highlighted various stages of Janaki’s career both in India and overseas. “Her career shows that scientists must speak their mind with social consciousness even if it means going against the policies of the government. In today’s context, it becomes necessary to bring achievers like her to the forefront,” he asserts.
Janaki Ammal must have conquered her fears and broke the glass ceiling for a rewarding career in science. “She wanted to be known only through her work. Let her work be known to all successive generations, who have much better opportunities” says Krishnaswamy.
An inspiring role model, Janaki Ammal passed away in 1984 at the age of 87 at Maduravoyal near Chennai, while working in the field laboratory of the Centre for Advanced Study in Botany, Univerity of Madras. She perhaps did not receive the acclaim she deserved but devoted herself to research, opening up a universe of possibilities. Let our children not be bereft of that knowledge. It is worth knowing and remembering leaders in science like Janaki Ammal.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Soma Basu / Madurai – March 09th, 2018
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A Lady Hamlyn touch
The over 300-year-old former residence of the Cochin Maharaja, Chittoor Kottaram, opens after specialised restoration
Lady Helen Hamlyn uses the French word douceur, meaning pleasantness, to describe the essence of Chittoor Kottaram, a former residence of the Cochin Royal Family. At the helm of the eponymous Helen Hamlyn Trust (HHT), the 84-year-old is the force behind the palace’s recent restoration.
Having acquired an insight into the complex and intricate art of preservation from years of engaging in conservation of heritage, in different parts of the world, she says, “I treat every building like a person.”
In its over 300 years of existence Chittoor Kottaram, now, after restoration, wears its charm once again, with a feel of the times when the Cochin Raja graced it, coming down to attend the functions at the adjacent Krishna temple.
Beyond the padippura, the formal entrance, its majestic grandeur looms. Seated on the refurbished verandah, facing the serene backwaters, Lady Hamlyn relishes the quietness that envelops its two storeys. It is a reason she chose to associate with it, having fallen in love with its very private ambiance.
“Chittoor is perfect; it is a retreat,” she says, talking animatedly about the completion of her latest project.
“The important thing in restoration is that you take up a piece of heritage and restore it without destroying its essence,” she says.
Latha Raman Jaigopal whose firm had carried out major restoration works on the structure in 2005 at the behest of the owner from the royal family, Suresh Namboothiri, was engaged to do so again by Lady Hamlyn. Of the first restoration, Latha says that it was merely strengthening of the structure. This time, it was about taking it back to its original condition. Latha adds, “Lady Hamlyn took it back to the original flavour a little more.” For instance, she modernised the pond, converting it into a pool, but kept to the old and used material like laterite stone. It covers the concrete base making it both functional and antique.
The only distinct change introduced was in widening of the veranda that now serves as a lounging space and in the construction of a waterfront gazebo, using natural materials. The final touches underway are sprucing up the private boat and changing remaining furnishing.
It was 30 years ago that Lady Hamlyn first visited Kerala with her husband, the publishing tycoon, Paul Hamlyn. In those early years the couple tried, in vain, to associate with the restoration of the Bolgatty Palace, but the efforts got mired in government procedures. The restoration of a few properties and old warehouses in Fort Kochi too met the same fate. Disheartened, she engaged herself with other heritage projects. In Khajuraho, which comes under the ASI, she cleared the ‘bunds’ and was instrumental in the shifting of a bus stop that hurt the heritage property. “World Heritage Sites by law have 500 metres of protection. Khajuraho had nothing of it then,” she recalls.
Reviving 100 fountains
Prior to her efforts here she fought a two-year battle with the Government of Goa over the restoration of the 16th Century Reis Magos Fort, that eventually resulted in the amendment of an archaic law that now permits reuse of a restored structure.
“When I get involved in restoration it is always for reuse, so that the structure can fulfil its role and be a part of the culture of the land.”
Before this, her collaborations with the Maharajah of Jodhpur to restore the Nagaur fort in Central Rajasthan brought about not only its glorious revival but also made it the much sought-after venue for the World Sufi Festival, now in its 11th year. She co-founded the event that brings droves of tourists to its doorstep.
Alongside, she revived the residences of old queens, small private dilapidated properties, suggesting they be converted to “nice little hotels,” and added modern amenities to the renovated structures.
Akbari Mahal, known for its water gardens that were introduced for the first time by Akbar, was undertaken by Lady Hamlyn for restoration. She brought back to life all 100 rusted and disused fountains, in period style.
“When I finish a project, it has to look as it looked when it was built. That nobody has touched it.”
Hence what has come to be Lady Hamlyn’s touch or trademark is one of sensitive reclamation, of no extra value addition and of using materials that were used in the initial construction.
The personalised restoration of Chittoor Kottaram has given back to it, its temporarily missing character, accentuated its stillness, heightened its stateliness and beauty. Lady Hamlyn’s labour of love is clearly evident in the decor of the three bedrooms, living area, wooden stairway, verandah, common area, office and spa, dressed in art—Pichwais, wooden cages, Bengali hand-embroidered hangings, furniture—from her personal collection. It will now be used by her and by guests who seek a private and majestic getaway.
“The thing about Kochi is its extraordinary history of people from different lands settling down here. That has made it what it is,” she says, adding that it has been a privilege to contribute in a small way to preserve the heritage of India which is unique to the world.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by Priyadershini S / March 03rd, 2018