: Unsung Punjab Scientist Saved 1000s In Odisha, But Denied Credit Because He Was Brown #IndiaNEWS #History Today, cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad are considered to be some of the finest and

Unsung Punjab Scientist Saved 1000s In Odisha, But Denied Credit Because He Was Brown #IndiaNEWS #History
Today, cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad are considered to be some of the finest and most notable science hubs in India. However, lesser-known is the story of the undivided state of Punjab, which produced some of the greatest stalwarts in the field, including Har Gobind Khorana and Abdus Salam. Even lesser known is the story of Ruchi Ram Sahni, a scientist, educationist, meteorologist and physicist, and father of paleobotanist Birbal Sahni.
In 2018, Neera Burra, sociologist and great-granddaughter of Sahni, edited and published ‘A Memoir of Pre-Partition Punjab’, detailing the great scientist’s life as part of the first generation in the state to be educated in English, and his life amid the changing political and social landscape in British India. Beyond his scientific contributions, Sahni was a staunch secularist and opponent of orthodox Hinduism, for which he faced severe ostracism.
Before we delve more into his contributions in the field of meteorology and science, it would be important to understand the humble beginnings from which he came.
A ‘Native’ Amid The Whites
Sahni was born in 1863 in Dera Ismail Khan (now in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province), undivided Punjab to Karam Chand Sahni, a merchant, and Gulab Devi. While initially well-off, the family’s business hit a snag, forcing them into a situation of financial instability, and leaving young Sahni to fend for himself.
Hard-working and with a strong drive to study, Sahni would sometimes travel 50 miles at the age of 16 to study in the educational institute of his choice. After completing his schooling at a Lahore institute, he passed his BA Honours from Punjab University. After graduating, he joined the India Meteorological Department’s Shimla office, at only 22.
Sahni was the first—and at the time, the only—Indian scientist at IMD. He worked as an assistant meteorological reporter under Henry Francis Blanford, a British meteorologist and palaeontologist. He was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing daily weather reports based on other stations across India and Burma.
H F Blanford, a British meteorologist and paleontologist, was Sahnis immediate supervisor (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Some time into his stint at IMD, Blanford, who would otherwise read Sahni’s reports before they were released to the press, had instead entrusted Sahni with 100% of the responsibility, from filing to releasing. As Burra writers in her book, some tensions were mounting because a “native??? had been given such an important assignment. In his memoir, Sahni describes this task as his “coming of age???, combined with a feeling of both fear if something were to go wrong, as well as pride that he could finally show his worth.

Stock Market NEWS Best intraday tips Intraday Stocks below 100