Memorial Address for V. Venkataraman

This is an extended and updated version of an email sent to Mrs. and Miss Venkat

Thank you very much for giving me your email address. I am sorry we have not been able to visit you and Priya personally and would like to do so as soon as possible when it is convenient for you. The day we got the news, I had to leave for Hyderabad as my mother was in the ICU. Sadly we lost her on the 29th. Considering how painful the loss of a mother who had reached the comfortable age of 82 has been for us, it is hard for us to imagine how you must feel at the loss of a life partner and a father respectively at the age of 52. I remember Venkat's birthday distinctly, since July 28 is that of my late beloved periamma who has a special place for all of us.

How can I start, and where shall I start? First of all it is ironical to have to write about someone who is younger than oneself. But I will try.

I think I first met Venkat at Princeton when I was visiting Prabhu probably around 1989 or so from Delaware. Venkat was also a friend of my old friend Kothandaraman who had also passed through Princeton, while he was working there. I believe they had common interests in semi-conductors and the like. I believe that we had a year or two overlap in IIT Madras but I don't think I knew him then.

Our acquaintance took place after I came to IISc in 1996 December and I remember seeing more of him in Tunga as we would drop by to visit the Prabhu's. I also remember seeing the two of you, although Priya must have been about 2 feet high at that time. I must congratulate both you and Venkat for her having grown into a fine young woman, responsible and sincere and the hope of the future for you and for our country. She has a particularly difficult task in coping and if there is any way we can help, please let us know.

I got to know Venkat better over the years professionally since he was in charge of so many things, like courses, I. Ph. D. programme etc. Our real serious interactions took place every summer for several years when we would jointly compose the I. Ph. D. entrance exam paper, in the old CTS building. It was a great pleasure to be with him and many others, including Tarun and Justin who were regulars. Over Adiga's dosais and thair vadais we would work out each problem and think about all possible ambiguities, type them up, make the keys and what not. It was a lot of work, but it gave us a chance to bond which I cherish. After we finished bonding, together we decided to get rid of the exam, and made a proposal to enter the Joint Admission Test of the IITs. Venkat saw this through to the end and that was the end of the exam as it was too much to conduct one more exam when there was already a national exam in place. I should note the extreme precision of Venkat and his sharpness and quickness and attention to detail during these interactions. Later on, we both served concurrently on the Board of Editors of Current Science and would often cross-referee manuscripts that the Chief Editor would send to us.

Our most serious interactions were when Venkat became Chair of Physics and I was already Chair of CHEP for some years. As I would often say, I went from being a younger brother of Chandan and Krish to becoming an elder brother of Venkat, as I would be to an even younger Prabal for a month and a half in 2018. I would refer to Venkat as Thambi for no particular reason, except for warmth and friendship that I felt for him which he reciprocated in his own quiet way. I understand from Mrs. Venkat that he would at times refer to me as Anna or ChepAnna! Thank you Venkat for that. I would also talk to him in Tamil for no particular reason except for the reasons above, and probably because we had a shared idiom. For instance, he was Venkatakrishnan Venkataraman the son of Venkataraman Venkatakrishnan, indeed as I am Balasubramanian Ananthanarayan, son of Ananthanarayan Balasubramanian. And also our shared idiom of service and a sense of duty towards our employer, although I must admit he was far more selfless than I. This shared idiom and warmth also enabled us to have some private jokes between us, which I will now enumerate to the best of my recollection.

It was quite a challenge to run the two departments but I think we had an outstanding rapport. I cannot remember a single time when I felt I was not satisfied with the outcome of a discussion, or vice verse. We had a delicate balance between requirements of each department and the need to have an equitable solution that would probably satisfy or not satisfy anyone. Many of the things that you would see in the physical sciences building was the product of our joint efforts, often initiatives coming from me, because we would have some funds left towards the end of the financial year and the need to have a creative solution for their use. Venkat would always support any initiative. Some of the notable examples are the large improved balcony on the first floor, the large patio in the western part of the building which serve as spaces for common use. There were also challenges when the new wing was constructed. For instance, we were walking together one day and one of the persons from the Estate Office or whatever it is called, perhaps PMG asked how to name the new floors and office. Within 5 minutes we gave a solution: call them E, F wings and we gave the formula for numbering them. And so on. Together we planned what you may all have taken for granted: the eaves on the corridors, poring over floor plans, making proposals for additional wings which are yet to be constructed. We used to have a private joke that the two proposed wings on the 2nd floor abutting CHEP and JAP should be named the Venkataraman and Ananthanarayan Memorial Wings. I should also add that all the above did not mean that Venkat was a pushover. He could stick to his guns and argue out his positions, but basically he had a sympathetic approach and an approach of fairness and objectivity.

In terms of academic initiatives, I thought that it should be good to invite Applied Physics and Instrumentation to join the I. Ph. D. programme and Venkat gave his unqualified support. And it was supported by all others and it happened. As time goes by, I think the successes of our academic programmes rests on the tireless work of those that were in positions of responsibility and they will become part of the firmament as stars which light the night sky, but will remain unnamed.

Let me turn now to what I meant when I said Venkat was selfless. Looking at his outstanding scholastic record of IIT M, and doubtless a topper, his Ph. D. from Princeton, any normal human being would have used it for self-promotion, including also his academic position in IISc. But he was not normal. He was saintly and shall I say trans-human. Our private joke when we would talk about recognition was that he would say `samblam kudta porun'. But he ensured that his younger colleagues got all the recognition by supporting them. Show me one other person who would have done something like this! And yet, his Institute colloquium was a brilliant tour de force peppered with immense amounts of information where he displayed his breadth of knowledge and also his sense of humor. For instance, it was here that he mentioned while introducing a well-known figure in his field that according to his wikipedia page, he was a mathematician and an entrepreneur. Venkat made a quiet remark that this seems like a contradiction in terms, which I think members of the audience took a second to understand! It may also be an opportune moment to note that Venkat was taken away at the beginning of the prime of his career with a peak awaiting him in the coming years, since he already had his administrative duties behind him and also because of his own entrepreneurial foray during his sabbatical year. He did tell me once in a rare moment of tiredness during the heydays of his Chairmanship that one of the reasons he came right back after his Ph. D. at Princeton was that he wanted to leave a quiet life -- he never thought his life would become so hectic!

At a personal level, I think Venkat had never taken a sick day in his tenure before June 2019. I had noticed that over the years he had got slimmer, probably decided to watch his sugar levels and BP, indeed as all of us south-Asians should. He would also ride his bicycle for his fitness regime, I suppose. I would also tease him once in a way about his thinning hair line, or his vazikh mottai, but would point out that even amongst apes, baldness was a sign of higher social standing and wisdom. And carry an austere lunch except for lunch at times at the Faculty Club. I would rarely see him at teas and coffees, probably for the same reason. Mrs Venkat tells me that at times he would ask for a double serving of grapes for his lunch because he was aware that I would gatecrash into his office and demand to share the grapes! It is therefore doubly ironic that he should have been taken away so early.

In fact, I had noticed in May when we went for the Animesh grihapravesham that he was not driving very well on the way back when you dropped me off. I attributed it to our talking while he was driving. Later I saw him in the building sort of looking down and walking, probably some problem with his vision.

During his year on sabbatical, he would come once in a way and I would tease him saying that I am looking forward to the IPO of his company so that I could invest wisely. My possibly last conversation with him was when he was coming back from sabbatical, was to pull his leg that now the Institute will make him the next Divisional Chair. Who would have imagined that things would have come to this pass? I understand that his reputation as a phenomenal teacher has been recognized by the announcement of the Jaya Jayant teaching award. It is probably the award that would have meant the most to him.

I could go on and on, but I think I will stop here. While we all must rationalize everything, we can only hope that he has gone to a better place. Let us also remember that Whom the Gods Love die young. I hope that you will be able to find some solace in the fact that you could share so many years with such a gem. His honesty and sincerity will be a touchstone for all of us. To an extent he is more like persons for past generations who put society and others before themselves. Let us all be thankful that our lives were touched by his brief one.

I will miss his immaculately dressed self, with a little tilt of the head and a hand in the pocket and his unhurried walk.