Homi Jehangir Bhabha Biography
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| Homi Jehangir Bhabha |
While the Second World War was raging in Europe,
Bhabha came to India on a vacation. During his stay he met Sir C. V. Raman who
was then the head of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. On Sir C. V.
Raman’s persuasion, Bhabha joined the Indian Institute of Science as a reader
in Physics.
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| Homi Jehangir Bhabha with C. V. Raman and other Scientists |
It was due to Bhabha’s pioneering work that India
could make such impressive progress in the field of atomic energy. Originality
and inventiveness were the two great virtues of Bhabha and he persuaded
scientific research with ruthless energy and devotion. All along he nurtured
seemingly absurd dreams. When he floated his ideas on atomic energy, Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru asked him, “How can we think of atomic energy in a
country which is run by bullock carts…?” It was the formidable personality of
Bhabha that persuaded Nehru to see otherwise.
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| Homi Jehangir Bhabha with Jawaharlal Nehru |
Atomic Energy Commission of India was set up in 1948
and Dr. Bhabha was appointed the first Chairman of the commission. Bhabha
wanted to bring the Palace of Versailles to India by creating the Atomic Energy
Research Establishment and it was largely due to his efforts that the nation’s
first atomic research centre was set up at Trombay, near Bombay. This was named
‘Bhabha Atomic Research Centre’ as a mark of respect for him. Under his expert
guidance the nation’s first atomic reactor ‘Apsara’ was commissioned in 1956. In
1945, he founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay. In fact,
from 1945 to 1961, he worked consistently for the development of atomic energy
programme of the country.
Dr. Bhabha received many
national and international tributes and honours. In 1941, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society, London. In 1942, he received the ‘Adams’ award
from the Cambridge University and in 1948, the ‘Hopkins’ award. In 1951, he was
elected President of the Indian Science Congress. He was elected the Chairman
of the U.N. sponsored International Conference on the peaceful uses of the
atomic energy held in Geneva in 1955. At this conference, Dr. Bhabha made a
strong plea for a ban on the proliferation (a rapid growth or increase in
number) of nuclear weapons and demanded that manufacture of nuclear devices be
declared illegal. In 1954, he was honoured with the ‘Padma Bhushan’ by
Government of India. Bhabha also served as the President of the International
Union of Pure and Applied Physics.
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| Homi Jehangir Bhabha |
Dr. Bhabha died in an air crash in Mont Blanc, France
on 24th January in 1966. The ‘Homi Jehangir Bhabha Award’ has been
instituted by the Indian National Science Academy.
Bhabha dreamt of an India which could be as good as
any other country in the world. Bhabha derived his energy from the arts, the
music, the paintings, the trees and his beloved roses. To Bhabha, the arts were
what made life worth living. Needles to say, wherever he went, whatever he did,
he made a lasting impression.
The father of India’s
atomic energy programme, his love for art was just great. His keen sense of
aesthetics (concerned with beauty and appreciation of beauty) was evident in
any task he undertook.
Homi Jehangir Bhabha in the words of C. V. Raman
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“was
a great lover of music, a gifted artist, a brilliant engineer and an
outstanding scientist……The modern equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci.”
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