Roorkee (Uttarakhand), March 28 (IANS) Eminent scientist C.N.R. Rao has asked students to take the less travelled road to succeed and lamented the paucity of funds for science and education in India.
"First thing for success, take a lonely road," said C. N. R. Rao at IIT-Roorkee's annual Cognizanceon festival Friday, quoting Robert Frost's 'The road not taken'.
He expressed disappointment over everybody flocking to the same information technology industry.
Rao, a receipient of the Bharat atna, India's highest civilian honour, recounted his own successful experience that he was one of the very few people in the world who took up solid state chemistry back then and how people mocked at him for that.
The scientist also highlighted that Indian educational institutions and scientific departments are in dire in of money.
"IITs need more money, if IIT-Roorkee needs to be like MIT, it needs more money."
"I would like our prime minister and government to take interest in the working of the department. So many directors posts are vacant, large number of them are vacant, these have to be rectified," said Rao, reflecting on the state of scientific departments and educational institutions in India.
He underwent very testing times in his early days without equipment and when asked, how he managed in those difficult times, he said, "Nothing. I used to built, every furnace. I had to borrow wire from friend in America. Everything I did was on a bootstrap operation. Building little, little equipment."
"I wanted to have a particular kind of balance, I made my own parts balance, making a spring and all. It took me 30 years in India before I could do the exact thing I wanted to do."
Rao said as a 26-year-old young scientist, he wrote a book on ultraviolet sepctroscopy and a few years later he wrote another book on infrared spectroscopy which changed everything and won applauds from C. V. Raman.
He also said that though the national policy for education recommended six percent of GDP for education only two percent is dedicated.
In his message to researchers, he said, "I tell you don't give up. Whatever be the problem, don't give up. He adviced them to practice the qualities of dedication, doggedness and tenacity."
Rao suggested the young people to suffer pain for success and do something different and work for India.
He inspired the audience to always remain students by saying: "I am an eternal student. I am still a student."
Through Cognizance, IIT-Roorkee has thrown open a melange of events and competitions encompassing robotics, coding, biotechnology, chemical engineering, chemistry, civil engineering, architecture and planning, earth sciences, electronics and communication and quizzes among others.
This year's festival received UNESCO patronage and is aligned with the United Nations observance of 2015 as International Year of Light and Light based Technologies and Cognizance theme is 'Photonizing I'.
Cognizance will host 180 events March 27-29.
Patra Chawl Land Scam: Sanjay Raut gets bail, the court gives relief in Patra Chawl case
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has got a big relief from the court. While hearing Raut's bail plea on Wednesday, the PMLA court in Mumbai granted him bail. Raut Patra has been in jail
Weather News Today: Haze in Delhi-NCR, rain alert in UP-Bihar, know - latest weather updates
Rains are continuing in many parts of the country. From Delhi-NCR to UP-Bihar in October, the rain is not taking its name to stop. The Meteorological Department has also issued a forecast of light to
Now there will not be more than 50 passengers entry in a coach of Delhi Metro, DMRC will keep an eye with this technology
To find out that there are more than 50 passengers inside the coach, the Delhi Metro has found a technical way. The metro will detect this by the weight of passengers boarding the train. In an
SRH vs LSG Pitch Report: Fast bowlers are in awe of Lucknow's pitch, spinners impress on black soil
SRH vs LSG Pitch Report, IPL 2023. Lucknow Supergiants will host Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 10th match of the IPL 2023 season. The match will be played on Friday, April 7 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium
Gurugram: Vigilance committee is established to check corruption
Representative Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav has established Vigilance Committees at the locale and sub-divisional level for the counteraction of defilement in the area. These councils will
India-Canada Row: Canadian opposition leader said - that relations with India are important, and I will improve relations if I become PM.
The dispute continues between Canada and India. Meanwhile, the head of Canada's Conservative Party says that even after being in power for eight years, Justin Trudeau has not been able to build
Draupadi Murmu: 'Yoga brought me out of mental and physical pain', said President Murmu in Odisha
President Draupadi Murmu arrived in Bhubaneswar on Friday on her two-day visit to Odisha, during which she attended the second convocation ceremony of Rama Devi Women's University after offering
62,375 cases came, 1,590 died and 88,421 were cured; The number of deaths on the previous day is the lowest in 61 days
In the last 24 hours, the corona report of 62,375 people came positive in the country. 1,590 infected died, but it is a matter of relief that 88,421 patients were cured. The number of people who lost
BCCI: Match fees of Indian women cricketers are now at par with men, BCCI made a big announcement
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah made a big announcement on Thursday (27 October). He told that now the match fees of Indian women players will also be equal to that of
PM Modi on Farmers: PM Modi's statement came amid the farmers' movement, and spoke from his heart
PM Modi on Farmers Farmers of Punjab and Haryana are agitating demanding a law on MSP. Meanwhile, giving relief to the farmers, the government yesterday took a historic decision to increase the
