On Saturday, June 12, 2021, the students of classes X, XI and XII of Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School (MAHSS) and Aryaan Study Circle had the unique opportunity to meet not one, but two world-famous and renowned personalities— Padma Vibhushan Dr. Jayant Narlikar, a distinguished astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics; and his wife, Dr. Mangala Narlikar, a distinguished researcher in the field of pure mathematics, who also worked as a Research Associate at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

Dr. Jayant Narlikar received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Along with Sir Fred Hoyle, Dr. Narlikar developed the conformal gravity theory known as the Hoyle-Narlikar theory, which aims to resolve the conflict between the conservation laws and the Big Bang theory. He has written 21 non-fiction works in English and 2 in Marathi. He has also written 3 non-fiction books in English, all of which were translated along with the help of his wife into Marathi. Dr. Narlikar was also appointed as Chairman to the committee responsible for developing textbooks in science and mathematics, published by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training).

Dr. Mangala Narlikar obtained her PhD from the University of Bombay. She taught undergraduate students in the University of Cambridge, and later on taught master’s students at the University of Bombay and the centre in BhaskaracharyaPratishthan. Dr Narlikar’s core fields of interest are real and complex analysis, analytic geometry, number theory, algebra, and topology. She has published several scientific papers in the field of mathematics, as well as several articles on mathematics written in a simple language in Science Age, to create in interest in mathematics among lay people. She too was involved in the textbook-writing process of NCERT.

Jayant Sir began our interaction by talking about a childhood interaction which kindled his interest in mathematics. When he was a school student, his uncle, who was an undergraduate studying Engineering at the time, would often visit him and challenge him to solve tricky mathematical questions. This inculcated a spirit of lateral thinking and inspired Jayant Sir to pursue higher studies in fields relating to mathematics.

In fact, Jayant Sir asked us students to solve some tricky mathematical questions of his own! We tried and tried to answer, but we were never sure if we were correct—Jayant Sir would nod his head subtly with a small grin. However, three of our students- Ashish Zantye, ShivamSalgaocar and Parth Naik were able to solve these questions. Narlikar Sir was quick to point out that the method is the most important part of solving a question, and verified that they had got the answers using proper logic.

Mangala Ma’am then told us about her experience teaching students ‘boring’ geometry in an interesting way—using an example from floor tiles! She asked us to imagine what shapes could be used to tile a given regular plane. Her students would respond by saying square, rectangle, right triangle, isosceles triangle, or parallelogram. When she asked her students if a scalene triangle could be used, most of them would say ‘no’. However, if a congruent scalene triangle tile is reoriented in the correct way, so as to form a parallelogram, and given plane can be tiled using such shapes. It is this ingenuity and imaginative way of solving mathematical problems that define Mr. and Mrs. Narlikar.

In fact, that very ingenuity seems to run in the family—two of their daughters are IITans, and all three have PhDs!

Jayant Sir then gave advice to students seeking a career in the Space Sciences—astrophysics, astronomy, cosmology, and the like. He said that a strong background in physics is essential, however, you don’t need to have a BSc or MSc to seek a PhD in astrophysics- you could even be an engineer! In fact, both, Mr. and Mrs. Narlikar believe that inter-disciplinary research and study is the future of science.

After answering a couple of questions posed by students, I concluded the session by proposing the Vote of Thanks and thanking Jayant Sir and Mangala Ma’am for imparting their decades worth of experience to our impressionable and ever-expanding minds. I would also like to thank our Director, Mr. VyankateshPrabhudesai, for giving us this priceless opportunity to interact with such eminent personalities.

— Yuri Naidu