A chance encounter with Albert Einstein becomes a lasting memory for a young couple, illustrating the essence of ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ By Yashoda Dilwali as told to Jayant V. Narlikar.
I still remember the day I met Prof. Narlikar! The year was 2000 and I had landed in the summer school at IUCAA in my 7th standard. He way my Idol and I was really proud that I knew the full form of IUCAA! It was the first day and after the welcome speech and the first lesson, I was quite hungry. We came down a flight of stairs and Prof. Narlikar was there sitting with his colleagues. I mustered up my courage to talk to him. Of all the questions I could ask one of the most brilliant minds of the century; I could have asked about the mysteries of the universe; a thousand different aspects of science - all I could manage was the most mundane and a touch greedy question "Sir, where is the canteen?"! Of he smiled graciously and directed me towards it. That was my only interaction with him in that camp. I didn't manage to become an astrophysicist but my interest continues to this day! We were a movie called powers of 10 at the camp, which I showed my son now. Thank you for the inspiration Prof. Narlikar!
the cameras that used the "12-shots" film those days, allowed a "trial" shot if the film is correctly loaded on the sprocket wheel inside the camera
i used a 36-exposures film and that gave 39 shots if the film is hooked on the sprocket wheel just where the holes on the film start....it was a skillful job but paid good dividends if done well!!!
Wonderful anecdote ! It must have been really a ' Ha Ha ' moment for Charat & Yashoda when they found there was a Thirteenth exposure & a developped photograph from their camera ! I can imagine how delighted she must have been to narrate this story to you !!
खुप छान प्रसंग वर्नण केला आहे. कधीकधी असे प्रसंग आमच्या जीवनात ही घडतात. अंदाजे १८ वर्षापुर्वीची गोष्ट आहे. मला नारळीकर सरांना भेटायची खुप ईच्छा होती. मी बेळगावला असल्याने आणि क्वालेज मध्ये असल्यने त्यावेळी ते तितके सहज शक्य नव्हते. विज्ञानवाहीनीचा दशकपुर्ती सोहळा होता. निलीमा कामत म्याडम यांच्यामुळे आम्हाला या कार्यक्रमाला उपस्थित राहण्याची संधी मीळाली. या कार्यक्रमा अंतर्गत आम्हाला आयुकाला भेट देन्याची संधी मिळाली आणि योगायोगाने नारळीकर सरांना भेटायला मीळाले. तो मझ्या आयुश्यातील सर्वात आनंदाचा क्षण होता.
Wow readers digest was surely the Substack of the yesteryears n better of course !how lovely were those books . We were introduced to it from our grandfathers collections.He never asked us to read but we picked it up and became a fan of it .
The film magazines were the instagram of back then ,instant gratification but readers digest was the slow joy .
I still remember the day I met Prof. Narlikar! The year was 2000 and I had landed in the summer school at IUCAA in my 7th standard. He way my Idol and I was really proud that I knew the full form of IUCAA! It was the first day and after the welcome speech and the first lesson, I was quite hungry. We came down a flight of stairs and Prof. Narlikar was there sitting with his colleagues. I mustered up my courage to talk to him. Of all the questions I could ask one of the most brilliant minds of the century; I could have asked about the mysteries of the universe; a thousand different aspects of science - all I could manage was the most mundane and a touch greedy question "Sir, where is the canteen?"! Of he smiled graciously and directed me towards it. That was my only interaction with him in that camp. I didn't manage to become an astrophysicist but my interest continues to this day! We were a movie called powers of 10 at the camp, which I showed my son now. Thank you for the inspiration Prof. Narlikar!
Wonderful anecdote, truly matching the phrase - Nothing Ventured, nothing gained. God Bless Dikwali couple...
An amazing encounter indeed.
It needs a lot of courage and foolishness to meet our idols. Very few people really manage to do that.
the cameras that used the "12-shots" film those days, allowed a "trial" shot if the film is correctly loaded on the sprocket wheel inside the camera
i used a 36-exposures film and that gave 39 shots if the film is hooked on the sprocket wheel just where the holes on the film start....it was a skillful job but paid good dividends if done well!!!
Padmaja Joshi
A good venture and the Best luck for both Charat and Yashoda . Delightful read.
What a wonderful story about curiosity. Einstein's humility and willingness to share his knowledge is probably makes him the legend he was
Wonderful anecdote ! It must have been really a ' Ha Ha ' moment for Charat & Yashoda when they found there was a Thirteenth exposure & a developped photograph from their camera ! I can imagine how delighted she must have been to narrate this story to you !!
Very interesting story and photograph
खुप छान प्रसंग वर्नण केला आहे. कधीकधी असे प्रसंग आमच्या जीवनात ही घडतात. अंदाजे १८ वर्षापुर्वीची गोष्ट आहे. मला नारळीकर सरांना भेटायची खुप ईच्छा होती. मी बेळगावला असल्याने आणि क्वालेज मध्ये असल्यने त्यावेळी ते तितके सहज शक्य नव्हते. विज्ञानवाहीनीचा दशकपुर्ती सोहळा होता. निलीमा कामत म्याडम यांच्यामुळे आम्हाला या कार्यक्रमाला उपस्थित राहण्याची संधी मीळाली. या कार्यक्रमा अंतर्गत आम्हाला आयुकाला भेट देन्याची संधी मिळाली आणि योगायोगाने नारळीकर सरांना भेटायला मीळाले. तो मझ्या आयुश्यातील सर्वात आनंदाचा क्षण होता.
Amazing story. 👏 Lucky couple.
Getting a postcard from JV Narlikar sir during middle school days created a lifelong interest in the study of stars , moons and planets.
Wow readers digest was surely the Substack of the yesteryears n better of course !how lovely were those books . We were introduced to it from our grandfathers collections.He never asked us to read but we picked it up and became a fan of it .
The film magazines were the instagram of back then ,instant gratification but readers digest was the slow joy .
What a great read! Thanks for sharing!
What a fascinating story and anecdote 🙏👌
Very interesting story and the photograph.