Wow, this is such an interesting story, Prof. Narlikar. Two things are new to me here. The first one being it was the refusal of the TIFR scientists to come to Pune University (to teach the students) which ended this wonderful program (of which I was a fortunate student back in 1986-88 batch). I was always under the impression that it was because most students of this program eventually chose to leave the country to pursue higher research, that ended the program. The second eye-opener was that Pune University leadership was so much against building IUCAA within its campus. I would have thought your reputation as a famous Astrophysicist and a great educator should have been enough to convince them of the merits of establishing this institution within the University Campus, not to mention the fact that you were, by no means, an "outsider" to this place! That said, I'm glad the political leadership at the National and the State level had your full backing that ultimately laid the foundation of IUCAA.
Wow, this is such an interesting story, Prof. Narlikar. Two things are new to me here. The first one being it was the refusal of the TIFR scientists to come to Pune University (to teach the students) which ended this wonderful program (of which I was a fortunate student back in 1986-88 batch). I was always under the impression that it was because most students of this program eventually chose to leave the country to pursue higher research, that ended the program. The second eye-opener was that Pune University leadership was so much against building IUCAA within its campus. I would have thought your reputation as a famous Astrophysicist and a great educator should have been enough to convince them of the merits of establishing this institution within the University Campus, not to mention the fact that you were, by no means, an "outsider" to this place! That said, I'm glad the political leadership at the National and the State level had your full backing that ultimately laid the foundation of IUCAA.
Thank you for sharing these stories with us.