FROM VILLAGE TO VIGYAN - Reminiscences of a Pahadi Nuclear Scientist - A Book Review

 

Reminiscence of a Pahadi Nuclear Scientist- From Village to Vigyan is an autobiography of Dr. Chintamani Sunta and is undoubtedly one of those 'you can't put me down' books. I relate to the wisdom and clarity of thoughts of the author for reasons more than one. He happens to be the father of one of my most favorite colleague in Plastic Surgery, Prof. Vinita Puri, and the genetic source of her excellence is now an open secret. 

 

The author weaves the story of his childhood in the villages of Kumaon in Uttarakhand, near the picture postcard settings of Pithoragarh, a story that I have heard many times from my late mother in law, who belonged to the same place and lived a happy life of 104 years. The hills, the streams, the valleys, the pine forests, the lush green and mustard yellow steps of cultivated crops along the hillside and the footpath along their edge for traveling from village to village (dang-dang in Kumaoni) and the occasional encounter with wild boar or leopard are the stuff we have been repeatedly hearing from her. Dr. Sunta has painted the most enchanting scenery of the hills and distant mountain ranges in breathtakingly beautiful prose. I have also trekked extensively in both Kumaon and Garhwal and spent many holidays in Nainital, Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat and this further added to my exhilarating experience of reading the author's beautiful descriptions.

 

The trials and tribulations of a young boy from such a remote location in the hills as he crosses one academic and social hurdle after another, just to educate himself is truly inspirational. When we appreciate that academic excellence alone, coupled with hard work and dedication can achieve so much, with so few means and so little to fall back upon, it makes one wonder whether fate is anything else than what you make out of your chances and opportunities that life throws towards you.

 

Dr. Sunta started his professional life as a Physics teacher and after a few teaching assignments he got appointed in Atomic Energy Establishment in Bombay. He worked in Health Physics Department and his nature of work was research on radiation hazards. He devised an inexpensive Gamma Ray Attenuation Counter for this purpose, which added to his popularity. During this time he got married to Kamla and proceeded to the U.S alone for further training in his chosen field. The book describes his experiences in the research laboratories in the U.S and his foreign trips for conferences and research assignments in very simple words that bring out vivid details of persons and places, whether it is Denmark or Brazil or Austria. He was appointed an International Atomic Energy Agency Expert by the IAEA Vienna Head Office and worked in many countries in that capacity. His association with the Brazilian scientists of this field resulted in a fruitful Indo-Brazilian research collaboration for future scientists.

 

After retirement from the post of Director, Radiation Safety Division of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Dr. Sunta’s association with the Brazilian nuclear scientists flourished further and he became first a researcher and then Professor of Physics in Sao Paolo University where he would do both – teach undergraduate students and guide the research projects of post graduates. He even established an optional graduate course which was committed to research. As he was a professor in a university he was offered resident status in Brazil. Dr. Sunta fondly remembered his office room which had large glass windows overlooking a cherry garden!

 

While working in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and in Brazil Dr. Sunta had many scientific publications in leading science journals to his credit but his crowning glory was a book ‘Unraveling Thermoluminescence’  published by Springer, which my friend and his daughter Vinita helped him to publish.

 

Though India was ‘Otro Lado da Mundo’, on the other side of the world in Portuguese, Dr. Sunta and his wife Smt. Kamla’s social life in Brazil was very eventful and enjoyable and they would often mesmerize the dinner guests by puffing up Pooris and Chapatis as if by magic. His childhood habit of walking from his village home to school across the hills, valleys and streams helped him when he would go on a trek with his friends in Brazil. He and his wife were immersed in a cross-cultural deluge, imbibing the Brazilian and the Japanese way of life as his unit chief was a Brazilian professor of Japanese descent. Incidentally, 1.5 million people of Japanese descent call Brazil their home. The motto of the land ‘Vive com art’ or ‘live with art’ appealed to the Suntas as they often received gifts like hand painted potteries, embroidered towels. There was pleasant and surprising Indian presence too in Brazil like the Brahma Kumaris in Sao Paolo and an ISKON temple which had its own Gokul and Yamuna!

 

The highlight of this book is the author’s description of nature and his eye for details. It seems that the reader is on a trip with him. The description of his walk with his bride when he took her to his native village Khatali is simply mesmerizing. They started late in the day from Pokhari near Almora and walked along narrow bush clearings, across cultivated fields and beautiful valleys, crossing streams and villages, first in bright sunlight and then as the sun set, in twilight and finally in complete darkness. As they passed the villages along walkways behind houses only light from earthen lamps and kerosene lanterns from these houses would illuminate their path. Later a relative gave them a lantern with which they reached their village home in Khatali. The young bride was very tired and the ladies of the house helped her out of exhaustion. The pair also visited Dr. Sunta's uncle’s house in the village of Simalta. The new bride in Ghooghat, bedecked with jewelries soon became very popular with the village ladies. 

 

The author’s ability to paint in words the rural landscape of the Kumaon hills is only matched by his talent of sketching the cityscape of Bombay of 1963 from the top of a Double Decker BEST bus as it took him and his wife, whom he was showing the city for the first time, from Chembur to Colaba. The description of the city landmarks and localities with their brief histories, the famous eateries and popular street food, all showed his pride of making this magical city his new home!

 

Dr. Sunta not only introduces the reader to his life and his work but he also introduces his family with great pride. His wife, Smt. Kamla, who not only finished her graduation and Sangeet Visharad in Hindustani Classical music but also comes out as an excellent mother of three children and a wonderful homemaker in not one but two continents. Their elder daughter is an Anaesthetiest and the younger one is a Professor in Plastic Surgery in K.E.M. Hospital in Mumbai and his son manages a media company in the U.S. He fondly remembers all the places he had stayed in the city first as a bachelor and later as a family man. His description of the Mumbai floods of 2005 is particularly a chilling one and his anguish of having lost all the photographs of his children’s’ childhood is truly palpable. Though now a Mumbaikar, he could not disassociate himself from the hills completely and so built a house in Simalta, 2 Km from his village Khatali and this is now a vacation home for his children and grand-children.

 

The author’s love for the Kumaon hills is so profound that he has spent an entire chapter of his book on the festivals, fairs and marriages in the hills. His descriptions of festivals like Phool dei, Vasant Panchami, Holi, Harela, Ghee Tyar, Janmashtami, Navratri, Diwali, Makar Shankranti, Ghughutia, and Ropai and the mythological stories behind each of them are truly a reader’s delight. The seven days of Holi celebration ending in a Bhandara or a feast, the Bedwa Roti soaked in Ghee of Ghee Tyar, the jhanki of Gokulashtami or Janmashtami, the burning of Ravan’s effigy on the tenth day of Navratri in Dushera, the five days celebration of Diwali and Bhai Dooj and the Makar Shankranti or Uttarayan, the last festival of the Hindu colander, they all keep the Kumaon hills in a constant celebratory mood.

 

Remembering about the fairs he would go to in his childhood, the author describes the Nag Panchami and the Kojagiri Purnima fairs that would be held at the Nauling temple, the Anant Chaturdashi fair in Banjain temple and the Kartik Purnima fair at the Sam temple. He also introduces the readers to his village deities and the Gods that are worshipped in the hills besides the regular ones that we know of. Thus Kalsin, the God of crops, Chhurrmal, Sam, Gijai bhooth, Aeirhi, Ganganath and Harjyu Gods, their field of influence and stories behind these Gods are very lucidly elaborated.

 

The traditional Kumaon wedding was one I could identify most easily because it was one of the three types of wedding, yes with the same wife, that I had, the other two being Bengali and a Court marriage. The village palanquin is now replaced by a car in the city but rituals like washing of the groom’s feet by the bride’s father, which is embarrassing to say the least, and the Ratyali that follows is all depicted in beautiful prose.

 

The author then comes to a very poignant part of this book where he talks about untouchability that prevailed then in the village and how greetings were exchanged not according to seniority by age but by social status, whether one was a Brahmin, Rajpoot or labourer. He also goes on to say how those who were untouchable before independence became Scheduled Caste after independence and progressed because of affirmative action of the government so much so that today there is a reversal of political authority in his village and Brahmins are economically weaker.

 

In a section on travels and tours Dr. Sunta writes about his fun filled holidays with his family to various parts of India, Nepal, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The travel bug truly kept him busy and this was invariably a great learning experience for his children. The story of Dr. Chintamani Sunta has left me in awe and I am even more convinced than ever that nothing is impossible. If you are prepared to burn the midnight oil and fight it out against all odds, there is always light at the end of the tunnel of struggle, toil and sweat. Another thing that this book brings out is you can take a Pahadi out of Pahad but you can never take the Pahad out of a Pahadi !

 

The book is in paperback of 228 pages and is published by Walnut Publication. Divided in six interesting and inter-related chapters, each chapter begins with an interesting poem composed by our friend and Plastic Surgeon Dr. Venkateswaran. In between the text are some very beautiful sketches made by Mr. Uttam Chapte and Dr. Vinita Puri which are pleasant interludes but don’t stop the flow of the author’s story. It is available in Amazon for Rs. 350.00 and if you ask me, it is a must read.

 

To buy this book please click: https://www.amazon.in/Reminiscences-Pahadi-Nuclear-Scientist-Village/dp/B0DBD7KGTT