Author: Prof Punit Kumar
In January 1935, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman wrote a remarkable letter to the German physicist Max Born, inviting him to join the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, as a visiting faculty member in Theoretical Physics. At first glance, the letter may appear to be a routine academic invitation. In reality, it was a bold and visionary intervention, one that revealed Raman’s deep grasp of the unfolding quantum revolution and his determination to anchor India firmly within its intellectual core. This single act, among many others, helped lay the conceptual and institutional foundations for what we today recognise as India’s…