How Homi Bhabha's wartime letter to JRD Tata led to the birth of TIFR in 1945
The 1950s and 1960s were years of rebuilding for India. The country was emerging from nearly two centuries of colonial rule while also trying to
The 1950s and 1960s were years of rebuilding for India. The country was emerging from nearly two centuries of colonial rule while also trying to shape its future after World War II and Independence. As a new nation took its first steps, it also set out to revive its scientific legacy—the legacy of a land that had once produced great minds like Aryabhatta, Sushruta and Brahmagupta. Read Full Story Homi J Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and many other modern greats were helping India gain an edge over its adversaries, making modern India where scientific gains were at the focus. This period saw the rise of IISc, TIFR, the IITs, the IIMs, India's nuclear programme, the early seeds of the space programme, and countless other institutions that shaped the India of today. Here, we look back at the making of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), an institution born out of Homi J Bhabha's correspondence with JRD Tata before Independence. From its first campus in Mumbai, TIFR has grown into one of India's paramount scientific institutions, with hubs across the country. The institute is one of India's oldest. Homi Bhabha discussing the APSARA reactor., 1955, From the collection of: TIFR THE INSTITUTE THAT GAVE INDIA MANY SCIENTISTS, PREPARING FUTURE SCIENTISTS OF INDIA It was the end of World War II, and India was on the verge of independence. What the country did not know was that it would also witness the tragedy of Partition just two years later. In 1945, India got a new institution dedicated to scientific research, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Ironically, the war that forced Homi J Bhabha to stay in India instead of pursuing research abroad also gave him a new purpose: to build a world-class scientific institution at home. Regarded by the scientific community as one of the greatest scientists of his time, Homi J Bhabha, frustrated by his inability to leave India for advanced research, which was then possible only in Europe or America, wrote a letter to philanthropist JRD Tata in 1943, a name whose legacy and foresight India can never forget. In the letter, he wrote that many would have to "accept a job in a good university in Europe or America, because universities like Cambridge or Princeton provide an atmosphere that no place in India provides at the moment." Homi Bhabha with Paul Dirac, TIFR Archives, From the collection of: TIFR The war had almost halted the movement of people across countries, as Europe and the United States were focused almost entirely on developing military technology and wartime policies. A frustration, a letter, and JRD Tata's recognition of Bhabha's vision eventually led to the creation of one of India's finest research institutions, TIFR. In the proposal to the TATA trust, as preserved in the TIFR archives accessed by India Today, Bhabha wrote "The scheme I am now submitting to you is but an embryo from which I hope to build up in the course of time a school of physics comparable to the best anywhere.
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