“Can I please have your autograph, Prof. Ernst?” asked a 19-year-old shy Indian boy.
“Sure! But I cannot write in Devanagari.” smiled the Nobel laureate.
“And can I also have your visiting card?” asked the boy, pushing his luck.
“Ah! Why not!” he said smiling.
The 19-year-old boy was me. It was January 2000, Pune, India. I was in my second year of bachelor’s and I had gone to see a Nobel laureate talk for the very first time.
Professor Ernst, the chief guest for the 2000 Indian Science Congress, had just spoken about “Science in the Third Millennium: Expectations between Hope and Dread“. It was quite an experience for me. To hear a scientist talk about humanity. He even spoke about the Mahabharata, the Bhagwat Gita and the Upanishads. I was wonderstruck, awestruck, and every other possible hyperbole came true. For the first time I had been taught the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Mind you, this was before talking about humanity and global warming and human greed was “cool“.
After his talk, I went up to him to ask for his autograph. I had never asked anyone for an autograph before. A photographer caught the moment on his camera and the next day there was a blurry picture of me and Prof. Ernst in the newspaper with the caption: Heartening to see young Indians seeking scientists for autographs and not just Bollywood and cricket stars.
As fate would have it, when I started my PhD, I started to work towards becoming an NMRist. I was lucky to work with Prof. Anil Kumar who had been a student of Prof. Ernst and had acquired the first CoSy Spectrum with Prof. Ernst. It was great hearing stories about my “hero” Prof. Ernst. And Prof. Ernst visited the Indian Institute of Science as well and I got to see him again. He spoke about science, NMR and his new interest – Tibetan paintings and Tibetan Art. This time the audience was bigger. And I did not have a chance to interact with him. But this man, who lived 7000 km away, continued to rule my mind and of course my science and my NMR studies.
Fast forward to 2011!
“Dear Vikrant, after our interesting talk in Bangalore, I would like to offer you a postdoc position at ETH Zurich.”
Of course, this would be a perfect climax if it was Prof. Ernst who had written that email. But it was my would-be supervisor from the department of materials, Prof. Nicholas Spencer. I wasn’t just happy, I was ecstatic. I had a chance to work at ETH. The place where Prof. Richard Ernst worked. It was like playing football at Wembley or cricket at Lords. If NMR was God, ETH was the holiest place of worship.
When I arrived, I found out that my office was about 100 meters from Prof. Ernst’s office. I also started working in the NMR labs, and Prof. Ernst’s office was right THERE. I hung outside his office many times. Made friends with other NMRists. Asked people how and when I could see him. But somehow, I never did.
And then one fine day, there he was! Walking on the campus. Alone. I walked up to him. My heart was pounding. It was January but my palms were sweating. And I said, “Hello.”
Prof. Ernst smiled and said, “Hello”.
“You may not remember this, but I once asked for your autograph 12 year ago.”
“In India.” he said.
“Yesssss!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, but I cannot write in Devanagari.”, he smiled.
And that was it. It was a fan moment and I lived through it. In my mind I want to believe that he remembered me. Prof. Ernst in one of his talks had also spoken about immortality. And that’s what he is. His work and the impact that he has had on people, he probably didn’t even know has made him immortal. His science has impacted me personally and so also his wisdom and his visiting card is still my prized possession.
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