IIA, 220 years of History

Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) has a history of 220 years! It is said to be the oldest institute in India. It has its history linked to East India Company which set up a center for Astronomy in Madras by 1787. Back then, Astronomy was more connected to navigation to travel from Europe to Asia.

Kodaikanal is on the World map for its Solar Observatory. It is again, one of the oldest Solar Observatories in the world.

How did I get to know all these? My FIL is a Scientist there :).

Comments

hamsanandi said…
Hi Shyam,
Did not know that your FIL is in IIA - I was in RRI( Raman Research Institute) long time back, and people there interacted with IIA a lot.

And congrats to you both!
2:56 PM, December 22, 2008
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music+Food at Kamat Bugle Rock

There are not many restaurants in Bangalore with a chance to enjoy Classical Indian music and food together. Kamat Bugle Rock in Basavanagudi is one place for that. On Friday night, one of our music friends was performing and it was a good change for my wife and I to visit that place for dinner. Apart from music, 'jOladdh rotti' (corn roti), North Karnataka's main food, is the attraction of this restaurant. When we were listening to music, hot rotti-s were being prepared across the aisle. Cooks were patting the rotti-s (an authentic way; here, rotti-s are not rolled or automatically pressed) with their hands and were directly baking them on low flame stoves. Men with white 'Gandhi cap', green kurtha and white dhoti help in serving these 'jOladdh rotti-s' to customers. Unlimited dinner for little over $2 is worth the price.
Read more

Visiting Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal

Image
 We visited Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal in Nov 2021. This is the preferred time of the year to visit as the weather is suitable between October and January. Rest of the year, this region will be very hot and will be tiring to walk in hot sun. Badami is roughly 450 Kms from Bangalore. Options to reach there is via train (night train) or by road. If we start early morning at 5am, we could reach Badami by 2pm depending on traffic and weather conditions. Breakfast option is near Tumkur. After Tumkur, there are very few food options. One could plan accordingly based on time of the day. Route from Bangalore to Badami
Read more

Returning back to India

This blog will go for a long discussion within me. If this is Chapter 1, there will be many more chapters to come till I make a decision. Very often, I get this question - "Should I go back?" If so, when? Sometimes I feel, I should. Other times, I don't see the need. This change of answers inside me is just swinging like a pendulum. I have seen people being in this phase and then finally deciding to go back. The end result is so much to take and give that it is a total change of life for someone who has lived outside India for nearly 5 years. Hasn't India changed in the past 5 years? Can I adjust to the latest society and trends? How is it to live in a busy city and work in an office 20 miles away from home. How is the work environment in India? I don't know have an answer to the last question as I haven't worked in India. What will I get going back to India? That is a touch question to answer too. In simple sense, I will get back to 'my' place - the f
Read more