Nobel laureate upset after being mobbed at Science Congress

CHENNAI - Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Tuesday expressed anguish over being mobbed by people at the ongoing Indian Science Congress and said India should not confuse scientists with movie stars and politicians.

“I was escorting Nobel laureate Thomas A. Steitz to the Pride of India science exhibition and we were mobbed by people who wanted to take pictures and autographs. It was really unfortunate. We could not even talk for 15 minutes. We are not cricket stars or movie stars,” said Ramakrishnan here.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Children Science Congress, he said that India is too much into rituals and ceremony.

“Science is about curiosity and icons and celebrities have no space in science. I have been sitting at this platform from last 45 minutes and leaving 15 minutes talk, rest all have been ceremonies - giving bouquets, biodata reading, garlands and shawls. Scientists do not want any of these things and rather we could spend this time in reading their work,” he said amidst applause by over 3,000 students attending the session.

Ramakrishnan, who works with Cambridge University, won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2009 along with two other scientists.

Citing previous incidents when his email was clogged by congratulatory messages from India after he won the Nobel Prize, the 58-year-old scientist said he is not doing research for the country but for accumulating knowledge.

“There is difference between a cricketer and a scientists. They (cricketers) play for India but scientists are doing it for science. Scientists are not doing for the country as it is an international enterprise and I know I annoyed people by saying this but I still stand by it.”

“Science developed in one place is useful in other place. Science has always been international and not national,” he said.

Ramakrishnan created a flutter in 2009 saying people from India were “bothering” him by “clogging” up his email box and dubbed as “strange” their sudden urge to reach out to him.

Talking on the same lines, Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh said: “We should stop pursuing people who are Nobel laureates. Ramakrishnan would have been equally great had he not won the Nobel Prize.”

The Indian Science Congress was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday. The Jan 3-7 event is seeing participation of over 7,000 delegates and 3,500 students.

Other nobel Laureates attending ISC include Amartya Sen, Ada Yonath, Tim Hunt and Martin Chalfie.