﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><Search><pages Count="294"><page Index="1"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="2"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="3"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="4"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="5"><![CDATA[

embracing lives, chasing passions ]]></page><page Index="6"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="7"><![CDATA[

embracing lives, chasing passions 

Memoirs of Chitra Natarajan 

R. Rajagopal ]]></page><page Index="8"><![CDATA[

14 October 2015 
For private circulation only 
Copyright © 2015, Publisher 

Publisher 
R.Rajagopal 
E-501, Runwal Centre 
Govandi Station Road, Deonar 
Mumbai - 400 088, India 
email: raj@knowgenix.com 

Printer 
Disha Arts 
Unit No. 114, 1st Floor 
Hanuman Industrial Estate 
G D Ambekar Marg, Wadala 
Mumbai - 400 031 

Cover design 
Poornima Burte, DesignOrb, Mumbai 

Profile design 
Manoj Nair, HBCSE, TIFR, Mumbai 

Layout design and composing 
Bokka Tata Rao, Kandivli, Mumbai 
Elango Kanagaraj, Matunga, Mumbai ]]></page><page Index="9"><![CDATA[

to our mentors ]]></page><page Index="10"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="11"><![CDATA[

Professor Chitra Natarajan 

13 April 1954 – 13 April 2015 

informed by science, inspired by nature, lived with compassion ]]></page><page Index="12"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="13"><![CDATA[

  i. Foreword 
 iii.  Preface 
  ix.  Acknowledgements 
  1.    A  life lived fully 
  25.   Fervour for science  
  33.   Explorations in science education 
  93.   Down memory lane  
 161.   A legacy of expressions 
  231.   Connecting with communities and nature 
249.    Power of human thought 
  257.  Enduring  images 

14 October 2015 

Friends,  
this story 
is about   
Chitra, the  
fun person,  
let us get to  
know her ! ]]></page><page Index="14"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="15"><![CDATA[

Foreword 

This memoir is an extraordinary and unique effort on the part of Rajagopal for a truly  
remarkable lady scientist, educator, humanist and above all his life partner, Chitra. It is very  
rare to come across a person with such a sharp intellect as Chitra, who  moved from active  
research in physics to  take up the pursuit of much needed science education.  

The Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Tata Institute of Fundamen - 
tal Research (TIFR) has mentored a very large number of budding scientists and Chitra  
played a very important role dedicating her professional life for this demanding work. It is   
uncommon for physicists to have both theoretical and experimental focus but Chitra had  
an uncanny knack to do so before opting to become an experimental physicist. She had the  
benefit of going through reputed institutions in India and abroad. 

I do vividly recall her meeting me, in 1991, in the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT),  
now a deemed university, when I was the Director. I was really surprised that she was will - 
ing to take up an assignment, which, although very useful, was far below her talent and  
background. I soon realised that it was also connected with her desire to be with Rajagopal,  
an alumnus of the ICT, who had moved back to Mumbai. I had known him for a number of  
years and he collaborated with my then colleague Professor S.B. Chandalia to write a book  
on “Environmental Perspectives of Chemical Industry: Socio-Economic and Technological Im - 
peratives” in 1993. 

Chitra worked very hard for twenty two years in science education research, going  
through very difficult periods in the last few years due to her previous health setback apart  
from that of Rajagopal’s. I was struck by the manner in which both of them steered their  
lives so cheerfully in spite of health problems. Rajagopal continues to indulge in scholarly  
writings. Their philosophical approach to life made all this possible.  

There are very few accomplished scientists who work for mentoring young students and ]]></page><page Index="16"><![CDATA[

 ii | embracing lives, chasing passions 

popularising science. Chitra is an outstanding example of total commitment to her endea- 
vours even when she was confined to bed.  

This memoir traces her remarkable life from early school and college days to her life as  
a researcher in pure and applied science and in science education; her multiple passions  
and pursuits; her thoughts and writings on issues of relevance to science, technology and  
society. 

This laudable effort on the part of Rajagopal should prove to be a trendsetter. I do admire  
what he has been able to accomplish and highly recommend this memoir be read by scien - 
tists, students, educators and even, social workers. The multifarious personality of Chitra is  
very much reflected in this touching memoir. 

Professor Man Mohan Sharma, FNA, FRS 
Padma Vibhushan  
Emeritus Professor of Eminence 
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India ]]></page><page Index="17"><![CDATA[

Preface 

“It has been said that the primary function of schools is to impart enough facts to make  
children stop asking questions. Those with whom the schools do not succeed become sci - 
entists.” So begins Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, one of world’s most accomplished animal physio- 
logists, in his autobiography “The Camel’s Nose.” He spent over 40 years of his life seeking  
answers to simple questions, “How can camels go for days without drinking? Do marine  
birds drink seawater? How do animals find food and water in the desert?” For Schmidt- 
Nielsen these questions led to fascinating insights into life around him. 

These words resonate with Chitra who was habituated to ask questions either to her self  
or others. Framing questions, to her, was an important trait that children should develop  
early in their life. Long before she ventured into education research she would notice the  
way children would ask questions and construct their own meanings, often in total variance  
with the expected ones. 

Questioning established norms and processes was in her fabric and she would in her  
classes focus only on questions and not answers. Each of these questions she knew would  
open up radically newer thought process in young minds, pushing them to seek new mean- 
ings to previously accepted observations.  

Her compassion and work ethic drew many souls towards her. A strong believer in inter - 
disciplinary models of teaching – learning, she embraced the practice of science, technology  
and society education with great passion.  

She spanned the worlds of science and technology research as well as science education  
research to leave her mark in both fields. She championed the use of hands and functionality  
to match the creative process with a conviction that it is the utilitarian aspect of scientific  
pursuits that ultimately open up new vistas in scientific research. Her scientific research  
pursuits embodied this, as she looked at functionality in any research she pursued. ]]></page><page Index="18"><![CDATA[

 iv | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Her pursuit of surface science research at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai; Case  
Western Reserve University, Cleveland,  Ohio, USA; Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhi - 
nagar, Gujarat and Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai was aimed at functional pro- 
ducts, tools and applications. Her work at these places led to commercially useful analytical  
devices in the mid – 70s, coatings on thin diamond films for compact discs in the mid – 80s  
and plasma technology protocols and systems in the early 90s. 

She made a deliberate transition from scientific research to science education in 1993  
and spent over two decades of her life in education research at Homi Bhabha Centre for  
Science Education ( HBCSE), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). In this journey  
she integrated several scientific domains to learn, research and teach across disciplines.  
She adopted a collaborative model to build a platform for HBCSE’s work at the interface of  
science, technology and society; design and technology education; project-based learning;  
role of diversity in science education; multilingualism; and environmental education. Many  
of her writings strongly reflect her emphasis on multidisciplinary models of teaching and  
learning. 

She inspired many and in turn was equally inspired by leading thinkers and philosophers  
of the time as well as people around her. A humanist she was influenced by visionaries like  
Mahatma Gandhiji and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Later on she synergised her design  
and technology research with the views of Gandhi’s  Nayee Talim and Tagore’s creative basis  
for learning. In Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s teachings she found a direction to her life ahead.  
Social, feminist, peasant and ecological movements of the period provided her the insights  
and directions for her life ahead.  

Clarity of thought, fearlessness and articulation of her views marked her approach to life  
and is aptly summed up by one of her friends,  “her clear thinking and uninhibited expres - 
sion of her thoughts made her stand out from the rest in any forum. I believe that this nature  
was important in her taking bold steps in her career as well as in her societal commitments...   
Chitra’s qualities were evident from her young days and continued to be noticed throughout  
her life  –  both at work and outside…. Chitra not just helped people, but groomed several    
others to become better humans; better thinkers; better leaders.”   –   Dr. Meera Venkatesh,  
Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, the International Atomic Energy Agency  
(IAEA), Vienna, Austria. 

She continued to learn and integrate several emerging scientific, technological and social ]]></page><page Index="19"><![CDATA[

 Preface | v 

disciplines through her life. Her convictions in life took her far away from ivory towers of  
research to pursue more appropriate research pursuits of relevance to the nation; she moti - 
vated her students to chart newer paths and establish newer traditions.  Some of them have  
gone on to lead new initiatives while some head the institutes where they now work.   

Chitra with contributed to of    
organisations like the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Department of  
Science & Technology (DST), National Council for Science & Technology Communication  
(NCSTC), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS),  educational institutes and agencies working  
in diverse areas related to science, technology and engineering education. She was also very  
active in scholarly writings on numerous disciplines of relevance to the society. In Septem - 
ber 2014, MHRD sought her details for nomination to country’s civilian Padma award for  
2014 – 2015. 

My rationale for writing this memoir came from my experiences with Chitra, a humane  
person who embodied the finest of human spirit, in the process inspired and touched many  
hearts. Her life was a story worth telling not only for the humane template it offers but also  
for the motivation it may provide for many. It was in 2013 when I first thought of writing  
about Chitra’s life, a thought that resurfaced in January 2015 and finally took shape through  
the nights of the first week of April 2015 when I used to keep awake to look after her. This  
memoir weaves her life, from early childhood to schooling to college, her life as a scientist  
and then as an education researcher, embellished with reflections from her colleagues, col - 
laborators, students and a host of friends she met and interacted with since her childhood.   

It also incorporates essence of her thoughts reflected in her writings, talks, and shared  
views on Science, Technology, Society (STS) education; Professional development of teacher  
communities; Inquiry based teaching; Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM)  
education; Ethics in research; Quality science education; Sustaining science clubs; Holistic  
general education; New initiatives in education; Science learning; Research based practice  
of learning; Design and Technology (D&T) education as an emergent school subject; Gen - 
der and technology education; Pluralism in education; Science and technology education in    
Indian schools; and Reflections on innovation in education. 

I have enjoyed several reading-argumentation sessions on diverse themes with Chi - 
tra since mid-80s. I have shared a few vignettes from these sessions on issues relevent to ]]></page><page Index="20"><![CDATA[

 vi | embracing lives, chasing passions 

education; Education & social transformations; Interdisciplinary teaching – learning mod - 
els; Sustainability literacy; Lifelong learning: A key to knowledge economy; Education for  
skills development and nation building; Inclusive education: Road ahead; Conflicts and edu - 
cation; and Systems thinking and education. It is also enriched by a dedicated feature on an  
innovative initiative in science communication penned by Professor Arnab Bhattacharya,  
TIFR, Mumbai.  

Chitra’s personal interests spanned a wide range of topics. A keen observer of human  
nature and a naturalist at heart she spent a large part of her time understanding birds, their  
eating and nesting patterns; butterflies; plants and soil. Her keen interest in Indian tropical  
sholas, ecosystems, ornithology, handicrafts, paper crafts, poetry, music and of course, car - 
toons and comics became her lifeline. Some of these are reflected in this memoir.  

In the concluding part, I have shared the lessons we learnt in balancing life, work and  
health as well as our views on the present status of end-of-life care (EOLC) policies and  
practices with a plea for a more humane approach to resolve the complexities therein. 

Our mutual ideologies and friends brought us together, in 1986, in the by – lanes of    
Mahim, Mumbai. Both of us discovered in the other a friend worth walking with, through the  
rest of our lives. We were fortunate that through the next twenty-nine years we were able  
to walk besides each other on wonderful journeys experiencing many sunrises and sunsets;  
languages and cultures; readings and debates; music and theatre sessions. 

Through our journey we were fortunate to have enriched our lives as each day provided  
us immense learning opportunities. Indeed there were very challenging health problems  
both of us had to go through in the last decade. Through these times we continued learning,  
holding on to each other, drawing inspiration from lives around us.   

Chitra was always on a fast track mode, exploring new ideas, negotiating complex situa- 
tions, enjoying the chaos, moving both physically and mentally at great speeds, like those  
shooting stars, often a blur.  

Through a major part of her full 61 years (13 April 1954 to 13 April 2015) she thrived on  
the challenges life threw at her with poise and equanimity, never losing her cheerful smile  
and zest for living, always sure that life finds a way.   

Informed by science, inspired by nature, Chitra left behind a rich legacy of lifelong learn- ]]></page><page Index="21"><![CDATA[

 Preface | vii 

ing, collaboratively and compassionately. Her joie de vivre, sense of fair play and faith came  
from a sense of true liberation of her thoughts, expressions and actions. 

That she touched many hearts and made a distinct difference to several lives are brought  
forth by reflections from those she met and formed a bond with. Many of them have known  
Chitra far longer than I and have generously shared their memories of her in this memoir.  
In their shared memories, Chitra’s love and passion for science and life all around her is  
reflected.   

I place this work on Chitra’s life before the community at large with a hope that it inspires  
the readers to reach out to others, passionately explore unchartered paths in professional  
and personal life, and in the process leverage their unique capabilities to build a caring and  
sustainable society. 

R. Rajagopal 
27, September 2015 ]]></page><page Index="22"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="23"><![CDATA[

Acknowledgements 

Working on this book, since Chitra left my physical orbit on 13 April 2015, has been a  
cathartic journey; of long hours spent alone through days and night, desperately seeking  
Chitra’s rationality, logic and passion for providing a meaning to my life. During this period  
immense compassion from friends all over the world held my soul and body together; mak - 
ing it possible to bring this journey to a logical end. 

Through the last decade and half when we were managing our health and life a large  
number of kind souls extended their hands and hearts to us, giving us immense support,  
courage and conviction to face the challenges. These souls came in many forms, as doctors,  
colleagues, collaborators, students, friends and family. To all of them I owe my deepest grati - 
tude. 

I am very grateful to Dr. Roy Patankar, Director, Joy Hospital Chembur, Mumbai, for giving  
us immense support through the last 8 years and in the process becoming a friend – cum  
– counselor, and to his team of Physicians. Dr. Nobhojit Roy, Head-Surgery, BARC Hospital,  
Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai, has been a wonderful friend since we met him in 2005 and of - 
fered unconditional support to us. Dr. R. Krishnamoorthy, our family physician, was a con - 
stant source of comfort and motivation for us whenever we went through difficult times. He  
kept us productive with his wisdom and advice. To both of them I will always be grateful.  

Dr. R. Gopal, Medical oncologist, Joy Hospital was always ready with his precise in - 
puts and support since we met him first in 2008, as was Dr. Himanshu Bendrey, Ortho - 
paedic surgeon, Joy Hospital for his constant inspiration and support. In the period bet- 
ween November 2014 and April 2015 we were very fortunate to receive support from    
Dr. V.  Kannan Iyengar, Radiation Oncologist, Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, Mumbai and his team  
of specialists, who were in charge of Chitra’s radiation protocols. During this period we ]]></page><page Index="24"><![CDATA[

 x | embracing lives, chasing passions 

also received moral and medical advice from Dr. Nagraj Huilgol, Chief Radiation Oncologist,  
Nanavati Hospital, Vile Parle, Mumbai. To these kind souls I am deeply beholden.   

I am very thankful to my mentor Professor Man Mohan Sharma, Emeritus Professor of  
Eminence, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, who knew Chitra since early 90s for  
writing the foreword for this memoir.  

To Ketaki Ambekar of Beena Nursing Services, Sion, Mumbai, who took care of Chitra’s  
minutest needs, providing immense solace and peace to Chitra in the last two months of  
her life, I will forever be indebted. I am very thankful to Dr. E.K. Ajit Kumar and Dr. Uday N.  
Amane for regular monitoring of Chitra’s health during March 2015. I am equally thankful  
to nurse Sarika More for always offering her help through last year. Dharmendra Singh, our  
Phlebotomist, for over 15 years, holds a special place in our hearts, cheering us, always. Yet  
another kind soul, Dr. Komal Dixit, Dr. Batra’s Ghatkopar Clinic, brought lot of wellness in  
Chitra’s day-to-day life. To both of them I am very grateful. 

Dr. Hemant Mehta, Nephrologist, Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, who provided immense sup - 
port to both of us since 2000; Dr. B.V. Gandhi, Director, Nephrology, Breach Candy Hospi - 
tal, Mumbai, who managed me through pre and post transplant phases, and P.R. Radha, my   
sister who made it possible as a donor, were all very instrumental in giving Chitra and my - 
self four more years of togetherness in life. To each of them I owe a lot. To Dr. Stephen Hsu,  
the then Head of National Kidney Foundation, Singapore (2000),  G. Seelan and R. Sara of  
Centre of Management Technology, Singapore, and Professor Jan Hesselberg, University of  
Oslo, Norway, who were a continuous source of support through the last two decades, I ex - 
press my profound gratitude. 

I express my deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Beena Choksi, always in touch with Chitra and  
myself, a continuous source of support and strength, motivating me to keep my focus on  
the task, amidst challenging periods since April. She provided continuous inputs, reading  
the manuscript, responding with feedback and very instrumental in helping me take this  
process to a completion.  

Chitra shared a very long friendship of over four decades with Professor Jayashree Rama - 
das (Jisha), defined by very close personal and professional bonds. To Jisha and Professor  
T.R. Ramadas, with whom Chitra and I cherished many fine moments I express my heartfelt  
gratitude. To Professor Sugra Chunawala, a continuous source of support, helping with all  
clarifications on the research aspects, references and accessing reports, making it possible ]]></page><page Index="25"><![CDATA[

 Acknowledgements | xi 

in taking this task to a completion and Arnab Bhattacharya, TIFR, for his dedicated contri - 
bution to this memoir on science communication as well as provision of images I am very  
thankful. Chitra’s friends from HBCSE have been a source of tremendous support, giving us  
so much of their time, affection and assistance. To Madhavi Gaitonde, Professor K. Subra-   
maniam (Ravi), Professor G. Nagarjuna, Professor Savita Ladage, V.P. Raul and his team,    
Ravindra Sawant, and all her colleagues, I am very much beholden.  

To Meenakshi, our dearest friend. for giving shape to many of Chitra’s thoughts and  
adopting and implementing D&T practices in Puvidham Learning Centre and to Umesh for  
walking besides her in her journey, I can only say, “more power to both of you and all the  
children at Puvidham”. 

I am particularly thankful to Radhika Balasubramanian, Dr. Vandana Datye, Dr. Narottam  
Sahoo, Meena Sanyal, Sonal Shivagunde, Dr. Shyamala Bharadwaj and Dr. Lulabi Pattanayak    
for sharing images of Chitra; and to Biju Pillai who readily agreed to read through the    
penultimate versions of the draft and provided very useful feedback. 

To Tata Rao who provided continuous support to Chitra over the last two decades, and  
instrumental in the making of this memoir, I am forever obliged. I deeply value the support  
of Elango Kanagaraj for his support in the final design and composing stages. To Manoj Nair  
for designing the profile page and Poornima Burte, DesignOrb for designing the cover page,  
I am very grateful. I wish to express my gratitude to Vinoo Mathews and Ravi Raghavan for  
the support during challenging times. I can never express in a few words my gratitude to  
Mukund Bhalerao and Mrs. Alka Narim, who took care of all her personal needs since early  
2000. These two souls were very protective of her, aware of her minute needs, took their  
roles very seriously.  

I am particularly indebted to Raji Ramkrishnan, Chitra’s cousin, for her continued sup - 
port to us during challenging periods of our lives. Chitra’s family is indeed very large –  
her sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins, all of them gave us immense support  
throughout. To her mother Mrs. Parvati Natarajan; Asha, Avinash and Abhishek Kulkarni;  
Jyothi Natarajan, Ashwin and Anuja; her uncles and aunts, Sri S.V.S. Mani – Mrs. Padma Mani;  
Sri S.V. Padmanabhan – Mrs. Jayashree Padmanabhan; late Sri A.V. Mahadevan – late Mrs.  
Seethalakshmi Mahadevan; Sri G.K. Ramachandran – Mrs. Vijayam Ramachandran; Late Sri  
S. Ramachandran – Mrs. Alamelu  Ramachandran; Sri. P.N. Ramaswamy – Mrs. Annapoorani ]]></page><page Index="26"><![CDATA[

 xii | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Ramaswamy; and late Sri. K.P. Ramanathan – Mrs. Mohana Ramanathan, I remain eternally  
grateful. To my family Nalini, Radha, late Susheela, Kannan, Ramesh, Mohan and P.K. Nata-   
rajan, I am very obliged for embracing Chitra into their lives. 

I owe a lot to all her collaborators, colleagues and friends who made her life meaningful  
with their friendship. Many of them have contributed to this memoir and to each of them,  
listed below I am very grateful.  

  1.   Abhishek Kulkarni 
  2.   Aneeta Patil 
  3.   Ainhitze Bizkarralegorra Bravo  
  4.   Dr. Aniket Sule 
  5.   Dr. Anuradha Deshmukh 
  6.   Dr. Anwesh Mazumdar 
  7.   Professor Arnab Bhattacharya 
  8.   Professor Arvind Kumar 
  9.   Aswathy Raveendran 
 10.   Dr. Bakhtaver Mahajan 
 11.   Dr. Beena Choksi 
 12.   Dr. David Barlex 
 13.   Dr. David Spendlove 
 14.   Dr. Dhiraj Bora 
 15.   Professor Eddie Norman 
 16.   Dr. Farhat Ara 
 17.   Professor G. Nagarjuna 
 18.   Professor Gary Chottiner 
 19.   Dr. Geeta Shah 
  20.    Gomathy and R. Balasubramanian,   
Radhika Balasubramanian 
 21.   Professor Hemchandra C Pradhan 
 22.   Himanshu Burte 
 23.   Professor Jan Hesselberg 
 24.   Professor Jayashree Ramadas 
 25.   Professor John Williams 
 26.   Professor K. Subramaniam 
 27.   Professor Kay Stables 
 28.   Krishna and Bhadresh Padia 
 29.   Dr. Kumi Pandya 
 30.   Professor Léonie Rennie 
 31.   Dr. Lulabi Pattanayak 
 32.   Madhavi Gaitonde 
 33.   Malini Krishnankutty 

List of contributors 

 34.   Professor Marc J. de Vries 
 35.   Meena Sanyal 
 36.   Meenakshi Umesh 
 37.   Dr. Meera Venkatesh 
 38.   Professor Mustansir Barma 
 39.   N.P. Chaubey 
 40.   Professor Narendra K Jaggi 
 41.   Dr. Narottam Sahoo 
 42.   Dr. P. Vasu 
 43.   Professor Patrick Dias 
 44.   Prabodh Kumar Govil 
 45.   Professor Prajval Shastri 
 46.   Pranita Gopal 
 47.   R.S. Mehrotra 
 48.   Dr. Raj Hirwani 
 49.   Raji Ramkrishnan 
 50.   Dr. Rema Rajan 
 51.   Dr. Ritesh Khunyakari 
 52.   S.P. Agarwal 
 53.   Dr. Sanjay Chandrasekaran 
 54.   Saurav Shome 
 55.   Professor Savita Ladage 
 56.   Dr. Shamin Padalkar 
 57.   Shweta Manoj 
 58.   Professor Shyamala Bharadwaj 
 59.   Dr. Sindhu Mathai 
 60.   Sonal Shivagunde 
 61.   Professor Sugra Chunawala 
 62.   Professor Swadesh Mahajan 
 63.   Professor Swapna Banerjee Guha 
 64.   Dr. Swati Mehrotra 
 65.   Dr. Vandana Datye 
 66.   Dr. Vijayalakshmi Murali ]]></page><page Index="27"><![CDATA[

1 
A life lived fully 

Early years 
Chitra was born to Karur Narasimha Natarajan and Parvati Natarajan on April 14, 1954,  
at 5:25 am at the Bhagwati Hospital near Thane station. April 14 happens to be the Tamil  
New Year, celebrated as Vishu (in Kerala); her birth date was inadvertently registered in her  
school as 13 April 1954. Traditionally a new day began only after sunrise which incidentally  
was at 5:57 am on April 14, 1954.  

Typical of many families, both April 13  and 14 used to be celebrated each year as her  
birthday and she would remind me that she shared her birthday with Fire Brigade Day  
(named following the Bombay Dock Fire incident, 1944  –  with lot of sadness for the 800  
lives lost), and more particularly with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (who inspired much of her  
thinking in subsequent life) and New Year harvesting day, Vishu.  

Her came Mumbai June after her from    
Kerala and joined South Indian Education Society (SIES) High School at Matunga,    
Mumbai, as an English teacher. Her father, a combination of mathematician, photographer    
and practitioner of traditional fine arts taught Mathematics at the same school, since 1948.  
Her parents located to Thane following their marriage in 1952 and soon after in April 1954  
Chitra was born.  

Subsequently, her parents shifted to Chembur (1955 – 56) and then Kelkar building,  
Parel (1956 – 64) where Chitra spent a large part of her early childhood. Her life at Parel,  a  
beehive of industrial and social activity during the 50s – 60s, left a deep impression on her,  
influenced her to work, later in the late 1970s, in the slums of Lower Parel teaching young  
students. She joined Little Angel’s school, Sion, in 1958 ,  for Kindergarten (KG) and then  
studied at the SIES School in Matunga from 1959 till 1964. ]]></page><page Index="28"><![CDATA[

 2 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

In search of professional advancement and job security, her parents left their SIES    
service in 1964 and joined the Artisan Technical Training Centre, Nashik,  attached to    
Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL), a central government unit as it offered permanency  
of job. Nashik is around 170 kms from Mumbai and is known for its vineyards, pilgrim - 
age centres and defence establishments. While her father taught Mathematics, her mother  
taught English. Her father also doubled up as librarian and this proved to be a major game  
changer in Chitra’s life. It led her into a whole new world of books, ideas and people she may  
not have encountered otherwise. 

Chitra joined St. Philomena High School at Nashik Road in 1964 from where she appeared  
for her SSC exam in1970. Her life at Nashik was a wonderful period of learning for her and  
she excelled at all that she took up. A very idyllic and serene place, full of greenery, it held  
a special charm for Chitra who lived on Jail Road, Nashik Road.  She was engaged in a wide  
variety of activities and set benchmarks in many areas she got involved in. She went on to  
become the Head Girl of the school showing immense leadership qualities. It was in this  
environment, probably inspired by the catholic faith around her, that she developed a deep  
compassion for all forms of life. 

She would spend time with her father listening to music over All India Radio (AIR), read  
books with him till 11pm. Inspired by him she read the entire works of Shakespeare, Milton,  
Shelley and Wordsworth which led her to write short poems, a passion she retained but  
gave up in the mid 90s while at HBCSE. She was quite attracted by the philosophy of Richard  
Feynman, Nobel laureate, Physics, 1968, for his unorthodox and original approach to phy- 
sics research and teaching. It was in the late 60s she was exposed to the three volume series,  
“The Feynman’s Lectures on Physics”, they remained her bible for all the physics research  
and teaching she did in later on in her life. His expressions, “the highest forms of under - 
standing we can achieve are laughter and human compassion” gave a direction to her life.  
His style of teaching was to influence her later in her classroom teaching where she adopted  
radically new ways. Her keen interest in natural sciences and astronomy also evolved dur - 
ing her school days in Nashik.  

Her most exciting moment during her school days was when the then President Sarve - 
palli Radhakrishnan replied to one of her letters as did the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira  
Gandhi. She developed a passion for Russian during her school days and was quite busy in  
learning the language influenced by the presence of Russian engineers at HAL. ]]></page><page Index="29"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  3 

Radio was the only entertainment medium in the 60s and she was an avid fan of Bhooley  
Bisre Geet, played every morning over the Vividh Bharati channel. She learnt a large number  
of songs and with her uncanny memory never forgot the lyrics of many of them. In fact, in  
her final days these songs became her strong source of support. She also took to Marathi  
abhangs and pahatechi  geet, and later on in the 70s the western folk and soul music. Cliff  
Richard; John Denver; Bob Dylan; Peter, Paul, and Mary; and Patty Page were some of her  
favourite singers. 

Her passion for nature, gadgets, photography, ecology, literature and tailoring was large- 
ly drawn from her father who believed in  celebrating life each moment , a philosophy she  
adopted through her life. She developed a yen for painting and later used to paint whenever  
she used to get a chance.  

Her father was transferred to Sangli Industrial Training Institute (ITI), in 1968 (the year  
when Koyna dam tragedy occurred) where he taught Mathematics and English. He used  
the trusted postcard to communicate with Chitra correcting her language and helping her  
resolve complex mathematics problems.  He was then transferred to ITI Panvel and later  
joined Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI), Matunga as an English teacher, in 1969.  

Transformations and challenges  
In early 1970 her family faced a crisis of immense proportion when her father was    
diagnosed with skin cancer (for which the treatment was at its infancy) and admitted to  
Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Parel. She spent two months with him at TMH during her  
study leave for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams, caring and tending to him while  
her mother and sisters were at Nashik. These were the times which saw the emergence of  
Chitra from a child to a very mature and deeply reflective person. She, along with her father,  
a very ebullient person, kept the ward full of excitement with close interactions with other  
inmates, their families and nurses. This period transformed her character significantly and  
she realised that life moves ahead only on compassion while the rest are mere appendages.  
It was here she strongly adopted her life motto “where there is faith there is no fear.” 

She went to Nashik in April 1970 to write her SSC exams and performed brilliantly. On  
learning she had got only 99% in Maths and lost out one mark, she broke down. Her father  
wrote to her on June 25 from TMH, consoling her. He expired the next day on June 26, 1970.  
(Forty five years  later, in 2015, her father’s demise still brought vivid memories of his fight  
at TMH, June 26 each year was a deeply sad day for her). ]]></page><page Index="30"><![CDATA[

 4 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

The following years from 1970 till 1978 were tough years for the family. She went on  
to join Bytco College for her first year in 1970 – 71, a period which was defining for her.    
Encouraged by her teachers at Bytco College she wrote the tests for National Science Talent  
Scholarship (NSTS) conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Train - 
ing (NCERT). Having successfully qualified for the award she realised that the scholarship  
cannot be availed in Nashik and she had to return to Mumbai. Her determination to follow  
her passion for physics was so intense she was ready to move back to a city where she spent  
a large part of her childhood but did not connect with at many levels. Chitra was in NSTS  
1971 batch and the first summer school camp was in Chennai in 1972 where she met and  
formed a life – long friendship with Jisha (Jayashree Ramadas). Both of them took different  
career paths in subsequent years to finally team up, in 1993, at the  Homi Bhabha Centre for  
Science Education (HBCSE), a National Centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research  
(TIFR), Mumbai, India. 

Moving to Mumbai in 1971 was a major change for Chitra and she stayed briefly with her  
uncle, S.V. Padmanabhan and her grandmother. Meanwhile, her mother who was in Nashik,  
till 1978 returned to Mumbai, joined ITI, Panvel, from where she retired in 1985. Having  
lived in the 70s with her grandmother, Lakshmi Ammal, a no – nonsense pragmatic lady,  
she imbibed the same spirit in dealing with issues in her personal and professional life. Her  
deep sense of duty to her mother shaped her life in many ways and she was acutely aware  
of her needs and responded to these well in advance. 

In search of a life in Physics  

In 1971 she joined the SIES college of Sci - 
ence and Arts, Sion, Mumbai for the Intermedi- 
ate Science and in 1972 took up B.Sc (Physics  
and Maths) and graduated in 1974. During her  
time at SIES college she was very inspired by  
her teachers, Prof. C.P. Menon (Physics), Prof.  
S. Ramanathan (Physics), Prof. Ramkrishnan  
(Maths), Prof. M.K. Narayanaswamy (Maths)  
and the late Prof. Derek Antao (English). She  
enjoyed learning under these stalwarts, all of  
With Prof. C.P Menon, Prof. Ram Joshi, Dr. S. Ramanathan,  
and other Physics department staff, SIES college, 1974 ]]></page><page Index="31"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  5 

On her 3rd birthday, 1957 

Natarajan and Parvati, 1958 Chitra, 1976 

(l-r) Parvati, Chitra, Asha, Jyothi, Natarajan, 1965 ]]></page><page Index="32"><![CDATA[

 6 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

whom were outstanding teachers. In 1974, the very year that she graduated, I enrolled for  
the first year in the same college and learnt under the same teachers. It took another 12  
years and several personal journeys before our paths crossed in 1986.  

Pursuing her goals in physics she joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai  
in 1974 and graduated in 1976. Though fascinated with theoretical physics she chose to    
become an experimental physicist, which enabled her to engage her hands and head in  
equal measure. Driven by the need for earning a living while following her passion for phy- 
sics she joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 1976 as a Trainee in Physics.  
Searching for a place to stay, she spent the next few years till mid – 1982 at Vashi with one of  
her sisters and mother.  While enjoying her work at BARC at Technical Physics & Prototype  
Engineering Division (TPPED) as a Scientist she was continuously aware of her ultimate  
aim, i.e., to do research in Physics. Her experiences with her seniors like Dr. C.P. Gopala-   
raman, Prahalada Rao and others were highly enriching for her. Meanwhile, in 1982, she  
with her mother and sister moved into their own home at Mankhurd, close to BARC. 

The late 70s were very tough periods for Chitra on several levels and she found relief in  
getting involved in teaching students from slums at Lower Parel, an area which was to see  
major social transformation in the 80s due to the Mumbai textile strike. She also engaged  
herself in learning Bengali and was keen to read Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s poems  
and philosophy. She went on to keep in touch with the language through the 90s. Moved  
by the writings and teachings of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, she imbibed several aspects of  
his vision for social transformation. In the late 70s she trained herself  as a yoga trainer at  
Nimbalkar School of Yoga. 

To USA for pursuing research  

Motivated by her dream to be a researcher in Physics she applied and got the Government  
of India (GOI) National Merit Scholarship for Study Abroad. In keeping with her passion  
for materials and surfaces she focused on surface science research as her key priority. She  
was able to secure admission for the PhD program in 1982, under Prof. Richard Hoffman,  
a leading materials scientist at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, Ohio,  
USA. Her stay in the USA opened up a new world of opportunities, facilities, environment  
and community of friends and she easily took to it. In the following years she combined her  
research with diverse activities involving fine arts and melted into the South Indian milieu  
in Cleveland. ]]></page><page Index="33"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  7 

Her stay in the USA was made comfortable  
by several kind souls like Vandana Datye and  
Satish Thatte. She also met R. Balasubramanian,  
his wife Gomathy and their daughters, Radhika  
and Ranjani, who were all part of a larger Indian  
community of people spearheading Indian Car - 
natic music in Cleveland and made her a part of  
their family. In due course she became an integral  
part of the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival serv - 
ing as a volunteer during the festival. Besides,    
Mr. V.V. Sundaram, his wife Gomathy Sundaram,  
Sridhar and several friends gave her immense sup - 
port. She also became close to her room mate Kumi  
Pandya with whom she kept in contact through her    
life. 

Memories of her mother and sisters back in    
India and their future was a matter of deep concern for her. Her convictions and rationale  
for returning to India was based on her inherent desire to work and contribute to science  
research and education in Indian government institutions. It was her way of repaying the  
faith that the Government had in her by supporting her with academic scholarships in her  
postgraduate and doctoral programmes. Highly motivated, investing long hours in the labo - 
ratory, she received her PhD in the summer of 1985, setting new benchmarks in PhD thesis  
submission within three years.  

Back to her roots 

Having decided to return to India despite sound offers in the USA, she evaluated several  
research centres in India including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).  She finally accep- 
ted the offer from Institute of Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, Gujarat.  It was a deci - 
sion that proved to be right for her as she found IPR a lively, open place where traditional  
research hierarchies and bureaucracy prevalent in most Indian research institutes were to- 
tally missing. She engaged herself fully into researching the plasma edge phenomena on the  
ADITYA Tokamak reactors and also got involved in the vacuum science programmes. It was  
a significant move as she got an opportunity to work with some of the best physicists in the  

“Given the prestige of CWRU, and her  
specific area, she could have easily found  
academic or industrial jobs in the United  
States if she had so chosen. But, she wan-  
ted to contribute her knowledge, her  
technical prowess, her infinite energy  –   
first to the cause of research, and, as it  
turned out, later to science education, in  
India,.. she embodied throughout her life  
what another very dear friend of mine,  
Dr. Minor Myers Jr., President of our uni - 
versity, told our graduating class on com - 
mencement each year: “Go forth and do  
well, but more importantly, go forth and  
do good !” – Narendra K. Jaggi, Faculty,  
Environmental Studies and Asian Stu- 
dies , Illinois Wesleyan University, USA ]]></page><page Index="34"><![CDATA[

 8 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

country and also teach some of the brilliant students who have all now gone to the top of  
their careers.  

Her stay at Ahmedabad was made very comfortable by her friend Kumi’s parents Prof. J.P.  
Pandya, Sharad Aunty and their children embracing her into their family  –  a relationship  
which has lasted for 30 years. She was actively engaged in all the outreach programs IPR  
took up in Bhat village. As Academic Chair of the student research progamme, she was fully  
engaged in dealing with all issues specific to research and their demand for better courses.  
She contributed very significantly to the vacuum science program of the Institute and took  
upon herself the task of setting up laboratories with high standards and protocols.  

While at Ahmedabad she used to visit Mumbai often and during one such visit we met at  
my mentor, Madhusudhan Valanju’s house, on September 27, 1986. This was followed by on  
– the – run meetings at Udupi joints, Irani cafes and Mumbai Central station besides sharing  
thoughts often by post and weeklong visits  –  till we decided to formalise our relationship  
on March 16, 1988, at the Bandra Civil Court, Mumbai, in the presence of B.M. Shaikh, Mar - 
riage Officer. 

We spent a lot of time in the Gujarat Mail train with either me traveling to Ahmedabad  
or she to Mumbai. Meanwhile I finished my Doctoral programme in 1988 at the then Uni - 
versity Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT)  –  now known as Institute of Chemical  
Technology (ICT)  –  and shifted to Ahmedabad to be with Chitra. This was my second stint  
in Ahmedabad after the  first one between 1981 – 1983, balancing life and work between a  
chemical enterprise where I was in a project management function and pursuing fine arts   
–  performance arts and puppetry  –  at Darpan Academy of Performing Arts, a centre for  
research, training and performance of India’s art forms, founded in 1949, by Indian space  
scientist Vikram Sarabhai and dancer choreographer Mrinalini Sarabhai,  located at Usman - 
pura on the banks of Sabarmati river.  

Between 1988 – 91 I divided my time between advising the chemical industry in safety  
and environmental strategies and engaging in rural water, soil, bioenergy, education and ca - 
pacity building initiatives at Sabarkantha and Banaskantha districts of Gujarat (with Narot- 
tam Lalbhai Rural Development Group and Lalbhai Group Rural Development Group, both  
located at Arvind Mills Complex in Naroda, led by our friend Korah Mathen). Chitra, despite  
her enormous work burden was actively involved in my activities and helped develop an  
efficient model of information systems. Our life in Ahmedabad gave us deep insights into ]]></page><page Index="35"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  9 

With her research guide Professor Richard Hoffman 

Receiving her PhD degree ]]></page><page Index="36"><![CDATA[

 10 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

With Vandana Datye, Ann Arbor, 1985 

Relaxing in her apartment, US, 1983 

With the MGM Lion 
Outside the apartment, 1983 

With Balasubramanians and Friends With her CWRU friends, 1984 ]]></page><page Index="37"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  11 

Life at Rusvi Park, Ahmedabad, 1985-91 ]]></page><page Index="38"><![CDATA[

 12 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Her extended family 

Chitra’s family ]]></page><page Index="39"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  13 

With Swati Bal-Tembe, Vandana, Sanjeewani Jain, 2009 (l-r) 

With Narendra Jaggi and Mother, 1998 

With Chanda Jog, Abha, Deepa and Aloke Jain (l-r) 

With Raj, Murali and Vijayalakshmi, 2009 (l-r) 

With Anil Kumar, Mythili Ramaswamy, Vasudha and   
Anjali (l-r) 

With Rema Rajan and Meena Sanyal, 2012 (l-r) ]]></page><page Index="40"><![CDATA[

 14 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Kumi, Nokul (center), Bishnu,   
Kerishma and Shreeya, 2001 

With Mother, Joy Tharian, Marshall,  
Corbett, December 1999 

With Mother, Neha, Raj and Raj Hirwani, Pune District,  
2007 (l-r) 

With Mother, Swapna, Sugra, Kala and Raj, Varanasi (l-r) 

With Hesselbergs, Jan and Helle, Oslo, Norway, 2002 

With Mother and Beena Choksi, December 31, 2014 ]]></page><page Index="41"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  15 

IIT Madras NSTS Summer School Batch Reunion, July 2012 

Batch 20 BARC Training School Reunion, March 2014 ]]></page><page Index="42"><![CDATA[

 16 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

where and how social and technological interven- 
tions can be made in the Indian context.  

Changing course 

It was in 1990 that Chitra felt a vacuum in    
scientific reflected the of  
her activities and finally gave a definite shape to  
her future. Her heart was in social domains and  
science education where she felt her life will find  
a real meaning. We spent the two next years in  
evaluating and assessing institutions and places where we could locate ourselves. Having  
evaluated several initiatives in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra we could not really find one  
that was a good fit for us. 

In 1991 – 92, I first shifted to Mumbai to join ICT to work on a book with Professor  
S.B. Chandalia, Head, Chemical Engineering, focusing on technological and socioa-economic    
imperatives of the chemical industry. Chitra followed suit and also joined ICT for a brief  
period and contributed to plasma physics research. It was a brief digression while we were  
still evaluating our future plans.  

In 1993, one evening while walking back home, past HBCSE at its new location near  
Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai, we remembered Professor V.G. Kulkarni’s (VGK) initiative at Nana  
Chowk where HBCSE was first founded in 1976 and also our good friend the late Dr. Raju  
Iyer’s introduction to Dr. Bakhtaver Mahajan (Bakoo, as we call her), then a part of HBCSE.  
Meeting Bakoo and then VGK was an important moment in Chitra’s life. Both became very  
close to Chitra. In fact, the entire family of Prof. Kulkarni and Bakoo became an integral part  
of her life, just as the families of many of her colleagues at HBCSE in subsequent years. 

Chitra spent the next 22 years of her life in educational research and in the process deve- 
loped a platform for HBCSE’s work at the interface of science, technology and society; de - 
sign and technology education; project based learning; role of diversity in science educa - 
tion; multilingualism; and environmental education. 

Our personal pursuits  

We had planned to shift to Nashik in due course and in 1995 built our home in  Dasak  

“Chitra’s change from “hard” science to  
“soft” education is to me a very positive  
example of always questioning the rele - 
vance of what one is doing in life. The out - 
standing quality of her ideas and publica - 
tions on science education and teaching,  
not least the application of cartoons and  
comic, are all of high relevance today.”  –   
Jan Hesselberg, Professor, Human Geo- 
graphy, University of Oslo, Norway ]]></page><page Index="43"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  17 

Village on Jail Road at Nashik. Her sister Asha and her brother-in-law Avinash Kulkarni pro - 
vided immense support in our efforts. It was a period of commuting between Mumbai and  
Nashik during the construction stages. Chitra was very involved in validating the designs  
and drawings as well as supervising the civil work. We leveraged our knowledge of both  
structural design and project management in this venture, documented the process and  
also made sure we had images of each stage of construction. In 1996, Chitra wanted to de - 
velop a learning laboratory for teachers and students in Nashik and the entire first floor  
was designed as a resource centre and we added more open space for this purpose buying  
two more adjacent plots. Our library had a large collection of books covering diverse topics.  
She developed different learning laboratory models. Knowing the place well, we developed  
a large network of people who we could work with in Nashik.  Between 1995 and 2007 we  
continued to move between Mumbai and Nashik. We spent some wonderful times at our    
Nashik home, Halcyon, which Chitra named after one of her favourite birds, Kingfisher. Hav - 
ing spent close to twelve years, though intermittently, at our Nashik home, we finally moved  
out in 2007. 

The year 2000 was a setback for us as I was diagnosed with a major renal failure (later  
linked to an industrial accident I had suffered in the mid 80s). Though disappointing at first  
we quickly managed to convert our experiences into a learning process. With immense help  
and support from our Drs. Stephen Hsu, the then Chief of Nephrology at Singapore National  
Hospital (now in USA) and Dr. Hemant Mehta, Head, Dialysis Centre, Lilavati Hospital we  
spent long hours researching the new medicines, protocols, and food biochemistry. Chitra  
spent enormous hours discussing with experts and reading on protein metabolism.  

Taking up hobbies 

It was in 2000 that Mukund, came into our life, since then has been an integral part of it.  
In every activity involving hand skills and finesse  –  Chitra would get into it almost every  
day  –  she would involve Mukund’s expertise. Between them they formed a formidable de - 
sign team working with metal, wood, paper etc., for any artefact development or decorating  
work. She would often say that if she had him in her D&T laboratory she could do wonders.  
Two years later she met Alka, another soul who continues to be an integral part of our lives. 

Though we had all the books and materials for calligraphy and water colours we were  
unable to pursue these hobbies. Card and Board games fascinated her as they brought in ]]></page><page Index="44"><![CDATA[

 18 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

various elements of maths into them. Besides, a  
game of  Rummy or Scrabble all  
free moments. She drew enormous satisfaction  
from researching stamps and coins, and then  de - 
veloped several maths games around them. She  
was always looking for someone who she could  
bequeath her stamp collection; when she learnt  
that Anwesh, her young colleague at HBCSE was  
equally an enthusiast; she was happy that she had  
found the right person to preserve it.  

Her particular passion, like her father’s, was  
tailoring and she went on to stitch for her sisters, mother and later for me as well when I  
moved to Ahmedabad. From a person who was used to only white and gray colours, in due  
course I became fond of all vibrant colours she was fascinated with. Later, when we began  
our journey, these hobbies were pursued with great fervour.  

She was a naturalist at heart and despite being in cities found ways to fulfill her passion.  
At the Institute of Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, darting of to chase a monitor lizard  
or weaver bird or golden oriole in the midst of a serious technical discussion was a natu - 
ral thing for her. In HBCSE she would seek out Nagarjuna, held in very high esteem by her,  
and shared a special bond with, whenever she saw any unusual activity in the soil or in the  
plants. 

Between 2002 – 2008, we were involved in several initiatives and travel. Amidst these  
tough periods we managed to engage ourselves in newer activities.  Her passion for needle  
– work led her to make an needlework image of  Ashtavinayak (she laid her faith in Lord  
Ganesh through her life) while accompanying me in my work around the world in 2002. She  
spent long hours in this venture while in transit through airports of Shanghai, Guangzhou,  
Hangzhou, Bangkok, Singapore, London, Frankfurt and Oslo.  

In 2003, we also took to learning guitar under the tutelage of Mr. Mangat (a music di - 
rector). It was hard work and he taught us many easy techniques in handling and man - 
aging the guitar. We developed a keen interest in learning  Tai Chi  and joined Fu Sheng  
Yuan Taichi Academy (India Chapter) under Sifu George Thomas, an exponent of mar - 

“My resolve to create participatory plat - 
forms engaging solidified  
during our engagements on science tech- 
nology and society with Chitra. Her love  
for butterflies, and  
had no end. The links between them and  
her life were not tenuous but strong….  
I dedicate my recently constructed  
OpenScience platform for citizen’s en - 
gagement to map all the trees in India,  
http://trees.metaStudio.org/ to Chitra. ”     
–  G. Nagarjuna, HBCSE, TIFR ]]></page><page Index="45"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  19 

tial arts. Every morning at 5:30 am we used to report at St. Stanislaus High School,  
Hill Road, Bandra (ten – eleven kms away) for our classes.  Tai Chi  postures, all 85 of  
them, to be performed in 21 minutes in slow harmonious motion, were about angles,    
postures and balances. We practised together, helping and correcting each other on an - 
gles and postures. This helped both of us immensely in subsequent years for the har - 
mony and peace it brought us. Between 2005 till 2007 we were involved in working on  
and publishing two books, one on Carnatic classical music and the other on Tamil all –    
occasion songs  (See (1) Life in Music: Memoirs of Late Sri P S Krishnaswamy Iyer, 2007 restored, recon - 

structed, edited and Pub. R. Rajagopal;  (2) Kadambam; Songs from Pallakad, Compiled by Parvati Natarajan,  

2007 Pub. R. Rajagopal).  

Of all the activities she pursued, nothing gave her more pleasure than the comics, cartoon  
and the puzzle pages of the morning newspaper. She would connect every cartoon or comic  
to events at her work or scan it for one of her presentations. 

Her family 

Our family was a close – knit unit consisting of herself, her mother and myself, working as  
a single unit, whether carrying out household duties, traveling or vacationing. Her mother,  
Mrs. Parvati Natarajan, 88 years, a retired English teacher, leads an active life. Chitra was  
very close to her mother had a keen sense of anticipation of her needs, motivated her to  
keep fit, giving her major household responsibilities. Her mother was an integral part of all  
our travel and activities, and enjoyed these with immense joy. Adhering to Chitra’s advice,  
she is now busy with her routines, reading spiritual and general books, journals, and main- 
tains a keen interest in current developments. Her passion was her kitchen garden where  
she developed an organic garden using vermicompost and it was always blooming and a  
veritable ecosystem. She continues to engage in needlework, music and other creative pur- 
suits. Like it has been over the last two decades, she continues to manage the house. Her  
younger sisters, Jyothi Natarajan, now working with Maharashtra State Electricity Board,  
and Asha Kulkarni, now working with Bank of Maharashtra reside at Nashik with their    
families. Chitra’s mother now lives with me in Mumbai. 

Life beyond 2008: new challenges, new directions 

2008 turned out to be an eventful and chaotic year for us. In mid – 2008 we met with  
yet another setback when Chitra was diagnosed with Oesophageal cancer  which needed ]]></page><page Index="46"><![CDATA[

 20 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

chemotherapy and surgery. Typical of her, even as I was giving her the news in her office  
on April 24, 2008, she went ahead with her strategies for the next few months, informing  
her close colleagues and handing over the work she was handling. Going through rounds of  
chemotherapy and then the surgery on July 1, 2008, she was back at her desk, taking cour- 
ses from September 1, 2008. 

The desire to develop a resource centre similar to the one we had planned at Nashik was  
too compelling, leading us to build a new home – cum resource centre, in 2008 – 09, closer  
to Mumbai in Mircholi village, around 6 kms from Neral station, at the foothills of Matheran,  
now a heritage site located in Karjat, Raigad district, Maharashtra. It was an idyllic place  
facing Matheran hills in the front and Bhimashankar hills in the rear.  

She was particular that no nest should be disturbed or life forms be harmed. Mukund  
used his skills as a snake catcher to pick up all types of snakes (that could possibly be a  
threat to the bird nests and eggs) and release them into jungles surrounding the house.  
Chitra wanted only indigenous plants and trees to be planted at the place and designed a  
detailed grid for plants and drip lines for over 300 odd trees and plants. As was the norm,  
wherever we built our home she worked to develop a series of teaching – learning sessions  
for the village teachers and students in Mircholi, Anjap, Wakas, Kadaav and Kashele vil - 
lages. Her plan was to develop the place for hands – on training for teachers and students  
in ecological and astronomical sciences. The home and trees soon made it a haven for but - 
terflies, insects, snakes and birds of all forms, a place where she just wanted to retire to in  
April 2015.  

Nothing would stop her zest for life, flora and fauna; six months later, in January 2009,  
she undertook a long trek in the high altitude “sholas” (tropical montane forests endemic to  
Asia, Africa and Americas) in south western mountain ranges. 

In 2008, Chitra was keen we start celebrating Christmas each year in addition to  Vishu.  
Pre – Christmas time was spent in visiting several shops, malls etc., to seek out unique gifts  
for each of those she invited, and very meticulously wrapping and tagging them. She would  
settle down to the decorating task the night before and used all types of artefacts to set up  
the tableau. Both Vishu and Christmas decorations used to have her personal touch. Having  
one of her students or colleagues home on these occasions was the norm. 

Coming from Kerala, where  Vishu is often celebrated with  konnai (Malayalam), amaltas ]]></page><page Index="47"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  21 

(Hindi), bahava (Marathi) and  laburnum (English), she became fascinated with the flower  
(supposed to bloom between April first week to May first week). This was the first plant  
she planted like she did in her Nashik home,  Halcyon, and then later her second home,  La- 
burnum, in Mircholi. Between 2009 – 2010 we spent time in several remote locales learning   
unique cultures and documenting our experiences. I am indeed grateful to my friends in  
Baxter India for providing amazing logistics services by delivering my dialysis kits to these  
locations in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, in Western Ghats as well as Himalayan ranges,  
well ahead of our arrival.  

Motivating each other we waded through these times and my pre – transplant days. In  
the latter part of 2010 she would balance official work at HBCSE with long hours in the    
visitors lounge at the Dialysis Centre in Lilavati Hospital and Jaslok Hospital with loads of  
files and articles, finishing off pending work. Not a single day did she lose her cheer and  
energy which was so heartening for me. She made several friends at both these places with  
whom she continued her relations till early 2014. Post my renal transplant on April 20,  
2011, we went back to work and life in full swing. Always concerned about my health and  
my work and other challenging initiatives I took up, she cautioned me about the book I  
was working on. However, she backed me fully, saying that it was worth documenting the  
business, technological and sustainability transitions of a sensitive, controversial and the  
all pervasive global chemical industry. It was published by Wiley, UK in 2014 (See Sustainable  

Value Creation in the Fine and Speciality Chemicals Industry, R Rajagopal, 2014, Wiley). 

Gearing up for new challenges 

Between  2010 – 2013 we managed to spend time sparingly at our village home near  
Mumbai. In late 2013 Chitra had already begun to plan her next moves and we were work - 
ing out life beyond 2014 – 15.  Though given an extension of service at HBCSE till 2016 she  
decided in mid – 2014 to move out of HBCSE by April 2015. She felt that time might run  
out on both of us and she wanted to put our resources and energy into more meaningful  
pursuits. She often joked that I am living on extra minutes like in a game of football, having  
managed to stay alive and kicking four years after my renal transplant. 

However, the next few months from August – October posed yet another  challenge and in  
November 2014 she was diagnosed with a recurrence of a malignant tissue in the descend- 
ing aorta, a rare occurrence that needed radiation and chemotherapy  treatments. During  
this phase she continued to plan D&T experiments; collecting the tubes and accessories ]]></page><page Index="48"><![CDATA[

 22 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

used for her IV infusions, she would have them left at the gate of HBCSE for her group to  
pick up.  

From the end of December 2014 we spent our time readjusting to ever – changing reali-   
ties, till February 14 when we were left with no option due to a rare manifestation of  Lep- 
tomeningeal Carcinomatosis to the brain. Her oncologists gave her anywhere between two  
weeks to a month of longevity. Unfazed by the severely shortened life span, armed with her  
faith and knowledge about her body functions, she planned each day systematically. In the  
period between February 14 and April 13, amidst severe physical discomfort, she managed  
to bring a closure to all her professional and personal commitments. She was quite particu - 
lar that she spends her last days in Joy Hospital, under the care of Dr. Roy Patankar, who  
with the support of his expert medical staff looked after Chitra with immense affection and    
care.  

On the morning of her birthday, April 13, at 7:30 am, surrounded by her medical staff,  
with her head resting in my palms, Chitra took her final breath and moved into a world of  
eternal peace and serenity, leaving me behind, deconstructed, both physically and psycho - 
logically. Draped in a cloth of vibrant red, her favourite colour, also symbolising our ideo-   
logies, I cremated Chitra, in the presence of her colleagues, students, friends and family, to  
chants of her spiritual leaning, Om Namo Narayana. On the 14 morning I returned her mor- 
tal remains to the vast oceans connecting to the Arabian Sea, off Mumbai, in the west coast  
of India. 

I have often been amazed at Chitra’s persona  –  ever smiling, ever cheerful  –  convert - 
ing her ability to balance forbearance, anger and compassion, all at the same time, into a  
fine art, at work and elsewhere. She combined high intellect and foresight with a  human  
connect. My life with Chitra was a process where I discovered true meaning to my being. In  
moments of complexities we could comfort, critique and carry each other forward at every  
stage. We did have our share of ups and downs often due to concerns about each other’s  
health and our penchant for getting involved in diverse pursuits. Our common traits of non –  
traditional approaches to living, passion for nature, ideologies, music, fine arts, and reading  
supplemented our mutual respect and deep love for each other. She proved in her lifetime  
that our holistic approach to science and life is workable with faith and compassion. 

Reading sessions were a major passion and our rare collection of books ranging from ]]></page><page Index="49"><![CDATA[

  A life lived fully |  23 

language, poetry, and ecology to card and board games, learning models, and many more,  
was put together over the years mainly to read once she retired in April 2015. Most of the  
books will have the inscription “to read when we put up our feet”.  

We had very tiny aspirations, amongst them, day-to-day wellness; write jointly (in sys - 
tems thinking, indigenous knowledge systems, sustainability models, multidisciplinary  
models for teaching, to name a few); travel to Kaziranga, Parambikulam, Pichavaram, Sun - 
derbans  etc.; laze around in our village home; paint; track the species around the house;  
read comics and cartoons and of course enjoy walking through the villages.  

Both Chitra and I were not destined for these luxuries. But, we did manage to grab our  
small pleasures, each day,  as the following lines dedicated to our lives reflect. 

We might have missed out   
Life’s big prizes  
But we still enjoyed   
Life’s small luxuries 

Those brilliant sunrises  
The hot filter coffee   
A strip of comic and cartoons  
A crossword and sudoku to solve 

The strolls in the morning  
In Kodagu, Idukki and Corbett  
Those hugs and squeezes   
The pat and caress on the back 

A great book to read  
A sip of the lemon grass brew  
Our reading sessions  
Oh, the furious arguments we had  

Times spent scrounging for books  
In Strand, Borders and Kinokuniya  
In footpaths of Churchgate and King Circle  
Till the online guys came along ]]></page><page Index="50"><![CDATA[

 24 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Those cutting chais, pohas and toasts   
At the Irani cafes, Udupi joints and HBCSE canteen  
The design sessions in the kitchen  
Those leftovers recycled into breakfast 

The afternoon walks in the tropical sholas  
The birds and the butterflies you followed   
Enjoying those brief moments   
Of wellness and calm 

A glorious evening set to melodies of  
Rafi, Jagjit, Bhimsen, Yesudas & Asha   
Ilayaraja, Naushad, Sachinda  
Denver, Dylan, Patty, Simon & Garfunkle 

The night walks searching the skies  
For stars and comets  
You taught me all about constellations  
The Great Bear, Orion, Boötes, and Draco 

Too busy we were to fret about big pleasures  
Life we knew was not about seconds left  
We put our life into each second  
And had our day in the sun 

Friends, grab those seconds  
From slipping out of your hand  
Like grains of sand  
Never to return again, ever 

Chitra left behind a legion of admirers, well–wishers and  friends. To them goes this mes - 
sage of hers, “compassion more than intellect will show you the way.” ]]></page><page Index="51"><![CDATA[

“A scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty. We have  
found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognise our ignorance  
and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of  
certainty – some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain…it is our respon- 
sibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy  
of ignorance, to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed.”  –   Richard  
Feynman, Nobel laureate, Physics, 1968 

These words reflect Chitra’s views that pursuit of scientific research is often marked with  
doubts on the past edifice it stands on. She did have several doubts in her practice of scien - 
tific research, articulated these to her peers, sought their views and learnt that new fron - 
tiers in science open up only in a collaborative mode.  

Chitra’s life as physicist was focused largely in understanding, researching and analysing  
“Surfaces: Its mysteries and characteristics ”. She spent 15 years in research and development  
(R&D) in the areas of surface physics and analysis, plasma physics and in particular plasma  
surface interactions and polymerisation. She laid emphasis on synergising research with  
applications of societal value. In the 90s she contributed significantly to the popularisation  
of plasma technology as an effective surface treatment option for Indian industries.  

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, India  (1976 – 1982) 
Pursuant to her MSc. in Physics, in 1976, from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)  
Mumbai, Chitra joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) as a Trainee in Physics  
first and then became a Scientific Officer (1977 – 82) in  Technical Physics and Prototype  
Engineering Division (TPPED), where she designed and contributed to the development of  
indigenously built sophisticated surface analytical instruments. 

2 
Fervour for science ]]></page><page Index="52"><![CDATA[

 26 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

She was responsible for time – bound research and development projects involving com - 
plete responsibility for the project, including supervision of the project team. Her work in - 
volved three key areas: a) development of an Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) system incorporat - 
ing an Auger Electron Spectrometer (AES); b) development of UHV compatible hot cathode  
and cold cathode ion guns for ion bombardment sputtering and characterization studies  
and c) surface chemical analysis of solid samples – metals, oxides, semiconductors and    
insulators, including polymers using AES. During this period she also acted as a Project  
guide on UHV techniques and AES for trainees at BARC training school (1979 – 80).  

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Ohio, USA (1982 – 1985) 

Chitra arrived in Case Western Reserve University   (CWRU), Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in  
Spring semester of 1982, to pursue her work on surface analysis. Supported by the Indian  
National Merit Scholarship for Study Abroad, she acquired a PhD (1985) under the guidance  
of Professor Richard Hoffman, a leading surface physicist. 

Her research involved investigation of a novel technique, Surface Extended Energy Loss  
Fine Structure (SEELFS), for surface structure determination, using an existing Auger Elec- 
tron Spectrometer (AES) system. SEELFS is a solely laboratory based alternative and com - 
plements synchrotron source based Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS)  
studies.  

Chitra used SEELFS spectroscopy to determine structural parameters for several diffe-   
rent forms of carbon. In this study, a standard AES  (double pass cylindrical mirror analyser)  
was used to obtain energy loss spectra, first shell coordination numbers and bond lengths  
for single crystal diamond, pyrolytic graphite, and “Aquadag” (graphite particle suspen - 
sion) samples. The study of pure carbon surfaces  
allowed her to probe the limitations on the deter - 
mination of bond lengths and coordination. The  
validity of some of the theoretical assumptions is  
discussed in a research paper she published with  
Phil Abel and Richard Hoffman (Annexure 1).  

She actively participated in establishing a POP  
11/03 based data acquisition, analysis and con - 
trol system for the Perkin Elmer AES system and    

“When I think about Chitra, the first word  
that comes to mind is ‘joy’; she seemed to  
be full of life and helped make the group  
special, enriching everyone around her.    
She was also, of course, very bright and  
hard – working but she also seemed to  
be having more fun than anyone else!”   –   
Gary Chottiner, Professor, Physics Dept.,  
CWRU, Ohio, US ]]></page><page Index="53"><![CDATA[

 Fervour for science | 27 

modification existing for  - 
tion of spectra for line shape analysis, as well as in - 
corporation of ‘Ratio method’ for Auger line shape  
analysis. An important aspect of her research in - 
volved the analysis of surface chemical composi - 
tion of polymers and conducting polymers using  
low (nanoampere) currents. Her doctoral work,  
published in international peer reviewed journals,  
resulted in a novel method to study the structure  
of diamond thin films, significant at that time in  
the emerging development of diamond – like coat - 
ings on compact discs. Despite the challenging en- 
vironment at the university, Chitra found diverse  
ways to engage with her co-researchers at the    
laboratory. Her courses and research work as a graduate student in the Physics department  
kept her fully tied to the university premises where she enjoyed working on sophisticated  
analytical systems. 

As a graduate student Chitra was very actively involved in developing computerised data  
collection and analysis system using Programmable Logic Controller (PLC’s). In this period  
she also worked on a novel scheme for enhanced surface sensitivity using EXAFS spectra  
and trying an electron detection system along with a team of researchers at Brookhaven  
National Labs, National Synchrotron Light Source. She taught the Physics laboratory under - 
graduate course for a semester in 1983 at CWRU. 

Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, Gujarat (1985 – 1991) 

She returned to India to join the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar,    
Gujarat. From 1985 to 1991, her work diversified into plasma surface interactions in the  
plasma fusion technology (Tokamak) programme.   

The Institute for Plasma Research traces its roots back to early 1970 when theoreti - 
cal and experimental studies in plasma physics (focusing on understanding space plasma  
phenomena) were established at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). Subsequently,  
the move to study magnetically confined high temperature plasmas resulted in establish - 
ment of the Plasma Physics Programme (PPP) supported by the Department of Science and    

“Chitra did her Ph.D. work on a fairly new  
subject. Such work had not been done in  
our lab and consequently there was not  
much help readily available to her. In  
spite of this, she managed the project ex - 
tremely well. In Hoffman’s lab, she made  
use of the existing equipment and put to- 
gether SEELFS (Surface electron energy  
loss structure) system  
and collected the data. She and Phil Abel  
did computer programming for data  
analysis; I was really impressed by that  
ingenuity  – and so was Professor Hoff - 
man!  ” – Dr. Kumi Pandya, Brookhaven  
National Laboratory, NY, USA ]]></page><page Index="54"><![CDATA[

 28 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Technology (DST). This evolved into the auton - 
omous IPR under DST in 1986, at Bhat village,    
Gandhinagar. It was during this period that the design  
and engineering of India’s first Tokamak, ADITYA    
started.  

On her return from US, Chitra found a perfect fit  
at IPR for her future research on surface physics.  
In the years that followed she was fully engaged  
in plasma research and in particular diagnostics for the edge of the plasma in ADITYA, vac - 
uum science programme and the commissioning of ADITYA in 1989. Soon after full scale    
Tokamak experiments began and she was fully involved  in the Magnetic Confinement Fu - 
sion (MCF) experiments in ADITYA Tokamak facility , where major discoveries were made  
in the 90s.  

Chitra’s motivation to understand and learn plasma physics was so intense she would  
rarely miss a lecture on the subject during her times at IPR. It was also a period when IPR  
was a hub for a number of plasma physicists from all over the world, teaching and research - 
ing. She would sit through year – long courses. 

Her research on plasma physics involved the development of Langmuir probe systems  
for electron temperature and density measurements of Tokamak edge plasma, and also in  
the deployment of material probes for the study of impurity and fuel flux distribution char - 
acteristics in the Scrape off Layer (SOL) of Tokamak plasma.  

At the height of “cold fusion” euphoria, Chitra and her colleague Dr. P. Vasu researched  
and did a critical quantitative analysis of the work reported by Fleischmann et al., in the  
most debated research paper of the late 80s  (See Fleischmann, Martin and Pons, Stanley,  Electro- 

chemically Induced Nuclear Fusion of Deuterium , Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Vol. 261, Issue 2,  

Part 1, p. 301 – 308 (April 10, 1989) and errata (with Marvin Hawkins) in Vol. 263, p. 187 – 188, (1989)).  I  
remember coming with her to Vikram Bhavan, Anushakti Nagar, to collect heavy water for  
the fusion experiments she conducted at IPR. 

In 1987 – 88 her research took an application and industry oriented focus with the deve-   
lopment of a versatile ‘plasma source ion implantation’ system for studies in plasma sheath  

“The year we spent together in Ah - 
medabad was made much richer by  
her;  she was both a cherished student  
and a supportive colleague; she attended  
every lecture of mine  –  5 lectures per  
week for a whole year!”  –   Swadesh M.  
Mahajan, Professor of Physics, Unive-   
rsity of Texas, Austin, USA ]]></page><page Index="55"><![CDATA[

 Fervour for science | 29 

With IPR staff, 1987 ]]></page><page Index="56"><![CDATA[

 30 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

dynamics and nitriding. In 1989 – 90 IPR focused  
on new programmes such as basic and compu - 
tational plasma research and more importantly,  
plasma processing, an area with immense indus - 
trial and commercial potential.  Chitra became  
fully involved in the R&D programme on plasma  
processing of materials and  set up laboratories  
for Plasma Surface Interaction Studies and Plasma  
Materials Processing.  

Chitra was fully engaged with the industry popularising the potential of plasma process- 
ing in early 90s. Post her IPR period she was glad that the industrial plasma activities initiat - 
ed during her time (1989 – 90) were reorganised under the Facilitation Centre for Industri - 
al Plasma Technologies with a dedicated campus in Gandhinagar in 1998, offering valuable  
services to the industry. Some of her former colleagues have now become entrepreneurs  
running their own plasma –  based technology enterprises. She continued to promote plas- 
ma – based technologies till 1993. 

IPR’s graduate research programme provided  
enormous stimulus to Chitra and allowed her to  
experiment with her own teaching models with  
some of the brilliant research students. She was  
actively involved in teaching and academic co-   
ordination of the PhD programme in plasma phy- 
sics and coordinating workshops and conferences  
in plasma physics.  

She taught courses on Electrodynamics, Vacu - 
um (theory and practice), and Surface – Materials  
Interaction, for research scholars. Being an excellent communicator with a deep grasp of  
the domain she would adopt newer teaching methods, often surprising her colleagues and  
students. During her stint she was very actively involved with outreach activities in Bhat  
village with primary school children. 

“With all her brilliance, dedication, hard  
work and commitment, she became an in - 
dispensible team member at IPR. She con - 
tributed very significantly to the vacuum  
science program of the Institute and took  
upon herself the task of setting up labora - 
tories with high standards and protocols.”    
–  Dhiraj Bora, Director, IPR 

“Her Socratic method of teaching by ask - 
ing questions, rather than “throwing in - 
formation them” words)  
do without blackboards and chalks, on  
these occasions, in open spaces.  It prob - 
ably helped instil the spirit of inquiry in  
the young minds…. However, her efforts  
were indeed effective; after so many  
years, some  of these students  are at the  
helm of affairs at IPR and elsewhere too.”    
–  P. Vasu, Former Scientist, IPR ]]></page><page Index="57"><![CDATA[

 Fervour for science | 31 

University Department of Chemical Technology, (now Institute of Chemical Techno-   
logy, ICT), Mumbai (1991 – 1993) 

On her return to Mumbai from Ahmedabad, Chitra spent a brief period at ICT, research - 
ing on plasma polymerization, structure determination by computer controlled small angle  
X-ray scattering and data analysis. 

Research in sustainable technologies  

Chitra and I researched the scope for sustainable technology models in material, chemi - 
cal and energy technologies, as well as indigenous knowledge systems. This work was car - 
ried out at a personal level and continued till 2002 – 03, after which health, work and travels  
left us very little time to pursue our research goals. 

Despite her passion for physics and applied sciences, Chitra had already begun to feel the  
vacuum in her life and was paving the way for future work where she could explore the syn - 
ergies between Science & Technology and more crucially the linkages to Society. She spent  
the next two decades of her life researching the Science, Technology & Society (STS) space.  

In the period between 1976 and 1993 Chitra published quite a few research papers (An- 
nexure 1). 

Annexure 1 

BARC 
1.  S.S. Unki, Chitra Natarajan, A.V. Korgaonkar and C.P. Gopalaraman (December 1983). Development of a  
fast etch ion gun,  Proc. of the International Symposium on Vacuum Technology and Nuclear Applications,  
B.A.R.C., Bombay, Dec. 1983 

CWRU 
1.  C. Natarajan, P.B. Abel, R.W. Hoffman, Local structure investigations of carbon by surface extended energy  
loss fine structure, Applications of Surface Science, Volume 21, Issues 1–4, April 1985, Pages 1–11, Copy - 
right © 1985 Published by Elsevier B 
2.  C. Natarajan, P.B. Abel and R.W. Hoffman, Local structure of Silicon Films and Silicon Carbide by Surface  
Extended  Energy Loss Fine Structure, Proc. of the 31st National Symposium of the AVS, J. Vac Sc. & Tech.,  
Vol. A3(3), (1985) pp. 1309 – 1311  
3.  W.D. Jennings et al., HREELS and Auger studies of conducting polymers, Appl. Surf. Sc., 21 (1985) 80 – 94 

IPR 
1.  C. Natarajan and P. Vasu, A critical quantitative analysis of the cold fusion paper by Fleischmann et  al., ,  
IPR Internal report 1989 ]]></page><page Index="58"><![CDATA[

 32 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

2.  Aditya: Initial Results & Status of Edge Control Experiments, as a part of  Aditya Team, IPR Research Re - 
port I PR/RR-35/91, 1991, Paper presented at IAEA TCM, Arlington, VA, USA, .Sept 1990 
3.  Aditya : Status & Results Breakdown Experiments on Aditya Tokamak  
4.  Convective Losses during Initial Phase of Aditya Discharges  
5.  Nature of Current Termination in Aditya Discharges at Low q  

(Co-author on 3,4,5 were presented by the Aditya Team at national Plasma Science Symposium, Dec 1990,  
Jadhavpur, Calcutta, IPR Research Report IPR/RR – 38/91, 1991).  

Plasma popularisation talks 
1.  “Plasma Coating”: delivered 2 lectures at the ‘Summer School on Plasma Technology’ at University of Poo - 
na, Pune, June 1993 
2.  Review of ‘Plasma deposition and hardening of material surfaces’, at Symposium on Beams and Plasma   
–  Interaction with Materials, BARC, Bombay, January 1990 
3.  Review of ‘Plasma technology – Applications to materials processing’, National Symposium on Vacuum  
Science and Technology, IIT, Bombay, Dec 1988 
4.  Review of ‘Plasma Wall Interaction in Tokamaks’ at the National Workshop on Vacuum Applications in  
Plasma Science and Technology, IPR, July 1988 

ICT 
1.  N.V. Bhat, N.V. Joshi and N. Chitra (November,1992); Structure and properties of plasma polymerised thin  
films of Polyaniline, Proc. 7th National Symposium on Science  & Technology of Plasmas, Plasma 92, Bom - 
bay. p.268 
2.  S.M. Pawade, N.V. Bhat, Chitra Natarajan (October, 1993); Small angle x-ray scattering of PVDF and PPy  
composite films, Proc. of Saha Centenary Symposium on Spectroscopy and Astrophysics, Allahabad. p.187 
3.  N.V. Bhat, A.H. Joshi, and C. Natarajan (October,1993); Low temperature plasma treatment of cellophane  
films for membrane applications, Proc. of Saha Centenary Symposium on Plasma Science & Technology,  
Plasma 93, Allahabad. p.161 
4.  N.V. Bhat,  R.B. Karlekar, N. Chitra, and S.M. Pawade (1994); Small angle x-ray scattering studies of treated  
silk fibres, Polymer Science, Recent Advances, Vol.I, Ed. I.S. Bharadwaj, Pub. Allied Publishers, p. 357 

Personal research pursuits 
1.  R. Rajagopal & N. Chitra (1991); Planning environmentally benign technologies: A conceptual approach,  
Chemical Business, May – June 
2.  R. Rajagopal & N. Chitra (1992); Environmental impacts of bio-energy, Energy  Environment Monitor, Vol  
8(1), TERI 1 – 6 
3.  N. Chitra, Plasma technology: Potential industrial applications, Chemical Business,  Annual Issue, 1992 ]]></page><page Index="59"><![CDATA[

3 
Explorations in science education 

Having come from a pure science and technology space, Chitra wanted to leverage the  
learning to better understand their linkages to society. Joining HBCSE in 1993, she was very  
clear about her three – pronged strategy which was to: a) explore and assess educational  
research possibilities in a host of areas at the interface of science, technology and society  
(STS); b) evaluate the possibilities of integrating interdisciplinary teaching – learning mo- 
dels in these areas; and c) develop a framework for a collaborative approach to test, validate  
and implement them in a learning environment, both classroom and non – classroom.  

3.1 Science, Technology and Society (1993 – 2015) 

She knew that any long term research in STS education would be possible only in an  
environment where STS education is one of the primary foci. To her delight, she found in  
Professor V.G. Kulkarni, the then Director of HBCSE, a person who shared her deep interest  
in researching STS issues.  

Through the following years, Chitra actively analysed macro and micro level STS issues  
and supported by previous research findings at HBCSE since its inception in 1976, she went  
on to lay a strong platform for HBCSE’s work in STS studies. In subsequent years she pur - 
sued research in Design and Technology education, project based learning, multilingualism  
and later on, diversity in education as well as environmental education and systems think - 
ing. To her all these areas had very close linkage with STS issues and were based on an  
interdisciplinary approach to learning.  In subsequent years she collaborated with her col - 
league Sugra Chunawala and worked towards building a research team and a coherent body  
of knowledge in science and technology education  at the Centre despite severe resource    
and policy constraints. Between 1993  –  2015,  she boldly experimented on multidisciplinary  
approaches to researching issues at the interface of STS and in the process integrated seve-  
ral domains her agenda. did and several ]]></page><page Index="60"><![CDATA[

 34 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

practices which were in vogue in the practice of  
science education. 

Her deep involvement, readership and net - 
working abilities outside the HBCSE’s framework  
in STS domain enabled her to grasp the nuances of  
research needed to develop a research group and  
meet the challenges of capacity building needed  
for such research. Having straddled both the science and technology worlds and then mov- 
ing into the field of educational research she realised the immense challenges of finding the  
right human resources to work in the STS space. She spent significant time and resources  
engaging with several initiatives in the country where action – oriented STS work prevailed.  
Their local experiences and shared reflections enabled her to gain deeper understanding of  
complexities of researching the STS space.  

Her rationale for pursuing STS research was based on the premise,  that all spheres of  
human activity demand that prospective decision makers possess a repertoire of inter - 
disciplinary skills complemented by a reasonable capability to communicate. With both    
teachers and students recognising that science, technology and society are intimately  
linked, the need to adopt new forms of teaching models in the classroom is essential. She  
maintained that contemporary issues call for a systems approach to its understanding and  
resolution, considering among other things, the technological, economic and socio-cultu-   
ral linkages. She was convinced that appropriate training could enable students to acquire  
problem – solving abilities and the present situation could be partially remedied through  
intervention training programmes at all levels.  

The Tata  Talent Search and Nurture Programme (TATSAN) (1993 – 1996) 

One the and very educational Chitra    
designed, implemented and sustained at HBCSE, in 1993, was the  Tata  Talent Search and  
Nurture Programme (TATSAN) for post – school students under the  STS platform.   
TATSAN, an activity – based programme supported  by the J.N.Tata Endowment Trust was  
aimed at post – school students from science, commerce and the arts faculties. While the    
micro level objective was to promote critical and quantitative reasoning in students, on    
issues at the interface of science, technology and society, the broader objective was to  
promote  good citizenship  qualities. Developing sensitivity to and understanding of the    

“Her commitment to education and to  
technology education was incredible  
whilst her knowledge of both challenged  
my thinking and made me reconsider my  
own views on education.” – David Spend- 
love, Head of Initial Teacher Education,  
Manchester Institute of Education, UK ]]></page><page Index="61"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 35 

complex linkages bet-ween STS and enabling better comprehension and communication  
skills formed the basis of this programme. 

She spent enormous amount of time in idea generation based on contemporary situa - 
tions prevalent at the time (I was involved in many of these sessions which occupied hours of  
our time during travel). Though she conducted many sessions on her own, in due course of  
time she involved many of her colleagues and external resource persons to conduct sessions  
on a range of themes relevant to the society. It involved a variety of learning tools, teach - 
ing methods, real life scenarios, analytical methodologies and communication tools. Two  
2 – year batches of the programme were held in Mumbai (1993 – 95), (1995 – 96) and one  
batch in Solapur (1994 – 96).  

Chitra developed a mock UN model in these interactive sessions. In these interactive  
mock UN sessions, students were exposed to conflicts, its genesis, resolution and impacts.  
Students represented different countries, selected their own Secretary General, chose their  
conflict issues. Based on well set norms of engagement students were asked to debate on  
key conflict issues and work out a mutually acceptable resolution. Such sessions allowed  
students to identify conflict situations, use communication, analytical and argumentative  
skills to negotiate their positions and enable resolution of complex issues. In subsequent  
years, such models were adopted by several schools in their 10+2 stage. 

“Chitra used the techniques she developed at this programme wherever she would deliver talks to students  

and teachers. One of her most popular ice breakers would be to begin the process of interaction by asking,  

“Why do you think humankind should survive?” To bring in the immediate relevance to the audience she would  

further throw a question, “How many of you have seen Jurassic Park?” Released in India in the early 90s, it was  

a movie that epitomised the issues at the interface of STS and one that brought forth the misuse of technology  

by human kind. The effect on the audience used to be high voltage, tens of hands raised and there would be  

a major tussle for airing their opinions. The ensuing chaos was something she loved, she would often create  

it, convinced that contextual learning happens better in an argumentative environment than a silent one. She  

would quickly turn the chaos into a structured one with definite protocols of communicating views, sensitivity  

to diverse viewpoints, respecting other views etc. She would write each opinion on the board, then facilitate  

the students to categorise and analyse them for patterns and links. Most often their parents would also be  

involved in furious debates on the issue. She would do this on any occasion that would spring up. Having sat  

through many of these I have experienced the high – intensity learning environment. Most of her sessions  

would see equal participation by girls and boys, an observation she made which disproved the traditional ]]></page><page Index="62"><![CDATA[

 36 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

gender perceptions. Many in the audience kept in touch with her about their children’s academic pursuits.  

Later on she would explore ideas that she could adopt from movies like Matrix and Star Wars. She was quite  

adept in the theory and praxis of scaffolding in a learning environment and used it subtly in these STS sessions. 

While discussing the STS sessions Chitra would often ask,  “will the next extinction i.e the sixth one come  

from natural forces like asteroids, comets or volcanisms- like the previous five or from humankind ?” ; not much  

evidence pointed to a conclusive answer at that point in time. However  two decades later in 2014, Elizabeth  

Kolbert,  2015 Pulitzer prize winner, for one of the most profound treatises on evolutionary philosophy, “The  

Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History” (a Henry Holt & Co. Publication) brought forth validated scientific  

evidences that humankind not only possessed the traits and but has also progressed far in its path to preside  

upon the sixth extinction” – Raj. 

  Activity-based Foundation Curriculum on Science, Technology and Society series 

Chitra felt that it was important to leverage the learning from TATSAN to bring out a    
series of books outlining the possible activities built around issues in science and techno-   
logy. The learning from TATSAN program led her to authoring and editing a  series of eight  
activity – based foundation curriculum books on socially relevant topics suitable for stu - 
dents of science, commerce, the arts and humanities: The Population Problem; Resources:  
Energy; Resources: Land and air; Education; Global Climate Change; Ecological Balances;  
Conflicts; and Health Matters (Annexure 2).  

Her idea was to make it amenable for replication by motivated teachers on a larger scale.  
Moreover, no printed material existed to guide teachers and students on the issues at the  
interface of STS. It also provided opportunities for active expression and communication  
in English and through other visual and performing arts, incorporate situations requiring  
critical thinking and quantitative reasoning  
skills, and at the same time stay relevant to  
the Indian situation. It was her wish that these  
books serve as a basis for teacher orientation  
programmes and supplement the materials  
available for the existing foundation course. 

Many of her colleagues contributed to these  
books. Since their publication over a period    
(1996 – 1998) hundreds of copies of the books  
have been downloaded and used by a number  

“Chitra’s innovative and inquisitive mind al - 
ways looked for alternatives that, I strongly  
feel, enriched her institution – building endea-   
vour too. She was an extremely rare genre in  
the space of praxis of science who could un - 
derstand the significance of poems, music and  
even cartoons in critical research and edu-   
cation”.  –   Swapna Banerjee Guha, Senior  
Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Re - 
search, Govt. of India ]]></page><page Index="63"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 37 

of teachers across the country. In the next de-   
cade she was very happy to note that in seve-   
ral parts of the country the books were being used  
by resource persons working in the field of sus - 
tainable development as well as by teachers.  

Chitra also wanted these books become a re - 
source tool to develop activities that  lead from  
simple issues and ideas to complex ones, requir - 
ing the student to make the necessary linkages.  
The activities were also designed to develop the  
skills necessary for a practical understanding of issues at the interface of STS.  She devel- 
oped an elaborate guideline on how the books should be used, target groups, role of the  
facilitator, forms of engagement, and so on. Each of these books was designed to be complet - 
ed in twenty hours; all together these eight books formed one hundread and sixty hours of  
activity sessions and learning.  

She would clarify the need for such books,  “these books are unique in that they are not  
substitutes for textbooks, nor are they comprehensive. They are meant to give student a feel for  
‘real world’ problems, without introducing the intractable complexities all at once. Very few  
problems of concern  today have  either globally applicable, or locally unique, answers. As in  
any reasonable developmental approach, the answers to many questions must be sought with - 
in a local framework of society, politics and economics. In fact, increasing students’ sensitivity  
to local needs and problems and putting these in the context of global concerns, constraints  
and opportunities with examples of solutions arrived at in different contexts, is a tacit aim of  
the Foundation Curriculum books.” 

The detailed processes and procedures adopted and followed in TATSAN programmes  
are well documented in the following HBCSE reports  (See Tata Talent Search and Nurture (TATSAN):  

Report 1994 – 95, Chitra Natarajan, Technical Report No.25, February 1996; J.N. Tata Endowment Programme  

for Talent Nurture Among Post – School Students, An Interim Report, Chitra Natarajan, October 1993 to Au - 

gust 1994, Technical Report No.23, September 1994). 

Spin – offs of TATSAN and Foundation Curricula 
The STS programmes resulted in very significant and far – reaching educational out - 
comes as discussed here. 

“In the gradual hardening up of societal  
priorities at the +2 level, the ‘Foundation  
Curriculum’ did not get the attention that  
it deserved. However one day when STS  
issues are acknowledged by our society  
and the ability to tackle them is seen as  
important, Chitra’s contribution will be  
recognised pioneering the  .  
– Jayashree Ramadas, Centre Director,  
HBCSE, TIFR ]]></page><page Index="64"><![CDATA[

 38 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

1.  Co-curricular model of teaching – learning 
One of the most important spin offs of the TATSAN programme was the practice of    
integrating co-curricular sessions based on TATSAN model in educational workshops held  
at HBCSE and elsewhere in later years. These co-curricular sessions  fully based on the eight  
activity – based foundation curriculum  were conducted in Talent nurture camps in sum - 
mer for Std. VIII students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools at Mumbai (1995), Kodaikanal  
(1997), and Baroda (1998).  In 1998, a 6 – day programme,  HBCSE –  Bharatiya Vidya Bha- 
van’s (BVB) Vallabhram Mehta School Workshop on Good Citizenship sponsored by HBCSE  
and Shikshan Bharati, was also based on the eight foundation curriculum books. All these  
sessions involved data collection through library search, surveys, writing, reporting, struc - 
tured elocutions, debates, and lecture sessions to hone the participants’ quantitative rea - 
soning skills, reading, listening, comprehension and issue – based problem solving.  

2.  Development of STS exhibition panels and posters 

a.  Science and Technology for Sustainable Living panels  

Based on the Foundation Curriculum Chitra conceptualised, planned and produced an  
exhibition comprising a series of 12 panels on “Science and Technology for Sustainable Liv - 
ing” with Dr. Narottam Sahoo, now working with Gujarat Science City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.  
It addressed major issues at the interface of STS with an aim to empower students, scientists  
and technologists as well as lay people to set locally appropriate priorities for  development. 

The themes of the 12 panels covered Definitions of sustainability, Introduction to STS  
linkages; Organisation of the exhibition; Our rich biotic resources; India’s mineral resour-   
ces; Food for all; Water, water, everywhere; Shelter: Not merely a roof; Healthy India, pro - 
ductive India, powerful India; Energy for a better quality of life; Being connected: Transport  
and communication; Cleaner technologies reduce resource use and waste; and Summary.  

b.  Development of Posters on “Water: a precious resource.” 
Eight posters on “Water: A precious resource”, with sub – themes like glimpses from wa- 
ter management in ancient India; water conservation initiatives in recent times; water sup- 
ply in Mumbai city; and water treatment, quality and standards, was developed in 2003 as  
a part of the series on Science and Technology for Sustainable Living. 

3.  D&T Education Research 
The STS programme indicated that post – school students had difficulties in critically ex - ]]></page><page Index="65"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 39 

amining the links between technology and society as school education did not equip them  
with an understanding of technological artefacts, systems and their design. The finding from  
the STS programme subsequently led to the development of a framework for design and  
technology (D&T) education in school; study of ideas about design and technology among  
students, teachers, professionals and lay persons; and exploration of creativity and design  
elements in design tasks in different contexts.  

4.  Role of graphicacy in science education 

The foundation curricula books were designed with numerous exercises using tables,  
charts, data and problems based on key societal issues. They brought forth the importance  
of graphicacy in science education, an oft – neglected area in science education. Graphicacy,  
a very useful tool so inherent in scientific and engineering disciplines has immense scope in  
teaching – learning situations, Chitra would often emphasise. 

5. Developing communication capabilities 

Chitra encouraged TATSAN students to develop a concept for a newsletter and com - 
municate their thoughts to society at large. In 1996 two Newsletters, Young Enthusiastic  
Adults for Science, Technology and Society (YEASTS) by Mumbai students and INFOCORE  
by Solapur students were brought out.  

YEASTS had an editorial team comprising of TATSAN students, Vindhya Narsian, Jalpa  
Narsian, Illias A Shaikh, Sivapriya S, Vipul Dhumak, Ankur Srivastava, Saikat Sengupta, Ar - 
pan Bhatia, Prabha S, Anurag Gupta, Bincy Chacko, Veena Mishra, Soumya Rao, Deepak Shar - 
ma, Sridhar R, to name a few.  

Each issue covered diverse issues of societal relevance:  child labour, education system,  
aids, solid waste management, and psychoactive drugs. Besides an analysis of the field re - 
search done by TATSAN students the Newsletter also carried interviews of leading experts  
in the above fields. Similarly INFOCORE also dealt with a host of issues related to new devel - 
opments in science, technology and society. 

“Chitra kept in close contact with many of the TATSAN students through 2000, but in subsequent years  

it became difficult as students were busy charting their own paths and her work became hectic. Many of  

them are now in media, entertainment, sciences, fine arts, teaching, consulting etc. A few years back, she was  

contacted by one of her TATSAN students, Archana Pania, a Radio Jockey with FM 91.1 channel, Mumbai, for  

an interview which she was glad to give. Sonal Shivagunde, a Solapur student, now with the consulting firm ]]></page><page Index="66"><![CDATA[

 40 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Mumbai, shared a very close bond with Chitra, kept in touch with her since  

1994 through her final days. Chitra had conceived and initiated a project, “Place based Education” at Matoshri  

High School, Mankhurd, with Sonal and one of her colleagues, Lale in 2014. 

Despite her best efforts Chitra could not bring out the books on Resources:  Food and Water and the one on  

Information & Media, both crucial issues today. These remained an unfinished agenda for her as new priorities  

took precedence at the work place. There have been dramatic changes worldwide since the mid 90s, when  

these books were written. The contemporary dynamics of global societies is riddled with conflicts, wars, fam - 

ine, natural and manmade calamities, exploding populations, expanding disease patterns, and conflict driven  

migration.  

Complexities in managing resources – water, air, soil; climate change and sustainability forces;  technology  

shifts, and changes in demography have brought in their wake new challenges that need radical and relevant  

solutions which are locally adaptable and adoptable. In this regard it is imperative that these books be up - 

dated and integrated into the present and future curricula. The fundamental approaches to programs like  

TATSAN will also need to be modified in the context of social and digital media revolution that is sweeping the  

world today” – Raj. 

3.2 Cognitive Sciences – DLIPS (1994 – 1998) 

In 1993, the year she joined HBCSE, Chitra was naturally drawn to the research work ini - 
tiated at the Centre in the area of alternative conceptions, more so because it had to do with  
the students’ ideas about plants and living and non – living things.  

She worked with her colleagues Sugra Chunawala, Jayashree Ramadas and Swapna Apte in  
this area. It enabled her to gain deep insights into students’ drawings, students’ ideas about  
plants, and their categorization. Besides, it gave her fresh inputs on students’ ecological under - 
standing both in urban and tribal spaces. She also learnt that socio-cultural aspects often influ - 
ence writing science textbooks for the primary level and that sensitivity to such differences are  
very critical in classroom situations. The research group’s work in this area  provided eviden-  
ces for the rich knowledge about plants among students from rural and indigenous (tribal)  
communities. 

It is quite normal for a student in a science classroom to hold previous experiences,  
ideas, beliefs and expectations about the natural world, and a student often interprets  
all new knowledge (both physical and social environment) against the backdrop of prior ]]></page><page Index="67"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 41 

Foundation curriculum books ]]></page><page Index="68"><![CDATA[

 42 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

STS sessions and exhibits ]]></page><page Index="69"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 43 

TATSAN sessions in progress 1993 – 1994 

TATSAN Newsletter ]]></page><page Index="70"><![CDATA[

 44 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Jaswand plant drawn by an urban student Bhendi tree by a tribal student 

Context map of a jungle by a tribal student 

Diagnosing Learning in Primary Science (DLIPS) ]]></page><page Index="71"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 45 

knowledge. With exposure to newer experiences it is possible, at times, for the student to  
alter mental representation of knowledge. Most often, such alternative conceptions have to  
be viewed in the context of learning, socio-cultural and linguistic background of students,  
and its relation to the classroom climate. 

As prior research in alternative conceptions was mainly confined to developed nations  
there was scant knowledge about cross cultural variations in developing nations and in  
particular India, a multicultural, multilinguistic and multiclimatic country. Besides, there  
was no prior research from a cognitive angle on this issue. It is a known fact that students  
coming from diverse geoclimatic zones, socioeconomic and linguistic backgrounds possess  
widely different schooling experiences, attitudes and responses. These and other factors  
arising out of ecological and health issues shape their alternate conceptions.  

The project,  ‘Diagnosing Learning in Primary Science’ (DLIPS) taken up during 1993 – 96  
period was a culmination of research into students’ learning that has been going at HBCSE  
for several years. The aim of DLIPS study was to diagnose the alternative conceptions of stu - 
dents on a few topics related to their natural environment and analyse the ideas generated  
from a socio-cultural and linguistics perspective. The ultimate goal was to understand the  
pedagogical implications of these findings.  

DLIPS looked at documenting and analysing such  conceptions and was motivated by  
rather complex considerations, which were influenced by factors like, gender difference,  
cultural and linguistic variation.  The findings of this study are reported in HBCSE technical  
reports (See Students’ ideas related to it living and non – living (DLIPS Part 1); Students’ ideas about plants  

(DLIPS Part 2); The role of experiments in school science (DLIPS Part 3), HBCSE Technical reports).  

“DLIPS was a project that was close to Chitra’s heart and she would often wonder how valid the interpre - 

tations of their research done in the mid – 90s will be, in the same locations, in 2014. Rapid demographic  

and sociocultural changes due to large scale developmental projects, increasing loss of flora and fauna, loss  

of biological diversity, human migration, and loss of native languages, she felt will radically change the way  

such alternate conceptions will develop in students’ mind. In India, a country with diverse geo climatic  

zones (from temperate, desert to tropical sholas) going through dramatic changes, there is a strong possi - 

bility that along with the ecosystems the local culture and native languages will also be impacted negatively,  

and in the process make such important cognitive studies more challenging to be taken up in the future. ]]></page><page Index="72"><![CDATA[

 46 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

A classical case, where economic and development policies could influence and possibly limit research in  

crucial areas., like it did with ethnobotany research” – Raj . 

3.3 Design and Technology Education (2000 – 2015) 
As mentioned earlier, Chitra viewed all her pursuits in terms of the STS platform, which  
helped her develop new perceptions about research in multilingualism, Design &Techno-   
logy (D&T) research which in turn led to Project Based Learning (PBL) studies that she  
pursued later. D&T research was one of the other innovative programmes Chitra initiated in  
collaboration with Sugra Chunawala with a strong conviction that  any discussion of issues  
at the interface of STS needs to be based on an interdisciplinary education in the natural  
sciences, in the humanities as well as in technology. For her,  Design was the conception (for- 
mation of idea) and realisation (coming into being) of new artefacts/things while  Design, as  
in architecture, industrial/product design, engineering design, graphic or communication  
design, was all about the human – made world, involving the use of modeling, pattern for - 
mation and synthesis.  

She looked at Design and Technology education as a bridge between education in the  
natural sciences (seeking the “truths” about the natural world) and an education in the  
humanities or liberal arts (study of the human experience with a concern for justice) and  
maintained that practicality, ingenuity and appropriateness characterise the D&T discipline  
and helps develop the learner’s abilities in solving real world, ill – defined problems.  

Her rationale for D&T: Nation building 
In 2002 – 03, while researching the works of Gandhi and Tagore she realised that D&T  
education was an excellent example of reconciliation of Gandhiji’s self – reliance principles  
envisioned in his Nayee Taleem (New Education) – symbolised by the disciplined operation  
of a charkha – and Tagore’s dream of unleashing the nation’s individual and social creativity.  
This observation, she made, is now recognised as one of the key pathways for building an  
innovative future workforce. She would explain, “ Design stands for innovation and creativity,  
while technology is recognised to be the foundation of national self – reliance.”   

Another key factor that led her to focus on D&T was her belief that such an educa - 
tion will be very crucial in enabling long term solutions to complex sustainability con - 
cerns facing India. She was aware this task would need interdisciplinary skills – integrat - 
ing the arts and crafts, empirical indigenous knowledge, natural and social sciences to ]]></page><page Index="73"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 47 

develop creative products/solutions. D&T edu - 
cation aims at developing students’ abilities to  
design, innovate and evaluate artefacts and also  
critique existing design and use of technology in  
everyday life.   

According to her, national curricular frame - 
works largely restrict technology education to  
technology as applied science while her research  
at HBCSE was  guided by learning from a  study of  
philosophy of technology; from theoretical issues  
of collaborative learning; cognition and action;  
and from a commitment to the development of language, quantitative reasoning and prob - 
lem solving skills.   

She actively promoted the principles and processes of D&T education at various levels  
and at various forums fully convinced that it offers the best platform for developing multiple  
skills – technological knowledge; quantitative reasoning; manual and procedural skill use;  
imagining, imaging and drawing; making aesthetic and social judgements and evaluations;  
ways to explore objects and their relations; create and innovate; use social skills of collabo- 
ration, communication and teamwork; visuospatial skills; and graphicacy.  

Design and Technology in School Education   
D&T education at HBCSE was based on the premise that its activities are contexts for  
the application of conceptual and procedural knowledge, procedural and artistic skills, as  
well as aesthetic and social values. Theoretical issues of cognition and action, collaborative  
learning, multi – modal communication, and concerns of socio-cultural and gender appro - 
priateness became the key foci of her work between 2000 – 2015.    

The preliminary goals were indeed very broad based, including several aims of (a) un - 
derstanding and measuring student learning in D&T tasks in particular, and all projects, in  
general; (b) developing suitable modes of student engagement and teacher roles in con - 
ducting projects; (c) addressing sustainability issues in designing and making artefacts; and  
(d) analysing students’ argumentation in relation to socio-scientific issues.  

In subsequent years the D&T education pedagogy evolved to meet several needs, includ- 
ing student learning and its assessment that have to be developed in collaboration with  

“I learned about Chitra’s long – standing  
engagement with design and technology  
education, and the important difference  
between key concepts in science and in  
technology, as best introduced in the  
classroom.  Later, when I visited the Homi  
Bhabha Centre and various laboratories  
there, I had a chance to further appreci - 
ate these concepts and their implementa - 
tion” – Mustansir Barma, Distinguished  
Professor, TIFR, Mumbai. ]]></page><page Index="74"><![CDATA[

 48 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

teachers. This became the core element of re - 
search on Project Based Learning (PBL) done by  
one of her students.  One of the primary aims was  
to arrive at a possible design and technology edu - 
cation curriculum at the school level with a f ocus  
on collaborative and communication centred con- 
text, with the final objective of developing a frame - 
work for introducing D&T as a school subject. The  
group developed over 10 education modules for  
middle school students of varying duration from 5 to 15 contact hours and have led to three  
doctoral theses.  

During her time D&T research at HBCSE covered the following activities: 
	 Surveys of ideas about technology 
	 Development and trials of 3 D&T education units; development of a framework for  
D&T Education Curriculum; “communication and collaboration centred D&T educa- 
tion” model from pre – school to Class XII 
	 Study of cognitive aspects in students’ design productions in D&T units and of col - 
laborations and communications among students engaged in D&T activities 
	 Investigations of depictions of objects, assemblies and route maps based on textual  
descriptions and cues 
	 Designing with and without “make” 
	 Images of designers 

Project based Learning (PBL) 
Chitra found that D&T projects also provided authentic contexts for learning and assess- 
ment, an observation that led her to explore Project Based Learning (PBL) domain. She  
would notice in her interactions with teachers since the mid–90s that conducting meaning - 
ful projects has been a major challenge for teachers. In particular, implementing projects  
set in authentic contexts, including specific learning objectives, and integrating assessment  
aspects was a major concern. 

She initiated a PBL research study with her student, Saurav Shome and explored ways  
of implementing project based learning in collaboration with teachers through teacher    
development workshops. Collaborative teacher groups generated assessment rubrics in  

“She explained to me once that modern  
societies need three distinct cultures in  
mutual harmony – the culture of Arts,  
the culture of Science and the third one  
(rarely the of  - 
sign; technology straddles all three of  
them. A remarkable thought indeed.“     
– Arvind Kumar, Former Centre Director,  
HBCSE ]]></page><page Index="75"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 49 

D & T sessions ]]></page><page Index="76"><![CDATA[

 50 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Fun times with D & T group ]]></page><page Index="77"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 51 

(l to r) Jayasharee, Nagarjuna, Chitra, 2011 

(l to r) Chitra, Sugra, Swati, Ritesh, 2006 

Presenting to HBCSE review panel, November 2014 

(l to r) Jayashree, Bhaktaver, Arvind Kumar, 2006 

(l to r) Sugra, Ravi, Chitra, Jayashree, 2010 ]]></page><page Index="78"><![CDATA[

 52 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

At epiSTEME Conference, 2013 

Hoisting the Indian flag, Independence Day, 2012 

In her office Addressing the staff, Independence Day, 2012 ]]></page><page Index="79"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 53 

order to assess processes as well as products.  
Development of a model for teacher profes - 
sional development became the subject of his    
thesis.  

I recollect Chitra’s statement,  “Mahatma Gan - 
dhi’s ideas on education contain in them something  
akin to project based learning. He proposed in his  
writings that learning crafts was essential and that  
practical work was central to the learning process.  
The Charkha was one of the main components of his  
idea of practical education as a means to learn concepts of mathematics, history, geography  
and sociology.” 

In 2011, she and Saurav conducted a first – of – its – kind development study of PBL mod - 
ules and strategies to help teachers apply these in classrooms. The guide book produced at  
the end of the study contains pedagogic strategies for teachers to follow while developing  
projects in class. The research study assumed significant dimension when the government  
introduced continuous and comprehensive evaluation in schools the same year, of which  
projects formed part of the assessment for schools, making such workshops relevant and  
timely. 

“True PBL occurs when the project is central to the teaching – learning process, has a  
major driving question, and engages students in self and peer assessment. Projects should  
be integral to the learning, not an application of what has been learnt. The project should  
be the means for learning a concept, it should not come after the lesson has been taught in  
class. And there isn’t just one outcome in a project – students can do one of any number of  
things, not simply write up a report.” (Chitra speaking to Hindustan Times, 2 Jan 2011) 

During Chitra’s period at HBCSE, two main aspects of D&T education were covered: (a)  
Probing the scope for creative engagements in D&T activities; and (b) Professional prepara - 
tion of teachers for conducting D&T and other projects . At the end of the sessions teachers  
were able to identify and fix solutions on their own. They were also bringing in elements of  
empathy, aesthetics etc., into their framework. 

“For me, the power of Chitra’s work was  
the way she linked three dimensions: a  
strong and clear vision of how design  
and technology in education contributes  
to being human, a broad and deep under - 
standing of the many ways in which they  
contribute and the importance of bring - 
ing this vision and knowledge to class - 
room practices” – Kay Stables, Co-Direc- 
tor, TERU, University of London ]]></page><page Index="80"><![CDATA[

 54 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

She was involved in the thesis work of four stu- 
dents, in this area. 

1.  Investigating Students’, Teachers’ and Design - 
ers’ Ideas about Design and Developing Design  
Activities for Indian Middle School Students.  
Farhat Ara, Advisor: Prof. Sugra Chunawala,  
April, 2013, TIFR Deemed University. 

2.  Introducing Indian Middle School Students  
to Collaboration and Communication Cen - 
tred Design and Technology Education: A Fo - 
cus on Socio–Cultural and Gender Aspects   
Swati Mehrotra, Advisor: Prof. Sugra Chunawala,    
July 2008, TIFR Deemed University. 

3.  Investigating Middle School Students’ Percep-   
tions of Technology and Developing Design  
and Technology Education Units to Study    
Students’ Design Productions Ritesh P.    
Khunyakari, Advisor: Prof. Chitra Natarajan,  
July 2008, TIFR Deemed University. 

4.  Designing and implementing a collaborative  
teacher professional development model for planning project based learning in Indian  
schools. Saurav Shome, Advisor: Prof. Chitra Natarajan, Submitted synopsis, April 2014,  
TIFR Deemed University 

Chitra passionately pursued work on D&T education for over a decade and through 2014  
with scarce resources and backed only by the power of her conviction and ideas in collabo- 
ration with Sugra Chunawala. However, with immense commitment and support from her  
close and valued colleague Beena Choksi and research scholars, Ritesh Khunyakari, Swati  
Mehrotra, Farhat Ara and Saurav Shome, she put India on the global D&T education map, as  
reflected by comments from leading D&T experts. She also opened up several new areas for  
further research for D&T researchers worldwide. 

Inspired by Robert L. Peters words, “Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values  

“Chitra has always argued, cognitive  
contents as well as cognitive processes  
depend on artefacts and tools of the cul - 
ture, so that technological design, tool  
making and tool use are all best under - 
stood as a dynamic interplay between  
ourselves and our environment and bet-   
ween individuals and society, at vari - 
ous levels of interaction within different  
space and time bound situations. In this  
sense, technology itself can be seen as a  
metaphor for all the inherent and endur - 
ing action linked aspects of the life evo - 
lution process, through which we have  
become human beings, and which con - 
tain and symbolise the powerful and cre- 
ative linkages between our environment  
and body, between hand and mind, bet-   
ween doing and being.”  – Patrick Dias,  
Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Educa - 
tional Sciences, University of Frankfurt,    
Germany ]]></page><page Index="81"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 55 

determine the future,” Chitra had envisioned future research  at the interface of culture (lan- 
guage, gender, ethnicity, socio-political milieu, and local (indigenous) knowledge) , thought/ 
cognition (thinking, reasoning, values, aesthetics, intentions, desires and wants)  and tech - 
nology (manifestations and practices of engagement) to help students and teachers appre - 
ciate technologies that are enabling, inclusive, and sustainable.  

3.4 Multilingualism Research (2000 – 2010) 

Multilingualism and multiple modes of expression are two of the key areas of research  
globally aimed at making education relevant to students from diverse socioeconomic, lin - 
guistic and cultural backgrounds. Chitra was very keen in extending her learning from  
D&T research to legitimising multiple modes of expression in schools. Besides, the multi - 
disciplinary and collaborative nature of such research the fact that it was a much – ne - 
glected aspect of Indian classrooms, was a key motivation for her to pursue research in  
this area.  

Along with Sugra Chunawala and the D&T research team at HBCSE, Chitra participa-   
ted in the project, “Multilingualism, Subalternity and the Hegemony of English in India and  
South Africa” (2001 – 2004), initiated by Prof. Patrick Dias, Professor Emeritus, University  
of Frankfurt, Germany and Prof. Neville Alexander,  Director of the “Project for the Study of  
Alternative Education in South Africa” (PRAESA), University of Cape Town, South Africa. 

It was an interdisciplinary collaboration in research, teaching and educational  practice  
between researchers and institutions in Germany, India and South Africa. The HBCSE team  
studied the potential of D&T education for legitimising multiple modes of expression in  
the classroom. One of the seminars held in October 2002 led to the publication of an edited  
volume on Multiple Languages, Literacies and Technologies, for which Chitra worked closely  
with Patrick Dias and also contributed a chapter to it.  

In a communication to me, in May 2015, Prof. Dias discussed the rationale for research in  
multilingualism; evolution of this research in HBCSE since 1983, under the then Director Pro - 
fessor V.G. Kulkarni; and his close interactions with Chitra and how she linked the relevance  
of D&T education in enabling multiple modes of expression in the class room. His dedicated  
contribution on multilingualism to this memoir is presented here. 

Our collaboration within the framework of applied research has been sustained, right ]]></page><page Index="82"><![CDATA[

 56 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

from the start, by a considerate personal – and less institution bound  –  relationship, which  
began in 1983 with the late Prof. V.G. Kulkarni, the founder Director of HBCSE, due to his  
pioneering work on the general impact of the language used in science and of the language  
of discourse in science teaching upon success or failure in science learning, specially in in - 
stances of cultural and social barriers, lack of appro  priate language skills, such as the abi-   
lity to deal with multiple parameter arguments (if “x” and “y”, then “z”) and abstractions  
used in science and mathematics. Hence, we made efforts to find means and opportuni - 
ties to exchange our views and deepen them at an international comparative level during  
the colloquium 1984 on “Rediscovery of Education as alternative Education in the Third  
World”, which was organised by me in our Institute “Education and International Devel - 
opment Processes” at the University of Frankfurt, Germany. Both of us were emphasising  
the need to move away from the colonially inherited educational systems and face the task  
of in society specific  educational reality  underlying the texture  
of the educational process, and of influencing the procedure of structuring it in a formal  
set-up investigating articulating socio-cultural, scientific /techni - 
cal, linguistic and pedagogical factors that render education relevant or irrelevant under  
specific conditions  (see Rediscovery of Education as ‘Alternative Education’ in the ‘Third World’, ed. By    

Patrick v. Dias, Frankfurt, IKO – Verlag, 1987).  

In the International Conference,1987, on  “Meaning and place of basic science knowledge  
with the aim of universalising and restructuring elementary education” I organised, there - 
after, in Bombay in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Education, Pune, and with the  
active participation of the research team under V. G. Kulkarni at HBCSE, he was cautioning  
against the understanding of universalisation of education as “a programme of giving of the  
same to many more people”. In his opinion “aspects like undertaking research to identify the  
real stumbling blocks, increasing the relevance of learning tasks to real life situations, and  
relating education to productivity are often side – tracked. The main problem consists in de - 
signing these new inputs” (see Basic Science Knowledge and Universalization of Elementary Education,  

ed. By Patrick V. Dias, Frankfurt, IKO – Verlag, 1989). 

The profile of activities that was, accordingly, established by him at the HBCSE, namely    
research and fieldwork on cognitive and pedagogical studies, realisation of intervention  
programmes and science popularisation, development of curricula and educational mate - 
rials for science and technology, and enrichment programmes for post – school students, ]]></page><page Index="83"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 57 

were aptly incorporated and further developed in the academic work which Chitra was en- 
trusted with since 1993, when she became a staff member of the Institute. 

It was, however, only in 2000 that we could meet for the first time, and it was a pleas - 
ant experience for me  –  coming from a different multi–disciplinary field (social, political  
and educational sciences as well as social history and sociology of religions)  –  to find out,  
within a short period of interaction, that our approaches and intellectual interests were  
going in the same direction as were defined in an investigation proposal for collaboration  
sent to and discussed with V. G. Kulkarni in 1990, when he was still Director of HBCSE. This  
common endeavour could, unfortunately, not materialise at that time – partly for personal  
health reasons, but mainly due to my, almost a decade long, engagement in establishing  
contents and structures of study and research for a long term “Project for the Study of Al - 
ternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA)” at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.  

The combination of my interdisciplinary involvement in two different thematic and  
structural areas of the educational system in two countries, India and South Africa, with  
a common colonial heritage under the hegemony of the English language but a different  
post – independence development and strength of differentiated research set-ups led to the  
proposal of the applied research project, that got started in October 2000, “The multilingual  
historical subject trapped in the status of subalternity by hegemonic language networks:  
Theoretical approach and case studies: multilingualism and the prevailing use of English in  
India and South Africa”.  

The first discussions at the HBCSE in which V. G. Kulkarni (as retired director, in the  
meantime) could still participate in spite of his ill health, together with , the research staff  
members Chitra and Sugra Chunawala led quickly to a common understanding of the inter- 
disciplinary issues involved in the investigation, of the specific interests and competences of  
the partners and of the practical implementation steps in each of the institutions involved.  
In a general way, the working title of the HBCSE contribution was “Technology Centred  
School Education (TCSE)”, within which, besides the underlying analysis of the relevance of  
the language of science and its discourse in the science, a new theoretical and also gender  
related understanding of technological design and skill as a multi – expressive language and  
a multi – purposive learning inspiring experimental modules for a new curriculum would  
be elaborated. ]]></page><page Index="84"><![CDATA[

 58 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

In order to arrive at a common use of the concepts and variables in our research, namely  
“language”, “design and technology” it was imperative to overcome in our understanding  
the narrow ideal typical definition of language in vogue – specially in education , restricting  
it to the spoken and written word as a formalized and closed system. That is: as a system of  
(mainly arbitrary) signs  –  words, composed of units: phonemes and morphemes  –  in per - 
ceivable audible (speech), visible (writing) and, in restricted form, tactile (Braille) patterns,  
arranged and organized according to a set of syntactic rules – its grammar, and assigned to  
produce a meaningful relationship with word combinations in sentences or propositions  
–semantics. It was fostered further through the rising interest in evolutionary and compa-   
rative anthropology on ordering the processes of conceptuali  sation and categorisation in  
mind in hierarchical and temporal sequences whilst studying different groups and their lan - 
guages. And it received its biggest boost through the constitution of formalistic approaches  
in linguistics, as a science on its own right, with the hypothetical assumptions (fashioned at  
the model of natural sciences) of an “innate language organ” fed by a “language acquisition  
device” and governed by a “universal grammar”, genetically imprinted into the brain of the  
developing child. 

For the sake of avoiding such speculative reductionist approaches, we took decidedly the  
path of enlarging our understanding of  language as an important conceptual and reality  
shaping metaphor allowing us to create a set of mappings or symbolic interrelations bet-   
ween concrete or physical source domains (body, movement, human being – nature – soci - 
ety unit) and target interaction domains through gestures, mimic, symbols, icons, drawings,  
sculpture, dance, music, rhythm and techniques due not only to their structural similarity,  
but, more so, due to their objective basis, derived from the variety of imaging experiences,  
communicative abilities and expressive patterns. We come, thus, to the whole range of the  
multiplicity of languages, literacies and technologies filling our life – world: cognitions,  
emotions, designs, encounters, speeches, artefacts, architectural constructions, etc.  (see our  

publication “Multiple Languages, Literacies and Technologies”, edited by Patrick V. Dias, New Delhi/Frankfurt,  

Books for Change/Multilingualism Network, 2004). 

This understanding of “ language” with its imaginative, referential, expressive, interac - 
tive and integrative function as a  metaphor offered the possibility of linkages with inno - 
vative conceptions for design and technology education. Then the language of technology  
is dominantly concrete: graphics, symbols and models. Progressive sophistication of these ]]></page><page Index="85"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 59 

concrete “languages” is crucial for the development of technology. Besides, performing a  
design and technology project involves several capabilities among students in varying de - 
grees: investigation, planning, model making, tackling design issues, evaluating, extending  
knowledge and skills and communication.  

As argued by Chitra, in her chapter, “Designing and teaching appropriate technological  
productions with their multi – expressive and multipurpose possibilities”, p.139 – 161, in  
the above publication, “Technology and language are both tools of culture and located in  
the actions of persons and groups. They evolve when persons and groups participate in and  
negotiate their way through new situations. Technology, for instance, evolves in problem  
situations. Situations, in turn, make sense within a historical context, including the past ex- 
periences and interactions of participants, as well as anticipated actions and events. Tools  
and discourses thus embody the accumulated meanings of the past: language and techno-   
logy the history of a culture. They not only enable thought, intellectual processes and action,  
they also constrain processes and action. Language and technology thus provide a powerful  
means of transmitting culture. Using a language in a certain manner serves to define a per - 
son’s or group’s identity. Using tools (and technology) in a certain manner implies adoption  
of a cultural belief system about how the tool is to be used. Language, artefacts and tools  
used are closely linked to identities and the construction of self.” (p. 144).  

We act and produce under the conviction that symbolic – expressive, linguistic, cultural  
and technological diversity is just as essential for the survival and enrichment of human so - 
ciety as  bio-diversity, and that multi – expressiveness, multi – lingualism and multi – perspec - 
tivity are natural and essential to the condition and survival of our human existence. Thus,  
linguistic and technological diversities, practices and devices reflect and express the type  
and quality of social, political and economic relationships prevailing in our societies. They  
enable us both as active social force, as well as medium for the exchange of ideas, to construct  
world views, produce knowledge and technologies, interpret and change reality in ways that  
are appropriate to our social and cultural history, and to our prospective designs.  

Such a broad approach is meaningful, particularly in the Indian context due to its rich tra - 
dition of multiplicity of modes of expression and communication, where all types of medi - 
um and message oriented symbolic languages were, and are still in use, like pattern drawing  
(rangoli, mehendi), paintings, sculptures, music, classical dances, gestures (mudras), etc.  
This tradition has developed the ideal of a cultured person as one ‘conversant in the sixty ]]></page><page Index="86"><![CDATA[

 60 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

With multilingualism project group 

Students in multilingualism class ]]></page><page Index="87"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 61 

Multiple expressions, “Atoms and Development” ]]></page><page Index="88"><![CDATA[

 62 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Multiple expressions, in Malayalam, Chitra’s mother tongue 
(translated by Chitra’s aunt, Annapoorani Ramaswamy, Former Principal, SIES HS, Mumbai) ]]></page><page Index="89"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 63 

four arts’ (even seventy two or eighty four) listed in a non – hierarchical way, and the under - 
standing of the art as something for practical purpose, be it religious, spiritual, educational  
or practical  –  art as artefact. 

3.5 Science Education for Diversity (2010 – 2013) 
Chitra’s interest in understanding the impact of cultural diversity of students in science  
learning led her to get involved in a  European Union (EU) project, “ Science Education for  
Diversity.” It aimed to improve science education in the classroom and enable students to  
respond effectively to cultural diversity. An international collaborative research project, in- 
volving UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia, it attempted to understand  
the dynamic linkages between culture, gender and science education in diverse contexts.  
Developing multiple approaches to science education which are in tune with cultural diver - 
sity was a key objective of this research. 

The project involved six work packages (WP). HBCSE was involved in WP 2 package that  
coordinated and summarised current information on science education of direct relevance  
to the project. The findings of this study indicated the popularity of science and the ration - 
ale behind it but also revealed that popularity of science in developing countries is attrib - 
utable more to students’ ideas about nature of science, as one where practical applicability  
to solving societal problem was the key. It also pointed to the relevance of student – centred  
and inquiry – based pedagogies as ways to improve students’ attitudes to science. The find - 
ings revealed that challenges persist in teaching science that enables students to discover  
the relevance for the society. The study also revealed that the proposed framework, which  
integrated multiple teaching strategies, utilising design – based research and a dialogic ap - 
proach. It led to enhancing student interest in science and in improving teachers’ practices.  

This framework, more importantly, inquiry – based science education and context – based  
science emphasised dialogic approaches to teaching and learning, which was important for  
the students. It also revealed that teachers felt that discoveries, exploration and experimen - 
tation could be emphasised for those students who aspire to take up a science profession.  
More importantly, teachers had no perceptions about diversity and its implications for the  
teaching – learning process. Future research in this direction will be important to get an in  
– depth understanding of the underlying factors. 

In the Indian context, researchers noted that teachers failed to recognise that the ]]></page><page Index="90"><![CDATA[

 64 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

intervention went beyond just teaching the contents of the chapter. They very rarely reflec-   
ted on cultural diversity among their students and the crucial role it could play in planning  
for the teaching learning process. The study suggested scope for further work in this area  
with an aim to sensitise teachers about addressing diversity issues in science education  (see   

http://www.marchmont.ac.uk/Documents/Projects/sed/final_report_en.pdf, accessed 25 June 2015). 

3.6 Allied Research 

Chitra was very keen in exploring specific research spaces in Environmental and Health  
Education in the mid – 90s but limited herself to providing research strategies and domain  
expertise to those who were planning research or project studies in these areas.  

She briefly worked with Bakhtaver Mahajan on the Health Education Project providing  
inputs to ongoing research. In Environmental education she was involved in contributing  
to research in developing the environmental education curricula. She participated as an  
environmental education expert, on the project   ‘Environmental Awareness’ for the UNDP  
funded PERC programme on population education, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai;  
developed training programmes for project directors, principals of participating colleges  
and resource teachers from various colleges in  Maharashtra. Besides, she conducted sev - 
eral sessions, and drafted the content, schedules and programme evaluation tools for the  
project. She also guided two teachers in their Masters projects on environmental education  
conducted by New Delhi Extension Centre of Sikkim Manipal University. 

Systems approach and thinking was an area that Chitra had touched upon in her STS  
classes way back in mid 90s. She was particularly keen in researching this area due to its  
far – reaching implications for science education. She mentored a student Neha Agrawal in  
2009 – 10 on a systems thinking project. This field was also in alignment with her previous  
work on STS issues and an area where she felt some exploratory work was a worthwhile  
pursuit.  

The evolution of systems design and thinking and its role in science and technology edu - 
cation is, of course, well established at higher levels. Chitra felt that it is at the secondary  
level that systems thinking education needs to be brought into science classrooms. Between  
2010 – 2013 she conducted interactive sessions on systems thinking in many of her teacher  
and student interactions with an aim to identify areas where the pedagogic aspects could  
be researched. ]]></page><page Index="91"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 65 

3.7 Allied Initiatives 
Chitra took active part in multiple initiatives at local and national levels. These include:  

1. Collaboration with national institutions 

a.  Coordinator: Building Educators for Science Teaching  (BEST) Project, Department of Sci - 
ence &Technology( DST) (2012 – 13) 

Building Educators for Science Teaching (BEST) was a scheme that was developed and  
jointly implemented by Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and Ministry  
of Science and Technology (S&T) during the 12 th five year plan. BEST is aimed at creating  
a climate of sustained professional development of science and mathematics teachers. It  
included building teacher communities, pedagogy experts, science and mathematics con - 
tent experts to motivate, support and encourage teachers in developing effective teaching  
– learning practices. 

Chitra coordinated the BEST project initiated by the DST in 2012 – 13 and synchronised  
the efforts between HBCSE, Ekalavya, Vigyan Prasar and several educational organisations  
in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to develop a model for nationwide  
continuous professional development of science teachers, and contributed substantially to  
structuring a comprehensive model, documenting the process and finalising the Detailed  
Project Report (DPR). 

She shared some of her insights from the BEST project on how innovation and creativity  
in education can be supported and scaled up at district levels across the country, in a round  
table conference on “How Maharashtra can Infuse Innovation and Creativity in its Education  
System” organised by Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai, on 21 March 2014. For a live  
presentation (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llWt8qc-fO0, accessed 25, June 2015). 

b.  Member, Advisory of Vidyalaya (KVS)    
(2013 – 15) 

Chitra was mainly involved in providing academic inputs to strengthen the academic pro - 
grammes of KVS. 

c.  Chair, Technical Advisory Committee, Innovation & STEM (Science, Technology, Engineer - 
ing & Mathematics) (iSTEM)“i–STEM Demonstration,”  National Council for Science & Tech - 
nology Communication, (Department of Science & Technology) (2012 – 15) ]]></page><page Index="92"><![CDATA[

 66 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) is an organisation  
working towards developing scientific temper through various modes, like development of  
various software materials for mass S&T awareness (audio – visual programmes, films, CDs,  
publications, etc). It also supports science fairs & melas, exhibitions, mobile science exhibi- 
tions, lectures, demonstrations, visits to S&T establishments, hands–on–science activities,  
and so on.  

With Results Framework Document 2011–12 emphasising  Demonstration Projects  in    
science & technology communication and popularization, NCSTC set up a dedicated Tech - 
nical Advisory Committee “iSTEM Demonstration” with Chitra as the Chair, to provide guid- 
ance on content, form, impact of proposals being received, generated, evaluated and related  
policy matters. The committee was responsible for monitoring, mentoring and reviewing all  
demonstration projects. 

d.   Member (nominated), Executive Committee, Indian Physics Association (IPA)2013 – 15 

She spent a brief period as a Member on the  Executive Committee of IPA on setting the  
protocols for selection of candidates for awards. 

e.  Member, Expert Group for Hum Honge Kamyaab, National Council for Science and Techno-  
logy Communication (NCSTC) (DST) funded nationwide technology innovation project for  
Class IX to XII students, 2005 – 15 

As a Consultant to the nationwide technology innovations project for school students  
from class IX to XII, Chitra was an integral part of the project and contributed in a two – day  
brainstorming workshop of the NCSTC (DST) funded project  Hum Honge Kamyaab  orga- 
nised by Credence Media Solutions during  March 18 and 19, 2005 at New Delhi. The work- 
shop served to generate technology innovation projects later carried out by selected school  
students of class IX to XII across the country and broadcast as a 13 – part television serial  
nationwide 

f.   Member, Establishment Committee, National Council of Educational Research & Techno-   
logy ( NCERT), 2012 – 14 

g.  Expert in engineering/technology education project (2009) 

Chitra was an invited expert in an international project, “ Concepts and contexts in en - 
gineering and technology education: an international and interdisciplinary Delphi study ’, ]]></page><page Index="93"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 67 

coordinated by International Journal of Technology and Design Education (IJTDE). The fo - 
cus of this study was  to identify overarching, unifying themes and disciplinary contexts in  
engineering and technology that would be suitable to be used as a framework for devel - 
oping contemporary secondary school education curricula. The outcomes of the study in - 
cluded recommendations for engineering and technology education  (see Ammeret Rossouw,   

Michael Hacker, Marc J. de Vries, Concepts and contexts in engineering and technology education: an inter - 

national and interdisciplinary Delphi study, Int. J. Technol. Des. Educ. (2011) 21:409–424 Published online: 2  

July 2010). 

h.  Collaboration with Atomic Energy Education Society (AEES) (2003 – 09) 

Chitra was very involved in the activities of Atomic Energy Education Society (AEES) at  
several levels between 2003 – 09. She was the Member, Governing Council (GC), Atomic    
Energy Education Society and Member, GC Advisory Subcommittee to study and report on  
the Academic Reform Report between 2006 – 09. 

As a consultant for AEES Middle School Science Education Improvement Programme  
(2003 – 05) she helped in several aspects of capacity building for teachers in setting up  
diagnostic questions, followed by experiments designed by her colleague V.G. Gambhir and  
brought out a booklet of activities. She was also involved in a project of S. Nair, an AEES  
teacher who did her Physics project during her Fellowship at HBCSE (2005) and whose  
paper titled “Rolling down the Galilean Way: A kinematics session with a constructivist ap- 
proach” won an award at the 3rd National Teachers’ Science Conference 2005, Mysore, for  
being among the best papers. She helped in the organisation of the AEES – HBCSE organi-   
sed National Conference on Science Education, December 2007, as a member of the AEES  
Governing Council and Conference Steering Committee, and as Chairperson of its Academic  
Committee.  

i.   Expert in Environmental Education (1994 – 95) 

Chitra was an expert to review the training manual in population education, undertaken  
by the Population Education Research Centre (PERC), SNDT Women’s University 1994 – 95. 

j.   National Olympiads  

Chitra contributed to drafting the present selection procedure at the first stage of the  
Science Olympiads ,  and was actively involved in the coordination of International Junior  
Science Olympiad (2013). ]]></page><page Index="94"><![CDATA[

 68 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

k.  Collaboration with  St. Xavier’s Institute of Education 

She was a member of St. Xavier’s Institute of Education’s, Internal Quality Assurance Cell  
(IQAC) in 2013 – 14 providing inputs on improvement of quality standards in educational  
initiatives of the institute. 

2.  Science popularisation  

Chitra took keen interest and actively participated in science popularisation, student    
talent nurture and teacher orientation programmes of the Centre held in different parts of  
the country.   

a.  Outreach activities 

During her time at HBCSE, Chitra was very active in popularising science and capa-   
city building programmes in many of the outreach programmes of the Centre. She worked  
closely with several government and non – government agencies in science education as a  
resource person, mentor, advisor, jury and panelist. Her talks in these outreach activities  
covered systems design and thinking, scientific themes, project based learning, ethics, envi - 
ronmental education, STS linkages, design and technology, inquiry based teaching/learning,  
to name a few (Annexure 3). 

In these areas she worked closely with several colleges and institutions in capacity build - 
ing, development of programmes and conferences, reports etc. Some of these are: Atomic  
Energy Education Society’s (AEES) schools, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai; Pillai College of Ed - 
ucation and Research, New Panvel; Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai; K.C.  
College, Churchgate, Mumbai;  K.B. Patil College, Vashi, Navi Mumbai; Jhunjhunwala College,  
Ghatkopar, Mumbai; K.J. Somaiya Comprehensive College of Education, Training and Re - 
search, Ghatkopar, Mumbai; Jigyasa, Thane; Ratnam College Nature Club, Bhandup, Mumbai;  
S. D. D. Rashtriya Shala, Ghatkopar, Mumbai; ZIET, Mumbai; Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation  
(Awards and Rewards Ceremony for SSC and HSC Students, held at Goa, Pune and Kolhapur,  
August 2001); Smt. Kapila Khandvala College of Education, Juhu, Mumbai; Children’s Aid  
Society, Mankhurd, Mumbai; Manjra Charitable Trust’s Smt. Sushiladevi Deshmukh Vidya - 
laya & Junior College, Airoli, Navi Mumbai; Academic Staff College, University of Mumbai; Jai  
Hind College, Churchgate, Mumbai; Chinmaya Seva Samiti Trust, Hubli, Karnataka; Hansraj  
Morarjee Public School, Andheri, Mumbai; Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti of Nashik; National  
Council for Teacher Education; Rotary Club of Mumbai, Chembur, Mumbai; People’s Asso - ]]></page><page Index="95"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 69 

ciation for Training and Health (PATH), Trombay;  
Population Education and Research Centre pro - 
grammes of SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai;  
Village Panchayats in Raigad District. 

She also worked closely with institutions like  
Navi Mumbai Science Foundation,Vashi, Navi  
Mumbai;  Indian Women Scientists’ Association  
(IWSA), Vashi, Navi Mumbai, etc., as a resource  
person and in designing programmes. At a natio-   
nal level she was involved with People Science  
Congress, Allahabad as a co-founder and Gujarat Science City, Ahmedabad, to name a few.  

Dr Narottam Sahoo, Member Secretary, Gujarat Council for Science and Technology (GUJ - 
COST) has communicated  that her suggestions on professional teacher development, made  
in 2014, based on the BEST model has been approved for implementation in Valsad District,  
Gujarat. 

Science communication remained a passion for her throughout her career. In the midst  
of pre–review preparation of the Centre in September 2014 she was actively engaged as a  
review panelist for the finals of Euraxess Science Slam, an EU initiative to encourage and  
promote science communication. She also collaborated with Arnab Bhattacharya, a popular  
science communicator in India, well known for his Chai and Why? programmes. 

b.  Development of exhibition materials for promotion of science 
Chitra was very involved in taking science to the people using posters and panels as  
a medium of message. History of Science panels  which stands on the ground floor foyer  
of HBCSE, was one in which she was actively involved. She also co-authored the first book  
on ‘Great leaps in Early History’, and the draft of the book on ‘Greek Science’ and took active  
interest in setting up the exhibition on “Science: A human saga” at HBCSE. She also designed  
and developed twelve  panels on Sustainability Living and six on Water Management.  

c.  Resource material for training: Atoms and Development  
Atoms and Development (2003), the book Chitra co-authored with Arvind Kumar was  
aimed at tracing the evolution of India’s atomic energy programme and communicate in  
simple terms the science and technology involved in nuclear energy development. The book,  

“She was a mentor, and a bouncing board  
for ideas, however crazy they might be.  
I was always amazed at her energy and  
passion for science outreach – especially  
if involved students. first  
and last meetings with Chitra were with  
students, and though with more than a  
decade gap between them, her style and  
enthusiasm were just the same!”  – Arnab  
Bhattacharya, TIFR ]]></page><page Index="96"><![CDATA[

 70 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

reviewed by 20 experts, is now available in  English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati,Telugu, Kan - 
nada, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam and is used in Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)  
for training personnel and in other institutes in India, where energy courses are taught.  

3.  Capacity building  
Teacher/Students Camps /orientation programmes 

Building capabilities amongst teachers in scientific disciplines was a very significant part  
of the activities which Chitra took up. She was very active in designing and conducting orien - 
tation programmes for teachers in diverse areas; Project based learning (2010 – 11, Mum - 
bai); Design and technology projects (2009 – 10, Mumbai); Activity based teaching/deve-   
lopment of activity books to complement NCERT books (2003 – 05, Mumbai). She was also  
actively involved in content enrichment programmes for SSC, CBSE/ICSE teachers (2005,  
Mumbai) and English teaching strategies in Ashramshalas (2002, Nashik, Thane districts). 

 In the case of student orientation programmes, Chitra focused on talent nurture and  
good citizenship programmes (1998, Vadodara); physics experiment programmes (1995  
– 98, Mumbai); and talent nurture programmes (1993 – 96, Mumbai). Talent nurture pro - 
grammes for AEES students (Managuru 1995/96; Naroda,1997; Jaduguda,1998) and stu - 
dents of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools at Mumbai (1995), Kodaikanal (1997), Baroda  
(1998) and Physics problem solving and experiments (1994 – 98, Mumbai) (Annexure 4). 

4.  Mentoring 

Mentor – Coordinator, Intel ISEF Coaching Camps (2003, 2004)  

Chitra was responsible for ensuring the academic preparation of the students selected to  
represent India at the International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), held in Cleve - 
land, USA in May 2003. In these camps students were provided critical inputs on diverse  
subject areas like Computer Science, Engineering, Chemistry, Botany and Biochemistry,  
with an emphasis on investigative studies. She organised a similar preparation camp for the  
Indian participants to the ISEF fair in California in January 2004 and continued to interact  
with the students to finalise their projects for representing India at the ISEF at Portland,  
USA in May 2004.  Several of these students won awards at the international fairs. 

Visiting Students  

Chitra also mentored and guided teachers in their environmental and other ]]></page><page Index="97"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 71 

With other panelists, Arnab Bhattacharya, TIFR,  
India; Monika Sharma, Senior Programme manager at  
Research Councils UK (India); Chitra; Gerold Heinrichs,  
Project Management Agency at German Aerospace  
Center (PT-DLR); Denis Dambois – Research and   
Innovation Counselor of the Delegation of the   
European Union to India,(l-r)  at Euraxess Science Slam  
finals, November 2014 

Presenting the Finalist certificate to Sabeena    
Mannilthodi, Homi Bhaba National Institute (HBNI) /   
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR),  
Kalpakkam, at Euraxess Science Slam finals,    
November 2014 

Addressing the gathering, at Euraxess Science Slam  
finals, November 2014 

At the round table conference  
Observer Research Foundation, March 2014 ]]></page><page Index="98"><![CDATA[

 72 | embracing lives, chasing passions ]]></page><page Index="99"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 73 

With SED group, June 2010 

With iSTEM, DST committee, December 2012 ]]></page><page Index="100"><![CDATA[

 74 | embracing lives, chasing passions ]]></page><page Index="101"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 75 

projects (See (1) Sadhana Choudhari, Teacher, Children’s Aid Society’s High School, Post Graduation in Eco-   

logy and Environment, Sikkim Manipal University Project: Water management needs and perceptions: A case  

study; 2006;  (2) Lalita Prabhakar, Teacher, Atomic Energy Central School Post Graduation in Ecology and  

Environment, Sikkim Manipal University. Project: Building environmental awareness among middle school  

students through in – school and out – of – school activities; 2005; (3) Sangeetha Nair, Teacher Fellow, Project:  

Rolling down the Galilean Way: A kinematics session with a constructivist approach; 2005 and (4) N. Sajeev  

Raj, Teacher Fellow, Project(s): Making Connections: STS; 2003, 2005). 

5. Teaching  

a.  HBCSE graduate courses  
Chitra developed and taught several course modules in Technology, design and their    
educational relevance (2012); Science, technology and society studies (2006/2007/2008);  
Introduction to philosophy of technology (2006): Design & technology education: A disci - 
pline in the making (2005); Topics in cognitive science: Modularity of mind (2002); Science  
and technology education (2001); Language and science (2001), many of them in collabo - 
ration with Sugra Chunawala and some with Bakhtaver Mahajan. 

b.  UM – DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences 

Chitra also taught Environmental science (2008 – 09) and Communication skills (2010 –  
2011) to research students at UM – DAE Centre for excellence in Basic Sciences. 

6. Editorial board member in International journals 

Chitra was very active as an Editorial Board Member of leading international journals in  
science and technology education. She was a Member, Editorial Board of International Jour - 
nal of Technology and Design Education (IJTDE), (Springer, Netherlands) and of the book  
series on International Technology Education Studies (Sense Publishers, Netherlands). She  
contributed a chapter on “Technology education in the Indian context” within Section I of  
the ‘International Handbook on Research and Development in Technology Education,’ pub- 
lished in 2008 – 09 by Sense Publishers.  Chitra was very actively involved as a reviewer of  
international journals and books in her domains. She had carried out over 50 odd reviews  
of research papers for IJTDE alone.  

She also reviewed the “International Handbook of Technology Education: Reviewing the  
Past Twenty Years” in IJTDE (See Chitra Natarajan (2008), Marc J. de Vries and Ilja Mottier (eds.), Sense ]]></page><page Index="102"><![CDATA[

 76 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Pub., The Netherlands, 2006, 536 p, ISBN 90 – 77874 – 06  

– 2, in International  Journal of Technology and Design Edu - 

cation 18, pp. 307 – 312). 

Chitra was also on the Editorial Board of Design  
and Technology Education: an international jour - 
nal – DATE: ij.  

She reviewed the book, “The Learning Chal - 
lenge of the Knowledge Economy”  (See Chitra    

Natarajan (2011), David Guile, The Learning Challenge of  

the Knowledge Economy, Sense Pub., 2010, 212 pages, ISBN: 978 – 94 – 6091 – 257 – 3 (paperback), in Design  

and Technology Education: An International Journal,  16 (2), June 2011 pp. 307 – 312). 

She was a Member, Review Board for the Biennial International Technology Education Re - 
search Conference (TERC 2008), Australia, 2008 

Besides being involved in multitude of activities Chitra was also a  Member of the Organ - 
ising Committee of the international conference epiSTEME – l organised by HBCSE in Goa in  
2004. Two years later she was the Convenor of epiSTEME – 2 in Mumbai. 

She was actively involved in the coordination of the activities of Asian Science Camp,  
2010, Mumbai, Vigyan Vividha (2009) and many National Science Day events at the Centre  
and was the thesis examiner for PhD students from other institutes in the country.  

Her official at was the review in    
November 2014 amidst difficult times . 

3.8 Contributions, envisioned plans, unfinished agendas 
Conceptualising, designing, developing, sustaining and promoting STS and D&T educa - 
tion research was indeed a challenging but exciting journey for Chitra. In all these efforts  
she worked closely with Sugra Chunawala overcoming financial, attitudinal, and human re - 
source challenges at the Centre, to build a coherent body of knowledge in STS education  
and in particular  D&T education. The number of international publications, membership  
of international editorial boards and large number of reviews of international papers and  

“I was impressed by her dedication to the  
field of educational research and her ex - 
pertise in that field. She was one of the  
first introduce activities  
part of technology education in India….  
I could always rely on her when I looked  
for a reviewer who had an expertise in  
the relation between design and science  
education.”  – Prof. Marc De Vries, Delft  
University of Technology, Netherlands ]]></page><page Index="103"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 77 

credibility of the HBCSE’s D&T research group is testimony to her contributions to D&T  
education.  

In the process she also opened up, in the words of one of her collaborators, Patrick Dias,  
“a very a important educational field both in applied research as well as in teaching that is  
full of theoretical and practical promises in the coming decades, impregnated as they will  
be with new technological concepts and appliances.” He adds that her work has opened up  
a new platform for future conceptual and institutional developments, like: 

•	 Survey on ideas about design and technology as starting point for the analysis of mind sets  
of the addressees of innovative educational programmes 

•	 Development of multi – expressive and multi – purpose educational plans as part of a multi  
– faceted (multi – linguistic) framework for Design and Technology Curriculum 

•	 Study of learning processes, cognitive demands and communicative interactions involved  
in the students’ design and technology productions 

•	 Analysis of the linkages therein involved, visualisations/depictions and their verbal, textu- 
al, pictographic mappings up to practical implementation 

Chitra pioneered the idea of D&T education at school level in India and it was a first of its  
kind effort in the country’s science education arena; in the process she and her group put  
India on the global D&T education map.  

Chitra’s study (in DLIPS programme in mid–90s)   of the rich knowledge about plants  
among students from rural and indigenous (tribal) communities, their drawings and their  
ecological understanding, provided rare insights which fed into the development of the  
Homi Bhabha Curriculum for Primary Science and subsequently influenced the National  
Curriculum Framework (2005). Her active involvement in the talent nurture and teacher  
orientation programs of HBCSE and inthe development of the physics laboratory courses at  
the +2 level enabled HBCSE’s launching of the Olympiad program in the late 90s. Her diverse  
research activities enriched HBCSE’s goal of generating new ideas and developing them into  
educational resource materials. 

Envisioned research: “ A wish list” 
In 2013 Chitra had mapped  out possible areas where further work on STS and D&T ]]></page><page Index="104"><![CDATA[

 78 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

research could be pursued at the HBCSE in the future. She was convinced that considerable  
scope prevailed in probing creative engagements in D&T domains, professional teacher de- 
velopment for conducting D&T and project based learning.   

Her wish list for research, drawn up during the later part of 2013, included four impor - 
tant areas, where she had mapped out exploratory work: 

(a)  Development of pedagogic strategies for enhancing critical reasoning and argumenta - 
tion skills in students and teachers on issues at the interface of STS 

(b)  Extending multi – modal assessment of activities and processes to the study of self and  
peer assessment among students; developing strategies and models for collaboration  
with teachers to implement assessment strategies in classrooms 

(c)  Research at the interface of culture (language, gender, ethnicity, socio – political milieu,  
and local (indigenous) knowledge ), thought (ways of thinking, reasoning, beliefs, values,  
aesthetics, intentions, desires and wants ) and technology ( its manifestations, evolution,  
deployment, consequences and practices of engagement) 

(d)  Research in the area of designing environmentally sustainable educational models,  
(developing activity modules/ projects that involve design and making) while integrat - 
ing ideas about resource conservation and sustainability of social and natural environ- 
ments 

Chitra’s academic was finish chapter “Alternative  - 
edge Systems” for the proposed book, “Critique in Design and Technology Education”, John   
Williams and Kay Stables (Eds), a multi country project. Realising she could not meet the  
commitment she pulled out of this project in January 2015 and made sure all the back - 
ground research work she did was passed on to Prof. Mishack T Gumbo, Department of Sci - 
ence & Technology Education, University of South Africa, who is taking forward the chapter  
along the lines she had envisaged. 

Her unfinished agenda at HBCSE 
Chitra’s agenda for 2015 in HBCSE were quite a few; a report on Place based Education  
project she had initiated at Matoshri School, Mankhurd; initiate an action research project  
with a B.Ed. school; a position report on teacher development in Indian schools; a  back - ]]></page><page Index="105"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 79 

ground report on Indigenous knowledge systems  
& technology. Besides, there were two book pro - 
jects, she was keen to take up and we had brain - 
stormed the concept; a primer and a teacher guide  
book on Design & Technology for Indian schools  
and one on Systems Thinking.  

“I have initiated actions to take some of the above agenda  

to fruition. While the books on system thinking and indige - 

nous knowledge system will move towards drawing board  

by early next year the ones on Design &Technology and  

teacher development in Indian school will wait till a good  

team of collaborators are identified. 

Chitra would regularly put down her thoughts on any idea she came across about work at HBCSE and  

attempt to draw a common pattern between them. She also had strong convictions on managing research  

programmes in science education.  

Having proved the power and utility of D&T education during her period at HBCSE she also knew the vast  

limitations of the Centre in taking it to the next level for reasons related to clarity on research policy, scarcity  

of resources and attracting future talent for research in science education and more so in multidisciplinary  

areas like D&T research.  

She would often stress, “ in the future science education research will face immense challenges as bound - 

aries of disciplines slowly vanish globally, while we will preoccupy ourselves in specific domains and create is - 

lands of research. Education researchers will need to explore collaborative models to push the envelope further.  

They will also have to develop teaching learning models  that are amenable for nationwide scaling up. While  

clarity on research policy is a must it will come only if we have the ability to tap both strategic partnerships  

and the right human talent ”. 

Chitra felt that future research in STS area would depend on how our education system integrates multi - 

disciplinary approaches in curriculum development from the primary levels. Sensitisation of children at an  

early stage in their schooling to diversity in culture, language, genetic resources, and indigenous practices will  

hold the key. In the complex and fast evolving modern societies newer challenges will emanate and solutions  

to many of these will lie at the interface of disciplines”  – Raj. 

“To me Chitra personified what is impor - 
tant in a scholar. While her scholarship  
was of the highest standard, she was al - 
ways approachable and accessible, and  
respectful of other people’s positions…..  
Chitra’s ideas will live on when the  
book is published … ”  –  John Williams,  
Director, Technology, Environmental,  
Mathematics and Science Education  
Research Centre, University of Waikato,   
New Zealand ]]></page><page Index="106"><![CDATA[

 80 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

3.9  Chitra @HBCSE 
Chitra’s decision to explore education research came more out of rediscovering her own  
passion for teaching  –  learning. Coming from a background of science research and teach- 
ing she had very keen insights into learning gaps in science education, remedial options and  
possible engagement models. She also made her own assessment of several science educa - 
tion initiatives within the country and made her foray into science education research with  
an open mind. Her long held conviction that STS research would provide enormous scope  
for research and also lead to new research areas was validated during her period at HBCSE  
till 2015.  

The Centre offered her enough scope for moving into STS research largely due to the  
ongoing work of Prof. V.G. Kulkarni. She would spend lot of time discussing multiple issues  
with him. Through the next few years she invested significant time at the library to read up  
on several aspects of education research, including philosophy of science and technology,  
cognitive sciences and past research work at the Centre. She knew that planning any future  
research in an institute will have to be built on the historical platform previously built. She  
would say, “If you do not know the history of your institution how are you going to chart  
your future in the same?” She would make it a point to sit in on as many courses that she can,  
often given by faculty and outside experts, taking detailed notes.  

Finding her mentor in Professor B.M. Udgaonkar  

In early 90s, meeting Professor B.M. Udgaonkar, Former Chairman, the University of  
Grants Commission (UGC) and one of the founders of HBCSE, was a major milestone in her  
life at HBCSE. Both of them shared many a moment discussing diverse STS issues and glo-   
bal peace movements and in particular, the Pugwash movement (www.pugwash.org) with  
which he was closely involved.  

The Pugwash movement was one of the most important ones in the latter part of last cen - 
tury, focusing on complex issues at the interface of science and world affairs – elimination of  
all weapons of mass destruction, deliberating on new scientific and technological develop - 
ments that are more likely have a negative impact on society. Besides, it also encompassed  
other development – induced conflicts at the convergence of science and society, including  
climate change, environmental deterioration, resource scarcity and unequal access. These  
discussions provided Chitra with keen insights into designing her future work at the Centre.  
In his demise, last year, she lost a mentor who she deeply respected and cared for. ]]></page><page Index="107"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 81 

Bonding with colleagues 

Chitra always kept her room open for anyone to barge in and for her to dash out. She  
would begin to work with anyone at the workplace only after knowing the person’s first  
name, interests and family etc. Her uncanny memory for remembering people was based  
on, she would often say, several patterns she would make while meeting anyone.  

In the next twenty-two years she spent as much time working on her official jobs as  
she did in dealing sensitively with personal, medical and career problems of several of  
her colleagues. She was very tuned to spotting troubled souls on entering the premises;  
true enough she would find them in her office seeking her views and counsel. In cases in - 
volving mutual conflicts she excelled in playing the role of an interlocutor. She mentored  
several young colleagues from project and administrative staff to take up activity-based    
projects. 

Chitra had remarkable editing skills she put it to great use as a learning tool.  At HBCSE  
any draft, synopsis, proposals, and notes from her colleagues and students would keep her  
intensely occupied, she highly valued every draft just as she did the person who worked on  
it. For her it was a unique ideation opportunity to check for any potential improvements or  
ideas and forward it to the concerned person. When she returned the draft it will have very  
valuable inputs, not a single page will be left unmarked.  

It was equally so with the thesis she examined where she gave elaborate feedback on the  
scope for future work. In fact each of the fifty odd reviews she did for IJTDE she would give  
detailed feedback to the journal about how a poorly written paper but with good work con - 
tent could be resubmitted for publication. 

Her deep interest in understanding human  
psychology and ability to forethink events made  
sure that she was never off guard in managing her  
responsibilities at work or home. A very good lis - 
tener she was quite open to diverse viewpoints  
but her decisions were well thought out, quick  
and articulated with perfect clarity. Having mas - 
tered the art of using  responses instead of  reac- 
tions, she was always prepared with her answers,  

“Her mentoring like her editing was sub - 
tle. She helped you to retain your voice  
and yet say it in a better way. Interactions  
with her implicitly brought changes that  
related to larger aspects of life. She made  
the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science  
Education a better place to be in mere - 
ly by her presence”.  – Sugra Chunawala,   
HBCSE, TIFR ]]></page><page Index="108"><![CDATA[

 82 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

quite often “repartees”. Often enjoying the moment, she would also be quick to blank it out,  
and move on with one of her multiple tasks. She had very little time for procrastination  
and was quite particular about saving her energy for finishing the official work staring at  
her. Often troubled with the piles of pending work due to meetings she would ask, “ What  
does one do with pending work? ” I would suggest, “  skip the meetings and worry about your  
deliverables” bringing forth a derisive comment about the corporate world and its “ deliver  
or perish” motto. 

Besides her penchant for getting involved in any activity at the Centre she would spend  
lot of time moving around the campus checking for new species, birds etc., whenever time  
permitted. She did manage to get some wonderful pictures in the lawns. Her office garden  
was very green with lot of plants and a terrarium. The prominent red chilly plant with big  
red chillies hanging from it  would make me wonder if it was a sort of message.  

I have spent time at the Centre, at the library and at her office, often to help her with filing  
work and made several close friends through the years. We used to share nice moments at  
the library and canteen sharing ideas and thoughts on experiments she would be planning.  
Scrounging for experimental materials was a favourite pass time for Chitra and sending me  
scurrying all over Mumbai to get them was a weekly event.  

She would very often chat with the gardening supervisor and seek his inputs on any and  
every aspect of plants. Any civil or renovation work at the Centre would make her day and  
she would take personal interest often catching up with M/s Shenoy, Pardeshi, Tribhuvan  
and Jacob wherever she met them. She would often opt to take up work dealing with de - 
sign such as remodeling offices, as these gave her  
lot of satisfaction. She was quite competent with  
computing and desktop publishing and wanted to  
learn web programming, and joined a class with  
Manoj, one of her young colleagues and soon be - 
came quite adept at it.  In the latter part of 2014  
she was very keen to start a “ Tinkering Club”  as  
a part of D&T activities and encouraged Manoj to  
take the lead, which he did, one could find him in  
his room actively tinkering with gadgets and con - 
tinuously ideating. 

“I found that she was very knowledge - 
able about interior designing. Not only  
was she aware about the technical as - 
pects, she had an impeccable sense of  
colours, textures etc., what would be  
suitable what would look good etc. Simi - 
larly she had good knowledge about civil  
works which was very useful for decision  
making.”   – Madhavi Gaitonde, HBCSE,    
TIFR ]]></page><page Index="109"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 83 

Her office “red chilli’ garden 

Is it a tropical forest or HBSCE lawns? 

Is it a leaf or an insect? 

Photos taken by Chitra ]]></page><page Index="110"><![CDATA[

 84 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education  
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research 
Taking a walk in the  campus, 1997 

With friends from HBCSE, 1997-98 

With AEES teachers and HBCSE colleagues, 1997-98 ]]></page><page Index="111"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 85 

Managing research programmes 
Through her period at HBCSE she was to witness a slow transition in the way research  
and research programmes were managed. Through the mid – 90s the Centre was also trying  
to swing between research and material production, a crucial time when material produc - 
tion became the focus with research moving down on the priority scale. Chitra held strong  
convictions on several aspects of research management having worked in rigid institutional  
frameworks. Working in a government set up with its framework and policies she was quite  
aware how limiting they could be in many cases that need flexible and easier solutions. She  
would often say growing institutions need new ideas and structures in keeping with rapid  
changes happening in every sphere of economic activities.  

Having being closely involved with research students since early 80s, she believed that  
every student comes with unique abilities and it is the guide who needs to have a sense of  
these latent qualities in the student. Her ideal six – year PhD strategy for any research stu - 
dent: four years of dealing with nebulous concept development, data collection, analytics,  
managing/chasing your guide; one year of fast track project (PhD thesis) delivery model  
with a few research publications;  one year of internship ( to make some sense of the first  
five years). To her a successful PhD campaign is led by student’s ability to manage the work  
and the guide. She was often concerned with professional advancement of students post  
their research stints due to limited opportunities till 2007 – 08. However, with the corporate  
sector moving into the educational domain new opportunities have now opened up for re - 
search students.  

The interview process for selection of research students was something she would take  
great interest in. She spent time checking out prevalent organisational models in other edu - 
cational research institutes; best practices in research; and in particular education mea - 
surement research and analysis. She also was evaluating the continuous improvement tools  
such as Six Sigma, Kaizen, 5S and Total Quality Management (TQM) normally used in manu - 
facturing sector and possibilities of extending the underlying principles to research insti - 
tutes in science and education. She felt that some of the research areas in cognitive sciences  
and  knowledge networks could find huge scope in the industrial world but was also con - 
cerned at the limited collaboration possibilities due to lack of the concept of “deliverables”  
in  research institutes.  She had full hope that the Centre would find its way in the future  
with dynamic young colleagues taking charge of key initiatives. ]]></page><page Index="112"><![CDATA[

 86 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Reflecting on her time at HBCSE, she once wrote in her logs,  “Overall one of the best work  
environments I have been in; highly satisfying work, seems like my calling; different kind of  
work, going from an instrumentation and experimental research scientist to a teachers’ teacher,  
student mentor, guide and writer; have moved from research in the natural (physical) sciences  
to research in the social and behavioural sciences, and the transition has been painless, almost  
natural; involves working with underprivileged students, tribal students, etc. which gets inte - 
grated in all my mentoring and research agendas; exposure to tribal cultures and education;  
some deadlines, but mostly manageable and even pleasurable, some stresses, largely minor and  
passing; warm and friendly, feel integrated and involved, have been creative and productive,  
invested time and effort in building satisfactory and successful working groups, received recog - 
nitions and promotions, have had and used work choices. ” 

Her final farewell to HBCSE 
Chitra’s last visit to the Centre was in the third week of February when she was left with  
diminishing longevity. With remarkable poise and forbearance she met her colleagues, re - 
membered their first names, shared a few encouraging words with each of them, wishing  
them a wonderful future. It was a very emotional visit for her as she knew it will be her final  
visit to the Centre that had given her so much.  Later at night, with much emotion, she said,”  
I must have done something right in the last 22 years to deserve such love.” 

I am deeply grateful to all at HBCSE for making Chitra’s life a celebration of joy and peace  
with their affection. Memories linger of the times I used to leave her in the morning and take  
her back home in the evening, from HBCSE, since 1993.  

Calvin & Hobbes / Bill Watterson ]]></page><page Index="113"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 87 

Annexure 2 

Activity Based Foundation Course on Science, Technology and Society,  (Series editor) Chitra Natarajan,  
HBCSE, TIFR 

The Population Problem:  The population of India, a sixth of the World population at the turn of the cen - 
tury is often perceived as a major hurdle to increasing the quality of life of the nation’s people. The response  
to the population increase has varied from the Malthusian doomsday predictions to the Utopia of a billion  
empowered people ruling the World. The activities in this book encourage critical thinking about population  
numbers, factors that might effect a decrease in population growth rates and their links to the quality of life.  
(Chitra Natarajan, May 1997) 

Resources  –  Energy:  The book deals with energy fuel other than food. It begins with fundamental ideas  
about energy, its measurement and forms and the laws governing natural energy flows. It includes a chapter  
each on renewable and non – renewable energy sources, patterns of energy consumption in India and the  
World, and the potential for energy conservation. (Chitra Natarajan, August 1997) 

Resources  –  Land & Air:  This two – part book introduces our land as a treasure chest of resources and air as  
a precious life support system. The first part affords opportunities to discuss land use patterns in India, con - 
flicts involving land use and ownership and land degradation. The second part deals with the dynamic nature  
of air composition over geographical times, the concer – ns of vehicular and other sources of air pollution.  
(Chitra Natarajan , December 1997) 

Education: A brief history of the education system in India is followed by a discussion on the enrolment and  
government and private spending at the elementary, secondary and tertiary educational levels, These activi - 
ties encourage discussions and debates on the national efforts in education and its social relevance. The book  
includes a chapter on the population outside the formal education system, both children and adults. The last  
chapter probes the links between education and development. (G.C.Pal , January 1998.) 

Global Climate Change: This book is about the three major global concerns: global warming, stratospheric  
ozone depletion and environmental degradation by acid rain. Though each of these problems has originated in  
a different context, the activities and discussions lead to the conclusion that they can be solved only if they are  
addressed together. The activities also help the participants realise that the impact of these phenomena being  
geographically and socio-economically different, the perception of these problems and their solutions differ  
among the nations of the world. (Chitra Natarajan and Sajeev Raj N., June 1998) 

Ecological Balances: The book provides a brief introduction to ecology, in itself a vast area of study. It invites  
participants to a discussion of the nature of growth and dependence of communities of organisms. The con - 
cepts of biomes, niches and species diversity are elucidated through activities in a couple of chapters. Follow- 
ing a brief summary of select ecological disasters in India and elsewhere, the book also raises questions about  
the role humans have played altering the dynamics of natural interdependence.  ( Yogita Parab and Chitra  
Natarajan, August 1998) 

Conflicts:  Conflicts are an integral part of human history. The book spans a range of topics from conflicts  
within individuals (internal –  conflicts) to wars on a global.scale. Chapters on conflicts between individu - 
als and groups highlight situations involving specific groups such as castes, classes, gender, race and ethnic  
groups. It includes activities that are aimed at refuting explanations based on biology of existing inequalities ]]></page><page Index="114"><![CDATA[

 88 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

between groups. The book ends with activities and discussions on conflict resolution, or peace. ( Sugra Chu- 
nawala,, January 1999) 

Health Matters:  The importance of health for our survival as individuals as well as species is unquestion - 
able. The health scenario in India is far from satisfactory. Importantly, the Indian economy is greatly affected  
by the poor health status of its population. The activities in the book suggest that the effective preventive  
programmes of cleanliness, nutrition and vaccination can reduce India’s disease burden. Besides these major  
themes the book also covers the new health challenges and health funding. The activities in the book give a  
flavour of the linkages involved in addressing health issues. ( Bakhtaver Mahajan and Chitra Natarajan, January  
1999) 

Resources  –  Food & Water:  Issues that concern two of the vital inputs to all life are the topics of this two –  
part book. Starting with a discussion and analysis of individual experiences, the activities address the patterns  
in the spatial distribution of these resources, and factors that affect their access, control and consumption. ( To  
be published)  

Information and the Media: Managing information has been a focus of human efforts for several millennia.  
The book addresses the historical relevance of managing information and the current importance of skills that  
allow access to information and its metamorphosis into useful knowledge. Following discussions on the role  
of the media in shaping opinions, the book will also help participants realise the ways in which people and  
nations can be empowered by access to knowledge. (To be published)  

  Annexure 3 
1.  Systems Thinking, at INSPIRE Science Camp 2012, at Sir P. T. Sarvajanik College of science, Athwalines,  
Surat, 30 November 2013 
2.  Thinking about Energy and Systems, at National Level Seminar on Environmental Re – engineering Series   
– 3, Sustainable Energy for All , Session Energy Depletion and Environment organised by Pillai College of  
Education and Research, New Panvel, 19  –  20 October 2012 
3.  Diversity in the living world and education, at Post Graduate Trained Teachers’ Orientation Programme  
organised by Atomic Energy Education Society at AECS, Tarapur, May 2012 
4.  Making Projects a Learning Experience, at Teachers’ Conference organised by Navi Mumbai Science Foun - 
dation as part of Science Utsav 2012, Feb. 5, 2012 
5.  Research Ethics, at National Conference on ‘Evolution of Research and Development in BioSciences’ at  
K.C. College, Mumbai, January 6, 2012 
6.  Ethical Issues in Research, at NAAC Sponsored Seminar on Quality and Excellence in Higher Education,  
organised by K.B.Patil College, Vashi, November 18, 2011 
7.  Designing for a Holistic School Education, Prof. Rekha Govil Memorial Lecture, at Jayoti Jaipur, September  
15, 2011 
8.  “Systems Thinking by Systems that Think,” to the students selected for National Talent Search programme,  
February 17, 2011 
9.  Ethics and Technology: The Complex Links, at XI All India Meeting of Women in Science, Science, Techno-  
logy: Ethical Issues, organised by Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA), January 29, 2011 ]]></page><page Index="115"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 89 

10.  PBL issues and constructivist strategies in teaching – learning”, for New Principals of Kendriya Vidyalaya  
Sangathan, at ZIET, Mumbai, 28 October, 2010 
11.  “Understanding Issues of Energy Use and Management”,  at National Level Seminar on Environmental Re  
– engineering for Enhanced Living, organised by Pillais College of Education and Research, New Panvel,  
October 1, 2010 
12.  Ensuring Learning through Project Based Learning Pedagogy” for Principals of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanga - 
than, at ZIET, Mumbai, 6 September, 2010 
13.  An invitation to Project Based Learning pedagogy” for teachers of AECS – 2, Anushaktinagar, 31 August,  
2010 
14.  One day session of “Activities in Environmental Education” in the Orientation programme for M – East  
ward teachers, at Children’s Aid Society, January 28, 2009 
15.  “Creating a Nurturing and Participatory Environment: Activities on Fiber and Fabric”, a session conducted  
with Jayashree Ramadas at National Seminar on National Curriculum Framework 2005: A Paradigm Shift  
organised by  K J Somaiya Comprehensive College of Education, Training and Research along with HBCSE,  
Feb 28 – 29, 2008 
16.  “Middle school students’ understanding of objects,” to M.Ed. Students at K J Somaiya Comprehensive    
College of Education, Training and Research, November 30, 2007 
17.  “Creative problem solving,” at AECS Junior College, Mumbai on January 11, 2007 
18.  “Communication strategies in Physical Sciences,” at Jigyasa (Thane) HBCSE collaborative Workshop for  
teachers on Physics Communication on 12 October 2006 
19.  “What is Science?” at Smt. S. K. Somaiya Junior College of Education, Vidyavihar, Mumbai, on July 11, 2006 
20.  Sessions at Junior Science and Mathematics Olympiads Camp for AEES Students 
a.  Systems Thinking, May 2010 
b.  Global Warming, May 2009 
c.  Object Detective: Making Structure – Function Connections, May, 2007 
d.  Origami, May 8, 2006 
21.  The Nature of Science, May 2005.“About Teachers and Learners: Reflecting on Teaching Practices,” at the  
AEES Primary Teachers Orientation Programme, November 2004 
22.  Talks at WIPRO Science Teachers’ Camp at HBCSE, July 19 – 26, 2003: 
a.  Ways of thinking 

b.  Issues in Technology Education 

c.  History of Technology Education: A tale of tensions between the arts, crafts and sciences   

23.  “Environmental Action,” Ratnam College Nature Club, Bhandup, July 8, 2003 

24.  “Environment: Sectoral Issues and Initiatives,” panel discussion on Empowering Women through Infor - 
mation and Knowledge: From Oral Traditions to ICT, Pune, June 1 2003 

25.  “Design and Technology in School Curricula” at the Senior Scholar’s Seminar Series, No. 10, on Education  
at Crossroads: A Multidimensional Perspective, K. J. Somaiya Comprehensive College of Education Train- 
ing and Research, Mumbai, February 28, 2003 ]]></page><page Index="116"><![CDATA[

 90 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

26.  “Environment and Development,” at Smt. Kapila Khandvala College of Education; Jan 15, 2003 

27.  “Situating the evolution and adaptation of technology: similarities with language”, 3rd Project Seminar  
under the project “Multilingualism, Subalternity and Hegemony of English in India and South Africa”  
Pune, October 2002 

28.  “Activities for Environmental Awareness,” an activities session organized for teachers by the Indian    
Women Scientists Association, Vashi, 1 to 3 May 2002 

29.  “Environmental Education: Perspectives and Features,” for MSW students belonging to Dept. of Urban  
and Rural Community Development and Social Welfare Administration, Tata Institute of Social Sciences,  
Mumbai, December 21, 2001 

30.  “The Environment: Resource for Secondary School Science Teaching and Project Ideas” talk at the Sci - 
ence Seminar for Science Teachers of Greater Bombay N – Ward, organised by S.D.D. Rashtriya Shala,    
Ghatkopar on December 10, 2001 

31.  “Challenges of the 21st Century,” talk at the Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation Awards and Rewards Cere-   
mony for SSC and HSC Students, held at Goa, Pune and Kolhapur, August 2001 

32.  “Issue based teaching – learning,” at Parent Teacher Workshop on Innovative Teaching Learning Process,”  
Manjra Charitable Trust’s Smt. Sushiladevi Deshmukh Vidyalaya & Junior College, Airoli, Navi Mumbai,  
July 2001 

33.  “Role of citizens in improving the environment,” at seminar on the occasion of Earth Day 2001,Tata Insti- 
tute of Social Sciences, April 2001 

34.  “Science, Technology and Society,” at the Orientation Programme for College and University Lecturers  
held at the Academic Staff College, University of Mumbai, March 8, 2001 

35.  “The Foundation Curriculum on STS,” a paper presented at the International Conference on Science, Tech - 
nology and Mathematics Education for Human Development held at Goa, February 19 – 23, 2001 

36.  “Science and Technology Policy in India From Dreams to Reality,” at the UGC sponsored Refresher Course  
for College and University Teachers. The Course was on the theme, “Cities, regions, States: Contemporary  
Issues of Development in India” and held under the auspices of the Academic Staff College, University of  
Mumbai, November 27 to December 21, 2000 

37.  “Science in the 20th Century,” at the Orientation – cum – Workshop for Foundation Course – II organised  
by Jai Hind College in collaboration with University of Mumbai, at Jai Hind College on November 25, 2000 

38.  “Global Warming: A burning issue,” and “Women and Science”, talks given at “Vijnana Anweshana”, a Sci - 
ence Camp for students of Standard VIII and IX organised at Hubli by Chinmaya Seva Samiti Trust, April  
9, 2000 

39.  “The National Science Day and the Spirit of Science,” address to students on the National Science Day at  
Atomic Energy Central School No.2, Feb. 28, 2000 

40.  “Make Them Think: Activities that promote thinking in science classrooms,” at the NCTE workshop for  
Primary Science Teacher Educators, HBCSE, 3 Dec.1999 

41.  “From information to knowledge,” at the “Symposium on Educational Technology in the millennium” at  
Hansraj Morarjee Public School, Andheri, 10 July 1999 ]]></page><page Index="117"><![CDATA[

   Explorations in science education | 91 

42.  “History of Science: the Scientific Revolution,” orientation session for volunteers during the exhibition of  
HBCSE’s Science: A Human Saga, at Kala Daalan Hall, Nasik, sponsored by the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti  
of Nasik, 2 July 1999 

43.  Integrating Mathematics with other school subjects, at NCTE Workshop for Primary Mathematics Teacher  
Educators, HBCSE, March 1999 

44.  Integrating subjects through issue – based teaching  at NCTE Workshop for Primary Science Teacher Edu - 
cators, January 1999: an HBCSE – NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) collaborative project 

45.  “Young Minds in the Context of Science, Technology and Society”, as a panel speaker at the District Inter  
– city Forum on Community Service  –  Community Concern 98, organised by Rotary Club of Mumbai,  
Chembur West, September 13, 1998 

46.  Environment and education, NCTE Orientation programme for Science Teacher Educators, HBCSE, June  
1998 

47.  “Educating for S&T in the New Millennium”, on June 28, 1997 as panellist at the Inaugural Scientific pro - 
gramme on Opportunities for Women and Changing Perceptions for Science and Technology, June 27 – 29,  
1997 

48.  “Role of Women in Social Forestry”, Rural Development and Water Conservation D Department, Director- 
ate of Social Forestry, Govt. of Maharashtra, Senior Officers Conference, Goregaon, Mumbai, January 15,  
1997 

49.  G.C.Pal Chitra H.C.Pradhan, of and difficulties  
among primary students,’ Paper presented at the International Seminar on School Effectiveness and  
Classroom Processes at Primary Stage, NCERT, New Delhi, 24 – 26 July 1996 

50.  Session on “Learning by asking questions” for children of 9 – 14 years, Cheeta Camp, Trombay, organised  
by People’s Association for Training and Health (PATH), Trombay, October 1995 

51.  “A hole in the head of an earthworm: A plea for reflective teaching” at the Orientation programme for Pri - 
mary teachers organised by AEES and NCERT (New Delhi), AEES, Mumbai, May 1995 

52.  Workshop on “Environmental Auditing, Natural Resource Management and Waste Minimisation”, at Tata  
Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, October 22 – 23, 1994 

53.  Several lectures (to Directors, Principals of colleges, teacher guides and student volunteers) on “Activities  
for Environmental Awareness” addressed to participants at of the Population Education and Research  
Centre programmes of SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, since 1994 
54.  The Role of Women Elected Representatives of the Village Panchayat in Sustainable Development, to  
women representatives of the Village Panchayats in Raigad District, organised by SNDT, under the UGC –  
UNFPA project, at Pen, Raigad, February 19, 1994 

  
Annexure 4 
For teachers 
1.  5 – day Workshop on project based learning for teachers of AEES , 2011 
2.  Workshop for students on “Learning through Design”, 2010 ]]></page><page Index="118"><![CDATA[

 92 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

3.  Series of 3 workshops for middle school teachers on project based learning, 2010 
4.  Coordinator of workshop for school teachers on Design and Technology Education by Kay Stables, Gold - 
smiths College, London, January 12 – 13, 2009 
5.  HBCSE – AEES Collaborative Programme in Middle School Science Teaching Improvement Programme:  
Three workshops for middle school teachers of AEES schools on activities for Std. VI (in 2003 – 04; first  
in June 2003); Development of tests and examinations, and question bank, orientation of teachers in  
activity – based teaching of S&T in Std. VI and VII; and development of activity books to support the Std.  
VI S&T textbook of NCERT, 2003 – 2005 
6.  Two separate workshops on 29 January (for SSC teachers Springfields High School) and 26 February  
(Arya Vidya Mandir School (Juhu) for CBSE/ICSE teachers) for secondary teachers from Mumbai schools  
on content enrichment in science education under aegis of the “Wipro applying thought in schools pro - 
gramme.”, 2005 
7.  Talk on English teaching strategies in orientation programme for English Teachers of Nashik and Thane  
Divisions Ashramshaala (a) Upper Primary (May); (b) Secondary (November), 2002 
8.  Planned and conducted the laboratory sessions for the Orientation Course in Physics for Senior Second - 
ary Teachers, Mumbai, October 1998 

For students 
1.  Coordinated along with Shri Pandya, Principle of Baroda School the one week talent nurture camp for  
“Good Citizenship” for Std VIII students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools at Baroda, May 1998, Tata  
Talent Search and Nurture (TATSAN) Project for post – school students at Mumbai (1993 – 95), Solapur  
(1994 – 96), on all Sundays from September to January every year. 
2.  Secondary and Higher Secondary level Talent Nurture Programmes; Class XI, XII Problem solving in elec - 
tricity and magnetism, 25 October, 1995 
3.  Physics problem solving sessions, physics laboratory and co-curricular sessions at Talent nurture camps  
in summer for AEES Std. IX students. (Managuru (1995,1996); Naroda (1997); Jaduguda (1998) 
4.  Physics problem solving sessions and physics laboratory for Junior college teachers (December each  
year), 1994 – 98 
5.  Physics problem solving, laboratory and co-curricular sessions in Talent nurture camps in summer for Std  
VIII students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools at Mumbai (1995), Kodaikanal (1997), Baroda (1998) ]]></page><page Index="119"><![CDATA[

4 
Down memory lane 

Forming bonds was second nature to Chitra, who through her life touched many lives   
–  it did not matter if it was a chance meeting for a few hours or one lasting for decades.  
Over the last few months, a large number of messages came in from all over the world car - 
rying touching reflections. Many of her colleagues, students, collaborators, friends, family  
etc., have contributed to this memoir, sharing their experiences and thoughts, highlighting  
newer dimensions of Chitra’s life at various points in her life. More importantly, many of  
them knew Chitra much longer than I have. Their memories, I am sure will enrich our un - 
derstanding of Chitra’s life and times. 

a 

Abhishek Kulkarni  
Independent creative producer, Mumbai 
Courage and Faith – I learnt the true meaning of these words from my aunt Chitra Natara - 
jan. She showed me what living life on one’s own terms means.  The moment I think of Chitra  
Aunty, my memories cascade back to the days when I was small. She was one of the biggest  
influences in my life. The way she could connect with me during different phases of my life  
was amazing. I remember the way she taught me mathematics and fractions in particular. I  
loved pizza and she used to teach me fractions using pizzas and rotis!  

Chitra Aunty was somebody who could talk to me about any topic in the world. She knew  
how to explain things to me. She was like a close friend with whom I could talk about every - 
thing that mattered to me. We used to talk about movies, television programmes, songs etc. I  
was always amazed at her knowledge and awareness about everything even though she did  
not watch much TV. She knew more about my line of work than anybody I knew.  

She listened to all my fears and apprehensions with a gentle patience that could  only be  
admired. She covered my winters of self doubt with such warm and tender blankets of self ]]></page><page Index="120"><![CDATA[

 94 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

belief, confidence and love. She was a person who supported and encouraged me to fly. She  
used to tell me, “make new mistakes….never repeat them.” Her eyes were soft yet so pierc - 
ing and also had a sense of calm. Her humour was one of her strongest aspects. I remember  
our chats about old Hindi songs which she loved like “ mere piya gaye rangoon”, “sikandar ne  
porus”, “chandi ki cycle” etc. Her eyes lit up with joy when she heard old Hindi songs.  

Her memory will follow me wherever I go, and I will always remember the shimmering  
silver of her laugh. She had a charming personality and a soothing aura around her. She  
taught me to smile and laugh through the toughest times.  Facing the biggest battle of her  
life, she was strong, unfazed and had tremendous courage and faith.  To say that I miss her  
is an understatement.  

a 

Ainhitze Bizkarralegorra Bravo  
Country Representative, EURAXESS Links India, Researchers in Motion, New Delhi 
“Thank you Chitra for your contribution to the EURAXESS Science Slam India 2014. When  
you heard about EURAXESS Links India’s science slam a year ago and the possibility for  
HBCSE to be involved, you said that you liked it and wanted to be involved (“I like it! I want  
to be in!”). You became an active member of the Review Panel of this original competition  
for researchers. Your other colleagues in the panel and the five young Indian researchers  
that were invited to the finals event in Mumbai appreciated your presence and contribution  
too: we like you too! Thank you for sharing with us some of your energy, enthusiasm and  
commitment to communicating science. The collaboration started with you at HBCSE will  
hopefully continue. After the event in Mumbai you wrote to me and asked if I was Basque  
and spoke the language. I replied but I did not hear from you again. Now I know why. It is ok.  

Goian Bego Chitra. This is how we greet someone who has ended this life. Until we meet  
again. 

a 

Aneeta Patil  
BARC Hospital, Mumbai 

Chitra !!!  

The first thing I remember is her smile which was very genuine. I do not remember  
when  and where I met her first. Probably when she joined HBCSE my dad introduced me to ]]></page><page Index="121"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 95 

her.  She was one of the rare persons gifted with high intelligence. Her humility and unique  
ability to relate to people and students made her someone special.  

I remember when my son had to do a project on genes I called her. She called me to  
HBCSE and showed me at least a dozen books. She was always helping anyone who needed  
her help. My mom and she were very fond of each other. They continued to relate till Chitra  
breathed her last. Little do we realise the gravity of difference in past and present tense.  
But that is a bitter truth of life. It is so painful to write about Chitra in the past tense. World  
moves ahead so do we but fragrance of friendship will always remain with us. We love you  
Chitra and we miss you too. 

a 

Aniket Sule   
Faculty, HBCSE, TIFR  

Leader who worked the hardest 

I joined HBCSE in October 2006 and epiSTEME – 2, for which Chitra was the convener,  
happened in January 2007. I was just given a small responsibility of accompanying some  
foreign participants on Mumbai city tour. There was some administrative dispute about it  
and me (and other PhD students) were about to pull out of this tour. Chitra had to step in to  
resolve the issue. That was my first meaningful interaction with her. Her ability to sort out  
the conflicts and bring people together made an impression on me. In subsequent years, we  
worked together in several other projects, like Asian Science Camp (2010), Vigyan Vividha  
(2009), IJSO (2013), drafting the proposal for BEST (2013) etc. In all these events, Chitra put  
in long hours, worked on multiple tasks simultaneously and sometimes took responsibility  
to complete some tasks single – handed.  

I like the team leaders who work harder than their colleagues and perhaps she liked hav - 
ing someone on the team who could  match her stamina and enthusiasm, but we enjoyed  
working together. I still remember discussing BEST proposals in her office till 9:00 pm or  
sorting IJSO medals list at midnight before closing ceremony or working together backstage  
during the closing ceremony to make sure certificates go on stage in the right sequence.  
Some of these tasks were purely administrative and did not require her being present. But  
her sense of responsibility dictated her to ensure that the tasks are completed properly. In  
HBCSE, we have a number of people who work sincerely and dedicatedly in any programme.  
But I think we will all miss the leader who worked harder than any of us. ]]></page><page Index="122"><![CDATA[

 96 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Anwesh Mazumdar                                                                                                                 
Faculty, HBCSE, TIFR 
My acquaintance with Chitra began only after I joined HBCSE in June 2007. On one of my  
first few days I visited her office for a chat. I met an extremely welcoming colleague who ex - 
plained to me in some detail her own work and took real interest in what I have been doing.  
I felt at ease talking to her, and a friendship began. 

Although our academic interests rarely overlapped, we would often exchange our  
thoughts about various programmes of the centre. It is not that we always agreed, but I  
admired her logical train of thought and willingness to listen to alternative views. I could  
be frank with her without worrying about being misunderstood. Her sharp mind grasped  
subtle points quickly and her energy made her act on them in the most comprehensive man - 
ner possible. Whenever the possibility of a conflict arose, Chitra always looked for ways to  
solve the problem rather than assume a rigid personal position. As Dean, and even before  
that, she tried her best to enable people to achieve what they wanted. She toiled tirelessly to  
make HBCSE a better place to work.  Her congeniality was contagious. She could mingle at  
ease with little children and adults alike. Everybody who came in touch with her felt graced  
by her joy, her omnipresent smile.  

We had talked about our stamp collections long ago. We never had a chance to show  
each other’s collection. But she remembered about our conversation even in her last days  
and mentioned it when we met last – so typical of Chitra! It would be a privilege for me to  
preserve her collection. 

In her last days Chitra exhibited exemplary courage in fighting a vicious disease which  
she knew would conquer her soon. She did not let the shadow of death eclipse her life a  
moment too soon. She was as joyful and sharp as ever even in the midst of great physical  
suffering. She made sure that the ones surrounding her did not feel the burden of her pain  
for a minute. In her passing I have lost a friend, one I wish I had known better, for longer. 

In the context of her premature death, especially in the midst of such an active life, I  
was constantly reminded of a great song by Tagore, “Kolahol to baran holo”. Tagore himself  
translated it in Gitanjali (Song no. 89), which I quote below. I had thought of presenting  
Chitra with Gitanjali in her last days, but could not bring myself to do it. I was not as brave  
as she. ]]></page><page Index="123"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 97 

Kolahol to baran holo 
No more noisy, loud words from me – such is my master’s will. Henceforth I deal in whispers.  
The speech of my heart will be carried on in murmurings of a song.   

Men hasten to the King’s market. All the buyers and sellers are there. But I have my untimely  
leave in the middle of the day, in the thick of work.   

Let then the flowers come out in my garden, though it is not their time; and let the midday bees  
strike up their lazy hum.   

Full many an hour have I spent in the strife of the good and the evil, but now it is the pleasure of  
my playmate of the empty days to draw my heart on to him; and I know not why is this sudden  
call to what useless inconsequence!   

Gitanjali  –  89 (Rabindranath Tagore) 

a 

Anuradha Deshmukh (Nee Medha Kotwal) 
Former Director, Centre for Collaborations & Special Initiative, Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open    
University, Nashik 
Chitra: My closest and dearest friend in School 

I met Chitra when I joined St Philomena’s Convent High School at Nashik Road in 1968.  
We were in the 10 th Standard then. Chitra was one of the few classmates I was first intro - 
duced to. She immediately took on the responsibility of making me feel comfortable, intro - 
ducing me to the others, acquainting me with the practices of the school, offering a helping  
hand in all the school activities and so on – a style that I think came very naturally to her. I  
noticed very soon that she was in many ways different from the rest of the class. Apart from  
the fact that she was clearly very well – liked by all her teachers, she was also respected  
both by our classmates as well as students from the junior classes. On her part too, she  
maintained cordial relations with one and all – even her teachers who had taught her in her  
earliest school days.  

In class, she was always the attentive, responsible, very intelligent girl who was not only a  
consistent class – topper, but also one with a special flair for Maths and Science. Having my - 
self come from a rather academically oriented family background, I felt drawn to her from  
the very beginning and somehow the two of us hit it out together from day 1, so to say. Soon,  
we were considered competitors for the first place in class, but even in those days, I was ]]></page><page Index="124"><![CDATA[

 98 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

fully conscious of the fact that she was far superior to me in most subjects. Chitra’s position  
in Physics, Chemistry and Maths in particular, always remained unchallenged. Strangely  
enough, unlike the feelings of jealousy that tend to creep up in all such relationships, Chitra  
and I became very close friends and highly appreciative of each other’s achievements. I dis- 
tinctly remember Chitra’s father telling my father just a few days before her father breathed  
his last in Tata Cancer Hospital, “Chitra and Medha are one soul in two bodies”. 

I still remember the day when Chitra told me that her father was diagnosed with can - 
cer. He was a mathematician who worked in Mumbai while the rest of his family – Chitra’s  
mother, Chitra and her two younger sisters resided in Nashik. How Chitra faced the months  
that followed had to be seen to be believed, and to this day, I simply marvel at it. Although  
deeply attached to her father, almost drawing all her inspiration from him, she put up a  
brave front and never once gave way to despair. I still remember the smile on her face – one  
that struggled through a deep sense of anxiety. It was as though she had decided to herself  
that henceforth she had to take on the role of being in command of the situation – for the  
sake of Aunty (her mother) and her two younger sisters. Her father had great hopes in her  
and used to be very proud of her achievements. She, in turn, made it her mission in life to  
maintain her focus on science and research, never once looking back. Despite his failing  
health, she continued to excel in academics and did outstandingly well in all school activi - 
ties. Shortly thereafter, she became the ‘Head Girl’ of our School – revered and respected by  
one and all, especially because of her maturity, impartial dealings with all and above all, her  
endearing grace of humility.             

Soon after completing her matriculation, she went on to pursue her favourite career in  
Science while I joined the Arts stream . Even though we did not remain in frequent touch, our  
fondness for each other continued as before and we still shared with each other, our major  
joys, concerns, challenges and achievements. 

I ended up meeting Chitra when she came as an external referee for a PhD thesis that had  
been submitted to the university where I worked. She looked so different – her hair snow  
white by now, but her radiant smile was still the same. She confirmed the news to me – again  
with a smile – and added, “My stomach is all cut up, Medha. It’s in a mess. So, I can’t eat any - 
thing here.” But her zest for Science continued and she related to me the numerous initia - 
tives she was involved in. The height of her scientific approach to life was exemplified in her  
statement, “Medha, I have maintained a daily diary of all that I went through since the time ]]></page><page Index="125"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 99 

I was diagnosed with Cancer. This should help others later and serve as a good case study.”  
I simply could not think of words to say. I also met her very enthusiastic and supportive  
husband, Raj, then – another man of science and equally positive, despite his share of physi - 
cal suffering. Meeting them was a rare learning experience for me. Here was a couple who  
would not be daunted from their mission – no matter what the consequences.  

Today, as I reflect on her young, energetic, inspiring mind, her immense passion for sci - 
ence, her extremely optimistic approach to life, her deep concern for people and empathy  
for their sufferings and her infinite capacity to smile despite all odds, all I can do is to thank  
God for letting me have Chitra as my very close friend! Goodbye dear friend… may your soul  
rest in eternal peace.  

a 

Arnab Bhattacharya 
Professor, TIFR, Mumbai 
My transition from being just a scientist content to work in the lab at TIFR to being heav - 
ily involved with science outreach and getting science out of the lab owes a lot to my inter - 
actions with Chitra over the past several years. She was a mentor, and a bouncing board  
for ideas, however crazy they might be. I was always amazed at her energy and passion for  
science outreach – especially if it involved young students. My first and last meetings with  
Chitra were with students, and though with more than a decade gap between them, her  
style and enthusiasm were just the same!  

I first met Chitra in 2002 I think when I had volunteered to judge at the “Steer the big  
!dea” competition for innovative projects by high – school students. Her willingness to sit  
and listen to the students, and help them figure out what they could do to take things a  
step further was remarkable. In fact, she went out of her way to mentor them – I remember  
one of the projects by two young girls from Coimbatore on the suppression of branching  
in eucalyptus trees excited her so much, she offered that they stay in HBCSE for 10 days to  
work on it! In 2014, Chitra was on the panel of the Euraxess science slam competition, and  
in-spite of her health, participated in the intense selection discussions and interacted with  
the students with the same cheerfulness and enthusiasm. She even offered that in future we  
should hold some workshops for the students at HBCSE. 

I’m the sort who gets rather easily hassled when things which should work get stuck ]]></page><page Index="126"><![CDATA[

 100 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

(especially due to some bureaucratic hassles) and in such cases a chat with Chitra, who was  
amazingly calm and managed a smile no matter what, would be most helpful. She had a way  
with people.  Many a time when I was in a dilemma about the best way out of a sticky situ - 
ation without hurting too many people, I’d speak to her about it. Without her support we’d  
never have got the IRIS science fair organisation based out of HBCSE during a rather critical  
period.  Chitra was a strong supporter of the Chai and Why? programme, and whenever we  
met, her first question would typically be “so what’s new at Chai and Why?” It is a pity that  
we couldn’t manage to get her to speak at one of our sessions.  

It is tough to believe she’s gone, but her smiling face will always be there in our memories.  

a 

Arvind Kumar 
Former Centre Director, HBCSE (TIFR); Visiting Faculty at the Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences,   
Mumbai.  

Remembering Chitra Natarajan 

I did not know Chitra Natarajan before she joined Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Edu - 
cation (HBCSE) of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in 1993. But soon she be- 
came so much a part of HBCSE that it is difficult to recall when she was not around.  Equally,  
it is hard to imagine what HBCSE would be like without her.   

I had unbroken association with Chitra in both academic and organizational matters in  
my long stint as Centre Director, HBCSE (1994 – 2008). Early on, I realized she was excep - 
tionally versatile intellectually and, in particular, had deep interest in science, technology  
and society (STS) issues. Out of this interest came two significant projects of HBCSE. The  
first was on developing a foundation curriculum for post – school students in which she au - 
thored/co-authored a series of activity – based books on a range of STS issues.  This was the  
precursor to a major programme that she launched (in collaboration with Sugra Chunawa - 
la) on Design and Technology Education.  She explained to me once that modern societies  
need three distinct cultures in mutual harmony – the culture of Arts, the culture of Science  
and the third one (rarely emphasized), the culture of Design; technology straddles all three  
of them.  A remarkable thought indeed.     

I came to see her thorough grounding in applied physics in our joint writing of the book  
on ‘Atoms & Development’.  She took charge of the technology part of the book, simplified ]]></page><page Index="127"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 101 

numerous technology and design details and explained the science behind them with great  
ease and lucidity.   

I learnt so much from her. I recall our discussions (always extremely cordial) in the 1990s  
about  science and its philosophy when I advocated the standard scientist’s position while  
she sharply critiqued it, inspired as she was by the great movements of environmentalism  
and feminism  of the 20 century.  But these are passing thoughts.  What remains now is the  
painful thought of her going away prematurely, despite fighting valiantly till the end.        

a                                                  

Aswathy Raveendran                                                                                                                       
PhD student, HBCSE 

Indelible memories of Chitra Ma’am 

The first person I closely interacted with at HBCSE was Chitra Ma’am. I remember her at  
my PhD admission interview – she was very encouraging and positive and the first person I  
sought out when I joined the Centre in November, 2007. I remember that in the meeting she  
handed over Rachel Carson’s  Silent Spring to me to read as though she already knew that I  
would work in STS education and strangely enough, I chose the area as my PhD topic two  
years later. She went through a major health crisis the very first year of my association with  
her – she was diagnosed with cancer. I will always look back and remember the composure  
with which she told me that she had been diagnosed with it and that she would be going  
into surgery and the admiration I felt for the fortitude, courage and discipline with which  
she fought the illness and how she continued to go about her activities even amidst chemo- 
therapy treatment.  

It was Chitra Ma’am who germinated my current research interests which are in science,  
technology and society issues and its relevance in science education. The course that she  
offered in 2008 was instrumental in shaping my interest in the area and broadening my vi- 
sion of science education. She was undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the time she was  
teaching the course but she would never cancel a lecture or fail to deliver her best. 

 Chitra Ma’am had also been generous enough to share some personal aspects of her life  
with some of us and I am aware that she had struggled against all odds to achieve what she  
has. I hope that the story of her journey – both personal and professional – will be out there  
for more women to learn and draw inspiration from. ]]></page><page Index="128"><![CDATA[

 102 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

I have an indelible connection with Chitra Ma’am because we were both born on April 13  
and invariably we would seek each other out and wish each other on all our birthdays. As I  
write this, I must point out that it is difficult for me and I am sure for many others who were  
closely associated with Chitra Ma’am to accept that she is no longer physically present with  
us. It is difficult to accept that someone so full of energy, enthusiasm and so much more to  
offer to the world has just ceased to be. May her soul rest in peace. 

a 

Bakhtaver Mahajan                                                                                                                       
Member, Indian Women Scientists Association, Navi Mumbai 

You will be missed, Chitra! 

The loss of my friend, Chitra, whom I greatly admired for her caring nature and brilliance,  
in April 2015, brought back several memories. I recall how she and Raju visited me at Homi  
Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) on a Saturday, about 22 years ago, introduced  
by another friend, Raju Iyer, inquiring about the structure and work at HBCSE. In those days,  
websites were nonexistent and annual reports not easily accessible. Three months later,  
Chitra joined HBCSE and her room was opposite mine, with doors always open! 

In the early years of her career at HBCSE, she expertly designed the Foundation Curricu- 
lum (FC) for high school students in an innovative manner, and roped in several colleagues,  
including me, in this exercise.  I will never forget her introductory talk about the FC in our  
hall, when her mastery of the many issues and brilliance were evident.  The manner in  
which she navigated her role/position in HBCSE in a male  –  dominated set up, eventually  
to rise to the top, was exemplary.  That was the period when I worked closely with her and  
we became friends.  

As we started on our book, ‘Health Matters’, she told me to write briefs of all my earlier  
talks on different aspects of health, and also include different activities with emphasis on  
quantitative aspects, in which she had mastery.  We worked hard and the book was finished  
in 15 days, with only one draft! Immediately after, I got involved in Biology Olympiad, but  
Chitra was always there if I had problems, and there were many as we were setting up a  
formal biology laboratory at HBCSE.  

Environmental issues were of common interest to both of us and I recall the animated  
discussions, with the Director once chiding us for ‘wasting our time’ on matters which were ]]></page><page Index="129"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 103 

not in our work domain! Design of buildings, including the HBCSE complex and even the toi - 
let blocks in the new building, were discussed by us, not that we were consulted! I think, and  
I may be wrong, that was the time when Chitra started thinking about ‘design’ as a project  
at HBCSE and I retired at that point of time.  

Chitra and Raju struck one as a loving and devoted couple. The meticulous care with  
which she planned meals for him, calculating the calories/ sodium/ potassium and other  
nutrients, during his illness will put professional nutritionists to shame. All actions of hers  
were guided by a strong rational and scientific thought, which carried her through her ill - 
nesses, never once whining, but always with the spirit of  “I will win this battle too!” I used  
to watch her with awe as she continued diligently to perform her professional duties.   

All of us who have interacted with her will miss her greatly; even when diagnosed with  
‘C’, she offered to help out other suffering persons and hold them tight.   

a 

Beena Choksi                                                                                                                                                   
Independent Education Consultant, Mumbai 
Chitra happened to be the first person I contacted when I was exploring post-doc open - 
ings at HBCSE. And she was the first person who I met on the morning of October 15, 2004,  
my first day at HBCSE as a post-doc fellow. She made sure that I felt welcomed – rushed out  
arranging for an email id, figured out which room I was to occupy, showed me around the  
centre. In those few minutes, one thing was clearly established – she valued people. And I  
saw that repeatedly in her interactions with everyone.  

In my 3 years of fellowship at HBCSE and then another year when I came in for a short as - 
signment, my mornings at the centre would usually begin with meeting Chitra – our offices  
were on the same floor; she too came in early to work and her door was always open. She  
welcomed the fresh air, sounds of nature, and conversation. She shared and discussed ideas  
with passion but never sought to impose or influence.  

No matter what the circumstances, Chitra’s temperament was to be marveled at – pleas- 
ant, cheerful, respectful. Her mental and physical energy were extraordinary – she would  
move effortlessly amongst her various intellectual initiatives and administrative tasks, both  
in and outside the centre. Never one to waste a moment, she would move from one end of a  
corridor to the other in an unforgettable way  –  she’d almost break into a run and then slide  
– glide on her feet up to the point she had to reach  –  just like children do! ]]></page><page Index="130"><![CDATA[

 104 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

I’ve shared many a laugh with Chitra as we would chuckle over witty sayings, funny inci- 
dents and even corny stuff. Once, while going down to the canteen for lunch, Chitra saw me  
carrying a tiny box in my hand and asked me about it. I told her it was to collect some culture  
(to set curd at home). She looked at me in mock – horror and said, “What, you don’t have  
culture in your home?” and we went down the stairs tripping over our laughter!  

Remarkably, Chitra didn’t use the word “stress” even once, despite all the stressors in  
her life. Her matter – of – fact statement, “If there is a problem, there has to be a solution”  
summed up her philosophy of stress. Nothing seemed to faze her and no matter how taxing  
a situation, she kept working at it, on it, around it with clarity and focus.  

My last meeting with her was in her house with her family on December 31, 2014. De - 
spite living in the same city, we hadn’t met in over a year  –  I was determined not to begin  
2015 without seeing her. She was to begin her treatment within a fortnight  –  but who could  
have guessed that!  She happily showed me Jayashree’s daughter’s wedding invitation, told  
me with glee about attending the performance of Jesus Christ Superstar, discussed politics,  
and was looking forward to attending Naseeruddin Shah’s play Einstein…. 

Until February 21 we exchanged emails and text messages. In one of her last emails she  
wrote, “Life changes every day. But each day we plan for a lifetime!! C’est la vie.” Chitra was  
a gentle warrior – she fought her illness with quiet might, dignity and grace.  

Her courage of conviction in all spheres of her life is a gift for all those who knew her. It is  
my great privilege to have been Chitra’s colleague and friend.  

a 

David Barlex 
Director,  Nuffield Design & Technology, Nuffield Foundation, UK. 
Thank you so much for asking me to contribute. It is a great honour. I have very many  
fond memories of Chitra. Through listening to her speak it was clear that she had a profound  
insight into the nature of design & technology as a school subject and the considerable ben - 
efits it could bring to education but this was tempered by her deep understanding of the  
challenges it presented to both teachers and pupils. But it was her way with people that I  
will treasure most. She really listened and gave thoughtful responses and when these were  
critical she did this without giving any offense. I will always remember her ability to gently ]]></page><page Index="131"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 105 

chide me when I was over zealous or had unreasonable expectations. Chitra will be a great  
loss to our community and we will carry her in our hearts and minds for a long time. I’m  
semi retired but it was through my work as project director for the Nuffield Foundation D&T  
Project that I met Chitra and was able to work with her. 

a 

David Spendlove 
Head of Initial Teacher Education, Manchester Institute of Education, UK 
I had only met Chitra handful of times and in many ways we were still getting to know  
each other – however each time I met Chitra I was always struck by her warmth, kindness  
and good humour. Her commitment to education and to technology education was incred - 
ible whilst her knowledge of both challenged my thinking and made me reconsider my own  
views on education. Sadly we were due to work together in the future and had discussed  
plans for collaboration but unfortunately this will not happen now. However Chitra will re - 
main an inspiration.  

a 

Dhiraj Bora                                                                                                                                  
Director, Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 
Memories of Chitra  
Chitra joined IPR in its early days, in September 1985 when it was still known as the  
Plasma Physics Programme at the Physical Research Laboratory. One fine morning we came  
to know that we would soon be having a colleague from the US, and that she is an experi - 
mentalist and earlier she was in BARC. 

Chitra joined us and decided to work on the diagnostics for the edge of the Plasma in AD - 
ITYA Tokamak and in vacuum science programme. With all her brilliance, dedication, hard  
work and commitment, she became an indispensable team member at IPR. She contributed  
very significantly to the vacuum science programme of the Institute and took upon herself  
the task of setting up laboratories with high standards and protocols.  

As a teacher she was widely appreciated by her students who always felt encouraged  
by talking to her. Chitra was drawn towards the outreach activities of IPR, in what we were  
trying to do at Bhat village where the Institute is now situated. Her approach towards the  
children was so intense and personal that she could very quickly win their confidence. Later  
in her career in HBCSE she could interface science with society through many programmes. ]]></page><page Index="132"><![CDATA[

 106 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

She was soft spoken but had firm ideas and contributed positively to the overall environ - 
ment at IPR. She knew the value of friendship and we shall never forget her supportive at - 
titude under all circumstances. It is sad that she had to suffer so much physical pain towards  
the end. We shall miss her. 

a 

Eddie Norman                                                                                                                                           
Emeritus Professor of Design Education, Loughborough Design School; Loughborough University, UK 

This tribute appears as the editorial in June –July 2015 issue of the DATE:ij and can be  
downloaded from http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/DATE/. 

Professor Chitra Natarajan, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute  
of Fundamental Research (HBCSE – TIFR)  13 April 1954 – 13 April 2015 

It is with much sadness that we report the passing of Professor Chitra Natarajan. We ex - 
tend our deepest sympathy to her family and friends and we hope that they will find some  
peace and consolation in the messages they will have received from all around the world  
concerning the contributions that Chitra made to so many fields. 

Chitra was a much – valued colleague and her contributions to the Editorial Board of  
Design and Technology Education: an international journal  (DATE:IJ) will be sorely missed.  
She was a research scientist and in the early 1990s chose to engage with science education  
and in particular multidisciplinary models of teaching and learning. Her work provided the  
foundation for HBCSE – TIFR’s contributions to the interface of science and design and tech - 
nology education. 

Chitra joined the Editorial Board in 2009, one year after the journal went online. She  
contributed to the ‘double – blind’ reviewing process and the maintenance of the journal’s  
high reviewing standards. Chitra also published papers with her colleagues in the journal in  
Issues 14.3 (A Study Exploring the strategies used by Indian Middle – School Students in Iden - 
tifying Unfamiliar Artefacts , 2009), 16.3 ( A Study Exploring Indian Middle School Students’  
Ideas of Design and Designers , 2011) and 18.2 ( Investigating Indian Elementary and Middle  
School Students’ Images of Designers, 2013). It would have no coincidence that the journal’s  
online readership also increased in India during this period. 

We are greatly indebted to Chitra for agreeing to join the DATE:IJ Editorial Board and for  
all her contributions. ]]></page><page Index="133"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 107 

Farhat Ara 
Faculty, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru 
I knew Professor Chitra Natarajan since August, 2005. I called her “Chitra Ma’am”. Un - 
doubtedly, she was one of the most intelligent people I have ever met in my life. I clearly  
remember how she mentored me closely during the first year of my PhD life by suggesting  
readings that introduced me to the world of education. It was also those readings that ig - 
nited my passions and many connections for me to the research on Design and Technology  
Education which I later pursued as my doctoral thesis.  

She is one of the few people who have played a significant role in my life. Perhaps I would  
not have been where I am now had my path not come along her way. Even though she was  
not my formal guide, she mentored me as one. Despite her hectic schedule she would take  
time out to go through all the drafts of my writings and provide prompt and critical feed - 
backs.  I cannot express the joy that I got from reading those comments on my drafts be - 
cause I knew they helped me push myself beyond the comfort zone. 

What set her apart was the unparalleled enthusiasm that she brought to work with her  
each day. Her life was a living example of what commitment, self – discipline and profes - 
sional ethics mean. I carry with me the image of the lighted corridor outside her office room.  
Her room was always open for others; anybody could just walk in and seek advice, academic  
or otherwise. I consider that light from her room as symbolic of her cheerful personality,  
undaunted spirit and her wisdom which shone brightly and enlightened everyone around  
her.  She will always be in my heart.                                       

a  

G. Nagarjuna 
Faculty, HBCSE, TIFR 
To be is to be linked! 

I met Chitra in 1995 when I joined HBCSE as a PostDoc Fellow. Our conversations on aca - 
demics and every other subject under the sun started during lunchtime in the second floor  
pantry. It took only a few interactions to know that her interests were wide ranging, but  
her knowledge was also deep in several areas, including biology. She was the first physicist  
whom I met who knew as much biology. 

Our conversations always had arguments which usually ended with both sides winning. ]]></page><page Index="134"><![CDATA[

 108 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

We conversed during several of the field visits and workshops in Hyderabad, Jaduguda, Ko - 
daikanal, Baroda, and Manuguru. As an advocate of software freedom I used to convince my  
colleagues on the need to shift the center’s computing resources to GNU/Linux. In her pas - 
sion to get things done, I used to resolve her technical problems while she wanted to write  
and typeset her books entirely in LaTeX. 

She found a match in her pursuit in taking full control of everything in her projects dur - 
ing this engagement. It was at this stage while she was composing the series of books on  
Science Technology and Society, I was sensitised to environmental issues. Working with  
data, using numbers in her arguments made me convinced that a neglected skill in science  
education was graphicacy. The activities designed in her books always contained numbers,  
tables and graphs. 

When the “Gnowledge’ lab started preparing for citizen science projects, Chitra’s encour - 
agement was immense. My resolve to create participatory platforms for engaging citizens  
solidified during our engagements on science technology and society with Chitra. Her love  
for trees, butterflies, birds and flowers had no end. The links between them and her life are  
not tenuous but strong. Raju, the man beside and behind her, is one such strong link in her  
life. It is my privilege to be a part of that network and her neighborhood. Her family is too  
big. It included my wife, my mother, my grand mother and my children.  

To be is to be linked. That is Chitra and her image in one line. 

I dedicate my recently constructed OpenScience platform for citizen’s engagement to  
map all the trees in India, http://trees.metaStudio.org/ to Chitra.  

a 

Gary Chottiner                                                                                                                           
Professor of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA 
I was greatly saddened to learn of Chitra’s passing.  I was a young assistant professor  
at CWRU, not even two years older than Chitra, when she joined Dick Hoffman’s research  
group. When I think about Chitra, the first word that comes to mind is ‘joy’; she seemed to  
be full of life and helped make the group special, enriching everyone around her.   

She was also, of course, very bright and hard – working but she also seemed to be having  
more fun than anyone else!  As you suspected, my memories of those years have faded con- 
siderably with time but I can still picture Chitra (and Kumi), two diminutive figures working ]]></page><page Index="135"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 109 

on our large, heavy, Ultra High Vacuum systems.  I remember purchasing a special lab step  
– stool to help them reach the top of their vacuum chambers.  

a 

Geeta Shah                                                                                                                                    
Batchmate, BARC, Training School 20 batch 
I was very deeply attached to my dear friend Chitra. I knew her since Training school  
days in BARC, when we were together in the same batch. I could see that from the very be - 
ginning that she was truly dedicated towards science and really believed in contributing for  
the betterment. She was a person who had a passion (this is a keyword she always used for  
describing her love for science) for teaching and science. I remember when we were young,  
she used to take science tuitions and her dedication always impressed me.  Joining Homi  
Bhabha Centre for Science Education, in my belief, was the best thing. Her perseverance,  
clubbed with her dedication bore fruits during her tenure in HBCSE.  

I recall once my daughter running up to me and telling me that her Chitra Aunty was the  
chief guest in one of her functions in school, and Chitra Aunty had talked about passion and  
excellence in life. I believe she really lived her life true to her words. She was a loving and  
caring friend. I remember showing her my book on medical plants, she happily read it and  
made sure that it is kept in the Homi Bhabha Centre Library. During her last days, I’m sure  
that anybody who met her and saw her would be so proud of her. She fought the disease  
with her sheer inner mental strength. 

May God help her soul find peace. We will always miss you Chitra. 

a 

Gomathy and R. Balasubramanian, Radhika Balasubramanian 
Aradhana Committee, Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, Cleveland, Ohio, USA 
From the first day she joined Case Western Reserve University as a doctoral student in  
Physics, Chitra quickly became a part of our extended family. The bond got closer and stron - 
ger, when it was established in the course of conversation that Chitra’s parents were teach- 
ers in the school which Gomathy attended. 

We did not know about her advanced subject and her schooling routines, but Chitra along  
with her CWRU friends would come home and spend time with the family whenever they  
had time. This group called Gomathy – A’amma, and we were their home away from home. ]]></page><page Index="136"><![CDATA[

 110 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

This intelligent group of young students was more known to us for their closeness, love,  
respect, and affection.  As extended members of our family, they were role models to our  
daughters – Ranjani and Radhika –  who also cherished their company. 

We could always count on Chitra to lend a helping hand. Whether it was helping with  
Radhika’s 9 birthday party or participating in community and voluntary work, including the  
Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, Chitra was always there with her enthusiasm.  

While a student at CWRU, Chitra was always focused on her goal of getting her PhD and  
returning back to India. We were amazed, though least surprised, with her accomplish - 
ments and the impact she had on society.  

We are lucky to have had Chitra in our lives and will forever remember her smile and  
cheerfulness.  She lived by her motto “celebrate life, each day, with your loved ones” and we  
are lucky to have been a part of her life.  

a 

Hemchandra C. Pradhan 
Former Director, HBCSE, TIFR 
Chitra as I knew her! 

I first came to know Chitra in 1993 when she joined Homi Bhabha Centre for Science  
Education (HBCSE). Within a few months she had conceptualized a novel comprehensive  
talent nurture programme for higher secondary school students, which was often referred  
to as TATSAN Project, since it soon got financial support from J.N. Tata Endowment Trust.  
She also started with Jayashree Ramadas, Sugra Chunawala and Swapna Apte the DLIPS  
(Diagnosing Learning in Primary Science) project. 

Within a short time it became evident that she was a warm, large – hearted, non – arm  
chair academic endowed with an inexhaustible store of enthusiasm and energy. Very soon  
she became a faculty member at HBCSE. Those were the academically charged days at the  
centre with every day having some collective academic activity. We undertook a major teach - 
er development programme for the schools of Atomic Energy Education Society (AEES). We  
had a strong team of resource persons and we tried out several innovations. The term  con- 
structivism was not yet in vogue, but our way of working was constructivist to the core. Chi - 
tra and Sugra introduced what we then called co-curricular sessions as a part of the teacher  
programme. The aim was to bring about free and open communication among the teachers ]]></page><page Index="137"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 111 

on issues at the interface of science and society. This project had its roots in the TATSAN  
Project, which was focused on developing students’ communicative abilities and awareness  
of social issues. The co-curricular sessions consisted of debates, discussions, games, visits to  
institutions, writing sessions, poster making, report writing and many other such activities.  
The involvement of the participating teachers in the activities not only opened them out, but  
also persuaded even the most reluctant among them to change. The co-curricular sessions  
became an integral component of the AEES teacher development programme, which was  
later extended to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and other school systems.   

Chitra brought out as an outcome of the TATSAN Project a foundation curriculum through  
a series of eight books. A simple look at this curriculum will attest for the breadth of her  
scholarship. It is her multidimensional interest and preparation in science education that  
enabled her to build the first research group in design and technology in the country. Rarely  
would a person be able to work as hard as Chitra could. As a colleague she was ever so  
dependable. She was always there for advice, for help, for taking up responsibility and for  
delivering results, and she was always prompt.  I got to know this on several occasions, es - 
pecially at the time of the epiSTEME conferences and the Asian Science Camp, which were  
major international events undertaken by HBCSE. There was so much she could have done  
and so much lined up for her to do both at HBCSE and beyond.  

She was also a source of solace, succour, courage and inspiration to all members of HBC- 
SE staff and people around her. She herself was an example of courage to all those who knew  
her. Through their indomitable spirit and true companionship, she and Rajagopal could  
overcome the most daunting times in their lives. I wish they had succeeded this time, too.  
My humble, hearty homage to Chitra! 

a 

Himanshu Burte 
Faculty, School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.  

For all the seriously interesting discussions we have had, and for all the intensity, cour - 
age and brilliance of her personality, when I think of Chitra I think of her big smile – laugh  
always perched on the edge of mischief. The friend chain that had led me to her was long,  
but our ‘connect’ was quick. It was also probably sealed through a shared, knowing, cackle  
over some weirdness that is always at hand in the world. It was not just cackles she shared  
with me but crucial insights and resources. ]]></page><page Index="138"><![CDATA[

 112 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

She once found (and sent) me a research paper I was searching for but had no access to,  
and which has proved pivotal to my work over the last many years. That paper probably  
reveals much about the kind of bridge she could be. Here was a natural scientist working in  
education (her) ferreting out a seminal old paper by a pioneering psychologist to send to an  
architect thinking about design and space (me). I regret I could never really discuss in detail  
with her the work she was doing related to design that cropped up in our conversations in  
recent years. I guess, there is no end to wishing one had done this or that differently. But if  
she had been around, Chitra would perhaps have been quick to laugh at this thought and  
urge me in Bambaiyya Hindi: chhod na, let it go.  

a 

Jan Hesselberg                                                                                                                                                 
Faculty, Dept. of Human Geography, University of Oslo, Norway 

In memory of Chitra Natarajan 

I met Chitra in the mid – 1990s through her life partner Raja. He, as a chemical engineer,  
assisted in a research programme I led. It dealt with international location of pollution in - 
tensive industries. The programme focused on reasons for the shift of such industries from  
the North to the South. Raja was valuable to me as a social scientist for his extensive knowl - 
edge. On his second visit to Norway he brought Chitra along. They stayed at my home in  
Lommedalen outside Oslo. My wife, Helle, and I then got to know Chitra, and to appreciate  
her kind personality and lively interest in our life and community. Later, I had the privilege  
three times to review her publications on science education when she applied for employ - 
ment and career advancement. Chitra’s change from “hard” science to “soft” education is to  
me a very positive example of always questioning the relevance of what one is doing in life.  
The outstanding quality of her ideas and publications on science education and teaching,  
not least the application of cartoons and comic, are all of high relevance also today. 

a 

Jayashree Ramadas                                                                                                                   
Centre Director, HBCSE, TIFR 

I first met Chitra at a National Science Talent Search (NSTS) summer school in Indian  
Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in 1972.   We continued our friendship through two  
further summer schools, at IIT Bombay in 1974 and BARC in 1975. I reconnected with her  
in 1993, at HBCSE, 21 years after our first meeting. In between we took different career and ]]></page><page Index="139"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 113 

life paths: she spent her life as a researcher in experimental surface physics at some of the  
prominent institutions in India and abroad, while I joined HBCSE in 1976 and remained  
there apart from a few years spent abroad. 

After her early schooling in Mumbai the family moved to Nashik where Chitra completed  
her schooling at St. Philomena Convent School. She then moved back to Mumbai and com - 
pleted a B.Sc. in Physics (1974) from SIES College, made possible by the National Science  
Talent Search Scholarship. She obtained an M.Sc. in Physics (1976) from the Indian Institute  
of Technology, Bombay. In 1976 Chitra joined the BARC Training School. As a Scientific Of - 
ficer (1977 – 1982) in the BARC Technical Physics Division she held responsibility for sev - 
eral projects, indigenously designing and building surface analytical instruments, including  
a fast etch gun.  She continued her work on surface analysis at the Case Western Reserve  
University (CWRU), Ohio, USA, under the guidance of Richard Hoffman, while on an Indian  
National Scholarship Study Abroad. This work used surface extended energy loss fine struc - 
ture to probe structural parameters of pure carbon surfaces in single and polycrystalline  
forms, work that was significant at the time in the emerging development of diamond – like  
coatings on compact discs. She received her Ph.D. in physics from CWRU in 1985. 

Chitra returned to India in 1985 to join the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhi - 
nagar, Gujarat then the Plasma Physics Program at PRL, Ahmedabad. She worked on the de - 
velopment of Aditya, the first indigenously designed and built magnetic confinement plas - 
ma fusion reactor Tokamak, which was commissioned in 1989. Here Chitra was in charge  
of designing plasma probe diagnostics. She was also involved in teaching and academic co- 
ordination of the Ph.D. program in plasma physics. 

In 1986 Chitra met R. Rajagopal, a chemical technologist, researcher and author. They  
were married in 1988 at the Bandra Civil Court. Chitra and Raj shared many intellectual  
passions and interests, collaborating on several projects together. 

During 1991 – 93, Chitra was Research Associate at the Centre for Advanced Studies, De - 
partment of Chemical Technology, Bombay University (then UDCT), where she worked on  
plasma polymerisation and surface small angle X-ray scattering. Through invited talks and  
articles she contributed to the popularisation of plasma technology as an effective surface  
treatment option for Indian industries. 

The second and major phase of Chitra’s working life began in 1993 when she joined the ]]></page><page Index="140"><![CDATA[

 114 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, first as postdoctoral fellow and then, from 1995,  
as a regular faculty member. At HBCSE she first coordinated the J. N. Tata Talent Search and  
Nurture (TATSAN) program for post – school students, (operational  in Mumbai and Sola - 
pur) through which she developed an entirely original ‘Foundation Curriculum on Science,  
Technology and Society (STS)’. The main purpose of this curriculum, aimed at the +2 level of  
education, was to expose students to open – ended real life problems, which would enable  
them to integrate disciplinary knowledge with environmental and developmental issues  
of concern. These problem solving exercises were designed to develop students’ English  
comprehension, communication and analytical skills, and quantitative analysis of reasoning  
through authentic data. In the gradual hardening up of societal priorities at the +2 level, the  
‘Foundation Curriculum’ did not get the attention that it deserved. However one day when  
STS issues are acknowledged by our society and the ability to tackle them is seen as impor- 
tant, Chitra’s contribution will be recognised as pioneering in the field. 

In 1993 Chitra also developed an interest in cognitive and sociocultural issues in sci - 
ence education. She was part of the core team for HBCSE’s project ‘Diagnosing Learning in  
Primary Science’. Her study of the rich knowledge about plants among students from rural  
and indigenous (tribal) communities, their drawings and their ecological understanding  
provided rare insights which fed into the development of the Homi Bhabha Curriculum for  
Primary Science and, ten years on, influenced the National Curriculum Framework (2005). 

Through the 1990s Chitra was active in the talent nurture and teacher orientation pro - 
grammes of HBCSE and helped in development of the physics laboratory at the +2 level, con - 
tributions which towards the end of that decade, enabled HBCSE’s launching of the Olym - 
piad programme. A notable contribution in this period was co-authoring of the book ‘Atoms  
and Development’ with Arvind Kumar, which was published by Department of Atomic En - 
ergy (DAE) in 10 languages. 

In the 2000s Chitra turned her energies to developing a research programme on Design  
and Technology (D&T) education. The collaboration and communication based framework  
that she had developed for TATSAN was now applied at the middle school level. Chitra’s  
concept of D&T combined Rabindranath Tagore’s ideas of creativity and innovation ‘design’  
with Mahatma Gandhi’s  Nayee Taleem  for national self reliance i.e., ‘technology’. The D&T  
project was developed along with Sugra Chunawala and four doctoral students, and aimed at  
developing students’ abilities to design and innovate artefacts that best serve social needs. ]]></page><page Index="141"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 115 

Integral to this approach is the evaluation of artefacts, critique of existing designs and use  
of technology in everyday life.  

Chitra’s lifelong commitments to collaborative learning, multimodal communication and  
socio-cultral and gender appropriateness are prominent in the D&T group’s work. Chitra’s  
final research project was with a student, Saurav Shome, on project – based learning. 

An important goal of HBCSE is to generate new ideas and develop them into resource  
materials for the education system. Chitra’s work has contributed richly to this goal. Chitra  
brought a staunch commitment and dedication to her work. Always positive and cheerful,  
she enjoyed working with young people, inspiring them to, “Go for it and make a dent”. 

From 2011 Chitra was the Dean of HBCSE faculty. As in all matters she threw herself with  
full energy into the task of administration. Her final contribution was in taking responsibil - 
ity for the HBCSE self review exercise, carried out in preparation for an external review. Chi - 
tra introduced some reforms in the HBCSE graduate school, and was always available to deal  
with problems of students and staff, small or large, personal or official. Incredibly she knew  
something about every member of the staff, including the project staff who are constantly  
in a flux. In the last eight months when she was very unwell, Chitra insisted on attending  
office and carrying out her work, aided by painkillers and energy drinks. Her friends and  
colleagues did not suspect that the end was so near. In the final weeks when she was suf - 
fering intensely and confined to bed she still found the will and energy to enquire after her  
colleagues and occasionally advised them on their life and work. 

Looking back I have vivid images flashing through my mind of our NSTS summer school  
days, in 1972. Both of us, a twosome in jeans and floppy hats on long walks and laughing  
together, and I used to discuss with her my interest in education. Memories remain of our  
field trips to Pen for DLIPS, in early 90s, along with Sugra and Swapna, eating  batata wadas  
(fried potato dumplings) at Karnala, wading in the river at Varsai and intense discussions  
about our observations in the schools.  

As Dean and Centre Director we shared a lot, sometimes through the day but more often in  
the evenings.  Frequently nowadays while talking to Ravi I say, “Chitra used to say/do this...”    
If I was stressed about something she’d lighten the mood by saying, “Look!” usually out of  
the window to see a bird or a monkey. In the midst of administrative discussions we’d laugh  
heartily at the foibles and follies of our colleagues, and ourselves too... I do miss her a lot. ]]></page><page Index="142"><![CDATA[

 116 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Chitra’s passing has left a gap not only in her family but in the institution that she served  
with simple dedication and in the many lives that she touched with her warmth and humil- 
ity. The best tribute to her would be for us to understand her contributions to science edu - 
cation and to try to implement some of her ideas in our own teaching and practice.  

a 

John Williams                                                                                                                                                       
Director, Technology, Environmental, Mathematics and Science Education Research Centre, University of  
Waikato, New Zealand 

To me Chitra personified what is important in a scholar. While her scholarship was of  
the highest standard, she was always approachable and accessible, and respectful of other  
people’s positions. Her intellect did not get in the way of her being a nice person. She was ar - 
ticulate about her beliefs, within her defined area of scholarship, and an enthusiastic advo - 
cate of making people’s lives better. She was always kind and thoughtful, and will be missed  
for both her intellect and her humanity. 

Chitra was invited to contribute to a book that myself and Prof. Kay Stables are editing,  
and we were excited that she had agreed to write a chapter. When she became ill she with - 
drew from the project, but very kindly passed all her preparatory material for the chapter  
to a new author, who is using much of her material in his writing. So her ideas will live on  
when the book is published. Chitra passed away at the time the authors were attending a  
workshop to work on the book. 

a 

K. Subramaniam (Ravi)                                                                                                                 
Dean, HBCSE, TIFR 

Remembering Chitra… 

I find Chitra’s work inspiring because she was bold and original. I joined the Homi Bhab - 
ha Centre in 1994, a year after Chitra. She was already very active, had set up her own proj- 
ects and was a lively presence at the Centre. The project that she set up early in her career  
at HBCSE, the TATSAN project, became one of the most important innovations in science  
education developed at the Centre. It introduced issues at the interface of science, technol - 
ogy and society to senior secondary students, and built their capacity to reason about such  
issues. It taught them to collect and make sense of data and to formulate arguments that  
were grounded in data. ]]></page><page Index="143"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 117 

For many of the students, this was their first experience of “doing science” by drawing on  
data and making arguments, and it left a deep and lasting impact on them. Many alumni of  
the TATSAN program continued to be in touch with Chitra over the years. 

Chitra launched a second major initiative at the Centre in the form of the Design and  
Technology (D&T) education project. Given that, in our country, science education, actu - 
ally of the whole of education, is exclusively a mental activity centered around memorizing  
and recalling facts, the D&T education project attempted to integrate education of the hand  
along with that of the mind. In this, she followed Gandhi’s vision of education. The D&T  
project also emphasized the aesthetics of making and thus integrated Gandhi’s vision with  
Tagore’s. The Design and Technology Education group’s projects were inspiring and Chitra  
wrote powerfully about the underlying philosophy. 

In our early years at the Centre, it would be common to find Chitra vociferously and pas - 
sionately arguing a point with a group of people in the corridor. It seemed that she was  
passionate about her beliefs and never hesitated to defend them. At the same time, she  
was one of the few people who always worked in a collective, never alone. In both the TAT - 
SAN and the D & T projects, she formed a team with very able colleagues. Although Chitra  
always spoke her mind, she built long and deep relationships easily because she cared for    
people.  

a 

Kay Stables  
Programme Leader, Graduate Diploma in Design, Co-Director TERU (Technology Education Research Unit);  
Department of Design, Goldsmiths, University of London 

Chitra’s contribution to education and research was massive but the area that I would  
like to focus on is the commitment she brought to developing design and technology in  
mainstream education.  Meeting and discussing design and technology with her at PATT  
and epiSTEME conferences, I realised the strength of her commitment and how closely our  
ideas aligned.  For me, the power of Chitra’s work was the way she linked three dimensions:  
a strong and clear vision of how design and technology in education contributes to being  
human, a broad and deep understanding of the many ways in which they contribute and  
the importance of bringing this vision and knowledge to classroom practices, as she did  
through the research and development in classrooms with young children and most impor - 
tantly through working closely and collaboratively with her colleagues and students. ]]></page><page Index="144"><![CDATA[

 118 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Her vision was embedded in her belief in the philosophies of two great Indians, Gandhi  
and Tagore, and the potential for the enactment of Gandhi’s principles of self – reliance that,  
for her, was embedded in the concept of technology and of Tagore’s “dream of unleashing  
the nation’s individual and social creativity” that she saw as embedded in the concept of  
design.  I believe her writings and research in this area will stand the test of time as they  
have at their foundation a firm belief in what it means to be human that transcends national,  
educational and even political contexts.  They are also presented with quiet positivity, intel - 
ligence, integrity and warmth – qualities that I also had the privilege to experience person- 
ally through knowing Chitra.  I am amongst many that will miss her.  

a                                                        

Krishna and Bhadresh Padia   
Executive Director, Green ChemisTree Foundation                                                                                 
Founder Director, Newreka Green Snyth Technologies Pvt. Ltd.  
Recalling our interactions with Dr. Chitra, her cheerful smile and ever compassionate  
look, brings back to us the pleasant memories of interacting with her. Her love for nature  
and all life forms has been greatly inspiring and indeed reflected in her work and contribu - 
tions. 

We are grateful to Dr. Chitra for her varied contributions, particularly in integrating the  
education of Science, Environment, Technology and Society, into our education system. This  
will immensely influence generations to come in imbibing the idea of sustainable develop - 
ment in its truest sense.  

We have experienced the wonderful human being in her, her profound commitment and  
selfless contributions left behind for humanity for years to come. We at Green ChemisTree  
Foundation & Newreka, join her well – wishers and admirers to acknowledge Dr. Chitra for  
being an eternal source of inspiration to us.  

a 

Kumi Pandya                                                                                                                           
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA 

She arrived in Cleveland in the “spring” semester of 1982, a semester before I did. Win - 
ters in Cleveland are brutal. She told me that she had to wear three shirts at the same time  
in absence of a proper winter coat. In Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Chitra and ]]></page><page Index="145"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 119 

I took an electrodynamics course (Jackson) taught by Professor Kowalski. She was working  
in Hoffman’s lab, and I joined the group after my first year. We soon became roommates.  
Chitra and I shared an apartment, an office, and worked in the same lab. She introduced me  
to the field of surface science before I set foot in Professor Hoffman’s lab. She also told me  
that Auger was pronounced as oh-jay and not ogre. 

We were roommates and officemates and friends – but not best friends. Instead, she was  
like an older sister to me. I had my friends and she had her own group of friends, and we  
always interacted with each other’s friends. Both of us were away from home and missed  
our families; however, I don’t think we were homesick. We simply missed home and enjoyed  
talking about our families, about our college days in India, et cetera. She told me about her  
sisters, Asha and Jyoti, and her mother; and about her BARC friends Rekha, Jaggi (Dr. Nar - 
endra Jaggi), and Tushar, a Gujjubhai. During the conversations, it was always apparent that  
she was very much concerned and worried about Asha and Jyoti, and she had a special bond  
with Ashwin, Jyoti’s son. I told her about my parents, my sisters, and my time at Gujarat  
University. Sharing these stories and details, we felt as though we were part of the other’s  
family.  

I had a scholarship from Case Western Reserve University, and was getting about $650 or  
$700 per month. Chitra was getting less than half of that from the government of India. Yet  
she managed to stay, pay for everything she needed,  and send money home, which was an- 
other wonder in itself. I saw this and thought about her worries about her sisters. She rarely  
went to do any shopping – I don’t ever remember going shopping for clothes or anything in  
Cleveland with her.  

Chitra did her PhD work on a fairly new subject. Such work had not been done in our  
lab, and consequently there was not much help readily available to her. In spite of this, she  
managed the project extremely well. In Hoffman’s lab, she made use of the existing equip - 
ment and put together SEELFS (Surface electron energy loss fine structure) spectroscopy  
system together and collected the data. She and Phil Abel did computer programming for  
data analysis; I was really impressed by that ingenuity – and so was Professor Hoffman! And  
after Chitra’s project with SEELFS, I continued my own project with EXAFS; her work was  
the start of all EXAFS – related projects in Hoffman’s Lab. 

Funding was very scarce in the Hoffman lab; Hoffman asked her to perform surface anal - ]]></page><page Index="146"><![CDATA[

 120 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

ysis for outside agencies in his lab. Chitra did all that work without compensation – and  
without complaint. She was always ready to help everybody in the lab. There was one gradu - 
ate student, Gary Chulick, who worked in another lab and was diabetic. But every afternoon  
– almost every single afternoon – he would come to our lab, knock on the door, and ask if he  
can borrow a quarter to buy a Coke because he was low on sugar. Not too many people were  
keen to give him a quarter because he used to do this frequently. But Chitra had a supply of  
quarters in her desk drawer and would always, if she was around, readily give him a quarter.   

We rarely watched any movies or TV at home. I vaguely remember watching a program of  
Nova or Nature, maybe once a month, or more likely, once every six months. We would just  
go to the lab and work. She used to just go the lab very early. Sooo early that even Professor  
Hoffman thought she was coming in too early. Hoffman came to the lab at 7 o’clock, Chitra  
arrived around the same time, and the rest of us after 9 am; to me that was amusing. 

Because we were roommates, we had divided the chores. We took turns cooking, but our  
cooking was very, very simple, and basic. I made a thin  daal while she made a thick  sambar. I  
wanted to learn about  dhonsa, as we say in Gujarat, so I bought a nonstick pan and a blender.  
I made the batter so thin that it spread on its own on the pan, and Chitra was amused at my  
reliance on fluid dynamics. Chitra showed how to make a thicker batter that needs to be  
spread with the back of the ladle to make a proper  dosa. Thanks to this training, I possessed  
the bragging rights to make the dosa right way. 

There was strange similarity between the two of us! Once we were waiting at a RTA sta - 
tion, a freight train passed by as we were talking. We paused because of the noise. After the  
train finally cleared the platform, she looked at me and asked, “54?” And I agreed it was 54.  
We both had counted the number of cars in the train. The same thing happened whenever  
we climbed the stairs together – we would exchange the number of steps! 

During the time she was trying to finish her thesis, she spent a lot of time in the lab and  
not doing her share of the chores in the apartment. I was not too happy about that, and I told  
her. She was so hurt/shocked that she remained silent for a considerable period of time. She  
stayed home that day and did everything. I felt bad; I did not realise the effect my words had  
on her, and did not want her to be hurt. 

She used to volunteer at the local Indian newspaper, The Lotus, every month. That was  
a marathon session spanning a weekend. (After that of course one can recover after long ]]></page><page Index="147"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 121 

sleep.)  There was no mention in the paper about the massive help from the volunteers. I  
wrote a letter to the editor seeking this acknowledgement which was due. The editor later  
asked the volunteers if they wanted any mention. But as modest as Chitra was, she declined  
to be thanked. 

She had a VIP suitcase that she brought from India. I asked her, why such an expensive  
suitcase? She told me that it was a gift from a girl she used to tutor. Chitra never asked nor  
took any money, even though she had been offered. When Chitra got a visa to come to the  
USA, the student’s family had presented her with that suitcase. 

Both of us received a lot of letters at our home address as well as the department address  
from our families in India. If she happened to check the mail box first, and if she found a let - 
ter for me, she would call to inform me, and I did the same for her. Receiving a letter was a  
celebration: something to rejoice. We even used to read the letters to each other. Hers were  
in English and mine were in Gujarati, so I translated my letters to her. 

She introduced me to Balu uncle and Gomathi aunty. I got the opportunity when Chitra  
took me to attend the Thyagaraja festival at Cleveland State University which was a week - 
end affair at the time. This was my first exposure to Carnatic music. Chitra was busy volun - 
teering in the kitchen where food was prepared to be served for free to the attendees, while  
I got to enjoy the concerts. 

Chitra was determined to return to India when her work was done. Because of her Gov - 
ernment of India scholarship, she was very focused and determined to finish her work and  
go back. As soon as her work was over, she just decided to go back, and I was surprised at  
that. She could have easily stayed as post-doc and faculty in USA.  

When she started to apply to places in India for work, she applied to Physical Research  
Lab (PRL) and Plasma Physics Lab in Ahmedabad among other places. By this time my par- 
ents knew Chitra, as my roommate and my friend; so they were very excited that Chitra was  
going to Ahmedabad for an interview. My parents were extremely proud of her. That started  
a new phase in our lives. Now Chitra was not just a part of my family through my stories, but  
was truly a part of my parents’ lives. My mother recollects her time with Chitra when she  
stayed with my parents in Ahmedabad. Jatin, my brother, was attached to Chitra and she was  
there when Jatin got married 1988. Chitra attended the wedding – I wasn’t in the wedding. ]]></page><page Index="148"><![CDATA[

 122 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

I had told Chitra that she was like an older sister to me. So, when I visited her in 2013, I  
told her that. “You know…Chitra I realize, now that I have my own daughter I am sending her  
to hostel, I really wish that she finds a friend and a roommate like you,” and she just smiled.  
She laughed. I visited Chitra and Raj in 2013. Even though my stay was less than twenty  
hours, I was there. I was determined that I wanted to see her, and I am glad that I did.  

a 

Léonie Rennie                                                                                                                               
Emeritus Professor, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University, Perth, Australia 

During one’s lifetime, one occasionally meets a very special person, someone who has  
really made a difference, but who is unassumingly gracious and humble about their contri - 
bution. I was fortunate to meet Chitra Natarajan, a kind, caring, and clearly brilliant scientist  
and science educator. She invited me to attend the epiSTEME – 2 conference in Mumbai in  
2007, and on the evening of my arrival when I was feeling somewhat alone and nervous in  
my hotel, she came personally to greet me, put me at ease, and took the time to eat dinner  
with me. I greatly enjoyed my visit and remain impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication  
of the Homi Bhaba team, of which Chitra has been an inspirational leader in science, design  
and technology, health and environmental education. I will remember Chitra’s quiet dignity  
and unfailing generosity of spirit as well as her immeasurable contribution as a true leader  
of science education in India.    

Lulabi Pattanayak                                                                                                                
Independent Social Development Consultant; Faculty, Amity University, Noida 

I did not know how long I was gazing at Chitra’s smile in the photograph, wanted to write,  
but unable to jot a single word. I never knew it would be such tough task. There were myriad  
questions! “Chitra is no more?” How can it be possible?” Her smile, enthusiasm, courage, in - 
tellect, zest for life had mesmerized me on many occasions. I do not know how, but Chitra is  
merged within me; whenever I am sad she hugs me, she inspires me when I feel lost! Today  
when I was unable to write, I felt as if she is softly saying, “Lulabi there is no birth or death;  
all are state of mind, why are you so upset?” I closed my eyes; smilingly Chitra was looking  
at me. I felt liberated, and started writing!! 

I met many people; Chitra is unique amongst all. Her eyes were full of dreams; she care - 
fully nurtured them with love, compassion and faith in her heart, allowed them to flower in ]]></page><page Index="149"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 123 

love and goodness. Always enthusiastic to explore something new, whether it is her studies,  
profession or relationships; Chitra nurtured them all with her love and passion. She is one  
who was never fascinated by materialistic world, yet always thrilled to see nature. No mat - 
ter how much effort I give to describe her, seem incomplete. She is beyond words.  

Chitra had her share of ups and downs but never complained. Whatever life offered her,  
she greeted all with smiles. Her positive attitude, zest for life, courage did not allow pain  
to overpower her will. She used to think deeply and love fiercely. I still remember my first  
meeting, our Nature Walk, shopping in Pune everything! Her exuberance, enthusiasm, sim- 
plicity have always touched me. She is with me, would always remain within me. Without  
her I would be incomplete!!  

a 

Madhavi Gaitonde 
Head – Administration, HBCSE, TIFR 

My work related interactions with Chitra started after she took over as the Dean of the  
HBCSE Faculty. She was not someone who would just sit in her chair and sign files.  

She took interest in understanding all the matters put up on files and was very interested  
in knowing the rule positions. She would run down to the first floor with the relevant file  
and we would have an animated discussion and then she would clear the file. This happened  
all the time and I would plead that she should call me sometimes to her office but she said  
she did not like to sit in her seat for a long time and she loved the exercise. 

Chitra had a sharp mind. She could grasp situations instantly and give solutions. She  
thought on her feet and could see and sense things without being told everything. She was  
extremely organised with an eye for detail. What I marvelled at was that there was no sub - 
ject which did not interest her. When we had to take up the office renovation work, I found  
that she was very knowledgeable about interior designing. Not only was she aware about  
the technical aspects, she had an impeccable sense of colours, textures etc., what would  
be suitable what would look good etc. Similarly she had good knowledge about civil work  
which was very useful for decision making. 

Chitra was invaluable for HBCSE events. At any point in time when it was found that  
things have not progressed as desired she would come in and smoothly take over every - 
thing. Things which had not progressed for months would start falling in place within a few ]]></page><page Index="150"><![CDATA[

 124 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

days after Chitra took over. She did everything with genuine interest and absolute dedica - 
tion. A remarkable aspect of her personality was that she did not put anyone down. Even  
though she did all the work she would include everybody as part of the team. (Even those  
who had done nothing, not even their share of work). This kind of generosity is seen very  
rarely.  

Chitra could put people at ease and make them comfortable. Visitors, Indians as well as  
foreigners, developed an instant liking for her. On a personal level she was a very dear friend.  
She would lighten up any situation and we have giggled over many things and laughed at  
absurdities. She helped several people in the office by hearing out their personal problems  
including health issues and give good and practical advice. She made time for everybody. 

Chitra was an exceptional human being, generous, positive, caring and somebody who  
worked tirelessly to change things for the better. 

a 

Malini Krishnankutty 
Consulting Urban Planner; Ph.D. Candidate, School of Habitat Studies, TISS,  Mumbai 

A warm welcoming smile, a generous spirit, and a never – say–die attitude, these are what    
come to mind when I think of Chitra. I seem to have known Chitra and ‘Darwin’ (that’s how  
I call Rajagopal) forever…I remember meeting her for the first time in Ahmedabad when I  
travelled there with Darwin. Of course she must be special, if Darwin thinks so, I reckoned  
before I met her. And that she truly was….   

I remember visiting the Institute of Plasma Research, where she was then working and  
she characteristically went out of her way to ensure that I did not feel out of place. I remem - 
ber her urging me to travel to Europe, her encouragement of my work/ideas, the constant  
supply of interesting books, good conversation and great chai (tea) ! Over many houses,  
many places, and many cups of tea, we continued to meet.  In time, however, we met less  
often but we could always pick up where we left off. Chitra (and Darwin) had over the years  
become inspirational reference points for me for their fortitude in the face of real tough  
times, their ‘cheery acceptance’ of whatever life threw at them, their simplicity, their high  
standards and achievements at work and the manner in which they engaged with other  
people. ]]></page><page Index="151"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 125 

Marc J. de Vries                                                                                                                              
Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Science Education and Communication, Delft University of Tech- 
nology, the Netherlands 

Memories of Chitra Natarajan  

The first time I met Chitra was at the first epiSTEME conference in Goa where she had in - 
vited me as a keynote presenter. Immediately I was impressed by her dedication to the field  
of educational research and her expertise in that field. She was one of the first to introduce  
design activities as part of technology education in India. She had two of her Ph.D. students  
investigate what design activities could do for children and pupils in understanding the  
world around them. Her relationship with the Ph.D. students was like a mother who showed  
real care for them and compassion for their future careers. 

 Later I invited Chitra to become a member of the editorial board for the International  
Journal of Technology and Design Education. For many years Chitra delivered excellent re - 
views on articles that were truly helpful to authors. I could always rely on her when I looked  
for a reviewer who had an expertise in the relation between design and science education.  
Through her commitment to the journal she made important contributions to maintaining  
and even improving the quality standards of the journal. Chitra was a warm and caring per - 
son. Her passing away is a loss for the journal and for the technology education community  
worldwide.  

a 

Meena Sanyal                                                                                                                               
Washington DC, USA 

Chitra was a dear, dear friend to me, so special in so many ways.  My hands trembled  
when I typed the word “was” instead of “is”. But, heck! She will continue to live in my heart  
as long as I live. Chitra was so warm and affectionate that I felt comforted by just being  
around her. She was brilliant, a National Science Talent scholar, a scientist at the premier  
science organisation BARC, and a PhD from Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, Cleve - 
land, USA.. Upon getting her PhD, she followed her heart and returned to India to first work  
at IPR and then joined HBCSE, whose primary objective was to promote science and math  
education in India. She rose to become a much respected Dean of the organisation.  

Her heart was large and was filled with kindness and forgiveness. Despite running a home  
and a large important organisation, she spent as much time as possible on philanthropic ac - 
tivities. She was so committed to hands – on teaching of orphaned children, that she would ]]></page><page Index="152"><![CDATA[

 126 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

drive miles to teach them. The beauty of it was that after a long day of teaching, she would  
come back feeling refreshed. She truly believed that education is not the filling of a pail, but  
the lighting of a fire. The striking thing about Chitra was that she hid all these talents and  
attributes behind a veil of genuine humility. 

I have heard  

Death is not the extinguishing of a light,  
but the putting out of the lamp  
because the dawn has come. 

This is specially true in my dearest friend Chitra’s case, for she has lit the lamp in so many  
young people’s hearts, that together they shine like dawn has come. They say a diamond is  
a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well. Chitra was a diamond among hu- 
mans, The world needs more people like Chitra. 

My last email to her on Friendship day read: 

“If one day you feel like crying.... call me                                                                                            
I don’t promise that                                                                                                                               
 I will make you laugh                                                                                                                               
But I can cry with you. 

If one day you want to run away 
Don’t be afraid to call me. 
I don’t promise to ask you to stop, 
But I can run with you. 

If one day you don’t want to listen to anyone  
Call me  
I promise to be there for you 
but i also promise to remain quiet 

But... 
If one day you call 
and there is no answer... 
come fast to see me.. 
Perhaps I need you.” 

I wish I had called her and come to see her. That is my regret. ]]></page><page Index="153"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 127 

Meenakshi Umesh                                                                                                                       
Architect; Founder of Puvidham, an educational initiative at Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu 

Chitra Akka…… If there was a symphony more alive than you, I have not come across it!   

When I first met Chitra Akka, I was awed by her position and her academic brilliance.  
I thought that I could not have much in common with her and definitely there would be  
no intelligent conversation from my side to engage and impress her. But when she visited  
Puvidham I got a chance to see the simple, loving, humble and gentle person she was. I was  
delighted with her enthusiasm and energy to do things. The trip to Hogenekkal with Chitra  
Akka, Gopal and Chitra’s mom was the most wonderful experience for all of us together. She  
was very playful and kept the children engaged with her humor and leaf collecting activities. 

I was grateful for her patience and understanding of my limitations in following her ideas.   
She supported and helped train two of our school teachers for science and math education  
in Puvidham Learning Centre.  She made arrangements for books in science and math for  
primary education through HBCSE. She was ever so thoughtful and generous! Her sugges - 
tions about including designing of articles at the 7 and 8   level was awesome and we have  
found the children brimming with new ideas and longing to do long hours of work to make  
objects. They spend time diligently on the details of the design and gain an awful lot of un - 
derstanding of economical use of materials, reducing labour through design and enhancing  
the usefulness of the object by small designing aspects.   

My most recent memory is of our last visit to Mumbai. She took us out shopping and dili - 
gently looked for and selected dresses for all the three children and myself. She may have  
had a hundred other things to do but she always took time to be with the children and to do  
the most mundane things with friends! I have been blessed to have had the chance to spend  
quality time with her.  

I don’t think of her as gone away  
Her journey’s just begun  
Life holds so many facets  
This earth is only one!  
I just think of her as resting  
From decisions and fears 
In a place of warmth and comfort  
Where there are no days and years! ]]></page><page Index="154"><![CDATA[

 128 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

And think of her as living  
In the hearts of those she touched  
For nothing loved is ever lost  

(I found this poem on the net. Made some changes! The poet is anonymous. But the feel- 
ing is mine!) 

a 

Meera Venkatesh  
Director, Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Inter- 
national Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, Austria  

Memories of Chitra 

Chitra was one of the dozen girls of the 1976 batch of trainees at the BARC training  
school, to which I also belonged. Right from the day one, she stood out with her beaming  
smile and quick friendly embracing attitude. For me, she was an ‘all knowing’ IITian, who  
can be approached for any help. It was she who introduced me to the fun/interesting parts  
of physics (which were seldom brought out during BSc) and to books such as George Ga - 
mov’s. As a chemist, I owe my curiosity and enjoyment of physics greatly to her. While our  
core specialties took us to different streams, we had a great time together during the one  
year of hostel life, especially as Chitra and my roommate Rekha who was also from Physics  
had regular long hours of discussions. Apart from rousing my interests in topics of physics  
and introducing me to star gazing (she knew all the constellations), Chitra impressed all of  
us with her strong positive personal qualities. Some memories are very fresh in my mind;  
would share just a couple here.  

Chitra was a compassionate person, willing to sacrifice for the needy. An example: when  
one of our friends had high fever, she stayed awake through the night caring for her. While  
many of us wished to help, none of us had the clear thinking as what to do and to take the  
lead. This incident not just helped the friend cope, but taught me a lesson as how to act  
quickly and selflessly to lend a hand to the needy. 

Our trip to Rajasthan to attend our friend’s wedding was an unforgettable one. Chitra  
was a meticulous planner and a leader. She managed the planning, booking the tickets, ar - 
ranging the sight – seeing, all by herself, although she was not much older than any of us! It  
was amazing and taught me several things in life as how to plan and of course execute. While ]]></page><page Index="155"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 129 

in today’s world with easy access to the internet, youngsters do plan long trips, it was not  
so in 1977!  

Her clear thinking and uninhibited expression of her thoughts made her stand out from  
the rest in any forum. I believe that this nature was important in her taking bold steps in her  
career as well as in her societal commitments, which in turn gave her immense satisfaction  
and joy as well as brought joy and knowledge to those she worked with.  

Chitra’s great qualities were evident from her young days and continued to be noticed  
throughout her life  –  both at work and outside. Through her great qualities Chitra not just  
helped people, but groomed several others to become better humans; better thinkers; bet - 
ter leaders. My salute to the great soul that Chitra was!  

a 

Mustansir Barma                                                                                                             
Distinguished Professor, TIFR 
Prof. Chitra Natarajan – Some recollections 
Some time in 2008, Prof. Chitra Natarajan came over to TIFR for a discussion, along with  
her colleague Prof. Sugra Chunawala. I had recently taken over as Director, TIFR, and the  
two of them had come over to discuss an international collaborative project about socio-cul - 
tural issues in science and technology education.  This discussion went on much longer than  
anticipated, and covered not only the project in question, but also many aspects of other  
activities at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE).  This is how I learned  
about Chitra’s long – standing engagement with design and technology education, and the  
important difference between key concepts in science and in technology, as best introduced  
in the classroom.  Later, when I visited the Homi Bhabha Centre and various laboratories  
there, I had a chance to further appreciate these concepts and their implementation. 

In that initial discussion, as always, Chitra came across as a soft spoken academic with  
a clear vision of the field, and what she hoped to accomplish.  I learned to appreciate the  
importance of the thrust of her academic interests and activities.   

After a few years, in 2011, Chitra was appointed Dean of the HBCSE Faculty, and in that  
capacity I had many dealings with her, along with the Centre Director, Prof. Jayashree Rama - 
das, on academic and administrative matters pertaining to HBCSE.  We would meet twice  
a year formally as members of the HBCSE Management Board, and informally much more ]]></page><page Index="156"><![CDATA[

 130 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

often.  In all these meetings, Chitra came across as a very fair person with strong values.   
HBCSE and its expanding activities were of paramount importance to her, and she worked  
hard for the betterment of the research and teaching programmes at the Centre, besides  
helping in organising academic and outreach activities. 

An in-depth review of the activities of the Homi Bhabha Centre was carried out by a dis - 
tinguished international panel, in October 2014.  Chitra was involved strongly in the prepa- 
ration leading up to the review, as also in conducting it.  The preparation involved many  
meetings of the faculty stretching across a year or more, and Chitra played an indispensable  
role in organsing the discussions and recording them. These formed the basis of the docu - 
ments sent to the Review Committee before they arrived.  During the conduct of the review,  
Chitra’s health had begun to deteriorate, but she simply refused to let that get in the way of  
her efforts. She put in full time, and more than full time, to ensure that every aspect of the  
exercise was carried out smoothly and successfully. I was greatly impressed by her quiet  
perseverance and determination to see things through. In the subsequent meeting of the  
Management Board, Chitra’s presence was missed sorely, as her affliction had worsened  
considerably and she could not attend. 

The well – known piece ‘Desiderata’ begins with the following lines: 
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste 
and remember what peace there may be in silence 
As far as possible, without surrender  
be on good terms with all persons 
Speak your truth quietly and clearly 
and listen to others… 

I feel these lines epitomise very well Chitra’s actions in her life and work. She will be  
missed greatly by colleagues at the Homi Bhabha Centre and by the TIFR academic com - 
munity as a whole.  

a 

N.P. Chaubey                                                                                                                                
General Secretary, Peoples Council of Education, Allahabad, U.P 

Chitra Natarajan –  A great human being 

True science emancipates/liberates all those who know and live by it by making them  
humble and very good human beings. It eliminates all kinds bondages and boundaries by ]]></page><page Index="157"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 131 

making the science knower aware that everything is related with every other thing and that  
unity lies in all forms of structural diversities, be it bio, socio or cultural, racial or religious.  
Prof. Chitra Natarajan was one of the rarest scientists of India who lived a life of true sci - 
entist. She was very humble and a very good human beings; always cheerful and ready to  
serve all those who suffered on account of ignorance, poverty, unemployment and disease,  
unconditionally and lovingly. 

I met Chitra in early 2006 in a meeting at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education  
called by the then Director, Prof. Arvind Kumar for hosting Second Peoples Education Con - 
gress on  ‘Science Education In India’ . After the meeting was over, Chitra took me to show  
the Centre’s exhibition on  ‘History of Science’. One of the two exhibits put on ground floor  
was on  ‘Gender and Science ’ showing equal and great role of women in the development  
of Science. It exploded the myth of male dominated science. It was Dr. Sugra Chunawala’s  
wonderful creation. I had a long chat with her during and after seeing the two exhibits.  
Chitra and Sugra became great strengths of Peoples Council of Education and did all that is  
humanly possible for concretisation of the aspirations of Peoples Council of Education.  

We had several meetings on issues related to organisation of First All India Peoples School  
Teachers Convention in November 19 – 22, 2015 at Lok Vidyalaya, Valukad. Then, she was  
hale and hearty and I had no inkling that this would be our last face – to – face meeting. Chi - 
tra, Sugra and I met Prof. Jayashree Ramadas, June 12, 2014 again and they spontaneously  
agreed to the proposal for collaboration between Peoples Council of Education and Homi  
Bhabha Centre For Science Education in organising of the First All India Peoples Schools  
Teachers’ Convention. 

Chitra took keen interest and Sugra and G.Nagarjuna offered to help her in organising  
this Convention. She did everything before ill health took over and even while in bed she  
kept inquiring about the progress of preparations for the Convention . I used to talk to her  
at least once in a month. Alas! She will not be with us to take part in the Convention!  

The idea that I could not see and talk to her personally shall haunt me till the rest of my  
life. Chitra and her work shall remain a source of inspiration and great strength to me till I  
am alive. Hope the imprints of her great work at Homi Bhabha Centre For Science Education  
and Peoples Council of Education shall continue inspiring all those who wish to make sci - 
ence truly emancipatory and liberating. ]]></page><page Index="158"><![CDATA[

 132 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Narendra K. Jaggi                                                                                                                   
Professor of Physics, Depts. of Environmental Studies and Asian Studies, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloom- 
ington, IL, USA 

Chitra, one of my dearest friends since 1977, embodied throughout her life what another  
very dear friend of mine, Dr. Minor Myers Jr., President of our university, told our graduating  
class on commencement each year: “Go forth and do well, but more importantly, go forth  
and do good!”  

Towards the end of 1984, I had decided, after my postdoc at Northwestern University, to  
settle in USA. My own decision to stay back in the US had evolved over a period of time, from  
1983 to 1985. Chitra, after completing her Ph.D. in physics at Case Western Reserve Univer - 
sity (CWRU), in 1985, had decided to return to India. Given the prestige of CWRU, and her  
specific area, she could have easily found academic or industrial jobs in the United States if  
she had so chosen. But, she wanted to contribute her knowledge, her technical prowess, her  
infinite energy, and her deep wisdom – my words, not hers; she was too modest to think of  
herself in those terms – first to the cause of research, and, as it turned out, later to science  
education, in India. 

That, there, already tells you a lot about the kind of person Chitra was! But there is more,  
much more. So let me continue. Because of the large geographic distance between us, and  
the rather expensive telephone rates for international calling, and my young family, I was  
not able to sustain our friendship in the manner that both of us had gotten used to. So,  
slowly, our friendship receded to the level of the occasional letter and the rare phone call. 
Still, whenever I visited India, perhaps once every few years, meeting up with Chitra was  
always among the highlights of my visit. And here I am not taking only about her warmth,  
her hospitality, her kindness, and her affection, although, to be perfectly honest – and this is  
well – known to all who had the fortune of being close to Chitra – she gave the best hugs! (It  
was, in fact, an inside joke among the two of us that she was probably half Punjabi.) 

While it is true that her warmth and hospitality made my visits pleasant, but it was my  
close encounters with her passion for teaching, in so many different aspects, that left indel- 
ible impressions on me.  Perhaps I should share a short anecdote about one of her passions:  
teaching mathematics and science to some of the poorest and orphaned kids in the remote  
villages of Maharashtra. That episode had left me speechless with awe, inspired with opti - 
mism, and moved to tears. Hopefully, you, the reader, will also appreciate it. It was a pleas - 
ant December afternoon approximately 10 years ago, when I had come to Mumbai, and had ]]></page><page Index="159"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 133 

called Chitra to ask if she might be free the following day for a visit. She indicated that she  
was going to be busy all day, at a school for orphaned children in a village, but I was welcome  
to join her if I wanted to do so; I agreed instantly. 

Next morning, she showed up at my in-laws’ home in Matunga before 8am, and off we  
went, in her jeep, to this “village school.” From Mumbai streets, to the national highway, to  
an exit onto a state road, to a kachha road, to driving on dirt, literally, for a few miles, we  
reached this quasi – building. One of the walls in the classroom had been converted into a  
makeshift lattice of tiny cubicles without any doors, meant for these kids to keep ALL of  
their belongings. In that small room, twenty odd children, between the ages of somewhere  
between seven and ten (I am not good at guessing ages), were joyfully interacting with Chi- 
tra with such intimate familiarity as if they had known her for a very long time. It dawned on  
me right then that these children in this one room school – cum – home represented the bot - 
tom end of the spectrum that Shining India had forgotten about, and they were being taught  
elementary mathematics and science by a PhD from Case Western Reserve University. 

Over the next few hours, I watched in admiration, and occasionally participated, as Chi - 
tra and her assistant took out scissors, knives, rulers, aluminium foil, thumbtacks, adhesive  
tape, drinking pipe – straws etc. and engaged these kids in the principles of torque, stabil - 
ity, wind flow, pressure, and any other concept that was needed, as they tried to assemble  
tiny windmills, in groups of three or four. What was unfolding before my eyes was: Active –  
learning exemplified, just – in – time teaching personified, teaching – for – social – justice at    
its best, a glorious example of Minor’s commandment: “…, but more importantly, go forth  
and do good!” 

During the lunch break, Chitra and her assistant shared with the children the modest  
food packets that they had brought with them. She whispered to me, in English, that she had  
learned to include some nonperishable treats, a piece of chikki and a couple of biscuits that  
the kids usually save for later. It took some effort for me not to tear up. After a bit of free play  
time, she assembled the kids again in the classroom. Some more enthusiastic questioning,  
and learning, ensued. When it was time for Chitra to leave, it was clear that no one wanted  
the day to end, neither Chitra nor any of the students. To watch one person, essentially  
single – handedly, with the power of her passion and personality, sow the seeds of learning  
among the least privileged; that was my most humbling, moving and inspiring experience  
of that year! ]]></page><page Index="160"><![CDATA[

 134 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Later that night, I was sitting in the beautiful restaurant at the Oberoi International, with  
another friend, film and theatre director, whose creative work I had admired for some time.  
She told me that I seemed distracted, that my mind seemed to be half there, with her, and  
half far away, that I had barely sipped my wine or touched my food. So, I told her about my  
day with Chitra, my voice was a bit shaky with emotions.  She, herself slightly moved by the  
story, said: “Your President friend would respect this friend of yours!” 

Yes, he would, as did I, and I still do, even today. May peace be upon the memory of my  
friend Chitra! 

a 

Narottam Sahoo   
Advisor & Member Secretary, Gujarat Council on Science & Technology & Senior Scientist, Gujarat Science  
City, Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of Gujarat 

Chitra Natarajan: An encouraging mentor with an inspiring smile 

It was July 15, 1999, when I entered HBCSE as a Postdoc Fellow; I met Dr. Chitra Nata - 
rajan Madam at the entrance foyer incidentally. After the completion of the official joining  
process, I came to know that I have to work with Chitra Ma’am. That gave me great relief as  
I found Ma’am very friendly, thoughtful with a smiling and pleasant personality. As I came  
from a rural background without much exposure, it was difficult for me to cope with the  
situation there. However, Chitra Ma’am taught me how to learn, live and to explore.  

Three months later, we had a Super Cyclone at Odisha. It also affected my native place  
and we lost everything in the cyclone except the life of my parents and family members. I  
was trying to contact my family over telephone. Ma’am was constantly taking the updates  
of the cyclone and on the next day I managed to leave Mumbai by Konark Express for Bhu - 
baneswar. When I was leaving from the campus, Ma’am called me and gave me a cheque to  
take care of my parents and family and conveyed her wishes for early recovery. I have never  
found such a caring and thoughtful person in my life.  

I completed first year of my assignment with an exhibition on Science, Technology and  
Society. With Ma’am’s support and encouragement, we celebrated Earth Day in HBCSE with  
lots of programmes and outreach activities including puppet show. I learned from her how  
to make life challenging by constant learning and practice of new ideas / technologies. She  
always advised me to do work/assignments in an innovative way to achieve new standards ]]></page><page Index="161"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 135 

of excellence. I left HBCSE on 30 September 2001 and joined  Gujarat Science City which was  
just being constructed at Ahemedabad. 

Gujarat Science City was at a conceptual stage then. It was on the basis of my experi - 
ences with Chitra Ma’am I drew courage to lead from the front. On every possible occasion,  
I would share my achievements and difficulties with Madam and I would get appropriate  
guidance from her. With her blessings and good wishes, I became the Advisor and Member  
Secretary of Gujarat Council on Science & Technology (GUJCOST) in July 2011. 

It was June 7, 2014, when I along Shri S.J. Haider, IAS, Secretary DST, Govt. of Gujarat, had  
a meeting with Chitra Ma’am in her chamber in HBCSE. We discussed a lot about the im - 
provement of science education and how to bring science closer to the children and commu - 
nity members. In this meeting we planned to start the BEST programme in Gujarat. Chitra  
Ma’am suggested that we start by launching it in Valsad District. I took this proposal to our  
GUJCOST Executive Council meeting and have got the approval for its go ahead. 

Multifaceted interests, zeal to learn and understand new things, and finding pleasure in  
doing things, were hallmarks of Chitra Ma’am. Her recipe for life was a sensible mix of love,  
sincerity and hard work. She was an expert, who had the power to create, the ability to lead  
and the foresight to build the future. 

We have been told that when a person departs from this earth, they never truly leave, for  
they are still alive in our hearts and minds – through us, they live on. Chitra Ma’am will be  
truly missed and we will include her in our daily prayers. For everything Chitra Madam has  
done for me, I owe her my love and respect and the promise that I will never forget our Dear  
Ma’am. May God grant her peace and the well – deserved rest.  

 a 

P. Vasu 
Former Scientist, Institute of Plasma Research, Gujarat  

Gently Guiding Effective Changes 

I knew Chitra from our few years of overlap at the Institute for Plasma Research. When  
I joined IPR, Chitra had been there only for a short while, but she was already shouldering  
many responsibilities. Apart from her research, she was trying to plan and propose a sur - ]]></page><page Index="162"><![CDATA[

 136 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

face characterization lab – a much needed but expensive facility for plasma technologies.  
She was also in a number of committees. I remember her recounting how much she had to  
persevere with the faculty to garner support for her lab and with the administration to en - 
sure cleanliness in the ladies toilets!  

One major responsibility she handled was as a member, and later as the Chairperson, of  
the Academic Committee.  It is my observation of her methods in this role that has led to the  
title I have chosen!  One of the challenges was to persuade the faculty members to hold a   
number of courses for the newly recruited bright students who like to flummox their teach - 
ers by evincing   “infinite intelligence but infinite ignorance”*   of plasma physics. As a passion - 
ate and motivated teacher she would invariably take up a few courses herself. 

While we were jointly writing an internal report (it was a critique on a paper on cold fu- 
sion that was a momentary BIG news, but scientifically controversial) Chitra told me that I  
digress too much, tend to use too many parentheses and that I could put some of these ir - 
relevant things in footnotes!  All that is probably still true. So the above asterisk is explained  
in a footnote. Are you happy, Chitra? 

I vividly remember her conducting some of her classes in the open air under a tree in the  
verdant campus of IPR. Her Socratic method of teaching by asking questions, rather than  
“throwing information at them” (her words) could do without blackboards and chalks, on  
these occasions.  It probably helped instill the spirit of inquiry in the young minds, but (at  
least in my opinion) it sure took a long time to install the necessary plasma knowledge in  
their brains! However, her efforts were indeed effective; after so many years, some of these  
students are at the helm of affairs at IPR and elsewhere too.  

 A keen nature lover that she was, many of these outdoor classroom sessions (and many a  
chai – pe – charchaa that Chitra and I had in the corridors) would be interrupted whenever  
she spotted a weaver bird, monitor lizard, mongoose, snake or such non – human denizens  
of our campus. (Over the years these have yielded their grounds to us; now only peacocks  
and nilgais do not feel threatened by plasma physicists!).  

When Chitra moved from Ahmedabad, she handed over to me a well – preserved nest of  
a weaver bird.  When we met a few years later, I showed it to her and we reminisced  “ Those ]]></page><page Index="163"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 137 

were the days my friend, we thought would never end…,”  a song she was fond of. The nest was  
perishable and is gone. Not so the memories of it, for they symbolise  everything that the  
nest nurtured  which will  continue to enrich our environment for years to come. 

*When Leo Szilard, a distinguished nuclear physicist in the atomic bomb project, was visiting the  
lab of a Nobel Prize winning Biologist, Salvador Laurin, both did not know how to begin discussing the  
activities of the lab. Szilard is said to have eased the situation saying – “assume infinite intelligence but  
infinite ignorance.” 

a 

Patrick Dias                                                                                                                               
Professor (Emeritus),  Holder of the Chair “Education and International Development Processes” in the Faculty  
of Educational Sciences, University of Frankfurt a. M., Germany 

Celebrating life that blossoms and is learnt through multiple languages,   
literacies and multi-expressive designs for technologies 

Even though we had a very close relationship as (senior) colleague and friend, and in the  
years 2000 to 2008 a very intense exchange of ideas in the framework of our joint research  
project on Multilingualism, we did not maintain, in the last few years, a sustained interac - 
tion and personal communication on our thoughts and concerns or running activities, due  
to geographic distances, mobility restricti  ons, shift of interest fields and my disengagement  
from academic commitments (besides, we were not belonging to the generation of assidu - 
ous users of social communication networks on the www). I had Chitra in my memory on  
the day of her birthday, 13 of April, but had failed to contact her on the phone, but received  
as an unexpected and painful surprise the news of her demise. These lines written at the  
request from her companion Raj, responsible for the memoir in her homage, should be seen  
as an expression of our close personal and intellectual relationship, which got deepened  
through our interdisciplinary and socially engaged reflections and implementation designs  
on multi-lingual and multi-expressive education in India. 

Whilst working with her, in the context of our joint Project “Multilingualism, Subalter - 
nity and Hegemony of English in India and South Africa”, I was very much impressed with  
her wide multi-disciplinary interests and her quick grasp of complex issues belonging to  
areas not necessarily related to the core of her academic activity in science research and  
education. With her open mind to new intellectual challenges she gave proof of her abil - 
ity to discover new interdisciplinary paths, to conceptualise the relevant linkages and to ]]></page><page Index="164"><![CDATA[

 138 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

motivate accordingly other members of the team under her guidance to get involved in  
widening their horizons and cognitive capacities in innovative applied research activities.  

Out of the conviction that both routine problem solving and technological innovations  
involve multidisciplinary perspectives and multifunctional tasks, Chitra was willing to in - 
vest all her energies in changing the prevalent educational practices and felt, “students  
exposed only to narrowly defined curricular subjects as early as in elementary school, with  
little or no significance assigned to contextual problem solving right through school, start  
out with a handicap in regard to technology innovation. In a sense, they are trained to be  
passive recipients of technology. What is needed is to empower people of all ages to create  
new, locally appropriate and globally significant technology. Addressing school curricula  
to meet this need will not only redefine the role of education itself, it may even lead to de - 
fining a new cultural identity. Radical as these may seem, such alternative curricular ideas  
have been supported by concerned educationists. Developing classroom situations that  
engage students in using knowledge (concepts, facts and procedures across disciplines),  
skills (thinking, manual and procedural and artistic skills of imaging, sketching and draw - 
ing) and values (aesthetic, social) are the final goals of a recent study undertaken at the  
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE)” ( In  Multiple Languages, Literacies  
and Technologies , Ed. Patrick V. Dias, New Delhi/Frankfurt, Books for Change/Multilingual - 
ism Network, 2004, p.141 – 2 ). 

This pioneering applied research and development work led to the establishment of  
the Centre on Design and Technology in School Education at HBCSE in 2003. Chitra was  
responsible, within its framework, for the organisation of an efficient teaching, supervision  
and action – oriented extension activity, widening thus the academic, educational and so - 
cial scope of the Centre. She was, in my view, very much inspired and driven by the idea of  
conceiving and implementing educational contents and structures in design and technol - 
ogy training that help develop abilities in tackling and solving many real world – often ill  
or vaguely defined – problems related to concrete life situations, which are bodily circum - 
scribed, demand non – verbal, iconic and symbolic modes of cognition and which enhance  
the ability of thinking in (with, through) images, of communication through signs and even  
rhythmic expressions. 

I consider that this is a very important educational field both in applied research as well ]]></page><page Index="165"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 139 

as in teaching that is full of theoretical and practical promises in the coming decades, im - 
pregnated as they will be with new technological concepts and appliances. For this reason,  
the work done, up to now, under the guidance of Prof. Chitra Natarajan can serve as a solid  
fundament for further conceptual and institutional developments (see chapter 3 section  
3.8).  

As Chitra has always argued, cognitive contents as well as cognitive processes depend  
on artefacts and tools of the culture, so that technological design, tool making and tool use  
are all best understood as a dynamic interplay between ourselves and our environment  
and between individuals and society, at various levels of interaction within different space  
and time bound situations. In this sense,  technology  itself can be seen  as a metaphor  for  
all the inherent and enduring action linked aspects of the life evolution process, through  
which we have become human beings, and which contain and symbolise the powerful and  
creative linkages between our environment and body, between hand and mind, between  
doing and being. Let us hope that her message will be remembered within the network of  
the international community of researchers and educationists she belonged to. 

a 

Prabodh Kumar Govil 
Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Jaipur, Rajasthan ]]></page><page Index="166"><![CDATA[

 140 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

a 

Prajval Shastri                                                                                                                             
Professor, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 

She will be missed even by people like me who knew her very little. I heard/met her for  
the first and only time when HBCSE kindly hosted our preparatory workshop for the Na - 
tional Campaign that we had around comet ISON, and she made a deep impression  –  I still  
remember clearly the words she had to say when inaugurating the workshop. But I guess we  
have to remember that the world is a richer place because of people like her and the dent on  
the institutions, work cultures and individuals that she touched will endure.... ( in a message  
sent to Centre Director, HBCSE) 

a 

Pranita Gopal                                                                                                                       
Independent Educational Consultant, New Delhi  

Having a mentor in life during the formative years of education and career is a blessing  
and a privilege  –  and  –  I am blessed and privileged to have been mentored by Chitra not  
only while I was at HBSCE but also after I joined my profession as a teacher educator. ]]></page><page Index="167"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 141 

During my days with her at HBCSE, she was like a Zen Master,  –  calm and patient while  
I was undergoing my personal journey of learning, unlearning and relearning. She intro - 
duced me to the amazing music of Kitaro, the benefits of discussing complex cognitive is - 
sues over cups of tea in the canteen (something which I followed in my professional life and  
benefited as a student and as a teacher); the need to be compassionate to the support staff  
at work place and more importantly to have an attitude that gives time and space for the  
mysteries of life to unravel itself. 

The best part about my journey with Ma’m is that she is still my companion in many  
thoughts and deeds where I feel absolutely proud of emulating her and using what she  
taught me. 

a 

R.S. Mehrotra                                                                                                                                     
Ex – Secretary, Atomic Energy Education Society, Mumbai 

It was in one of the meetings organised by Atomic Energy Education Society (AEES) in  
2003 for some activity related with the schools of Anushakti Nagar that I first met Prof.  
Chitra Natarajan. She was representing HBCSE and I had the responsibility to do the job for  
Atomic Energy Central Schools as the Chairman of Local Management Committee (LMC) of  
the schools. Since then we met occasionally whenever the school system needed some help  
from HBCSE. She was always very well prepared for discussions and presented her views  
with clarity. Though on a little shorter side as far as the physical stature was concerned, she  
had a tall stature in the field of science education.  

She had clarity of views as well as expression and was a regular help to AEES. First as  
Chairman, LMC and later as Secretary, AEES, I enjoyed the help and support from her on  
several occasions from 2003 till 2007 when I retired on superannuation. I had not known  
her beyond the official work, so we hardly met after I had retired.  

About a year back, long after my retirement we met in a social function. She not only  
remembered me but also greeted me very warmly and discussed for some time about the  
current activities of HBCSE. I did not know that it would be our last meeting. I am deeply  
saddened and shocked to know that she is no more. I convey my deep condolences to her  
family. ]]></page><page Index="168"><![CDATA[

 142 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Raj Hirwani 
Head, Unit for R&D for Information Products (URDIP), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR),  
Pune 
Born on April 13, Chitra was an angel. Aptly named as Chitra (a nakshatra in Hindu astrol - 
ogy symbolised by Bright jewel or Pearl) none knew that this child was born with a purpose.   
Soft hearted and soft as she was, her heart went out to the poor and needy children in the  
ashramshalas.  She was drawn towards social work from the beginning.  This was besides  
her demanding job at HBCSE. She served the little children in the ashramshalas with love  
knowing that these children were devoid not only of the bare necessities of life, but longed  
for love and affection. And here was one whose heart was so full of love that it overflowed  
with the same for these children. She served them well and selflessly.  

Even at HBCSE she was concerned with science education for diversity. As Dean of  
faculty, she led a team that created activity – based methodologies and materials in the  
form of books, kits, posters, research reviews, web resources and collaboration platforms,  
open educational resources with a focus on Science, Technology and Society. She worked  
with TATA group to search and nurture the talent within underprivileged sections of    
society. 

Always sincere, hard working and devoted, she took utmost care of Raj and her mother,  
never failing in her duties towards the family. She was an ardent lover of nature. On one such  
occasion when we had the privilege to travel with her to see the Ashta Vinayaks we stopped  
on the way for a tea break under the shade of trees with fields around. I remember here,  
how she enjoyed nature.   

A very enthusiastic reader she shared books with a girl who worked and stayed in our  
house.  She always encouraged girls to study hard and advised that progress could come  
only through their education. In 2008 her health took a serious turn but she came out of the  
illness and was back on her feet once again working relentlessly and tirelessly.  She faced the  
new challenges that arose in November 2014 and managed to deal with it along with Raj till  
she breathed her last in his arms.   

And what a day to choose to leave this world – the day she came into it – 13 April.  Only  
an evolved soul could do that and that’s how I will always remember her. She lived for the  
people who needed her and never for herself. I will miss her always and she holds a very  
dear place in my heart. ]]></page><page Index="169"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 143 

Raji Ramkrishnan 
Chitra’s cousin, Mumbai 
There is a meme going around on social media that says, “Cousins are the first friends  
we have as children”. My cousin, Chitra knew me more than I knew myself during our grow - 
ing up years. She was incredibly brilliant, very sensitive, and had the warmest smile that  
reached her eyes, lit up her face and brimmed over with laughter. I cherish memories of the  
summer holidays that our family spent in Nashik with hers, the long walks she and I took  
around the winding lanes near her house, the unending conversations, the prayers at dusk  
with our siblings. 

Chitra was a people’s person. I remember watching in wonder while she chatted glibly  
with my eighty year old grandmother and my eight year old kid sister with equal ease. Look - 
ing back now, it dawns on me that she never had any teenage awkwardness, gaucheness or  
angst. Always poised, unassuming and knowing exactly what to say or do in any situation.... 
that was Chitra for you. We shared a very special relationship, hard to explain. I can never  
forget the one and only time we watched a movie together – “Cleopatra” – and dissecting it  
threadbare....She was right there by my side my at my engagement and at my wedding. The  
photographs in those albums have become oh so precious now.   

It was not surprising that my husband and children were also wowed by her energy and  
drive. I would wear a “I told you so” smirk on my face when they went on and on about Chi- 
tra’s awesomeness after all their interactions with her. 

When I think of my cousin Chitra, her ready smile and infectious laughter come to mind  
and I will be forever grateful for her presence in my life. 

a 

Rema Rajan  
Koparkhairane, Navi Mumbai, BARC Training School 19 Batch – Biochemistry 
I was numb when I heard a couple of days ago of Chitra’s demise. I haven’t been in touch  
with her lately; the last time we met was when we went to Powai to meet our friend Meena  
about 3 years ago. She was cheerful as usual even when narrating the terrible health issues  
she went through. I had no inkling that she was ill again. Her whole family is in my thoughts  
and prayers. May God help you through this grief and tragic loss of a precious one.  

She was brilliant as a scientist and teacher and came across as a truly sincere and a genu - ]]></page><page Index="170"><![CDATA[

 144 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

ine person; such a noble and helpful soul is indeed rare in this world. Always smiling, with  
tremendous enthusiasm and energy and ever willing to help out, a singularly special person  
is what will be my eternal memory of Chitra.  

Heaven has recalled the angel that was sent to earth. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t get to  
know you, Raj. You were blessed to have been with such a wonderful person that Chitra was.  
No words can do absolute justice to her uniqueness.  

a 

Ritesh Khunyakari                                                                                                                        
Faculty, Azim Premji School of Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad  
Remembering my dear mentor... 
In our journey of life, interactions with some people impress upon our minds lasting  
memories. As I reflect on the yester years, a number of incidents flash in my mind, each of  
them leaving behind a trace of humane, organic, and affectionate relationship that I shared  
with Chitra madam. I consider myself to be fortunate to have had Prof. Chitra Natarajan as  
my mentor and I take pride in being referred to as her first Ph.D. student in Science Educa - 
tion. 

The energy, enthusiasm and zeal with which she pursued any work not just attracted the  
awe of people around but also inspired them to engage and match their efforts to the raised  
standards. She has carefully nurtured my thinking in a variety of ways: often helping, some - 
times challenging, and demanding clarity by posing alternative ideas. Through her vision  
and efforts, she helped develop and sustain a coherent research group inviting faculty and  
students to synergize and benefit mutually.  

A relationship with mentor does go through several ups and downs and we have had a  
considerable share of it. But the tensions and debates led me to expand my horizons and  
opened up avenues to accommodate new learning. I often observed in her, a refreshing  
sense of the perennial strive for being on the learning curve despite the daunting challenges  
on the personal fronts. I developed a wonderful bond with Raju Sir and Parvati Aunty which  
will continue to remain in my cherished memories. I must admit that Chitra has not been  
the one who just influenced my personality but one who constituted it in many significant  
ways. She continues to live in my thoughts, work, and values that I uphold. As always, I  
promise to her, I will try and do the best I can in life! ]]></page><page Index="171"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 145 

S. P. Agarwal                                                                                                                                                 
Navi Mumbai Science Foundation, Navi Mumbai 
Navi Mumbai Science Foundation (NMSF) is an NGO, active mainly in Navi Mumbai to  
inculcate scientific temper among students of Stds. VI to IX, through various activities. As a  
part of this programme, NMSF, in 2011, planned to organise an exhibition of science experi - 
ments by students and also a Teachers Conference. Since NMSF had already been interact - 
ing with various faculty of HBCSE as resource persons for its various programmes, it was  
but natural to approach HBCSE for this event too. That is how Dr. Jayashree Ramadas along  
with Dr. Chitra Natarajan were approached. It is really noteworthy that they readily agreed  
to encourage & guide us through the process & also play the role of a mentor all along.  

During the first conference in 2012, Dr. Chitra delivered a talk on ‘Project Method of  
Learning’. The talk generated tremendous interest among the teachers and was adopted  
as topic for the next conference in 2013. She took this concept further by discussing the  
‘relationship between students’ learning and its assessment’. During this presentation, she  
discussed at length the ‘Rubric system’ of assessment. The presentation was so effective  
that the Mumbai chapter of National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC) decided to hold  
a separate one – day session at HBCSE for the evaluators of NCSC projects which was also  
attended by members of its national executive. Dr. Chitra then remained associated with  
NMSF’s Teachers Conference in 2014 and 2015 as well.  

During our meeting with Dr. Chitra in Dec. 2014, she identified the theme of the forthcom - 
ing conference as ‘Collaborative Learning as a Teaching – Learning Method’. She also  gave  
constructive suggestions on the program outline and recommended the names of speakers  
for various sessions. It is at this time that we became conscious of her ailment but found no  
visible effect of the same on her physical and the mental enthusiasm. She was as lively as  
ever with her wit and examples. She also volunteered to give a write-up on the main fea - 
tures of collaborative learning and its various sub – themes.  

Around December end she informed us about her proceeding on long medical leave. How - 
ever, she ensured that her write-ups reached us even when she had proceeded on the long  
leave. Knowing our anxiety for the conference, she herself recommended the names of Prof.  
Sugra Chunawala and Prof. Nagarjuna for taking the task forward. Dr. Chitra was deeply  
committed to the task of science education and was very conscious of the issues involved in  
its delivery. Though she knew of various administrative, political & resource shortcomings, ]]></page><page Index="172"><![CDATA[

 146 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

she always looked at practical ways of improving science communication with students and  
implement them to the extent possible with the resources at her command. We, at NMSF,  
will always remain indebted to her for her unstinting support and guidance. 

a 

Sanjay Chandrashekaran 
Faculty, HBCSE, TIFR 
Radiating steel bright 
I first met Chitra in November 2010, when I came to HBCSE for my interview for a fac - 
ulty position. We had a long conversation about design and technology, and I learned about  
Sloyd, the handicraft – based educational approach practiced in Sweden. I joined HBCSE in  
November 2011, and over the next three short years, I had many such conversations with  
her, learning many new things, about the varied range of topics that interested her. The ef - 
forts to preserve native languages, how design and technology is related to the environment,  
Carnatic music, building a house, farming, working with students, how bureaucracy works,  
human physiology and disease, beautiful vacation spots, cooking, computers, Mumbai... 

Unlike most people, she radiated her life experiences, and they were for you to take away  
and learn from. In the process, you also wished for a world where you and everyone could  
do this, breaking down all those shells created by life’s experiences. We were new to Mum - 
bai, and Chitra helped us greatly in settling down. She and Raju went all the way to Karjat to  
pick up their cooking vessels for us, found out that their home had been burgled, and Raju  
fell down and injured his ankle. Despite all that, both of them were very happy that someone  
could use the vessels. All the plates and glasses and vessels were steel, and Saritha really  
liked them. When we went shopping for our own cutlery, we only bought steel. Visitors com - 
ment on the steel cutlery, the maids appreciate the easy cleaning, and Devasena is happy  
that she can play with them and kick them around. And every once in a while, we thank  
Chitra and Raju for introducing us to steel, in many different ways. 

As a novice faculty member, I was a regular in her office. She came up with good ways  
to resolve every issue I took to her, and her decisions were quick, and her analyses incisive.  
We had our share of disagreements and arguments, but always kept them aside and moved  
on, probably because we shared the view that they were not important, and life should not  
be defined by academic jostling. More important for her was smiling, helping people, being  
considerate, getting things done, optimism, enjoying nature, and living life to the full. There ]]></page><page Index="173"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 147 

was a brightness to her office, and you came away with some of that brightness, most of the  
time.  

I will miss peeking through the glass window while passing by, seeing her work, going in  
just for a chat, and the way she used to look up with that welcoming smile. 

a 

Saurav Shome                                                                                                                             
Resource Person, Azim Premji Foundation, Bengaluru 
In memory of Chitra madam 
I first met Prof. Chitra Natarajan in my interview panel at HBCSE in 2007. During the  
interview I found her very helpful to the interviewee in providing a fearless environment.  
After interview, the panel members asked about my lodging arrangement and date of de - 
parture from Mumbai. Prof. Chitra asked my seat booking details, took my ticket, rushed  
to her cabin, opened her laptop and internet, and checked the confirmation details. I was  
overwhelmed by her kind gesture. 

I joined HBCSE in 2007. Prof. Chitra and I worked together on developing a concept pa - 
per on Environmental education in Indian schools, developing a syllabus for Environmental  
Science for CBSE students, conducting the course on the same subject, working on develop - 
ing a short course for Indian middle school students on energy and environment, systems  
thinking, and later on project based learning. Now she was no longer Prof. Chitra Natarajan.  
She became Chitra Ma’am.  

I was always poor in writing grammatically correct English. However, the improvements I  
have made in this area are primarily due to Chitra Ma’m. It is her patience and tireless com - 
mitment that helped me improve in this area. Some prefer to work with polished tools, and  
others prefer to polish the tools and then start working with them. I think Chitra Ma’am, to  
some extent, was of second kind. This was evident in almost all her activities. 

She was not accustomed to bypassing any problem. She was ready to face the problem,  
solve it, or at least try hard, and then move forward. In 2008 she was physically unwell. But  
her commitment to work hard and enormous energy to focus was exemplary and surpris - 
ing. I have witnessed similar intensity in her work during my entire stay at HBCSE till July,  
2014. ]]></page><page Index="174"><![CDATA[

 148 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Project based learning became the subject of my thesis work in 2010. During my research  
work she was not a guide in an ivory tower but was a co-investigator in the true sense. We  
argued a lot. We had disagreements and even fierce discussions. Finally, it is experience that  
matters. And there were constructions of new meaning.  

The journey of meaning making continues and will continue forever. She is no more. But  
her ideas will be in constant dialogue with me. Whenever I feel tired after long hours of  
work, I remember her, remember the potential of a human being. Her scope of work was  
defined by the tasks and an urge to ensure completion of the tasks with quality rather than  
being dictated by any other parameter.  

a 

Savita Ladage                                                                                                                             
Faculty, HBCSE, TIFR 
Chitra was a person who loved life in every form. She strongly believed in communication  
and thus, for anyone, it hardly took any time to become comfortable with her. This was true  
for most individuals including myself and age was no bar. In my opinion, she was one of the  
few individuals at HBCSE who knew various people including visitors and their contribu - 
tions towards the activities of the centre.  

Whenever we met, her simplicity, positivity and cheerful nature always attracted my at - 
tention.  Her hard working and organised nature, commitment to work and her belief that  
things will work through group work helped in shaping several projects/activities she initi - 
ated or was involved with. She always motivated all individuals who came in contact with  
her. She often silently provided the support that individuals needed both at personal and  
professional level. Patiently, she tolerated the temper tantrums and frustrations of individu - 
als. Often, she made sure that productive things happen even in odd and hopeless situations  
by getting involved with them and devoting time for the same.  I never saw Chitra grumbling  
about any situation and she adapted to situations and individuals quickly.    

The first major event where we worked together was the organisation of the 33 rd Interna- 
tional Chemistry Olympiad (33 rd IChO) hosted in year 2001. This was one of the first mega  
International events hosted by HBCSE. Chitra was one of the key persons for 33 rd IChO and  
took responsibility of the Catalyser, the news bulletin to be published every day during the  
10 days event. With great interest, Chitra conceptualised several engaging themes, features  
and information for the issues of Catalyser. ]]></page><page Index="175"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 149 

The last thing we worked on together was the organisation of the second International  
Conference on Education in Chemistry that was hosted in December 2014. She gave valu - 
able inputs for the programme of the conference and also suggested the topics to be cov - 
ered in the conference which would  be of interest to Indian chemistry teachers. We went  
through the abstracts that we received for the conference and for each abstract she con - 
structively commented upon the strength/weakness of work. Further, she suggested the  
possible modifications to shape up the work as good research or developmental work. This  
is one example of the academic wisdom and maturity of Chitra. She attended all the execu - 
tive council meetings of Association of Chemistry Teachers (ACT) at HBCSE and provided  
several valuable inputs for the activities that can be organised or hosted by ACT.    

On a personal level, she was one of the most caring and loving friends. I always felt se - 
cure in her presence. She was always around whenever I needed her. We shared several  
moments of happiness and frustrations. In fact, I could walk to her room any time and talk  
to her about issues that bothered me. She would  calmly analyse the situation and help me  
to think about the possible solutions. The formal and informal interactions and discussions  
with Chitra have enriched me in several ways.  The best way by which I will cherish her  
memories is to help individuals working with me to develop positive attitude and to do the  
work at hand with same passion, zeal and enthusiasm that Chitra had.   

a 

Shamin Padalkar 
Faculty, Centre for Education Innovation and Action Research (CEIAR), TISS, Mumbai 

I came to the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education as a research scholar from a  
small town. A bit insecure to be in a distinguished institute situated in a metropolis, I still  
remember the first email I received from Chitra Madam. It was a welcome note sent to the  
new batch of graduate students. It said that we all are unique because we bring different  
perspectives to HBCSE. That email ensured me that my experiences and thoughts are as im - 
portant as anyone else’s! Further interactions with Chitra madam helped me to settle down  
at HBCSE and make it my home for the next six years. 

She was my academic mentor and advised me on matters such as which graduate courses  
I should take, who would be an appropriate thesis advisor for me and so on. Whenever I had  
some difficulty, including differences in opinion with senior colleagues, I would go to her of - ]]></page><page Index="176"><![CDATA[

 150 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

fice in a disturbed state of mind and talk to her. She would  let me calm down and help me to  
find my own solutions. I was fortunate to have someone whom I could always trust! 

One of the main hurdles I had was my English. I could not express myself in English. Chi- 
tra Madam recognised that this is impeding my performance as well as my confidence. She  
told me to write at least one page everyday about anything. She read it patiently and helped  
to present it in better English. I still possess a copy of ‘High School English Grammar and  
Composition’ by Wren and Martin which she gave me. 

Chitra Madam’s memory will be like coming across a leaf kept in a book. It will be a re - 
minder of its freshness and sweet moments for which it was left in the book. 

a 

Shweta Manoj                     
Scientific Officer, HBCSE, TIFR 

Chitra ma’am was very pleasant, kind and a person of integrity and till the end she re - 
mained consistent with her principles and norms. Manoj and I have been very lucky to know  
and interact with her individually and later as a couple. In Manoj’s initial years at HBCSE,  
Chitra ma’am closely guided him. She always had a kind suggestion or two about improv - 
ing his health or changing his irregular working habits. As she always did, she came up  
with some clear suggestions about his career, even in her last meeting with Manoj. She was  
always open to learning new things, be it guitar,  t’ai chi or programming. She even joined  
a short term web – programming course with Manoj. She has a special emotional place in  
Manoj’s life, in building his career and what defines him today. For him she was a mentor,  
a guide and a friend all rolled into one. It still has been very difficult for him to accept the  
reality. 

For me her energy was infectious. I was unfortunate that I did not work with her on any  
project, but we were often together in discussions of various research – readings and theo- 
ries. I was fascinated by her understanding of  Nayee Talim and how she operationalized it in  
her prescribed curriculum in Design and Technology. One day she asked for some students’  
maths worksheets, and explained to me how she was planning to use those at a parents  
meeting. Reflecting on that conversation, I realized one of her strong qualities – that she  
approached an issue from all possible perspectives. I realised the reason that she came up  
with this idea of developing specialised understanding of educational issues among parents ]]></page><page Index="177"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 151 

was because she constantly reflected about her decisions and actions and kept making bet - 
ter and better choices.  Chitra ma’am’s passion, integrity and engagement with educational  
issues will remain with me forever.  

a 

Shyamala Bharadwaj 
Professor, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Head, Fuel Cell Materials and Catalysis Sections, Chemistry Divi- 
sion, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 
Memories of Chitra  
There are very few persons in this world who leave their footprints in the sands of time.  
Their life is a living example of sincerity and selfless service and their work inspires the  
future generation. I consider my batchmate (20 Batch Training School, BARC, 1976 – 77) Dr.  
Chitra Natarajan one such person. Chitra was loved and admired by all her batchmates for  
her cheerful smile, enthusiasm and energy. She was always ready to help us with academics  
and other needs. I was a very shy girl, when I joined the Training School. She helped me to  
come out of my shell and mingle with other batchmates. Her positive attitude in facing chal - 
lenges in life was a lesson for all of us. 

After the training period, we joined different departments in BARC and our meetings  
were less frequent. Yet, the underlying friendship continued until there was a break, when  
she was in Ohio and Ahmedabad. Our contact was revived when she joined HBSCE. I was  
sad to know about her health problems, but it was amazing to see Chitra take those prob - 
lems head – on and continue her work with extra dedication and commitment. We used to  
discuss a lot about her interests in interfacing science, technology and society. Her contribu - 
tions to promote education in rural areas impressed me very much. During these interac - 
tions, I could see how she inspired and motivated her younger colleagues. 

As her batchmate, I took the liberty to seek her help in organising a BRNS – sponsored  
workshop on “Computational Thermodynamics” at HBCSE during March 2010. Though she  
could not be present during the dates of the workshop, due to prior commitments, she was  
of immense help to me in organising that event. 

I met Chitra during the 20 th Batch get – together at Niyamak Bhavan on March 29, 2014.  
We shared our memories of Training School days and Chitra was the most cheerful person  
on that day. Chitra showed so much enthusiasm to bring together the 20 th batch friends to ]]></page><page Index="178"><![CDATA[

 152 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

a common forum of helping the society with education and other related problems. Alas,  
we never thought that God will take her away from us so soon. Our tribute to her will be to  
continue her good work. Her memory will be evergreen in our minds and she will continue  
to inspire the next generation to work with total commitment and dedication.    

a 

Sindhu Mathai                                                                                                                              
Faculty, School of Education, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru 

Chitra ma’am: A celebration 
Chitra ma’am, as I fondly knew her, was a significant influence in my life. I met her for  
the first time thirteen years ago as a student who had just joined the Ph.D. programme at  
the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE). I tried to seek out familiar faces  
during my first week at HBCSE, by meeting with faculty who I recalled from my admission  
interview. Though she was not present for my interview, she introduced herself to me with  
a warm and enthusiastic smile. These pleasant encounters over the next few years, were to  
form cherished memories after I left HBCSE on completing the programme. What struck me  
most was her willingness at all times to offer a patient ear, kind words of support or even  
that simple warm smile. I remember walking into her office room one Saturday morning,  
asking how I could open a bank account. A few minutes later, we were walking together  
to the nearby bank for this purpose! I also vividly remember visiting her home for some  
satisfying lunch and delightful conversations with her family at the time of the Ganapati    
festival.  

We had several discussions over long walks at Anushaktinagar, on topics ranging from  
life as a graduate student to cognitive science and its implications in education to research  
in science education and more. She helped me through key dilemmas during my early years  
as a research scholar. She was nuanced and thoughtfully critical in her feedback on research  
papers, thesis synopses, work – in – progress presentations, while also being appreciative  
of the effort, and supportive of the student. She celebrated with all of us whenever possi - 
ble: her birthday, a publication, a trip outside, festivals. I was shocked to hear of her illness,  
when she first mentioned it. Her optimism convinced me that this too was a passing phase.  
I will hold on to these memories for as long as I can, even though deep sadness at her early  
departure continues to linger. ]]></page><page Index="179"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 153 

Sonal Shivagunde 
Manager, Social Sector, GRID, PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited (PWG), Mumbai 

Remembering Chitra Ma’am.. 

Chitra Ma’am was my close mentor since 1994, when I was enrolled in Tata Talent Search  
and Nurture Programme (TATSAN), Solapur. It was in her first session at TATSAN itself that  
she set forth for us TATSANites an ideal to follow.  

At a personal level, over next 20 years, she helped me in my career decisions, guided  
me in my research, stood by me when I faced personal crises, gave me immense hope and  
inspired me to give my best in whatever I do. Every time I visited HBCSE, Ma’am would  
introduce me to several interesting concepts especially in education as it was an area of  
my interest. She would take me to the library, pick an interesting book and then we would  
read together the important parts in the text. She made the complex concepts so simple  
and interesting that it created a fascination for the topic being studied. Most of the time  
when I came up with questions, instead of giving ready  
answers, she would put forth fundamental questions to  
me, point to appropriate resources and encourage me  
to find answers on my own. She also gave me her own  
copies of several books to study, each carrying a beauti- 
ful message. Learning was so much fun with her, and she  
made every moment of it memorable.  

Over the years, I realised that knowing Ma’am itself  
was one of the best ways to grow as ‘human’. Her sim - 
plicity, sensitivity, enthusiasm, humility, values, fascina- 
tion for every new thing and zeal for excellence were so  
inspiring and touching that it set forth a sound ideal to  
look up to. She had larger – than – life dreams and be - 
lieved in the potential of youth to bring about a lasting  
change. truly in inspiring  
she gave me in 2013, shared here.  

As a humble tribute to Chitra Ma’am, we the blessed  
TATSANites resolve to try our best to make the shared  
dreams a reality. ]]></page><page Index="180"><![CDATA[

 154 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Sugra Chunawala                                                                                                                       
Faculty, HBCSE, TIFR 

I met Chitra Natarajan in 1993 when she joined HBCSE as a post – doctoral fellow and  
embarked upon her journey in the field of science education. I had the pleasure of work - 
ing with Chitra on various projects over the years. In her early years  at the centre, we both  
worked together on two projects, one of these was a research project titled “Diagnosing  
Learning in Primary Science – DLIPS”(1994 – 1998). This project where we worked with a  
nearby school for three sessions every week and made field visits every month to two rural  
schools, brought us fairly close as did the writing and editing of 3 reports on this project.  

The other project titled “Tata Talent Search and Nurture – TATSAN” (1993 – 1995) was  
primarily co-ordinated by her and was carried out with post-school students on Sundays  
and I was one of the resource persons. This collaboration resulted in a set of eight books  
edited by Chitra as the Foundation Curriculum books, for which she motivated me to write  
one of the books.  

We also collaborated on one of her last research projects “Science Education for Diver - 
sity – SED” (2010 – 2013). Working with Chitra was a pleasure. For her the boundaries be - 
tween the professional and the personal, and work and play were extremely porous and she  
would treat everyone as an equal even the junior most staff or student. These two decades  
of our interaction resulted in our personal and professional growth and we shared numer - 
ous memorable moments and interests. Our passion for Science Technology and Society  
issues resulted in our setting up a Design and Technology programme at HBCSE which has  
endured and diversified over the last few years. 

Chitra’s energy levels were infectious as was her positivity. She brought in clarity and a  
different perspective in all her discussions and writings. I admired her ability to balance  
organisational aspects with research responsibilities. Her mentoring like her editing was  
subtle. She helped you to retain your voice and yet say it in a better way. Interactions with  
her implicitly brought changes that relate to larger aspects of life.  

She made the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education a better place to be in merely  
by her presence. I often think that I do not miss her, that she is all around and I can put any  
query to her and she will have both the solution and a smile. ]]></page><page Index="181"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 155 

Swadesh Mahajan  
Professor, Dept. of Physics, University of Texas, Austin, USA 

I am so sorry to hear about Chitra’s passing away, yet I am so glad to celebrate her won - 
derful life – she not only did enormous things, she also touched a million hearts, including  
mine. The year we spent together in Ahmedabad was made much richer by her;  she was  
both a cherished student and a supportive colleague; she attended every lecture of mine – 5  
lectures per week for a whole year! 

I will always think of her with great affection. It is to you, Raj, that we all owe so much  
for being there and helping her configure a life that was so accomplished. Untimely death,  
however, does make us humble.  

a 

Swapna Banerjee – Guha                                                                                                                 
Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research, Govt. of India 
Former Professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences and University of Mumbai. 

Remembering Chitra –  A Critical Mind with Unbounded Intellectual Ardour 

Could I have ever imagined that my first write – up on Chitra would be a remembrance  
piece? 

I have known Chitra since early 1990s. She was already a faculty at the Homi Bhabha  
Centre for Science Education, Mumbai. In those days I never failed to invite her to act as  
a Resource Person in the Refresher Courses at the Department of Geography, University  
of Mumbai where I was a faculty then. I could not think of a better speaker to explain the  
critical interface between environment and people. With sound theoretical grounding and  
hands – on experience with students from different age – groups and situations, Chitra with  
her amazing, encouraging personality, was an indispensible educator for college and univer - 
sity teachers. Despite hailing from two diverse disciplines of Human Geography and Physics,  
we gradually developed a deep intellectual and personal friendship – extremely unusual in  
the discipline – bound stereotyped academic space – that remained ever active till she went  
for her final treatment in December 2014. 

For us, our interaction was a creative journey to build a symbiotic space between Science  
and Social Science having an underlying ethical and humanitarian approach that does not  
limit academic praxis within classrooms and regimented pedagogies. Chitra’s innovative ]]></page><page Index="182"><![CDATA[

 156 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

and inquisitive mind always looked for alternatives that, I strongly feel, enriched her insti - 
tution –  building endeavour too. She was an extremely rare genre in the space of praxis of  
science who could understand the significance of poems, music and even cartoons in critical  
research and education.  

My joining Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 2006 helped us interact more closely as  
the physical distance of our professional workspaces greatly shortened. Sometime in 2009  
I invited Chitra to act as a member of the doctoral advisory committee for a research on  
Interventions in Nature. She happily agreed and remained thoroughly involved throughout  
the research. Our joint discussions peppered with exchanges of our own field experiences  
were great mental feasts we always looked forward to.  

Over the last two years we were planning to start a research on environment and society  
along with few other friends from a multi – disciplinary background; a dream both of us  
had been nurturing since long. How far the research will materialise is a matter of complex  
reality, but in this challenging journey, I know, I am going to miss the most fervent partner  
of the endeavour.  

a 

Swati Mehrotra                                                      
Educational Consultant, Singapore 
CN –  A valued mentor and teacher 

It is said that those who make the profoundest impression on you become the fabric of  
your being. So has Chitra’s role been in many of her students’ lives. I was fortunate to be  
a candidate who Chitra (fondly called as CN by research scholars) mentored while I was  
a Ph.D. student at HBCSE. I credit many of my “firsts” in life to her. It was with CN that re - 
search in Design and Technology Education started at HBCSE, of which we were the first  
students. It was with her that we undertook our first overseas trip to present our work and  
also wrote our first academic paper. CN made a deep impression on all who interacted with  
her, especially her students. She always demanded independence, creativity and critical    
thinking.  

The courses that she offered, most often, were interdisciplinary in nature, mirroring her  
own academic and professional background. Her ever – cheerful disposition and opinions  
on any topic ‘under the sun’ always added to the vibrant environment at HBCSE. ]]></page><page Index="183"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 157 

I can vividly recall my last meeting with CN. It was in 2012 when she visited me in Singa - 
pore, while I worked at the National Institute of Education. It all seems like yesterday. I was  
unable to get back to Mumbai to visit her during her illness but got updates on her health  
from other colleagues. Even if years have passed since seeing one another, the lessons and  
attributes of CN continue to stay with me and influence my working. I will always remember  
her as a vivacious and an intellectual person with an attitude and spirit of can – do. It is hard  
for me to imagine HBCSE without her. Her departure leaves her family, friends and HBCSE  
empty, her imprint will last forever. 

a 

Vandana Datye 
Seattle, USA 

My first memory of Chitra is from 1975, when I met her as a ‘senior’ (one year ahead)  
in the MSc Physics program at IIT Mumbai. We discovered that we had briefly overlapped  
at the St.Phelomena High School in Nashik. I later learned about her childhood  –  that her  
parents were teachers in Nashik and that she lost her father to cancer. At that time, most of  
us were focused on ourselves and our major challenge was doing well on tests and exams.  
But Chitra would be thinking ahead of how she might be able to support her younger sisters  
and her mother. We were proud to hear that after graduation from IIT, Chitra was selected  
for a scientist position at the prestigious Bhabha Atomic Research Institute (BARC). After  
she left the hostel, I lost touch with Chitra as I was busy with my own studies, Satish and I  
were married, and we were applying to graduate school in the US.  

I next met Chitra was in 1982, when I was interviewing for a postdoctoral position at  
Case Western Reserve University. My interviewer said that he had invited someone I knew  
to attend my talk, and much to my delight, in walked Chitra. After my interview, we had a  
lot of catching up to do. I learned that Chitra was on leave from BARC for a PhD in Physics  
at Case Western in surface physics. I was offered the position at Case, while Satish got a fac - 
ulty offer from Michigan. Chitra and I decided to become roommates and found a graduate  
student apartment near the university. During our time as roommates we also became best  
friends, much closer than we had been at IIT.  

While I had seen the serious side of Chitra at IIT, I saw how fun loving she was when we  
were roommates. She always noticed the funny side of things even when things got serious ]]></page><page Index="184"><![CDATA[

 158 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

at work or with friends. Another trait that struck me was her can – do attitude. One time, as  
I was getting ready for a trip to India, someone asked me at the last minute to bring a geol - 
ogy kit. While I complained about thoughtlessness, Chitra got ready to scour Cleveland to  
find the kit. Those were the days before the internet, when ‘search’ meant phone calls and  
leg work. 

While we lived in the U district in Cleveland, we joined a food co – op because there were  
no grocery stores within walking distance and we didn’t have a car. Those were the early  
days of the natural foods movement and it was our first introduction to unrefined olive oil  
(which I later learned to love). Chitra modified her recipes and her to – die – for lemon rice  
continued to taste just as good when made with olive oil. Always ready for new experiences,  
she embraced the culture of the co – op and enjoyed our monthly volunteer work. 

Chitra made friends with everyone, from undergraduate students to professors. People  
confided in her because she was always dependable and cared for them. I once took her to  
visit my one – year old niece in Michigan and found that Chitra had an easy way with kids  
and could play with childlike energy and enthusiasm. 

Two years later, I moved to Michigan where I found a postdoc position so that I could be  
with Satish. Chitra and I stayed in touch through phone calls (those were pre – email times).   
She visited us for a week when she was writing her PhD thesis to de – stress and we had  
a wonderful time together. I also visited her in Cleveland for her graduation party, which  
was hosted by a friend and included a very large number of people, all of whom had come  
to know and love Chitra during her stay in Cleveland. Soon after, she left Cleveland to start  
work at the Physical Research Lab in Ahmedabad. After that we had a long hiatus and met  
years later, after Chitra and you were married and she was in a very happy phase of her life. 

I last spoke with Chitra in March of 2014. She seemed very happy. You had received a  
kidney transplant, she was Dean, work was going well, and her health seemed good. She  
wanted us to visit your Karjat farmhouse. I will forever regret that we weren’t able to make  
that visit. Both of you are remarkable people and have inspired us tremendously with your  
courage, determination and your upbeat attitude.   

Best wishes and warm thoughts for healing from Satish and me to you and Chitra’s moth - 
er.  We wish you strength. ]]></page><page Index="185"><![CDATA[

Down memory lane | 159 

Vijayalakshmi Murali                                                                                                                   
Associate Director, Physical Metallurgy Group, IGCAR, Kalpakkam, DAE. 
“Chod do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega”  
I have listened to many such songs, all these years, “seeing” Chitra swaying in tune with  
the song: “strongly carved image” of Chitra in my mind – her unforgettable gift – “Be cheer- 
ful  –  come what may attitude”, to me since 1977 – my priced possession throughout my life.  
She was one of the  “dirty dozen” in the girls’ wing of Training School Hostel in 1977 – me  
and Chitra in one of the rooms.  

Everything was new to me, having stepped out of Chennai for the first time. Chitra – a  
‘go – getter’ personality, 100% courageous, compassionate, open minded, with strong per - 
ception about any matter “research to religion”, balanced and mature, played a decisive role  
in shaping me. Her affection to her family was strong, as she narrated many day – to – day  
matters about her mom and sisters.  Then we moved on with our lives. 

The next interaction was when she had a fracture of her shoulder, few years back. She  
filled in 20 years of information in about 30 minutes (non – stop !!) followed by the sad  
information about her health, with no iota of regret. She said, “we are as happy as we want  
to be!” Subsequently, we met Chitra, and Raj often, either in Delhi for a tasty, healthy lunch  
in her aunt’s house or in Bombay or during my daughter’s interaction in an international  
Science Slam project.  

Chitra did not let the challenges snatch away the joy of life, strongly supported by Raj.  
Our heartfelt wishes to Raj and Chitra’s mom and sis and family members, to continue the  
values Chitra lived for, with Raj’s unstinted support: be happy for the good things we get in  
our life.   

“ Mera sundar sapna beet gaya”  –    

Ok, Ok! there you are! Chitra ! swaying happily telling me : “Viji, how can you be such a  
moron ? This is the law of nature. Be happy, after all, I have been lucky and had an enjoyable  
life.”   

Yes, I agree Chitra, ok, no regrets.  I shall preserve the deeply etched “happy, cheerful,  
chitra” in my mind. ]]></page><page Index="186"><![CDATA[

 160 | embracing lives, chasing passions ]]></page><page Index="187"><![CDATA[

5 
A legacy of expressions 

Chitra believed in sharing her ideas and thoughts with all the stakeholders, be it in her  
scientific pursuits or in educational pursuits, through her writings, publications, books, dis - 
cussions, and talks in public fora (Annexure 5). 

Section A of this chapter covers her expressions and views on diverse aspects of science  
and science education in the form of excerpts. These are addressed to educators, parents,  
students, school and college teachers, curriculum developers, education researchers, Gov - 
ernment agencies, human resource planners, administrators, educational policy planners,   
non – governmental organisations and all those who believe that education forms  the fabric  
of a progressive society. 

Section A:  Multiple perspectives in education 

This section touches upon select themes such as, Science, technology, society (STS) edu- 
cation; Professional development of teacher communities; Inquiry based teaching; Science,  
Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) education in India; Ethics in research; Quality sci - 
ence education; Ethics and technology, Sustaining science clubs; Holistic general education;  
New initiatives in education; Science learning; Research based practice of learning; Design  
and technology education: D&T as an emergent school subject; Gender and technology ed - 
ucation; Pluralism in education; Science and technology education in Indian schools; and  
Enabling innovation in education. 

1. Science, technology, society (STS) education 

The complex web of interactions between all spheres of human activity demand that  
prospective decision makers possess: a repertoire of skills complemented by a reasonable  
capability to communicate their strengths, in oral and written form. Many of these skills are  
dependent on the domains of specialisation: the study of biology may hone observational ]]></page><page Index="188"><![CDATA[

 162 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

skills and the ability to classify and categorise; mathematics calls for logical skills, and the  
pursuit of sociological sciences calls for critical thinking and the ability to make complex  
linkages.  

Both teachers and the taught readily acknowledge that science, technology and society  
are intimately linked. However, these linkages are complex. Hence, there is a need to adopt  
different methods in classrooms to encourage students to form such links. These pose prob - 
lems for the teacher.  

The interface between science and society has long been an arena for rich philosophical  
debates. More recently, it has become a topic of curricular discussion at various levels of  
education. This discourse has a history of three decades in the school curricular framework  
of UK. It has been introduced variously as science and technology literacy, design and tech - 
nology, applied science, and science, technology and society (STS) in a handful of countries  
around the globe.  

The STS theme, in any of its varied forms, has few takers in the Indian educational set- 
up, at least at the school level. If anything, there have been confused and incoherent refer - 
ences to the ill effects of technology, interpreted as the application of science. The erstwhile  
national curriculum textbooks viewed science and technology at times as the two faces of  
Janus and at other times they described technology as an essential evil and luxury provider.  
Christened “Science and Technology”, the new textbooks present technology as devices or  
objects that either instantiate applications of science or use the devices to explicate a con - 
cept or principle. There are passing references to the preventable ill effects of technology;  
who is to prevent and how, is left to the imagination of the most motivated of teachers and  
students. 

School textbooks do not acknowledge science as a human endeavour, but as a set of facts  
(definitions, concepts, procedures, phenomena) attributable to one or other person, where  
persons of Indian origin are stated with due nationalistic pride. They are far from address - 
ing the intimate links between society and the doing and learning of science. Nor do the  
textbooks attempt to instil in students a sense of the multicultural origins of science: the  
closely intertwined threads of similar or shared thoughts among spatially and temporally  
separated thinkers, naturalists, alchemists and metallurgists of the world. Science and tech - 
nology literacy and the STS issues have so far been left for the media and science popularis - 
ers to address  –  an unsatisfactory situation at best. ]]></page><page Index="189"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  163 

A factor that makes teaching issues at the interface of science, technology and society  
even more difficult is the proliferation of information. The information boom also comes in  
the wake of crumbling national barriers for trade and information exchange and a global no - 
tion of neighborhoods. Societies and individuals are reacting more rapidly to global changes  
than they ever did before. Changing environmental perspectives in Europe have led to mi - 
gration of polluting industries into the developing countries. Conflicts in the Middle East or  
West Asia becomes an immediate cause for concern for families in the South Indian state of  
Kerala, from where the largest number of skilled people are now working in these regions.  
War, destruction, concern, recovery, rebuilding, and war again  –  cycles that used to take  
hundreds of years in previous centuries, now have a periodicity of less than ten years.  

Contemporary issues affect not only all citizens to some extent, but also call for a systems  
approach to its understanding and resolution, considering among other things, the tech - 
nological, economic and socio-cultural linkages. This approach requires a certain attitude  
to problem solving.  Appropriate training can enable students to acquire problem – solv - 
ing abilities. However, increasing content specialisation after grade ten, and lack of an inte- 
grated approach to learning before that, are hurdles to such training. This situation can be  
partially remedied through intervention training programmes, be they at the level of higher  
education, or during professional on – the – job training. 

Chitra Natarajan, “The Foundation Curriculum on STS,” a paper presented at the International Conference  

on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education for Human Development held at Goa, February 19 – 23,  

2001 

Chitra Natarajan, “An Activity Based Programme on Issues at the Interface of Science, Technology and Soci - 

ety”, at Third Peoples Education Congress, Ahmedabad, 19 November 2012 

2. Challenges of the twenty first century 

How would our lives compare with those of humans at the dawn of the agricultural age  
about 10,000 years ago? Humans have survived for over 30,000 years as a species. How much  
longer will humans last on Earth? Will human beings become extinct in the future  –  just as  
dinosaurs did 65 million years ago? Our lives, on the average, seem to be getting better. But  
averages can be deceptive. In relation to increasing population and fast changing life styles,    
the human quality of life seems to improve very slowly or not at all for millions of people.  

Problems of survival are not new. They have plagued all generations of human beings. ]]></page><page Index="190"><![CDATA[

 164 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Ask your parents and they will tell you how difficult life was in their time. But they coped.  
Can we then infer that, somehow, all generations after us will survive too? Some of us doubt  
this. We believe that our survival as a species will depend on our wisdom in managing the  
resources of the Earth. We need to leave enough resources for future generations to sur - 
vive without compromising our quality of life. Some of the broad reasons for seeing danger    
signals ahead are briefly discussed below.  

Our rate of consumption and destruction of crucial resources  –  water, food, land, fuels  
and plant and animal resources  –  is far greater than their natural renewal rate. Yet, there  
are many people who have no access to these resources. They must trudge miles for a pot  
of water and forage all day for their daily fuel wood. These people too must have access to  
a better quality of life.  

About 320 million Indians go hungry to bed at the present time. The number corresponds  
to the entire population of newly independent India (1947) and is greater than the present  
population of USA! Millions more are malnourished. This implies a vicious cycle of poverty.   
Children in nutritionally poor families are less likely to perform in educational tasks, and  
may not become skilled and productive adults. Hence they may be either unemployed or  
earn less.  Thus, they may remain poor or become poorer. Access to inexpensive nutritional  
supplements, or locally grown nutritionally rich “coarse” grains, if encouraged by proper  
policies, can go a long way in helping families get out of the poverty cycle. 

Even as we fight existing disease organisms, newer organisms and diseases emerge and  
older ones become resistant to present medications. Life expectancy has increased leading  
to a greater proportion of older people. Ageing populations implies new aspects to manage - 
ment of health as well as socio-economic productivity of the population. 

The educational system, which has so far served merely to generate employable citizens,  
is in urgent need of change. In a world that is becoming more connected, all citizens, and  
especially those in the developing countries, must learn the skills to gather and use the  
globally available information. They must also be trained to use this information both for  
creating wealth for the nation and for local social change. It poses a challenge for the policy  
makers, no doubt. But it poses an even greater challenge for the schools and students of  
today. The education system must be overhauled and schools must be re-oriented to impart    
the skills that will determine the wisdom of tomorrow. Students will decide our tomorrows  
and the survival of our species. ]]></page><page Index="191"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  165 

Chitra Natarajan, Theme talk given at the Dhirubhai Ambani SSC Merit Reward and Dhirubhai Ambani  

Undergraduate Scholarship function, Goa; August 17, 2001 

3. Developing teacher communities for science education  
“First I thought very hard about the topic and got it clear in my own mind. Then I explained  
it to my students so that they would understand it with the same clarity I had. At least that  
was the theory. … And whenever I made any serious attempt to determine what my students  
are learning, it was clear that this approach just didn’t work. … An occasional student here  
and there might have understood my beautifully clear and clever explanations, but the vast  
majority of students weren’t getting them at all.”    Nobel Laureate American Physicist Carl    
Wieman. 

This seems to echo the situation in a traditional science class of a competent teacher. The  
teacher comes prepared to teach a “lesson”, which may be concepts, phenomena, proce - 
dures, etc; lectures to a class of largely passive students, who are expected to do homework  
involving questions from the back of the lesson she has just taught. The answers are repro- 
ductions from the lesson, and if at all there is a problem to be solved, students are expected  
to use pre – taught recipes. 

How can we make teaching – learning of science more effective?  

If the traditional methods such as the usual chalk and talk method in the classrooms are  
supplemented with relevant activities, projects, demonstrations, discussions and experi - 
ments, especially in science classes, students are more likely to be actively engaged in the  
teaching – learning process. It is widely accepted that becoming educated is not simply a  
matter of accumulating information; it involves the gradual induction of students into new  
perspectives on the world and the development of new problem – solving skills and new  
ways of using language for representing knowledge and making sense of experience.   

Besides, activity based learning or inquiry based methods are absent in classrooms. One  
of the main problems is that teachers are either unaware of, or are not confident about,  
implementing these pedagogies in their classrooms. The pre-service and in-service training  
of teachers must equip them with the skills required to create learning situations, or raise  
investigative questions. In rare instances where demonstrations replace experimentation,  
they are done without students’ participation or discussions. Teachers must encourage dis - 
cussion, argumentation and student talk that may lead to theoretical development. They ]]></page><page Index="192"><![CDATA[

 166 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

need to provide opportunities for students to develop experimental skills such as observa - 
tion, designing of experiences or drawing conclusions.    

Demonstrations in science classrooms, when used suitably can increase students’ partic - 
ipation in class. The teacher needs to prime the students to discuss the demonstration that  
will follow, and to also discuss the observations once it is completed. This method helps  
the teacher to understand the students’ existing theories or ideas, and helps the student  
to think critically and explain the results which may be different from their predictions.  
Demonstrations can also be used to improve students’ skills of observation, recording and  
analysis.  

In a science class, where there are diverse learners, a dialogic approach can help bring  
about different perspectives and voices. Dialogue does not mean a teacher framing closed  
– ended questions with the students competitively trying to answer the questions in mon - 
osyllables. Dialogue implies that both students and teachers present their ideas and con - 
tribute to the teaching – learning process. Classroom interactions can be between teacher  
– student, teacher – group, teacher – class and vice versa as well. The teacher has an impor - 
tant role in guiding   the conversation purposefully towards reasoning, inquiry and active  
engagement in dialogue, argumentation and/or discussions helps student’s learning pro - 
cesses. This requires teachers to have a deeper knowledge of the subject under discussion  
than they normally have, and the confidence gained through experience and the knowledge.  
They can be initiated into such ecologies of learning by participating in peer discussions  
with mentor support.  

Research in teacher professional development shows that beliefs and attitudes of teach- 
ers change only when teachers interact with their peers, share and discuss their experienc- 
es. They also derive their self – esteem from the standing of the community they belong to.  
Processes need to be initiated to form and sustain communities of teachers who follow ex - 
emplary teaching practices and contribute to the development of professional competence.  
Suitable infrastructure and resources are essential to support teacher communities. 

The professional development of teachers needs much improvement. There is an urgent  
need to bring teachers together for professional communication. We learn best along with  
a peer group, and must build networks of teachers who can learn from each other’s expe - 
riences and support capacity building. Such networks can lobby for conditions necessary ]]></page><page Index="193"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  167 

for successful teaching – learning. It can also introduce peer evaluations and collaborative  
working, which can go a long way in developing teachers’ esteem and improving the quality  
of work that they do. 

Citizen science projects: A citizen science project typically involves public participation  
in an ongoing scientific research. Unlike science – fair projects, citizen science projects have  
a longer duration, continuous engagement and collaboration that could sustain a network  
of teachers and scientists using social networking and the internet space for communica - 
tion and collaboration. In order to expand the base of science communication, it is essential  
to study  science and mathematics in local Indian languages by creating a sustainable self –  
rewarding multi-lingual social network using multi-lingual digital platforms. 

Role of education research : Scientists build models and theories based on evidence.  
These are the practices of science. Their theories and models extend, refine, and revise sci - 
entific knowledge. Scientists operate on a variety of resources to investigate natural phe - 
nomena and build theories.  Scientific ideas have evolved over time – nature of matter going  
from aether continuum to atomicity, from light corpuscles to waves to duality, from alchemy  
to chemical reactions, and so on. What we can learn about science through a study of the his - 
tory and philosophy of science, in terms of its characteristics as well as the dynamics of its  
evolution, has considerable implications for science education at all levels – from elementa - 
ry to tertiary education. Educational research establishes the connection between science  
and science learning, between content based pedagogies and effective learning, and the ef - 
fect of teacher professional development on the knowledge and competencies of learners.   

Chitra Natarajan “Science Education: teacher communities and research based practices”, IWSA Newslet - 

ter, Special Issue, Vol. 42, Issue No. 4, April – July 2014, ISSA 09726195 

4. Inquiry based science teaching 

What is scientific inquiry? 
Scientific inquiry means investigating ideas, solving problems, arriving at valid conclu - 
sions and making arguments based on evidence. It is very important, while doing science,  
to recognise that scientific explanations change when new or different evidences become  
available. Science activity may also start with making observations, then posing questions,  
reading books to find out information that is already known, and then planning observa - 
tions by conducting experiments, and so on. Scientific inquiry requires students to use crit - ]]></page><page Index="194"><![CDATA[

 168 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

ical and logical thinking to consider different explanations, evaluate them, and choose the  
correct one. 

How can teaching be inquiry – based? 
It is natural for students to be curious and ask questions. The process of science is system - 
atic inquiry.  National Curriculum Foundation (NCF) 2005 recommends hands – on activities  
and inquiry based teaching to create a classroom in which students develop inquiry skills.  
What are these skills? The skills include asking good questions – not only “what” questions,  
but also “why”, “how” and other complex questions. They need planning skills – to plan an  
activity or experiment that will help them find answers to their questions. They need skills  
to conduct the activity, make important observations, record their observations, make suit- 
able calculations, interpret the results and evaluate whether they answer the questions that  
they had. Students also need communication skills to present their questions, activities and  
results to others.   

In inquiry – based teaching, children are actively constructing their understanding about  
science, scientific concepts and phenomena, while they are learning skills to carry out their  
own explorations. Hence inquiry based teaching is one of the constructivist approaches to  
teaching – learning. We say that students are involved in inquiry – based learning when they  
are developing understanding of a science topic through finding out answers to questions.  
They develop explanations based on evidence they collect, modify their explanations based  
on further applications, communicate and justify their conclusions. 

The question that arises in many teachers’ minds is, “Should I teach all science topics by  
the inquiry – based method?” The answer to this question, in general, is “No.”  Some topics  
in the science syllabus are more suitable for inquiry – based teaching than others.  

It also depends on the nature of the topic or question raised, the resources available to  
students, the time available, and how well the students are able to work without guidance  
or with very little guidance from the teacher.  Besides, the teacher’s own confidence in the  
content of the topic and skills for doing the activities are very important.  Teachers must do  
as many topics as they can through inquiry – based teaching. They also need to build their  
own content knowledge and inquiry skills to do inquiry – based teaching in more and more  
topics each year. 

Several tools can be used by teachers for inquiry based teaching. Teachers can provide ]]></page><page Index="195"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  169 

situations in the classroom for students to develop collaborative and cooperative learning  
skills. A number of models have been developed to help teachers plan and structure in - 
quiry – based teaching – learning classrooms. The 5E model is used by many teachers in  
the US and Australia. It was developed by a group of science educators from the US, includ- 
ing Rodger Bybee, Paul Kerbis and Susan Loucks – Horsley  (See http://journeyintech.blogspot. 

in/2011/01/  making-science-relevant-using-5es.html, accessed 28, January 2014). 

Each step in the 5E model serves an important purpose in inquiry – based teaching –  
learning. Yet, each step can also be independently conducted with the students to benefit  
them. Teachers are very good at asking questions. But they normally ask only close ended  
questions that have one known correct answer.  Teachers rarely ask open – ended questions  
to which students can give different answers. The answers will give the teacher an idea  
of how students are thinking.  It is more important for teachers to understand students’  
thinking on any topic than to simply get correct answers  (See Vaille Dawson, Rekha Koul, Chitra  

Natarajan, and Sugra Chunawala , A collaborative approach to developing science teaching methods suitable  

for addressing diversity in classrooms, A report of Workshop Funded by Australia India Council, 9 – 14 January  

2012). 

 Teachers can use the discussion in class following the multiple answers to arrive at an  
understanding of the concepts involved.  This needs practice for the teachers who need to  
have content and confidence, which they must develop. An inquiry – based teaching is also  
an inquiry of the teacher on the teaching – learning process in science education.  The teach - 
er is both a learner and a researcher. Best wishes to all teachers who want to go on this path. 

Chitra Natarajan, “The 5 – E model for a constructivist approach to teaching – learning in science”, in the  

Science Conference for Teachers on Let’s understand and use constructivist approach, jointly organised by  

Rayat Shikshan Sanstha and HBCSE, at Yashwantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Satara, 4 March 2013 

5. Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education in India 
In the current century, a background in social, economic, environmental and ethical is - 
sues is essential in all stages of inquiry in S&T – from asking the appropriate questions to  
designing suitable experimental paths and deducing implications with sensitivity to eco - 
nomic well environmental socio-cultural issues  
issues).  Hence, S&T personnel must possess a foundation in the sciences, in technology  
(different from the sciences) and the humanities. ]]></page><page Index="196"><![CDATA[

 170 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

The interdisciplinary approach propounded by STEM education goes well beyond just  
science and mathematics.  Technology, even more than engineering, is organically connect- 
ed to socio-cultural and economic issues, including sustainability. In fact, technology, by  
definition, arises from a social need.  Treating technology as applied science, as has always  
been done in Indian curricula (and continues till date), has restricted the innovating po - 
tential inherent in practicing technology. Technology uses all forms of knowledge. While  
there is no doubt that its practice is empowered by knowledge in the domain of science, it is  
driven by social empathy and knowledge in the domain of social and behavioural sciences.  

To succeed in the research and development space in the 21 century   a common skill  
needed across all R&D spaces can be termed as problem solving, though these spaces are  
heterogeneous with respect to the different domains of knowledge and in terms of tools  
needed for problem solving.   

Engagements in S&T need analytical and pattern recognition skills and quantitative rea- 
soning skills. Though R&D personnel in S&T can better leverage their work when endowed  
with communication skills, their R&D output is not necessarily dependent on this.  Visu - 
ospatial skills are essential to success in S&T. Yet they are undervalued in school education,  
and ironically school subjects that can potentially build such skills are pitted against S&T  
subjects.  Areas often classified as the arts, humanities or social and behavioural sciences  
are crucially dependent on language skills. Reading comprehension, writing prowess and  
multi-modal skills are vital, and even decisive.  These areas also demand critical reasoning,  
systems thinking and visualising and making linkages across complex domains.  

A career in S&T must begin with curiosity, motivation to observe, read, and find out. The  
skills needed for a career in S&T must be honed through practice of formulating and asking  
questions; of visualising and connecting, towards recognising what is relevant. In short, it  
requires a passion for and perseverance in problem solving.  The best way to prepare for  
a career in S&T is to engage in contextual problem solving independent of subject domain.  
Ask a question, and plan a search for answers. If needed, design observations and tests, rec - 
ognise patterns, analyse and weigh results, deduce implications, and ask further questions.  

Indian education system is as yet very far from preparing students to become thinkers,  
innovators or scientists.  This is borne out by the small proportion of international publi - 
cations and patents relative to the number of S&T human resource in the country. If one  
can see examples of Indian students performing in suitable education systems elsewhere, ]]></page><page Index="197"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  171 

among several possible reasons, it is perhaps because of the importance given to education  
per se, and the culture of perseverance. Students excelling in the education system have lit- 
tle understanding of what they know, and its relevance to the world around them.  Besides,  
they have received little training in applying their knowledge to problem solving.  They  
woefully fail in situations in industry or academia which call for criticality of thought, self  
assessment/ evaluation, and empathy with and appreciation of the systems around them.   

Indian school curricula lack opportunities for engaging in engineering and technological  
activities, which are themselves rich and authentic contexts for both learning and applying  
scientific and mathematical knowledge and skills. Besides, our experiences with rural and  
tribal children, both boys and girls, show that Integrative STEM education has the potential  
to be more equitable by valuing local contexts. One of the biggest hurdles to implementing  
STEM based education is teacher preparation. We need far more professionally developed  
teachers than we have. The pre-service professional development needs to be revamped on  
several counts as recommended by National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education,   
(NCFTE) 2009 and the Justice J.S. Verma committee reports on teacher education, 2012.  
Schools need to inculcate a culture of cooperation among teachers across schools and even  
across all educational levels – primary, secondary and tertiary. There is an urgent need for  
professional development of existing teachers – a tall order considering that the number of  
teachers run into several hundred thousands. Yet, professional development of teachers for  
integrative STEM is possibly the most efficient way to impact education in all subjects. 

Chitra Natarajan, personal notes and communications 

6. Ethics in research  

Research is based on the same ethical values that apply in everyday life, including hon - 
esty, fairness, objectivity, openness, trustworthiness, and respect for others. Application of  
these values in research constitutes scientific standards and professional ethics. Research is  
increasingly becoming both interdisciplinary and multinational. This introduces challenges  
in maintaining communication among researchers. On the other hand, the new avenues for  
information through digital communications technologies have made ethical issues more  
urgent and complex.  

The discussion of ethics applies to all researchers pursuing new knowledge through in - 
vestigations that apply scientific methods. Researchers adhere to professional standards for  
three possible reasons: to uphold their colleagues’ trust, to preserve personal integrity in ]]></page><page Index="198"><![CDATA[

 172 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

their research career and to fulfil their responsibility to serve the public. There is a need for  
experienced researchers to mentor and advise novice researchers in matters of professional  
ethical standards.  

At present there are several issues of research misconduct like fabrication, falsification,  
or plagiarism. Fabrication involves making up data or results.  Manipulating research equip - 
ment, or changing data or results is falsification. Plagiarism, one of the most common forms  
of misconduct, is the use of another person’s ideas, results, or words without giving ap - 
propriate credit. Following ethical principles in research involves creating and maintaining  
accurate, accessible, and permanent records of all researchers’ work in sufficient detail so  
that others can check and replicate their work. Additionally, when human participants are  
involved, it is essential to safeguard data so that the privacy of participants and the confi - 
dentiality of data are maintained.  

The most important mode of disseminating research results is through publication in a  
peer – reviewed journal. It is to be noted that the first to publish a finding, gets the most  
credit for the discovery, not the first to discover it.  At the same time, researchers are obliged  
to be most honest with themselves and with others regarding the use of others’ ideas. Re - 
searchers are expected to search the literature thoroughly and to cite prior work accurately.  
There are several reasons why it is advisable for researchers to refrain from making results  
public before they have been peer reviewed.  In collaborative enterprise, authorship is often  
a challenging issue. Besides credit, authors’ list also establishes accountability. Research  
institutions need to follow or formulate written criteria for authorship and share them  (See:  

On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research: Third Edition http://www.nap.edu/cata - 

log/12192.html Downloaded on 13 October 2011).  

Aspects of research that involve ethical issues include the treatment and representation  
of data, human participants and animal subjects in research, laboratory safety in research,  
sharing of research results, authorship and allocation of credits, and competing interests,  
commitments, and values. It is expected that researchers review the procedures for all of  
these at least once a year. All institutions need to make provisions to respond to suspected  
violations of professional standards, dealing with possible mistakes and negligence, and  
research misconduct. There is a need for all institutions to designate a research ethics com - 
mittee, which will both ensure mentoring of new researchers and discuss situations involv - 
ing suspected misconduct or questionable practices. ]]></page><page Index="199"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  173 

Chitra Natarajan, Research Ethics, at National Conference on ‘Evolution of Research and Development in  

BioSciences’ at K.C. College, Mumbai, January 6, 2012 

Chitra Natarajan Ethical Issues in Research, at NAAC Sponsored Seminar on Quality and Excellence in High - 

er Education, organised by K.B.Patil College, Vashi, November 18, 2011 

7. Ethics & technology  

We are not just  Homo sapiens , we are the  Homo faber , makers and users of tools and  
technology. The position of human beings in nature is characterised by technological adap- 
tations, which are significantly different from what animals do. Human technology goes well  
beyond just fashioning some helpful tools that we see among animals. We design with aims,  
purposes and methods that use causality in a systematic way.   

Modern technology promises rapid – even dramatic – changes. We have long speculated  
about what our future would be like, or whether quality of life would improve with increase  
or changes in technology. There are those who believe technology is deterministic – that  
once initiated, it has an autonomous evolution, barely controllable even by societies, leave  
alone individual choices.  

Many of us recognise that technology is also a social construct, much like language. Tech - 
nological designs express what we want. These designs also shape who we are. All of us feel  
the need for technological artefacts, make some ourselves, use several, and dispose them.  
Some of us market technological artefacts, maintain them, or even regulate their access and  
use. We may not think of ourselves as designing technology. But most of us have designed  
some technology in our lives – perhaps just greeting cards, clotheslines, our kitchen ar - 
rangements, an experiment or entire laboratories. Design is  the  core of  technology – where  
our needs  meet technological resources in a problem   solving context. We can collectively  
decide – only by making choices about which technology to have and how to use.  

As we design technology, we also create opportunities, and establish constraints. These  
may have consequences, sometimes severe, for future generations. Outcome of techno - 
logical developments need not be inevitable. It may depend on how well we choose what  
technology we want to have. For this we need to urgently learn to analyse and understand  
the ethical and social implications of new technologies. As designers, we need to ask what  
technologies we should develop. As consumers and decision makers in homes, offices and ]]></page><page Index="200"><![CDATA[

 174 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

laboratories, we need to decide which technologies we want to keep, and how we want to  
use what we have decided to keep.  

As teachers and parents, we also need to engage young people in taking ethical decisions  
on all these aspects. Should we be buying the latest gadget in the market without thinking  
about the environmental and health considerations that went into its making, marketing,  
and will affect its disposal? Young people can also think about who it has affected or poten- 
tially affected, and may affect in the future, whether there was a commercial fair dealing,  
and so on.  Limited knowledge of technology can lead to its unethical use. Socrates is cred - 
ited with the statement “the unexamined  life  is  not  worth  living.”  It seems tempting to  
suggest that an unexamined technology is not worth having.  

There are three possible approaches to address the challenges posed by any revolution - 
ary technology. One is to make ethics an ongoing and dynamic enterprise.  Even as a new  
technology appears on the horizon, all its ethical problems need to be anticipated.  In fact, it  
should not be allowed to develop without sorting the foreseeable problems. One must use  
what is termed in engineering ethics, as the precautionary principle.  Constant vigilance is  
the only sensible approach in this stage.  

The second approach to address ethical challenges is to establish collaborations among  
ethicists, scientists, social scientists, and technologists. This will provide a multi-discipli - 
nary understanding of what is and what is not the likely consequence of the development  
of a technology. In fact, having a participatory approach, including diverse stakeholders in  
the process and having multiple perspectives on the technology makes the final choice of  
technology more ethical than it would have been. Diversity in design of technology leads to  
choice of the most ethical alternative. The third approach is to develop more sophisticated  
ethical analysis techniques. There is no choice other than learning more about technology,  
and assessing the consequences of its applications.  

Chitra Natarajan,” Ethics and Technology: The Complex Links”, at XI All India Meeting of Women in Science,   

Technology: Ethical Issues, organised by Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA), January 29, 2011 

8.  Towards quality science education  

There is a need to sustain the positive feelings towards science and to improve the quali - 
ty of intake of all students at the tertiary level, including those in the general science stream.  
For this school education must be addressed in its entirety, not merely science education  
in isolation from other subjects. Language development, quantitative and visuospatial ]]></page><page Index="201"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  175 

reasoning skills and social skills of communication, team work and conflict resolution all  
contribute to preparing students to become productive scientists. In education, important  
issues are the curricular objectives, preparation of curricular materials, professional devel- 
opment of teachers, implementation of the curriculum, assessment of student performance,  
and evaluation of the system itself.  

The education systems of the country may be evaluated in terms of its ability to equip   
students with the tools of learning. A national level tool needs to be developed for this pur- 
pose. Such tools and programmes exist at the international level: Programme for Interna - 
tional Student Assessment (PISA) for students at the age of 15 years conducted by the OECD  
countries; and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) conducted  
by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (lEA).  

The recent National Curriculum Framework (2005) was a step in the direction of ex - 
amining school education and bringing it in consonance with current research in student  
learning. The position paper of the National Focus Group on Teaching of Science states that,  
“Schools should give much greater emphasis on co-curricular and extra-curricular elements  
aimed at stimulating investigative ability, inventiveness and creativity, even if these ele - 
ments are not part of the external examination system.”  

Schools, teachers and students need to be empowered to teach and learn science  
in meaningful ways. Several organisations that are part of the All India People’s Sci - 
ence Network (AIPSN) like the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), Lok Jumbish,  
etc., working at the grass roots, have developed models for providing support for sci - 
ence learning and coordination of science clubs in village clusters, science centres at dis - 
trict levels, organisation of science fairs for students and presentation of classroom re - 
search by teachers. There is a need for greater involvement of practicing scientists to as - 
sist village clusters to identify locally appropriate themes for science fairs, formulate    
problems, carry out meaningful (problem solving) activities, and evaluate them.  

There have been new initiatives to prevent the meritorious students of the senior sec - 
ondary stage (the ‘plus two’ stage) from falling through the cracks of tertiary science educa - 
tion at HBCSE. Started in 2004, the National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS) is  
a nurture programme for undergraduate students, encompassing all the natural sciences.  
The Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) is an ongoing programme started by the ]]></page><page Index="202"><![CDATA[

 176 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to encourage students of Basic  
Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to take up research careers in these areas. The aim of  
the programme is to identify and encourage talented students with aptitude for research.  
The Olympiad programme is another initiative in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics  
and Astronomy aimed at promoting excellence in science and mathematics among pre-uni- 
versity students. Resource generation camps, in which higher secondary and tertiary level  
teachers from different parts of India participate, generate question banks of international  
test standards. This endeavour, if sustained and scaled up will contribute to improvement  
of teacher quality as well as widening the reach of the Olympiad movement in the country.  
In time this will have an impact on the quality of science education.  

Several other initiatives are on paper as recommendations. Important among them are  
those outlined in the report by the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Acad - 
emy of Sciences to the Planning Commission for the XI Five Year Plan. Amongst its sev - 
eral recommendations, one of the important ones is to upgrade ten select universities to do  
world class research and 200 undergraduate colleges to become colleges of excellence for  
teaching of science and enable easy movement between science and technology streams. If  
these recommendations are seriously heeded, there is hope for development of high qual - 
ity human resources in science and technology to give India a competitive advantage in the  
international arena.  

Chitra Natarajan, personal notes and communications 

9.  Sustaining science clubs 
Science clubs are very important for promoting science, developing a scientific temper,  
and promoting science based approach to resolving complex challenges. Sustaining school  
science club is often challenging and there are several issues stated below that need to be  
addressed. 

Commitment of school management 
This is critical for any school programme to take off and sustain itself. To get the manage - 
ment to commit to a science club efforts have to be taken  to link the science club to enhance  
school’s visibility and recognition, and to building educational resources. 

Community support 
The support of parents is essential for the success of science clubs. This should be done ]]></page><page Index="203"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  177 

by involving them in science club activities as audience in debates and elocutions; by invit - 
ing them for poster and other displays; by placing the science club activities in students’ en - 
vironment  –  social, natural and built; asking students’ suggestions of community problems  
or questions in every day life; Community related activities are more authentic for students.  
Involve the community – gram panchayat, local leaders, local NGOs  –  in choice of locally  
relevant issues to research about, analyse, suggest multiple solutions, and invite the local  
communities to students’ presentations. 

Resources  
Time is one of the key determinants for sustaining science clubs : Both teachers and stu - 
dents need time to spend on science club activities. One way to do this is to include this time  
as part of the school proceedings.  

Funds are needed in limited amounts:  Science clubs need funds, regularly and reliably.  
They should be community and school supported. But the funds should be specifically al - 
located for materials and kits, for maintaining the school computer, to spend on CDs and  
books, stationary for posters. Accountability should be built into the fund disbursal mech - 
anism. One way is by requiring evidences of school activity to be sent at regular periods to  
the disbursal agency, and subsequent funds being made contingent upon it. The disbursals  
and activities could be monitored by Local Working Groups (District level), Zonal Working  
Groups (State or higher) and the National Working Group. 

Teacher orientation is essential for science clubs : Where possible, these should be ar - 
ranged. Where there are motivated teachers, they should be given incentives and support  
to initiate and sustain science clubs in more than one school by training other teachers.  
Block level science club resource groups can be formed. District Institute of Education and  
Training (DIETs), Block Resource Centres (BRCs), Urban Resource Centres (URCs), Clus - 
ter Resource Centres (CRCs) etc., can be used as support groups and facilitating areas. The  
Working Group idea specified elsewhere, Building Educators for Science Teaching (BEST)  
project must be used for support and monitoring. 

Materials: Kits and materials, CDs with activity ideas and some stationery may not be es - 
sentials for doing science club activities. But they help when given. Ideas for club activities  
must depend on locally available materials, using the local environment and kitchen and  
every day objects for science activities. ]]></page><page Index="204"><![CDATA[

 178 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Academic support 
An “Adopt a Scientist” scheme can be used for academic support. Every school adopts a  
scientist, who may be a scientist, engineer or technologist working in nearby locality, town,  
in industry, college or R&D institution. It could even be a local person interested in science  
popularisation, or a science educated housewife. The adopted scientist gives a fixed time  
to the science club and encourages and oversees its activities, and helps to document the  
activities. Another possibility is to involve students from local colleges  –  science or engi - 
neering colleges, first and second year students may be given credit for working on science  
projects among local schools. It could be on the lines of the National Social Service (NSS)    
scheme.. 

Ideas and variety 
Variety of ideas is essential for sustenance of motivation in science clubs. This can be  
brought by choosing local problems, and by sharing problems, questions and models of  
working across Districts, States, the Country. A mechanism must be devised to share infor - 
mation  –  mobiles, emails, social media, may all be used for the purpose. 

Chitra Natarajan, A note generated for “Brain Storming Session on Science Club Movement in India” organ - 

ised by Vigyan Prasar, DST, Govt. of India & GUJCOST, DST, Govt. of Gujarat, at Gandhinagar, 30 & 31, August  

2012. 

10. Holistic general education  
There are several ways of perceiving and interpreting the world. These are included in  
education as humanities, the arts and literature, design and technology, engineering and  
science. Science may well be the most efficient and reliable means of generating knowledge  
about the world, but it is neither sufficient nor adequate to satisfy the physiological and psy - 
chological needs of a human life time, nor the social needs of the human species. Education  
is as much about learning concepts and procedures, as it is about letting imaginations soar,  
developing artistic sensibilities and designing humane environments with concern for sus- 
tainability of the human race and the environment. Education is about knowing and using  
with wisdom the laws and patterns of the animate and inanimate world, including humans  
and the worlds created by them, the arts and the artefacts.  

Even as they probe the smallest and the vastest in the universe, scientists, much like  
Shelly’s skylark, need to have their feet on terra firma. Human lives are influenced as much ]]></page><page Index="205"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  179 

by the social and political systems as they are by the laws of science; as much by beauty and  
emotions of compassion and desires as by rational thought and logical reasoning.  

Science, though an important component of holistic education, is by no means the only  
way of  “seeing” the world. The sciences, the humanities and the arts need to be viewed as  
complimentary aspects of general education that together form the broad foundations that  
offer students wide choices for further learning. Language development, quantitative and  
visuospatial reasoning skills, social skills of communication, creativity and manual skills  
need to become essential components of meaningful and effective learning. In fact, even for  
effective learning of science, school education must view these aspects within all subjects.  

School students need to engage in exploring the world through all manner of activities.  
On the one hand, the activities could lead from the context of life and everyday living, and  
inspire them to go well beyond their immediate concerns. Activities could be structured to  
build essential skills and could address the understanding of concepts and procedures.  

The National Curriculum Framework 2005 was a step in the direction of examining  
school education and bringing it in consonance with current research in student learning.  
The position paper of the National Focus Group on Teaching of Science states that, “Schools  
should give much greater emphasis on co-curricular and extra-curricular elements aimed  
at stimulating investigative ability, inventiveness and creativity, even if these elements are  
not part of the external examination system.” This is an unsure step towards holistic general  
education. However, it encourages thinking by teachers and students, which are the key ele - 
ments that can be strengthened to promote meaningful learning.  

School education needs to provide students with ample opportunities to work with their  
hands. Educationists are unlikely to oppose this idea, though they may differ with regard  
to the reasons for its inclusion in general education. The educationist may be inspired by  
the philosophies of Gandhi or Tagore, Dewey or Aurobindo. However, the idea of students  
engaging in hands-on work is often lost in its translation to the school curriculum, syllabus,  
classroom practice and assessment. It  often ends up as recipes and procedures that stu - 
dents must observe and reproduce. When it is not about doing experiments with foretold  
conclusions, it is at best about learning skills by drill and practice in an obsolete or irrel - 
evant context. Vocational education, considered as the space within education for hands- 
on work, suffers from a shortsighted syllabus, and creates totally replaceable cogs for the  
industrial wheel. ]]></page><page Index="206"><![CDATA[

 180 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Learning procedures and facts are of limited use to citizens in coping with a fast chang - 
ing world. At best such an education produces followers, not leaders, in a scenario that  
demands “innovation” not mere “indigenisation”. Today, even labour needs to be continu - 
ally re-skilled to survive in an environment that calls for creativity, innovation and critical  
thinking.  

Introduction of work – related curricula at the secondary school level since the 1960s  
and again in the 1980’s in response to the Kothari Commission reports has raised impor - 
tant questions.  Should vocational education in schools be promoted to support industry  
and its profits? Should we be teaching students facts, procedures and recipes in the name  
of preparing them for the world of work? Instead, should we not be educating young people  
to live in and deal with an increasingly complex technological world? Should we not encour - 
age students to critically examine the socio-cultural, political, ethical and emotional impli - 
cations of technology? 

Chitra Natarajan, Designing for a Holistic School Education, Prof. Rekha Govil Memorial Lecture, at Jayoti  

Banasthali Vidyapith, Jaipur, September 15, 2011  

Chitra Natarajan, 2 nd People Education Congree on Science Education, HBCSE, Mumbai, 0ctober 5 – 8,    

2009 

11. New initiatives in education: cultural diversity and learning science 
According to social constructivism, which is a theory that explains how people learn,  
knowledge is not a passive commodity to be transferred from a teacher to learners, and  
learners are not like sponges that absorb knowledge. Learning is a social process that hap - 
pens in the context of the learner’s school as well as outside.  The meanings constructed by  
the learner in a new situation depend on her or his prior indigenous knowledge.   

There is a view that science and scientific knowledge are universal, and hence are not  
influenced by socio-cultural aspects like religion, gender, race, language or ethnicity.  In fact,  
scientists, and even most teachers subscribe to this view. However, it is well known that  
scientific knowledge is produced within a sub – culture to which scientists belong, and that  
some western cultures are more aligned to the scientific culture. Students’ cultural back - 
grounds, religious beliefs, and gender are known to influence students’ orientation to sci - 
ence and pursuing scientific careers. ]]></page><page Index="207"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  181 

In the classroom, students try to deal with the different world views then prevalent in  
their homes and in science. This may at times conflict and result in alienating the students  
from their home culture and depriving them of their identity with consequent social prob - 
lems.  Else, students may get alienated from science, or find ways of performing in exam - 
inations without actually learning science. Thus, students’ meaningful and deep science  
learning will depend on the assistance they receive when they try to negotiate the borders  
between the different world views.  

Studies on cultural influence on science education, and changing practices in Europe,  
show that one way to make science education equally appealing and accessible to all is to  
recognise and suitably address the cultural diversity of students in the classroom. Science  
educators in other parts of the world too have developed innovative programmes, new  
curriculum, and creative instruction to help pupils. By engendering a feeling of ease in the  
culture of science, educators have tried to encourage pupils to cross cultural borders into  
school science.  

India has advantages in regard to diversity and attitudes to science. A survey of the ed - 
ucational scenario in India in the 1990s has found that Indian students are enthusiastic  
about education, and science is valued as a career path. Scientific knowledge is valued as  
grounding for a career path by most students and teachers from diverse socio-cultural back - 
grounds. India also has rich resources of socio-cultural diversity. Yet, the proportional rep - 
resentation of different socio-cultural groups, like minorities and females, is low in science  
streams beyond school. The proportion of different socio-cultural groups in science – relat- 
ed courses does not reflect their proportion in the population. The proportion of females,  
for instance, is 39% in Science, 22% in Engineering and 19% in agriculture. Further, the  
percentage of these groups in education as well as in science related pools declines at every  
stage: primary school to secondary school to graduation, and so on. It seems that some  
cultural groups find it easier to cross the borders between the home and school science  
cultures than others do.  

How do Indian teachers perceive the connection between culture and science learning?  
As part of a project Science Education and Diversity (SED) funded under the European Com - 
mission FP7, a research at HBCSE surveyed teachers’ views on the connections. The project  
also developed a strategy to help teachers use cultural diversity as a resource for learning  
in the classroom situation. It was found that analytical and critical thinking, which is the ]]></page><page Index="208"><![CDATA[

 182 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

foundation for doing science, was often missing in classroom discussions. Most teachers ef- 
ficiently handle even large classes in lecture delivery method. They are not equipped to lead  
and guide critical analysis among their students in the classroom.  Teachers and schools  
need to develop and support a multicultural curriculum that reflects equal opportunity and  
cultural pluralism. In order to do that, the textbook with its accompanying teacher’s book  
will have to include materials that assist the teacher with suitable classroom strategies.  
These will provide equal opportunities for learning, exposure to contributions of various  
ethnic groups, and material relevant to students’ background. 

In summary, children need opportunities in their science class to express their feelings  
and thoughts that arise in everyday lives in relation to scientific topics.  Teachers, on the  
other hand, need to respond to these thoughts and expressions in the context of scientific  
inquiry.  This will allow for formal textbook knowledge to build on everyday knowledge, and  
for indigenous knowledge to be the context for formal knowledge. Additionally, the cultural  
diversity in classrooms has the potential to go beyond inclusive science learning, to become  
a resource for developing values suitable for global peace.  It is time for the country’s class- 
rooms to recognise their rich resources of socio-cultural diversities and identities and use  
them to ensure meaningful science learning for all. 

Chitra Natarajan, personal notes and communications 

12. Science learning 
Science is both a body of knowledge and a set of practices. Scientists build models and  
theories based on evidence. These are the practices of science. Their theories and models  
extend, refine, and revise scientific knowledge. Scientists operate on a variety of resources  
to investigate natural phenomena and build theories.  Some ideas, like the nature of matter,  
or force being carried with the body, have even resisted change over millennia. Similarly,  
what “scientists” as we know them today, do has also changed over time  –  from Archi - 
medean ideation and philosophers’ theory building to Galilean experiments and Einstein’s  
thought experiments. What we can learn about science through a study of the history and  
philosophy of science, in terms of its characteristics as well as the dynamics of its evolution,  
has considerable implications for science education at all levels – from elementary to ter - 
tiary education. 

The knowledge in every field is increasing at faster rates. Scientists on all syllabus com - 
mittees are ever pushing for increasing number of topics that are seen to be extremely im - ]]></page><page Index="209"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  183 

portant for common citizens, future scientists, and so on. With increasing range of topics  
competing for inclusion, the existing “essential” concepts receive less effort and teaching  
time. As for competencies, they rarely find a place in the syllabus, and hence in classroom  
teaching.  

Teaching – learning practices at any level of education are not independent of the goals,  
content, and competencies expected to be attained by students at that level. It has been rec - 
ognised the world over, and slowly seeping into the Indian education system that in school  
education the content and pedagogy in any subject or discipline are intimately linked to one  
another.  Those in the higher education are only slowly waking up to the fact this as true  
at all levels of learning. It is inappropriate to talk of “good teaching practices” that can be  
applied across physics, chemistry, biology or history. There are “effective physics teaching  
practices” that are different from “ effective biology teaching practices” and so on. Teachers  
not only need to know the content of what is to be taught, they also need to have the knowl - 
edge and tools to decide in what ways the content needs to be presented to students for  
effective and long term learning. They need to know how to introduce the students to the  
practices of the discipline. How can mathematics education enable students to mathema - 
tize – have mathematical dialogues? How can students be exposed to the content of science  
while they engage in its practices?  How can students be engaged in investigations rather  
than verifications? Questioning, hypothesising, investigating, explaining, arguing and justi - 
fying are all integral to what it means to practice science. All students from school to higher  
education need to learn these through practice in the classroom.  For this, the teacher not  
only needs content knowledge, but also needs to have what in educational circles is known  
as “pedagogical content knowledge.”  Simplistically stated, it is the wisdom of what and how  
of teaching – learning taken together.  This knowledge, closely tied to the practice of teach - 
ing, must be acquired and refined by the teaching community and disseminated. 

Students need to learn what it means to practice science while engaging in each disci - 
pline of science: what counts as explanation, justifications, etc., in that discipline. The con - 
texts and modes of explanations of chemical scientists using orbitals may well be different  
from the contexts where physicists use quantum mechanics to explain bonding.  It may be  
noted that with increasing discoveries and innovations at the multidisciplinary interfac - 
es, it has become important for students to have competencies in multiple disciplines. The  
broader question that this raises is the relation between doing science and learning science  
or learning about science. ]]></page><page Index="210"><![CDATA[

 184 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

It brings us back to the important linkage of goals, content and competencies that are  
intimately linked to teaching – learning practices. If this is accepted, then it can be argued  
that curricular reforms at any level must take into account existing content knowledge and  
pedagogic competencies among educators, as well as potential changes in their practices  
that can be achieved through suitable professional development.  This leads to the conclu - 
sion that educational goals, content, competencies, and pedagogies must all align with one  
another if there has to be effective learning among all students.  

In India, elementary school teachers are expected to have a minimum content knowledge  
corresponding to higher secondary level, high school teachers need to have graduation de - 
gree, while at higher levels, the teachers must be post-graduates. These limits and what it  
implies for teaching may be questioned. However, in principle, these minimum education  
levels at least match, and for school education, are even better than those in other countries  
around the world. The practical issues of what those minimum education levels imply in  
terms of the content knowledge of most practising teachers need to be separately debated.   

School teachers are expected to acquire knowledge about psychology and sociology of  
learning, and tools and methods in pedagogy through a diploma or degree. However, no  
such competencies are demanded from teachers in higher education. This is seen to be a  
problem. As argued above, this makes higher education devoid of any inputs for effective  
teaching – learning. The problem is worsened by treating teacher education as a profes - 
sional stream apart from and outside the mainstream university courses. This makes teach - 
er preparation disconnected from other knowledge intensive professional courses.  It also  
arises from and reinforces the absurd view referred earlier of ‘teaching’ as an activity di - 
vorced from `what is being taught’. Besides, teacher education, which draws on disciplines  
like psychology, sociology, history and philosophy, does not connect with the developments  
in these disciplines.  

According to HBCSE’s “Working Paper on In-service Teacher Professional Development  
for Elementary Education,” the separation of pedagogy from content on the one hand, and  
from the social sciences on the other, has made teacher education irrelevant to the practice  
of teaching, and led to a diminished status of the teacher in the academic community. This  
is as true at higher education as it is for school teachers.  

The arguments so far highlight the importance of pedagogical content knowledge and ]]></page><page Index="211"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  185 

competencies for all professionals in science education – teachers in schools, colleges and  
universities, and teacher educators. This knowledge would also be useful for those framing  
curricula and developing syllabi. 

Chitra Natarajan, on Research – based Practice of Science Education:  Science, Science Learning and Sci - 

ence Education Research, Talk at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkatta, 2013 

13. Research – based practice of science education 
Educational research establishes the connection between science and science learning,  
between content based pedagogies and effective learning, and the effect of teacher profes - 
sional development on the knowledge and competencies of learners. How is educational  
research in the Indian context to be practiced? How can existing educators at all levels gain  
pedagogic content knowledge and become competent to create efficient teaching – learning  
situations? The solutions to the problems of effective science education can be addressed  
through reflective teaching and research – based teaching – learning practices by all those  
who teach at the tertiary level. That such practices are taking root, is evident from several  
developments. The number of journals publishing articles on science education research  
has proliferated by an order of magnitude in the last couple of decades. There are over fif - 
ty higher education institutions in USA alone that have active Physics Education Research  
(PER) groups, and there are a similar number of PER strategies being promoted. Promotion  
of educational research and evidence – based classroom education is one of the major goals  
of internationally influential professional bodies like Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and  
American Chemical Society (ACS).  

The Physics Education Group at the University of Washington, Seattle, has worked in ed- 
ucation research for over 3 decades.  Their early work in the 70s, that started with teacher  
professional development programmes, related to the intellectual challenges that physics  
presents to students and teachers.  Part of practices that are termed as Discipline Based Ed - 
ucation Research (DBER), it involved studies of simple physical systems, which were used  
for in-service and pre-service teacher development. This was adapted to high school stu - 
dents, some of whom later took up teaching. Their work has had worldwide impact on sci - 
ence education research as well as science education beyond high school. DBER combines  
knowledge of teaching and learning with deep knowledge of discipline – specific science  
content. It describes the discipline – specific difficulties learners face and the specialized  
intellectual and instructional resources that can facilitate student understanding. ]]></page><page Index="212"><![CDATA[

 186 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Physics education seems to have taken a historically leading role in educational research.  
But development in chemistry also followed the same trajectory after the Sputnik era. No - 
tably, ChemStudy in USA and the Nuffield Chemistry project in UK led curricular reforms  
towards intellectually stimulating content and emphasis on individual practical work and  
scientific processes, in place of demonstrations.  This strategy completely failed to improve  
student learning. The reasons were traced to what had been the trend the world over till  
then and continues till today in India.  

The very accomplished and capable chemists involved in curriculum design focused  
more on the chemistry to be taught rather than the educational aspects.  They did not have  
a clue about how learning happens. That is when a group of chemists started to ask ques - 
tions about learning rather than teaching. Their efforts led not only to the synthesis of new  
instructional material and techniques, but more importantly, evaluating their impact on  
student learning. They sought inputs from psychology and cognitive science to generate  
and refine learning theories and models for instruction. Chemistry education research dealt  
with the nature of comprehension, visualisation, construction of ideas and other processes  
required for understanding of chemistry. It also highlighted the influence of society and so - 
cial contexts on chemistry education.   

The research area continues in the same vein today and involves expertise in teaching,  
demonstrations, and lab experiments as well as a scholarship in the knowledge.  Learning  
chemistry has come to be viewed as building the ability to negotiate and reason across the  
three aspects of chemistry: (a) macro aspects, which may be visible and tangible, (b) micro  
aspects like atoms, molecules, and (c) kinetics, and the representational aspects of symbols,  
notations and equations. Since ideas that make up chemistry play major roles in many of the  
decisions that humans have to make in daily life, several innovative and successful curricula  
have been developed around this theme.  

In fact, International chemistry Olympiads set contextual problems involving ideas from  
multiple branches of chemistry.  Use of such problems were seen to be both motivating  
and excellent contexts for practising chemical explanations and justifications. Among the  
more recent strategies for improving learning efficiency is Process Oriented Guided Inquiry  
Learning (POGIL), a learning cycle of exploration, concept invention and application.  This  
is the basis for carefully designed materials that students working in groups can use to ]]></page><page Index="213"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  187 

construct new knowledge. Individual roles assigned to group members ensure that all are  
engaged in learning.  

Recent biology education research has focused on the use of Multiple External Rep - 
resentations (MERs) for learning about a concept. Programmes that have been initiated  
with inputs from research in these areas also have the potential to contribute to biology  
education research at different levels. The Collaborative Undergraduate Biology Education  
(CUBE, 2013) project, initiated at HBCSE, is aimed at engaging teachers and students in  
biology research using model systems through a potentially nationwide network of collab - 
orative groups, including students, teachers, subject experts and education specialists. The  
groups are connected locally in real space and time, and virtually across the country. 

In summary, the learning environment is an important aspect of the teaching – learning  
process. These environments must be rich in opportunities for engaging students in higher  
order processing – explaining, arguing and justifying.  Groups of teachers, supported by  
subject specialists and education specialists, can plan such classroom situations through  
research – based practices. HBCSE, with an active research group of about 20 academics and  
an equal number of graduate students working on educational research, seeks to seed re - 
search – based teaching – learning practices in Indian classrooms. For detailed information  
about past and present research activities at HBCSE (visit www.hbcse.res.tifr.in). 

Chitra Natarajan, Research – based Practice of Science Education:  Science, Science Learning and Science  

Education Research, Talk at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkatta, 2013 

14. Alternative knowledge systems  
The synergy between human thought and tool use has been a successful adaptation, al - 
lowing for the spread, sustenance and progress of humans across the globe. Technology’s  
history is a strand in the cultural history of humankind, and unarguably social. The knowl - 
edge systems that have dominated thinking and education for the last two centuries are  
shaped by a world view that emerged in nineteenth century Europe.  This analytical knowl - 
edge system played a significant role in technological advancement in some nation states,  
and technology became inextricably associated with science. Developments in the philo - 
sophical enquiries in both science and technology, as well as innovations have highlighted  
that diverse ways of knowing can better address the ill-defined problems of society and the  
challenges of 21st century. ]]></page><page Index="214"><![CDATA[

 188 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Long before the development of modern science, communities around the world had  
developed their own survival modes and tools based on knowledge systems, now termed  
as indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). IKS is distinct from scientific and largely analytical  
ways of generating, recording and transmitting knowledge, and needs to be characterised in  
relation to science. For one, IKS is generated in a space – time context of a community, and  
is subject to adaptive and dynamic evolution. It also forms the community’s identity that  
encompasses the skills, experiences, values and insights. 

There is an intimate relation between artefacts and the environment within which they  
are generated and used. In this context, the terms culture, appropriate technology, and sus- 
tainable practices need to be characterised. Multi-layered, complex and dynamic associa - 
tions of technology and culture and how it can inform prevalent ideas of design, technology  
and progress are some of the key issues that need further  research. 

The influence of scientific and analytical models of thought on technological practices  
have been noted both in the historical and modern contexts. Concepts of appropriateness  
and sustainability have not yet been explored in depth in the local and cultural contexts.  
Technological evolutions in agriculture, health care, textiles, and resource utilisation offer  
immense scope to illustrate the dynamics of the relations between IKS and modern scien - 
tific thought.    

The term ‘western’, often used in place of ‘modern’, refers to the ideas and practices whose  
origins can be traced to European traditions of knowledge, teaching and learning. Modern  
school education is concerned with learning and acquisition of knowledge that compris - 
es abstract, decontextualised formal concepts independent of the situations in which it is  
learned and used. IKS, on the other hand integrates generation, use and transmission of  
knowledge. The possibilities of defining technology in greater alignment with IKS needs to  
be analysed to provide the basis for critiquing technology education curricula. The impli - 
cations of social constructivism and similar theories in technology and its education need  
more understanding. 

Chitra Natarajan, Personal notes made  for a workshop in April 2015, in France, for a book,” Critique of De - 

sign and Technology Education”, Kay Stables and John Williams (Eds), a multi country project in which Chitra  

was actively involved, but had to opt out due to her health setback in January 2015 ]]></page><page Index="215"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  189 

15. Design and  technology education  
The last few decades have seen a resurgence of interest in technology education around  
the world. The content, skills, and processes encompassing technology education are all  
being examined. Common to most curricular proposals is the importance of the design pro - 
cess as inherent to an education in technology. Even so, the number of different ways of  
introducing design in school curricula are as many as there are educational policy makers  
in the world. They include several country specific approaches and priorities, and are based  
on individual and cultural understanding of what technology means.  

Whatever the goals that drive it, technology education must move beyond the divisions  
between theory and practice, and integrate these categories that have been historically sep - 
arated in education. Such integration of the knowledge of technology as a part of general  
education for all students serves to enhance society’s level of technological literacy and al - 
lows learners to contribute to and critique technological developments from an informed  
position. Technology education needs to address students’ need to appreciate these types  
of knowledge and the inter-relationships among them. However, they are acquired through  
different learning processes that need to be addressed in structuring technology education.  
Hence, it is essential to first know what constitutes the knowledge for technological capabil - 
ity, the properties of such knowledge, as well as the inter-relationships among the different  
kinds of knowledge. This will also give a clue to the nature of pedagogical practices that will  
help in acquiring the knowledge.   

The aims of technology education include enabling students to gain know-how and pro - 
viding opportunities for articulation. Know-how at the individual level may often be trans - 
ferred through apprenticeship, or  learning – through – association . Individual know-how  
when used coherently in teams can be synergistically more powerful. The power of synergy,  
however, comes from practice in groups. In order for students to learn through collabora - 
tion, they must first learn to collaborate.  In the context of school education, students gain  
know–how in the process of designing and making, working in groups, allows communica - 
tion and articulation.  

Technology and design are organically linked. Designing a technological system involves  
the ability to decompose a system into its parts. This entails the knowledge of each compo- 
nent as well as how they are integrated. It needs an understanding of how a set of compo - 
nents are put together (know-how) and why the components interact with one another to ]]></page><page Index="216"><![CDATA[

 190 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

provide the product’s function (know-why), as well as the specific configuration that users  
want (know-what).  A general education in technology should aim to help students gain and  
connect the three types of knowledge. One way to achieve this would be through engaging  
teams of students in activities and decision making that involves all three knowledge types.  

Design exploration, the initiation of the technological activity, serves as a platform for  
integrating the three knowledge; know-how, know-why and know-what. Technology edu - 
cation must reflect diverse practices in the community and offer students opportunities to  
develop understandings not only across knowledge types, but also cultural perspectives. It  
must include an understanding of the inter-relationships between technology and society:  
it must be immersed in the cultural context of the learners, while giving a perspective of the  
diversity of technologies around the world. The most compelling arguments for including  
Design and Technology (D&T) as part of school education arise from what it means to be  
human. Students, as they design, struggle simultaneously with the specifications or prod - 
uct goals (know-what, or what the user wants), their understanding of the procedures to  
achieve it (know-how), and using their knowledge of how it works (know-why) to choose  
among competing alternatives.  

For locally appropriate innovation, D&T education, starting at the school level, must in - 
clude knowledge, critical thinking about the activity and its consequences, as well as sen - 
sitivity to issues of equity and sustainability. D&T activities in school education need to in - 
volve multidisciplinary perspectives, broad based skills, and multiple modes of expression.  
School education that merely addresses knowledge about technology can stifle innovation.  
D&T education has a scope wider than applied science, vocational education or work expe- 
rience, and it transcends science for its disciplinary grounding.  

A D&T education needs to include a metaphoric understanding of technological activities  
for all people, and not restricted to the practitioners and professionals. Hence, it is time that  
the discipline goes beyond being the exclusive domain of higher education and enters the  
portals of schools and empowers students from a very young age.  The large number of stu - 
dents leaving the educational system well before college implies that a productive and cre - 
ative work force is possible only by addressing the educational preparation for innovation  
and creativity at as young an age as possible, preferably from the primary years.   

The educational community has a tendency to avoid radical changes, even if its present  
state is unsatisfactory. Creativity and critical thinking inherent to D&T education are difficult ]]></page><page Index="217"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  191 

to manage in classrooms, difficult to assess, and can even threaten existing socio-political  
systems. Parents and social systems are often uncomfortable with major changes in any as- 
pect of education. Technology education poses an additional challenge by its sheer breadth  
of concerns. Technology as an idea is fluid and somewhat ambiguous. It is influenced by  
geographical, cultural, and socio-historical contexts. This introduces teaching possibilities  
for inclusivity and equity, creativity and critical thinking, ecology of thought and action. For  
some of us, this is what makes design and technology empowering in the school context.  

The current state of the nascent discipline of technology education is characterised by  
a lot of ferment. Technology education in one form or another exists in several nations in  
almost all the continents.  Africa, Asia and South America, which are large land masses and  
home to over half the global human populations do not yet figure in global discussions on  
technology in general education. This may reflect a lack of effervescence/ferment in tech - 
nology education as a school subject in these countries. At the same time, the nature of tech - 
nology education in populous countries like India, as well as China, Indonesia and Brazil can  
have a significant impact on the global socio-political and industrial scene.  

Chitra Natarajan, “Designing Technology Education Beyond the Know-how and Know-why”, at ISTE 2011,  

“Towards effective teaching and meaningful learning in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education”,  

organized by Institute of Science and Technology Education, UNISA at Kruger National Park, Mopani, South    

Africa, October 17 – 20, 2011  

16. Design and Technology: an emergent school subject  
The most compelling arguments for including Design and Technology (D&T) as part of  
school education arise from what it means to be human. In the last few decades, profes - 
sionals – engineers and technologists to philosophers, designers, educationists and even  
architects – from several countries around the globe, have made a plea for inclusion of tech - 
nology education in some form as a part of the general education of all students.  

First, D&T develops abilities in solving real world problems, which are often ill-defined  
and provide authentic contexts for constructive thinking, distinct from inductive and deduc - 
tive reasoning. Second, D&T sustains development in multiple modes of cognition through  
its contextual use of codes and object languages. An education for the development for con - 
structive thinking while working with designing codes has been neglected for long.  

D&T education is in contrast to technical or vocational education that is procedural ]]></page><page Index="218"><![CDATA[

 192 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

rather than designed and low in academic content. The latter empha - 
sises skill acquisition by following a given prescription that is required  
to be guided neither by negotiated nor contemporary needs. It easily  
becomes obsolete, needing frequent re-skilling. For locally appropriate  
innovation, D&T education, starting at the school level, must include  
knowledge, critical thinking about the activity and its consequences, as  
well as sensitivity to issues of equity and sustainability. A model of D&T education centered  
on collaboration and communication is shown alongside. 

D&T activities in school education need to involve multidisciplinary perspectives, broad  
based skills, and multiple modes of expression. School education that merely addresses  
knowledge about technology cannot stifle innovation. D&T education has a scope wider  
than either applied science, vocational education or work experience, and it transcends sci - 
ence for its disciplinary grounding.  

There can be several facets to technology education at the school level depending on the  
stakeholders, who support it. As an economic instrument, technology education contributes  
to national wealth creation. It helps sustainable development by making economic growth  
compatible with environmental protection. Technology education has hitherto served to  
enhance the professional image of technology or engineering, improving its standing in so- 
ciety. This has led to a traditional view of technology driven by science, which has been the  
justification for teaching technology as applied science in Indian schools. But historically,  
technology has often led science. Science can provide the resources/ means for technologi- 
cal advances. A D&T education needs to include a metaphoric understanding of technologi- 
cal activities for all people, not only for the practitioners and professionals. Hence, it is time  
that the discipline goes beyond being the exclusive domain of higher education and enters  
the portals of schools and empowers students from a very young age.  

D&T education research at HBCSE has been guided by an understanding that emerges  
from a study of philosophy of technology. It is also guided by theoretical perspectives on  
collaborative learning; cognition and action; concerns of sociocultural and gender appro - 
priateness; and the development of language, quantitative, and problem solving skills. The  
D&T activities will provide a context for students to select, learn and apply suitable tech - 
niques and skills and make judgments based on social, ethical and aesthetic values.  

Several issues normally arise when a subject is being introduced or redefined in school ]]></page><page Index="219"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  193 

education. Most often, technology education at school level seems to involve a movement  
away from the earlier avatars of crafts, industrial arts, engineering, technical drawing, ap - 
plied science, etc., towards a greater emphasis on design, creativity, the content, methods  
and processes of technology. The different stakeholders, including teachers, teacher educa- 
tors, policy makers and school systems besides the pupils themselves, then have to grapple  
with the changes.  

An education which includes experiences of designing and making, which inevitably in - 
volves taking qualitative decisions about competing alternatives, will help all people; cur - 
rent pupils and future citizens – return a personally valid answer to the question, “How do I  
want to live?” For India, the urgent need to introduce design and technology in the curricu- 
lum harks me to the following words of Tagore in the English translation of his most famous  
work, Geetanjali:  

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection  
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit 
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action  
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake  

Chitra Natarajan, “Design and Technology: An Emergent School Subject”, at epiSTEME-3: An International  

Conference to Review Research in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, HBCSE, India, January  

5 – 9, 2009 

17. Gender, technology and education  
The gendering of technology occurs since technology is the product of social relations  
and forces. Of all the technologies possible only some may be selected, the path of their  
developments can vary, and their effects on different social groups may be differing. These  
choices are shaped by social arrangements and are often a reflection of the power struc - 
tures in society. The education system plays an important role in the formation of gender  
identity. Schools are instrumental in communicating gender roles and expectations from  
girls and boys especially with regards to the careers that they should take. A major issue has  
been the under-representation of women and girls in Science and Technology.  

This under-representation of women is often ‘explained’ by suggesting that there are bio - 
logical differences in cognitive ability between men and women. The issue of sex differences  
in learning falls into the classic argument of nature versus nurture and research in this area  
has been inconclusive as the differences, if any, in ability, turn up only at ages when it is ]]></page><page Index="220"><![CDATA[

 194 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

difficult to separate the effects of genetic factors from socialization. There may or may not  
be biological explanations for sex differences in learning but it is obvious that sociological  
factors such as, differing expectations play an important role.  

Teacher gender has been found to be unrelated to the differences in classroom interac - 
tion; both male and female teachers interact in similar ways with their students. An im - 
portant point to note here is that teachers are not consciously discriminating between the  
students. They are convinced that they are being gender – neutral, despite the fact that ob - 
servers notice the differential treatment. What this means is that teachers are not intention - 
ally stereotyping students, but their behaviour reflects that they themselves are members of  
society and products of a biased educational system.  

The concept of critical mass emphasises that in any area/field a critical mass of some  
people are necessary before that field becomes attractive to more people. Thus it is not  
helpful to have a token or a small mass. If women are to enter non-traditional fields then  
the presence of very few role models is not enough. A considerable number  of women must  
join those fields before the field becomes desirable for most women to join it.  

Intervention strategies aimed at improving women’s participation in science and tech - 
nology must tackle the question of creating awareness in teachers, changing the language  
of curricular material, and making S & T less male-oriented. Resistance to intervention is  
often founded on the grounds that intervention is politically motivated and that preference  
to girls would indirectly mean neglect of, or discrimination against boys. It is essential to  
remember that reducing gender-bias in education is not only in favour of girls. It is also  
helpful to boys who would prefer a more nurturing career and who are also trapped into  
rigid roles and stereotypes.  

In India, technology is not a subject of school education. Research is one of the ways  
of establishing technology education at the school level. Technology education at school  
level in India has had a checkered history and has been stereotyped on the basis of gender.  
Technology taught to girls has been limited to food or domestic work such as sewing, em - 
broidery, tailoring, cooking and nutrition while boys have been restricted to bookbinding,  
carpentry, electronics etc. This area has thrown open several possibilities for research. It  
would be interesting to undertake a historical study of the technology curricula in Indian  
schools and the sources of gender bias in the curricula. ]]></page><page Index="221"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  195 

Chunawala, S & Natarajan, C, An inclusive Science and Technology Education Curriculum at School, (in  

press), An Inclusive Science and Technology Education Curriculum at School Level, in Sumi Krishna and Gita  

Chadha (Eds.) Feminists and Science: Critiques and Changing Perspectives in India, Stree Publishers, Kolkatta 

18. Pluralism in education 
Education, a potentially rich experience in meaning making and expression within com - 
munities, has increasingly become, at least in some countries, restrictive, diluted, commod- 
itized, centralized and autocratically controlled. Humans have a variety of modes of ex - 
pression of thoughts and feelings, which include diverse communication practices that are   
artistic and aesthetic as well as domain specific and technical. The diversity in human pro - 
ductions is multiplied by the differences of gender, cultures, languages, technologies, arts,  
etc. Imposing uniform values and judgments across these diverse human expressions and  
productions poses a challenge. How can societies deal with diversities while recognising  
unity? What alternatives will serve to be equitable while at the same time encouraging shar - 
ing of meanings through multiple linguistic and other modes of expression? In response  
to the problems posed by such questions, societies tend to suppress diversity and deny its  
importance. This is most evident in the way societies structure their education.  

In the field of education, there is an additional issue of cognitive pluralism. Cognitive  
content as well as cognitive processes depend on artefacts and tools of the culture, such  
as domains of knowledge including language and technology. For instance, technological  
design, tool making and tool use are all best understood as a dynamic interplay between  
individuals, their society and their environment, at various levels of interaction within dif - 
ferent space and time situations.  

Humans use a variety of modes of expression of thoughts and feelings; they have diverse  
communication practices, languages and gestures, artistic and aesthetic visions, technical  
and architectural designs. The differences of gender, cultures, languages, technologies, etc.  
compound this diversity. Communities are powerful repositories and conveyors of meaning  
and serve to legitimise action. They construct and define appropriate practices. People act  
and construct meaning within communities of practice. In this sense, learning is a dialecti - 
cal process of interaction with other people, tools like language and artefacts, and the physi - 
cal world. Thus, the acquisition of knowledge is both mediated by and in turn influences  
culture and society. ]]></page><page Index="222"><![CDATA[

 196 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

India is endowed with a relatively long history of cultural evolution and early innovations  
in all fields of human endeavour. It has a rich oral tradition and even the distinction of having  
one of the earliest linguistic studies. It is home to a vast human resource, capable of genera - 
tion and adaptive use of technologies. On the other hand, the country has been consistently  
rated low on significant innovations, especially in science and technology. This apparent  
paradox may be resolved in as many ways as there are ideologies and their adherents.  

While the causal agents for a low rating on S&T may be debatable, what is un-   
contestable is that the nation is burdened by a variety of problems, for which locally ap - 
propriate solutions must be urgently sought. Both routine problem solving and innovative  
solutions involve multidisciplinary perspectives and multifunctional tasks. Besides, the so - 
lutions may emerge more from location specific factors than global ones.  

School curricula give scant regard to the nation’s cultural heritage of knowledge produc- 
tion in any field and to the empowerment of its present populace with such production.  
Present curricula, notwithstanding association of phrases like “education for all”, continue  
to be designed for “selection” and the creation of a “specialist”, who can “deal” with knowl - 
edge and technologies produced elsewhere  –   global knowledge. On the one hand, access to  
quality education is open to those who can buy, while on the other, there is a one-shoe fits  
all, the “free-size” education that fits nobody, and suits none. Besides, quality education is  
out of economic reach for a large majority, who need it most.  

Students continue to be exposed to narrowly defined curricular subjects as early as in el - 
ementary school, and little or no significance is assigned to contextual problem solving right  
through school. They are trained to be passive recipients of knowledge. These students have  
a handicap with regard to innovation in any area. What is needed is to empower people of  
all ages to create new, locally appropriate and globally significant knowledge. Addressing  
school curricula to meet this need will not only redefine the role of education itself, it may  
even lead to defining a cultural identity. Radical as these may seem, such alternative cur - 
ricular ideas have been supported by concerned educationists.  

We envisage classroom situations would generate contextual problems that encourage  
the use of diverse strategies to solve them. The problem, being close to the real world of the  
solver, would not only demand an interdisciplinary approach to making decisions, it would  
also include value judgments, besides knowledge and skills. School education needs to be ]]></page><page Index="223"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  197 

through learning packages involving diverse, real life, need-based, goal-directed activities.  
We also envisage development and enhancement of linguistic and critical thinking skills  
among the primary goals of education. These skills can be developed in students through  
tasks that encourage working together. Students learn from interacting with each other, by  
sharing their experiences on a variety of tasks, and by giving and getting feedback.  

Another important component of a pluralistic approach to education is inclusivity. In a  
multicultural country, this can bring several ideas to mind, such as, issues of equity, aspects  
of cultural continuity, and inclusion of persons with differentiated abilities. The settings in  
the Indian context vary over bio-geographic regions and are spread over areas that may be  
a continuum from rural and tribal areas to metropolises. Equity issues involve several socio- 
cultural variables including caste, economics and gender.  

Policy decisions have to be supported by research and analysis of the issues and must  
stimulate action research by teachers and practitioners in the field of education. Imple - 
mentation of a community integrated education will need suitable teacher preparation and  
enhancement. It will have to be facilitated by development of alternate curricula and in - 
structional materials that are based on activities and authentic problem solving allowing for  
multiple modes of expression. The sustainability of the above described education depends  
crucially on classroom strategies and multi modal assessment practices.  

Sugra Chunawala and Chitra Natarajan, “Creating spaces for multiple modes of expression within educa - 

tion, at the 5 RCCO, organized at TISS, Mumbai, December 3 – 7, 2007  

19. Science and technology in Indian school curriculum  
The National Policy on Education (NPE 1968, 1986) has explicitly recognised the ben - 
efits of teaching S&T in school for individual, social and national development. In the face  
of increasing demand for skilled human resource, vocationalisation was advocated in 1976  
by the NCERT. The new textbooks for science that follow the guidelines set by the recently  
drawn. The published textbooks have included elements of applications of science and tech - 
nology awareness aspects scattered among concepts, processes, procedures and activities.  
It is heartening to note that the framework document explicitly recognises science and tech - 
nology as organically linked and linked to society. Technology is narrowly defined as the  
“application of science” to meet human needs.  

Should technology be clubbed with science? Science and technology share knowledge ]]></page><page Index="224"><![CDATA[

 198 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

base and pedagogy. However, the implications of technology education extend beyond  
knowing science and scientific occupations, to vocational education and even social studies,  
art, ethics and value education. Clubbing technology with science will not only drain the  
time available for learning science, but the learning objectives of technology will also not  
be met.  

This is a paradox in the face of supply falling short of skilled labour demand. The prob - 
lem, among other things, lies in a lack of co-ordination between institution and industry,  
a low social status for such courses, which largely attract academically backward and/or  
economically weaker sections, inappropriate curricula, and absence of affective training for  
the work place. The nation is still far from adequately training for existing technology roles  
at the workplace. Perhaps, it is time to redefine technology and technology education and  
its place in the educational process and curriculum.  

There are several facets to technology education at the school level. As an economic  
instrument, technology education contributes to national economic competitiveness and  
wealth creation and, in that restricted sense, is synonymous with vocational education. An  
appropriate education in technology is critical for sustainable development to ensure com- 
patibility of economic growth with environmental protection. Technology education may  
be designed to enhance people’s ability to control technology and resist the prospect of  
technocratic elite. It has the potential to either counter gender biases in the present-day  
representation of technology or, if inappropriately handled, to perpetuate them. Technology  
education has hitherto served to enhance the professional image of technology and engi - 
neering, improving its standing in society. An important facet of technology education is to  
enable people to create and control the “symbolic” world of technology.  

Technological activities in rapidly industrialising nations like India have come to be dic - 
tated by purposes from alien contexts for centuries. This has resulted in the neglect and  
downgrading of indigenous technologies; it has derailed the evolution and progress of local  
initiatives. Such nation states find themselves lagging behind in the technological “catch-up”  
game with the rules framed by “industrialised” societies.  

All cultures and groups have the capability to visualise and redesign their environment  
for a variety of purposes; some designs are more harmonious and aesthetic, and others  
more functional. Science can provide the resources/means for technological advances.    
Knowledge and excellence in science, however, are not sufficient or even necessary condi - ]]></page><page Index="225"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  199 

tions for technological innovation. India, which is proud of a scientific human resource, is  
found wanting not only in terms of documented innovations, but also in terms of a better  
quality of life for the people. To some, the situation may seem ironical for a country with a  
rich legacy of innovative practices. Others may argue that such nations have not yet grasped  
the language of modem technology. A D&T education needs to include a metaphoric un - 
derstanding of technological activities for all people, not only the practitioners and profes - 
sionals. The language of design and technology is concrete; imagining, drawing and making  
models. Signs and symbols are used for representing an idea, modifying it and communi - 
cating with peers. This has been an underrated subject in Indian school curriculum. The  
reasons for the situation lie within and beyond the curriculum itself, in teacher attitudes,  
parental concerns and the society itself.  

Chitra Natarajan, Designing and teaching appropriate technological productions to enhance their multi-ex - 

pressive and multi-purpose possibilities, In Patrick Dias (ed.), Multiple Languages, Literacies and Technolo - 

gies. Multilingualism, Frankfurt, and Books for Change, New Delhi, 2004 

20. Reflections on Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyaan 
Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyaan (RAA ) – National Innovation Mission – by Ministry of Hu- 
man Resource Development (MHRD) is a major initiative aimed at encouraging research  
and innovation from school to university levels, in a two – step manner. The first one plans  
to look at incentivising, with greater funding of new inventions and innovations right from  
the district level while the second  plans to sensitise institutes as well as students on the  
need for patenting research and publishing research papers. 

It is important that the current lacunae are addressed to create a new climate for inno - 
vation and generate  human resources with the right capabilities to innovate and document  
innovations. Some of the key characteristics to bring about the changes are discussed below. 

1.  Characteristics of innovators and environments that support/inhibit them 

	 Curiosity: a natural human quality long suppressed by systems that reward rote learn- 
ing, and consistent high performance, and punish risk taking 

	 Motivation: to follow up on the curiosity. Motivating element differs from person to  
person, depends on circumstances. For instance, circumstances that tolerate failures  
due to risk taking will offer higher motivation to children (and adults) on following up  
on their curiosity. ]]></page><page Index="226"><![CDATA[

 200 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

	 Perseverance: to stay on the task till curiosity is quenched or problem is solved. It can  
be encouraged by suitable environments. Eg. Providing several opportunities to solve  
problems that have the right amount of challenge, especially with positive reinforce - 
ment (marks, rewards, social recognition, or even just a teacher’s smile) for originality  
and perseverance   
	 Critical and out-of-box thinking: to increase originality, novelty, questioning attitude,  
etc. This is encouraged in environments where people feel free to think differently, and  
different ideas are not just tolerated, but respected.  

2.  Characteristics of environments that support innovation 

The environments are influenced and/or constituted by teachers, schools, the parent  
community; resources (library, ICT, lab-kits, maps); education structures – BRCs, DIETs,  
SCERT; Education Officers, local colleges and universities (higher education); UGC and S&T  
policies and supports (DST).  

	 Professionally well developed and empowered teachers: tend to innovate in their teach- 
ing-learning and can help create an environment of innovation in their schools, and  
the community. They need support – material (print, ICT, lab resources, space, maps),  
institutional (policy, trust, scheduling), and intellectual (subject experts, college teach - 
ers, researchers).  They are also motivated and supported by encouraging the forma - 
tion and sustenance of teacher communities that work in collaboration.  

	 Parents need to be part of the change : by participating constructively in the school’s  
efforts to innovate and supporting the values that drive innovation – perseverance,  
honesty and ethical conduct.  For instance, students choose to solve real life problems  
set in their local context in consultation with parents. They share their processes and  
products with the society at large through exhibitions and school science club meet - 
ings.  
	 Schools need to facilitate innovation : by including the needed flexibility of schedules  
and space use, by encouraging teachers to collaborate and coordinat with education - 
al bodies to provide the facilities and support that teachers need. They should have  
a transparent working systems, recognize their strengths and weaknesses, build on  
their strength and seek support to reduce the effects of their weaknesses.  

	 Coordination among all Central and State ministries and agencies: to support teachers  
and schools not just in terms of educational resources (curricula and policy guidelines ]]></page><page Index="227"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  201 

through circulars), but more importantly through recognising and rewarding collab - 
orations in improving teaching learning of science, documenting processes (rather  
than mere products) of innovations, and facilitating sharing among teachers and the  
community (by creating platforms for sharing – district level innovation meetings,  
documentation of innovations), enabling content support for schools and teachers by  
members from institutions of higher education and research through suitable mecha - 
nisms that recognise such support (eg. UGC, DST). 

3.  Scope for strengthening current programmes that promote innovations 
	 School projects : of which there are several competitions, with similar or different  
goals, but most focusing on the products of projects rather than the process.  Even  
when the process is expected to be documented, as in a log book, it is not a major  
element for evaluation of the project. Specific steps can be taken to focus on the pro - 
cesses of innovation and its documentation rather than on the products.   

	 Inquiry as a learning method : needs that the students and teachers know the process - 
es of scientific inquiry, and be able to designing experiments and solutions, work in  
an environment that encourages use of knowledge for scientific argumentation and  
documentation of all observations and results.  Characteristics in 1 and 2 above are  
essential prerequisites for the practice of inquiry in schools. 

	 Develop design and technology skills among all students : by providing opportunities  
for solving real world problems collaboratively and make it part of the curricular  
requirement from schools.  

	 Document and curate all innovations : to ensure validity and access.  

Besides the above new initiatives are needed in the following areas; 

	 Development of resources in print and electronic media 
	 Enabling the local development of teaching-learning kits and materials, like simple  
and easily replaceable laboratory materials, maps, simple chemical kits, microscopes,  
etc. 
	 Mechanisms to make the needed resources available to all schools 
	 Teacher professional development to enable maintenance, adaptation, use and de - 
velopment of resources and strategies for innovation among students and the com - 
munity ]]></page><page Index="228"><![CDATA[

 202 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

4. Nationwide Teacher Professional Development Mission: BEST project 

Through suitable incentives and collaborative organisational mechanisms, a scheme has  
been formulated in order to create a climate for sustained professional development of sci- 
ence and mathematics teachers. The scheme calls for a nationwide coordinated mission in- 
volving MHRD and DST at the Centre, and all regulatory and implementing bodies for school  
and higher education at the centre and State levels. It seeks to reorient and strengthen the  
existing systems to support a climate of innovations by teachers and students at school  
level.   

The detailed project report (DPR) has been prepared by HBCSE for DST in collaboration  
with several stakeholders in education. The mechanisms suggested in the scheme focus on  
building communities of teachers, pedagogy experts and science and mathematics content  
experts to encourage and support committed teachers in their effective teaching-learning  
practices in science and mathematics.  

Chitra Natarajan, Personal communications and notes 

Section B:  Our shared reflections  

Chitra and I spent time in reading and discussion sessions since the late 80s, more to set  
a platform for gaining insights into ever changing socio-economic, scientific, technological  
and ecological developments that emerged with increasing frequency. The 90’s witnessed  
major social transformation worldwide, setting the foundation for many debates. A major  
issue of the 90s was the globalisation of markets that was sweeping the entire social canvas,  
raising concerns about all activities within a society. In our sessions we covered a vast range  
of issues ranging from food security, malnutrition, healthcare, disease mapping and design - 
er drugs, human rights, habitat, resource management, sustainability, biodiversity, scientific  
literacy, and many more.  

In this section, dedicated to Chitra, I have shared brief glimpses of  only some of the edu- 
cational issues; Education and social transformations; Interdisciplinary teaching – learning  
models; Sustainability literacy; Lifelong learning: A key to knowledge economy; Education  
for skills development and nation building; Inclusive education: Road ahead; Conflicts and  
education; and Systems thinking & education. ]]></page><page Index="229"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  203 

1.  Education and social transformations 

Progress of modern societies has been largely driven by advances in science and technol - 
ogy; new knowledge acquisition; socio cultural transitions and in particular free expression  
of thought, and these have been due to education, its influence and reach. As a primary tool  
of knowledge transmission through generations, it has allowed for progression of tradition - 
al wisdom, to modern societies. New ways of thinking, teaching, learning have been comple - 
mented by novel tools, methods and materials in society. 

Homes, schools and universities are the three stages where early knowledge acquisition  
begins and it is vital that this happens in an environment that allows free, creative and criti - 
cal thinking. The primary aim of each of these institutions must be to teach children diverse  
ways of using their minds and not radically change their minds. In a continuously evolving  
world, to bring about desired social transformations it is an imperative to have the right  
education, tools, and attitudes. Right attitudes, perhaps is the toughest to develop as these  
are based on individual ideologies, cultural beliefs, and one’s upbringing.  

In many developing nations delays in effecting sociocultural, political and economic  
changes have vastly limited progress. Economic and social developments are linked to nat - 
ural resources, human skills, and capital. These depend on how effectively the right knowl - 
edge systems are developed. Local cultures and belief systems often determine what kind  
of knowledge matters most in any location. In the future all knowledge societies will be  
defined by local complexities and diversity. With new knowledge systems edging out earlier  
ones we have to continuously reposition ourselves to align with the new configuration.  

Social transformations are inherent to all progressive societies and these often happen  
very subtly, in unexpected ways, places, times, groups, in the process creating a domino  
effect. Thanks to the omnipresent social media platforms, people from all economic strata  
have found their voices in social and cultural spaces, driving new social transformations. 

2. Interdisciplinary teaching – learning models  

The need for collaborative and integrative disciplines to resolve major challenges of cli - 
mate change, food security, transportation, healthcare, to name few, is now recognised by  
all the stakeholders. This integration is happening not only within scientific disciplines but  
also between scientific and non-scientific domains. A key driver for such a move has been  
emerging sustainability challenges, the solutions for which do not lie in any single discipline ]]></page><page Index="230"><![CDATA[

 204 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

but in multiple disciplines. The primary objective of interdisciplinary education (IDE) is to  
improve the cognitive abilities of the children, help develop appropriate knowledge, criti - 
cality of thinking, ethical concerns, analytical insights, problem solving skills, and a passion  
for learning  (See Repko, Allen F., 2009, Assessing Interdisciplinary Learning Outcomes. Working Paper,  

School of Urban and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Arlington. Source: [https://serc.carleton.edu/econ/ 

interdisciplinary/why.html, accessed 10, June 2015 ).  

There have been debates about the manner by which one can  foster learning to  students  
who come with powerful pre-existing ideas to learning environment. This will call for in - 
sights from diverse disciplines on the part of teachers while integrating new concepts from  
multiple disciplines into a broader conceptual framework for teaching. IDE model’s biggest  
spinoff was the enhanced ability of children to adopt newer methodologies, appreciate mul - 
tiple perspectives, integrate contrasting views from other discipline as well as declarative,  
procedural and structural knowledge. 

A key issue confronting modern societies is that of ethics in life and work, its implications  
and challenges. In a conflict driven world the ability to understand and assess conflicts,  
their impact on education, and possible options to deal with them have become critical.  
This has been an issue steered clear by most disciplines. The IDE approach sensitises the  
children to gain insights into these key social processes, allows the integration of ideas from  
multiple disciplines, allows the right use of the acquired knowledge. In effect IDE has now  
been recognised as a key enabler of many contemporary societies to build caring and sus - 
tainable communities.  

It is well known that children from diverse geo-climatic zones bring with them hetero - 
geneous learning styles, and multiple forms of intelligence to a learning environment, often  
in total contrast to what the teacher possesses and many times what the teacher has not  
yet been exposed to. Many of these children come from diverse cultural backgrounds, with  
unique talents and new-found values. IDE lends itself to managing such heterogeneous en - 
vironment as it allows multiple expressions, radical ideas from differing disciplines offering  
immense scope for making links and patterns.  

Resolution to contemporary industrial, government and societal challenges are beyond  
the scope of anyone discipline, and we need more integration between sciences, engineer - 
ing arts, sociology, to name a few. Moving from being a single disciplinary educator to an ]]></page><page Index="231"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  205 

interdisciplinary educator can be a challenge for many teachers in Indian classrooms due to  
lack of teacher’s familiarity with individual domains, time and resources needed to  acquire  
the necessary cross disciplinary knowledge; training in task modelling  –  an instructional  
strategy based on learning through observation, very integral to IDE; and lack of synthesis- 
ing feedback from various disciplines. Besides, the ability to introduce interdisciplinarity in  
classroom settings will be crucial for the teacher, who will have to be trained in relevant dis - 
ciplines and gain the needed expertise on guiding IDE sessions; and leverage ideas across  
disciplines. 

3. Sustainability literacy  

Global mega trends  –  climate change, healthcare, food security, urbanisation, transpor - 
tation, and energy, pose serious challenges before world governments. To address these  
challenges, the future workforce will have to be trained in integrated models of education  
that enables them to look beyond revenues to social and environmental impacts. Globalisa- 
tion of markets have also brought in its wake several industry led initiatives in developing  
innovative technologies and products for specific markets, all of them now made possible  
due to the convergence of scientific and technology domains. Sustainability literacy is about  
learning how human actions impact social, economic and ecological systems in the short  
term and long term future.  

The last two decades has also seen an increasing convergence of various disciplines  –   
chemistry, biology, molecular engineering, physics, agricultural technologies, biotechnolo - 
gies, to name a few. Recent innovations in products, processes and materials have all come  
about due to such convergence. These changes have been driven by search for innovative  
functional products, sustainability protocols, regulatory drivers and societal needs.  

Advanced materials is a discipline where major innovations have been due to conver - 
gence of physics, chemistry, chemical and electronic engineering.  In recent times there has  
been an increasing focus on understanding the chemistry behind biological phenomena.  
Despite considerable efforts there are vast gaps in the understanding of many real phenom - 
ena.  

Engineers classically trained to operate manufacturing facilities and systems are now  
being sought to resolve complexities in environmental systems, infrastructure, consumer  
products, medicine and a host of other domains. To be able to design and develop functional ]]></page><page Index="232"><![CDATA[

 206 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

and sustainable products scientists and engineers with multiple capabilities and exposure  
to wide disciplines are needed. Future workforce involved in research, technology and man - 
ufacturing will need new skills in design and manufacturing of products to meet the societal  
needs  while maintaining a low ecological footprint.  

There exists an urgent need, both in research and in industry, for trained graduates with  
working knowledge of such interdisciplinary domains. It is now acknowledged that there is  
a growing need for the introduction, of an effective and integrated course on industrial ecol - 
ogy  into many scientific discipline, and advanced level training in developing sustainability  
tools and  metrics. 

To be able to train a future workforce with multidisciplinary skills we will have to adopt  
context based models from classroom to university level, to enable students to understand  
and make sense of local dynamics. Several scientific disciplines will have to be integrated  
with natural and social sciences, besides environmental, resource management, materials  
science and information technology. A number of universities now offer multidisciplinary  
courses involving amongst others courses in sustainable materials design, environmental  
law, civil society rights, to name a few. 

Progressive societies of the future will increasingly demand a workforce with the right  
skill sets to deal with complex social, environmental and economic challenges. Cutting across  
various economic sectors the pressure on prospective job seekers to learn newer compe - 
tencies in ethics, conflict management, resource utilisation, human ecology, sustainability  
protocols, to name some will be very high. To be able to resolve such complex issues, the  
future workforce will need interdisciplinary problem-solving capabilities. In this regard the  
imperative to conceive, develop and promote sustainable literacy is very high, as it will ena - 
ble graduates develop new methods of doing any activity, both individually and collectively.  

Learning modules on “Sustainable Development”, its principles and its implementation;  
ability to analyse and evaluate options aligned with sustainability protocols; ability to adopt  
interdisciplinary models; acquire newer competencies in law, sociology, public administra- 
tion etc., should be a top priority for educational institutions. Sustainability education skills  
do pose many challenges in disciplines like engineering, urban design and planning, envi - 
ronmental audit-accounting, manufacturing etc., where skills are not amenable for tradi - 
tional class room models and will need newer teaching and learning models that allow an  
open ended inquiry based model. ]]></page><page Index="233"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  207 

4.  Lifelong learning: A key to knowledge economy 
Today’s knowledge economy demands that school education to provide a platform for  
lifelong learning. Future enterprises will demand highly skilled and educated workers with  
a conceptual understanding of complex and evolving concepts; ability to develop new ideas,  
theories and knowledge; ability to assess what they read; articulate verbally and in writing;  
ability to understand ideas across disciplines; and critique and evolve their own life long  
learning. According to Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), many stu - 
dents are not well prepared for the knowledge society due lack of understanding multiple   
literacies and problem-solving abilities.  

In the 80s, cognitive scientists informed us that better learning occurs when children  
learn how to use any acquired knowledge in real-world social and practical settings. They  
emphasised the importance of learning in a connected manner; relevance of context based  
learning and collaborative learning. Worldwide transformations in trade, commerce, tech - 
nology, growing diversity, and migration of people present educators with very new and  
altered circumstances; as a result, the characteristics which defined successful education  
systems of the 80s no more hold good.   

Personalising learning is gaining importance in policy discussions in many countries  
arising from a realisation that there is no uniform pattern of learning and organisations are  
ill-equipped to address individual learning needs. An emerging idea is that systems capable  
of achieving universally high standards are those that can personalise the programme of  
learning and progression offered to the needs and motivations of each learner. In the future,  
collaborative efforts will be increasingly needed in the knowledge society for lifelong learn - 
ing, sensitive to contextual conditions, different social values and cultural features.  

Different learners enter the classroom with different cognitive structures and many of  
them learn best when they are placed in a learning environment that is sensitive to their  
pre-existing structures and flexible enough. 

5. Education for skills development and nation building 
In the early 2000s, the globalisation of markets accelerated the diffusion of technology  
and the pace of innovation. New occupations emerged and replaced existing ones. Within  
each occupation, required skills and competencies evolved, as the knowledge content of  
production processes and services rose. Change happens fast in the world of work, driven ]]></page><page Index="234"><![CDATA[

 208 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

by innovation and by developments in technology and markets. Keeping up with this pace  
of change is a continuing challenge for learning institutions. 

Equipping the future workforce with the skills required for the jobs of today and those  
of tomorrow is a strategic concern in the national growth and development outlooks of all  
developing economies. Good quality primary and secondary education, complemented by  
relevant vocational training and skills development opportunities, prepare future genera - 
tions for their productive lives. Good quality basic education for all is an agreed goal and an  
essential prerequisite for further skills development.  

Building on rich and diverse country experience, it is possible to articulate a framework  
of a skills development strategy that can be effective across a broad range of economic and  
social circumstances. The gulf between the world of learning and the world of work is very  
wide. To keep training relevant, institutions must build solid bridges between the world of  
learning and the world of work. There is plenty of scope for continuing and deepening ex - 
changes of knowledge and experience among developing nations. 

The basic goal of general education is to raise the cognitive skills of people failing which  
social costs can be very high. While most countries have seen an unprecedented expansion  
of their education and skill base over the past decades, there is a persistent gap between  
the kind of knowledge and skills that are most in demand in the workplace and those that  
education and training systems continue to provide.  

Innovation and technological change are likely to radically alter the present systems,  
there are hardly any area of modern economic activity where innovations and that too of  
the disruptive kind does not take place. Future workforce will need to constantly adapt to  
such changes and equip themselves with new knowledge and skills. It is likely that many  
jobs that will be created in next 20 years have not yet been anticipated.  

Climate change is a major driver of technological change, innovation and sustainability  
framework of nations that demands a workforce fully trained and skilled in various do - 
mains. The challenges to education and skills development are very high in redeveloping  
economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Sub-Saharan Africa etc. Preparing the  
workforce for the labour market of the future remains a challenge. ]]></page><page Index="235"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  209 

It is very important for developing nations to set a framework for lifelong learning, up - 
grade core skills (literacy, numeracy, communication skills, real time problem solving ca - 
pability), portability of skills (across disciplines) and employability  (See A Skilled Workforce  

for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth: A G20 Training Strategy, International Labour Office – Geneva,  

2010). 

6. Inclusive education: Road ahead  
Inclusive education has been a topic of much debate in a country where a large number  
of disabled children have by and large been excluded out of schooling systems. In a society  
where any sign of disability of any form resulted in denial of access to physical infrastruc - 
tures, to employment, to aircrafts, to auditoriums and a host of public places,  decades of  
policy making and sensitisation seem to have made little impact. Public and educational  
institutions without disabled-friendly ramps, toilets, lifts, and classrooms are quite the  
norm. In the last few decades, several champions of disabled people have fought for the ba- 
sic rights and dignity of the community, each of them having left lasting footprints. One such  
soul was Rahul Cherian, who with his zest for life and free spirit laid the foundation for the  
basic rights of disabled people in India. 

On the untimely death of Rahul Cherian, on 7 February 2013, Lawrence Liang, a lawyer  
at the Bangalore – based Alternative Law Forum, in his column, in The Hindu, February 9,  
2013 wrote, “  Rahul leaves behind an important legacy in terms of his work, but a far more  
important one on how we understand the very idea of a free spirit. His singularity, while irre - 
placeable, provides us with a vocabulary of thinking of human rights struggles as really a right  
to the maximum enjoyment of life and doing it with a sense of lightness.” 

Too many laws governing the rights of disabled people have been enshrined in  various  
Acts of Parliament  –  the Mental Health Act, 1987 (to regulate mental health services), the  
National Trust Act, 1999 (for creation and monitoring of a trust for the welfare of persons  
with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities), the Rehabilitation  
Council of India Act, 1992 (to regulate rehabilitation services), and the Persons with Disa - 
bilities Act, 1995 (for everything else).  

The Equal Opportunities and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 was a compre - 
hensive breakthrough legislation that provided for education and economic rehabilitation  
of people with disabilities. It states that free education for children with disabilities up to  
the age of 18 years must be provided in an appropriate environment. The Sarva Shiksha ]]></page><page Index="236"><![CDATA[

 210 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Abhiyan (SSA) proposed to implement ‘universalisation of elementary education’ (UEE) in a  
mission mode with a focus on providing quality elementary education to all children in the  
age group 6–14 years. Inclusive education was an integral component of SSA. 

Despite these laws and initiatives India has not yet made the progress that millions of her  
disabled citizens expected. What they need is access to places of education, work, govern - 
ment offices, public transport, which is a question of humane design of spaces where people  
move across, work or live. What they do not seek are sympathies and subsidies. 

Rahul Cherian and Amba Salelkar, wrote in The Hindu, June 12, 2012, in a column, “Sym- 
pathy not the solution”,  “ In a sense, having a disability forces the person to be excluded from  
all aspects of society, including with respect to education, workplace, transportation, access to  
public places and everywhere else for that matter. It is not far from the truth to say that the de - 
nial of access makes persons with disabilities outcasts. And the fault begins with the Constitu- 
tion. Disabled people will be able to articulate their moral and political citizenship only when  
they move away from a benign charity model to a constitutional framework of equal rights”. 

The first and the most important barrier a child faces is lack of access to places of learn - 
ing like schools and colleges. For those who overcome this barrier the next challenge is  
indifferent and poorly trained educators and a hostile classroom. In the past decade the  
first step towards policy guidelines, auditing practices, teacher sensitisation and training,  
development of resource persons were made.  

The major challenge to making education inclusive lies in demystifying the concept that  
disability is a deterrent for success in life and work. India needs a long term strategy which  
must start with analysing the journey so far, documenting the practices and developing  
best practices and guidelines, community – based programmes that promote inclusion, and  
teacher development programmes. Best practices will have to be based on creating inclu - 
sive cultures (parent, teacher attitude to disability), policies (training and resource devel - 
opment) and practices (school access, curricula, assessment)  (See Examples of Inclusive Educa - 

tion in India, United Nations Children’s Fund Regional Office for South Asia, © The United Nations Children’s  

Fund (UNICEF) Regional Office for South Asia, 2003) .  

In India a large number of dedicated non-governmental agencies have been doing out - 
standing work in improving the quality of education for disabled. There are numerous chal - 
lenges facing these initiatives – categorisation and levels of each disability; possibility of de - ]]></page><page Index="237"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  211 

veloping teacher training modules; teacher development practices, to name a few. Perhaps  
the biggest challenge is the access to facilities, educational, healthcare etc., for children in  
rural and tier 3 – 5 cities. A large proportion of disabled children from rural areas are totally  
excluded from learning environments. These challenges make intervention challenging for  
the government but community based initiatives have made profound impacts.  

Besides, disability at birth a large number of children turning disabled due to malnutri - 
tion, early age infections, and other reasons have compounded the present situation. The  
challenges of special education for children with psychological and psychomotor handicaps  
are immense and need a closer look. We also have a number of cases where able people have  
become disabled due to brain surgeries, accidents etc.,  forced to restart their lives from a  
blank slate, with their short and long term memories being affected. 

It is vital that studies of educational research explore special education areas in the fu - 
ture, as increasingly newer types of disabilities are being reported from all over the world.  
Educational research on the phenomenon of  ableism or  ablism is at its infancy and has a  
long way to go.  

It is an imperative to develop appropriate teaching–learning materials for children both  
with disabilities. The present teaching–learning process addresses the individual learning  
needs of children in a limited way. Families need more awareness about the type and inten - 
sity of disability, and agencies working in this area need more support to develop tools and  
resources to deal with diverse disabilities.   

The training of general teachers at pre-service and in-service levels should address meth - 
odology for identifying children with disabilities; classroom management; use of appropri- 
ate teaching methodologies; skills for adapting the curriculum; development of teaching– 
learning materials that are multi-sensory in nature; evaluation of learning, etc.  

The debate on integrating children with special needs into mainstream education has  
been going on for a long time. There are multiple standpoints in this as experiences so  
far have not been documented about the success or failure of doing so. A careful and well  
thought out engagement is needed in this area. In the case of children who face cognitive  
challenges the knowledge of the type of affectation is still on a learning curve. As mentioned  
before, such children need personalised support, calling for highly trained teachers fully ]]></page><page Index="238"><![CDATA[

 212 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

committed to the profession and who are equipped with the training for this mission. There  
are non-governmental agencies that have made significant contributions in this area. 

In summing up, I pray for strength and endurance for all the parents, guardians, care giv - 
ers, and teachers of such children for keeping their faith, hope and compassion and in the  
process, enabling these children to seek their rightful  place in society. 

7. Conflicts and education  
Wars, both between nations and within nations, mega developmental projects, natural  
disasters, communal conflicts, rapid industrialsation and environmental degradation  have  
led to large scale degradation of ecosystems, loss of valuable flora and fauna, depletion of  
natural resources, destruction of habitats, dislocation of people from their local habitats.  
Notwithstanding major progress the world governments have made in science, technology,  
social and many economic sectors the deeply disconcerting issue of ever growing conflict  
and the inability of world governments to bring about faster and sensitive resolution to  
such conflicts persist. 

Conflicts and natural disasters continue to have far reaching consequences for education,  
its access, its delivery and its efficacy. In the last two decades, conflicts within and across  
national boundaries due to communal strife, sharing of resources, and ethnic polarisation  
have left in its wake a generation of children, youth and adults without access to education.  
Besides, increasing number of survivors of conflicts and industrial disasters, such as Bho - 
pal, Chernobyl, land mine explosions and child soldiers need educational rehabilitation to  
be employable. 

Many of these catastrophes have led to large scale migration of people to newer places  
which offer no access to employment, educational resources, fundamental rights and basic  
facilities. Since 80s development and war driven refugees have been migrating across bor - 
ders seeking refuge. Of these, children form a large proportion and many of them with no  
access to education.   

While displaced communities seeking asylum as refugees have accessed better services  
from highly conscious and caring host countries those displaced within their own countries  
have found it quite difficult to access basic educational services, reflecting the state of gov - 
ernance in the affected countries. Lack of basic schooling and slow pace of reconstruction of ]]></page><page Index="239"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  213 

educational systems, often the last priority in post-conflict phase have limited the develop - 
ment of skilled workforce a country will need in the post-crisis phase.  

Schools in refugee camps also are limited by appropriate learning materials and trauma  
care facilities. We need to evolve strategies to train sensitised teachers for education of girls  
and women and put in place both educational and healthcare systems in place. At present  
there is a large insufficiency in the provision of resource materials, in-service teacher train - 
ing, non-formal education, etc. 

There is a need for universal policies for education in conflict situations while developing  
appropriate curriculum, teacher development, resource materials. These policies should  
keep in mind that these are children who have gone through intense personal trauma hav - 
ing lost their families and homes. The curriculum development should integrate views of  
trauma counselors and peace education experts.  

 In the last two decades, generations of families have been schooled in refugee camps  
without any resolution by world governments, leading to a huge population untrained with  
employment skills. It is hence imperative that the schools in such camps be provided recog - 
nition and accreditation and students given the opportunity to join mainstream education  
in a region of their choice. It is fair that the governments and society bear the cost of these  
as they have been key instruments in developing conflict situations. Through the years, civil  
societies and non-governmental organisations have contributed more to resolving post-cri - 
sis educational needs than governments. 

The global response has been three pronged to deal with education for these migrant  
children; service delivery (access and quality of education), social transformations (through  
education) and education reforms. The focus of many of these initiatives has been on lan - 
guage of instruction, history for national identity, civic and citizenship education, human  
rights. This model is limited due its fragmented approach, limitation of technical approach- 
es in ever changing conflict scenarios, and inability of governments to provide the needed  
education (See Alan Smith, The influence of education on conflict and peace building, Background paper  

prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2011, The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and edu - 

cation, 2011/ED/EFA/MRT/PI/48). 

Today, global conflicts, both manmade and nature made disasters have left in their wake  
generations of children who are refugees and migrate to far off places for survival. Provid - ]]></page><page Index="240"><![CDATA[

 214 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

ing a framework for education for these children has become a daunting task. The increase  
in migration within and among countries calls for special arrangements to be made for the  
education and skills training of immigrants, and for the recognition of the skills they bring  
with them. 

In recent times, a good body of literature on role of education in reconciliation and trans - 
formations and rebuilding in post conflict phase has come about. UN peace building efforts  
have led to significant progress in post conflict restructuring of educational systems in many  
regions. In today’s world each country should have a primary and secondary education sys - 
tem to highlight values of non-violence through newer and more sensitized schooling. Con- 
flict sensitivity and peace building process are two facets of education and these need to be  
understood well by all stakeholders. 

It is imperative that planners integrate education for emergency situations as a part of  
the curriculum than as a reactive relief effort. This will lead to a critical mass of teachers  
and administrators to deal with any future situations. The need for establishing a “culture of  
peace” to develop caring and sustainable future societies is very high today and a road map  
for this has to be put in place immediately. 

The learning from educational and cognitive research through the years will have to be  
leveraged to develop new pedagogic models for post conflict phase education. In addition  
integration of peace education right from the school levels will be a step in the right direc - 
tion. Right to education is a constitutional right of all global children and the mandate to  
provide it lies with the world governments. 

8.  Systems thinking (ST) and education  
Human societies are in a continuous state of engagement with complex systems, natural  
ecosystems, marine biosystems, human body systems, solar systems, industrial manufac - 
turing systems, legal systems and a host of others which governs, influences and guide our  
decision making process on a daily basis. How these systems work, how humans engage  
with these systems and how these systems respond to our intervention is an area of study  
of pressing interest worldwide. 

Such complex systems are not amenable for analysis by existing reductionist and analy - 
sis based frameworks which deconstruct complex systems into single units to understand  
them. The behaviour of these and other socially complex systems do not permit reduction ]]></page><page Index="241"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  215 

to individual components for analysis and interpretations, an observation that led to emer- 
gence of a new approach to understanding knowledge management and causality processes  
needed for solving complex global problems. Known as Systems Theory or Systems Thinking  
this approach allows a better understanding of interdependent elements working in syn - 
ergy, like bones, cartilages, tissues in our bodies or sun, stars, planets in the solar systems  

(See Systems Primer, Stephen Menendian, Caitlin Watt, December 2008, Kirwan Institute for the study of Race  

and Ethnicity). 

Systems theory, functioning more as set of principles, offers a new perspective that links  
relationships and interactions, provides decision makers, the tools to respond to and cope  
with unexpected events in complex systems. It provides us an idea about the degree by  
which organization of components in a system shapes the behavior and final outcomes. 

Systems thinking does not offer a solution to deeply rooted issues but allows a new un - 
derstanding of systems behavior, permitting us effective intervention possibilities. In con - 
trast to analytical reasoning which breaks down a system to its constituent parts like in  
econometrics, economics etc., systems thinking takes a different path i.e., how systems com - 
ponents interact with each other within the overall system.  

For educational researchers the goal should be to explore how systems thinking can be  
studied within the pedagogic domain, i.e., formulation of tools that are useful for training  
of students in systems thinking. The contemporary debates in systems biology and perhaps  
even in modelling of “climate change” exemplify the kind of problem one may encounter.  
There is a need to focus on designing a pedagogic tool kit for system thinking. 

Many claims have been made concerning the ability of systems thinking interventions to  
change the nature and quality of thought about complex systems. Yet, despite a number of  
interventions within educational and corporate settings, questions remain over the exact  
relationship between systems thinking and cognitive processes such as learning, memo - 
ry, problem solving, and decision making (See http://www.systemdynamics.org/conferences/1997/ 

doyle.htm, accessed 28, January 2014). 

Systems thinking demands that due consideration is given to relationships within the  
system and to the response from the system to our interventions, now and in the future. It  
has a great relevance to policy on education and schools that are often seen in isolation from  
housing and other social systems. A systems approach, in fact, would have integrated the ]]></page><page Index="242"><![CDATA[

 216 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

symbiosis between housing, schools and fiscal policies. In recent times adoption of systems  
thinking approaches has led to newer understanding of cognitive sciences, sustainability  
processes, resource management, healthcare, public hygiene, and a host of other areas of  
immediate relevance to the society.  

Section C   Reflections on an innovative science communication initiative  

This section is a dedicated feature contributed by renowned science communication ex - 
pert, Professor Arnab Bhattacharya, TIFR, who had close interactions with Chitra. He shares  
his experiences and thoughts on an innovative science communication movement he pio - 
neered in 2009.  

“Chai and Why?” – 7 years of spreading excitement about science 
Chai and Why (Tea and Why?) is an unique outreach initiative of TIFR to take science out  
to the public based on an informal, accessible science-café-like platform that has been running  
without a break since 2009, twice a month in Mumbai. However, Chai and Why? has stretched  
the boundary of a typical science café, and developed into a small experiment in getting the  
Indian public excited about science. Many ideas developed for the Chai and Why? sessions have  
been extended to develop interactive science-demos popular at schools, with the local Marathi  
language versions being enthusiastically appreciated in rural Maharashtra. I briefly outline  
our experiences over the past 7 years of Chai and Why? 

Beginnings:  Though science and technology underpin societal progress, there is a gen - 
eral lack of awareness about it in the Indian public. Further, even for the general public who  
are interested in science there is really no forum where one gets an opportunity to interact  
with scientists, discuss their views and ask questions. “Chai and Why?” was born out of an  
chance meeting when a team from Prithvi Theatre came to check if the Homi Bhabha Au - 
ditorium at TIFR would be available for holding a play which was based on the life of the  
mathematical genius Ramanujan. While this didn’t materialise, Sanjna Kapoor and Sameera  
Iyengar from Prithvi got talking (over chai in the TIFR canteen of course!) with some mem- 
bers of the TIFR public outreach team, about how one could get the public more interested  
in discussing science and maths in general. We were discussing the concept of the “Café  
Scientifique” in Europe, which takes scientists out of their research or academic setting into  
an informal environment to have a chat with the public on their work or on areas of science ]]></page><page Index="243"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  217 

where an active public debate already exists. I had been for a science communication work - 
shop in the UK and thought this model was worth trying out. I had also seen the British  
Council try some of these in Mumbai, and realised we’d need to adapt it to be successful in  
a city like Mumbai. For starters, I thought that the word science itself was the first problem  
– anything with science is perceived as being “not-for-me” by the public at large. Science is  
perceived as a difficult boring subject in school, whose purpose ends once the final exam is  
given. Not enough students take science beyond high school anyway! I thought we should  
try repackaging this in a more user-friendly way. I had earlier approached coffee shops, but  
they didn’t seem to care too much about playing host to scientists. Sanjna, however, seemed  
to love the idea and immediately offered to try this out at Prithvi theatre, one Sunday morn - 
ing a month, and “Chai and Why?” was born…  

We started off in 2009, with a commitment to try for 6 months to bring TIFR’s science  
into the public, and gauge their response. We soon went to a twice-a-month format (the sec - 
ond venue is at Ruparel College) and we are now into year 7 without a break.  

What happens at Chai and Why? Mostly an informal and accessible discussion  –  much  
more so than a public lecture, and with typically a smaller audience (75 – 100) to enable  
maximum participation (well, people must be willing to wake up on a Sunday morning for  
this!). It starts with a short talk (20 – 25 min.) from the speaker, usually a scientist from  
TIFR, to bring out the background and important issues of the subject. After this there is  
a short break to allow discussions, chai (of course) and conversations to start. This is fol - 
lowed by an hour or more of questions and answers and general discussion. With a casual  
meeting place, plain language, and inclusive conversation we want to create a welcoming  
and comfortable atmosphere for people with no science background, so that anyone can  
participate. Our audiences have ranged from 6 year old kids to 80+ year olds, and questions  
have really flowed freely. In fact, most sessions have to be forcibly ended since the venue has  
to be vacated for the next programme.  

Given the diversity of the research being done at TIFR it has not been difficult to cover a  
very wide range of issues relating to science and technology, in particular, topics that affect  
our world today  –  lasers, nanotechnology, space exploration, stem cells, malaria, Alzheim- 
er’s disease, large science experiments like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), supernovae,  
mathematics behind puzzles, genetics, solar energy, lighting etc. 

We have been quite clear that the main focus and style of Chai and Why? would not be sci - ]]></page><page Index="244"><![CDATA[

 218 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Inspiring children, the “chai and why? approach ]]></page><page Index="245"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  219 

Figure 1 

Inspiring children, the “chai and why? approach ]]></page><page Index="246"><![CDATA[

 220 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

ence education; we did not want to “teach” people something they did not know, but would  
just try to get people excited about science. One key learning for us has been that connecting  
with the audience, packaging and timing of the sessions are most important. We’re often  
asked about the science behind the stories making headline news. While we’ve of course,  
had sessions around Mangalyaan and LHC, we have also utilised the opportunity to see if we  
can use stuff in the news to connect to and explore some basic science.  

We looked at mathematics behind the financial markets and the sub-prime crisis during  
the stock market crash. A while ago, words like 2G and 3G were on the first page of every  
newspaper (usually related to “scam”) but nobody really knew what exactly they were and  
what the difference between them was. Hence, our session “ 2G, 3G, yeh sab kya hai Ji ”. Catchy  
titles have been a highlight of Chai and Why? Why would people wake up on Sunday morn- 
ing for “A primer on wireless communication”?  

I’ve always felt that the right title can often be the determining factor in whether some - 
one chooses to attend a session or not. In science it often isn’t easy, but we do try our best to  
make it as attractive and exciting as possible. A talk on Terahertz spectroscopy may not real - 
ly excite the public, but a poster with a nice filmy image saying “ab Tera kya hoga?” certainly  
does! When the “kolaveri-di” song went viral on YouTube, I thought it would be a good time  
to do a session on carbonated beverages – Why this Cola very di? I think the Indian scientific  
community has been a little too uptight and conservative in its view of science as a serious  
subject and sometimes a little liberty can help make it open an accessible to a wider audi - 
ence. Yes, I agree “tare-ke-tare gamma ko lekar…” was not scientifically accurate, the gamma  
rays being discussed couldn’t come from stars, but we can start the session explaining that…  
the title is the hook to bring people in.  

Going beyond the traditional science café:  When we started we had a general “mostly  
adult” audience in mind, but we soon realised that the audience was often families with  
school going kids – often 6 – 8 year olds, and we would need to address this segment as well.  
We started with special sessions targeting younger children that coincided with the summer  
vacation periods. Most of these offer a “hands-on” component and are extremely popular  
and enthusiastically received by children of all ages! We covered e.g., science in the kitchen  
and bathroom, connections between origami and maths, or mathematics in folk tales, sci - 
ence in the playground or on the beach, the nature of sound and music etc. In fact, the idea  
of being able to DO experiments at the “summer specials” is now so much an expectation ]]></page><page Index="247"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  221 

that we tried a new format this summer with multiple stations (with volunteers) where the  
audience could form smaller groups and try out the experiments. Given the right kind of set - 
ting it is quite amazing how much the audience will let you get into the depth of the science,  
as we discovered when experimenting with the crystallization of cocoa butter in chocolate.  
Perhaps if we had chosen some other material it would not have been so interesting!  

The other type of session that is always popular are our festival specials – the nearest  
Chai and Why? Sundays around Holi, Diwali, and on a few occasions Christmas. The Holi  
sessions have traditionally been something associated with colour – from why are things  
coloured, to colour vision, science and art, and even colourful chemistry experiments. The  
Diwali sessions have had a link to light and of course, by popular demand, the chemistry of  
fireworks. And we’ve looked at snowflakes and their shapes around Christmas.  

When we started, Chai and Why? sessions were mainly conducted by TIFR faculty. In - 
creasingly the sessions are also being done by Ph.D. students, some of whom are fantastic  
communicators and are able to connect very well especially with a young audience. Involv- 
ing the younger generation at TIFR also told us that Chai and Why? had to be on facebook  
and YouTube! TIFR was perhaps the first scientific institute in India actively using social  
networks to promote science and reach out to the community. Our facebook page (www. 
facebook.com/chaiandwhy) has ~3500 likes, and offers a nice way for public to interact  
with us before and after the sessions. People ask questions, post comments, give ideas for  
sessions they’d like us to conduct etc., and all this also helps sustain audience interest.  

Beyond Chai and Why?  Based on the enthusiastic response to the hands-on “Chai and  
Why?” summer sessions, some of the experiments that could be done with easy to obtain  
items typically available in most homes were packaged into a science-demo called “The  
Wonderful Laboratory called Home”. This interactive programme received a phenomenal  
response in schools in Mumbai and other locations across India. In fact, we very quickly re- 
alised that even simple experiments that are discussed in the textbook are often not practi- 
cally done by the students or even shown at schools! Often minor variations on such exper- 
iments can go a long way in provoking questions and encouraging students to think things  
out. For example, the clichéd demonstration on covering a burning candle with a glass (Fig.  
1) becomes a whole lot more interesting with two candles of different heights, which do not  
go out at the same time.  

It was felt that the programme could reach out to more people if it was taken to ru - ]]></page><page Index="248"><![CDATA[

 222 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

ral schools in the local language. The outreach team developed a Marathi equivalent of the  
“Wonderful Laboratory called Home” experiments – “ghar navachi prayogshaLa”. Similarly,  
during the International Year of Chemistry we did a whole set of fun chemistry experiments  
which eventually formed the basis for “rasayanshashtratil gamti-jamti”. These experiments  
have now been tried out in rural Maharashtra and have reached out to over 40000 children.  
Mr. Surendra Kulkarni, the secretary of the TIFR Outreach Committee, has played a pivotal  
role in this effort; going beyond mere translation into Marathi, ensuring that the examples  
were appropriate such that the audience connect was retained. He has also been perform - 
ing these experiments at various places. Such lec/dem modules have also helped expand  
our reach significantly with invitations from across the country – Sikkim, Rajkot, Chandi - 
garh, Madurai, Shillong, Kanyakumari etc. Chai and Why? is now a test-bed to try out new  
experiments – some work, some do not – in 2015 we’ve been trying experiments on light  
and colour for the UN International Year of Light. Hopefully we will be able to extract a set  
of easy-to-do optics experiments as well. Naturally not all the ideas are our own – we have  
learnt a lot from the experts in science communication and popularisation across India –  
e.g., Arvind Gupta, and from resources available online. 

Why should TIFR do this?!  Science, through revolutionary discoveries or incremental  
improvements, has been key to progress in human society, solving problems of food, med - 
icine, transportation, communication etc. Today’s challenges of energy and climate change  
require scientific research for their solution. Further, a basic understanding of science is  
key to being able to make rational personal and policy decisions. However, there is still an  
overall lack of a proper connect between science and society.  

In particular, the important role of curiosity-driven, basic research such as that done  
at research institutes like TIFR is often not appreciated. Unfortunately, I believe that the  
scientific research establishment in India, though mainly government funded, has also not  
adequately engaged with the public. In many cases, outreach has been more of a public rela - 
tions exercise rather than a platform for discussion or debate. Science is hence thought to be  
elitist, and not-for-the-common-person, with scientists in ivory-tower research institutions.  

Many groups have of course addressed this problem. While there have been various ef - 
forts at curriculum reform, demystifying science through science museums, books in re - 
gional languages, hands-on activity based learning components, etc., the huge disparities in ]]></page><page Index="249"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  223 

economic, social and cultural standards across a large nation, coupled with the diversities  
of language mean that there is no easy or unique solution.  

“Chai and Why?” is a tiny step towards providing a platform enabling informal discus - 
sions of science. We not only owe it to the taxpayer who funds our research, but perhaps,  
in the long term, will be able to influence more students to take up science and build up the  
next generation of scientists in India! It is a work-in-progress, and we are still learning, from  
our small experiment in getting the Indian public excited about science.  

Prof. Arnab Bhattacharya (arnab@tifr.res.in ) is a scientist and science communicator at the Tata  
Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai. His group works in the area of semiconductor  
optoelectronics focusing on nitride semiconductors and nanowire devices. Apart from semiconductors,  
Arnab is passionate about science outreach, and enjoys talking about science and demonstrating sci - 
ence experiments to all audiences, particularly school and college students and pioneered “Chai and  
Why?” Mumbai’s bimonthly science café. 

Source:   ac - 
cessed 20, September 2015 ]]></page><page Index="250"><![CDATA[

 224 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Annexure 5 

Journal articles 
1.  Chitra Natarajan, Projects with a difference: project based learning, Education for Change, Vol 20, 2014  
– 15 
2.  Shome, S., & Natarajan, C. (2013). Ideas of and attitudes towards projects and changing practices: Voices  
of four teachers. The Australian Journal of Teacher Education. 38(10), 64 – 81 
3.  Ara, F., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. Investigating Indian elementary and middle school student’s im- 
ages of designers. Design and Technology Education: An International Journal,18 (2), pp 50 – 65, 2013 
4.  Ara, F., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2011) A Study Investigating Indian Middle School Students’ Ideas  
of Design and Designers. Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 16.3, 62 – 73 
5.  Ara, F., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2009) A Study Exploring the Strategies Utilised by Indian Middle  
– School Students in Identifying Unfamiliar Artefacts. Design and Technology Education: An Interna - 
tional Journal, 14 (3) pp 47 – 57 
6.  Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2009) Collaborative learning technology  
education: D&T unit on puppetry in different Indian socio – cultural contexts. International Journal of  
Technology and Design Education, 19 (1), pp 1 – 14 
7.  Khunyakari, R., Mehrotra, S., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2007). Design and technology productions  
among middle school students: an Indian experience, International Journal of Technology and Design  
Education, 17: 5 – 22 
8.  G.C.Pal, Chitra Natarajan, H.C.Pradhan, `Gender and the Mathematical Mystique,’ Indian Educational Re - 
view, January  –  June, 1997 
9.  G.C.Pal, Chitra Natarajan, H.C.Pradhan, `Logico – mathematical Errors  –  An Analysis,’ School Science,  
XXXV(1), March 1997, pp53 – 59 

Conference proceedings 
1.  Birwatkar, P., & Natarajan, C. (2014). Using design and technology task to foster learning through the  
joy of making among students of class VII. In S. Nath (Ed.), Proceedings of the ICSSR Sponsored Two  
Day National Seminar on Innovations in 21st Century Education (pp. 121 – 133). Mumbai: K. J. Somaiya  
Comprehensive College of Education, Training and Research, Vidyavihar 
2.  Chunawala, S., Birwatkar, P., Muralidhar, A. & Natarajan, C. Looking at science through the lens of diver - 
sity: Views of Indian students and teachers. In G. Nagarjuna,  A. Jamakhandi, & E. Sam (Eds.). Proceed - 
ings epiSTEME 5: International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathemat - 
ics Education, Cinnamonteal: India, pp. 185 – 191, 2013 
3.  Shome, S. and Natarajan, C.  Projects in school learning: Teacher experiences. In G. Nagarjuna,  A. Ja - 
makhandi, & E. Sam (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME 5: International Conference to Review Research on  
Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, Cinnamonteal: India, pp. 321 – 327, 2013 
4.  Chunawala, S. and Natarajan C (2012). A Study of Policies Related to Science Education for Diversity in  
India. In “Towards Effective Teaching and Meaningful Learning in Mathematics, Science and Technol - 
ogy”, Proceedings of ISTE International Conference on Mathematics, Science and Technology Educa - 
tion, South Africa, Oct 2011 ]]></page><page Index="251"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  225 

5.  Natarajan, C. (2012),  Designing Technology Education beyond know – how or know – why. In “Towards  
Effective Teaching and Meaningful Learning in Mathematics, Science and Technology”, Proceedings of  
ISTE International Conference on Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, South Africa, Oct  
2011  
6.  Saurav Shome, Vasant V. Shastri, Ritesh Khunyakari and Chitra Natarajan. (2011) What do students  
learn from designing and making a playground model? In Kay Stables, Clare Benson and Marc de Vries  
(Eds.) Proceedings of PATT 25 & CRIPT 8: Perspectives on learning in design and technology education,  
pp. 357  –  366. London: Goldsmiths, University of London 

7.  Vasant V. Shastri,  Ritesh P. Khunyakari, Sugra Chunawala and Chitra Natarajan. Thinking through de - 
sign” Tecahers explore a design and make task. In Sugra Chunawala & Meena Kharatmal (Eds.). Pro - 
ceedings epiSTEME – 4: International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and  
Mathematics Education, HBCSE, India, January 5 – 9, 2011, pp 302 – 308. New Delhi: Macmillan Pub - 
lishers India Ltd. 
8.  Farhat Ara,  Chitra Natarajan and Sugra Chunawala. (2011) Students as users and designers: Product  
evaluation and redesign by Indian middle school students. In Sugra Chunawala & Meena Kharatmal  
(Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME – 4: International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technol - 
ogy and Mathematics Education, HBCSE, India, January 5 – 9, 2011, pp 95 – 100. New Delhi: Macmillan  
Publishers India Ltd. 
9.  Ankita Patel, Saurav Shome, Chitra Natarajan. (2009) A study of middle school students’ ideas about  
photosynthesis through multiple interaction modes. Proceedings and papers of Panel on Ecological and  
Environmental Science Education in India of 2nd  People’s Education Congress, 5 – 9 October 2009, at  
HBCSE, Mumbai. pp. 55 – 70. 2009 
10.  Khunyakari, R., Mehrotra, S, Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2010)  Implementing D&T education in  
Indian middle schools: Lessons from trials. International Conference on ‘’Designing for children’ –  with  
focus on ‘play’ and ‘learn’’ at Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Mumbai, Feb 2 – 6, 2010. (Published online  
only) http://www.designingforchildren.net/papers/ritesh-khunyakari-designingforchildren.pdf 
11.  Ara, F., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2010) Naïve Designers: A study describing Indian middle school  
students’ creative design solutions to a real world problem. International Conference on ‘’Designing for  
children’ –  with focus on ‘play’ and ‘learn’’ at Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Mumbai, Feb 2 – 6, 2010.  
(Published online only) http://www.designingforchildren.net/papers/farhat-ara-designingforchil - 
dren.pdf 
12.  Ara, F., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2009), Moving from an analysis of artefacts to designing arte - 
facts: studying middle school students’ ideas about design and designers, Ibid. 
13.  Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2009) Evidences of learning through col- 
laboration in design and technology tasks in Indian classrooms, Ibid. 
14.  Gandhimathy, S., Khunyakari, R., and Natarajan, C. (2009) Middle school students’ knowledge about  
static and dynamic artefacts studied through their drawings and descriptions. Ibid, pp 101 – 107 
15.  Khunyakari, R., Mehrotra, S., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2009) Studying Indian middle school stu - 
dents’ attitudes towards technology. In K. Subramaniam & A. Mazumdar (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME  
– 3: An International Conference to Review Research in Science, Technology and Mathematics Educa - 
tion, HBCSE, India, January 5 – 9, 2009, pp 81 – 87. Macmillan Publishers India Ltd. ]]></page><page Index="252"><![CDATA[

 226 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

16.  Khunyakari, R., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2007) Comparison of depictions by middle school stu - 
dents elicited in different contexts. In Dakers, J.R., Dow, W. and de Vries, M. (Eds.) PATT – 18, Interna - 
tional Conference on Design and Technology Education Research, Glasgow, July 2007, pp 392 – 399 

17.  Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2007) Using pictures and interviews to  
elicit Indian students’ understanding of technology. In Dakers, J.R., Dow, W. and de Vries, M. (Eds.) PATT  
– 18, International Conference on Design and Technology Education Research, Glasgow, July 2007, pp  
152 – 161 

18.  Gandhimathy, S., Khunyakari, R and Natarajan, C. (2007). Middle school students’ depictions of static  
and dynamic objects and assemblies based on verbal descriptions and cues. In Chitra Natarajan & Bee- 
na Choksi (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME – 2: International conference to review research on Science,  
Technology and Mathematics Education, Mumbai, India, February 12 – 15, 2007, New Delhi: Macmillan  
India pp 146 – 151 

19.  Ara, F., Khunyakari, R and Natarajan, C. (2007). A study of middle school students’ depictions of routes  
based on verbal descriptions and cues. In Chitra Natarajan & Beena Choksi (Eds.). Proceedings epiS - 
TEME – 2: International conference to review research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Educa - 
tion, Mumbai, February 2007, New Delhi: Macmillan India New Delhi: Macmillan India pp 141 – 145 

20.  Khunyakari, R, Mehrotra, S., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2007). Cognition in action in Design and  
Technology units among middle school students. In Chitra Natarajan & Beena Choksi (Eds.). Proceed - 
ings epiSTEME – 2: International conference to review research on Science, Technology and Mathemat - 
ics Education, Mumbai, February 2007, New Delhi: Macmillan India pp 126 – 131 

21.  Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2007). Dialogues in formal communica - 
tion: A study of students’ talk in a D&T unit in India. In Chitra Natarajan & Beena Choksi (Eds.). Proceed - 
ings epiSTEME – 2: International conference to review research on Science, Technology and Mathemat - 
ics Education, Mumbai, February, 2007, New Delhi: Macmillan India pp 73 – 78 

22.  Khunyakari, R, Mehrotra, S., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2006). Designing design tasks for Indian  
classrooms. In Marc J de Vries and Ilja Mottier (Eds.). Research for standards – based technology educa - 
tion. Proceedings PATT – 16, Baltimore, March 2006, pp 20 – 34 

23.  Choksi, B., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2006) Technology as a School Subject in the Indian Context,  
In Volk, Kenneth (Ed.) Articulating Technology Education in a Global Community, Conference Proceed- 
ings of the International Conference on Technology Education in the Asia Pacific Region, January 05 –  
07, 2006, Hong Kong, pp 280 – 290 

24.  Khunyakari, R. P., Mehrotra, S., Chunawala, S. and Natarajan, C. (2006) Design and Technology Produc - 
tions Among Middle School Students: An Indian Experience. In Volk, Kenneth (Ed.) Articulating Tech - 
nology Education in a Global Community, Conference Proceedings of the International Conference on  
Technology Education in the Asia Pacific Region, January 05 – 07, 2006, Hong Kong, pp 63 – 73 
25.  Mehrotra, S., Khunyakari, R. P., Natarajan, C. and Chunawala, S. (2006) Learning Technology Through  
Collaboration: D&T unit for Boys and Girls in Different Indian Socio-cultural Contexts. In Volk, Kenneth  
(Ed.) Articulating Technology Education in a Global Community, Proceedings of the International Con - 
ference on Technology Education in the Asia Pacific Region, January 05 – 07, 2006, Hong Kong, pp 280  
– 290 ]]></page><page Index="253"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  227 

26.  Chitra Natarajan, Ritesh Khunyakari and Sugra Chunawala, Vidnyan Ashram, its work and HBCSE: Com - 
ments, in Dr. Shrinath Kalbag Memorial Seminar Report, April, 2004 
27.  Chunawala,  S., Natarajan, C., and Ramadas, J. (1999). Indian Students’ Ideas about Living and Non –  
living: a cross cultural study, IOSTE –  9, Symposium of the International Organisation of Science and  
Technology Education, Durban, South Africa, pages 96 – 1 04, June 24 to July 2, 1999 

Books 
1.  Ashok K Gupta, Ebie Sam, Natarajan C, Have fun with Buoyancy , 2014, HBCSE 
2.  Natarajan, C. and Choksi, B. (Eds.) The epiSTEME Reviews Vol. 2, Review of research on Science, Tech - 
nology and Mathematics Education, New Delhi: Macmillan India, 2008 
3.  Natarajan, C. and Choksi, B. (Eds.) Proceedings of epiSTEME – 2: International conference to review  
research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, Mumbai, February 12 – 15, 2007. New  
Delhi: Macmillan India, 2007 
4.  Arvind Kumar and Chitra Natarajan, Atoms and Development, Mumbai: HBCSE, 2003.(Published in ten  
languages) 
5.  Sugra Chunawala et al, The Roots of Reason: Science and Technology in the Ancient World, Arvind Ku - 
mar and Sangeeta Mahurkar (Ed.) Quest Pub. Mumbai 2002 
6.  Bakhtaver Mahajan and Chitra Natarajan: Health Matters, Activity Based Foundation Course on Sci - 
ence, Technology and Society, Chitra Natarajan (Series editor), HBCSE, January 1999 
7.  Sugra Chunawala: Conflicts, Activity Based Foundation Course on Science, Technology and Society, Chi - 
tra Natarajan (Series Ed), HBCSE, January 1999 
8.  Yogita Parab and Chitra Natarajan: Ecological Balances, Activity Based Foundation Course on Science,  
Technology and Society, Chitra Natarajan (Series Ed), HBCSE, August 1998 
9.  Chitra Natarajan and Sajeev Raj N.: Global Climate Change,  Activity Based Foundation Course on Sci - 
ence, Technology and Society, Chitra Natarajan (Series Ed), HBCSE, June 1998 
10.  G.C.Pal  –  Education,  Activity Based Foundation Course on Science, Technology and Society, Chitra  
Natarajan (Series Ed), HBCSE, January 1998 
11.  Chitra Natarajan: Resources: Land and Air,  Activity Based Foundation Course on Science, Technology  
and Society, Chitra Natarajan (Series Ed), December 1997 
12.  Chitra Natarajan: Resources: Energy,  Activity Based Foundation Course on Science, Technology and  
Society, Chitra Natarajan (Series Ed), HBCSE, August 1997 
13.  Chitra Natarajan: The Population Problem, Activity Based Foundation Course on Science, Technology  
and Society, Chitra Natarajan (Series Ed), HBCSE, May 1997 
14.  Chitra Natarajan: Incineration for Waste Management, in Encyclopedia of Environmental Pollution and  
Control, Vol.2, ed. R.K.Trivedi, (Enviro Media, Karad, India), pp 1 – 28 (1995) 

In Book and special issues 
1.  Chunawala, S & Natarajan, C. (in press). An Inclusive Science and Technology Education Curriculum at  
School Level, in G. Chadha & S.Krishna (Eds.) Feminists and science: critiques and changing perspectives  
in India, Vol. 2 to be published Stree Publishers, Kolkotta. ]]></page><page Index="254"><![CDATA[

 228 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

2.  Chitra Natarajan (2011) Design and Technology: An Emergent School Subject, in K. Subramaniam (Ed.)  
The epiSTEME Reviews Vol. 3, Research Trends in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, New  
Delhi: Macmillan India 
3.  Chitra Natarajan and Sugra Chunawala (2009) Technology and Vocational Education in India, in Alister  
Jones and Marc de Vries (Eds) International Handbook of Research and Development in Technology Edu - 
cation, The Netherlands: Sense Pub. 
4.  Chitra Natarajan, Culture and Technology Education, In Marc J de Vries, Rod Custer, John Dakers and Gene  
Martin (Eds.) Analyzing best practices in technology education. The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2007 
5.  Chitra Natarajan, Science and Society: Sustaining the Connections. In Karuna Chanana (ed.) Transforma- 
tive Links between Higher and Basic Education: Mapping the Field. Sage Publishers, New Delhi, 2004 
6.  Chitra Natarajan, Designing and teaching appropriate technological productions to enhance their multi  
– expressive and multi – purpose possibilities. In Patrick Dias (ed.) Multiple Languages, Literacies and  
Technologies. Multilingualism, Frankfurt, and Books for Change, New Delhi, 2004 
7.  Chitra Natarajan “Science Education: teacher communities and research based practices”, IWSA Newslet - 
ter, Special Issue, Vol. 42, Issue No. 4, April – July 2014, ISSA 09726195 

Book Reviews 
1.  Chitra Natarajan (2008), Marc J. de Vries and Ilja Mottier (eds), International Handbook of Technology  
Education: Reviewing the Past Twenty Years, Sense Pub., The Netherlands, 2006, 536 p, ISBN 90 – 77874  
– 06 – 2, in International  Journal of Technology and Design Education 18, pp 307 – 312 
2.  Chitra Natarajan (2011), David Guile, The Learning Challenge of the Knowledge Economy, Sense Pub.,  
2010, 212 pages, ISBN: 978 – 94 – 6091 – 257 – 3 (paperback), in Design and Technology Education: An  
International Journal,  16 (2), June 2011 pp 307 – 312 

Technical/ Internal reports 
1.  Chunawala S., Muralidharan A., Birwatkar, P. and Natarajan, C. (2012) Towards Science Education for  
Diversity: A Teacher Researcher Collaborative Workshop,  HBCSE, Mumbai, December 2011 
2.  Koul, R., Dawson, V., Chunawala, S., & Natarajan, C. (2012). A collaborative approach to developing sci- 
ence teaching methods suitable for addressing diversity in classrooms. Perth, WA: Science and Math - 
ematics Education Centre, Curtin University 
3.  Beena Choksi, Sugra Chunawala, Chitra Natarajan (2010): Science Education for Diversity –  India  
Country Report. Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai, India (October 2010) 
4.  Beena Choksi, Sugra Chunawala, Chitra Natarajan, (India); Alun Morgan (with acknowledgements to  
the SED team in Exeter), Lindsay Hetherington, Nasser Mansour, Keith Postlethwaite, Nigel Skinner,  
Rupert Wegerif, (England); Saouma BouJaoude, Rola Khishfe, Sahar Alameh, Nada Radwan, (Lebanon);  
Ralf van Griethuijsen, Michiel van Eijck, Perry den Brok, (The Netherlands); Ng Swee Chin, Choy Siew  
Chee, Oo Pou San, Chin Fui Chung, Teh Lee Wah, (Malaysia); Huseyin Bag, Ayse Savran Gencer, (Turkey).  
(2011): Science Education for Diversity: WP2 Synthesis Report. Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Edu - 
cation, Mumbai, India (Lead Participant) 
5.  Saurav Shome and Chitra Natarajan, HBCSE Guidebook on Project Based Learning, Technical Report  
No. I (Dec. 2010) ]]></page><page Index="255"><![CDATA[

  A legacy of expressions |  229 

6.  Neha Agrawal, Thinking about Systems Thinking, December 2009  –  June 2010, HBCSE July 2010 
7.  Saurav Shome and Chitra Natarajan, Energy and Environment, Internal Report, Mumbai: HBCSE, April  
2009 
8.  Gandhimathy, S., A study of ideas about objects using depictions based on textual descriptions and  
cues. Technical Report No. I (07 – 08), Mumbai: HBCSE, December 2007 
9.  Ara, F., Khunyakari, R and Natarajan, C. (2007) A study of middle school students’ depictions of routes  
based on verbal descriptions and cues. Field Work Report Mumbai: HBCSE, March 2007 
10.  Swati Mehrotra, Ritesh Khunyakari, Sugra Chunawala and Chitra Natarajan, Using Posters to Under - 
stand Students’ Ideas about Science and Technology, Technical Report No. I (02 – 03), HBCSE, TIFR,  
February 2003 
11.  Chitra Natarajan (Ed.) `Workshop on Good Citizenship for Secondary School Students of Bharatiya  
Vidya Bhavan School: A Report’, a report on workshop conducted by HBCSE and Shikshan Bharati at  
Vadodara, May 3  –  8 1999, TR No. 1 (99 – 00), July 1999 
12.  Sajeev Raj N. and Chitra Natarajan, `School Level Experiments on Adsorption,’ TR No. 41, June 1998 
13.  Jayashree Ramadas, Chitra Natarajan, Sugra Chunawala, Swapna Apte, `Role of experiments in school  
science,’ TR No.31, June 1996 
14.  Chitra Natarajan, Sugra Chunawala, Swapna Apte, Jayashree Ramadas, `Students’ ideas about plants,’  
TR No.30, June 1996 
15.  Sugra Chunawala, Swapna Apte, Chitra Natarajan, Jayashree Ramadas, `Students’ ideas about living and  
nonliving,’ TR No.29, June 1996 
16.  G.C.Pal, Chitra Natarajan, & H.C.Pradhan, `Difficulties in Mathematics among Primary Students: A Socio  
– Psychological Perspective,’ TR No.32, June, 1996 
17.  Tata Talent Search and Nurture (TATSAN): Report 1994 – 95, Chitra Natarajan, TR No.25, February  
1996 
18.  J.N.Tata Endowment Programme for Talent Nurture Among Post – School Students, An Interim Report,  
Chitra Natarajan, October 1993 to August 1994, TR No.23, September 1994 
19.  The draft training manual on Environment to train resource persons: viz., Directors, Assistant Direc - 
tors, Project Officers, Principals of colleges, Teachers and Population club leaders, and Students and  
community participants. It includes objectives of the training, the skills required for the level, modes  
and period of interaction, the activities to be undertaken, and subject content of the training. (1995)  
(with Vandana Chakravarti, SNDT University, and her team)  

Popular articles 
A)  Published in the issues of “Catalyzer”, the Journal of the International Chemistry Olympiad, Issue Num - 
bers 2 to 11, 2001 (33rd IChO) 
1.  Chitra Natarajan, Professor G. N. Ramachandran and the Collagen Molecule 
2.  Chitra Natarajan, Chemistry at the Cutting Edge: Nanotechnology 
3.  Narottam Sahoo and Chitra Natarajan, Chemistry at the Cutting Edge: Green Chemistry 
4.  Chitra Natarajan, Catalysts: Drivers of Change 
5.  Pranita Gopal and Chitra Natarajan, Genome Based Drug Discovery 
6.  Chitra Natarajan, Combinatorial Chemistry  –  the New “Kit” on the Block ]]></page><page Index="256"><![CDATA[

 230 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

7.  Chitra Natarajan, Chemistry at the Cutting Edge: Molecular Computers 
8.  Chitra Natarajan, Chemistry and the Arts 
9.  Chitra Natarajan, Chemistry of Natural Products 
10.  Chitra Natarajan, Mumbai and the Chemical Industry 

B)  Science Education in India, One India One People, April 2007, pp41 – 43 

Invited talks at conferences and workshops:   
(1)  Moderator and Chair of Panel Discussion on Planning learning through projects – What is learned & how  
can it be assessed, at Teachers’ Conference on Project based Science Learning organised as part of Sci - 
ence Utsav 2013 by Navi Mumbai Science Foundation (NMSF), at the Gujarat Samaj Bhavan, Vashi, Navi  
Mumbai, 9 February 2013 
(2)  The 5 – E model for a constructivist approach to teaching – learning in science, in the Science Conference  
for Teachers on Let’s understand and use constructivist approach, jointly organised by Rayat Shikshan  
Sanstha and HBCSE, at Yashwantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Satara, 4 March 2013 
(3)  An Activity Based Programme on Issues at the Interface of Science, Technology and Society, at Third  
Peoples Education Congress, Ahmedabad, 19 November 2012 
(4)  Science Education across India: What differs and Why, at TARC Symposium 2012 on Innovative Science  
Education for Students of Diverse Backgrounds: Strategies, Approaches and Assessment, Tunku Abdul  
Rahaman College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 27 September 2012 
(5)  Designing Technology Education Beyond the Know – how and Know – why, at ISTE 2011, Towards ef - 
fective teaching and meaningful learning in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education, organized  
by Institute of Science and Technology Education, UNISA at Kruger National Park, Mopani, South Africa,  
October 17 – 20, 2011 
(6)  Design and Technology: An Emergent School Subject, at epiSTEME – 3: An International Conference to  
Review Research in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, HBCSE, India, January 5 – 9, 2009 
(7)  “Comparison of Depictions by Middle School Students Elicited in Different Contexts,” at PATT – 18 Con - 
ference, Glasgow, June 2007 
(8)  “Technology as a School Subject in the Indian Context,” at International Conference on Technology Edu- 
cation in the Asia Pacific Region, Hong Kong, January 05 – 07, 2006 
(9)  “Designing and teaching appropriate technological productions with their multi-expressive and multi - 
purpose possibilities,” International Symposium on social production of knowledge through diversity of  
expressive modes, multiple literacies and bi(multi)lingual relationships, Pune, February 2003 
(10)  “Design and Technology in School Curricula”, presented at Seminar on Concepts, Approaches and Em - 
pirical Research Designs in the Project on Multilingualism, Subalternity and the Hegemony of English in  
India and South Africa, Pune, January 2002 
(11)  “Science and Society: Sustaining the Connections”, paper presented at Workshop on “Transformative  
links of higher education with basic education: Mapping the field”, organised at Zakir Husain Centre for  
Education, JNU, Delhi, November 2001 
(12)  “Human Memory: A Liberating Attribute”, at the annual conference of the Architecture Forum of Mohile  
Parikh Centre for the Visual Arts, disContinuous Threads: Memory, Freedom and Architecture in Con - 
temporary India, December 10-12, 1997 ]]></page><page Index="257"><![CDATA[

6 
Connecting with communities and nature 

Shaping her thoughts 

Besides her father, teachers and mentors who continuously motivated her to explore new  
dimensions in her life, Chitra’s thoughts were later shaped by social transformations of the  
late 60s and 70s, when environmental, feminist, students, civil society and peasant move - 
ments were sweeping the world. It was a time when countries were rebuilding, defining  
their own identity, a period when mega projects were being planned world over, a period  
when dissenting voices were raised across the globe. 

In the late 70s she was exposed to a radically new economic idea, which was both hu - 
mane and sustainable, when the British economist, E.F. Schumacher propounded his new  
theory in 1973, in a collection of essays “ Small Is Beautiful: A Study Of Economics As If People  
Mattered”. His thought process shaped the lives of many communities who were seeking  
alternative paths based on local self – reliance and appropriateness. 

Today the idea of “small is beautiful” is threatened by the ongoing erasure of history and  
geography due to mega economic development policies. The underlying theme of these es - 
says, of the slow dehumanisation of human resources, erosion of craft skills, and inequality  
of human engagement motivated her to engage with the process of people – centred eco - 
nomics based on ecological and human sustainability, that Schumacher was advocating. 

Her thoughts and actions later on in her life were equally shaped by several philosophers  
and authors. She collected and read their works, imbibed and adopted their thoughts in  
her life. She gained diverse insights from each of them; Babasaheb Ambedkar ( social jus- 
tice and transformations); Desmond Morris (behavioural theories); Gerald Durell  ( humane  
world of animals); George Mikes (diversity of  cultures); Edward de Bono (art of conceptual,  
critical and lateral thinking); James Gleick (phenomena of chaos); Ivan Illich (process of un- 
learning); M.K.Gandhi (peace and  self reliance); Martin Luther King ( rationale for justice ); ]]></page><page Index="258"><![CDATA[

 232 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Nelson Mandela ( power of faith); Paul Ehrlich (dynamics of population growth); Peter Senge  
(learning schools and organisations );  Rachel Carson ( connecting patterns); Richard Feyn - 
man (non-conformism, passion, radical teaching ); Simon de Beauvoir ( mapping a feminist  
path for emancipation of women ); Rabindranath Tagore ( culture, education, nationalism ).  
This initiation led her to follow many pursuits and passions later on in her life. 

Her pursuits and passions 

Chitra’s passion traversed a wide canvas, beyond science and science education, to  
plumbing, electrical jobs, plays, comics, origami, painting, poetry, she was equally passion - 
ate about them all!  

Creating a new home – cum – learning centre 

Moving out of Nashik due to health reasons should have been reason enough for us to be  
conservative and focus on health and work. However, our deep interest to  set up a home –  
cum – learning centre in the proximity of Mumbai was too overpowering. The challenge was  
zoning in the location. Like we did in Nashik, we evaluated several remote locations within  
a span of 100 kms from Deonar where we lived.  

The fact that I was well aware of local dynamics of Karjat led us to explore options in this  
region. In the 80s and 90s Karjat was an experimental theatre for several studies in sociology  
and education and was home to several NGOs like Academy of Development Studies (ADS);  
working on diverse educational, skills development and agriculture projects amongst tribal  
villages. The area had a critical mass of experienced professionals who offered possible col - 
laborations. 

We finally found a location that appealed to all of us in Mircholi village, approximately  
six kms from Neral station on Neral – Bhimashankar Road. Moving into designing and con - 
struction stages in early 2008 we faced a major setback with Chitra’s health. Managing both  
our health in the midst of construction was daunting. We took a very cautious decision of  
balancing our work, our health and the new home through 2008 and finished it by early  
2009. Despite her chemotherapy and surgery sessions, Chitra was a major motivation for  
me to finish our new home. No prizes for guessing its name –  Laburnum!  

She was back in action by 1 September 2009,  taking courses and travelling to Mircho - 
li to do the mapping, selecting, planting, and developing a detailed grid of trees, plants  
and drip irrigation infrastructure. Very clear about planting only indigenous varieties, ]]></page><page Index="259"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 233 

we sourced many plants from distant places. Despite her health and work, Chitra man - 
aged to get very involved and we did spend her birthday and  Vishu of 2009 at our new    
home.  

We faced major challenges from the forces of nature in this verdant place. Forest fires  
and high velocity winds, usually in the first two weeks of April, damaged our trees, plants,  
drip irrigation systems, destroyed bird nests, and uprooted 70–80 feet tall trees. Believ - 
ing strongly in nature’s rationale for what it does, we went about rejuvenating the charred  
plants every time we faced such a situation. It was challenging through the next couple of  
years and we became more selective about our visits due to work commitments, health  
concerns and poor road conditions. Chitra would always pray for good roads. By early 2015  
the small roads became state highways and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Au - 
thority (MMRDA)’s four-lane road from Karjat to Kalyan came up. This was a great boost  
for our sagging spirits while we were very involved in Chitra’s radiation treatment by then.  
Never given to pessimism, we were hopeful of a recovery and planned to move to our place  
for rejuvenation. 

Developing a learning centre 

Chitra conceived the framework for a STS Learning Centre way back in 1999 – 2000  
when we had plans of moving to Nashik in 2000 to pursue our personal interests. While she  
worked on the conceptual, content and course and material development I focused on the  
project viability, evaluation, costing and implementation.  

During one of our brain storming sessions at Dr Modi’s Resort, Karjat, in 1999, we devel - 
oped a detailed report with a well-defined target audience, interaction methods, detailed  
content, frequency, period and resources required. The STS courses she designed covered  
several innovative modules; 

1.  Science, technology, society (A perspective) for pre-professionals and professionals 
2.  The web of life (You and the environment) 
3.  Hands on science (a. Science is fun; b. Science Alive; c. For the love of physics) 
4.  English language and communication (a. Reading primer; b. Oral communication; c. Ad- 
vanced communication; d. Transcription) 
5.  Making I-net work for you (a. Using the I-Net; b. Discussion group primer) 
6.  Professional networking (a. Teachers Net; b. Thinkers Net) ]]></page><page Index="260"><![CDATA[

 234 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

7.  Library: Reading is fun (a. The books gallery; b. Reading is fun; c. Meet a book friend) 
8.  Future Speak (a. Charting the future of individuals, families, societies; b. Nation; c. The  
World) 

Despite investing in resources and in land we were unable to take it ahead in Nashik as  
setbacks in personal life led us to shift our base closer to Mumbai. We did discuss the ides  
with several friends and to some extent many of these ideas found their way in an altered  
form at Puvidham, an educational initiative with which both of us were associated with since  
2003.  Puvidham Rural Development Trust (PRDT) is an initiative founded in 1992 by our  
friends Meenakshi and Umesh in the Nagarkoodal area of Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, India.  
It works on developing effective organic farming techniques and providing a humane and  
child-centered education environment. Puvdiham farms, learning centre, and development  
centre which came up later works under the umbrella of PRDT (www.puvidham.in). The  
word “Puvidham” loosely translates from Tamil as “ love for the earth”. 

The Puvidham Learning Centre (PLC) houses children of farmers, migrant labourers  
from nearby villages and offers them residential –  
cum – educational resources till 10 standard. As a  
Trustee I was involved in this initiative helping in  
resource generation and strategic inputs between  
2003  –  2012 and Chitra was closely involved in  
helping the PLC develop the course content, re - 
source materials and training of teachers.  She tried  
her design and technology research experiments  
with children and had many a discussion with  
Meenakshi and her resource team about teaching  
– learning issues. She also encouraged some of the  
teachers to spend time at HBCSE as visiting teach- 
ers to learn about laboratory development.  

Her passions… theatre to hardware to music to paper crafts…. 

She enjoyed different forms of theatre and amongst her favourites were, The Man from  
La Mancha; Evita; Jesus Christ Superstar; Sam McReady, to name a few. She was quite sad  
that she missed watching  Einstein by Naseeruddin Shah due to her health in early January  

“Her suggestions about including design- 
ing of articles at the 7 and 8  level were  
awesome and we found the children  
brimming with new ideas and longing  
to do long hours of work to make ob - 
jects. They would spend time diligently  
on the details of the design and gained  
a lot of understanding of economical use  
of materials, reducing labour through  
design and enhancing the usefulness of  
the object by small designing aspects.”       
–  Meenakshi, Architect and Founder,  
Puvidham, Dharmapuri ]]></page><page Index="261"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 235 

Our life at Halcyon, Dasak Village, Nashik, 1995 – 2007 ]]></page><page Index="262"><![CDATA[

Puvidham students practicing D&T approach to brick making 

With Meenakshi, Kaya and Mahua, Hogenakkal ]]></page><page Index="263"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 237 

Passion for brooches, owls, miniature pots, shells 

Indulging in paper crafts 

Glimpses of her needle work ]]></page><page Index="264"><![CDATA[

 238 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Christmas, December 2014  

Chitra’s final Christmas,  Vishu,  Ganesh Chathurthi 

Vishu,  April 2014 

Making modhaks Ganesh Chathurthi, August 2014 ]]></page><page Index="265"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 239 

On a nature trail and looking for the birds ]]></page><page Index="266"><![CDATA[

 240 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Hangzhou, China, 2002 

Corbett National 
Park, India, 2000 

Mt Santis 
Switzerland, 1999 

Kodagu, India, 2007 

Male Mahadeshwara hills, border of Tamilnadu and  
Karnataka, 1998 

Hogennakkal,  
Karnataka, India, 2004 

Geneva 
Switzerland, 1999 

Solang Valley, Manali,  
India, 2009 ]]></page><page Index="267"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 241 

With Raj’s colleagues, Center for Management Technology, Singapore, 2007 
End of Raj’s 4 Day workshop on A-Z of Chemicals, Materials and Energy, Raj’s 50 th  Birthday ]]></page><page Index="268"><![CDATA[

 242 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Our home,  Laburnum , Mircholi Village 

Supervising the construction, 2009 ]]></page><page Index="269"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 243 

2015. We have had wonderful times at several Carnatic, Hindustani and Western Classical  
music concerts and dance events at places such as Shanmukhananda Hall, Chembur Fine  
Arts, and Nehru Centre. Gunidas Sammelan was one of her favourite ones. 

Paper craft was one of her favourite hobbies and she would often immerse herself in it.  
In March through her final stages she was quite active in working with papers guided by  
her huge encyclopedia of paper crafts. She made heart shaped ones in nine diverse colours  
and called them “ her standing heart” and gave one to very select people as her final gift. I  
remember Ravi and Nagarjuna getting one each. Poetry, natural and political maps, and lan - 
guage was a close second in her list of passions; she bought a lot of books on poems and use  
of language, reminding me that they are for her post-retirement life. 

Working with tools would give her immense pleasure.  She would invest in different sets  
of hardware and tools needed for any repair job and was very facile in handling such tools.  
Like her father, dismantling and reassembling gadgets became one of her pastimes. Our  
bookshelves and kitchen cabinets were designed by her and our architect would find her  
inputs on design and colour combinations quite functional, creative and more importantly  
save on materials. Her last design task was a designer shelf for her mother to house her col - 
lection of gods. It was delivered two days before she left her home forever and went to Joy  
Hospital, on March 26. 

Kitchen and kitchenware were her learning sources. Wherever we went, a visit to the  
household items and kitchen section was the best learning experience we have had, about  
new materials; design and functionality; sustainability of materials; and ergonomics of de - 
sign etc. She would pick up several kitchen artefacts for use in her D&T classes. Her pas - 
sion for sustainability practices in kitchen was borne from her views that most kitchens  
and kitchen practices were highly resource inefficient. She had a fascination for kitchen  
design, wanted to invest in a sustainable kitchen based on her own design involving or - 
ganic waste recycling, heat recovery, energy conservation, water saving, and odour masking    
systems.  

Her minimalist style of making food was a treat to watch. Both of us would spend long  
hours in the kitchen when we used to visit Nashik or Mircholi and fondly cherish those mo- 
ments of dal, roti, baath (lentils, wheat bread and rice) sessions. She would try explaining  
the science of cooking to Alkabai who provides us our food and it was fascinating to watch  
their interactions. Though very spartan in her food habits and often preferred curd rice, she ]]></page><page Index="270"><![CDATA[

 244 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

was also very fond of Italian and West Asian food  
and we never lost an opportunity to try them out.  

Tailoring and painting were a therapy for her but  
only after her cartoons and comic strips. Strangely  
she would enjoy only those that appeared in dai - 
lies – Dennis the Menace, Hagar and Helga, Calvin  
and Hobbes made her day. She would take quite  
some time on the thin comic strips, planning how  
to use and relate them to events around her.  The  
next aspect that would catch her attention was  
the puzzles: crosswords sudoku, kuroku, anagram  
etc., and then the editorial. All these would take  
her 30–45 minutes. Of course the wordings of  
headlines bordering on the hilarious would be good fodder for a talk or a co-curricular ses- 
sion!  She would often get her inspiration from these dailies and letters pinned on notice  
boards at various places.  

She would stock a large inventory of packing materials and gifts and relish the moments  
when a gifting occasion turned up. Chimanlals, the special paper shop in the bylanes of Fort  
area was one of her “ go to” places for wrapping or writing paper. Christmas, of course, was a  
dream for her and was a time of immense joy for her along with  Vishu. She would spend a lot  
of effort in setting up the decorations on these two occasions. Celebrating our last Christmas  
and Vishu we had very little idea that they will be the last ones for us.  

Coins and stamps were a childhood passion and offered immense opportunities to learn  
history, geography, cultures, and evolution in societies; she would toy with them for differ - 
ent small experiments for her STS or D&T classes. So too were the card and board games she  
would collect. She preserved all tags, labels, wrappers and worked out interesting activities  
around them. 

Perhaps, her most enjoyable times were with children who used to visit us. She had a  
large collection of wooden toys that she would bring out to play with children. Most of them  
would be immersed in watching her antics and passion. In many of these social meetings  
she would limit her interaction with adults to a minimum. 

“I had many conversations with her,  
learning many new things, about the  
varied range of topics that interested  
her …. the efforts to preserve native lan - 
guages, how design and technology is  
related to the environment, Carnatic mu- 
sic, building a house, farming, working  
with students, how bureaucracy works,  
human physiology and disease, beauti - 
ful vacation spots, cooking, computers,  
Mumbai.....Unlike most people, she radi - 
ated her life experiences, and they were  
for you to take away and learn from”     
–  Sanjay Chandrasekaran, HBCSE, TIFR ]]></page><page Index="271"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 245 

Chitra and I became avid football fans since the 80s and would spend lot of our time  
watching football between the 80s till the last World Cup. In the 70s, radical and innovative  
football practice models were experimented for the first time by Dutch team Ajax. One of  
them, Total Football was the finest example of visualisation and spatial awareness through  
a collaborative process; it was about making space, moving into space, and organising space  
like architecture on the football pitch.  Chitra derived immense pleasure watching the rev - 
olutionary Total Football concept first championed by the legendary Johan Cruyff and later  
the Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van  Basten and Frank Rijkaard. We were equally mes - 
merised by the Brazilian  samba  football of Socrates, Zico, Rivaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho,  
Ronaldo, Kaka; the French great Michel Platini; the Colombian artist Carlos Valderrama; the  
gifted Italian striker Roberto Baggio before the Spanish football armada arrived with their   
Tiki Taka style of football led by Xavi, Raul, and Andres Ineasta.   

Naturalist in her 

Chitra had a close connect with the natural world and took keen interest in all types  
of species, their eating and habitat, flora and fauna. We travelled to diverse climatic zones  
observing and documenting our experiences. Planning a break would always involve one  
of the three: mountains, forests or beaches, all offering immense joy to Chitra. She would  
first pack her note pad (not the electronic one but the good old pad in which you took down  
notes), guide book, maps, binoculars, both high powered and the ordinary ones, camera,  
her hat, and shoes. We have had several  aah! moments spotting Indian hornbills, paradise  
flycatchers, king fishers, golden orioles, and many more. 

Collecting fallen leaves, observing the patterns of lines, preserving them and adding to  
her collection was a norm. She would often go missing on treks, taking off on new mud paths  
which others would leave alone. Getting her back on the path would take some time. Wher- 
ever she went the first person she would seek out would be the nature walk guide; with  
some of them she made a life long friendship. 

I would often think that her sense of connect with all lives reflected in the quote , “Our  
task must be to widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole  
of nature in its beauty.”  by Albert Einstein. 

She was a great preserver of nests and gave the birds their privacy wherever she had her  
home, Nashik, Mircholi or Mumbai. While IPR offered her a natural  setting for her natural ]]></page><page Index="272"><![CDATA[

 246 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

passion, in Mumbai at HBCSE she would seek them out even as she entered the premises.  
Capturing a chameleon on the plant opposite the main building was an exciting moment for  
her.  

Her office was another place where she found space between the files to set up a base  
for plants including a chilly plant and also managed to take care of her terrarium. At home,  
the window garden  –  managed by her mother  –  fully organic, manured by vermicompost,  
made in the pots of food and fruit wastes catalysed by the earthworms was a sight to see,  
with chillies, bitter gourd, ova and tomatoes. In mid March 2015 this wonderful organic gar - 
den was gifted to our housing society and the window ledge that was a veritable ecosystem  
now stands barren, reflecting our present lives.  

Reading sessions  

Over the years reading and debating sessions gave us a huge relief to get over the day- 
to-day pressures or after an argument, giving us the much needed space to relax and reflect  
on issues relevant both to the society and in turn to us. The topics would span a vast spec - 
trum of themes and our library database would help us access what we wanted to read. We  
planned to start writing jointly post her HBCSE time, we had already worked on a few areas  
like systems thinking and indigenous knowledge systems.   

Chitra had remarkable editing and reviewing skills which she put to great use. She was  
very instrumental in shaping the drafts of many of my books and reports, into a more re - 
fined one. She played a major role in editing and structuring my books published in 1993,  
2007 and 2014. Chitra had suggested that I  shift my focus from chemical sciences and en - 
gineering to managed healthcare; sustainability and resource management; and capacity  
building initiatives; in the months since April 2015 I have made major course corrections in  
my professional and personal life.   

Favourite songs, movies 

Songs of different genre and languages caught her fancy. She was very fond of Indian  
People’s Theatre Association’s (IPTA)  songs of Salil Choudhary and Tagore’s  Ekla Chalo  
Re. The Tamil song “chittu kuruvi” from the film Pudhiya Paravai was one of her favourites.  
Many Malayalam and Marathi songs captured her attention.  She was very keen on songs for  
children and Asha Bhosle’s “Nach Re Mora” was her all-time favourite. ]]></page><page Index="273"><![CDATA[

Connecting with communities and nature | 247 

Road travel, although not her preferred mode of travel, was made pleasant by songs of   
Bhimsen Joshi, Mohammed Rafi, and Talat Mahmood wafting through the journey. She had  
many favourite singers in Hindi; of them all Geeta Dutt caught her imagination the most. She  
often would listen to Meera bhajans of Vani Jayaram in particular. Growing up in the 60s she  
loved Usha Uthup who rocked Mumbai with her Bombay Meri Jaan.  

Gandhiji’s prayer songs, in particular,  Vaishnava Jan To Tene Kahiye  by Narsinh Mehta;  
Humko Man Ki Shakti Dena  by Gulzar and  Allah Tero Naam  by Jaidev held our spirits to - 
gether through the last ten weeks of her life.  

   

Ekla chalo re (Bengali) 

   - Rabindranath Tagore 
Indian Theatre for Performing Arts  
(ITPA) protest songs 

Title: Devbappa songs 
Singer: Asha Bhosle 
Music: P.L.Deshpande 
Lyrics: G.D. Madgulkar 
Source: http://geetmanjusha.com 

Nach re mora (Marathi)  

Chittu kuruvi (Tamil)  
(House sparrow-passer domesticus ) 

Chitra’s favourite songs in vernacular Indian languages ]]></page><page Index="274"><![CDATA[

 248 | embracing lives, chasing passions ]]></page><page Index="275"><![CDATA[

7 
Power of human thought 

In a personal communication in 2008, Chitra described herself as “deeply spiritual, hold- 
ing faith in the power of human thought and humane way. ” Her entire life was defined by this  
faith in herself, her family, her doctors, her friends and her colleagues.  

For Chitra, managing life and its challenges was a synergy between knowledge, experi - 
ences and faith. Both of us went through major setbacks but managed to deal with them us - 
ing these three driving forces. Each setback drove our quest for knowledge about the human  
body and its functioning; medicines and their pharmacodynamics; food and its biochemis - 
try, to name a few. They also taught us that modern medical science is still a black box and  
yet on a learning curve about the human body and its functioning. Managing challenging  
setbacks has no uniform template but our experiences informed us that understanding of  
our own body, its workings and its limits is a critical component of the process. In our lives  
we followed the following five pronged strategy in meeting health setbacks. 

	 Knowledge: body, medicines, therapy  
	 Faith: in self, in physicians, in health care provider 
	 Discipline: adherence to medical protocols 
	 Document:  write daily log of your status 
	 Communicate: sharing thoughts 

We very diligently followed the above five directives which not only helped us but also  
many others who we came in contact with, who faced similar problems. We shared several  
of our experiences with affected people trying to keep their hopes high and asking them to  
adopt a strategy that suited them. Ours was just one amongst others but it helped us deal with  
work and life effectively and productively. Chitra maintained a detailed log of every day and  
every single incident as she went through the period April 2008 to September 2008; it came  
very handy during November 2014 when a recurrence occurred, strangely after six years. ]]></page><page Index="276"><![CDATA[

 250 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Genesis 
The sporadic pain in Chitra’s rib cage which started in August 2015 intensified in end  
September 2014 but was manageable with simple pain relief medicines but in late October  
became severe during a period when she was in the midst of the HBCSE institutional review.  
Notwithstanding the acute pain she went through the exercise in her usual self effacing  
manner each day. Soon after, in November 2014, a detailed diagnosis involving Positron  
emission tomography–computed tomography (PET – CT) and Magnetic resonance imaging  
(MRI) indicated the presence of a tissue in the retro oesophageal region encasing the de - 
scending aorta, a very rare occurrence according to her oncologists. The location of the tis- 
sue posed challenges of conducting a biopsy. Following a oesophago-gastro deuodenoscopy  
(OGD scopy), Endoscopic ultrasonography – Fine needle aspiration cytology (EUS – FNAC)  
and a CT guided biopsy we had final confirmation of metastases of the previous cancer to  
retro oesophageal region. 

Her oncologists suggested a combination of chemo (started on 29 Dec 2014) and radia - 
tion   therapy (between January 19 February 13, 2015).  Setting chemotherapy (CT) proto- 
cols itself proved challenging. Though tiring her out, she went through radiation sessions  
and finished eighteen of them till she  experienced shooting pains in the back of the head  
between February 8 – 10. She had a strong premonition of the events that followed later.  A  
detailed MRI scan of the brain done on February 12, indicated to our dismay a metastases to  
the brain, a condition known as, leptomeningeal carcinomatosis* , a very rare manifestation  
in cancer patients.  

Her response when I informed her was mild surprise, a smile and she asked,” how many  
days” and by the same night we began planning our strategies to deal with it. She was ready  
for the battle against all odds, and with lot of composure began discussing the pending jobs.  
It did not matter if it was a few weeks or a few months. She had decided to face it head on.  
Her deeply spiritual bent of mind and a very structured thought process helped us to deal  
with the new challenges in the following weeks. 

(*Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LC) is a rare complication of cancer in which the disease spreads  
to the membranes (meninges) surrounding the brain and spinal cord. LC occurs in approximately 5%  
of people with cancer and is usually terminal. If left untreated, median survival is 4 – 6 weeks; if treat - 
ed, median survival is 2 – 3 months (see http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1156338-overview,  
accessed 25 June 2015). ]]></page><page Index="277"><![CDATA[

Power of human thought | 251 

February 14, 2015 changed our lives with her panel of neuro physicians and oncologists  
advising suspension of radiation and suggested palliative radiation to the brain but without  
any guarantee. Chitra refused this suggestion as she was well aware of its futility in offering  
any relief. She wanted to bring a closure to her health issues and opted for pain manage - 
ment protocols. 

Totally unfazed by the verdict and quite unsure of what was around the corner, we  
planned a detailed strategy to face the situation. Since November I had fully suspended my  
professional activities to be with Chitra. Her first suggestion was to get a full time man - 
aged care person to support me in the day hours. We requested Beena Nursing Services at  
Sion and on February 28 they sent Ketaki Ambekar, who turned out to be an angel for us.  
Through the following weeks till April 13, Chitra found in her a healer who took care of her  
with immense love and care. Ketaki accompanied Chitra on her final journey and will always  
hold a special place in our lives.  

Keeping in mind Chitra’s wish to donate any part of her body, I contacted medical experts  
about the possibility of organ donation by cancer affected persons and found out that only  
skin and cornea are permitted to be donated in such cases. However, on interacting with  
coordinating organizations I discovered that despite their efforts in collecting such organs  
they found it very difficult to convince the family of recipients to accept skin and cornea  
from cancer affected persons and were not keen to follow up with my request. 

Learning through the process 

Each day was unique for us as we were seeking deliverance for Chitra. Armed with full  
knowledge of what will follow and her own knowledge about her body, with full faith in the  
power of human thought, she advised me to bring a closure to all her official commitments.  
Each night she would give a host of instructions detailing the steps and options for each  
situation both personal and professional. Our mental make-up would allow no sentiments  
and we went about it in a clinical manner; arming ourselves with adequate knowledge; with  
total faith in our physicians and our own reasoning powers. 

Through March till April 13, her birthday, when she took her last breath, we leveraged all  
the principles of science, medicine, and anatomy to learn and adopt new techniques. When  
we began the final end stage therapy on March 26 we had worked out the detailed process  
of how to synergise modern medicines involving central nervous system (CNS) drugs and ]]></page><page Index="278"><![CDATA[

 252 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

narcotics, like opiates with our spiritual leanings. It was a very complex process and several  
experts were kind enough to lend us their support till the end. Her deeply spiritual bent of  
mind and extremely organised mental processes enabled her to function at a high level of  
cognitive efficiency through this period much to the surprise of her physicians. Her under - 
standing of her body and fearlessness helped me to manage her psychologically and physi - 
cally through the coming weeks. While seeking deliverance each day she would, in parallel,  
plan for the next day. Often informing me about anticipated functional loss she helped me  
evolve techniques to deal with loss of vision, loss of lower body functions, loss of control  
over throat movements, etc. Her vision followed by throat and lower body functions were  
the first ones to fail.  

Before she lost control of her neck and mouth movement she had instructed me to tell  
her the size and shape of each medicine she would need to take orally so that she could  
adjust the angle of her neck accordingly, allowing medicines to go to the food pipe directly.  

She wanted to know the detailed dimension of the room where she was lying. Protocols  
for anyone entering her room, their position, engagement process were all preset by us. Lat - 
er on at Joy Hospital she asked for design features of her bed and suggested flexible design  
for patient friendly beds for those who had lost both their upper and lower limb functions,  
just like she had since February. 

During this period she met with many of her colleagues, students and concluded her  
dealings with them on official matters. Her suggestion that I should learn a technique of  
lifting her myself proved to be useful whenever her medical staff had to give her an intrave - 
nous (IV) or intramuscular (IM) injection. This phase also saw us leveraging our spiritual  
leanings to find peace and relief for Chitra and myself. My worsening health was deeply  
saddening for her as she was unable to be of much help. Putting our faith in ourselves and  
in our physicians, we managed to move from day to day.  

During this phase both of us continued our discussions, when she was out of her seda - 
tion, on end of life care decision, analysed palliative sedation therapy. In keeping with our  
deep belief in life we opted to keep Chitra’s cognitive functions fully active while managing  
her pain with closely monitored medication. Her cognitive condition till the end was at its  
highest level of efficiency defying the accepted medical norms in such cases. 

She had expressed her desire to spend her final days under the care of Dr. Roy Patankar  
and moved into Joy Hospital on 26 March. She articulated her wishes to move on in her life ]]></page><page Index="279"><![CDATA[

Power of human thought | 253 

with her Doctors and we spent the next eighteen days at Joy Hospital, helping her maintain  
full cognitive and cardiac faculties so that she could communicate whenever she wanted to. 

We spent each precious minute together; through the day, through the night. I would  
record in detail every development, the changes in her medical protocols, her responses to  
the medication, providing detailed feedback to the physicians on a daily basis. Moving into  
the month of April was extremely disappointing for her and she slowly began to ebb. Each  
day was a slow process, she could respond only to my voice and touch, all along praying for  
her peaceful deliverance. Thoroughly exhausted physically but driven only by singular focus  
in giving her comfort, I spent my entire day and night watching her for signals, in case she  
wanted to communicate, which she did very feebly on 12 April night, that she will move on  
the next day. True enough she did not see the sun rise on her 61st birthday, 13 April 2015. 

With a hope and a prayer: Seeking dignity in death 

It was way back in 2008 when we were going through tough medical challenges we start - 
ed discussing palliative or end of life care (EOLC) decision, if the need arises. We were very  
clear that just as we live with dignity we also need to ensure that we die with dignity not - 
withstanding the legal and social frameworks prevailing at the time. Since January 2015,  
anticipating possible surprises, arising out of chemo and radiation therapies, we discussed  
the issue at depth, well before the MRI scans and physicians gave us their final verdict.  

We were aware that EOLC decisions often involve complex integrative skills and not on  
specific objective criteria as these criteria often varies with the  cultural background of the  
affected person, their sensibilities and accessibility to such services. India till date had ne - 
glected to act with clarity on this humane issue leaving the entire debate open to multiple  
interpretations, much to the dismay of those facing advanced life limiting illness (ALLI).  

EOLC guidelines have been drawn up by the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (ISC - 
CM) and the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC), based on global guidelines for  
those facing ALLI. The ISCCM published its first guidelines on EOLC in 2005 which was later  
revised in 2012. IAPC published its recent consensus position statement on EOLC policy for  
the dying in 2014. A joint position statement of both the associations discusses the latest  
guidelines in detail  (See Myatra S.N., Salins N., Iyer S., Macaden S.C., Divatia J.V., Muckaden M., Kulkarni  

P., Simha S., Mani R.K., End-of-life care policy: An integrated care plan for the dying. Indian J Crit Care Med,  

2014;18:615 – 35). ]]></page><page Index="280"><![CDATA[

 254 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Besides the control over unwanted medical interventions, human values such as physical,  
emotional and spiritual comforts based on universal ethical principles have been included  
in the guidelines. However, many families and even physicians attending to those with ter - 
minal illness are quite unaware of these guidelines. I sincerely hope that everyone who is  
affected by ALLI, their family and attending physicians have access to these guidelines, in a  
language of their choice, to help them take considered decisions with the help of the coun - 
sellors attached to the hospitals. It is time that every hospital providing treatment for end  
stage patients deem it fit to provide this inexpensive but invaluable service. 

At this juncture there is an enormous gap in training of the physicians in this sensitive  
area of healthcare, often due to financial reasons as cited by hospital administrators. Spe - 
cialised and sensitive training to attending physicians in communicating EOLC process to  
the patient or the relations, honestly and transparently is extremely important, though sad - 
ly lacking at present in most hospitals. I have also found from my experience that patients,  
qualified or not, often come to terms with their illness faster than anyone else. The signals  
one gets from our body often are more indicative of the illness than any diagnostics. Knowl - 
edge provided in time to the patient and the family would at least give them the time to  
bring a closure to several emotional tie ups of their life lived, and also attend to real world  
responsibilities and commitments.  

While some hospitals do provide some level of the hospice care, most are not trained in  
meeting emotional and spiritual needs of the patient. The fact that those facing terminal  
illness have more emotional and spiritual needs than just medical treatment, often is lost  
on the healthcare system. 

A Joint Position Statement of the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM) and  
the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) (http://www.ijccm.org), putting the pres - 
ent situation in perspective states, “the only way to bring about an awakening in the society  
is through education, advocacy, and debate…The concepts of medical futility, recognition of  
the dying patient, palliative care, and providing a good death must form an integral part of  
the curriculum in undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses. Every doctor should be  
aware of EOLC practices, not just palliative care and critical care experts…. Research in India  
in this expanding field of healthcare has been negligible. Empirical data on EOL and pallia - 
tive care need to be generated for India. The unique barriers to EOLC in its sociocultural and  
political context should be better understood through research….The vast cultural and ethnic ]]></page><page Index="281"><![CDATA[

Power of human thought | 255 

diversity of the country provide a unique opportunity for research on factors influencing EOL  
and palliative care practices.”  

To a considerable extent the civil society and critical care specialists the world over  
aver that EOLC decisions have to do with the patient and the family than any court of law,  
which have traditionally kept away from this sensitive issue. Regulatory and judicial policies  
framed with multiple stakeholder participation are the need of the hour. These need to be  
clear and unambiguous and supported by legislative backing, to ensure that dignity in death  
is as much a fundamental right as it is while living.  Our existing frameworks are at a very ru - 
dimentary stage till date more due to apathy and neglect in attending to this humane issue. 

Like the will, a legal declaration made by an individual for material things, it is time that  
those facing imminent death be advised to make a legally validated  Living Will which clearly  
leaves the right of determining the limits of care and treatment to the patient. This should  
be complemented by decision on futility of care in consultation with medical specialists and  
experts with specific declarations on intubation and resuscitation.  

We viewed palliative and EOLC as a two-stage process based on our experience. Through  
the palliative stage the key aim needs to be on enabling a pain and symptom free environ - 
ment where the affected person should be fully aware of life around, fully able to respond,  
have their emotional, physical and spiritual needs met, and have the right to choose a place  
to spend their last weeks/days. As one moves into the EOLC stage the focal point is more  
definite, ensuring a peaceful passage for the person with due dignity, in the manner set by  
herself or himself. To enable this process, it is important to understand the basic principles  
of good death.  

Principles of good death  
Like the principles of good life it is also important to understand the principles of good  
death. In simple terms a good death is one which provides those facing ALLI,  dignity and  
privacy; information on their health status; medical expertise to control physical symptoms;  
hospice facility of their choice; spiritual and emotional support; choice of who should share  
their final moments  (See Macaden S.C., Salins N., Muckaden M., Kulkarni P., Joad A., Nirabhawane V, et al.,  

End of life care policy for the dying: Consensus position statement of Indian Association of Palliative Care. Ind  

J palliat Care 2014;20:171 – 81).  It is with a hope and a prayer that I seek the same for all those  
souls facing a similar situation. ]]></page><page Index="282"><![CDATA[

 256 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

When we face a terminal life – limiting illness we stand helpless unsure of what affor - 
dances we will have in the days that we live. Chitra was fortunate that she could have all the  
affordances as set by the above norms  –  the right to choose the manner (fully adhering to  
medical, ethical and legal frameworks), the place (Joy Hospital) and the day (her birthday)  
to exit our physical orbit.  

Both of us believed that sanctity of life must be maintained in death at all costs; all of  
us should have the right to live and die with dignity. To this end, judicial, medical and soci - 
etal systems need a rethink. Any further procrastination on this humane issue will be a sad  
reflection of progressive societies. The  power of human thought and the humane way , that  
Chitra used to describe herself, are simple tools that hopefully will be used in resolving com - 
plex societal engagements in the future. 

I would like to once again reiterate her message to all those souls who face such immense  
challenges in life: “where there is faith there is no fear” 

Memories remain, of times together 

Coming to the end of this memoir, vivid memories remain of our life together, of our  
small aspirations of living in our home amongst the plants and trees; birds and their nests;  
and butterflies all of which she has now left behind. Both the laburnum trees she planted,  
amongst several others, stand very tall, waiting for the next summer to once again blossom  
with their brilliant yellow flowers swaying in the breeze. 

Chitra believed in lifelong learning, embracing lives with compassion, often emphasising  
the importance of lifelong education in sustaining our society, its values, its culture, and its  
languages. Her thoughts resonate with that of Baba Dioum, a Senegalese environmentalist  
and Founding Member of the Executive Committee, International Union for the Conserva - 
tion of Nature (IUCN), who in his 1968 speech, in New Delhi, India, to the general assembly  
of the IUCN, said, “ in the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we  
understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.” ]]></page><page Index="283"><![CDATA[

Enduring images ]]></page><page Index="284"><![CDATA[

 258 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Top ranking students from 33 districts of Gujarat at a prayer meeting April 29, 2015, Gujarat  

Science City Ahmedabad ]]></page><page Index="285"><![CDATA[

Enduring images | 259 

Her laughter remained the same through 1982 – 2015 ]]></page><page Index="286"><![CDATA[

 260 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

Connecting with global civil societies, World Social Forum, January 2004, Mumbai ]]></page><page Index="287"><![CDATA[

Enduring images | 261 

Her D&T expressions find a meaning in rural schools in Maharashtra ]]></page><page Index="288"><![CDATA[

 262 | embracing lives, chasing passions 

The way of Charka at PLC, Dharmapuri, Tamilnadu; Chitra’s thoughts will live on in rural India ]]></page><page Index="289"><![CDATA[

Enduring images | 263 

On her onward journey, swinging her way out of our orbit ]]></page><page Index="290"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="291"><![CDATA[

Notes ]]></page><page Index="292"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="293"><![CDATA[ ]]></page><page Index="294"><![CDATA[ ]]></page></pages></Search>