Biography

Prof. J. R. Lakshmana Rao (Jagaluru Raghavendra Rao Lakshmana Rao) was born in Jagaluru, on 21 January, 1921. Jagaluru was earlier in Chitradurga district of the Indian state of Karnataka and is now in the newly formed district of Davanagere and is a taluk head quarters. His parents were Smt. Nagamma and Jagaluru Raghavendra Rao. His father was the Shanubhog (village accountant) of Jagalur.

JRL had his initial education in Jagalur, Chitradurga and Davanagere. He did his Intermediate course in Yuvaraja‘s College in Mysore. He completed his BSc Honours and MSc in Chemistry from The Central College, Bangalore.

He started his teaching career, teaching Organic Chemistry, in Tumkur. Later, he taught in The Central College, Sahyadri College in Shimoga, Maharani‘s College and Yuvaraja‘s College in Mysore. He was a very popular teacher and a public speaker on the subject of science, popularisation of science and environmental issues. He was known as not only an efficient and effective teacher of his chosen subject but was also known as a teacher who could convey the sense of wonder and enthusiasm to the students.

He is a voracious reader with a wide range of interests. His special interests are in general science, history of science, scientific biographies, Philosophy, to name a few. He is also well read in Music and Geography. He recalls that he got interested in reading from his mother.

However, his horizons were widened, in particular in popular science, by Kuvempu, the poet laureate of Kannada, who taught him Kannada when he studied in Mysore. He recalls that Kuvempu talked of the then recently started Penguin and Pelican Pocket books and that Kuvempu exhorted his students to read them to broaden their horizon. That, coupled with the reading habit developed in childhood led to his having a large personal library.

This also gave him the urge to write popular science in Kannada. It was strengthened by his introduction to Marxist philosophy during his Central College days, which was translated to the thought that every one of us receives a lot more from society than we can ever hope to give back to it. 

He had an urge to reduce that balance to the extent possible. His decision to write popular science in Kannada was neither born out of an emotional love of the language just because it is his mother tongue nor a blind admiration of the achievements of science. It was, however, fuelled by the conviction that scientific, objective, rational thinking and a scientific temper, were the most dependable means to solve the problems faced either by the individual or by society as a whole. He however, disliked the tag often attached to him – ‘rationalist’. To put his thoughts simply, he believes in scientific world view but knows that the role of emotions cannot be eliminated.

He has been active in various movements to eradicate superstition. He has also been actively associated with anti-nuclear and environmental movements. Even in these activities, in which, one can say, he believes passionately, the passion comes after rational thought.

The other reason for him to write popular science was also based on the observation that more and more public money was being spent on science. The general public must have the means to think knowledgeably about such matters and that is only possible if one has at least a general knowledge of matters scientific and had the means to think about matters objectively. Such thoughts were also associated with the conviction that scientists (and artists, musicians and so on) must be socially responsible.

Whereas his reading was influenced greatly by Kuvempu, his writing was moulded by G. P. Rajaratnam. JRL‘s ambition to popularise science and scientific temper got an opportunity when he was asked to give a popular science talk under the University Extension Lectures programme of the Mysore University. He delivered such a lecture on the subject of food (Aahaara) concerning the Biochemistry of food. As per the practice of the programme a booklet based on the talk was published by Prasaraanga, the publications division of the Mysore University. At about the same time, the University of Madras announced a prize for the best science writing in various Indian Languages. JRL wrote a book concerning the atom, called Pramanu Charitre (The History of the Atom). Before submitting the book for the contest, he was guided by G P Rajaratnam in the nuances of language and writing. He always recalls the way the great man took the trouble to refine not only the manuscript but also JRL‘s whole view of writing. The book also won the prize in the competition. He often quotes and believes in the recommendation of Quintilian (Roman writer on rhetoric, Circa AD 95): “By perspicuity, care is taken not that the hearer may understand, if he will, but that he must understand, whether he will or not”.

Starting from there he has gone on to write a number of books and also translate various books from English to Kannada. They include science books for children, biographies and a critique of the atomic energy programme and so on. The guiding principles of his writing has been simplicity, clarity of expression, devoid of jarogn, the aim being the writing is understandable to an average but interested reader.

His efforts towards achieving these have also led him to think deeply about languages per se and he has analysed the common errors in Kannada writing and so on. He has also formed a set of principles that ought to be followed while coining technical terms in Kannada.

He has also encouraged his wife, Jeevu Bai, to write. She has a BA from the Mysore University. She has been a very supportive of all his activities and has really enabled him to achieve whatever he has. She has translated a biography of Charles Darwin and the autobiography of Leopald Infeld – ”Quest” – Shodha in Kannada.

His interest in and command over English and Kannada prompted the Mysore University to invite him to be the technical and scientific editor of the English-Kannada dictionary. He eventually served as the chief editor of this dictionary. While working there, he was given the affectionate title of “Shabda Brahma” by one his colleagues, the great Kannada poet PuTiNa, thanks to JRL‘s ability to coin appropriate scientific and technical terms in Kannada. Here, his abilities of analysis, recognition of patterns, knowledge of Kannada and English and an unusually large vocabulary of Sanskrit words came to the fore and he is the originator of many technical terms that have come into common usage in scientific and Technical writing in Kannada.

The University of Mysore has a magazine called Prabuddha Karnataka, a journal dedicated to the liberal arts and social sciences. During the golden jubilee celebrations of the University a commemorative issue of the magazine was planned. A similar volume of scientific articles was also planned. Two large volumes of this commemorative issue was published under the editorship of JRL. This was also the beginning of the science equivalent of Prabuddha Karnataka called Vijnana Karnataka also under the editorship of JRL.

Later, influenced by the activities of the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishat‘s activities, he conceived the idea of starting the Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishat and bringing out a Kannada science magazine, Balavijnana, under its aegis. The magazine was meant for high school students and members of the public whose knowledge of science was, at least, of that level.

He was perhaps a feminist when the term feminism had not even entered common parlance. Apart from the sense of revulsion at any form of oppression, the question “how can a country hope to progress, if it refuses to benefit from the talents and contributions of more than fifty percent of its population – that of the women of the country?” was the thought behind the importance he placed on women‘s education and women‘s emancipation.

He developed an interest in classical music during his studies in Central College. (Interestingly, it was his classmate in MSc Chemistry and life long friend, K Srinivasan, who introduced him to both Marxism and Classical music). He went on to learn a good deal about the theory of music and also the Physics of music. He also developed a taste for Hindustani and Western classical music and listened to them with great appreciation. Along with a group of other enthusiasts, he was the founder of Ganabharathi a music organisation in Mysore.

 (Jeevu Bai and JRL have four children, Brinda, Vidya, Anil Kumar, Anuradha )