Khagol_126_April_2021

Shashikumar Madhusudan Chitre (name shortened to Kumar) was more than a typical user of IUCAA… he was a family friend. Here are a few personal recollections associated with Kumar whom I had known since September 5, 1957. I had been getting ready to go to Cambridge and had booked passage on the P&O Steamer S.S. Strathanaver . The boat took off at mid-day and I headed for the dining room. The Head Waiter seatedme on a long rectangular table. Then he took my order. Having read English Jayant Narlikar books by Wodehouse, my knowledge of the English food was confined to that source and I ordered steak. The dish came soon enough, but my prior knowledge had not prepared me as to how tough that meat would be. As I was struggling to cut it, I heard a laughing comment: “Yes, I agree with you but we have to try!” I looked up and saw a young Indian who introduced himself as Kumar Chitre. That was the beginning of my long associationwith him. Indeed, my stay in Cambridge first as an undergraduate and later as research | KHAG L | No. 126 - APRIL 2021 | 01 KHAG L ISSN 0972-7647 A quarterly bulletin of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (An Autonomous Institution of the University Grants Commission) Editor : Aseem Paranjape (aseem@iucaa.in ) Editorial Assistant : Manjiri Mahabal (mam@iucaa.in ) Follow us on our face book page : Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics Available online at http://publication.iucaa.in/index.php/khagol No. 126 APRIL 2021 | Contents... Tributes to Professor S.M. Chitre 1 to 6 Awards 6 Activities of Astronomy Centre for Educators 7 to 8 Public Outreach Activities 9 to 12 Visitors 12 8 Colloquia and Seminars Welcome to 6 Farewell to 7 Tributes to Professor Shashikumar Madhusudan Chitre Professor Shashikumar Madhusudan (Kumar) Chitre, one of the top As t r ophy s i c i s t s o f I nd i a , wi t h fundamental contributions to Solar Physics and to the study of gravitational lensing, passed away on January 11 this year. After a Tripos and PhD from the University of Cambridge, Chitre started his career as a Lecturer at the University of Leeds, and then moved to the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. In 1967, he returned to India and joined the faculty of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay. He was a Fellow of all the three Indian Science Academies and President of the Astronomical Society of India. In 2012, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He was associated with IUCAA from its inception, and was a member of its Governing Board and Council during January 2001 toDecember 2002.