By Vanita Srivastava

Last week, when Harish Chandra Verma announced that he was hanging up his boots, there was a flood of emotional reactions. Finally locked my IIT-K lab and submitted the keys to office . End of 38 years of formal teaching and research, tweeted Professor Verma, whose two-volume book Concepts of Physics is considered the holy book for IIT aspirants. The book celebrates its silver jubilee this year and has sold millions of copies. Verma is now focused on bringing out the Hindi version of the book, Bhautiki Ki Samajh. In an interview with Vanita Srivastava, Verma talks about the importance of teaching physics using natural ingredients and what ails Indian science. Edited excerpts:

On making physics a lifelong companion My actual romance with physics started during my BSc in 1970. Till high school, there was simply a desire to become a teacher in either science or mathematics. It was while studying in Class 12 at Patna Science College that a desire crystalised to take either physics or mathematics for future studies. I scored a distinction in physics and about 95% in maths and was planning to take up maths honours. But my professor Rajendra Sharma counselled and convinced me, saying that there was a lot of maths in physics but very little physics in maths. To savour both the worlds together, I chose physics. Since then, I have walked hand in hand with physics.

On the making of Concepts of Physics I finished my MSc and PhD from IITKanpur and decided to join Patna Science College as a physics lecturer. I had seen the book Fundamentals of Physics by Robert Resnick and David Halliday when I was doing my MSc and recommended this as the main textbook in my Plus-2 course. But soon I felt that students were not grasping the content. They were not able to solve problems and the overall outcome was not satisfactory.

Initially, I thought it was my fault, and I had to improve my teaching skills. Then I realised that the problem was somewhere else. Though the book was excellent, its cultural platform did not match the lifestyle of my students. Physics has a strong bonding with nature and must be delivered through this platform. At that time, there was no physics textbook which was as authentic as Fundamentals of Physics. There was also no book built around an average Indian lifestyle. This is how Concepts of Physics germinated.

On bringing out the Hindi version of Concepts of Physics For a long time, I had been getting requests from students of the Hindi belt to write a similar book in Hindi. Their demand was genuine and well meaning. So I decided to write the Hindi version. The book will be called Bhautiki ki Samajh and, though the problems will be more or less same, the text will be updated and reorganised. I hope to bring out the first volume by the end of this year.

On holding physics workshops for teachers in Jammu & Kashmir I did this project in 2016-17 under the banner of the Anveshika chapter of the Indian Association of Physics Teachers, for high school science teachers under the J&K government. Altogether my team organised 10 workshops in Jammu, 10 in Srinagar and 1 in Leh. During one of the workshops, there was a strike and we were somehow taken to the venue. After waiting for two hours, I was sure that no one would come. But all the participants came after walking around 6 km. I was so moved to see their enthusiasm. Also, while conducting one of the workshops, there was a terror strike at a CRPF camp close by. But we continued with our task of demystifying physics. The teachers were thrilled to see how physics could be taught using simple items like drinking straws, rubber bands and bottles. However, it is apparent that teachers of this region are not getting exposure to new teaching aids and methodologies despite so many government plans.

On what plagues Indian science The race to get good jobs. It is an irony that science is being studied with so much of stress. This does not empower our students in scientific thinking and skills. This leads to a drifting away from science and those who finally land up doing science are not experiencing the excitement of scientific innovations.

On ways to demystify physics All of nature is the laboratory of physics. Introduce physics with simple experiments and familiar materials. My slogan is Pehle Dikhao, Phir Sikhao (first show, then teach). Once you generate interest and curiosity, nothing is difficult.

On why many talented physicists are leaving India The research facilities are limited in India, especially for experimental physics. There are good success stories like our nuclear energy and space physics programmes. Our astrophysics programme, string theory research and many more are making an impact internationally, but much more has to be done. Most importantly, from the very beginning, children should be given the platform for innovation, thinking beyond the prescribed textbooks. In the present scenario, talking against the textbook is like committing a crime. Research is a culture and that has to be respected and inculcated.

On a career anecdote close to his heart When I was appointed as lecturer in Patna Science College, the head of my department asked me to teach the Special Theory of Relativity to BSc students after the vacation. I spent my summer at IITKanpur, where I was doing some research, preparing for my lectures. I used to make my friends sit for me and give them mock classes. I put in all my efforts to make my lectures interesting, lucid and simple. After the vacation, the HOD asked me if I had prepared well for the lectures on quantum mechanics. I was shocked and pleaded with him that he had assigned me relativity and not quantum mechanics. It did not work. But the moment I put chalk to the board, my tension subsided. In fact, my maiden lecture went extremely well.

On his plans post retirement I have been deeply involved in motivating physics teachers from schools and colleges. Content development and improvement of teaching skills have been going on for the past 15 years. We have about 700 short experiments that teachers can use. These range from 30 seconds to 2 minutes and dont cost much. I am also writing textbooks for BSc level. A book on electrodynamics is under preparation. I am also coming up with a special book Physics Through Stories. In this, famous Indian stories are used as a platform to learn physics. I will also work on more online courses.

On what he will miss after retirement The peacocks on the IIT-Kanpur campus. It is so beautiful to see dancing peacocks almost every other day.

The writer is a freelancer

Originally posted here:

Talking against the textbook has become a crime: Harish Chandra Verma - Economic Times