Sowing the Seeds of an Indian Fusion Programme– An Untold Legacy of Vikram Sarabhai

THEyear was 1970 and a faculty meeting was in progress in the committee room of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad. Among those present in the meeting was A. C. Das, then a young scientist who had joined the laboratory as a Research Associate just about a year ago. He was not yet a full faculty member but had nevertheless been asked by Vikram Sarabhai to attend all faculty meetings. He has a vivid recollection of how in the middle of that particular meeting Sarabhai had suddenly risen and gone to the blackboard to announce his plans for starting an experimental plasma physics programme in PRL that would act as a seed programme for a future fusion research programme in the country. He then briefly explained why it was important to do so not only for the present needs of the PRL but also for the future energy needs of the country. The announcement took everybody by surprise as PRL at that time was primarily engaged in space research, e.g. study of cosmic rays, ionospheric phenomena and some areas of basic theoretical physics. Das, who had done his doctoral work under the guidance of J. W. Dungey – the man whose seminal ideas had revolutionized our understanding of the earth’s magnetosphere – had been hired for his expertise in magnetospheric physics and was expected to lend theoretical support to the experimental space programme at PRL. But Sarabhai saw beyond his usefulness to the space programme and recognized the value of his knowledge of plasma physics – so essential for the success of any fusion programme. As he sketched the outline of his plans on the blackboard, for which he also allocated a modest budget, it became clear that he had a clear strategy in mind for moving forward.