This time I happened to meet Lawrence Krauss. A professor at Case Western Reserve University who teaches physics and astronomy. Or better, Astrophysics. His books talk about the strange dark matter than exists around us, in between the planets, stars and galaxies. He says it is the most important thing that makes up most of the universe. Something that we cant see, is all that matters for the universe…

I was fortunate to meet him up for an interview for the campus newspaper. Though, politics, press politics as you might want to call it, this article did not see the light of the printing press!

AM : Me Me
LK: Professor Lawrence Krauss

AM: The Scientific American has quoted you as one amongst the only few living ‘Public Intellectuals’. What do you feel about it?

LK: The key is to reach out to the public. I try to connect science broadly to culture and politics. It’s truly a great honour for me. It’s a nice feeling.

AM: What is you latest book ‘Hiding in the Mirror’ all about?

LK: It’s about the fascinations that humans have towards the concept of extra-dimensions. It is not just about that, but about the ways in which the idea has evolved historically in literature, art and science.

AM: As a kid, what was your greatest motivation that helped you dedicate yourself to astrophysics?

LK: As a kid, I used to read a lot. Books were the greatest motivation for me. I was particularly inspired by the writings of Arthur Clarke and Isaac Asimov and scientists like Gamow, Einstein and the rest.

AM: When you talk about the Powers of Ten show that zooms in from the very big to the very small, you say that it misses the most exotic black matter that is out there, what are you talking about?

LK: My lecture for you guys is all about that ‘most exotic black matter’. If you remove the planets, the suns, the galaxies and everything that is visible to you and me, including humans, the universe wouldn’t be affected at all. It would be largely the same. All this is just ‘cosmic pollution’. All the matter is completely irrelevant. Dark energy is all that is important in the entire universe.

AM: In the most recent developments, you have said and written that the President of the US should be an “educator-in-chief” along with being the “commander-in-chief”, and that science and technology should be an integral part of the presidential debate. How do you look at it?

LK: I believe that science is and would play a major role in public policy making. In the future, science is going to be the basis of the same. Security, economy, health, environment are all linked to science.

AM: India has had a rocket scientist as the President; does it really help in changing the world order?

LK: I’ve had the opportunity to meet him recently. Well, I don’t really know how much it would help in changing the world order, but all I want to say is that the leaders should be educated! They should be literate and effective, and should have an understanding of science.

AM: Do you believe that the Asian countries would race ahead in science and technology soon owing to their human resources, who “score much better in math and science tests” than the Westerns?

LK: Laughs at the poor condition of American school students and his own quote picked up from an article. Oh it’s highly possible! Right now the US is still the most attractive place for graduate study, but that could change. As far as Asian students are concerned though, they have too much respect for authority… the key thing is to question everything, including your advisors!

AM: What is your view on the relation between science and religion?

LK: They are complimentary to each other. I would like to quote a friend of mine, Steven Weinberg here: “One of the great achievements of science has been, if not to make it impossible for intelligent people to be religious, then at least to make it possible for them not to be religious”.

AM: Today, top universities like IIT are losing young brains to high paying jobs in the banking and finance sector, consultancies, software and the like. How can things be changed to get more youngsters to do research in Astrophysics or say any field in general?

LK: Well that is a problem in the US as well. We are losing most students to lucrative jobs in almost the same sectors. We need to focus on science. We need to convey the sheer excitement of discovery to the youth and convince them that knowledge is as satisfying as money!

AM: Who for you is or was the one greatest scientist ever?

LK: It is difficult to talk about one, but I would call it a tie between two: Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

AM: Your homepage on the Case Western website calls you ‘moderately photogenic’ but the sheer number of ‘really cool pics’ points that you are ‘highly photogenic’! What do you say?

LK: Has a hearty laugh at this one. The website administrators just love to have some fun with my photographs. It seems you have done a good research on me!

:)

The interview was followed by a walk of almost a kilometre. That was a wonderful moment.

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Wanna read more and see about 80 photographs from my trip? Click the link below…

April 2, 2008:
Started from Kharagpur (Kgp) by the 1.35pm Midnapur-Howrah local and reached Kolkata by 4pm. Moved on to Sealdah Station to catch Uttar Banga (Kanchan Kanya) Express for New Jalpaiguri (Njp) at 7.35pm.

Waiting at Sealdah Railway Station, Kolkata: Me, Golu and Bollam

Catching the sunrise in motion

Two cute girls in the same coupe… Roshnai and a cute little co-passenger

At Njp, my old friend Vishwanath had come to pick us. We had breakfast together at Siliguri. Met him after almost 5 years I suppose.

In the taxi from Siliguri to Gangtok. It was a 4 hr drive of about 120 km and cost us Rs 100 per head. Me and Roshnai sat in the front and Bollam and Golu in the back seat. People who sit in the front are not supposed to sleep. The driver feels sleepy too~

That is river Teesta, a tributary of Brahmaputra. Mostly it is very calm and slopes gently down across Sikkim. It originates at Cho Lhamu Lake in North Sikkim and hits the plains near Sevoke in Bengal, where the Coronation Bridge has been constructed by the British. It is one of the most scenic rivers of that part of India.

Bollam, trying to enact a free fall… but the motion blur is missing :(

Welcome to Sikkim. Rangpo, situated in Sikkim at the WB-Sikkim border is a small but very lovely little town.

Teesta is an ideal place for rafting and some other water sports. Its clean, wide fast and not too violent!

Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology is situated in Sikkim at the bank of River Teesta. What a lovely place to study engineering at!

Reached Gangtok at about 1.30pm and headed straight to the hotel. Pappa booked a lovely hotel for us: Travel Lodge, Tibet Road, Gangtok. We got two rooms. One a single small room on first floor and another a huge suite for 3-4 people on the third floor.


Bollam and Golu… Tired but ready to go…

Gangtok City as seen from footbridge over MG Road. This city has changed dramatically since I had been there in 1999. It has been beautified and promoted as a Green Tourist Destination. The triangular embankment in the pic is called Titanic Park… for obvious reasons.

This is the building right in front of Titanic Park where I had stayed with my family for a week in May 1999 and fallen in love with Sikkim.

Mahatma Gandhi Road, used to be the main road that passed through the city centre till some years back. It had been renovated and closed for vehicles. New tiles, green painted buildings, footpaths on the sides, divider decorated with flower pots and tall halogen lamp posts make this place look better than or as good as any mall roads on any other hill stations in India.

Roshnai, Golu and Bollam go all-smiles after their first walk on MG Road.

Our first lunch in Gangtok. It started raining outside and we entered the first restaurant that came in sight. This is a new restaurant with really cool interiors and an Ambassador Bonnet-like design for the bar counter. Had spicy Schezwan (watever the spelling be :D) Rice, Pan Fried Noodles, etc etc…

Pom Pom

Back to MG Road. I am really impressed by the school kids of Gangtok. The whole day you can see school kids going up and down the streets and lanes. The uniforms are really impressive and colourful. It was a treat to the eyes. :)

Opposite directions… Roshnai and Abhinav

MG Marg: Litter and Spit Free Zone, was inaugurated only on March 15th this year. So we were there at the right time!

Beautiful Promenade

Most buildings on MG Marg have been painted green to keep in sync with Sikkim Tourism’s Green Tourism Promotion. Lovely :)

Picture perfect.

Back to hotel, tired and fresh at the same time.

April 3, 2008.

That night, there were loud thunders and lightning struck somewhere very close to our hotel. It rained heavily and there was hailstorm in Gangtok. IT got very cold in the night and in the morning, Golu was all gol…. :D

Our destination: Tsomgo Lake (12,400 ft above seal level). This road is a part of the Silk Route that comes into India. Indo-Tibet (China) border is at Nathula, 51 km from Gangtok. To visit Nathula, we needed to take permit 2 days in advance, where as to reach Tsomgo Lake, permit could be obtained just a day in advance. Moreover to visit Nathula we needed to pay Rs 2500 more. We decided to visit only Tsomgo Lake and Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple. However due to bad weather we could not visit Baba Mandir.

Through these clouds, we would go from 6,000ft to 12,400 ft

It was time to put on our jackets, caps, mufflers and gloves as the temperature fell close to the Kyangnosla check post at 10,400 ft.

The road from Kyangnosla to Tsomgo was all covered with snow on both sides. It was the first time all of us were travelling amidst snow.

We stopped on our way due to traffic jam in the snow… All of us took to our first snow ball fight!

It was lovely to see roof tops with snow all over them. I had only seen such things on TV.

Roshnai’s expressions are a mixture of excitement and snow chill…

There we were…

Tsomgo Lake for you…

Those are about 50 shops selling hot tasty food. They also rent jackets, snow shoes, gloves, and eye glasses for the snow. After some time it got really difficult to look around due to the bright glare of the sunshine over the white snow. We had to go down and get sun glasses.

The four of us.

Had great fun playing in the snow…

The lake was almost frozen, we could see ice floating on it. It wasn’t safe for walking at that moment.

The Lake market would be shifted one kilometer down the hill to make the lake area clean and to beautify it. The Sikkim Govt is planning to construct a ropeway very soon. In the month of October, just before winter, this place has no snow at all, but is filled with very beautiful flowers like Rhododendrons all over.

Yaks are major attractions at Tsomgo.

The valley below Tsomgo…

Time for fun… near the Alpine Cafeteria at 12,400 ft

Bollam trying out his snow adventures…

A happy group after long play in the snow…

After the games, its time to eat… Bollam making one of his million different camera-friendly faces…

Momo… always a treat…

Its time to leave, but Bollam wants more…

Back to Gangtok, and we slept the afternoon. In the evening we made a dash to MG Road once again…

Had Ice Creams…

Saw ghosts while clicking pics…

We all were mighty bugged by this little bug who kept singing while listening to his mp3 player…

April 5, 2008.

We all woke up to a surprise on a clear morning only to find the mighty Mt Kanchenjunga (8568m), the highest peak in India, right from our room balcony. Seen to its left is Mt Siniolchu
After such a beautiful start, we set out on our own to explore Gangtok Town. The tourist cab would ask for anything between Rs 400 – 700 to show us around the main attractions. We believed in walking and checking out the nearest places. First we reached the Ropeway…

The ropeway took us one kilometer down along the town’s main road and then back. Cost Rs 60 per head. Time almost 15 minutes.

It stopped in the midway to offer a panoramic view of the valleys on both sides of Gangtok

A bit of hiking and we found ourselves at the doors of a private monastery and the Gangtok Palace.

Being audience to a traditional Buddhist prayer excited us and we were just in time for the daily prayer. It was an experience I would never forget. I have been to many monasteries in India and a few in Korea but I never saw monks praying.

Along all roads of Gangtok, almost 50 km or so, side walks have been constructed. They make it safer and easier to walk along the roads. Especially for school kids and tourists.

One of the many schools in Gangtok

Next stop was the beautiful garden.. with fountain and a resting shed…

And then… The Flower Exhibition Hall…

Some local Sikkimese people are protesting against the construction of a dam in North Sikkim and are on a 200+ days Satyagraha to save the Khangchendzonga Wildlife Sanctuary.

Then it was time to have lunch and leave Gangtok… with fresh memories and a lovely experience…

On the way down from Gangtok, at a stopover, Bollam’s antics remind me of the comic strip… “to drive away the crickets with a baffled look on the face”

The roads made by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are really awesome and we should thank them to enable us to visit such beautiful places at such mind boggling heights in the Himalayas.

Finally in Darjeeling Mail… back from Njp to Sealdah…

Lama Bollam at his photogenic best…

And Roshnai… tired but very happy… and refresh after a lovely trip to the Himalayas.

Maximum altitude climbed: 12,400 ft
Minimum temperature felt: 0 degree C
Photographs taken: 970+
Total expenditure: Rs 2100 per head
Memories: Priceless

For some more pics click here to check out Abhinav’s blog

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