Curious world of science

The Gujar Mal Modi Innovative Science and Technology Award this year is being conferred on Khadg S Valdiya for his contribution in the field of Himalayan geology, neotectonics in India and environmental geology. He talks to Tirna Ray
What does this award mean to you?
The GM Modi award assures me that good work gets acknowledged . Also, I would now be able to donate more than two third of the award money to an NGO in eastern Uttarakhand, which is doing commendable work in the area of education.
Could you tell us about the Science Outreach Programme that you are working on to popularise science among young students in the remote regions of Uttarakhand?
In the Science Outreach Programme of two to four days’ duration, 60 to 100 science students and their teachers selected from 20 to 30 intermediate colleges of remote places are invited to a common venue, usually at Himalayan Gram Vikas Samiti, Gangolihat. Six to eight experienced professors drawn from noted universities, IITs and my own centre take classes on physics, chemistry, biotechnology environmental sciences and geology — on themes that have direct bearing on progress, societal well-being and on career options. For the last four years the programme is being sponsored and exclusively funded by the CNR Rao Education Trust.
When did this programme start and why did you want to initiate such a programme?
Inspired by Swami Vivekananda, who wrote in a letter in 1894 to a disciple — ‘So long as millions live in hunger and ignorance I hold every man a traitor who having been educated at their expense pays not the least heed to them,’ I was visiting colleges and schools to supplement their educational programmes for quite sometime, since the mid-1980 s.
Why do you think it is important to attract young students to science?
I believe that everybody has the freedom to choose. However, I personally feel, science makes one strong and capable of meeting practically all problems that the society faces. One who has an understanding of science would be able to use more efficiently, and with greater benefits, all appliances and gadgets we use at home, in offices, etc. Hence, the emphasis on science.
Which are the emerging areas in the fields of geology and environmental science?
Geochemistry, neotectonics & palaeoseimology, geochronology and tectonic geomorphology in geology and geohydrology, natural hazards and natural water pollution in environmental geology.
What is that one thing you need to be able to pursue research in the areas of geology and environmental science?
One should not only have intense curiosity, but also keen observation power and should be willing to walk barefoot and live among the rocks and sediment , away from the comforts of labs.