The Durga Puja obsession of Bengalis is aptly summarised by a friend (Sukanya Sinha) in her recent Facebook status - "On Sunday night, as I flipped through TV channels, every channel had identical images streaming Modi's speech live from Madison Square! All except one, ABP Ananda, where the screen was split in half -- half of it showed the same image as other channels and half showed the crowd building up in the Durga Pujo pandals on Chaturthi day in Kolkata."
For us, 'prabasi bangali's (Bengalis living outside Bengal), it also brings the chance to buy cartloads of Bangla books (without the attendant worry of transporting them from West Bengal) when bookstalls are set up at prominent Puja Pandals. Of course, books have always been an integral part of Durga Puja. The tradition of bringing out 'sharadiya' (puja special issue), started by Rabindranath Thakur, is continued with great earnestness by every publisher, big and small, of Bangla books.
In our childhood, before the days of 'information at your fingertips', the 'kagaj-kaku's (paper-delivery uncle) used to be literally mobbed by neighbourhood children for information about the possible arrival dates of these puja specials. And we wholeheartedly devoted the long puja vaccations (a month long affair in West Bengal starting from Durga Puja and ending only after Kali Puja/Diwali) to these big, fat volumes. Well, not entirely. Those days, in West Bengal board schools, the annual examination used to start immediately after this vacation. For us, it meant a thoroughly unfair tug-of-war between the 'sharadiya's and the text books.
Curiously, over the years, the odds slowly changed in favour of the dark horse. A bookbucket challenge has recently been doing its rounds in the social media. For a while I quietly enjoyed looking at my friends' lists - sometimes rejoicing to find some of my favourites appearing in then and despairing at most other times to realise how ill-read I really am. Then, like it must have happened to many, I was asked to do the same by a well-meaning friend. Of course, as many of you know, I slimed out of the challenge by giving a list of completely technical physics textbooks! 😀
But, to be honest, the response was not a total gimmick. After all, technical books are interwoven into the lives of people who do academics for a living. So this cheeky act on a social media platform got me thinking about these absolute favourites of mine. One of these happens to be "Classical Electrodynamics" by J. D. Jackson. An enduring classic, as far as basic physics textbooks go, which has seen many professionals through their entire career, from early undergraduate days to the mighty professorial phase.
The book was as revered as it was feared by most of our undergraduate class. Of course, the physics department of Presidency College has always had a tradition of being chock-a-block with outrageously brilliant students. Even though by the time we entered its hallowed portals the fraction of such students had gone down substantially, there still were a a couple who stood several heads taller than most of us. Rumour was that these not-so-ordinary-mortals were swimming through the hugely advanced texts like "The Classical Theory of Fields" by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz! And there were some diligent souls patiently working their way through the dusty copies of "Classical Electricity and Magnetism" by W. K. H. Panofsky and M. Phillips, rescued from some obscure corner of the college library. But for the ordinary mortals, the choices were limited. Of course, everyone had a copy of Jackson because it was almost the only reputed text that was available in a low priced Indian edition (**see postscript). But Jackson is not an easy book, definitely not for an ordinary kid straight out of high-school. So except for those few enlightened souls, most of our class was limping through the electromagnetism course (as classical electrodynamics used to be called then) with Jackson being not much of a support.
Few months down the line it was time for the Calcutta Book Fair and 'Introduction to Electrodynamics' by David J. Griffiths arrived on the scene! Unlike most other technical texts, Griffiths made its maiden appearance directly in an Indian edition i.e, with a price-tag that is a fraction of its international version. By next week the entire class had got hold of Griffiths and many never looked back. It goes without saying that Griffiths is no classic but it does allow an ordinary student to navigate the subject on his/her own. One of the cherished memories of my masters days at IIT-Kanpur is of working through Griffiths sitting under an eucalyptus tree in the sprawling lawns of the girls' hostel. I never attended any of the electrodynamics classes in all of the two semesters but it was great fun spending time with Griffiths. One major difference between Griffiths and Jackson is the system of units adopted - while Griffiths used the more popular SI or MKS (meter, kilogram, second) system, Jackson stuck to the more basic cgs (centimeter, gram, second) system.
After Kanpur I joined a PhD program in Astrophysics. In the very first class we were told by a professor that he would exclusively use the cgs system, and so would all his colleagues. And the reason he produced for this was peculiar, to say the least. Apparently, the astrophysical quantities are so huge that it makes little difference whether we use cgs or MKS!
Unfortunately this view, jokularly put out by Astrophysicists, did nothing to help us, the beginners. Upon learning that I have joined an Astrophysics program a friend commented - "I understand hereafter you'll place your error bars in the exponent (power of 10)!". I had every intention of telling him (who was working in the string theory group of a very prestigious institute) - we at least make some measurements to place the error bars on, same can't be said about your discipline. But of course, thirty years ago, in the absolute heyday of string theory, a mere Astrophysics hopeful could never utter such things. Not even to a friend. Though over the years I have felt that the sheer beauty of trying to extract information about unbelievably distant objects from extremely faint electromagnetic waves is a terrific privilege to be perturbed by such jibes.
Also herein lies the magic of the cgs system which our professor alluded to. I had the opportunity of knowing this giant of a physicist from close quarters later. He remains, till this day, a very dear friend and mentor (I actually managed to collaborate with him on a rather controversial piece of investigation twenty-five years down the line). Only after becoming familiar with his passion for the anti-climactic way of delivering the punchline, I realised that the main point was actually stated in a more matter of fact way which most of us missed the first time. Astrophysics is really mostly about electrodynamics. Because our window to the universe is mainly through the electromagnetic spectrum. And the governing equations of electrodynamics take much simpler forms if the cgs system is used.
So my love for Astrophysics put a definite end to my affair with Griffiths. It was time to bring the old faithful out of wraps. I now had all the legitimate reasons and a bit of maturity (physics-wise) to go back to Jackson. And it has remained a lifelong companion. Like any other classic (whether technical or literary) it has several layers that I still am discovering after all these years. Seeing my obsession with this book a dear friend once gifted me with a hardbound, international edition of Jackson (we were old enough not to worry about the price anymore). By this time I had so much respect for this tome that this gleaming book has since been occupying a prominent place in my office bookshelf while the ancient, dog-eared Indian edition gets me through my everyday life as a struggling astrophysicist.
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Postscript :
Even though in that distant past 1 USD was equal to Rs.11 and a GBP could be had at a mere Rs.17 (Euro was yet to be born), the price of textbooks in their original international editions (most advanced technical texts were available only in such versions) were not in the comfort zone of students from middle class families. Incidentally, our generation was almost the first to see the low-priced Indian editions appearing slowly, to the utter delight of a huge population of students. But the prevailing frustration sometimes gave rise to innovative black humour that used to spread amongst the student community sometimes with a speed unthinkable in that era when instant communication through cellphone/e-mail/internet was unheard of.
We had just reached the department one morning when a classmate walked in, waving a brand new copy of the Indian edition of a particularly sought after book and declared that the cost was about a third of the international edition. A collective sigh of despair escaped since most of us had bought the international edition not very long ago. One particularly irked student commented - the price came down because it includes a foreward by Prof. so and so (an Indian scientist of some eminence who himself had published a number of texts that failed to catch the imagination of the student community)! The tart comment was not so much about the capability of the said Professor but a statement about the state of financial affairs of the student community of that time.
%%===============================================%%
For us, 'prabasi bangali's (Bengalis living outside Bengal), it also brings the chance to buy cartloads of Bangla books (without the attendant worry of transporting them from West Bengal) when bookstalls are set up at prominent Puja Pandals. Of course, books have always been an integral part of Durga Puja. The tradition of bringing out 'sharadiya' (puja special issue), started by Rabindranath Thakur, is continued with great earnestness by every publisher, big and small, of Bangla books.
In our childhood, before the days of 'information at your fingertips', the 'kagaj-kaku's (paper-delivery uncle) used to be literally mobbed by neighbourhood children for information about the possible arrival dates of these puja specials. And we wholeheartedly devoted the long puja vaccations (a month long affair in West Bengal starting from Durga Puja and ending only after Kali Puja/Diwali) to these big, fat volumes. Well, not entirely. Those days, in West Bengal board schools, the annual examination used to start immediately after this vacation. For us, it meant a thoroughly unfair tug-of-war between the 'sharadiya's and the text books.
Curiously, over the years, the odds slowly changed in favour of the dark horse. A bookbucket challenge has recently been doing its rounds in the social media. For a while I quietly enjoyed looking at my friends' lists - sometimes rejoicing to find some of my favourites appearing in then and despairing at most other times to realise how ill-read I really am. Then, like it must have happened to many, I was asked to do the same by a well-meaning friend. Of course, as many of you know, I slimed out of the challenge by giving a list of completely technical physics textbooks! 😀
But, to be honest, the response was not a total gimmick. After all, technical books are interwoven into the lives of people who do academics for a living. So this cheeky act on a social media platform got me thinking about these absolute favourites of mine. One of these happens to be "Classical Electrodynamics" by J. D. Jackson. An enduring classic, as far as basic physics textbooks go, which has seen many professionals through their entire career, from early undergraduate days to the mighty professorial phase.
The book was as revered as it was feared by most of our undergraduate class. Of course, the physics department of Presidency College has always had a tradition of being chock-a-block with outrageously brilliant students. Even though by the time we entered its hallowed portals the fraction of such students had gone down substantially, there still were a a couple who stood several heads taller than most of us. Rumour was that these not-so-ordinary-mortals were swimming through the hugely advanced texts like "The Classical Theory of Fields" by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz! And there were some diligent souls patiently working their way through the dusty copies of "Classical Electricity and Magnetism" by W. K. H. Panofsky and M. Phillips, rescued from some obscure corner of the college library. But for the ordinary mortals, the choices were limited. Of course, everyone had a copy of Jackson because it was almost the only reputed text that was available in a low priced Indian edition (**see postscript). But Jackson is not an easy book, definitely not for an ordinary kid straight out of high-school. So except for those few enlightened souls, most of our class was limping through the electromagnetism course (as classical electrodynamics used to be called then) with Jackson being not much of a support.
Few months down the line it was time for the Calcutta Book Fair and 'Introduction to Electrodynamics' by David J. Griffiths arrived on the scene! Unlike most other technical texts, Griffiths made its maiden appearance directly in an Indian edition i.e, with a price-tag that is a fraction of its international version. By next week the entire class had got hold of Griffiths and many never looked back. It goes without saying that Griffiths is no classic but it does allow an ordinary student to navigate the subject on his/her own. One of the cherished memories of my masters days at IIT-Kanpur is of working through Griffiths sitting under an eucalyptus tree in the sprawling lawns of the girls' hostel. I never attended any of the electrodynamics classes in all of the two semesters but it was great fun spending time with Griffiths. One major difference between Griffiths and Jackson is the system of units adopted - while Griffiths used the more popular SI or MKS (meter, kilogram, second) system, Jackson stuck to the more basic cgs (centimeter, gram, second) system.
After Kanpur I joined a PhD program in Astrophysics. In the very first class we were told by a professor that he would exclusively use the cgs system, and so would all his colleagues. And the reason he produced for this was peculiar, to say the least. Apparently, the astrophysical quantities are so huge that it makes little difference whether we use cgs or MKS!
Unfortunately this view, jokularly put out by Astrophysicists, did nothing to help us, the beginners. Upon learning that I have joined an Astrophysics program a friend commented - "I understand hereafter you'll place your error bars in the exponent (power of 10)!". I had every intention of telling him (who was working in the string theory group of a very prestigious institute) - we at least make some measurements to place the error bars on, same can't be said about your discipline. But of course, thirty years ago, in the absolute heyday of string theory, a mere Astrophysics hopeful could never utter such things. Not even to a friend. Though over the years I have felt that the sheer beauty of trying to extract information about unbelievably distant objects from extremely faint electromagnetic waves is a terrific privilege to be perturbed by such jibes.
Also herein lies the magic of the cgs system which our professor alluded to. I had the opportunity of knowing this giant of a physicist from close quarters later. He remains, till this day, a very dear friend and mentor (I actually managed to collaborate with him on a rather controversial piece of investigation twenty-five years down the line). Only after becoming familiar with his passion for the anti-climactic way of delivering the punchline, I realised that the main point was actually stated in a more matter of fact way which most of us missed the first time. Astrophysics is really mostly about electrodynamics. Because our window to the universe is mainly through the electromagnetic spectrum. And the governing equations of electrodynamics take much simpler forms if the cgs system is used.So my love for Astrophysics put a definite end to my affair with Griffiths. It was time to bring the old faithful out of wraps. I now had all the legitimate reasons and a bit of maturity (physics-wise) to go back to Jackson. And it has remained a lifelong companion. Like any other classic (whether technical or literary) it has several layers that I still am discovering after all these years. Seeing my obsession with this book a dear friend once gifted me with a hardbound, international edition of Jackson (we were old enough not to worry about the price anymore). By this time I had so much respect for this tome that this gleaming book has since been occupying a prominent place in my office bookshelf while the ancient, dog-eared Indian edition gets me through my everyday life as a struggling astrophysicist.
%%===========================================%%
Postscript :
Even though in that distant past 1 USD was equal to Rs.11 and a GBP could be had at a mere Rs.17 (Euro was yet to be born), the price of textbooks in their original international editions (most advanced technical texts were available only in such versions) were not in the comfort zone of students from middle class families. Incidentally, our generation was almost the first to see the low-priced Indian editions appearing slowly, to the utter delight of a huge population of students. But the prevailing frustration sometimes gave rise to innovative black humour that used to spread amongst the student community sometimes with a speed unthinkable in that era when instant communication through cellphone/e-mail/internet was unheard of.
We had just reached the department one morning when a classmate walked in, waving a brand new copy of the Indian edition of a particularly sought after book and declared that the cost was about a third of the international edition. A collective sigh of despair escaped since most of us had bought the international edition not very long ago. One particularly irked student commented - the price came down because it includes a foreward by Prof. so and so (an Indian scientist of some eminence who himself had published a number of texts that failed to catch the imagination of the student community)! The tart comment was not so much about the capability of the said Professor but a statement about the state of financial affairs of the student community of that time.
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