One hundred years of gratitude

Was it a sign of things to come A motherrsquos innocent mistake established something significant in the 1920s Unable to read Roman numerals Mehera Sethna dropped off her little boy to the Std III classroom instead of Std I where he should have started in St Xavierrsquos High School at FortUnfazed by the inadvertent triple promotion young Homi showed clearly shining academic aptitude A few decades on proving the dedicated genius behind Indiarsquos premier peaceful nuclear test in Pokhran Rajasthan dubbed Operation Smiling Buddha because it was Buddha Purnima that May 18 1974 during his tenure as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission AEC from 1972 to 1983 The chemical engineer spearheading Indiarsquos nuclear programme after the country lost stalwart physicists Dr Homi J Bhabha and Dr Vikram Sarabhai was born on August 24 1923 to Mehera and solicitor Nusserwanji Sethna Exceptionally bright Homi quickly grasped computational math from a ldquoMehtajirdquo accountant continuing to count in Gujarati lifelong He happily accepted his fatherrsquos challenge of being rewarded four annas for every book read thoroughly enough to summarise Dickensrsquo Nicholas Nickleby among them Experimenting with a chemistry set gifted by Nusserwanji he concocted cosmetics like lipstick nail polish and vanishing cream for the family and friendsDr Homi Sethna right with father Nusserwanji and wife Dr Gooloo Sethna at his Padma Bhushan award function Rashtrapati Bhavan 1966The phenomenal facility with mental math floored colleagues at University of Michigan Ann Arbor where Sethna acquired an MS in chemical engineering in 1946 after the BSc Tech degree from the University Department of Chemical Technology Bombay ldquoHe topped his class John McKetta at Michigan and his adviser Donald L Katz were huge admirers of dadrdquo says Sethnarsquos son Rustam a PhD Chemical Engineer in New Jersey currently a conceptual engineering associate at Air Products ldquoProf McKetta told me the department knew he was destined for a stellar futurerdquoSethna joined Imperial Chemical Industries and then the DAE Department of Atomic Energy in 1949 following a fateful encounter with Homi Bhabha at the Willingdon Club swimming pool The two men heatedly debated the largescale production of absolute alcohol specifically the distillation process achieving 100 per cent purity Bhabha insisted the mixture Sethna suggested did not exist Sethna settled the argument with an explanation in a book he presented BhabhaImpressed Bhabha was keen to have such a bright protege at DAE Sethna became one of the first recruits of Indian Rare Earths IRE supported by the Nehru government Freshly married to Dr Gooloo Cooper daughter of surgeon RN Cooper he travelled to work from Kochi to Alwaye Aluva where the IRE plant was coming up Sethna made 23 trips to Bombay for the construction of TIFR Tata Institute of Fundamental Research which Bhabha simultaneously assigned him The Sethnas with Dr Homi Bhabha at Malabar Hotel in Kochi 1951Consequent to IRE and a thorium plant Sethna built the uranium metal plant at Trombay in 1959 The sophisticated research reactor Dhruva was conceived duringhis 19661972 tenure as Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre BARCAtomic Energy in India 50 Years authored by CV Sundaram LV Krishnan and TS Iyengar places the 1964 plutonium plant in Trombay in perspective ldquoKnown as Project Phoenix one of the most important landmarks in the Indian programme it was entirely designed and built by Indian engineers under the leadership of HN Sethna and N Srinivasan With this India became one among five countries in the world with the US UK France and former Soviet Union with demonstrated capabilities in the advanced technology of nuclear fuel reprocessingrdquoAlso read As lawyers we must stand up against injustice CJINot a soul Sethnarsquos family included had a clue about the historic Pokhran test till it became public in 1974 That May morning his wife Gooloo received an odd call from the Chief of Army Staff cryptically assuring her ldquoeverything had gone wellrdquo revealing no details The same strange message came again from the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi Eventually Sethna phoned sharing the momentous news just as media began breaking it relaying BARC Director Dr Raja Ramannarsquos famous line announcing the missionrsquos success to GandhimdashldquoThe Buddha has smiledrdquoWith young Hormuz at an official function in Raj Bhavan on right is former AEC Chairman Anil KakodkarAdmiring Sethnarsquos handling of the postPokhran situation former AEC Chairman Anil Kakodkar has commended his outspoken nononsense advice while battling several DAE crises When America stopped supplying enriched uranium to the Tarapur reactors Sethna boldly prepared for alternative fuel supplies ldquoThe French stepped in to give us uranium If that hadnrsquot happened Sethna was getting ready with his MOX mixed oxide from reprocessed plutonium and uranium programme to run reactors on We got the supply from France and also developed the MOXrdquo Another AEC Chairman Srikumar Banerjee reiterated ldquoIn those formative years for the establishment Dr Sethnarsquos outstanding contribution to reprocessing of spent fuel used for Pokhran I cannot be forgottenrdquo Sethnarsquos staunch nationalism was evident throughout his luminous life He did not mince words allowing for clean communication of all intent and objectives without sugarcoating or tiptoeing around issues Criticism from powers attempting to squash Indiarsquos sovereignty in the field was never a concern He consistently encouraged bypassing foreign sanctions or breaches of contract for fuel by backing the ingenuity of indigenous technology With assured nuclear selfreliance India could outplay its detractorsldquoGod knows the pressures he was under I marvel that my dad never lost his temper He willed his mind to go blank for a minute before resuming the taxing routinerdquo says Meher Dadabhoy who designs programmes for Deaf people fluent in Indian Sign Language ISL to teach in schools for the Deaf and trains hearing people to become ISL interpretersFamily portrait in New York 1993 daughter Meher Dadabhoy with son Hormuz the Sethnas and their son RustamPics Co urtesy Meher Sethna DadabhoyImmersed in thought designing vital projects like the plutonium plant or notations for Apsara Asiarsquos first research reactor in 1956 on the Trombay campus Sethna kept pen and paper at his bedside to note ideas which might strike in the middle of the night Rustam says ldquoHe urged us to read vehicle licence plate numbers to figure what each was divisible by Everything was a puzzle to solve Keeping his mind sharp and prepared was an obsessionrdquoMeher recollects Sethnarsquos dazed expression on hearing from his secretary that Bhabharsquos airplane crashed that January 1966 day over Mont Blanc en route the International Atomic Energy Conference in ViennaldquoThe family was watching The Sound of Music at the Regalrdquo adds Rustam ldquoIt was shock and grief for dad losing a great mentor and dear friend and an immeasurable loss for Indiarsquos nuclear programme We visited Dr Bhabharsquos mother Meherbai to provide condolences and solace mdashin later years too to the annoyance of her dachshund Bambi who felt he was the protector of the householdldquoDad so creditably carried on Dr Bhabharsquos legacy A multifaceted man with amazing talent he was always modest and honest An opera lover Verdirsquos La Traviata and Puccinirsquos Rigoletto were his favourites I once took him to dinner at Astirsquos an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village Some waiters were professional opera singers performing for guests Though surprised dad participated with enthusiasmldquoAsked about his lifersquos memorable events he didnrsquot cite all the considerable achievements passionate as he was about Indiarsquos energy security He said lsquoThe day I met my wife the day I married her the day Nosh elder brother Noshirwan who was a geologist was born the day I was born the day Meher was bornrsquo He was that selfless and caring a family manrdquoIn 2005 India became the sole nonNPT nonproliferation of nuclear weapons nation signing a civilian nuclear deal with the US Deeply influenced by his grandfather Hormuz Dadabhoy describes this defining episode ldquoGrowing up with the belief that my grandpa was remarkably unlike any other I have a vivid memory from 2005 when the 123 Nuclear Deal was being hashed out between the US and India Grandpa got the call to head to Delhi to meet PM Manmohan Singh He swung by our Worli home to bid farewell I remember that conversation with granny grandpa mum and dad huddled discussing the substantial shifts we were witnessing These were a result of the unwavering integrity behind our atomic energy advancements enabling such groundbreaking agreements He brought back for me seemingly ordinary HB pencils but with a story One hailed from the Prime Ministerrsquos Office The other was a keepsake from the Cabinet I still possess these pencils tangible reminders of his journey His presents were simple yet steeped in meaning Like soap hersquod come up with a formula forldquoHe taught me maths and chemistry but even more fun were hours chatting about history politics the future trajectory of India and the wider world A true chemist at heart he took it upon himself to keep my school uniforms pristine whitemdashno small feat in Bombay Every evening like clockwork he and granny graced us with their presence ldquoGrandpa wasnrsquot just a force of brilliance His fantastic sense of humour delivered jokes with trademark dry wit Vacations to hydro power plants nestled within the western ghats were transformative learning experiences with him unravelling intricacies of turbines water flows and complex inner workings of power companies A cherished trip in 2007 to Kerala was a pilgrimage of sorts returning to the spot where granny and grandpa embarked on their life journey marking the inception of grandparsquos role in founding Indian Rare Earths Walking those paths where they had stood as newlyweds witnessing the dawn of his career and Indiarsquos scientific progresshellip indelible memories encapsulating the essence of our relationshiprdquoWhen Sethna died of a stroke on September 5 2010 he was not mourned only by the scientific world heads of state and industrial tycoons on whose corporate boards he served in retirement In Megholi village of Kolhapur the onetime major domo of the Sethnasrsquo home staff Tukaram Kotkar celebrates his beloved employerrsquos every birthday He says ldquoHow humble he was for someone so clever And principled khoop saral swabhaava che manoos He respected me like family aamhi naukar navhte This year Irsquom holding the biggest programme to honour him educating local school children about the legend my Saheb wasrdquoAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacom