I am happy to share a few of my memories with Prof. O N Srivastava. I had heard about him, his academic brilliance and scientific achievements, specifically the famous Hydrogen driven vehicles conceived and designed by him. I knew him as one of the best faculty members that BHU had. I had the opportunity to meet him for the first time in early 2018 when I had just started with my tenure in Banaras Hindu University as the Vice-Chancellor. When I met him, I was highly impressed with his wonderful persona and was moved by his humbleness, generosity and most importantly his dedication to scientific research and vision for Banaras Hindu University. His zeal towards his area of research supported by his encyclopaedic knowledge and commitment to his science left a deep impression on me.

 

I would like to share a reminiscence, that also reflects the kind of commitment he had for BHU. In March 2018, I had joined BHU as the Vice-Chancellor and was barely three days in my office, I was informed about a presentation that was to be made in the Ministry of Education, for BHU to get the prestigious tag of Institution of Eminence (IoE). Since the University was very new to me and I had very less time for its preparation, I made a presentation in the Ministry which was prepared with the help of a team of Professors of BHU. Unfortunately, in the first round of presentations, BHU did not secure the tag of IoE, which was a big disappointing news for me. However, after a week or two, I met Prof. Srivastava. He was in my office, as always carrying his bag full of papers and pens. I discussed with him the concern of BHU not securing the IoE status, to which he responded and explained the possible reasons for the same. Later he showed various documents that explained why BHU was lagging. He came with a couple of suggestions and we decided to make a representation to the Ministry showcasing the real potential of the University and thereby requesting to reconsider the case of BHU for bestowing with the tag of IoE. As Prof. Srivastava was one of the few gems of the University and nobody knew the University better than him because of his deep engagement with the University, I requested him to lead the committee constituted by me for preparing the representation, which comprised of Prof. O N Srivastava, Prof. S C Lakhotia and Prof. Rajiva Raman. He not only accepted my request but started working on it. I was astonished to see and realise the kind of hard work he put into the representation, delving deeply into every aspect. Prof. Srivastava researched on multifaceted aspects of the University. He did not leave any stone unturned, starting from the history of BHU for making the preamble, undertook a statistical analysis of academic achievements as well as showcased the infrastructural resources available in the University, to truly represent the potential that BHU encompassed. He expressed the visions of the University realistically, providing documentary evidence to support the representation that BHU was making. When the committee handed over the documents, I sent it to the Ministry and pursued the matter. After couple of months the Ministry released a list of institutions awarded with the tag of IoE and BHU was there on that list. It was the dedication and hard work that bore the fruits and the Banaras Hindu University was bestowed with the tag of Institution of Eminence. I would like to say that without Prof. Srivastava’s efforts and support, it would have been very challenging for the University to get this prestigious tag of Institution of Eminence.

 

There are many interesting facets of Prof. O.N. Srivastava’s life and him as a person, but one particular habit that I am most fond of was his habit of keeping a bag full of pens, and would gift them to people to whom he met, irrespective of one’s profession. One day I asked him, about the philosophy behind this gesture. He responded, that this gesture was inspired by what one of his teachers asked him to do, which was spread knowledge among all, and he found that besides teaching students, distributing pens among all is one the best way to encourage all to gain knowledge. I was impressed by this philosophy.

 

I visited his lab few times. In my thoughts, building such a high-tech laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment for hydrogen storage, hydrogen-based fuel production etc. and to work on applied research like hydrogen driven cars, three-wheelers and two-wheelers which are environment friendly and are a life changer for the people, are truly praiseworthy. In spite of achieving almost everything in terms of name, fame, awards (Padmashri, S S Bhatnagar Award, Fellow of Science Academies etc.), and the greatness that one could aspire in one's life, Prof Srivastava was an extremely polite, humble and generous person. He reminded me that a big tree laden with fruits always bows and gives its shadow of protection to all.

 

His sad demise is an irreparable loss for the entire country, scientific fraternity and humanity.

 

 

Prof. Rakesh Bhatnagar

Former Vice Chancellor

Banaras Hindu University