My association with Sir (Prof ON Srivastava)was from 1969 to 2021.He taught me in M.Sc.final Solid State Physics in particular dislocations and imperfections. On the black board he used to draw very frequently schematics of dislocation s. He used to show TEM microstructures
In those days. After passing M Sc I wanted to do PhD under his supervision. At the outset he enquired why I am not joining senior teachers. My reply was that I am interested in experimental area. Perhaps,my reply was appealing to him. There was one problem. Since he was already having more numbers of research scholars he suggested me to meet HOD in this connection. Some how this problem was resolved and finally I got registered. In the beginning he suggested few books on crystallography to read. One dayhe handed over few oscillation photographs and asked me to investigate the distortions in the diffraction spots. This was the first assignment for me. I tried to correlate reciprocal space with observed features in diffraction patterns. During that time Ons asked me to attend National Crystallography Symposium (NCS) which was being held in Chennai.I was not having any research paper in that Symposium. He suggested me to write to CSIR for permission and financial assistance for discussion with experts.This was my first trip to South. After attending the symposium the group went for excursion which everyone of us very much enjoyed. The trip was also useful from my research point of view. I started annealing of crystals and examining them by XRD.What I want to emphasise here is the approach of ons for training his students. Instead of discouraging me he encouraged to attend the symposium. Later on I attended several conferences and noticed his serious and sincere approach .
I had very interesting experience of writing our first research paper. It was a short note. The typed manuscript was having several mistakes and somehow I could not notice it. I had already comm unicated the paper .When I told him about my laps he simply ignored it and suggested to get it retyped.It was again communicated .He had immense patience for corrections .There are many incidents which illustrate his constant efforts to improve presentations.In earlier times one has to make transparency for this purpose. I used to see him busy making transparency. He was tirelessly working for his lectures. In recent years he used to prepare power point presentation with the same zeal.
After completing my PhD I was temporary lecturer in IT and pool officer in Physics Department. In August 1976 I joined Kurukshetra University .Prof Srivastava helped me in getting Alexander von Humboldt fellowship to carry out research work in Germany.
In fact it was not simple. I requested sir to suggest some contact person in Germany. He sent two addresses and also provided reference letters. In those days letter was only means of communication. It was his concern for the welfare of his student which motivated him.
I completed two years of Alexander von Humboldt fellowship in the Institute of Material Science ,Erlangen Germany.
.It was of great help to me in shaping my academic career. I got opportunity to join Department of Physics BHU in1985.
This time was very interesting from the point of view of development in condensed matter as well as new TEM and XRD were being installed in the Department. Prof ONS with his team designed and got fabricated rapid solidification system in his laboratory. He had gathered several skilled persons who were working under his guidance. He created a new type of task force and work culture.Around the same time High Temperature Superconducting (HTSC)materials were discovered. His students were working with different HTSC materials and forms e g bulk,thin film,tape etc. Some of his students were working in the area of quasicrystal ,Hydrogen energy ,carbon nanotube ,graphine etc.This is not the complete list. He was collaborating with IMS Doctors ,Metallurgical engineering Faculty, Chemical engineering Faculty.
He used to receive visitors from different Institutions including people from abroad. He was a very good host. He used to invite me and A Ķ Singh along with the guest for the dinner at his house. It used to be very delicious dinner prepared by Bhabhiji(Mrs Srivastava).The visitors used to have discussions with the research group of Sir.It used to be beneficial for the students. It was also very conducive for our research.
To start work in any new area he used to involve some students and faculty members. He was eager to know any new information. It was amazing to see his curiosity.
I want to share some experience regarding M Sc students. Those students were free to meet him any time ,even in the presence of visitors. He was always available to them .This privilege was only for MSc students. In the earlier years he used to share his books .Later on he stopped this because he lost some of his books. However ,he used to provide photo copies to the students.
ONS was great admirer of BHU and Malviaji .He did not like any body saying something bad about the university. He was deeply concerned with the teaching and research standards of the department. He was one of the faculty members who made lots of effort to bring the status of Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS)to the Physics Department. He had important role in bringing the Nanoscience Centre to the University. Department was given UGC Networking Programme and Prof Srivastava had made much effort for this.
In the long journey of his research Hydrogen Energy Programme had special place. I saw the growth of his activity in

He was a religious person .In late hours he used to visit Sanķatmochan temple while returning from his laboratory. He was a karmyogi and believed in ceaseless efforts to attain his goal.
In later years he became very busy with different projects,
He was a multitasking person. He could handle so many things at a time. I used to find people sitting in the chair and standing around him. It was really interesting to see that he was giving instructions of different kind to different persons and also writing some letter.
His tea club meeting was an important time for discussion with his research scholars and staff. He was also keeping records of progress of students. Every year some conference was organised by him .His team of research scholars used to work hard for the successful organisation of the conference.
Sir was very prompt in adopting any new technology and modern development. He provided computer ,intercom and other facilities to his students. He was using electronic diary to record progress of work.
He quickly realised the importance of spectroscopic techniques for nanotechnology research and managed to procure them. He brought variety of equipments under one roof. He also realised the importance of biology and its interface with Nanoscience. He encouraged postdoctoral researchers from biological background to carry out research in his laboratory. This was a new idea and proved very useful in coming time.
In his laboratory students from different departments of Engineering used to come for their project These students also used to approach him to get his recommendations .
He was also helping people if they were suffering due to health issues. In this connection I remember my own case. One evening I was not feeling well. He took me to Doctor Shri dhar Dwivedi who was MS of SS hospital. He conducted all medical test and I got relief. He was very much involved and worried about the medical treatment of Dr A.K.Singh,however could not be saved. There are many instances where he wanted to help people .
Dear Shalini, I have tried to remember him and written only few of the things which I experienced about Sir. He always kept his personal problems away from his research and professional life. I remember once there was flood and ground
floor of his house was in water. One could approach his house only by boat. Even in that situation he was working on his research problems.
I also remember our journey to Shrinagar where an International Conference on
Superconductivity was being organised. Although from organisers side only few participants were invited Prof Srivastava took myself and Dr Balak Das to participate in this conference. At that time there was no trouble in Shrinagar.Prof Jagdish Narayan USA wanted a researcher from India. Later on Dr A K Singh joined that group. While going to Shrinagar we also visited Vasnava Devi Tample.
Coincidentally that year Prof Srivastava was given Bhatnagar Award.
Although ,Prof Srivastava was conducting research in many important areas his main interest was Hydrogen Energy, its production ,Storage and applications. I don't remember exactly when work on Hydrogen started .It must be before my joining the Department in 1985.Through various funding agencies he had gathered essential instruments for synthesis of hydride alloys. Hydride materials were being used for storage of Hydrogen. His students were also working on the production of Hydrogen by photoelectrochemical cell.
He also worked on the application side of Hydrogen Energy. Several two and three wheelers were modified to run by Hydrogen. His effort was recognised by scientific community as well as funding agencies. He had great vision regarding development of Hydrogen Energy in our country .Recently, our government has decided to bring Hydrogen energy in big way .Sir was very much excited when came to know about this.
There are many things to be mentioned and narrated about Prof ONS. I want to send this writeup as soon as possible therefore I am concluding here.I understand that it is not systematic and you feel free to rearrange and modify it. You may also give your suggestion.
R S Tiwari