G.T. Murthy

He was senior to us when I was in TIFR (1964-79). We admired him but did not know much of what he was doing as we were in different groups Sanjay Maniktala, who met him later in the 1980s writes about him. Mentors are life changing "But far more important that the creativity that was being fostered there by Doc, was the grooming of the “engineering psyche” which many of us totally abide by today. One of Doc’s famous statements was: “A technical institution is not a king’s court, where the king says it is dark outside, and everyone obediently nods.” He went on to declare that in any technical discussion there is no such thing as a “boss” either. We were encouraged to speak up, but keeping in mind that we are eventually only as good as our facts, data and analyses. Rank does not count, he declared. And so, if you ever came close to proving Doc wrong, he would be very pleased actually. We realized he meant all of it, heart and soul."
I too interacted with G.T.Murthy but in a different way. A photograph from 1974