Professor Ruchi Ram Sahni (1863-1948)was born barely 14 years after the British annexation of Punjab and lived to see India become independent. His life thus covers an important part of Punjab’s and India’s history. He was an educator and scientist, but his activities were not confined merely to the class room or the laboratory. He made concerted efforts to propagate science in Urdu and Punjabi, and integrate it into society and economy. A great votary of employment-oriented technical education, he played an important role in the establishment of Victoria Diamond Jubilee Technical Institute in Lahore in 1897 and was given the honour of delivering the inaugural address. In addition, he was a writer, social and religious reformer, and after retirement an active participant in public life. In 1909, he was awarded the title Rai Sahib, which he chose to return in 1920 at the personal request of one of the Ali brothers, Shaukat Ali, in support of the Khilafat movement. In 1923, he entered Punjab Legislative Council as a member of the Swaraj Party. From 1918 till his death he served as a trustee of TheTribune.
Remarkably, Ruchi Ram Sahni’s interest in science was entirely self-generated; unlike in Bengal, there was nothing in the Punjab school or college education or in the general intellectual atmosphere that could inspire anybody to take to science. And yet he preferred a career in science over careers coveted by bright students and their families, namely the prestigious government service or the lucrative legal practice.
He was the first Indian scientist in India Meteorological Department (1885-1887). He was sent to Calcutta for training during January-March 1885, and permitted to study at the Presidency College. Not only did he benefit professionally from the stay, but his mental horizons were also broadened. While posted at the weather office in Shimla, he forecast the severe cyclone of 22 September 1885 in the Bay of Bengal, and in the absence of his British superiors boldly made the forecast public on his own responsibility, thus saving many lives and minimizing material damage.
Teaching was however his first love. He became the first Indian science professor at Government College Lahore which he served for 31 long years 1887-1918. Had he been in Calcutta, he would probably have become a research chemist like P. C. Ray; had he been based in Bombay, he would have probably emerged as an industrial chemist like T. K. Gajjar. As belated fulfillment of his desire to do research, he went to Europe and worked in Ernst Rutherford’s celebrated physics laboratory, where he had the scientific company of Niels Bohr. RuchiRam published two papers during 1915-1917 on radioactivity, becoming India’s first nuclear scientist.
He remained an active member of the Punjab University Senate and of Syndicate for a number of years. (Wasim Sajjad, who served as the President of Pakistan from 19 July 1993 to 13 November 1993, proudly mentions in his on-line bio-data that he was the winner, in the early 1960s, of Ruchi Ram Sahni Declamation Prizeawarded by the Punjab University Lahore.)
Ruchi Ram was a conscientious and inspiring teacher who spent six months learning carpentry for the sake of laboratory work. His teacher was Bhai Ram Singh, later the celebrated architect of Khalsa College Amritsar, who not only imparted him the skills, but also introduced him to the aesthetics of art.
Ruchi Ram was born in an opulent merchant family in Dera Iamail Khan which within a few years was pauperized to such an the extent that as school boy, Ruchi Ram chose to walk the 100-mile distance to his school in Jhang with a view to saving the princely sum of one rupee. Even as a high school student, he was recognized as a social rebel by his peers. He had no hesitation in walking to a public ground in the middle of a winter night and bringing back a bundle left there by somebody after ‘jadu-tona’.
Experience of both wealth and poverty gave extraordinary strength to his character. Most importantly, like P. C. Ray who had similar experience, he became alive to the role of science as a generator of wealth rather than as a mere cultural activity. Later, he set up an acid manufacturing plant, and took up the cause of national manufacture. In 1934, as the President of Northern India Chemical Manufacturers’ Association, he strongly objected to ‘the economic resources of the province’ being ‘mortgaged beforehand to a foreign concern [Imperial Chemical Industries]’, and wanted ‘the interests of indigenous chemical industries’ to be protected.
He also made money through real estate dealings, and utilized his wealth well. He educated all his daughters, and sent his five sons to Britain. Birbal Sahni emerged as an internationally acclaimed paleobotanist while Mulk Raj Sahni became a geologist. Interestingly all three were invited by the Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman to become the foundation fellows of Indian Academy of Sciences established by him in 1934.
Having been a student who came up in life through scholarships and help from well meaning people, Ruchi Ram took his mentoring role very seriously. A bright young man whom Ruchi Ram helped get a scholarship in 1919 for study abroad was Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, who was appointed Director of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1940 by the Government of India, and who later set up a string of national laboratories in independent India with full support from Jawaharlal Nehru.
Ruchi Ram was very zealous about his self- respect as an individual and as an Indian. He refused to take off his shoes while being ushered into the presence of a European superior, and resented and objected to the prevalent racial arrogance.
A life-long adherent of the Brahmo Samaj principles, he held all religions in high esteem. The Brahmo Samaj connection enabled Punjab in general and Ruchi Ram in particular to benefit from intellectual and social developments in Bengal. In about 1945 he wrote Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines, which was later edited by Dr Ganda Singh and published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC). With his characteristic thoroughness, he preserved all the press communiqués on the subject which SGPC had issued from time to time and subsequently presented a complete set to SGPC whose own collection had gaps.
Ruchi Ram Sahni sought knowledge and strove to live in accordance with it. As member of the society, he strove even harder to apply his intellect, learning, analytical skills and organizational abilities for the benefit of his countrymen. It is in this context that he continues to be relevant today.
Table 1. Ruchi Ram Sahni: Chronology
1863 Apr 5
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Born at Dera Ismail Khan, now in Khyber-Pakhtunwa province of Pakistan
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Sent to Church Mission School.
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After about a year, withdrawn, along with other boys, as protest against conversions; and sent to the newly founded Dharm Prakash School.
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1878 Apr
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Passes middle school examination, winning a scholarship. All his studies would be funded by Government scholarships.
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1878 Aug
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Admitted to Government High School, Jhang. Name changed from Rochi Ram to RuchiRam by the headmaster on the ground that he could not admit a boy with a meaningless name.
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1879 Oct
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Decides to leave Jhang and seek admission in the better-equipped Government School Lahore
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1881
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Passes Entrance examination (=Matriculation). Joined FA at Government College Lahore on 2 January 1881.
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1882
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Passes Proficiency examination in Arts (=First Arts) in August 1882, after merely 16 months of study, coming second. Joined BA
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1884
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Passes BA, standing first; awarded Arnold Silver Medal, and Fuller Exhibition Scholarship of Rs 35. Enrolls for MA.
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1885 Jan
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Joins India Meteorological Department as Assistant Meteorological Reporter without completing MA but retaining his scholarship.
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1885 Jan-Mar
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Stationed at Kolkata as a trainee. Guest student at Presidency College.
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1885
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Punjab Science Institute set up at Lahore for popularization of science and science-based skills, with Ruchi Ram as joint secretary.
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1885 Apr
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Posted in Shimla in the India Meteorological Department.
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1885 Dec
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Obtains M.A. in Physics and Chemistry.
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1887 Apr
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Joins Government College Lahore as Assistant Professor of science (physics and chemistry in the grade of Rs 200.
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1888
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Establishes Punjab Science Institute Workshop
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1890-91
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Promoted to the grade Rs 225
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c. 1897
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Punjab Science Institute closed, with its funds transferred to Government College Lahore for institution of cash awards to students
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1906
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Physics and Chemistry made into separate departments. Ruchi Ram designated assistant professor of Chemistry.
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1909
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Made second professor of Chemistry, ( the senior professorship being invariably reserved for Europeans). Aawarded the title Rai Sahib in connection with’ the Lahore Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition, Lahore.
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1914-
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Visiting researcher in nuclear physics at Ernst Rutherford’s laboratory in Manchester
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1920 Sep
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Attends the Indian National Congress at Calcutta (with Lala Lajpat Rai as President) as a delegate from Punjab.
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1920
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Returns the Rai Sahib title in support of the Khilafat movement.
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1934
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Invited by C. V. Raman to be a founding fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences Bangalore. His two scientist sons, Birbal Sahni and Mulk Raj Sahni were also similarly invited.
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1948 Jun 3
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Died in Bombay
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Bibliographical note
In 1942, Ruchi Ram completed his all-encompassing autobiography, calling it Self Revelations of an Octogenarian. It has never been published in its entirety, but its copies have been available with his family members. Two publications have made use of portions of it in an abridged form.
Kapur, Rajiv A. (ed) (n.d.) Towards Modernity: Autobiographical essays by Lala Ruchi Ram Sahni 1863-1893 (Privately published).
Sehgal, Narender K. and Mahanti, Subodh (eds) (1994) Memoirs of Ruchi Ram Sahni: Pioneer of Science Popularisation in Punjab ( New Delhi: Vigyan Prasar).
Official details about his service in Government College Lahore are available in the following publications.
