Basiswar Sen, c. 1923
Basiswar "Boshi" Sen
(1887 ? 31 August 1971) was an Indian agricultural scientist. He was a pioneer of the
Green Revolution
movement that changed the food landscape of India by growing abundant food grains, thereby reducing the possibility of any famine in the country. His wife was
Gertrude Emerson Sen
, an American author and specialist on Asia. He founded the
Vivekananda Laboratory
in the
Almora
region of the Himalayas. He was a friend of many notable people, such as Indian Prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru
, poet
Rabindranath Tagore
,
Julian Huxley
, and
D. H. Lawrence
. Sen was also associated with the
Ramakrishna Order
and the
Ramakrishna
Vivekananda
movement, as well as with
Jagadish Chandra Bose
, the Indian scientist, and
Sister Nivedita
, the writer, orator, freedom fighter and direct disciple of
Swami Vivekananda
.
[1]
The
Government of India
awarded him the third-highest civilian honour of
Padma Bhushan
in 1957.
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
Sen was born in
Bishnupur
area in Bengal in 1887. His father's name was Rameswar Sen, who was the first graduate of Calcutta University from
Bankura
district of Bengal. His mother's name was Prasannamoyi Devi. Sens elder brother Sureswar Sen was an ardent devotee of the Holy Mother
Sri Sarada Devi
.
[3]
Owing to the untimely death of Rameshwar, the Sen family was in financial strain. Sen (or Boshi as he came to be known in his later life), completed his school education by staying with a sister in Ranchi. He passed the BSc examination from
St. Xavier's College
in Calcutta. He was introduced to
Ramakrishna Order
by his friend Bibhuti Bhushon Ghosh. Sen was intimately associated with
Swami Sadananda
, also called Gupta Maharaj, a direct monastic disciple of
Swami Vivekananda
. Boshi also took a few photographs of the Holy Mother
Sri Sarada Devi
.
At this time he also came in contact with
Sister Nivedita
who introduced him to Acharya
Jagadish Chandra Bose
, the famous Indian scientist, biologist and botanist. Boshi worked with
Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose
for several years in
Bose Institute
and even accompanied him to London. In 1923, he travelled to the United States on invitation of an American scientist, Glen Overton. After his return to India, Boshi wanted to do independent research, and he parted from Dr. J.C Bose and founded his own laboratory in a small kitchen in Bosepara Lane, Baghbazar, where he was staying. The laboratory was named after
Swami Vivekananda
.
Boshi met
Romain Rolland
in 1928 and had a discussion on the lives of
Ramakrishna
and
Vivekananda
with him. He met
Albert Einstein
in 1930 in Berlin and had discussions on Science and Religion.
[1]
[4]
In 1924
Sister Christine
or Christine Greenstidel a direct American disciple of Swami Vivekananda had come down to India and took up her accommodation with Boshi. Boshi relocated to Almora where he set up his laboratory in Kundan House, rented with the money of
Josephine MacLeod
, and Sister Christine stayed there with him for two years. In 1928 Boshi accompanied Sister Christine to New York to help her recover from a failing health, where she died.
[5]
In Almora Boshi he met Gertrude Emerson, an explorer, writer and founding member of
Society of Woman Geographers
.
[6]
She was a graduate of Chicago University, a fellow of
Royal Geographical Society
and also editor of the Asia Magazine. In 1932 Boshi and Gertrude were married to each other. She became
Gertrude Emerson Sen
. They had many diginataries as their acquaintances in Kundan House, the most notable among them being
Rabindranath Tagore
, the mystic poet and Nobel laureate,
Jawaharlal Nehru
,
Julian Huxley
, note danceuse
Uday Shankar
,
Swami Virajananda
, the then head of Ramakrishna Order,
Carl Jung
etc.
[7]
Kundan house, residence of Dr Basiswar Sen
Scientific research
[
edit
]
The Great
Bengal Famine of 1943
had changed Sen's outlook towards research and from research on plant cell his focus shifted to applied research on agriculture and food grain productivity. In this matter he was deeply influenced by the humanistic endeavours and messages of Swami Vivekananda who identified food problem as one of the major problems plaguing British India.
[1]
[8]
His research in practical and applied agriculture included plant introduction, plant breeding and production of hybrid seeds of maize, jowar, bajra, and onion. He followed the claims of
Trofim Lysenko
to develop so-called vernalized crop varieties.
[9]
In his
Vivekananda Laboratory
, he was successful in production of hybrid maize seeds and hybrid onions. For his pioneering work which heralded
Green Revolution in India
, he was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1957 and Watmull award in 1962. He was allotted land for the expansion of his work by
Uttar Pradesh Government
in Hawalbagh. In 1959 his Laboratory was transferred to U. P. Government, and it allotted 215 acre land for scientific research.
[10]
Other activities
[
edit
]
In 1939, Sen and Gertrude took initiative in setting up Uday Shankar Cultural Centre at Almora. But the centre lasted only for five years. Sen was also deeply spiritual in nature. He was inspired by the monks from
Ramakrishna Math
. He had nursed Swami Sadananda during his last days and was also initiated by him. Sen was also close to
Swami Brahmananda
, the first president of the Ramakrishna Mission.
[1]
He wrote at least one article, titled "Science and Religion".
[11]
Later life
[
edit
]
Sen died on 31 August 1971 in Ranikhet Military Hospital, Almora. After his death,
Vivekananda Laboratory
was absorbed into
Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR) as an autonomous unit in 1974, and had a leading role to play in resolving the food crisis of India through Green Revolution. It was renamed as
Vivekananda Paravatiya Krishi Anisandhan Sanstha
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Boshi Sen?Scientist and Karmayogi, by Hironmoy Mukherjee, Bulletin 2009, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture
- ^
"Padma Awards"
(PDF)
. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 15 October 2015
. Retrieved
21 July
2015
.
- ^
"Sri Sri Matri Mandir::"
.
www.rkmjoyrambati.org
. Archived from
the original
on 24 November 2018
. Retrieved
15 September
2018
.
- ^
Prophets of New India, by Romain Rolland, page 453
- ^
Sri Sarada Society Notes, Sprint 2008
- ^
Reporter, B. S. (18 March 2007).
"A possible spirituality"
.
Business Standard
. Retrieved
15 September
2018
.
- ^
"Two Almora Lives - Indian Express"
.
www.indianexpress.com
. 31 March 2007
. Retrieved
15 September
2018
.
- ^
"Swami Brahmananda, a Spiritual Dynamo"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 29 May 2014
. Retrieved
8 October
2013
.
- ^
Sen, Boshi; Joshi, H. C. (1959).
"Effect of Irradiation with Thermal Neutrons on Control and Vernalised Seeds of Mustard"
.
Agronomy Journal
.
51
(8): 460?462.
Bibcode
:
1959AgrJ...51..460S
.
doi
:
10.2134/agronj1959.00021962005100080004x
.
ISSN
0002-1962
.
- ^
"History: Vivekananda Laboratory"
. Archived from
the original
on 4 March 2016
. Retrieved
8 October
2013
.
- ^
"Science and Religion, by Boshi Sen".
The Forum
. December 1935.
Books
[
edit
]
Nearer Heaven Than Earth: The Life and Times of Boshi Sen and Gertrude Emerson Sen, by Girish N Mehra,
ISBN
9788129110923
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