Bhal Chandra Joshi
Prof Padmanabhan or Paddy as he was known fondly touched lives of many of us, in particular mine, in ways which left lasting impressions on all of us. Witty and funny, yet with a depth of wisdom, he taught physics to many of us in a new way. To those of us, who had the privilege of knowing him in the role of a teacher, not only he left us with a deeper understanding of the subjects he taught, but also a set of values and standards which became benchmarks for us. A strict disciplinerian, he nevertheless was a warm human being, understanding, at the same time cajoling and pushing us to hold ourselves to higher standards. He leaves behind a vast body of work apart from a legacy of students and teaching methodolgy. Paddy is no more with us today and we may never be able to have that last conversation with him anymore, but he will live on through his work with us forever.
Ghanashyam Date
It was a numbing shock to get the news of Paddy's untimely departure.
I got to interact with Paddy rather late, when I spent three months at IUCAA in 2000. Since then we have met on several occasions. I was always struck by his alertness and the quickness of his thought process. His seminars were so well crafted that it was very difficult to think along different directions. His phone calls typically began with "... is it a good time to talk?... Have you come across ...?" The answer to the first question was invariably "Yes" and to the second question was always "No". Soon enough the puzzle would be resolved by him.
I had the opportunity to read in detail the theses of three of his students. This was rewarding and Paddy's influence was quite apparent. To borrow from one his students:
" ... the efficacy of his power of instruction makes any need to have intelligent life at the receiving end almost superfluous....".
The last time he had called me was on Sep. 6th. Unfortunately I had missed that call and discovered it only when I searched his number for a condolence message.
He has gone beyond the reach of any mobile network but remains accessible through his work and the human resource he has nurtured.
May we find solace in this.
Spenta R. Wadia
"Paddy was a student when I joined TIFR. I still remember his thesis lecture in AG 66 and I kept on worrying about the untamed fluctuations of quantum gravity. Over the years I got to know him well. Our scientific goals had commonality but our paths were very different. In retrospect this diversity of approaches is enriching and necessary when one seeks answers to questions with little guidance from experiment. His relentless pursuit to understand gravity and the variety of questions it poses was very admirable. There is a long list here but most striking was his pursuit of fathoming deeply the connection of geometries with horizons and thermodynamics. His other grand pursuit was to understand dark energy and the cosmological constant which is without doubt one of the central problems faced by any theory of quantum gravity. Paddy was an excellent expositor and educationist, a prolific writer who wrote a large number of review articles. His well-written text books on Astrophysics have had a great impact on students and researchers alike and will continue to do so.
When I heard the news that Paddy had suddenly passed away I was shocked. He was still young! That morning I kept on thinking about the `tiny time’ we spend on this `small rock’ in this vast and mostly unknown universe…while trying to make sense of it. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the many students and researchers he mentored with infectious enthusiasm and care.
Mustansir Barma
I think Paddy will be remembered as much for his human qualities as for his intellect. He was one of the liveliest people I have known, always with a slightly irreverent glint in his eye. Besides research, at which he excelled, he had a passion for teaching and communicating science in new and different ways. From his years at TIFR, besides his physics, I recall the time he was looking after graduate school courses, when he was saddled with the perennial problem of finding teachers for the core courses. With his deep and abiding interest in statistical physics, we had much in common, and communicated intermittently over the years about several topics in the subject, and random walks in particular. In fact our last exchange, a few months ago, was about windings of random walks.
Paddy will be missed by all of us, and by the full scientific community in India and the world. May his soul rest in peace.
Rajesh Gopakumar
Like much of the Indian physics community, I am also shocked that Paddy was snatched away from us so prematurely. Paddy was an early inspiration for me, indeed having nurtured my interest in science as a schoolkid in the 1980's, through his columns on science and maths puzzles in popular magazines. Later I got to interact with him scientifically and was always stimulated by his fresh, unorthodox thinking as well as his breadth. With both of us having Thiruvananthapuram as our birthplace, we used to also talk about science in Kerala etc. I could not but marvel at his infinite energy and how he used to not only do such terrific research but also write original textbooks and witty popular science articles and books. He had so much more to give to science; now he will remain forever a shining example, impelling us to do much more.
