I’m meeting Dr.M.S.Swaminathan today afternoon, at his research foundation. Yes, he is the Father of the Green Revolution who transformed our country from a starving, import-dependent nation to a self-sustainable food exporting nation. It’s not everyday that we get to meet such a great personality … so when my friend Sankar offered me the invitation, I jumped at the chance. It’s a good thing that the M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation is just walking distance from my office building.

My family is still into agriculture and to this day we cultivate many crops in our village in Pondicherry. I have heard from my grandfather how genetically engineered rice, thanks to M.S.Swaminathan’s research, has helped produce three times what the old crop does. His work has helped many agriculturists like us.

Take a look at his academics. He went to Netherlands to do his masters in Genetics, then did his Ph.D in Cambridge University. Then moved on to Wisconsin, USA for further studies where he turned down an offer for proferssorship. Here is the fantastic reason he gives …. “I asked myself, why did I study genetics? It was to produce enough food in India. So I came back.”

Amazing. How many of us would have done the same ??