One can't believe my sense of joy and pride when during a Management Information System presentation on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, one of the groups told us that the foundation of commercial RFID industry is credited to Sri Sanjay Sarma from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), when in 1999 Auto-ID center at MIT developed it. This is because I am privileged to have been a batch-mate of Sri Sanjay Sarma at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. Read moreJust imagine the kind of feeling one has when one realizes that one of his old friends has done something remarkable in the field of Science and Technology. The same happened when Mr Sanjay Sarma's name came in the class as inventor of commercial RFID. The entire class at IIM-L clapped with recognition when I told them with a proud voice that I was a batch-mate of Sarma at IIT-K. They became even more engrossed and clapped further when I told them that his wife Geetanjali (again an IIT-K alumnus) is no less talented and among the most good-looking girls IIT Kanpur ever had.
It was at this time that I also realized how much important and long-lasting the scientific contributions are compared to many of the short-term (and often shortsighted) achievements we in police and administration seem to boast of. Again, how much more is its reach? Just think, this person is suiting in America. He did something way back in 1999. But 11 years later students at IIM Lucknow are remembering his name with respect and awe.
Yes, I am feely really happy to have been a friend and acquaintance of Sanjay.
Amitabh Thakur
(The author is an officer with Indian Police Service (IPS), an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, and presently doing his higher studies at the premier management institute - Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow).