JOIN USOn the carpeted area below a yellow wall sat a young lad scribbling something on loose sheets.
Talking to himself he says “If I would have learnt drawing, I could have drawn a picture of them too,” and looks at the images of Indian Nobel laureates hung at a special wall put up inside the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station.
Answering Metrolife’s query on what was he writing, Chandra Shekhar Mishra introduced himself and said, “I am a writer and I am writing on childhood. You see this man,” he points at the picture of Kailash Satyarthi, who was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “he laid the foundation of Bachpan Bachao Andolan. If I too would have got Rs 14,000, I could have completed my second and third year of graduation.”
Mishra’s stops talking and gets back to his writing thereafter, but his words continue to reverberate in the mind. The definition of this Nobel Memorial Wall, set up as part of the celebration of the ‘Sweden-India Nobel Memorial Week 2014’ changes after this conversation.
One looks at pictures of Indian Nobel laureates, from Rabindranath Tagore (1913) to Kailash Satyarthi (2014), and reads the descriptions of the work they have done for the development and betterment of society.
“Alfred Nobel left his fortune for founding the Nobel Prizes, and said that ‘the estate should be used to endow prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.’ The Nobel Memorial Wall has become a sort of tradition to mark the beginning of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week,” says Harald Sandberg, Ambassador of Sweden to India.
“It is also a unique initiative to spread awareness of these laureates among people – especially the young people while they are on the move. It would be interesting for you to know that during the Week, the wall is seen by 700,000 people,” he adds.
Undoubtedly , the figure isn’t exaggerated for the footfall at one of the busiest Metro stations in the Capital is bound to provide such a viewership to anything that is newly introduced. The bright yellow colour of the wall makes it even more attractive for viewers who feel compelled to stop by and look at what has been displayed. Many stop by to click photos from their smartphones and read the same later.
“Since 2007, the Embassy of Sweden has been collaborating with a number of Swedish companies to organise the Sweden-India Nobel Memorial Week. What began as a one-city, seven-event program, in its eighth year is taking place in 10 cities with a large number of accompanying events.
The Week comprises a number of events ranging from seminars and panel discussions to competitions for students and cultural performances that will take place across Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, Indore and New Delhi this year. “It would be all right to say that we have been able to further enhance the positive image of Sweden in India and showcase the innovations of Sweden and Swedish companies to large number of Indians,” added the Swedish Ambassador.
A look at the wall and you recall the undying efforts of Mother Teresa (Nobel Peace Prize, 1979). There is a sense of pride to read about CV Raman and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 and 1983 respectively), Dr Hargobind Khorana (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1968) and Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, 1998). And then the plight of youngsters like Chandra Shekhar stands in stark contrast. If this is the harsh reality of today, how many more Nobel laureates will we be able to create in future?