Think Beneath the Hooves

 

The best part about history is that it gives a peek into life and times that were very different, but times that set stage for evolution of the society and of life, as we know it today . What if you found out one day that one of your ancestors left their own little mark in the annals of history ? History takes on a personal significance and what begins is a quest to understand the life and times of the said ancestor .

A few days ago, one of my mother’s aunts , an eighty seven year old scientist, shared with her the information that she had painstakingly put together about her grandfather,Professor P Sampath Iyengar, a geologist from the erstwhile state of Mysore , who is credited with discovering Iron ore deposits in the Kudremukh region of the Western Ghats in the year 1913. Known to her only through anecdotes, for he passed away before her birth , what probably motivated her to research for more information on a man who was considered a legend by many , was the innate curiosity to understand the man behind the name ; a feeling that I understood only too well, for I was soon hooked to the narratives and newspaper clippings about my mother’s paternal great grandfather , about whom I had heard for the first time ever that day .

Born in an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on 28 June 1879, Sampath Iyengar was the oldest among three sons. He graduated with a degree in Geology from erstwhile Madras University securing a first class first, and completed his Masters degree in the year 1901. Financial constraints forced him to take the job of a census clerk in order to eke out a living and financially support his younger brothers. What he did not lose in the process was his innate love for Geology. He began his career in the Mysore Geology Department in 1902 and delivered an authoritative lecture on Acid Rocks of Mysore in the Indian Geological Congress in 1920. 

It is said that in 1913, when he set out to survey the Kudremukh range and was riding along the Bhadra river, he noticed that fine particles of iron ore were stuck to the hooves of the horse . He followed its trail to the Aroli range of the hills and discovered Kudremukh’s iron ore deposits . He believed that Sugreeva made a legendary reference to the Kudremukh peak and the deposits of the iron ore in Ramayana.

His work as a Geologist brought him in close contact with Sir M  Visweswaraya and Sir Mirza Ismail, the then Dewan of Mysore. Professor Pichamuthu, one of his earliest students at Central College, recollected an incident where the existence of gold deposits at Chitradurga was brought to the notice of Sir Ismail , who then informed Professor Sampath Iyengar about it. Professor Sampath Iyengar was very confident that the region did not posses gold deposits. He asked for samples to be brought, which when tested showed that the deposits were not gold after all. Sampath Iyengar, in a light vein termed the fake ore as “Mirza’s gold” and Sir Mirza Ismail admitted in public, ‘I wish I am as cocksure of anything as Professor Sampath Iyengar is in his field.’

After over thirty years of service, which included not just the discovery of Iron ore deposits in Kudremukh, but also an extensive mapping of the natural deposits in the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, Professor Sampath Iyengar chose to retire early in the year 1932, owing to poor health . A man who was known as much for his magnanimity as his intellect, Professor Sampath Iyengar gifted his Chevrolet car to his trusted driver of many years, to use as a taxi.

What grabbed my attention in Sampath Iyengar’s story a lot more than his pioneering discoveries was the account of the person that he was . Coursing through uncharted territory requires the ability to not just look at the larger picture , but also plan and execute the million small things that are necessary to achieve the larger goal, to perfection . Both of these were skills that the professor amply possessed . An unparalleled expertise in Geology, powered by the passion to learn more and more, combined with the courage to go and explore the hitherto unexplored wilderness, took him to the mountains of Kudremukh . A keen sense of discipline and structure ensured that led his team into territories that were literally and figuratively uncharted . Legend has it that the professor and his team was on a field trip in the Western Ghats in December 1919. It was Christmas morning , but business as usual. A stickler for punctuality, the professor got ready on time to leave for the exploration, only to find that no one else was ready. When he asked them, they replied that they were waiting for their coffee. He rushed to the stove, upturned the pot of coffee and declared, ‘Coffee is over. Let’s go’.

Famed for his deadpan humour , the Professor was known for delivering witty repartee with the same effortless ease as  scholarly lectures on geology or answers to the barrage of questions that came his way .

Professor Sampath Iyengar was the  parent of seven sons and two daughters , including my maternal great grandfather P.S Chakrapani. A firm believer in the power of education to herald positive change , he ensured that the women in his family , including his wife , who did not have an opportunity to finish schooling were tutored at home . He did not live to see the impact that his children and grandchildren, many of whom were scientists , engineers , civil servants , architects and more , made in the creation of 

Post independence India , but what permeated through the generations was the passion to make a lasting difference.

Reading these anecdotes got me pondering over the man behind the name . Clearly, setting out deep into wooded mountains on a horseback in search of natural deposits, without a care about impending dangers in the form of snakes , robbers and more is not run-of-the -mill; it never was . Some may even say that a Professor’s job entails teaching his students , delivering authoritative talks and contributing to academic papers and journals . But here's the thing about minds that are not run-of-the -mill; minds that are probably diverse - they tend to look beyond the obvious . This very ability to look beyond the obvious probably drew his attention to the particles of iron ore stuck to the hooves of his horse .

Extensive mining in Kudremukh started only in the 1970s, a good seven decades after the deposits were first discovered . What followed all the way up until 2005 was extensive mining that put a fragile ecosystem to threat. The Supreme Court of India ordered closure of the mines in December 2005 and the place has since been converted into a National Park .

Man’s relationship with the ecosystem has always been a complex one ; one where greed sets in motion a path that heads towards self destruction. What Professor Sampath Iyengar would have never wanted is the wanton abuse of nature’s resources, just as Albert Einstein never intended his famous equation. e=mc2 to be the basis of building nuclear bombs.

Nature’s resources are not ours to squander, but the legacy that we have to leave behind for the generations to follow, generations that would grow up hearing stories about their illustrious ancestors which would then inspire them to leave their mark in this world .