Eminent academic, medicinal chemist and pharmaceutical historian Professor Harkishan Singh's autobiography "Witness to an Era" traces an over six-decade-long journey from a forgotten India of the 1940s, when a majority of people in its northern parts overcame the mayhem of partition to emerge as success stories, to a 21st century information technology-driven nation to be proud of.
The 317-page book, written in simple English, is a story that is both compelling and engaging as a read. It is a life story that begins in the village of Khara in West Punjab's Tarn Taran District, a book of 147 chapters that talks of humble beginnings, and a proud family, that encouraged him to dream, to work hard and with passion, to make a name nationally and globally in the field of pharmacology.
Interspersed with pictures and Urdu couplets, Professor Harkishan Singh's autobiography is a treasure trove highlighting each step taken steadily, but surely to the pinnacle of success.
For example, in Chapter 27 (Page 55), he talks of having a "fleeting experience" of working for a week in a pharmaceutical firm in Lahore, with absolutely no inkling of pharmacy ever being a career choice, but adds that "once I was in it, I owned it fully. I never looked back."
In simple and first person narrative style, he talks of living life in Khara Village before the Indian subcontinent was horrifically partitioned. As you read his story, you get increasingly involved in the journey of a man, an academic, a scientist who through grit and merit reached dizzying heights in his field of choice, travelling far and wide; working at and with six national and international universities; and now contributing to the field of pharmacology as a science historian.
The story telling is at once impactful, binding and graceful, allowing the reader to experience a range of emotions.
The detailed and interesting anecdotes transports you back in time, and yet, links you with the present.
He talks of post-partition Punjab, when the only colleges in India offering courses in pharmacy were the Glancy Medical College and the Khalsa College in Amritsar.
Enrolling as a student with the Glancy Medical College, which was then under the jurisdiction of the East Panjab University (later to be known as the Panjab University), Dr. Harkishan Singh says he took up the subjects of pharmaceutics, physiology and pharmacology in 1948. He talks of applying for state support for being a refugee, and of receiving a tuition waiver as a B. Pharm student.
He recalls with pride his association with senior teachers such as Dr. Pran Nath Mehra, who taught him pharmacognosy, Dr. Kidar Nath Gaind, who taught him pharmaceutics and Dr. Nazar Singh, who instructed him in pharmaceutical chemistry.
He talks of pharmacognosy being a favorite subject, and how Dr. Mehra inculcated in him an interest in the subject, and how his meritorious performance at university "proved to be of much help in my professional growth."
As an undergraduate student, travels to Delhi, Modi Nagar (in Uttar Pradesh), Bombay, Poona, Ahmedabad, Nainital and surrounding areas are mentioned, and described as a "rigorous exercise in field work, identifying and collecting plants of interest."
Pharmaceutical technology though nascent in newly independent India had equipment that according to Dr. Singh "must have been the envy of some drug manufacturing firms."
He proudly recollects attending the 37th session of the Indian Science Congress in Poona in January 1950, and witnessing the inauguration of the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and of being inspired not only by Nehru, but also by the presence of stalwarts of science such as Dr. P.C. Mahalanobis, Sir Robert Robinson, Madame Curie Joliot and Professor Desmond Bernal.
Post-university, Professor Harkishan Singh, talks of receiving practical training at the Drug Research Laboratories, Jammu, and of having the privilege to work under its then head, Brevet Col. Sir. Ram Nath Chopra, widely regarded as the 'Father of Pharmacology" in India; and recalling the latter, as saying in chaste Punjabi,"that if you have come here, make the best use of your stay with this institution."
A two-month-long stint at DRL, Jammu, is followed up by working as a chemist with United Chemical Works, Jalandhar, and a yearning to go further and deeper into scientific research.
Resigning from United Chemical Works, Jalandhar, Dr. Singh says he took up M. Pharm. at Banaras Hindu University for a year under the tutelage of Dr. N.K. Basu, then head of the Department of Pharmaceutics.
He makes a special mention of his sister, Charanjit, without whose help, he says he would not have been able to get his M. Pharma degree.
In Chapter 34 of the book, he talks fondly of his BHU "mentors" - Professor N.K. Basu and Dr. Gorakh Prasad Srivastava, both of whom he says "influenced and facilitated his academic and professional growth".
He talks of securing a brief lectureship assignment with BHU, which was followed by a nearly three-year stint with the University of Saugar, and then a move to the University of Maryland, Baltimore as its first post-doctoral associate with a specific task to work on synthetic azasteroids.
Rather humorously, he recalls that the total cost of travel to the United States for two then by ship via Cochin and Genoa was Rs. 4,037.38, a measly sum now, but a huge hole in the pocket for a person living in 1950s India.
Getting to the U.S. was by no means an easy task. Dr. Singh says it took him nearly three months to get his documents and sanctions, and then recalls the horror of almost missing his boat because the Indian Government then did not allow its citizens to carry foreign currency in cash.
Had a State Bank of India officer and some others not stepped in and helped him, Dr. Singh says he may never have gone abroad.
A nearly three-year-long stint in the United States was followed by a return to the University of Saugar in 1961, from where he achieved what he calls his second " moment of excitement" to head a research project funded by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Dr. Singh reached his career pinnacle as a Professor Emeritus, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and thereafter, as pharmaceutical historian of international repute.
In his book, he reveals that apart from achieving academic accolades both in India and from abroad, he has spent decades exploring India's pharmaceutical history.
He has published several books on this subject, and continues to give informative and inspiring views, which at times are non-conformist and provocative.
In 2008, the Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI), Bangalore, published a collection of his 101 articles which have appeared in different pharmaceuticals journals during the period 1954-2007.
The collection relate to pharmaceutical education and research, pharmacy practice, industry, trade, statutory control on drugs and pharmacy, colonial medicine and pharmacy, pharmaceutical journals and biographies of pharmaceutical luminaries.
Professor Singh continues to write on the subject even to this day. He has written and published 18 books, 125 research papers, 70 research papers on pharmaceutical history, over 100 articles on pharmaceutical education, professional issues and other topics.
On reading his book, published by Vallabh Prakashan, it wouldn't be far fetched to describe him as one of the pioneers of modern pharmacy and pharmacy education in India.
It is a fascinating story of a learned and distinguished teacher, researcher and historian.
