From a physicist to India's 'cyclone man': IMD chief spells out his journey

He loves to write in whatever time that is left from his no-holiday job

Yes sir. I’m quite sure, sir. There would be light rain… just light rain in the morning,” our guest assures an official on the other end of the phone managing the show for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address from the Red Fort. It is a muggy August 14 afternoon. The PM’s Office is on its toes, praying for a no-rain I-Day, and they have just got an assurance from Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the new chief of the country’s met department, that the event won’t be a washout.

With a degree of confidence one rarely sees in weathermen, Mohapatra assures the