During the summer of 2006, Dr. Usha Rani
Palaniswamy returned with her father, Dr.
K.M. Palaniswamy,
to the International Rice Research Institute for the first time in 35
years. While yet a young child, her family moved from India to Los Baņos,
Philippines, in 1968 because her father was assigned to a 4-year stint
at IRRI as a scholar in the Institute’s Statistics Department. She
fondly recalls those days at IRRI through the mind and eyes of a child
and relates how the experience influenced her future career in science.
At the time of the interview, she was an Assistant Professor of Plant
Physiology at the University of Connecticut. Today, she is Chair of the
Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Excelsior College in
Albany, New York. She also pays loving tribute to her father, who at age
78 died tragically in a road accident in Coimbatore, India on 5 December
2007, a little over a year after his own pioneer interview (see box
below) at IRRI headquarters during the same 2006 visit. She is the
co-author (with her father) of
A handbook of statistics for teaching and research in plant and crop
science and just recently of
Asian crops and human dietetics.
One of the greatest periods of my life During my stay at IRRI, I was at the stage of my life
when I really grew up. Coming from India (Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University (TNAU) where my father was based), I had the opportunity to
interact with new cultures that I found to be friendly and warm. We were
greeted with great smiles and were most fortunate to make some very good
friends during our stay.
Although I was only 10
years old, I had the opportunity to observe many dedicated scientists at
work. I was impressed with that dedication exemplified by my own dad who
was out of the house all day working very hard. In one way or another,
all the scientists focused on one plant—a single crop, rice, which is
the most important one in the whole world. I thought a lot about plants
during that time. Plants play such important roles in our lives in many
different ways besides just giving us food. It was for these reasons,
the dedication of the IRRI scientists and the importance of plants, that
I decided to become a scientist—and specifically a horticulturist.
IRRI provided our entire
family with a unique opportunity to interrelate with new cultures and to
learn about the world and the people in it. I look back at my time at
IRRI and see it as one of the greatest periods of my life. I really
matured as I had interactions with not only the great culture of the
Philippines, but also other cultures that were part of IRRI’s
international community including Koreans, Thais, and even Indians from
different states in my home country whom I would
not have had the opportunity to have met if my dad had left us in Tamil
Nadu and not brought us to the Philippines with him.
Warm local culture recalled and
appreciated I fondly remember the large trees with white flowers at the
IRRI headquarters and the green grass on which we would have picnics and
share our snacks in the evening with my dad and his colleagues (see
photo right: Usha (with a white head band and
glasses) picnics and shares snacks with her dad (Kodiveri,
to her left), mother (Indrani, in front of her), her three siblings
(from center to right, Meera Devi, Vijayaraghavan, and Rajeswari),
Rosalinda Alicbusan Graham (Statistics Department research assistant,
1964-70, 2nd from left) and her husband Bill, and family friend Verna
Estaphia, a UPLB student (left foreground)]. IRRI approaches its 50th
in 2010.We would come to IRRI on the bus and enjoy the fountain, the
lights, and the cool air-conditioned lounge. We came for the movies
screened in the Chandler Hall Auditorium and were greatly appreciative
of the gifts that we little kids would get at Christmas time.
The local people with whom we interacted were so kind. As
Hindus, we never really appreciated Christianity or celebrated Christmas
before coming to the Philippines. We stayed at the Gonzales Compound
outside of IRRI and the landlady and landlord would come and knock on
our door and ask us to share their rice and different desserts. Since my
mom is a vegetarian, they made a point of offering us many vegetables
and fruits that were growing in their gardens. We had great appreciation
for the local culture which is so very warm and friendly. So, I look
back on this all with fond memories, enjoying it all and reminiscing.
IRRI—an educational model for research I returned to IRRI [in 2006] to look into including the
Institute as a model of successful agricultural research outside the
United States in a curricular development and innovation project I am
working on funded by the
USDA/CSREES- International Science and Education (ISE) Competitive
Grants Program. I am examining real-life and on-going
projects in developing countries in Asia aided by research
organizations, such as IRRI, that offer firsthand knowledge on
cutting-edge research based on real-life problems and situations.
I hope to inspire young students to become scientists and
interested in agriculture just as I once was years ago by my IRRI
experience. IRRI can truly be an educational model to show that real
world issues and problems can be solved through science and research.
Agriculture is one of the most basic professions that has
touched the lives of people since time immemorial, since antiquity. That
will continue and it is very important that we keep the younger
generation excited about agriculture and that they consider agriculture
as a desirable career option. So, my effort here is to incorporate
IRRI’s techniques in my curriculum design and university teaching
efforts. Many universities in the United States should be very excited
about research that’s happening overseas and making students aware of
it, as well as thinking about the opportunities that they could have in
playing an important collaborative role in alleviating poverty through
scientific efforts in agriculture.
Tribute to dad My dad—my inspiration and role model in my life—was very passionate
about rice. We both shared fervor for the plant sciences. He enjoyed
watching farmers working in their fields in the early morning. As I have
been living outside of India for a long time (in the United Arab
Emirates since 1982 and the U.S. from 1994), I had not had much time
with him. So, I took advantage of our summer 2006 excursion to IRRI.
Excerpt from
K.M. Palaniswamy’s Pioneer Interview:
On IRRI’s fastidious, but accommodating DG
During
my stay at IRRI, I had several occasions to accompany Dr. Robert
Chandler [IRRI Director General, 1960-72] in and around the Institute. I
observed that he had a keen interest in keeping the IRRI grounds very
clean and neat. Once, when I was walking with him in the cafeteria, he
saw a cigarette butt on the floor. He bent down, picked it up, and
carried it all the way to a waste bin. It was very surprising to see a
person of his stature cleaning up the area. But it was memorable lesson
(teaching by example) for all of us watching.
He was very, very accommodating to all of the staff members.
I remember every Christmas we had a holiday ball in the engineering
workshop building during which all the staff members and their families
came together in celebration.
One very important event I remember in my life was the moon
landing by the American astronauts on 20 July 1969. At that time, Dr.
Chandler opened the lounge so all the staff from IRRI and UPLB could
watch the landing on the TV. Everyone was silent and watched very
keenly. When the landing was over, we expressed our joy and happiness
with smiles all around. It was a great event in history that, thanks to
Dr. Chandler’s accommodating forethought, we all had a chance to
witness.
We went out for morning walks and watched the workers in
the IRRI rice plots. His face would light up immediately as he would
smell the air and start talking about the importance of agriculture in
the human experience. During his scholar days at IRRI and the nearby
University of the Philippines at Los Baņos (UPLB), he studied under Dr.
Kwanchai Gomez, IRRI’s chief statistician (see Figures, fake guns,
and fund-raising, on pages 16-19 of Rice Today Vol. 7, No.
4). So, it was no surprise that, even 35 years later, he was quick to
point out the importance of statistical methods in field experiments. He
could immediately pick out an off-type in a plot and say how important
it is to rogue a plot that is being used for producing good seed or
obtaining good experimental results.
His time at IRRI in the late 60s and early 70s inspired him
and turned him into a true researcher. He never really stopped learning
or taking up intellectual challenges until his last breath. Kodiveri Muniyappa Palaniswamy
came from a humble family. He lost his own father when he was only 8
years old. He went to college on borrowed money that he paid back with
interest after graduation. As a young girl, I recall a man who came to
our house the 1st of every month with a huge ledger to collect money,
make notes in the book, drink a cup of coffee, and leave—only to come
back again the next month, same time.
Dad was a self-made man who raised all his children to be
scholars. He continued to learn, got his PhD, and also completed several
computer courses to be as up-to-date as possible. He held several key
positions as department head of Physical Sciences at TNAU; professor of
statistics at Khartoum University, Sudan; and an expert with the
UN Economic Commission for Western Asia (UNECWA)
in Iraq.
After his retirement, he spent his time engaged in scholarly
work involving writing books on statistics, serving the local community
in Coimbatore by offering his expert advice to students and researchers
at TNAU, and committing to temple service every week.
He was working on a book on rice, Guidelines for rice
researchers in the estimation of some plant parameters. I
contributed to some of the chapters and hope to complete it soon.
He was in excellent health and his passing, due to an
accident while on the road in Coimbatore, was all too sudden for any of
us to grasp as being real.
