"The line is finite" -Prof. Rohini Godbole

​P​rof. Rohini Godbole has always been a very Strong supporter of women, science and women in science as everybody knows. She used to say "when it comes to science​, take no nonsense if somebody is saying something wrong, tell it upfront, take no rubbish". She was known as a no nonsense personality to us. As her students, well-wishers, friends this news of her being no more comes as a great shock.

As a kid, doing my bachelors in one of the colleges in Mumbai, I learnt ​that Mumbai​ University physics department, conducting a frontier symposium and just out of curiosity I registered. The symposium started with a talk by professor Godbole on particle physics. We were just learning nuclear physics in BSc at that time, Shell model etc, and this subnuclear particles, standard model interactions etc was too advanced and fascinating for me at that time. Much more than that, was this figure who was presenting it who had a very engaging way of speaking. Later I learnt that she is professor Rohini Godbole, an excellent teacher and a great orator. After joining IISc, I went and met her where she was a faculty in the centre for high energy physics. She met with great affection, and since then I got into her contact. She loved people from Mumbai University as she had a special place for Mumbai University physics department, where she spent almost a decade doing lectureship and it strengthened that bond of ours in IISc.

After joining IISERTVM, as a coordinator of the science club, I pursued her for about three years to give a talk on the occasion of UNESCO Day for girls and women in science, which happens to be on 11th of February every year. She was super busy. When it materialised the hall was full with no place to sit, it was a 200 seater capacity hall where she gave her talk for more than an hour. The audience was so fixed to her narration. She presented the data on how women are underrepresented in science,  in faculty positions, in positions of power in Academics. We spoke a lot on her way back to the airport. The next time, I invited her to give a session in the teachers training program for PG teachers in Kerala that was being conducted at our institution. She obliged and made it again. She gave two talks, one like a plenary talk for all the teachers of physics, chemistry, maths and biology as representation of women in science, teachers, and another one for physics teachers on scattering theory and problems in PG course.

We took some time out to visit a Riverside restaurant nearby IISER along with Prof. Mustansir and his wife. We had a great time with my kid, and she loved the place. She liked Photography. She took a lot of pictures of the mountains, river, and even my kid.

She was a fantastic speaker​/orator. She ​​was so good at literature​ and languages. She used to use Sanskrit Shloka during her speech/class.​ The audience could not afford not to listen to her. As a teacher she has inspired many generations.. She taught for about 50 years, first at Mumbai University and later at IISc Bangalore. She kept her zeal as a young teacher in the Physics department of MU and continued her research ambitions at TIFR Mumbai with her friends/peers/collaborators. (bio-sketch)That gave her recognition as a renowned particle physicist and you could see the hallmark of her works if you visit CERN laboratories in Europe.  I felt so proud when I saw her picture flashing on displays of International center for theoretical physics at Trieste in Italy. 

To me, ​Prof ​G​odbole, was like a motherly figure, teacher, well wisher, and a pillar of support. I was among those fortunate ones who  ​receive New Year greeting with postcard pictures in an email​ from her in the first week of January. For me, this was a pleasure and an honour. The email used to be accompanied with her pictures of the year gone by clicked somewhere during her academic visit. In this year’s mail she mentioned that “ I have realised something in 2023.. the line is finite…". As I hear the shocking news about her demise today, those words resonate in my mind.. the line is indeed finite.. 

-Dr. Vinayak Kamble

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