My Story (Part-2)

Dr. Titus Mathews, Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary, Canada

[Dr. Titus Mathews may be very familiar to the readers of the FOCUS Journal. He was one of the founding editors and only given up the responsibility after ten years being an editor. He lived and worked in India, Africa, England, and Canada. His contributions to the Mar Thoma Diaspora communities and the academic life in these countries are enormous and hence it is worth publishing it for the benefit of our readers. The following is the second part of an autobiographical sketch written by Dr. Titus Mathews and supplemented by his wife, Mrs. Sarah Mathews. We are hoping to publish it in several parts over the next two years. We are very grateful for the help and support of the family for helping us with this. The first part of the story was published in October 2022 (FOCUS Vol 10 (4) pages 22-26). For the Editorial Board.]

London Days

My application for admission to Imperial College of Science and Technology was approved during the year I was in UC College I had to choose a field of specialization, which was difficult as I had no counselor to help me. But I remembered the excitement that students had when a group of scientists from Tata Institute came to MCC and launched balloon flights to record tracks of cosmic ray particles. So, I choose cosmic rays for my further study. But I knew very little about it, and it is important to learn as much as I can before I went to London. Tata Institute in Bombay agreed to take me, if they did not have to pay me. So, I spent two months there and not only got some reading done on cosmic rays, but a chance to meet and know about several very brilliant scientists associated with the Institute.

I went to East Africa first by ship to spend some time with my parents, and visited many interesting places to sightsee, like Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is the tallest mountain in all of Africa and its top is covered with snow, though it is very close to the equator.

At the beginning of August 1959, I said goodbye to my parents, and I board the Union Castle ship bound for London. I got out at most of the ports where the ship stopped and got a glimpse of the places. Finally, it docked in Tilbury. A train from there took the passengers to London. Raju (Dr. John Thomas) met me at Liverpool Street station, and took me to William Temple House in Earl’s Court, where I lived for the next four years. The weekly cost was only five pounds, and it was walking distance to Imperial College. There was another graduate student, Dr. KP Abraham from India and I walked with him to college. It was only the end of August, and another month before classes started. There was enough time to go around and see London and buy suitable winter clothes. I was thrilled to see Buckingham Palace, the changing of guards, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, parliament house, and so on.

Hyde Park was a favorite place to visit and listen to the soapbox orators. I developed a habit of walking to many places during weekends.

I joined Imperial College as a student at a fortuitous time. The college was growing and there were many famous people on the staff. The Physics Department Head was PMS Blackett, a Nobel laureate, who later became president of the Royal Society and a Lord. He was a strong supporter of Labour government, and as such very friendly towards India. He was an advisor to Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India on defense matters and on science policy. I had seen Professor Blackett with Homi J Bhabba, walking up and down discussing matters pertaining to Indian science. I did not know the eminence of any one of them at the time.

I was assigned to Professor Harry Elliot, a rising star and a favorite of Professor Blackett. I could not have asked for a better person to work under, for he was always friendly and considerate. I remember one terrible incident in the lab. I had opened a box containing very expensive photomultiplier tubes, which fell from my hand and shattered. Professor Elliot, realizing that it was an accident and that I was terrified of the consequence, only smiled when I reported it to him.

My primary responsibility at the time was to be a good student. Though I found taking all the required courses in the first year difficult, I was able to do it successfully. More difficult was to design and build instruments for my research work. My assigned problem was to study the time variations of cosmic ray intensity deep underground. It required large counter telescopes and I made them with plastic scintillators after several months of patient trial and error. With the help of almost everyone in our lab and others, I took the large instrument on a train to the laboratory at the Holborn underground station. That was a tedious task, but others helped. The counters ran without much problem by the end of 1960. While collecting the data, I spent time on learning analysis of the data and other topics related to cosmic rays. I also was able to listen to lecturers, participate in seminars and discussions, which all enriched my interest and knowledge in related subjects in physics and other matters. After the lecturers and seminars, we used to go to a pub and continue discussions on the topic of the seminars. Professor Elliot’s whole group of research assistants and students would join in the visiting speakers. So, it became absolutely essential for me to drink beer with them, gradually I did that. Sometimes I think that I learned more physics in the ‘Queens’!

After more than a year of collecting data, I analyzed them and got enough data to write the thesis. I literally had to type the thesis, but I got help in that. I submitted my thesis and answered all the questions for oral examination satisfactorily. But I was puzzled by one question, ‘how do I know air molecules were diatomic?’. Without hesitation I answered that specific heat of air is 1.44, characteristic of diatomic gases. The question had nothing to do with my project, but just a tricky question, but fair one to find out my basic physics. I anxiously waited in the other room to hear the verdict. A few minutes later, they came and congratulated me. I sighed out of relief - at last I attained my goal.

Church worship on Sundays was a regular practice. I went to Anglican Church first, but later went to City Temple, where Rev. Dr. Leslie Weatherhead was the regular preacher. Mar Thoma services were conducted by Revd VV Alexander at the YMCA for Indian students, where Mr. OV Alexander was the warden. He made it possible for all the Marthomites to come together for worship and have some social interactions once a month. I assisted Revd Alexander during the service, which John Thomas (Raju) was happy to pass on to me. His brother Mr. John John (Joy) helped me with the preparations. Later I became the secretary to the congregation. Rev. Alexander was also staying in William Temple house and became a very good friend and mentor. He was a scholar and teacher of comparative religion, which I really benefitted and enjoyed. He taught me how to chant and how to use the incense properly as an assistant during the Mar Thoma service. This became very useful in the later years when I had to assist bishops and several of our priests in Calgary and received their appreciative remarks.

What I missed originally in London was Indian food. So, I would go with some friends to the Indian High Commission building, where they had canteen for its employees and others. A plate of rice, mincemeat curry and a cup of curd was only a crown in those days. Going to an Indian or Pakistani restaurant was much more expensive. India Club, patronized by Krishna Menon was another place. After Dr. K P Mathen and family came to London, we had a welcoming house available where a few of us gathered Saturday evenings and cooked rice and curry and had a good time. Later on, Raju moved to a flat near his college, across the river Chelsea. We spent a lot of time there playing chess and walking all over the place. Raju was an excellent cook and was a very good tennis player, and I was no match for him.

I met many other Malayalees who came for study and short visits, passing through and so on in such gatherings on weekends. Dr. K T Varghese, uncle of Raju who was working in Bahrain and his wife Lilly came to upgrade his medical qualifications. They had an apartment where Raju and I would go frequently to eat rice and curry. They were aware of my interest in the daughter of their friend Mr. Joseph in Bahrain, and they used to tease me. They went back and gave good remarks about me, and I think that helped.

I came to know about the basketball team in the college in only the second year, and I immediately joined. We used to compete with the other college teams, and one year I was the top player. I still remember how much I enjoyed playing in that team. One of my pleasant memories of London was going to Wimbledon to watch the tennis matches, without fail at least every other day. It was only half a crown for standing room tickets, and I could go court to court to watch. I remember watching Ramanadan Krishnan, the Indian tennis champion, playing in the centre court. Though he never became Wimbledon Champion, he played very well and reached the semi-finals one year.

Another good memory was going to Keswick Convention. I had a friend who was active in Campus Crusade, and he helped me to go to Keswick. I had heard about it while still in India and assumed it was a big affair like the Maramon Convention. Actually, it was a much smaller affair meant primarily for missionaries. It was cold and wet, and I was not properly attired for the weather. Nevertheless, it was a good experience. From the Lake District I went to Edinburgh and Glasgow to meet some of my Scottish professors who taught me in Madras Christian college. I thought of going to the United States as a post-doctoral research fellow, or to return to India and take up a faculty position. But when I came to know that a Lecturer position was available in Makerere University College in Kampala, East Africa, I applied and got the position. The main attraction was that my parents were still there. That gave me a valuable excuse to take up that position.

Looking back, my years in England were the most enjoyable and wonderful years. I am immensely grateful to the many people who made it so. I was in London before the influx of people from different countries and former colonies came. In my many visits to London since my student days, I felt that I was indeed lucky to know the unspoiled London. From my experience, I would put British people into two categories; one, the colonists who felt superior to all their colonial subjects; and two, the liberal, friendly and the most-likable people. It was my privilege that I came across mostly the latter group in England. I enjoyed all the friendly debate with even those who were ardent supporters of the Conservative Party. I was there at the time the sun set on the British Empire, though I had little to do with it. I still follow British politics with a keen interest. No doubt, a British education had given me a good beginning to my academic.