B. V. Sreekantan (1925–2019)

The new face of India after independence could be seen not only in dams and industries, but it was also apparent in the experiments in fundamental research undertaken with zeal by its youngsters. One of those youngsters was B. V. Sreekantan who passed away on 27 October 2019 at the ripe age of 95 years. He pioneered experiments in three fields: (1) Cosmic ray interactions and extensive air showers; (2) Underground muon and neutrino experiments; and (3) High energy astrophysics experiments. His experiments of those times are interesting for several reasons: (a) These are pioneering efforts of an individual as also of a new institution looking for new ways and means in research. (b) These would set up the roads to be travelled by the next generation of researchers. (c) The ingenuity in the face of scarcity of science instruments was very important in a newly independent and not an affluent country.