Lessons from a life in mathematics for India’s women in science

Professor Mangala Narlikar showed that there is more than one path to success in science for women, and her legacy will continue to inspire future generations.

I first met professor Mangala Narlikar in 1980 in the majestic colonnade of Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). I was a young post-doctoral fellow in the theoretical physics group, and she was (as I knew first) the wife of the renowned astrophysicist, Jayant Narlikar. It was after quite some time that I learnt that she was a mathematician herself. In her trademark quiet manner, she explained to me that after a prolonged break, she was back to mathematics

Mangala’s contributions to mathematics education will be her lasting legacy. (HT PHOTO)