 Born,
1930, Agra, India, home of the Taj Mahal, Dr. Saran A. Narang made his way
to Canada after graduating, Ph.D., Calcutta University, 1961, completing
post-doctoral work, The Johns Hopkins University, 1962, and after spending
three years as Research Associate under Professor Harbobind Khorana at
the Enzyme Institute, University of Wisconsin, 1963-66. Made Assistant
Research Officer, Division of Chemistry, National Research Council of Canada,
1966, Dr. Narang has spent his professional career at the NRC where, since
1981, he has been the Principal Research Officer, Institute for Biological
Sciences. Renowned as one of the world's most notable molecular biologists,
Dr. Narang and his team at the NRC played a significant pioneering role
during the 1970s in the development of efficient and rapid methods of chemical
synthesis of DNA. This work originally began in the laboratories at the
University of Wisconsin where future Nobel Laureate Dr. Khorana supervised
Dr. Narang’s experiments in nucleotide synthesis which became a major contribution
to the elucidation of the genetic code. The current work of Dr. Narang,
who was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, 1985, involves the development
of molecular evolution technology which is of great value in the treatment
of cancer. His pioneering work of synthetic DNA has had a great impact
on the development of PCR, site directed mutagenesis, and DNA sequencing
for which several Nobel Prizes have been awarded. In this contemporary
view, Dr. Saran Narang examines laboratory results with a research assistant.
[Photo, courtesy Dr. Saran Narang] |
Bharata
Natyam, along with other classical art forms of India, has its origins
in the manuscript called the Natya Shastra which was written by Sage Bharata
around 4000 BC. It was primarily conceived out of the urge to express one’s
emotions and exuberance. Originally this form of dance was strictly prevalent
in temples but it later came under the patronage of Kings of southern India.
It was only in this century that Bharata Natyam revolutionized and gained
attention and regard as a Hindu classical art form. The centre of all arts
in India is Bhakti or devotion and, therefore, Bharata Natyam, as a dance
form, and the Carnatic music set to it, are deeply grounded in Bhakti.
Bharata Natyam, it is said, is the embodiment of music in visual form,
a ceremony, and an act of devotion. This art form is very popular in Canada
and all over the world. In this recent view, Anila Sitaram expresses the
classical art form of the Bharata Natyam. [Photo, courtesy Mohan Mahidhara,
photographer, via Sadhana Nagnur]