It was like one of the “spot the odd one out” kind of puzzles, except much easier, and it led to a huge debate.
A photograph from the campus of one the world’s premier science and research institutes, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in Bengaluru was posted on Twitter.
It was from the inauguration of Garrett labs inside the IISc campus for their Research and Development activities.
The photo led to a huge debate on the religious beliefs of scientists and the scientific temper.
The reason? A priest clad in white clothes was performing puja at the lab!
Some called the institute “Iyer Iyengar” for Science, probably referring to the jocular “supremacy” that Tamil Brahmins claim over others, and the resulting meme-worthy three degrees of adjectives: “I, Iyer, Iyengar”.
A few others argued how religion and science in India are unique to India.
Elsewhere, scientists were mocked for their partiality towards one religion, and some asked why not get priests from other religions as well?
Well, when ISRO scientists can pray to Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi before the launch of GSLV Mk III rocket and believe in Raahu kala, why can’t brains behind the R&D for such rockets believe in Gods, argued some students themselves.
While the argument is continuing on Reddit and other social media platforms, we must tell you that a worldwide survey by Rice University in the US in 2015, to find how religious scientists were, showed many scientists were indeed religious.
