BANGALORE: Renowned Indian astrophysicist Venkatraman Radhakrishnan, who passed away in Bangalore on Thursday due to a cardiac ailment, was cremated here.
After displaying his mortal remains at the Raman Research Institute (RRI) for his former colleagues, friends and general public to pay their last respects, Radhakrishnan’s body was taken to Hebbal crematorium, said his son Vivek Radhakrishnan. Besides his son, Radhakrishnan is survived by his wife Francoise- Dominique.
The last rites of the scientist, who, incidentally, is the son of Nobel laureate Sir C V Raman, was performed at the crematorium in Hebbal. He was 82 and did not like to ride on his Knighted father’s laurels and glory.
A man who wore many hats, Radhakrishnan, who was an Emeritus professor at the RRI, was also into flying hand gliders and used to set up his own sail for long voyages. Recently, he is said to have made a voyage from Kerala to the Persian Gulf, belying his ripe age. His former colleague Ravi Subrahmanyan, who is also the Director of the RRI, said his passion for sailing was incredible. Way back in 1965, he had been on a sailing trip from the UK to the Sydney harbour.
Well-known for his work on neutron star (dead stars that are full of neutrons) and inter-stellar medium (the matter that fills the space between stars), Radhakrishnan was the founder-director of the Raman Research Institute and headed its affairs from 1972 to 1994.
He has also been involved with the California Institute of Technology.