Appropriate time to appreciate Abraham Kovoor and his son Aries

By Prof.Kirthi Tennakone
(Email: ktenna@yahoo.co.uk),
National Institute of Fundamental Studies

Abraham Kovoor and his son, Aries Kovoor, rendered an exemplary service to the nation; it is now largely forgotten and not acknowledged to the extent they deserve. They were unassuming characters whose ideals stand pre-eminently important in the context of retrograde tendencies in the present day society.

A resurgence in actions, based on superstitions and myths rather than rational argument seems to be escalating as evident from recent happenings in our society. Rituals and quackeries have stood in the way of the efforts to contain the pandemic. Deities not known to exist are said to have prescribed cures and disclosed causes of the illness. Listening to folk healers and soothsayers, people suffer or die in situations where a doctor would have cured their condition permanently. Children are made to feel inferior because of their horoscopes. On the eve of the Grade Five Scholarship Examination they are taken to shrines dedicated to various deities. Decisions based on superstition engender harm to individuals and the society and cause backwardness and misery.

Abraham Kovoor stood against superstitious beliefs, debunked occult practices and equated hoaxers to criminals, demanding their prosecution.

Aries Kovoor, following in the footsteps of his illustrious father, upheld rationalistic views and denounced extravagance. His main concern was why Sri Lanka and many other developing countries continued to remain weak in science? Hence the need to determine causes and adopt remedial measures. He was also critical of institutional empire building – the expansion or enhancing the authority of organisations, for purposes made to appear as development, even though in reality, the outcome turned out to be largely the opposite.

Abraham Kovoor: A born rationalist

Abraham Kovoor was born to an acclaimed Christian family in Kerala in 1898, His father was the Vicar General of the Thomma Syrian Church of Malabar. Despite his religious upbringing, he began to question dogmas of faith from childhood. He contracted flu, when he was eight years old, and his mother gave him a syrup, asking him to sip it while praying. The child opposed the instruction, saying, “If I take the medicine while praying, I cannot decide which cured the cough – whether it is the medicine or praying. Therefore, I will first consume the syrup and pray later if the cough had not been relieved.”

Abraham received basic education in a Christian Seminary and earned a degree in Biology from the Bengabasi College, Calcutta. After graduation, he served as a lecturer in Botany at CMS College, Kerala, for a short period, and migrated to Sri Lanka in 1928, accepting a teaching assignment at the Jaffna College. Subsequently, he held similar positions at Richmond College, Galle; S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia and Thurstan College, Colombo.

Throughout his career, Abraham Kovoor pointed out the fallacies of superstition and obscurantism and the need for enlightening the society. In one of his books, Abraham Kovoor wrote “All those who claim to possess psychic, para-psychic and spiritual powers are either hoaxers or mentally deranged persons suffering from cryptesthesia (psychological disorder of abnormal perceptions). Nobody has and nobody ever had supernatural powers. They exist only in the pages of scripture and sensation mongering newspapers”.

After retirement, Abraham Kovoor invigorated his effort to curb superstition, presenting challenges to be answered by those who believe or indulge in such practices. In 1968, he offered a reward of Rs. 25,000 to anyone who could reveal the serial number of a currency note concealed in an envelope. Later, the value of the reward was increased to Rs. 1000,000. Understandably, none came forward to take up the challenge! A large majority of persons who claim paranormal capabilities, being frauds, fear exposure.

Supernatural powers do not exist to perform feats ruled out by rational logic. All phenomena determined to exist with certainty have been explained in terms of science or under its scrutiny. Everything observable comes under domain of science. The muddle-headed argument that there exist unobservable things, entails no meaning.

Abraham Kovoor, who said “I do not believe that I have a soul or spirit to survive my death and go to heaven or hell, or to roam about as my ghost, or even to be reborn”, passed away 18th September 1978.

Aries Kovoor questioned why science was weak in Sri Lanka

Aries Kovoor, born March 3, 1927 completed basic education in Jaffna and pursued a degree course in Botany at the Madras University. Thereafter, he returned to Sri Lanka and worked as a teacher at S. Thomas College. The principal of the school Dr. R.L. Hayman, persuaded him to continue research, making arrangements for him to visit Tata Institute, India, where he studied biological effects of radiation, in a laboratory headed by the nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha. In 1952, he succeeded in earning a research position at Sorbonne University, Paris, later ascending to a professorial rank at the National Centre for Scientific Research, France. He was also Professor at the Institute of Fundamental Studies, Sri Lanka and served as the Advisor on Scientific Affairs to the President of Sri Lanka from 1996-2005.

Aries Kovoor in his capacity as science advisor to the President, analyzed scientific performance of Sri Lanka adopting international norms of judging scientific research.

Scientists are supposed to publish their findings in scholarly journals. Normally, journals accept articles for publication after a strict review by experts in the respective areas of study. Thus, being able to publish in such periodicals, indicate the worthiness of the work. The evidence that your work is read and cited by other authors, further strengthens the recognition of what you have done. Today, there are data bases providing statistics pertaining above criteria determining the quality of research. Aries Kovoor used these data bases to analyze research performance in Sri Lanka. He didn’t fully advocate consensus prevalent in the country that our scientific weakness was a consequence of poor material facilities.

Instead, he believed lack of emphasis on quality of research, institutional bureaucracies and how they were manned, played a bigger role.

Aries Kovoor, opposed institutional empire building, another malady that silently dampens developmental plans and social progress. Empire building means expansion of organisations in terms of material possessions and personnel to meet egos of an individual or group in deviance with the purpose of their establishment. Incompetency, insecurity and seeking undue publicity, prompt empire building. Failure or underperformance, corruption and wasteful consumption of resources are often the causes of empire building.

Aries Kovoor cautioned that the funds allocated to an academic and research institution to achieve an objective should not be utilised to build an extravagant and redundant infrastructure with glorified officials and shining tables. He advocated contractual modes of hiring with higher perks and performance based renewals to ensure elimination of deadwood. The countries where scientific research flourishes have adopted similar strategies.

Aries Kovoor pioneered the establishment of the National Research Council (NRC) of Sri Lanka to accommodate ideals essential for uplifting scientific research and provide funding. He was of the opinion that in order to boost research and higher education, all appointments to academic and research institutions such as Chairmanships, Directors and Members of Governing Boards should be based on their accomplishments. Therefore, he adopted statistics based scholarly publications to recommend the membership of the managing board of NRC. He maintained the view that heads of academic and research institutions should be active researchers, who read write and publish; otherwise, they are unfit to hold such positions. He emphasised that talented Sri Lankan researchers should strive to become leaders in their discipline, and not mere assistants to collaborators overseas.

Aries Kovoor managed NRC as the elected chairman with the help of one single assistant and no other officers. He was always available in office and readily accessible without intervention of a third party, who would truly or falsely say he was not in office or was busy.

The true personality of Aries Kovoor is apparent from the following incident. Once he met with a minor road mishap because he could not properly manoeuvre his old car, when the engine suddenly developed a problem. Although he apologised the aggrieved party expressing willingness to compensate, police took vehicle into custody to check its road worthiness. He was sitting on a bench in the police station for hours. When his official driver arrived, a police officer arrogantly said, “Who this insane man is, he gave a private residential address in Wellawatta and declared he had no religion”. When the driver replied, “He is the Science Advisor to the President”, police officer replied “Sir, why didn’t you tell me all this earlier?”

Aries Kovoor too humble and unassuming in all his dealings, loved to work in the laboratory and amusingly interacted with his students as a primus inter pares. He was a listener, observer and avid reader, rather than talker. At official forums, he spoke mostly when his response pertained to an important decision or a clarification. Unlike his father, he never made public appearances, but was keen to engage in intellectual dialogue with students and colleagues. His attitude was not to work tirelessly to gain credit for himself, but to encourage and praise the good work of others. Unfortunately, such persons do not shine manifestly in the society; many whose success owes much to them, rarely recollect and fail to acknowledge.

Aries Kovoor remained active in his research and mentorship until he reached the age 80 years. He passed away peacefully on 1st December, 2006.