Harish Chandra
Verma, better known as H C Verma, is one of the most read authors of Physics in
India. His two volumes book – Concepts of Physics – is widely regarded as a
must-have for anyone preparing for IIT JEE or any other Engineering Entrance
Examination.
It is nothing
short of surprising that H C Verma has not revised this book since 1992. The
content of book has remained the same for 24 years, and still it is the best
sellers among the lot.
It should be
noted that Professor H C Verma has written many other books and has research
interest in Nuclear Physics.
Profile of H C Verma
Prof. Verma was
born in 1952 in Darbhanga, Bihar. He came to Patna when his father was transferred
to the capital of Bihar. He was not a bright student during school days, and
his father used to give lots of time to teach him mathematics and Science.
Somehow, he passed the matriculation examination and got admission in the Patna
Science College. This College taught him lot from where he did exceptionally
well and got B. Sc. Honors in Physics. He then went to the IIT Kanpur for M.Sc
in Physics. He did that and returned back to Patna Science College in 1980 as a
lecturer. He had an offer from IIT Kanpur to join the premier engineering
institute as a lecturer for Physics. But, he decided to serve the institute
which had transformed his life.
At Patna Science
College, he was asked to teach Physics to 11th and 12th
Classes. He followed Resnick and Halliday as well as Irodov. He also got so
many books, but found it little bit difficult to keep students interested in
the subject. There were no good Physics book by an Indian author and his
students couldn’t relate with tough language coupled with cultural difference
of books written by foreign authors. He decided to write simple, interesting
books replete with interesting numerical examples – all original.
It was not a
small task. He spent full eight years to pen down the book. Every single
numerical was formulated by him. The challenge was quite big as he was hoping
that students will start to show interest in Physics by relating with real life
stuffs in an Indian setting. Needless to say, he is successful in that
endeavor.
Prof. Verma
joined IIT – Kanpur in 1994. He never wanted to leave Patna Science College, but
was compelled to do so. The education environment in Bihar was ruined by Lalu
Government. The name and fame of Patna Science College was no more. There was
nothing in Patna, apart from IIT aspirants. He was asked by colleagues to start
a coaching institutes and make crores. That could have been quite easy for him.
However, he decided to pursue research rather than making huge sum of money.
At IIT Kanpur,
he wrote another book – Quantum of Physics. He started to work in the area of
Nuclear Physics.
An Extraordinary
Life
There is no
denying that he is getting huge money as salary. He is senior Professor at IIT –
Kanpur. But, you will be surprised to know that he doesn’t own a car. He lives
a very simple life. And, he is still going out in Kanpur market for shopping on
his old scooter – Bajaj Priya.
He goes out of
IIT campus and takes regular classes in slum areas. He also gives school fees
to those poor students who want to pursue education.
Now coming to
the Concepts of Physics, Bharti Bhavan is the publisher of this book, as you
might know. You will be surprised to know that he gets more than Rs. 1 Crore as
royalty per year just for this book. Oh God! Wait. He donates all of this money
to charity and the Prime Minister Relief Fund. He is not taking a single pie of
royalty coming out of this book for many years. His mission has been complete
and he doesn’t want to keep making money of a book he had written years ago.
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