Dr.V.Anand writes a blog "Astrodentist".There he says,
I first met Shri Devadas with my late father Dr PD Venkatakrishnan, in 1986, at the time of the apparition of comet Halley.
He told me to observe planet Saturn.
Indeed, planet saturn was a spectacle to observe ! Even today (in the days of space telescopes, spaceprobes, and the internet) nothing can match the beauty of planet saturn when observed through a small telescope.
It is the first direct indicator of the resolving power of a small telescope !
He was an avid self-made Astronomer who made telescopes,
grinding glass blanks with his own hands in his backyard,
who later established an engineering firm manufacturing small to medium sized telescopes
for the use of the interested common man.
His equatorially mounted sturdy reflector telescopes are there in every nook and corner
of this vast country.
His telescopes are in Surendranagar, Gujarat as well as in Calcutta, West Bengal.
From the cities of New Delhi and Chandigarh in the north, to the temple city of Madurai in the state of southern tamilnadu.
Some of his telescopes are in educational institutions and colleges, industries, schools and most of them belonging to private Amateur Astronomers.
Nostalgia for me.....
I had spent many an evening and early part of the night, since 1986, observing the lunar and planetary phenomena, and even working for sometime, in the backyard workshop, grinding telescope mirrors, being instructed on the know how, by Prof. P. Devadas himself, and taking part in table work, on proof reading and analyzing lunar topographic formations.
Those experiences I had, had indeed immensely enriched my mind.
Former Professor Ramakarthikeyan who was HoD, of the Mathematics department, at Swami Vivekananda College, once told an audience, that if they want to talk astronomy and do observation, they could always visit one place on Earth, in Guindy, Chennai, where the 24 hour astronomer Devadas lived ! (ofcourse, telephone first).
The British astronomer Richard McKim, FRAS, acknowledged in his mail to me, stating that he is 'glad' that I knew Prof P Devadas !
David Graham of the BAA, said in his fb comment, that the Indian astronomer Devadas was much respected in the British Circles. That was his international reputation !
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