Poor dalit farmer’s son from Kolhapur wins NASA stipend

The 17 year old son of a poor dalit farmer in Maharashtra has been selected by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for studying astronomy in one of the leading universities in America.

Shridhar Kamble from Tiravade village in Kolhapur was selected on the basis of ‘feedback’ sent by him on the NASA’s jet propulsion lab’s scientists’ findings on ‘evolution of galaxy’.

Impressed by Sridhar’s theory on galaxy evolution, 83 year old former NASA scientist R V Bhosle, gave necessary guidance in writing his feedback. Bhosle is currently honorary professor at Shivaji University in Kolhapur.
“My godfather is Bhosle as he discovered my potential and this will help me fulfill my ambition to study galaxy evolution high energy physics, astrophysics and astronomy,” Sridhar said.
“As part of the feedback programme I received $10000 from NASA and I wil be getting assistance from them also for studying in Colorado University (to which they have recommended him) from the third year in my four-year undergraduation course,” he said.
However, Sridhar, son of small landholding farmer Dhulappa Kamble and Kanchan Kamble, will have to arrange travel expenses and fee for the first two years.
Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has, meanwhile, assured assistance to him for higher studies.
The small town boy’s interest in astronomy goes back to his childhood. Later he became a member of Tent Club Planetarium in Kolhapur.

In 2004, he received the young scientist award from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. His father, small farmer and also a farm laborer, grows wheat, rice and sugarcane and earns just enough to sustain their childhood.

source: Bangalore Mirror