Dr Vikram Sarabhai with

Mrinalini Sarabhai

. (TOI file photo)

'Sarabhai successfully lobbied the govt'

AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad got an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) because its founder Dr Vikram Sarabhai had an intimate relationship with his protege, Kamla Chowdhry , and wanted her to stay in the city, says a book by psycho-analyst and Chowdhry’s nephew, Sudhir Kakar .Bombay and Calcutta were the obvious choices for IIMs. Calcutta got India’s first IIM, but the second IIM came up in Ahmedabad thanks to the efforts of Sarabhai. A week after Sarabhai’s 42nd death anniversary, the book published in 2011, has become a topic of discussion in the IIM-A as well as in sections of the social media. Some months ago, a prominent IIM-A don too wrote a blog on the issue.In his memoirs, " A book of memory ", psychoanalyst Kakar says that Chowdhry, a young widow and a friend of Sarabhai’s wife Mrinalini, left such a strong impression on the scientist that he offered her a job at ATIRA, the first institution that Sarabhai set up in Ahmedabad for textile research. Soon, they entered into a relationship which lasted for over 20 years, says the book.However, Chowdhry had begun to get uncomfortable in the triangle and began considering an offer from DCM in Delhi. The book says Sarabhai “used every means at his disposal” to persuade her to stay back in Ahmedabad, including a proposal as the director of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) and even talked to the Tavistock Institute in London for setting up a centre in Ahmedabad.When all that did not work out, Kakar writes that Sarabhai brought IIM to Ahmedabad.“To keep Kamla in Ahmedabad, Vikram successfully lobbied the Indian government. Matters were so arranged that the original collaborator for the Ahmedabad institute, University of California, withdrew its offer and was replaced by Harvard Business School. Vikram became IIM’s first director. Although officially Kamla was the research director, Vikram never took a major decision in the running of IIM affairs without consulting her," says the book.Sarabhai’s daughter Mallika Sarabhai however says, "Yes, Papa had a long, intimate relationship with Kamla, but to think that his great dream for a committed management cadre for the nation was just to keep her here is doing great injustice to his vision. I find psychiatrists tend to attribute sexual motives to very action in life!"