The Bose of the matter

The discovery of long-sought-after sub- atomic particle “consistent” with the Higgs Boson has a Bengali connection. Higgs Boson is partly named after the famous Indian scientist from Bengal, Satyendra Nath Bose, who worked with Albert Einstein in the 1920s. When she was told this, an elated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is known for her obsession with Bengal’s famous sons like Rabindranath Tagore or Swami Vivekananda, called on senior ministers and officials to discuss how the state could “honour” Bose. The joy was evident across government departments in Writers’ Buildings as the news broke out in some channels that Banerjee would declare a holiday to “celebrate” the achievement. Later, however, it was clarified that there would be no holiday. Instead the state government has decided to honour the scientist by renaming some streets in Kolkata after him.