Vineeta Rao
Auckland, March 20, 2025
A couple of days ago, I clicked the Google Doodle on my browser celebrating the 104th birthday of the remarkable Anna Mani, often referred to as ‘The Weather Woman of India.’
Since my high school history teacher had never mentioned her, I relied on my friend Google for more information on Anna Mani. As with all pioneers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), she is unfortunately less well known amongst her own compatriots.
A trailblazer
Anna was a pioneering Physicist and Meteorologist whose contributions significantly advanced India’s meteorological and scientific capabilities.
Born on August 23, 1918, in Peermade, Travancore (now Kerala), Anna was the seventh of eight children born in a prosperous Syrian Christian family.
“First equip yourself for the job, make full use of your talents and then love and enjoy the work.”
Anna’s father, a Civil Engineer and owner of several cardamom estates instilled in his children the importance of objective thinking and scientific inquiry.
Anna was a voracious reader with an insatiable thirst for knowledge and by the age of eight, she had read almost all the books in Malayalam at her local library.
The early 1900s were not a particularly good time for women’s education.
Less than 1% of Indian women were literate. And yet, Anna somehow found a way.
She pursued an education in science with great determination and attended Presidency College in Chennai (then Madras), where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Physics and Chemistry.
In 1940, she received a scholarship to continue her research in physics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where she worked under the guidance of Nobel Laureate CV Raman.
Her research on the spectrometry of rubies and diamonds led to the publication of five research papers and a PhD dissertation. However, she was denied a Doctorate as she did not have a Master’s Degree.
Finding a better way
Anna’s career took a pivotal turn when she received a government scholarship to study physics in London. However, upon arrival, she found that the only available internship was in meteorological instrumentation. The rest, as they say, is history.
On her return to India in 1948, Anna joined the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
Her work focused on developing indigenous weather instruments, reducing India’s dependence on imports. She played a crucial role in standardizing and calibrating weather instruments, ensuring their accuracy and reliability.
Under her leadership, the IMD successfully modified the design and production of nearly 100 meteorological instruments, including the Ozonesonde in 1964.
“Wrong measurements are worse than no measurements.” The brilliance of the Ozonesonde lay in its simplicity. It is an instrument that is sent up in the air in a balloon to measure the presence of Ozone up to 35 kms above the ground. By the 1980s, they were routinely used on Indian expeditions to Antarctica and were used to corroborate Joseph Farman’s 1985 pronouncement of a hole in the Ozone layer over the South Pole.
Significant contributions
Among Anna’s other significant contributions was her research on solar radiation and wind energy measurements. She set up 150 small stations around the country to measure wind energy, laying the foundation for India’s forays into green technologies.
“My being a woman had absolutely no bearing on what I chose to do with my life.”
Anna’s contributions to Meteorology and her role as a trailblazer for women in STEM have left an indelible mark on India’s scientific community. She retired as the Deputy Director General of the Indian Meteorological Department and served as a visiting professor at the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore.
Throughout her career, Anna faced numerous challenges, including gender biases and societal expectations. However, her determination and passion for science enabled her to overcome these obstacles and pave the way for future generations of female scientists.
Vineeta Rao is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Auckland.
