Grand Illusion?

IS Ramar Pillai, the man who would solve India’s oil crisis a charlatan after all? And his ‘mysterious wonderfuel’ just a machination of an artful mind. At least that’s what former sympathiser, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in New Delhi, now seem to think. The denouement of this suspenseful drama that preoccupied the national imagination for almost a month came when Pillai failed to reproduce his feat at IIT Madras on September 25.

To make it foolproof this time, the entire apparatus had been provided by the DST. Albeit, to be fair to Pillai, any experiment can miscarry for a variety of reasons and it would be foolish to dismiss it as a hoax outright. But Pillai botched his own case. When the genie didn’t emerge from the bottle, he insisted on using his metallic stirrer, instead of the glass one provided by the DST. As he stirred the mixture to conjure up the wonderfuel, one alert scientist espied oily stuff oozing out from one end of the metal rod. On scrutiny, the rod was found to be hollow with a hole at the bottom. Witnesses conjecture that the hole was stuffed with wax, which on melting released a kerosene-like substance.

So the DST denounced Pillai as "dishonest" and washed its hands of him. Reports, however, say that the DST was still willing to give him another chance, but Pillai’s public outburst against the scientists left it with no choice. Pillai, however, is unrepentant. He claims a foreign element sabotaged his experiment. Indeed, as if to prove his point, he repeated the experiment on October 3 in Hyderabad sponsored by Sanghi Industries. This time with a glass rod. Reportedly he was wildly applauded amidst slogans against the scientific community.

The Centre, too, is said to have an ‘open mind’ on the matter. In fact, the Government of India and the Indian Oil Corporation have invited Pillai to Delhi for yet another demonstration. This time before the true representatives of the people—Parliament. This is nothing short of a lampoon of Indian scientists.

Questions remain. Why, for instance, did the DST go overboard in describing Pillai’s innovation as pathbreaking after he "successfully" performed the feat in IIT, Delhi? Why did they go public with it without first establishing its authenticity? Why weren’t other more reputed chemists invited to witness the IIT Delhi experiment? How did chemists witnessing the event fail to detect the fraud, not to mention offer implausible, nonsensical theories about the source of the extra carbon which led to much misreporting in the press? Why, to begin with, did the DST continue to repose faith in Pillai when the whole experiment seemed to be violating a fundamental law of nature?

That matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Why was the chemical analysis of the supposedly biofuel, which revealed the fuel to be of mineral origin, and not herbal, kept under wraps until after the IIT Madras experiment? Why did not a single scientist come forward and try to dispel misconceptions and myths about the experiment instead of blaming the press for being sensational? The fact that the whole nation was kept in suspense for so long is an indictment of our scientists’ lack of enterprise and aloofness from the public.

 As for Pillai, he continues to baffle. If he’s a fraud, why does he still persist? His accusations against scientists, his refusal to identify the herbs and other ingredients don’t really go well with the public, let alone scientists. Is he just out to get cheap fame or is there something else to it? Says M. Ananda-krishnan, vice chairman, Tamil Nadu Council for Higher Education: "The missing clue in Ramar’s story could be the herb acting as an emulsifier. It’s possible that he has found an emulsifying agent which can mix water and hydrocarbon into a uniform liquid. But he has to be more forthcoming. Choose a scientific group of his choice and get its help in perfecting the technique."

 A recent speculation has it that the whole thing was a premeditated cover-up by Pillai and some Tamil Nadu politicians for the large-scale sale of stolen petroleum products in the state. Reportedly, many scientists knew about the mischief but succumbed to political pressure. If this is true, then the series of events, starting from Pillai being whisked away to his village from Delhi, the gutting of his lab, alleged attempts on his life to steal his herbal secret, his grand performance in front of the Tamil Nadu chief minister, appear contrived. More important, if validated, nothing could be more damning for the DST.

Meanwhile, despite these developments, many scientists who wish to remain anonymous are still in favour of giving Pillai another chance. The overwhelming opinion of the Madras-based scientists is that "DST’s initial public demonstration as well as latest denouncement are hasty, insensitive and smack of bureaucratism."