IT was over a phone call that Dr M.S. Swaminathan agreed to be chief guest at our first Civil Society Hall of Fame event, which was held in 2011.
For all his eminence, he had the capacity to be spontaneous and excited about a new idea. You could say we hardly knew each other at that point. Our only previous interaction with him had been a lengthy and incredibly valuable interview he had given us. He was also a subscriber to our magazine.