Back in April, this column mourned the untimely loss of Prof. Ranjit Nair, the second eminent physicist from Kerala to pass away within five years after Dr Thanu Padmanabhan. I never imagined that Kerala would be bereaved again so soon. With the demise of Prof. P.P. Divakaran (1936–2025) on 23 August, India and Kerala have lost not only a respected physicist but also one of the finest chroniclers of the country’s mathematical heritage. As a historian of Kerala’s ancient mathematicians—long neglected in mainstream accounts—Divakaran earned lasting credit for dispelling misconceptions and restoring their rightful place in world history.

Yet, unlike those in politics, cinema, or sport, scientists seldom receive the public or media recognition they deserve, unless they achieve something sensational. When they live outside Kerala, they become even more invisible, erased by society’s obsession with the immediate and the local. Perhaps that explains why the passing of such a distinguished scholar went almost unnoticed in his home state. Apart from a sensitive obituary in The Print, there was hardly any mention in Kerala’s mainstream media. The only official recognition Kerala ever gave him was the Kairali Global Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022–23, instituted by the state government to honour lifelong contributions to research.

Puthan Purayil Divakaran, who earned his doctorate in quantum physics at the University of Chicago, hailed from Makkoottam near Thalassery. After a long career as a professor at Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), he spent his final years in Kochi before moving to a nearby assisted living home. “Despite age-related ailments, his last years were peaceful, with his son Ashok beside him when he passed,” recalled Prof. Babu Joseph, his friend, physicist and former vice chancellor, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).

Divakaran’s younger brother, Prof. P.P. Sudhakaran, former history professor at Government Arts College, Kozhikode, visited him a few days before his end. “He had excelled in everything he did from his student days. In studies, cultural activities, research, and teaching, he was Mr. Perfect. Hence, he had more admirers than friends,” Sudhakaran remembered. Their elder sister, Prof P.P. Gomathi, had........

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