For young readers: Meet Modadugu Vijay Gupta, a scientist who revolutionised Indian aquaculture

Modadugu Vijay Gupta was born on August 17, 1939, in Bapatla, Guntur district, of the then Madras Presidency (present-day Andhra Pradesh), to Nagendra Gupta, a lawyer, and Rajyalakshmi. The sublime Suryalanka Beach was barely five kilometres from his house. Visits to the beach with his father formed a significant part of Gupta’s childhood memories. Young Gupta looked forward to visiting the beach, but not for its breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, and surely not to build castles in the golden sand.

As Gupta swam along the shore with his head under water for as long as he could hold his breath, he saw fish! Plenty of small fish. Fish of all kinds. Soon, he learned how to identify species. He wanted to catch a fish and show it to his mother, though their household was vegetarian. But as much as he tried, he couldn’t catch a single one.

One day, Gupta saw a frail man, his skin taut to his skeleton, walk away from the shore with lots of fish in his net. His father explained that he was a fisherman and catching fish was his livelihood. Even though men and women like him worked hard to catch fish, they seldom had enough food...

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