An art collector, a sculptor, and a philanthropist, Dr Narinder Singh Kapany is known to the world of telecom for an entirely different reason. He is known as the father of fiber optics for his invention of the wonder material in 1954. To gauge the magnitude of Dr Kapany’s contribution to telecom, try imagining the world without optical fiber today!

Fortune magazine called him an "unsung hero" in its issue on businessmen of the century at the turn of the century.

Yet, in own country, he is hardly known. Except for a few hardcore techies working in the area of fiber optics, not many in the technology industry in India are too sure about his achievement. Ironic, considering the fact that Dr Kapany was not just a researcher who was confined to the labs but probably the first Indian entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley. He founded his first company, Optics Technology way back in 1960, at a time, when some others who feature in our list were not even born and the Silicon Valley was not even known by this name! Today, in his seventies, he is the chairman of his third start-up, K2 Optronics, which he founded in April 2000.

If Dr Kapany’s contribution to the world of technology and business is unparalleled, his contribution to the art is significant. Dr Kapany conceptualized and developed the exhibition, "Art of the Sikh Kingdom," which has won acclaims in UK as well as the US. Dr Kapany is a sculptor himself and has held solo exhibitions of his works. He has also contributed to Sikh foundations in the US.

Here is one person who has proved that a true genius can not just belong but can actively contribute to two cultures. No matter, how you define the cultures—Snow’s original two cultures of science and humanities; or the civilizational distinctions of the East and West; or even the philosophical division of pursuit of the materialistic and pursuit of the spiritual—Narinder Singh Kapany is arguably India’s greatest contribution to the world of telecom. n