by Krishna Nadella
As Rod Serling of ‘The Twilight Zone’ used to say, for your consideration the following photo:
The time was the mid-1980s. The city was Brantford, Ontario, Canada. The place was Bell Homestead. The people, from left to right, were Dr. Malcom Baird, Dr. Venkata Nadella (my father) & Mrs. Annapurna Nadella (my mother). To the casual viewer, it looks like nothing more than a personal photo, but there’s a story to be told that leads to present day.
Bell Homestead was the first North American home of Professor Alexander Melville Bell and his family, including his last surviving son, scientist Alexander Graham Bell. For those who are not aware, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone at the Homestead in July 1874.
Dr. Malcolm Baird was the son of John Logie Baird, one of the inventors of the mechanical television and inventor of both the first publicly demonstrated color television system and the first purely electronic color television picture tube. Through his company, the Baird Television Development Company, he also achieved the first transatlantic television transmission in 1928.
As such, this photo always had tremendous personal meaning for me as a young boy as it represented in some small way, the coming of two worlds: Televisions and Telephones.
Growing up, I had the privilege of getting to personally know Dr. Malcolm Baird. Aside from being an accomplished Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at my alma mater, McMaster University, for over a quarter-century, he was also my father’s boss and research partner and more importantly, to this very day, a dear friend. ‘Dr. Baird’ as he was referred to by my father, was very knowledgeable of his own father’s accomplishments and even co-authored the book, ‘John Logie Baird: a life’. Through him I became aware of the impact his father had on the world at large and on myself personally as a young boy who spent far too many hours watching Saturday-morning cartoons and sporting events. What always fascinated me was that I was one degree of separation from one of the world’s greatest inventors. In my personal Mount Rushmore of the world’s most influential inventors, it was always John Logie Baird, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Alexander Graham Bell. Speaking of which…
Growing up in Canada in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, I was acutely aware of the city of Brantford for two distinct reasons, or should I say people. The first was Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player of all time and my boyhood idol. Winner of 4 Stanley Cups, owner of 61 NHL scoring records and most importantly, a national hero. (To this day I always tell my wife that a signed Wayne Gretzky rookie card would make a great birthday gift!) The second person was Alexander Graham Bell. From an early age, I was made aware of who he was, what he invented and its impact from the Bell System, led by the Bell Telephone Company - better known as ‘Ma Bell’ to the subsequent ‘Baby Bells’ and the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, better known as AT&T.
Fast forward to present day and the marriage between televisions and telephones is as natural as Peyton Manning and product endorsements. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that Mr. Manning starred in the hilarious ‘Football on your Phone’ commercial, essentially consummating the marriage to the delight of everyone when he posed the question, “What do you think Alexander Graham Bell would say if he saw you watching football on your phone?”
It really is quite amazing to see how far these two worlds have come along and more importantly, come together. Our industry is rapidly changing…some would say evolving and it is imperative that we be mindful of the immortal words of another great Canadian, Marshall McLuhan: “The Medium is the Message”. Be it televisions, telephones or any other tools that are used to store and deliver data or information, the Medium will always have a symbiotic relationship with how a message is perceived.
On a personal level, I consider myself fortunate to live in a time where I can watch my own show, STATE OF MIND, on my television and/or my phone. It’s allowed us as a production to grow our audience, increase our brand recognition and build our following as we enter Season 3. So, to the both of you Mr. Baird and Mr. Bell, I tip my hat and say thank you. That young boy from Canada will always appreciate the impact the two of you had, and I’m glad that the foreshadowing of that photo became a reality and your two worlds became one.
-Krishna C. Nadella is the Host & Producer of ‘STATE OF MIND with Krishna C. Nadella’