A Hindi High School alumnus who grew up in Thakurpukur and still calls Calcutta his home was sworn in as the High Sheriff of the County Palatine of Durham on Friday.
Arnab Basu, 53, is the first person of Indian heritage to occupy the post in the office’s 1,000-year history.
Basu moved to the UK in 1996 and has lived in Durham since 1999, where he founded his company and raised his children.
“It is an immense honour to have a direct crown appointment, particularly to serve the community where I have lived and built my life since coming from India. I never really imagined when I arrived that one day I would have a crown appointment,” he told Metro over the phone on Saturday evening.
“It’s an honour, a privilege and an opportunity to give back to the community that has welcomed me with open arms and thought of me as one of them,” he added.
Basu completed Class XII in 1989 from Hindi High School, now called Birla High School, and went on to St Xavier’s College, Park Street, for a BSc in physics.
He pursued engineering at Northumbria University in Newcastle before moving to Durham for a PhD, where he has lived ever since.
The office of the High Sheriff, the oldest secular role under the British Crown, dates back over a millennium.
While once responsible for law enforcement and administration of justice, the modern High Sheriff holds a ceremonial and community-focused role — supporting the judiciary, celebrating voluntary service and strengthening civic engagement.
Emerging from the Anglo-Saxon system of local governance, sheriffs were originally the monarch’s chief representatives in each shire, responsible for law and order, tax collection and justice. Today, High Sheriffs remain an important pillar of public life, strengthening connections between citizens, public bodies and the Crown.
Basu has already outlined his priorities for his one-year term. “The principal areas where I would like to focus are employability and the effects of mental health, particularly among young people, and how culture and sports can make a difference in the formative years for children from deprived and disadvantaged communities who may not have the same opportunities that my children have,” he said.
He also plans to highlight those doing valuable work with young people and raise funds for the County Durham Community Foundation. “It is about making sure every child in County Durham gets an opportunity to grow up with access to sports, culture, training and education so they can prosper to the best of their abilities,” Basu said.
Basu’s parents, Arun Kumar Basu and Chitra Basu, live in Calcutta and co-founded an NGO focused on sustainable development among destitute and underserved communities.
Basu lives in Durham with his wife Bea and their two sons, Timon, 19, and Emile, 15.He is CEO of a listed company he founded in 2003, operating in the UK and US, specialising in advanced radiation detection for global security, defence and diagnostic imaging markets.
The busy CEO was in Calcutta for 10 days in December, travelling between Jodhpur Park and Thakurpukur. “I still come home. It feels like home. I love everything about Calcutta — the people, family, friends, the whole environment, the long adda and talking about how to make the world right,” he said.