Anecdotes                                                       

“I had to answer questions from SN Bose during my practical exam and that was a lifetime moment for me. Bose was then teaching at Calcutta University and had come to Presidency College as an external examiner for physics practical exam. He asked me questions during the viva. I was a little nervous but also excited.”

Samir Chandra Ghosh (1954 physics honours class), radiation safety officer at Regional Cancer Centre, Cooch Behar

 

“One day I found many grey-haired men sitting in our classroom when I came running from Hindu Hostel, where I stayed, to attend a class. I thought I had entered the wrong room and was about to leave when these men told me they had come to attend AKR sir’s (Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri) lecture. That was the first time AKR was going to take classes on electromagnetics and physical optics. A different teacher u sed to teach these topics before. I vividly remember that day even now. Such was AKR’s knowledge that even teachers would come to attend his classes.

Another day, I found policemen had brought an actress mobbed by fans to Hindu Hostel without realising that it was a boys’ hostel. She was there for about 15 minutes and we were quite disciplined during that time.”

Sutirtha Bhattacharya (1977 physics honours class), Coal India chairman 

“My teacher at Presidency College had helped me in establishing the chemistry department of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Residential College.

I had also done my intermediate from Presidency College when Pratul Chandra Rakshit taught me chemistry. Later, when I did my honours we spoke about various things though I didn’t have to attend his classes any longer. Many years later as the acting principal of the Narendrapur college, I had the task of establishing a chemistry department. I came to Pratul-babu for help and he went over to Narendrapur several times. It was under his guidance that I managed to establish the department. Presidency helped me in my work life. Such was the teacher-student relationship in Presidency College during our time that it lasted even after college days.”

Bikash C. Sanyal (1957 statistics honours class), former Unesco adviser 

 

Also heard                                                         

Portico looks changed

The Presidency portico was once the seat of many a famous adda. But the elevated part where the students used to sit does not exist anymore. Retired IAS officer Jawhar Sircar was the first to point out the change. “E baba portico te boshbar i jayga nei (the portico doesn’t have any place to sit any longer?)”

The missing banyan tree                                  

Also missing was the great banyan tree that stood at the entrance for over a century. It was felled to make way for the new gate. Amita Chatterjee, a former student and a former vice-chancellor of Presidency University, told a friend that it would have been better if the tree was saved.

What stood out                                                

The slogan on the wall — ‘You may cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.’ A former student looked at the wall and said: “This is the essence of Presidency. It will have students who will always disagree with the authorities.” 

Reporting by Subhajoy Roy and Subhankar Chowdhury