Ajit da no more...

Ajit Sengupta passed away yesterday at 1325 hours. He might not be alive anymore, but his legacy will live on for many years to come…Yes Ajit Sengupta aka Ajit da, the legend passed away…all he left away is his teaching legacy but he is irreplaceable though. How to begin writing about Ajit da? Let me start from 1999.

In the month of April, 1999, when I went back to Narendrapr (NDP) after the spring break I was about to start in the ninth standard and in the C Section and had already spent 4 years in NDP. As a routine we used to check the time-table once we were in NDP before anything else. When I checked the teachers allotted to teach in IXC for the year I was very apprehensive. Ajit da was supposed to take Life Science classes for us. Before that I had heard about Ajit da and had also heard that he was very short tempered and that was the reason that he was always allotted classes in the ninth and tenth standards. To begin with, it did not make such an impression in my mind…I was waiting for the first class to give the judgment about this great man. Everything changes with time and my impression also was not an exception. A week later, after attending his first class, I prayed to God for forgiveness, for I was shameful and cursed myself for my first thoughts on this great man.

NDP has been blessed with many great gentlemen since its inception in 1958. Many still continue to serve NDP as they had done more than 50 years ago, with the same passion and zeal. I have not met many of such greats. But I was fortunate enough to meet Ajit da. Ajit da was a gem of a person with an uncanny ability of mending young minds towards a brighter career. He always stressed on knowledge, albeit not the bookish ones, preached by a lot of teachers whom I have interacted with in my life. He used to say that knowledge should be the morning star in the journey of a ‘bright’ career. He himself was the personification of that. Nobody could have been bored in his classes, be it during the toughest times of post-lunch or during the late afternoon, the time when everyone used to yearn for playground. He never used a chair during his classes and used to stand like a crane with one leg on the ground and the other folded on the edge of the table. We were challenged by him that if we attended his classes we need open the biology book again, not even before the exam. I remember those lessons even now. Such was his impact. Those lucky few ones, who had been fortunate enough to attend his class, can testify that. I personally learnt a lot of things from him, be it Life Sciences or Life minus the science.

The Ajit da we met was the Ajit da of the late 1990’s…By then he was approaching his sixties and time had taken a toll on his body. He was a severe asthmatic; I remember once he had come to take our class with a crepe-bandage strapped chest. It had happened due to excessive coughing. But he refused to quit cigarettes. On the same day he explained to us that why was he a bachelor for life. I won’t forget that class. I used to wonder and even wonder now that how have he been in his younger days. Had he not been attracted towards the materialistic side of life? Like we are…He was an admirer of Mother Teresa and had a heart like Mother Teresa. He was always seen with his trademark 32-inch smile and the last time I met him in 2008 was also same. He greeted me with his customary smile and spoke for some time and he even joked about my weight.

The simple dhoti-punjabi clad Ajit da was as elegant as a Tuxedoed actor or a business leader and could put to shame a stand-up comedian with his one-liners. He has touched many hearts and mended many minds in NDP since the 1960’s. I think he was born to teach and touch lives. Spending more than fifty years in an institution, speaks about his longevity, but also speaks volumes about his love and dedication for the Institution. I salute this great gentleman and pray to the almighty…May his soul rest in peace…Wherever you have gone Ajit da, you will continue to be in our hearts and minds…