OBITUARY : Professor Amiya Bagchi as I Knew Him

Professor Amiya Bagchi was never formally my teacher. No, not even in his salad days as a teacher (1958–59) when his absurdly youthful looks made the callow students of the ‘Intermediate Arts’ class at Presidency College think of him as one of their own when he entered the lecture room for the first time; of course they were soon disabused as the young teacher walked straight to the podium and started lecturing. Many teachers and researchers of my generation belonging to the so-called ‘human sciences’ would, however, like myself, acknowledge Professor Amiya Bagchi as one of the greatest shaping influences in their lives. We called him ‘Amiya-da’, the honorific term ‘-da’ or ‘dada’ with its necessary component of affection and intimacy describing exactly how we related ourselves to him. It is this generational relationship which came to an end with his passing away on 28 November 2024.