My Malayalam Blog

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Sunday 23 September 2012

The Sujit da I knew


Sujit Deb, or Sujit da, as we fondly used to call him, passed away last Monday (17 September 2012) in Kolkata.

Both Sujit da and I worked in the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, during 1977–1983. He was the Librarian, and I was Secretary to Mr C.R.M. Rao, Editor, China Report.

Sujit da was a carefree character, the come-what-may-I-don’t-bother type. He did not care about the cloths he wore, the food he ate, the chair he sat on, nor the bed he slept on. He was at home on a cosy chair attending a conference or on the floor in the library with books or in the lawn chatting during lunch break. His main and only pastime was spending time in the office. He was a nice and kind human being, though occasionally I have heard him talking loudly to some of his colleagues. Though he was elder to me, we were friends. He was a down-to-earth man.

Sujit da was not married. I heard that Sujit da was a revolutionary in his heydays. Mr Bejoy Bhattacharya was also my colleague in CSDS during those days and he too was a bachelor. He also used to be a revolutionary (he changed his name from Vijay to Bejoy to Banglicise it!) in his youth. (I propose to write about Bejoy Babu in these columns in due course.) Is it a norm for revolutionaries to remain single?

We used to discuss several things. However, I have been quite averse to discussing home or relatives or enquiring such details from colleagues. This habit remains with me to this day. While I did not ask about his home or relatives, I did ask him why he chose to remain single. His answer was a big laugh. Then he said he had several girl friends and he used to ‘print’ (from letter press, since computers were not common then) love letters to all of them! This was his way of brushing aside personal queries.

Even after I left CSDS, whenever I used to visit there, library used to be my first port of call, to say ‘hai’ to Sujit da. He never acted busy and was always in a relaxed mood. The only thing which I didn’t agree with him was his habit of smoking. He smoked beedies, several of them every day. While he was not particular or regular as far as food was concerned, he didn’t forget his beedies and cups of tea.

After his retirement he worked as Consultant at CSDS and continued to spend most of his time at the Centre till a few months ago. When he realised he was suffering from an irrecoverable illness, he chose to return to his own people, who, it seems, failed him cruelly. Neither do I know the details, nor am I comfortable with writing what I heard. I can only say that he terribly misunderstood those whom he loved and trusted. He passed away nearly unattended and uncared for in a palliative care home.

Sujit da, you will remain in our hearts for many many years! Let your soul rest in peace!


Next update on Monday next


11 comments:

  1. Received via e-mail:

    Thanks for sharing this moving note.

    We all have various memories of Dada.

    These memories, I suppose, not merely reintroduce us to the multifaceted personality of Dada, but also underline the fact that simplicity and commitment to certain core values (which Dada used to call 'political-ideological')can transform an individual into a social entity.

    For many, societal'/ or larger than life life concerns are often understood as 'divine' attribute of a person. Obviously, in case of Dada it is not appropriate to use term like divinity-however, we can certainly say with confidence that Dada lived a social life in the true sense of the term.

    Hilal

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  2. Received via e-mail:

    Thanks Jayanthan for sharing this with all of us.

    Rajeev

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  3. Thank you Dr Bhargava and Hilal da, for your comments.

    Some memories die hard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Received via e-mail:

    Thank you very much for including me in your mailing list. I have been reading your articles in your blog with great interest. Your writing skills have always inspired me from the very beginning ever since I came in contact with you .. Dec. 1983.

    I hope you would also write about TERI and old colleagues. The other day I walked to Jor Bagh market from IHC for some reason. When I looked at the market, the I remembered you, MNR and Mr Sundararaman. We used to walk together to have a sweet in Kwality Restaurant.



    I hope you are doing well. Suneetha keeps talking about you and always enquire about you. Unfortunately, I could not attend your son's wedding. I am sure there will be an occasion where we can meet.

    ...

    Rajagopal

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  5. Thank you, Raju, for your encouraging response. Of course, I will include my memories of TERI, where I spent more than a quarter of a century. All in due course.

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  6. Received via e-mail:

    I am moved! Sujit da may not be there, but his spirit will stay on....

    Best,

    Saurabh

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  7. A good obituary on Sujit Deb, a calm librarian of CSDS

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  8. Received via e-mail:

    Nice piece Jayanthan; a good account of Sujit Deb

    Sebastian

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  9. Thank you, Sebastian, for your encouragement.

    ReplyDelete

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