Reco Mela - 5

===============================================================

4. 1975 or so:

JK, a brilliant M Sc (Physics) pass-out from KGP left for the US.

After nearly 14 years (1989) he returned for a nostalgic trip (he came down again in 2005, just before I quit). He was a distant cousin of Mrs DB.

By 1989 he was already a tenured AP at a University in the US. He was sitting opposite me in my Office Room and we were chewing the cud.

TRR entered and stood at attention. He was my Project Student then.

During his 5 years at KGP, I rarely saw TRR smile; far too serious and studious. He was by far the topper of their batch; maybe holds some records to be shattered even now.

As usual, he sat through my 2 semesters in his 4th year (EMT & QMII). And I sat through his 2 labs, Autumn and Spring. So, enough scope for close interaction. I tried to make him smile since I was the usual buffoon wanting to spread sweetness and light.

Once in his final year, he was discussing some point in his project, which was on the Spacetime Software of EFT. And it was time fo his next lecture class, which was just opposite my Office C-239. And I saw his Senior Prof and HoD (a stickler for 'propriety') enter their class room. I told TRR to rush to his lecture class and we can talk later.

But he coolly said the lecture can wait.

After our discussion was through, he was about 5 minutes late and, with trepidation I was watching him go across,. He stood at the entrance and must have uttered: "May I come in, sir!". And perhaps there was no reply. So, after a couple of minutes, he put a step forward and stood beside the open door and kept standing for the whole hour, till the HoD quit without even bothering to look at him.

That was TRR.

So, when TRR entered my room with a bunch of reco forms, I introduced him to JK.

And asked JK: "Tell me JK! Does anyone out there ever read all the poetry I write (and perhaps wrote for him too 14 years back)?"

JK gave a smile, and a wee head-shake, and said: "I was a member of our Departmental Admissions Committee this year. 4 of us were sitting and gabbing. When the agenda topic came, we all agreed that, since the year before last we took a Chinese, and last year an Indian, this time let us take that Vietnamese girl".

For the first time I saw a broad smile on TRR's face.

And I recall that happily even today!

As I said, he went to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and perhaps broke some records there too!

[Aside: Richard de Souza, the final year NA student was the promising 100 meter sprint athlete at KGP around 1966.

His Departmental HoD, 'Daddy' Mitra (with a British wife) was the Deputy Director and a fan of Richard, his final year student.

As the events were progressing, there was this phone call from 'Daddy' to Jaswant Singh, the mike-in-charge of the events.

'Daddy' was online and was asking him: "Has Richard broken the Record yet?"

Jaswant, shouting over the ongoing 100 meter sprint: "He is just breaking it, sir!"]

*****************************************************************************

5. Fast forward to 1995: The Class of 96 on which I posted an entire blog and thereby met Shajesh online after so many years.

The dreamy topper Sougato entered my room with a Reco Form, which he said was somewhat urgent.

By then my procedure was standardized. In the matrix, I would say to the student: "Choose 2 of your weaker points and then I would check them in the second column: Very Good. The rest 6 I would check in the first column: Excellent".

No student till now volunteered any answer. So, I would help them out saying 'Spoken English' and 'Lab skills' could be the second column and the rest the first column.

They would naturally agree, and the 'checking' part over, I attach the 'boiler plate' poetry with minor changes suggested by the student to take care of the specifics of the Univ.

So, the job was through in 5 minutes, with me gabbing all the time (Aniket rightly calls me 'chatter box').

Signing and sealing and signing over the sealing and all that routine took another 5 minutes and we were through.

Sougato left happily with the sealed envelope ready to be posted.

That afternoon, Anupam, my very wonderful Project student (he did all the formidable metrics from Kerr, from ABS, onwards without my asking or help), entered with the same Reco Form to the same University.

And the same chatter box thing, the same 'checking' and poetry were going on.

Suddenly, Anupam burst out: "What have you done, sir?"

I said : "What is the matter?"

"In this form, sir, 'Excellent' is the LAST column and the 'Very Good' is the last but one column".

I jumped up and sent him at once to Sougato's place asking him NOT to post his form which he 'supervised' while I was filling up.

Meanwhile I was praying to my Personal God (ok. OK!!!),.

Both came smiling after half an hour, Sougato shamefaced, luckily too lazy to have posted it. (My 'In Praise of Laziness' got printed last October by The Statesman 'Now & Again' along with two subsequent ones before we parted company).

Then two more empties were fished out, the old envelopes torn into shreds, and two new ones filled in under Anupam's careful scrutiny, sealed and returned.

Both got Admission and Fellowship.

But neither joined; happily going to better places.

Serves the screwy University right!

=================================================