Old Man and the Seer

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It was never easy.

IIT KGP had a stream of unending undergraduate talent for 40 years of my life there, and a terrific 10 to 1 Student-Teacher Ratio. How best to use them for mutual benefit without little little inevitable strains was my big problem. It would indeed call for a treatise of negligible public use.

Anyway, I suppose I did my best. Very few students could guess the tremendous difficulty a well-meaning teacher faces in striking the right balance between academics and 'friendship'.

Here is an e-Certificate I proudly preserved:

..... "I know that you are one of the very few professors back home who can come down to the level of students yet maintain his stature"...................

Thank you lady! You are a very perceptive seer for your tender age.

Thanx again!

Let me however add that, the 'academic feminist' that you were, the last but one word: "his" in your tribute has been a let-down! I would have written: "their" to avoid your broomstick!

....The Old Man Dreams..like in the first para of "Old Man and the Sea" of Hemingway.

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