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Professor G. S. Sanyal was a man of Electrodynamics. He lived and breathed the subject. And his idols were Julius Adams Stratton of MIT and his celebrated vintage text book. Although he belonged to the ECE Dept at IIT KGP, GSS used to teach this subject for our M. Sc. students when our course was started. And after I joined there in 1965, I inherited this subject from him via Prof CLR and it stuck to me like a leech.
In 1986, GSS was the Director and we were 6 Assistant Professors all vying for the ultimate promotion to Professorship. And I was the last to be interviewed since I applied last. As one after the other my colleagues were exiting the Lion's Den, they were saying that GSS was silent, rather. I could understand this because all the 5 before me were hardcore Physics folks into Solid State, Math Physics, X-rays, and Spectroscopy in which GSS wasn't interested. I then knew that he was waiting to pounce on me. And so he did. As soon as I sat down, he said in his grandiose style:
"Dr Sastry, you are a man of Electrodynamics and so am I. Tell me what is the difference between...."
In the 1960s when I joined it IIT KGP was an isolated place remote from Delhi which used to fund it and forget it. We were all a sealed unit teaching and researching among ourselves without any interaction with the industry, largely. The concept of Industrial Research, Sponsored Projects, Consultancy and such were yet to reach KGP.
One of those days GSS was in Delhi in connection with an Interview as an Expert from KGP. After the business was done, the Director of Delhi IIT asked GSS if he was interested in a Project from the Defense (who were keen on spending the leftover crores of rupees before they were due to lapse in a few weeks). And the Delhi Diro said that the Directors of all other IITs were camping in Delhi to grab funds. And GSS asked him politely what he should do to get those Defense funds for KGP. And was told to write up a Project and submit it tomorrow at the Ministry.
GSS retreated to his Room in the Guest House and on a piece of paper wrote impromptu for a Project in Radar Communication and submitted it the next day.
And that was how the famous Radar Center came up in the Dept of ECE and a new culture was born at KGP.
I was then a carefree bachelor living in the Faculty Hostel and within no time we had, amidst us, a handful of Army Officers eager to absorb the famous IIT culture. They were all in their mid-30s and got their B. E. Degrees in EE (a decade back, then, there was no ECE at many Univs). And they got selected and sponsored by the Army to stay at IIT KGP for 2 semesters and do their course work for M.Tech. And the third-sem Project in Radar could be done at their place of posting in Army.
They were all Officers as well as Gentlemen and it was a new experience for us to mix with them. Apparently they decided among themselves not to talk of their Army Shop with us, rather. So they talked about the classes they were attending after a decade or more, and their ultimate respect for one professor of ECE who, they said, had what they called: "The Great Grand Bessel Functions" in his pocket (I am sure the Bessel Prof had never seen a Radar in action...no matter):
...Posted by Ishani
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In 1986, GSS was the Director and we were 6 Assistant Professors all vying for the ultimate promotion to Professorship. And I was the last to be interviewed since I applied last. As one after the other my colleagues were exiting the Lion's Den, they were saying that GSS was silent, rather. I could understand this because all the 5 before me were hardcore Physics folks into Solid State, Math Physics, X-rays, and Spectroscopy in which GSS wasn't interested. I then knew that he was waiting to pounce on me. And so he did. As soon as I sat down, he said in his grandiose style:
"Dr Sastry, you are a man of Electrodynamics and so am I. Tell me what is the difference between...."
In the 1960s when I joined it IIT KGP was an isolated place remote from Delhi which used to fund it and forget it. We were all a sealed unit teaching and researching among ourselves without any interaction with the industry, largely. The concept of Industrial Research, Sponsored Projects, Consultancy and such were yet to reach KGP.
One of those days GSS was in Delhi in connection with an Interview as an Expert from KGP. After the business was done, the Director of Delhi IIT asked GSS if he was interested in a Project from the Defense (who were keen on spending the leftover crores of rupees before they were due to lapse in a few weeks). And the Delhi Diro said that the Directors of all other IITs were camping in Delhi to grab funds. And GSS asked him politely what he should do to get those Defense funds for KGP. And was told to write up a Project and submit it tomorrow at the Ministry.
GSS retreated to his Room in the Guest House and on a piece of paper wrote impromptu for a Project in Radar Communication and submitted it the next day.
And that was how the famous Radar Center came up in the Dept of ECE and a new culture was born at KGP.
I was then a carefree bachelor living in the Faculty Hostel and within no time we had, amidst us, a handful of Army Officers eager to absorb the famous IIT culture. They were all in their mid-30s and got their B. E. Degrees in EE (a decade back, then, there was no ECE at many Univs). And they got selected and sponsored by the Army to stay at IIT KGP for 2 semesters and do their course work for M.Tech. And the third-sem Project in Radar could be done at their place of posting in Army.
They were all Officers as well as Gentlemen and it was a new experience for us to mix with them. Apparently they decided among themselves not to talk of their Army Shop with us, rather. So they talked about the classes they were attending after a decade or more, and their ultimate respect for one professor of ECE who, they said, had what they called: "The Great Grand Bessel Functions" in his pocket (I am sure the Bessel Prof had never seen a Radar in action...no matter):
One of the Officers, RKP, was the sole exception. He could take his Bessel functions or lump them. But he was too full of the Army not to talk about it in our after-dinner meets on the lawns. And we were too bored with the Bessel Functions which were our staple diet but wanted to know about life in the Army. So, we used to egg him on to talk. And he invariably obliged.
And RKP would first talk about the ranks in the Army...Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt Col or whatever through the Brigadier and finally Field Marshal (Sam Manekshaw was just then conferred this title after the ignoble surrender of the Pak Army in East Pakistan). And he would repeat these everyday for our continued benefit. And he would list the ranks in the Navy and the Air Force and their correspondence or lack of it with his Army. He would also compare the Army's ranks with the IAS cadre and would detail the protocol...who would meet whom...say a Major would meet an Under Secretary or vice versa. He was so enamored of the whole rigmarole that it was a great pleasure for us to listen to his absorbing talks. He was also rather psyched up about the macabre court martial proceedings, forfeiture, demotion, cashiering, and summary dismissal, not to talk of imprisonment and death.
Altogether an interesting character, was RKP, and looked upon as a freak by us civilians.
My friend, NP, was then in the market for a second-hand refrigerator and one Prof G was thinking of selling his old one before buying a new model for himself. So, the two met and the deal was struck @ Rs 2000. The cash changed hands and the fridge was brought home by NP and a Party was thrown.
But after a good week, Prof G landed up at NP's home and asked for Rs 200 more. NP was bewildered and asked him why. G said he hadn't known that the prices of fridges went up sky-high in the budget of last week and came to know of it only when he went shopping for his new one. NP said nothing doing...a deal is a deal...and G was unhappy. And NP in his largehearted way asked G to take back his fridge if it suited him and return his 2000.
And G did precisely that!
And the next day in the lawns of our Hostel, RKP was telling us that he was winding up and going back to Delhi and he sold his old fridge to a person for Rs 1800. And I told him that the prices of fridges had apparently gone up in the last budget and he was underselling his fridge. And narrated the gruesome story of NP and G and their deal that fell through after taking off.
And RKP was astonished and exclaimed:
"How can I do such a thing...a deal once gone through is a deal! I will be court martialled!!!"
...Posted by Ishani
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