Sing no sad song

Professor Rangalal Sen – a teacher of teachers from the Department of Sociology of the University of Dhaka – passed away on February 10, 2014. Some of our colleagues cried their hearts out for their beloved teacher. A teacher who rarely expected anything from anyone, died in silence. I never realised how much I liked him. As soon as I saw his face, a tear rolled down my face.

He had been denied so many things he deserved, but he never complained. He never reacted. Although his students sometimes vehemently opposed for him out of anger, he instead apologised on behalf of them. Professor Rangalal Sen – a well-reputed academician – fought back with the quality of his work and his fathomless knowledge, with the message, "I will be remembered one day with honour and dignity".

The highest honour an academician can receive in his lifetime was bestowed upon him: He was made a "National Professor of Bangladesh". And yet he died truly as a "Professor of our Hearts".

He dedicated his life to academia. He never compromised nor engaged in wrongdoing, and never compromised with unholy and mundane aspects of life.

Even after teaching for so many years, he would return to his books to prepare for his next class even though he could quote verbatim from them. He used to lecture us and ask, "Do you know what is written on page 43 of Capital?" He would then to start narrating the said page with all the nitty-gritty.

There is a lot to say about him. Those who worked with him knew how sharp he was at identifying a misspelled word, incorrect punctuation, and poorly structured sentence. Sometimes he advised us politely about the strategies of writing good English. If he were here to see this eulogy, he would be mumbling to himself and say "She was in a hurry! They could have done a lot better than this."

Our words are not strong enough to write about him. Sorry, Sir!

Many of our colleagues requested him to review their Ph.D. dissertations and he never refused.

If you haven't been to his house, let me tell you what you would find there: Shelves and shelves full of books in his living room.

Most of them had been read and re-read by him, highlighted wherever necessary.

Do you need one of those books? Just ask him, he would gladly give you one.

He attended all of his student's wedding. We know what to expect from him as wedding gift. They would be books.

He is the prototype of an idealist teacher whom you might read about. All of us has seen such a teacher in their lifetimes. Professor Rangalal Sen is one of them.

He was a Ph.D. student of Professor Tom Bottomore, famous sociologist working at Sussex in the day. He published a paper with renowned scholar Andre Gunder Frank. As far as we know, he wrote at least 23 books.

He wrote ample papers on different sociological issues. He equally contributed to shape and institutionalise sociology as a profession in different parts of the country. He considered teaching as worship and dedicated his entire life to establish sociology as a discipline in Bangladesh.

He focused on the importance of teaching sociology. He used to say "Teach sociology everywhere, even if it is in a college. This is how we will establish "Sociology" as a discipline."

You would have to count every star to find a fine teacher like him.

Professor Rangalal Sen supported progressive movements. He was a freedom fighter and a patriot.

You would have to wait another lifetime to find a teacher like him. One who was secular, enlightened, modern in outlook, and entirely committed to professional ethics.

He lived with dignity and died with honour.

He looked solemn and somber even in death, as if he were saying, "Do not be upset, I will be there for you all."

[blockquote cite="Christina Rossetti, 1862."]"When I am dead, my dearest
Sing no sad song for me
Happily I may remember
And happily may forget"[/blockquote]

If you do not believe what has been said of him, then I leave you with the words of Walt Whitman: "You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself."