THE QUINTESSENTIAL ‘TEACHER….

Utpal Chatterjee : kolkata,5th. September 2024.  Salutations, respect and reverence to the great Professor D.D.Chatterjee,who went on to become National Professor and a legend during his lifetime.Not only was he a linguist (he could,apart from his expertise in English Literature and Language,speak and write fluent Bengali,Hindi,Latin,French,German et all.).He possessed rare and spontaneous wit a la,say,a Churchill.A magnetic personality,even the Nation’s President,Prime Minister and their likes knew him and were proud of him as was evident from their letters.I saw and read the one from both then Prime Minister and then Union Education Minister stating,in so many words,what an honour for the Nation that he was “now” a National Professor.Incidentally,the great scientist Professor Satyen Bose and the linguist,Professor Suniti Chattopadhyay were also National Professors. Precisely when he went to sleep remains a mystery.I could see him reading at 3.00 AM, when I had suddenly woken up in the early hours and found him pruning his roses at 5.00 AM.In fact,he loved his roses so much that he grew 193 hybrids as someone from the American Center informed me.He had an amazing collection of music that was known to even the great J.R.D.Tata. “Jeh” had agreed to an interview for 30 minutes which extended to all of four hours that included an excellent working lunch in 1988.He divulged some details of my father to me when I expressed a desire to donate the entire music collection of my father to the Tata Institute of Performing Arts or the TIFR.He referred to my father as “D.D.” as some of his close friends did.Returning to his fabled music collection,posterity,after all,had every reason to listen to such a rare collection.Thanks to the great Mr.J.R.D.Tata,the music is now in better hands and Thank God,this was no commercial transaction.In four rooms of our house,which was surrounded by plenty of green,the walls were virtually made of books,most of them sent by W.H Smith or McGrawhill and other well known publishers from Britain and the U.S..There is so much to be said about this great personality.But that can wait another day and may appear even in the form of a book.Those who came across him felt proud.There are so many eminent personalities,several of them his former students who remained mesmerised in his classes and had so many interesting anecdotes that included his inimitable wit.A prominent Union Minister ,who listened to me speak at Fort Aguada in Goa,said I reminded him so much of my late father.He would,he said often visit our home to seek his blessings.So,imagine how I feel as his son.Today,Teachers’Day,was,I thought,the ideal day to post this bit in letting you know of my father,the quintessential teacher and a great,conscientious and witty personality.The family apart,all,particularly his students,who came across him felt proud to come across such a great soul.Utpal Chatterjee