Anilendranath Gangopadhyay, a teacher extraordinaire and Prof Abdus Salam, his Nobel laureate student

Spreading knowledge is not the only duty of a teacher. One still remembers a teacher with immense respect who was kind, helpful and who helped in building character. A teacher becomes an epitome of honesty and morality. India has been home to respected teachers who helped in nation building before and after independence. But with overall decadence in an increasingly materialistic society in past few decades, teaching profession has been tainted by some teachers and students as well.

Today on the eve of Teacher’s day (5^th September) in India, I would like to introduce a forgotten teacher; a teacher who represents a bygone era of plain living and high thinking. Anilendranath Gangopadhyay (1892-1982) was one such teacher. From Calcutta University he finished M.Sc. once in Pure Mathematics and another time in Applied Mathematics in 1915 and 1918 respectively. He joined Sanatan Dharma College in Lahore to teach mathematics. After partition, the college was shifted to Ambala in India and he continued teaching till retirement in 1953. He enjoyed a retired life in Calcutta after 1953. He was a bachelor and he loved his students like his children. Up to this it seems to be a life history of an ordinary man whom we see next door in real life. But there is a grand story in the fag end of his life when his student got Nobel and that story reveals his greatness as a teacher and shows the respect inherent in the perfect student-teacher relationship which, sadly, is fast disappearing from the society.

Professor Abdus Salam, the legendary Pakistani scientist was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 for discovering weak forces in nature. This caused much excitement in the Indian subcontinent because he was the first Pakistani to get a Nobel. In 1981, Calcutta University decided to award him Debaprasad Sarbadhikary gold medal in honor of his achievement. Prof Salam simply declined this award on the ground, that his revered mathematics teacher, Anilendranath babu has never been shown any due respect in Calcutta. Anilendranath was his guru under whose tutelage Salam learnt to love mathematics in Pakistan and this sound mathematical training established him later as one of the finest theoretical cum nuclear physicist. If Anil babu is given any award, then only he would be ready to receive the medal, declared Salam. This caught the imaginations of Calcuttans by fire. Calcutta University instituted an eminent teacher award and Anilendranath Gangopadhyay became its first receiver. On the day of award-giving ceremony held in an ailing Anilendranath’s South Calcutta residence in 1981, Abdus Salam was present to see his revered teacher getting his due respect at last. A contented Anil babu died shortly thereafter in 1982.

This real life story shows how great a teacher’s influence can be on the course of a student’s life and how respectful can a world-famous student be for his teacher who may not have achieved any material success at all in life ! This mark of respect for an unknown teacher by a renowned student defying geographical borders and political animosity between India and Pakistan reflects the simplicity, humility and endless admiration present in a student-teacher relationship.

Source: Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Vol.2) Biographical Dictionary by: Anjali Bose. 3^rd edition, pg 13, May 2004. Publisher: Sahitya Samsad, Kolkata. ISBN: 81-86806-99-7 (Vol.2)

Note: This article written by me was first published in The Times Of India, Mumbai edition, Mulund Powai Plus, 2008.

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