Prabir Kumar Gupta: Born in 1942 in Chapra, Bihar; B.Sc. Honors from Rajendra College, Chapra; B.Tech and M.Tech in Applied Chemistry, University of Calcutta. He worked as a chemist in Calcutta (1964-1971); in production management, Cleveland, USA (1971-1977); as a researcher on tea chemicals and as a guest lecturer at University of Calcutta (1977- 1984). Presently working as Executive Editor for the Indian Chemical Society since 1984. Has published over seventy-five articles in various scientific periodicals.
S. P. Sarkar: After graduating from Calcutta University, S. P. Sarkar served as Covenant Officer in a British Farm in Calcutta for about three years. He then joined as Class One Gazetted Officer in a Central Government Organization and was posted as Assistant Director, Chemicals, in Ahmedabad. He served there for five years and then worked in a Public Financial Institution for more than 25 years until his retirement in 2001.
Thoudam Damodar Singh – a friend forever
In 1961, there were thirty-six of us in our first year Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) class of the Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Calcutta. Among us, only three students were from the States outside West Bengal – Thoudam Damodar from Manipur, Basanta from Assam and myself from Bihar.
Acquaintance among our classmates turned to intimacy through the passage of time. Thoudam had a short stature with an ever smiling face and he was soft-spoken. We used to converse in English and later he could understand Bengali and could speak the language slowly. He was very compassionate and cooperative. I never saw him expressing annoyance or behaving rudely.
In 1963 we obtained the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology and in the next year the Master of Technology. Thoudam specialized in pharmaceutical technology in his M. Tech. Then, we all dispersed in search of a career in research, teaching or industry. I heard later that Thoudam was involved in research in the U.S.A.
Then after a long gap of eighteen years I met him in our Alma Mater, Department of Applied Chemistry. He was not expectedly like us, leading a normal life. I saw him, a sadhu, standing before me. His body was covered with saffron-colored cloth and his face glittered with divine radiation. I heard from him, his lesson, his passion and his mission.
He dwells in the spiritual world. But his hyphenated smile, his accentual conversation and his sense of humor remain the same as before. I adore him not only as a friend but also as a true human being.
He is the global ambassador of his religious faith – the faith that science does not shun but shape together with spirituality.
Reminiscence
After getting our degrees from college, we were admitted in the Applied Chemistry Department, Calcutta University in the year 1961. Now we are all in our sixties and when we look back there are so many wonderful memories which we cherish.
At that time, there was a quota for admission in post-graduate studies in Calcutta University for students from other states of India and Thoudam Damodar was one of the gems from the north-eastern state of Manipur.
I was basically introverted in my boyhood days and I would not mix freely with my colleagues. But I discovered Thoudam Damodar, always smiling and full of life. He would participate in all discussions with his friends with a big smile on his face and would laugh profusely, sometimes not being able to complete the sentence he initially started. He was so simple in his appearance and behavior and his face was so innocent. I used to wonder what his source of so much spontaneous internal joy was.
Since Thoudam Damodar hails from the Northeastern part of our country, I had the initial misconception that he might be Christian by religion. Though I never discussed this issue with anyone, I carried this misconception for a long time. Prabir Gupta, my colleague in the truest sense, once told me “Thoudam Damodar has received his doctorate degree from an American University and has become a monk of ISKCON.” It was a total surprise to me to hear this news. Although, when he was a student in the Applied Chemistry Department, his innocent face, full of laughter all the time and his love for all his colleagues did give some indication for this future development!
After a long time, I met him again this year (2002) at the Reunion of the Applied Chemistry students of Calcutta University. I immediately felt that Thoudam Damodar is a source of inspiration to many and will lead many souls towards a serene, pure and simple religious life.71