Sunday, May 1, 2016

...." On Patna Science College...."........Hailing International Labour Day & bowing to dear frnds wishes....!!!!!!.......Dedicated to my dear Father ....!!!!

......Harinath....unkempt hair, yellow  flying  shirt in the peak "Loo"( regional  hot summer  local  winds  blowing over the Great Indian Plain) season  of Bihar, wud  meet  elder  brother  at  our  Railway Bungalow in Madhupur, being  his  classmate in Edward George  High School of Madhupur Estd 1911....both  were  rivals  & were  toppers in  their  respective  sections.....whn  the  wind  was  blowing  hot  in  the  afternun  , both  frnds  wud  sweat  it  out  on  Elementary  & Advanced  Mathematics......Harinath's Father was a Pointsman  in Indian railways ; used to slogging  over  the Permanent way fixing &  checking & setting  relevant  Manual  points  on  the busy  Howrah  Delhi  Main  line, for  trains  to  run  on  their  definitive  slots.....My  father  always wud hv  a word  with  him ,since Harinath was  a  diligent student.....albeit  economically  lower  in  the  ladder......I heard  of  Patna science  College for  the  first  time whn  I  learnt  tht  he  had  made  into  the  Intermediate  class  of Science possibly  yr  1973.....his  superlative  performance  in  the  Matric boards catapulted  him  to  the  Premier  Institute.......in  tht my Standard IV brain  formed  a  strong  notion for  joining  the  same at  a  later  date .....as elder  brother  who  was  very  fond  of  his bosom  frnd...he  wud suitably pass  on infos  of  his  frnd's  progress....the  Emergency  period  shook Patna  & Science  college  was  not spared  ......the Chhatra Sangharsh  Samiti  &  my  bros  dear  frnd  was  one  of  the  spearheads.....we  were taken  aback at  the  turn  of events....my brother  too  got  involved  in  relay  fasts  in Madhupur &  my  father being a Labour  leader was jailed  under  the  Maintenance  of  Internal Security  Act( MISA)  &  DIR  ( Defence  of India Rule)....those  were turbulent  times  till  all the  heat  settled  down , my  father  released frm Dumka &  reinstated  later.....Harinath in  the vortex  in Patna was hit  by  a  tear  gas  cannister  &  escaped luckily  only  to  recede temporarily.......So  whn  all  the  hullabaloo  & heat  &  dust  settled  a  Welcome  news  came  tht  he  had made  into  IIT Kharagpur......this  strengthened  my  belief  of  how  Gud  a  student  he  was  despite  adversity  financially  &  an on going agitation  & cud  make  it  into  IIT kharagpur........thr definitely  must  hv been  a  tremendous  atmosphere  in  Science College , propelling  people  to  excel.....!!!....tht  was  my  first  hand  knowledge  of  the premier  Institution....&  a  secret desire  to  emulate  my brother's  dear  frnd, who  was  much  talked  abt  in  the  fmly......in  as  much  I  faced  the steep  competition  at St Xavier's sahibganj  to  get  a  seat  in  the  secondary school  in  1976.....nd  thus  began  a  tryst with  Premier  Institutes  of  the  Land.....!!!!!
.....The 4th Bihar  JD  Battallion  of NCC HQ Bhagalpur  imparted  a  superlative  training  @ St Xavier's Sahibganj of  2 1/2  yrs &  made  us  wht  we  r  today.....sadly , though  owing  to Sister's marriage in Feb  1979 missed  the  exam  for  certification......I never  knew  how  this  particular certification wud  go  a  long  way  in  gaining  18  marks or  2% whn  the  final  merit list  wud  be  prepared  for  gaining admission  into  the Intermediate Class  of  Science in Science College.....Neverthe less, I applied , after  an  animated  discussion with  my  parents  &  Uncle : Late  Prof  Arunendu  Das  of  Cal. Univ whether I shud go  for PCM  or  PCB.....smitten  by  Harinath's  stellar  performance  I  opted  for  PCM & a  whole  day  ritual  opposite  the  statistics  bldg  on  the  staircase leading  to  the  Science College  massive  office  counters eventually  being  placed  in  Sec B with  159  as  the Roll  no...my  dear  father  was  beside  me, helping me  out  in every step in  releasing  me  to  uncharted  terrain of  possible  excellence......but  the  18  marks  eluded  me , provided  by the NCC JD  certificate which I cud  not  produce despite  being  a successful , in completion , of  training  at school....or  else  I  wud hv  been  in Section A & possibly a  seat  in  Faraday  or Cavendish  hostels......Patna  had  a "Vidyarthi" reputation  & I was awe  struck at  the  site  of  so  many  deserving  students  who  wud  be  possible  competitors  in  the  long  run......the Greeco Roman  styled Pillars  of the Admin Block , the adjoining Classrooms  of Maths  & English  & Hindi  & alternative Eng bore  the  marks  of  studentship  for  a  long  long  time  , the  desks  &  benches  bearing  age old  graffitis on  the  seasoned  wood.....Legacy & Heritage was well  imprinted  on  the  walls  of  the  class rooms  .....I wondered  thrfore  tht Harinath Bhaiya with  humble  back ground cud  excel  in this &  how  tough  & Gud  he  must  hv been  as  the atmosphere  appeared fiercely  competitive.......!!!.....it  was  the  best  brains  of Bihar  frm  all  walks  of  life  rubbing shoulders  together.......My  first  rendezvous  was  in  this block....as  the English  class  rolled.....a thick lensed , burly  gentleman , with hands  deeply  entrenched  in  his pockets, wud  , as  he  entered  ,  thunder  ..."...U  few Boys  in the  last  bench  , pl  come in front...."  this  was  Dr PB Sharan , a  holder  of many  an acronym... a highly  knowledgeable Prof  in English  as  the HOD,  Dr Saileshwar Sati Prasad : SSP was an  equal gem of  the deptt.....wide framed  in black spects , very  popular  with  the  students......Dr Bhrigunandan Tripathi  taught us Hindi 50  marks  &  Prof Arun Kamal  Alternative Eng  50  marks ...in  addition  to  Maths  being  taught  in  tht  block ........
............a  nearly  4 mnth stint in  PCM  stream & hindi Jargons  in Maths  book of Co  ordinate Geometry  , Calculus , made  me  calculate  seriously  as  to  whr  my  aptitude  lay...in  tht  Azimul Haq of  Sec D of PCB  roll  362 & I Roll  159 of Sec B interchanged  &  switched over to  sections  whr  our  heart  lay........I being  fiercely  independent  &  responsible  for  my  actions  took  this  unprecedented  step of Choosing Medical  over  Engineering.....!!!!...without  informing  my  parents  &  elder  bro.....as  I joined sec D ....I  informed  thm......My father  was  supportive ....his  elder  brother  too  had  studied  medicine frm Calcutta  National Medical college...nd  he  was  happy.....having  winning  thm to  the  side  meant  full  attention to  matters  @ Sec D an overcrowded  PCB  section  with  lots  of  Girls occupying  the  front  two  rows  of  the Lts.......I translated  the "Mool Bhoot Bhoutiki ": Physics  in  record  time  in English as  the  book  was superb  in concept  formation  in  addition to  Brijlall  & subramaniam of S Chand ....but most  of  the PCM  guys wud  hob nob with Resnick & halliday    a  tough book  I reckoned......Dr Biltu Singh's Inorganic Chemistry  was  poorly  printed & bound , yet  a phenomenally  popular book so  easy  to  understand........Sarin & Sarin's Quantitative Chemistry  was  one  real  good  book  which  helped  us & Prof Nafis Haider's(oriental College Patna City) Organic chemistry made Organic  chemistry  look  pedestrian.......mighty  books  these  were....Jordan & Nigam  & RD Vidyarthi's books  on Zoology  nd  not  to  spk  of  Dr Vivekanada Banerjee's  Zoology, were the main frame  Zoology  books  with  A C Datta's Botany : the One & Only......!!!!!!........Dr Sunil Sharan was  again  my  hostel supdtt a superb teacher  of Botany   : genetics, & Vivek Banerjee's  Zoology classes  ran packed  houses , Dr V K Sinha was not to be far   behind, a popular student frndly professor......the early  morning  Lab  attendance to the Botany & Zoology Labs   with  flat  files of  assignments   of various diagrams....attendance  was  strict ....& Professors punctual......tht  led to  the  seedlings  being  implanted  for  a  Future Service Provider  of  a  mighty  personality of tht  of  the  Medical Doctor.....!!!!!....the  sharp  brains  being  honed  by Equally sharper ones  of  tht of the  reverand  Teacher of Science......thr was  a  kind  of Competition  amongst the faculties  of  Departments  ..in  tht  the Physics had  some "Navaratnas" who  instilled  a  gr8  deal  of  enthusiasm for  a  Scientific bent  of  mind.....foremost  to  my  mind  whom I adored  was Dr Shaukeen Singh Prof of Physics  teaching  us  Light.......such  was  his  command over  his  subject  tht  thr were  house full  classes  with often students frm other  sections  wud sneak in to  hear.......his  diagrams  on the board was seen  to be believed......Dr AK Prasad  was teaching  us  Heat nd really we lapped  up all  his teachings ..........the relatively  young  Dr A K Verma curly  haired with  a   heavy  wristwatch , teaching  Mechanics ,  as  in  ,  the Physics  lab  we  wud collect  Vernier Callipers  , Micrometer Screw  gauge, , Prisms  ,Pendulums,  magnets , solenoids  ,Calorimeters , Resistors, thermometers , ( of which we  were  v careful  lest  we brk thm), Pins , drawing boards & papers  with wax as  stickers  for it to  be fixed  on  the drawing  board  for  experiments  on Refraction of  light  & Magnetism....& a  scary  dark  room......!!!!.....Dr Biltu singh was a teacher  par excellence  in Chemistry  & Dr S N Das also  frm  Chemistry  was  our  Principal  ....wht  a  personality, straight  frm  a British  period Era .....!!!!!...Dr  S K Lall  & MN Verma were  equally  adorable  teachers  in  terms  of  their  professionalism......the Chemistry  Lab  used to  smell always  of Hydrogen sulphide H2S gas &  the Kipps  apparatus  always  emanating  fumes......the  Flame test  was  real  fun  with  metals  &  the Salt  analysis  table  a  real twister......Titration, I  learnt  though  frm  one  particular private  lab  near  Law  College run  by  retired Prof Darshan Singh of science College.....wht  a teaching he  imparted  on Titration on  the  side lines  of Science College.....thr  was  some amt of  envy for Sec D as  the  majority  girl students  were  with us  with rolls 379  &  430 , 328 very  popular.....!!!!...The  Patna Science College  Campus  was  overwhelming  with  Faraday, Cavendish , Newton , Ramanujam hostels boarding  male students &  much  talked  about , if my  memory  do  not  fail  me..... the Ladies hostel  of GDS.....Lallan Babu in  the office  was  helpful nd  really  the  Counters were  too high  in  tht  we had to  crane ourselves to  receive  our  Identity cards......!!!!!.....thr  was  fierce  combativeness  in  the  Maths  sections  as  Sawal  Jawab  wud  freely  be  exchanged  as IIT  entrance  was  the  bench  mark  &  many  did  make  it  .......!!!!...only  to  foray  into  IAS  & IPS  as  Harinath  Bhaiya  eventually  did  as IAS  in Rajasthan cadre......!!!!!....( .......To be concluded....) 

3 comments:


  1. The applicants can also be able to apply for the BSRTC Recruitment 2018 from our authorized portal.

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  2. Bihar State Road Transport Corporation will soon go to release BSRTC Recruitment 2018 for Driver & Conductor.

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A Sea & Lord Hanuman in between .....

  Shubho NaboBorsho greetings  to  all !!! There  is  festivity  in  the  air  ...the  brisk  walk  back to home  post  Clinic tells it all....