Two centuries of intellectual glory

The bicentenary of Presidency College, Calcutta, is being celebrated with great gusto. Justifiably so. It was India’s first great modern educational institution and among the luminaries who studied and taught there are names of the 200 most distinguished engraved on its walls. They include scientists of international repute such as Jagadish Bose, Satyen Bose, Megnad Saha, P. C. Mahalanobis, Economics Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Now called Presidency University, the institution was founded as Hindu College in 1817, the term Hindu at the time was how all Indians were mostly described. Among the men who brought into being this remarkable, was the revered social reformer David Hare, a revered Englishman lived in the city. His name was among the 200 engraved. Another is that of HVL Derozio of Portuguese-Indian descent, an iconic teacher recalled today as one of the original deities of what came to be called the Bengal Renaissance whose light was to spread across India. Appropriately Derozio Hall is where the good and great assembled for speeches and seminars. The local papers carried a picture of Amrtya Sen and the French Economics Nobel laureate Jean Tirole (supporter of India’s demonetization), deep in conversation. Long may Presidency’s ideals endure.