Makersof Jadavpur: A Technological Perspective

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An institution like Jadavpur University has reached its great heights today due to the contributions of a galaxy of teachers with exceptional ability, who have built it up into an institution with international standards of research and teaching Today, Jadavpur University has become a frontrunner among technical institutions, both in the country and the wider world. I am glad to learn that Rajat Kanti Baisya, a graduate and a researcher of this university, has written a book titled Makers of Jadavpur A Techmological Perspective covering the lives of these illustrious teachers. and highlighting their contributions to their departments and in laying the foundations of the university we know and love so well. The history of Jadavpur University, so far still largely untouched, deserves to be captured in the full range of its various hues, and through all the momentous events that inscribe its past, present and future. It ought to be studied as an edifice to human endeavour and scholarship in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and limited means. In terms of recording this particular historical perspective of Jadavpur University, I believe that the book could become a turning point. I am sure that the book will receive wide readership among all the stakeholders of JU, both present past and present.

Rajat Kanti Baisya is an award-winning and distinguished management consultant,teacher, trainer, and academic. He is also an established entrepreneur.

He did his BSc (Hons.) from Calcutta University and obtained his BTech, MTech, and PhD (Engineering) degrees from Jadavpur University. He has published seven books, supervised seven PhD theses and written 121 research papers and 260 industrial study reports. He also has 40 international and 30 national conference papers to his name. He is a certified management consultant from ICMCI, USA and is a licensed Intellectual Property Rights consultant from WIPO, Geneva.

He was a Member of the Research Management Board of the International Project Management Association (IPMA), Netherlands and a Member of the Research Advisory Board of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India), the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Institute of Management Consultants of India, and the World Confederation of Productivity Sciences (Canada).

He was the President and CEO of Emami Group, Senior Vice-President of Reckitt Benckiser, General Manager (Projects) of Escorts, General Manager (Corporate Planning) of United Breweries Group, amongst numerous intensely challenging leadership positions. He also served as a Director on the Board of Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Ltd, Booker India Pvt Ltd and North Eastern Development Finance Corporation.

O ur beloved Jadavpur University has a rich heritage. While we all know this instinctively, the historical links in the chain have not been as closely examined as would be merited. At the very source of the university's present glory is the labour and thought put into it by its founders. These pioneers were committed nationalists, who were involved in the freedom struggle at the beginning of the twentieth century, and helped establish the National Council of Education (NCE), Bengal which was the precursor to Jadavpur University. Thereafter, the baton was taken up by illustrious academics and researchers, who helped start and nurture various departments in the university. It is because of these solid foundations that Jadavpur University today receives international recognition and distinction. Some of these same founder-professors had global renown even in those early days, and the respect they garnered in the international science community contributed to the starting of various disciplines at JU as the first of their kind anywhere in the country. These professors were associated with the university throughout their working lives and pioneered much of the work that is definitive of science and engineering research in Jadavpur University today, and in some cases set the course for the most advanced research in all of India.

An organisation or institution is built up over a period of time through the collective and sustained efforts of everyone historically associated with it. Jadavpur University has a similar story, becoming a respected institution of higher learning through the contributions from countless people, dating back to its origins in 1905. This was the year in which the National Council of Education (NCE). the precursor of Jadavpur University, was set up by the leading thinkers and visionaries of the time, who were among the foremost nationalists and freedom fighters known to the country. While everyone contributes to the task of institution-building, some make signal contributions to an institution's growth, which in turn are responsible for significant developments in society. Among those luminaries in Bengal who were devoted to the task of the national education movement, Satish Chandra Mukherjee (1865-1948) was one of the forerunners. He was the Secretary of the Dawn Society, established in 1902. Satish Chandra Mukherjee sought through his tireless effort to inculcate a national tradition and values into education. This he did primarily through the Dawn Society, which was working to awaken the spirit of national consciousness and to spread the gospel of nationalist education. This effort had sowed the seeds of the freedom movement, leading to the disintegration of the British rule in India four decades later in 1947, when India finally attained independence. Satish Chandra Mukherjee had subsequently left the NCE and moved out of Calcutta to settle in Varanasi and adopt a life of sanyas. Many front-ranking political leaders came to meet him, including Mahatma Gandhi. With his withdrawal, the Dawn Society came to an end and its publications were also discontinued. A bulletin has been published by the NCE for the last couple of years titled New Dawn; the contents of this bulletin, however, are not comparable to those of its precursor and its publication too is irregular.

At the insistence of Lord Curzon, then the Viceroy of India, Bengal was partitioned into two provinces along religious lines on October 16, 1905, with the announcement itself made on July 19, 1905. The partition separated the largely Muslim populations in the eastern areas from the largely Hindu ones in the western parts. The partition animated the Muslims to form their own national organisation with a communal character, the All-India Muslim League, on December 30, 1906 in Dacca (now Dhaka) in erstwhile East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Partitioning Bengal into two distinct halves-one having a Hindu majority and the other with a majority of Muslims-was a blunder that sowed the seed of mistrust and hatred, the ramifications of which were witnessed in later years and can still be experienced. This partition also weakened the nation in terms of cultural and political integration, while harming its economic development.

**Contents and Sample Pages**