Notwithstanding the insurmountable changes around us, teachers, as usual, continue to occupy a significant place in our lives, irrespective of our background and nature of academic pursuit. Yet, some educators, through their unstinted commitment and selfless service continue to serve as a perennial source of inspiration for all of us. Late professor Indrani Haldar, who served at the department of English, Jadavpur University, from 1969 to 2001, definitely belongs to that blessed group of educators.
Professor Haldar’s passing away on 3 July seems excruciatingly difficult for her students and admirers to reconcile to. Having taught at the department of English, Jadavpur University for over three decades, she was a great source of strength for both the student and teaching community. As academicians and life-long learners, we nurture fond memories of some of our teachers who went out of their way to instil a genuine love and passion for English literary studies. At a time when Prof Haldar taught in Jadavpur, universities were often plagued by political unrest and ideological contentions. Yet, no twithstanding such adverse surroundings, she remained unwavering in her conviction that the university classroom was sacrosanct.
She refused to allow extraneous circumstances to diminish her responsibility towards her students. Bereft of superfluous intellectual verbiage and otiose academic exhibition, her classes were models of meticulous preparation and immaculate delivery. Day in and out, she painstakingly prepared her lectures. Every address bore the distinctive mark of conscientious research, detailed organisation and an inherent fervour for further exploration beyond the classroom. At a time when irregularity was the norm, Dr Haldar seldom skipped her classes.
This ensured a thorough exhaustive completion of the prescribed syllabus, often considered a rarity in then and contemporary university curriculum. Her assiduousness, consistency and de ep academic commitment easily made her stand out from her other faculty members. To speak of Professor Haldar is to kindle an ideal of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching that is gradually becoming rare in most colleges and universities today. She taught at a time when academic routines were vulnerable to recurrent disruptions, with many teachers allowing their teaching assignments to become secondary to other self-indulgent pursuits.
As a solitary exception, her classes prospered as extraordinary spaces where academic curiosity prevailed over other distractions, and literary discussions incited fruitful reflective engagement rather than passive reception. What distinguished Professor Haldar was not merely the depth of her scholarship but also her outstanding capacity to inspire. Characterised by directness and generosity of spirit she encouraged divergent perspectives of various works without compromising on scholarly precision and ingenuity. She magnanimously mentored junior scholars, offering precious guidance without condescension and criticism without discouragement.
A brutally demanding critic, she did not believe in easy approval or comfortable mediocrity. However, beneath the severe criticism lay an unwavering commitment to intellectual uprightness and a definite quest for improvement. Many of her former pupils would vouch that most of their treasure d lessons were consequences of inflexible criticism. While fairness and impartiality directed her decisions, stern truthfulness moulded her scholarship. One of her most enduring contributions lay in the f ield of American literary studies, which opened up a plethora of literary avenues for comparative exploration of issues pertaining to democracy, race, gender, identity, migration, modernity and a host of other relevant contemporary issues. Her establishment of JUSAS (Jadavpur University Society for American Studies) in 1997 provided a dedicated for um for advanced research and paper presentations on American literary scholarship.
It served as a veritable trans-disciplinary platform for leading scholars, both from home and abroad, to explore a wide gamut of issues pertaining to American literature and art. Even after her superannuation she continued her vigorous engagement with the society; actively organising seminars and workshops for teachers and students alike, throughout the year. Her post-retirement life was marked by quiet simplicity, independence and consistent pursuit of academic endeavours. Before succumbing to her prolonged illness, she remained steadfast with her preoccupation of untiringly translating the songs and plays of Tagore – which was a great source of intellectual and spiritual succour for her.
Quite remarkably, a couple of years back Prof Haldar made headlines in the dailies of the city, for her substantial contribution from her retirement savings to Jadavpur university in order to aid the studies of disabled students, especially those who are visually challenged. Such an initiative was not only exemplary but deeply inspirational and inclusive by nature. In the context of the present-day, when we are increasingly obsessed with quantifiable outcomes of validation, Professor Haldar’s commitment to her vocation underscores that the true legacy of a teacher lies in nurturing and igniting minds, pursuing ethical scholarship and ensuring silent transmission of intellectual values from one generation to the next.
Her career serves as a testament to the deep conviction that teaching, even in higher education, when undertaken with integrity and devotion, is among the noblest forms of public service. She would remain a perennial source of inspiration for all, especially at a time when the relevance of English literary studies is being recurrently tested in the contemporary world.
(THE WRITER IS HEAD, DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, ST XAVIER’S COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), KOLKATA.)