Remembering Professor Pramod Talgeri

He will be remembered for bringing freshness into JNU politics. He fought the election for the position of secretary of teachers association as an apolitical independent candidate and won hands down. He could get support of teachers with different ideological dispositions because of his openness of ideas, spirit of accommodation and understanding the views of others

Professor Pramod Talgeri, a friend by his amicable temperament, philosopher as per his academic discipline and a guide by natural instincts passed away in the early hours of September 22. I first met him in early years of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 1972 at the common mess where single faculty members took their meals with students. His joining the university as the youngest associate professor at that time was being discussed not only in the School of Languages but in other schools as well. But people talked not merely of his professional achievements, but his extremely affectionate behaviour and enthusiastic attitude towards life.

In the maddening crowd of the city, when I would be cursing everyone, on the street and authorities at all levels of governance in my mind, at a traffic light, I heard Marathi Bhav Geet coming from the open window of a car, next to me. It was Pramod at the steering wheel, fully relaxed enjoying the music, sitting as if on a seashore. (Amitabh Kundu)

I was a bit diffident in interacting with him because of, what I thought, his upper-class culture. But in a couple of weeks, this misgiving was destroyed. He insisted and helped me in getting out my small-town reservations and inhibitions. He took me to several social events, providing opportunities to interact with eminent personalities from the field of culture, literature, art and history. It was the period of my growing up in JNU and gain confidence to deal with modern intellectual culture of Delhi.

His compassion in dealing with friends became even more evident to me when I saw him encouraging and arranging a few class IV employees of the university to go to Germany for training and skill development. One among them, unfortunately returned within 10 days of reaching Germany as he could not psychologically adjust in the foreign land. This was a serious embarrassment for Pramod and the sponsors and yet it did not deter him from such adventurous initiatives,

I have never seen Pramod getting angry or losing his cool. In an international conference organised by him, when the PMO conveyed the prime minister’s inability to come for the event, he was not unduly perturbed and dealt with this somewhat crisis situation with composure and confidence.

In the maddening crowd of the city, when I would be cursing everyone, on the street and authorities at all levels of governance in my mind, at a traffic light, I heard Marathi Bhav Geet coming from the open window of a car, next to me. It was Pramod at the steering wheel, fully relaxed enjoying the music, sitting as if on a seashore.

It is difficult for me to comment on his excellence in European literature, although I heard a lot from colleagues about his flawless German. In an evening get together with a visiting team of German professors, I had an opportunity of spending some time with the head of the mission. With mischievous smile I told him that most Indians, who speak German, carry strong Indian accent. What do you think of Prof Talgeri? Does he have any? He replied emphatically. “Indeed, he has. He has strong upper class German accent”.

Anyone who came in contact with Pramod will always miss him.

Amitabh Kundu is currently Distinguished Fellow at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, New Delhi

The views expressed are personal