31 Years Since You Left Us

Stories of a life that still speaks

Every year when 17 November comes closer, my heart and mind drift back to a man who is no longer in this world. He moved on to the next world 31 years ago on this day. He was a brilliant man with ideas far ahead of his time. His research and thoughts helped lay the foundation that changed northeast India, especially Assam and Meghalaya.

A moment of him, captured in quiet pencil lines

My dad, Professor S. K. Acharya, had a clear vision of linking the Brahmaputra with the Ganges. He wrote about it more than fifty years ago. People may have thought it was too radical then, yet it has turned real in today’s world. And now look at what has happened. The world’s longest river cruise is running. A fifty-one day journey across three thousand kilometres. Tourists from around the world are coming, and it has boosted the tourism sector of the northeast. I often feel he would have smiled seeing this.

I remember the day, 17 November 1994, with absolute clarity. Early that morning my late brother-in-law, Monujesh Borooah, called from Calcutta to tell me about my dad’s passing. I was in Shillong, living alone and working in journalism. Barely a week earlier I had spoken to my dad over the phone. His voice had sounded a little weak. A couple of days later I made another STD call to discuss something for a story I was writing. He did not answer. My mother too did not pick up. I assumed they may have gone to the National Library and that my mother had gone with him. Later that evening I tried again. I also tried calling my siblings’ home in Calcutta. There was no response. This worried me, and by the night of the 16th I decided to travel to Calcutta the next day. But the news came before that. Monujesh’s phone call on the morning of the 17th felt like a shock from nowhere.

Those were the days without mobile phones, Internet or ATMs. Only landlines. All India Radio’s morning regional news bulletin carried the news of his passing. I did not have the coordinates of my eldest sibling as I was not sure where he was posted then. Through a friend I managed to send the message to his office under the Ministry of Defence.

It was a bright but cold morning in Shillong. The telephone started ringing with calls from friends and well-wishers. I had to reach Calcutta quickly but did not know how to get a confirmed ticket. Air travel was still considered a luxury or used only in emergencies. Rail travel was the usual way.

Shillong UNI bureau chief, S. Bhattacharya, called Sheba Travels and also Guwahati airport to keep a ticket reserved for me on the 3:10 pm Airbus-330 Guwahati–Calcutta flight IC 230. I rushed to Police Bazar (Khandailad) and was lucky to find an ambassador taxi returning to Guwahati. A newly married couple was in the back seat after their honeymoon. I asked if I could sit in front as I needed to catch a flight to attend my father’s last rites. They agreed without hesitation. We did not even stop at Nongpoh, which was the routine mid-point halt between Shillong and Guwahati. The driver was careful and fast, and soon I reached Paltan Bazar.

But from Paltan Bazar to the airport there were hardly any taxis left since most had already gone for airport drops. It was around 2:10 pm and I felt the panic rising. I somehow reached the airport. When I reached the Indian Airlines ticketing counter it was 3:15 pm. I told the lady at the counter I had come from Shillong and a priority ticket was kept aside. She recognised it immediately and said they were waiting for me and several announcements had been made, but I was late. She said she would try to speak to the pilot as the doors were already closed.

From the glass panel of the lounge I could see the Airbus 330 with its doors shut. The strobe lights were on. The ladder truck had pulled away from the rear door. Even the front door was closed. Then the ladder truck paused, reversed and reconnected to the front door again. The counter lady handed me a boarding pass and told me to run. I climbed up the ladder alone. The air hostess guided me to my seat, the first window seat on the right side of the door. One of the air hostess seats was right in front of me, face to face.

The ticket and boarding pass of Flight IC 230 I used on that difficult journey to Calcutta on 17 November  1994

This was the original Sheba Travels envelope in which my ticket was issued

At Calcutta airport, Monujesh was waiting. He drove me straight to the hospital and then to the electric crematorium for the final rites of my dad. I remain grateful to everyone who helped me reach Calcutta that day.

The days that followed were very sad. I missed him and cried privately for months. A few days before he was admitted to the hospital, he had written a letter by hand to a senior Member of Parliament. It was still on his table. His research papers, typewriter were all kept in place in his room, almost as if he was still around. I saw the thick file on his Brahmaputra–Ganges project. Even the huge folded blueprint map was inside it. And then one day that file simply disappeared from the house. I often think of how the authorities picked up his ideas and used them without even acknowledging him.

He was far more than just a thinker. He was a teacher. He was the founder Principal of Shillong Commerce College, earlier known as Commerce College, Shillong. His ideas helped shape policies like Look East and Act East. He believed deeply in education. He even turned down a well-paid offer from a university in South Africa so that he could build the commerce college from scratch. 

I once wrote about how his work went largely unacknowledged by authorities and media, that reflection is here: Salil Acharya: The Forgotten Trailblazer

During the B. P. Chaliha government in Assam in the 1950s and the B. B. Lyngdoh government in Meghalaya in the 1970s, he would be invited for personal consultations on economic matters. It was an honour, and both Chief Ministers saw his originality in those areas.
For a glimpse into the campus I grew up observing – Shillong Commerce College – here's an older post: Shillong Commerce College: A Chronicle of Vision and Triumph

He also helped set up the Centre for Ethno Social Studies in Calcutta, which is no longer functioning now. His research covered subjects like mutual economic cooperation between Bangladesh and eastern India. He always believed this region could grow hand in hand.

He also had a lighter side. Once he went for dinner wearing my mother’s petticoat without realising it. Another time he took the wrong suitcase for a trip. He was absent-minded at times, but we loved that part of him. It made him who he was.

For more of his light-hearted moments, here's a post I wrote earlier: Celebrating Prof. S.K. Acharya: A Brilliant Mind

He was a poet, an artist and a wonderful dad. I can still picture him sitting at his desk writing his poems or sketching ideas for his next project. He was always working on something. And he was always there for us.

A peaceful Shillong morning from my lens

For those who wish to listen, here is the AIR broadcast from the morning of 17 November 1994, the day the news of his passing was carried

I feel proud of all that he did, and I miss him. He left us, but his influence remains. We remember his big ideas, his gentle nature and his unique humour. He would have been happy to watch his ideas taking shape today, and to see how they are making a difference.

When I look back at his life, I am struck by how much he achieved. He dared to dream and then work towards it. There is something to learn from that. I write this not only to remember him, but to share a part of him with others. If you have ever lost someone who inspired you, I would love to hear your memories.

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IN MEMORIAM OF PROFESSOR S. K. ACHARYA

Eighteen years ago on 17 November 1994, Professor S. K. Acharya transcended into the spiritual world but his spirits are still alive.

A pioneer academic, economist and ethnographer, Professor Acharya’s mission in life was the pursuit of new frontiers. He battled tremendous odds to establish the Commerce College (The Shillong Commerce College), presented landmark studies on the economic viability of inland water transport in the North-East and industrialisation of Meghalaya, analysed trends in education, explored the ethnic process of North-East India and at the end was engaged in researching the possibilities of trade between Bangladesh and the North-Eastern states.

During his lifetime as an academic Professor Acharya held prestigious positions as the first Chairman, Council for Under-Graduate Studies, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) and as founder Director, Institute of Economics and Commerce, Shillong.

The Commerce College was founded in 1964 under the aegis of Late B. P. Chaliha, then Chief Minister of Assam and K. N. Saikia, then Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Gauhati University. In line with the recommendation of the Fifth Five Year Plan, the institution set out to fulfill the need of the people of United Khasi and Jaintia Hills in the composite state of Assam. The first governing body of the college of commerce was composed of dignitaries like Mr. Jor Manick Syiem, then Syiem of Mylliem and a renowned advocate, Late R. Z. Ahmed, I.A.S. and Late R. M. Parus, I.A.S.

Incredible financial constraints due to lack of any substantial government grant led to the donation of the entire personal wealth of both Professor Acharya and his wife Mrs. Shelley Acharya to the college resulting in extreme economic hardship for the family. Despite this, the personal stature of the Professor and his ceaseless efforts saw the gradual establishment of the college as a premier institution of its kind and many of his students are now luminaries in their own right.

Moreover, the college was accredited as the sixteenth coaching centre and the only one East of Calcutta for the Institute of Cost and Works Accounts of India, plans to introduce hitherto unknown faculties of Banking and Insurance were mooted. Regular symposia with eminent local, regional and national personalities were held. In effect, Professor Acharya was a prime moving force in the transformation of Shillong Commerce College from nascent centre of study into an institution of repute.

It is a measure of his ability that despite this total dedication to the establishment of an institute of learning, he still found the time to enhance the reputation that he had gained as a scholar. In the 1950s at the behest of the Chief Minister of Assam he completed an exhaustive report on the economic viability of inland water transport systems of the world for the government of Assam, entitled ‘Inland Water Transport in North Eastern India’.

In the 1970s, following the formation of the State of Meghalaya, he prepared ‘A Blueprint for Industrialisation of Meghalaya’and a study of ‘Agriculture in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Mikir & North Cachar Hills’. Insight of the academic scenario was provided by articles like ‘Professional Education in Degree Colleges’.

Commissioned by the Government of India, he conducted an extensive survey of indigenous handicraft of the Khasi and Jaintia people.

Construction of the the building of Commerce College, Shillong

He had also began his interest in social studies that was ultimately to dominate the rest of his life. Thus, from a modest beginning in articles like ‘Language of the Khasis’ (1971), he began delving into the ethno-social revolution of the Indian people in relation to world-wide evolutionary and migratory trends. This resulted in penetrating research papers like ‘The National Question in India Today’ and ‘Trends in the Evolution of Ethnoses in North East India’ and culminated in the definitive paper entitled ‘Ethnic Processes in North Eastern India’.

Staff of the Commerce College, Shillong in 1970s

The final years of his life were impaired by debilitating illnesses that weakened him physically but his mind never faltered and until the end, he was deeply involved in the establishment of a Centre for Ethno Social Studies (CESS) in Calcutta with the encouragement and support of Professor B. B. Dutta, then Member of Parliament. His scope of research under the Applied Economics Division of CESS was ‘Problems and Prospects of Mutual Economic Cooperation between Bangladesh and Eastern and North Eastern States of India’.

It is to be hoped that the research work done by Professor Acharya on this subject will not be allowed to go a waste.

Commerce College students on the fresher socials day in 1970s 

A multi-faceted personality, Professor Acharya had an abiding interest in the creative arts. In addition to an extensive knowledge of great Indian literature, he was a staunch admirer of George Bernard Shaw and Shakespeare while T. S. Eliot was his favourite muse. No mean poet himself, it was his intricate sketches that were a joy to behold for the minutiae.

In conclusion it may be said that Professor Salil Krishna Acharya was a man with a mission and if the mission outlives the man, his soul will rest in peace. 

AIR Shillong News Broadcast on 17 November 1994

Some of his sketches

A couple of his letters

One of the many condolence letters from the Governor of Mizoram