Homage to Late Professor D. D. Pant

By: Prem B. Bisht, IIT Madras, 14 June 2008.

Dr. D D Pant, Professor D. D. Pant, Professor Devi Dutt Pant, (1918-2008)

Homage to Late Professor D. D. Pant

I visited Professor Pant on 18^th May 2008, the next morning I reached Haldwani from Chennai on a private trip to North India. He was lying on his bed after the morning breakfast. His son woke him up and told that Bisht has come. I was a little uncomfortable when he did not recognize me on his first glance. Then he said  Oh, Dekho… We then started talking a little bit.

He was very weak and lying on his right side. He was trying to listen to me with his hand curling around his left ear. He was responding in short but with the same vigour as he would about 20 years back in the laboratory.

Naini Tal lab, the Only Thing He Was Interested in:

I told him that I had a recent communication with the Nainital laboratory people.I told him that I was going to give a lecture in the lab/department next week. He was happy only to know these details. When his son came to this room, he asked me: How are you going to Nainital?, by Taxi? I said yes, Then promptly he said: Ham bhi challenge (I will also join you).

This was the only topic he was interested in. I also told him that I would like to meet the Vice-chancellor (VC) for some sort of help to the lab. The problem was that the only teacher-scientist who is now affiliated with the lab has been given the Bhagirath (huge) task of controlling the examinations of the whole university. I wanted to meet the VC to release him from this work so that he could contribute to the lab. Prof. Pant asked me- “Do you know him (VC)?” Later I felt surprised that he could indicate that unless I know the VC, there will be nothing.

We also talked about that I was helping the laboratory from Chennai by giving a bit of guidance and helping the person-in-charge by boosting his morale. The only problem is unless the university releases him from the *examination work*, nothing can happen. I told Prof. Pant that the person is rebuilding the lab nicely and he will be back to the lab with more time in a short-while. He said, “Right now he is young (that’s why university needs him) , but soon it will become late (for him)! “ (later when I went to Nainital for the lecture, I could not meet the VC, but did meet the person during and after the lecture and communicated our discussion completely). During the discussion he asked me “Is it Sunday today?”, I said “yes”. I took my tea (prepared by his helper). I held his hands, gave a pat and massage on his forehead. I saw the wet eyes. [At that moment, we both could communicate to each other and probably said a good-bye]. At a later moment, when I was sitting with his family for a few minutes, I saw that he walked from his bed room and joined us (sat on a chair in the living room). Actually on every Sunday, his former student H.D.Bisht visits him, who came with his wife when I was about to leave.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, a Manuscript Returned by the Reviewer -Still in the Hands of *to be Well-Trained* Students:

I knew Dr. D. D. Pant when I was a child in Champawat in a village(Darah). I knew him because he stood in an election from Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) with “Ugta Suraj” (Rising Sun) as his election symbol. I had convinced my mother (and a few other neighbouring Aunts) to vote for him (although my father was a Congress supporter). Later after my M.Sc. when I joined the lab for the Ph.D., I did not believe that this person fought a national election? One of my senior colleague Pushpa used to tell us “He lost all the money in the elections and every one has left him now”. Oh, what a pity, UKD is still fighting for its very identity in the fertile land with all the instruments ready, waiting for the spectra and lifetimes to be recorded, which the professor had foreseen almost 3 decades ago. I am sure a student who is professionally trained in this art will make history for the UKD in coming future.

Department of Physics, Samman Pat (Honour Board):

While we were doing B.Sc., one of my class mates (Ravi Purohit) used to comment: “Beta padho, Samman-Pat par naam aayega”. During late eighties Prof. Pant was working in the lab as “Emeritus Professor” for a DST project on a very small fellowship, which was barely sufficient for the monthly expenditure. (For example, a few years later, junior research fellowships were either more or equivalent to his fellowship). In Nainital during winter vacations, when the regular teachers can not even prepare their minds (whether they should go to college), one could see Professor Pant walking uphill from Mallital Maszid-side to the college everyday (except Sunday/ holiday) around 9:30-10 AM. After coming to the lab, he used to read popular books, discuss science, society, politics or anything. During those times, he was not well-taken by the department! The department on one hand was proud of his presence, while on the other they envied him and tried to discourage the activities of the lab or by doing every small thing they could (e.g., removing even his photograph from the Principal*s room).They even forgot that D. D. Pant was the head of the same department/college or, the founder vice chancellor of the same university! Facts are facts and they can not be changed. Often while going back from the lab at or after 4:30 PM, he will walk up and find the exit door of the department closed and walk back to the other door and will remark “See they are very efficient in time when it comes to closing the door of the department.”

Gandhian Approach:

In Nainital College, during 8^th and 9^th decade of 20^th century, as was a popular nationwide trend, students unions were being hijacked by the local leaders. The student unions used to make way not to prepare any leadership but to take some contracts or hijack jobs of the university etc. The student community was being misused. Some of us started opposing such trends in the hostel which resulted in some attacks on us. In some cases, the over speeding vehicles near the hostel resulted a Chakka Jam in front of the Brook Hill Hostel by Hostel inmates. These two activities delayed me by an hour or so to reach the lab on these two occasions.When Dr. Pant came to know of the reason of delay, he said “Good, that’s the way to oppose any undemocratic thing”. It was such a friendly approach. Over the years, actually I had developed a very good friendship with Dr. Pant. Not everyone will know that Dr. Pant used to “keep the resignation letter in his pocket” while he was the “Director of education” or the VC of the university.While discussing science, he often used to comment on our approach of supporting our views unnecessary by saying “Look, it is not winning a case in the court by a lawyer, it is the truth you should look for”. His approach of tackling the scientific problems still motivates us.

An International Figure:

Prof. Pant worked with Herzberg and Michel Kasha and visited several countries several times. When Kasha came to know of the work published by Pant in Indian Journals, he said “You are very Patriotic! You could have published all this in American Journals for the large citations.”DD Pant was a friendly figure. He made very good friendship with everyone he came in contact with professionally or personally in India or abroad. Kasha used to send New Year Greeting card-cum letter every year. Late Professor D. P. Khandelwal was in his good books for the “management skills”. His work with Khandelwal was extensively cited in a book of B. Belford and B. Rabinowitch (1965).

Farewell to the Stalwart of India:

When I returned from my home town (after working at a primary school for the newly opened science center), although a bit busy with many things and family problems, I wanted to meet him again, but was not able to prepare enough courage, as I had come to know that he is not doing very well. I had left Haldwani on 10^th June. I was in Delhi on 11^th June on my way back to Chennai, when Dr. Sanjay Pant called from Lucknow that he is no more. I had lost one of my great friends, a teacher, a fatherly figure.

Prem B. Bisht

IIT Madras, 14 June 2008.

Taken from this site.

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