The century

A Note

T he century-old Geology Department does not have a complete, updated list of its alumni and teachers. Lists were prepared by the Geological Institute, but they ended in sixties of the twentieth century. Documentation of history should naturally start then with this task.

The task is, however, not easy for different reasons. In addition to different issues of the Bhu-Vidya, a chemical desk-register (1938-77) proved to of help as source. But there were difficulties too. The register apparently included even I.Sc students who had Geology as a fourth subject. Often it was not possible to check up from other records, who of them took admission in the B.Sc.( undergraduate as it is called here/ graduate) and / or M.Sc.( postgraduate) classes. Besides, there were the following variations:

1) Students who did both B.Sc and M.Sc. from the Presidency College .
2) Students who did B.Sc., but not M.Sc from the College.
3) Students who took admission directly to M.Sc.class.

Admittedly, these are technical variations; we all belonged to our Alma Mater. But to set records as straight as possible, the compiler (Anis Kumar Ray: 1960 B.Sc entry) took help and suggestions from a number of seniors, contemporaries and juniors. The result should, precisely, be called tentative to set the ball rolling; it may remain incomplete or fraught with errors and misplacing. It is expected that they will be rectified by the alumni themselves, if the product becomes popular. Two date-marks have been considered: year of entry to B.Sc.(Hons.) class and year of M.Sc. pass out. There is no problem with the first variants; but to mark them out from the second, their M.Sc. pass-out year has ‘y’( meaning PG yes) affixed. The third variant has ‘x’ added to the B.Sc. entry year.

A different kind of difficulty exists around 1960-61 part of the list. There were two batches of students taking B.Sc. admission in 1960; one in the then 2Yr. B.Sc. course and the other in the newly introduced 3Yr. B.Sc. course coming from the first Higher Secondary batch. The latter passes out one year later; they are marked as 1960a. Similarly there were two batches again in 1961, the last 2Yr. B.Sc. and the second HS batch for 3Yr. B.Sc. The former is really senior by one year. The latter is marked as 1961a.

In introducing teachers, as much information as possible have been included for chapters left behind; those which have a future are expected to change with time. So for the present or former teachers still among us, only the period of link with the Department is indicated. In the alumni list, names of the departmental faculty members as also of well-known academicians, have been italicized.

A second part of documentation includes photographs. Few photographs available in the Department are augmented with personal collections of a few individuals ( those from the collection of Prof. Santosh Kumar Ray and Anis Kumar Ray outnumber others by far) . With more individual and collective cooperation, the haul is sure to become a richer one.

The compiler has just initiated the process. He presumes that the Department will find enough ex-students interested in preparing and preserving documents of its history. He expresses thanks for cooperation already received and in anticipation of those to come.