Remembering a Great Teacher and Academic Leader
Memories of college times flashed through
my mind when, as a member of the Kurukshetra University Court, I recently had
the honour of participating in the University’s Convocation Procession.
I was a student of the first batch
of B.Sc. Hons (Physics) cohort at the Kurukshetra University, in 1962. The
Vice-Chancellor, Hardawari Lal, had left to join politics and Lala Suraj Bhan
had recently joined as Vice-Chancellor of the University.
I remember Lala Suraj Bhan as a
Vice Chancellor who not only helped to establish the budding university from
1962 to 1965 but also left a long-lasting impact on the young students, many of
whom went on to scale the heights of their respective careers.
Lala Suraj Bhan was an eminent
educationist who remained Vice-Chancellor of Punjab University Chandigarh for
three terms and retired from there in 1974. Later, he became the President of
the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, till his death in 1980. He received
his first master’s degree in English literature from Panjab University, Lahore,
followed by a second from London University. He started his career as a
lecturer in English at the DAV College in Lahore and, after Partition, became
Principal of DAV College at Jalandhar.
He was a very soft-spoken but
strict disciplinarian, who was much-loved by students for his fatherly guidance
and advice. He had one-to-one relationships with talented students and
introduced scholarships for students to fulfil their ambitions and achieve
heights in their careers. The world-famous ghazal singer Jagjit Singh was one
of his students, as were several sportspersons, like triple-jumper Mohinder
Singh Gill, Hammer-thrower Nirmal Singh and Harinder Gill, and William Massey,
who all won laurels at the international level.
A few incidents personifying his
character came to my mind when the other day one of my friends Amarpal Singh,
who was a national-level sportsperson during student days, recalled an anecdote
from that time. Led by Nirmal Singh the hammer thrower, a few sports
students living in the hostel wrapped themselves in bedsheets and went from
room to room collecting money for movie tickets during the night, violating
hostel closing time. They were caught by the hostel warden and paraded to the
Vice Chancellor Mr. Suraj Bhan. He fined them Rs 150/- each but when the
students pleaded that they were not in a position to pay such a heavy fine,
Lala Suraj Bhan increased their sports stipend for one month by exactly that
amount.
Once, when Suraj Bhan was passing
through the office of the Registrar, he found that a fan in an empty room was switched
on. He immediately ordered the removal of the fan. After one and half months,
he mentioned to the Registrar that his PA seemed to be a stubborn person who
preferred to work without a fan rather than apologising for his mistake. The
registrar explained that, in fact, his PA has apologized daily to him but said he
was too ashamed to face the Vice Chancellor for seeking forgiveness. The VC expressed
surprise but then allowed the Registrar to put the fan back in the PA’s office.
Suraj Bhan ji was very fond of
‘chatti ki lassi’. My father had offered to deliver such lassi daily to his
residence from our family dairy, and he had assigned me the job of delivering said
‘lassi’ at VC’s residence on my way to the college classrooms. A few months in,
when Lala Suraj Bhan came to know that his friend’s son was delivering the
‘lassi’, he ensured that he would walk into the lawns of his house at the
time of my arrival to respond to my ‘namaste’. To this day I remember the
warmth of the great teacher that Lala Suraj Bhan was to many of his students
and colleagues, alike.
