Taking Others by Surprise: My Unfolding Voyage 42.

Matahari predicted correctly (or, Khokan was influence by rumours). I got the highest marks in Economics Honours Part I in the University - about 5% points ahead of my closest competitor. - a kind of unassialable position.  We had undermined the strength of non-market competition: one could be pull down, if another could not be sufficiently pulled up. But that was later. I was a bit surprised with my results: I had secured more than 50% of the marks in the Languages and the strategy of not wasting time on English and Bengali paid off handsomely. But a greater surprise was the Mathematics score. The question paper was quite tough - this happens once in a while in the University Examinations. I had prepared only to the extent of getting 80 marks out of 200. I even did not know which paper of Mathematics had Calculus and wich had Algebra until the examination began. There was considerable murmur during the three hour period for each of two mathematics papers we were writing on the same day. I could turn my head around and see the examinnees looking deeply depressed.  Many of them were frustrated in not being able to answer most of the questions and deposited their answer scripts in a hurry accepting their fate that they would fail in Mathematics.. But working on the clue that I had picked up during the final year at the Higher Secondary School, I adopted the strategy of answerin each and every question in the question paper although the requirenent was to answer only a sub-set appropriately chosen out of the possible alternative questions. I had to collect addition answer script paper to complete my endeavour. Only a few questions I could do correctly. I calculated fast and found that would bring me about 25 marks in each paper, while I needed at least 34 for in each to pass. My unswer script was full of solutions to each question in the question paper: mostly done a few steps and then given up stage: some may have been half done. When I had come out of the examination hall, all my friends inquired as to how I could do such a remarkable job of answering the mathmatics questions using sheets after sheets. They had been surprised that I had picked up Mathematics to such an extent that I could answer as many questions correctly. Little did they know as to what I was doing: I had been just making an attempt to do as many sums as possible even if could barely come to the final, correct solution to most of the questions. I told them theat they need not worry: I would definitely get 60 marks out of 200 and hoped that some how another 8 marks would come. After the examination, I tried a number of times to check how much maximum I could get based on whatever questions I had done correctly and fully.: the best estimate was 67.5 against my requirement of 68. I kept my fingers crossed. While many of my classmates had failed, I got 96 out of 200.: I presume that the evaluators fund it hard not to give some marks for the many half-done sums because at the University level often the mathematics teachers did not go merely by whether the last line in the answer tallied with the correct answer but on the correctness of each steps. Some steps to earn some scores!. The third paper in Mathematics due in Part II would bring me even greater surprise.

Surprised as they were with my Economics Honors unassailable marks, one of my teachers at the college mentioned that I was being invited to join the more prestigous Presidency College those days. I was reluctant at the beginning. But I was told to meet the Head of the Economics Department of Presidency College. I met him and suggested that I join his college and admitted that it had been a mistake that I had not joined the college two years back. Meanwhile, Dhiresh Babu and Prabudha Babu had gone on sabatical. I talked to Tihunagshu Babu and he had told me that I must make my own choice. My classmates informed me that with two outstanding teachers now not available, it might be worthwhile shifting to the Presidency College which had at that time assembled some of the brilliant scholars and teachers. I was in a dilemma and went to meet the Principal thinking that he would suggest me not to shift college. The Pricipal surprised me: he said that I must shift to Presidency College without delay. When my existing college did not show the warmth I though I would get, I thought myself: "Fine, Basu, let's experiement with another set of smart and brilliant people."

The Presidency College had in that year a number of brilliant economics mindd: Tapas Mazumder, Amiya Bagchi, Dipak Benerjee, Mihir Rakshit, Nabendu Sen, Ajit Sengupta and Sanjit Basu. The students were on an average appeared smarter. Why not enjoy the company of the brilliant people for a while? After all, based on my answer script and results, the teachers here had considered me to be recognised as potentially brilliant and sincerely wanted them to benefit from their teaching. They were wrong in their assessment again.  They had gone by micro-economics and statistics papers' answer scripts that reflected more of Prof Prabudhha Nath Roy's masterly teaching that I could absorb and my presentation skills in knitting different pieces of learning of mathematics and economic logic together rather than my brillance or scholastic quest for economic ideas in their various intelectual ramifications. I was not brilliant and studious enogh to enjoy the lectures of most brillian scholars at the Prsidency College: I chose to pick up interesting insightful points that they would make on the Indian economy or macro-economic systems and controveries like those of over Say's Law. Don  Patinkin's foumulation of Liquidity Preferece and the like.  teachings. Dr. Tapas Mazumder taught very little during lecture of 40 minutes, but what he taught was so clear, concise and logically presented. I liked his lectures very much, especially those on Hecksher-Ohlin theorem. Prof Dipak Banerjee with his pleasant style attracted attention and brilliantly played on the Keynesian multiplier models. Prof Sengupta's coverage of Kindelberger's International economics, especially the mathematics of the effect of depreciation of currency on international trade was studentl-friendly. Other teachers appeared to be deeply engossed and immersed in the topis they dealt with in their and not that particular about their communication being received by the students in the manner they or the students would have wished. One of the girl  students was inquisitive about the notes I had been taking during the lectures. She mustered courage enough to get herself and her friend introduced and borrowed my classnote book for a day. She returned the next day without comments seemingly happy that I was no better than her in taking notes in the classes of most of the teachers.

I knew what Ihad to do.: treat the class lectures as supplementary knowledge and concentrate on teaching myself with a kind of DNA scanning of the books. For the paper on macro-economic my primary teachers were Ackley, McDougal and Dernberg, Patinkin (selected Chapters), RGD Allen (Mathematical Economics) and some other referred books. In the second paper on Public Finance and Internationa Economic, the primary and very helpful teachers were Musgrave and Kindleberger. These authors had kind of mesmirsed me into learning. The third paper was on Indian Economic Problems:  there were the usual text books authored by Alok Ghosh, Dutt & Sunderam, Bhabotosh Datta, besides referred articles and class notes of Prof. Bagchi and Prof Nabendu Sen. I prepared for any kind of questions that could come up in the examinations. The fourth paper was writing an essay on just a single topic in economics. Writing out an essay over a three yaer period would be simple if the idea was to test the depth and width of my knowledge in economics studied upto to undergraduate level. Only risk was that the evaluator of the essay may not like Mathematical economics and may look for a summary opinion in good English language rather that extent of knowledge and application of analytical tools.. But that risk I had no way of mitigating as I had no urge to limit expressing what I had picked up in the classrooms and the text books. But how would it matter: I am already getting slowly disenchanted with acdemics as a career.