Exploratory Research: My Unfolding Voyage 50

The year 1970 proved to be the most diversified exploratory research activity in my life. I had to explore potential job opportunities and their attractiveness, the potential research topics for my Phd dissertation that would require approval of my Guide, explore potential romance opportunity in an academic environment, explore the fun that films, in particular Hindi films provided to the Indian masses, the potential of brilliant minds around to help one build some intellectual capabilities, and so on.
At the end, the year tuned out to be both eventful and successful.

We were four students in the Phd program: two were my former University classmates with quantative specialization ( both obtaied the Phds, joined as lecturers and became full professors in two universities in the State) and an electrical engineer from Jadavpur University with a few months industrial experience. It was great to have an electrical engineer as a co-reseacher in economics: are opportunity in those days. He was a Sen and I found out that his family origin could be traced back to a village in what is now known as Bangladesh, a village where my mother's family could be traced back. So, I started calling him Mama (maternal uncle), though he was of my age. My affection towards him spread over the campus: soon he would become popular as Mama among all students, officials and even researchers and Professors. We shared the same professor as our Phd guide, the then head of the Economic Research Unit of the Indian Statistical Institute. Mama was however required to take regular course in Economics along with first year M.Stat students. Mama was a very smart, intelligent, mathematics-strong and generous guy. He enjoyed gossip and intellectul debates. He did not continue with research for long. He was innovative: designed and built an electrical muri(puffed rice)-making machine and set up his own business within a few years. He probably did not like to be employed: he became an entrepreneur. After 1973-74, I met him once. In 2003, I searched his muri-factory out with a rough idea of its probable location with a radius of 2 kilometers and then taking clues about his residence met him, his wife and son (the latter two for the first time).

Four of us had to take courses in statistics (though three of us had already done such courses lready during our undergrdute and postgrduate economics programs, the Institute insisted we learn statistics again there: we hardly learnt anything new and passed the qualifiers). We also had lessons on Non-linear programming and advanced international economics. There was no problem in our fulfilling the course requirements in the first three semesters.

We were paid Rs. 250 a month as stipend. Research scholars used to get Rs 400 per month but apart from doing reserch, they had to take classes/ titorials for B.Stst students.  Though we were not scholars as yet, we were enjoying the same library and office facilities as the research scholars. Some people at the Institute did not find the idea of the new breed of research students with no obligations. First, someone had objected to the monthly stipend of Rs 250 per month being high for people without any obligations to teach or work on projects. The professors who were instrumental in introducng the course however did not review their decision in this regard. Second, the Library Assistants raised objections. One day they stopped us from getting into the protected area of book-selves (only research scholars and teacher had access to these areas but students did not). The assistants pointed out that we were students while we said we were research students. On the same ground they reduced our entitlement to borrow books and periodicals both for overnight reference and longer period study. I wrote a letter to the Dean of Studies: all four of us signed. Our library facilities were restored, After these events, the people who did not like us, stopped doing mischief. And, we found a special treatment from the administrative and library staff.

Three of us were alloted a single oblong-shaped south-open room with three desks with drawers and six chairs for use. Mama shared a room elsewhere with research scholars. In our Economic Research Unit (ERU), Diponkar-da, Pradip-da (who stood first in the MA Economics examinations the year before I obtained my degree from the same University of Calcutta) and Nirmal-da (an M.Stat of two year vintage from the Institute) were the research scholars. They were kind of our guide to the Insitute environment as also close, affectionate elder brothers. They would spend lot of time with us. They would accompany us to wayside tea stalls/ restaurants for a drink or snacks. Often, we would all go for lunch to the Insitute's canteen (some kind of Cafetaria) which sold food at subsidised prices. Sometimes, we would roam about along the pathways inside the sprawling campus with lot of trees and plants, especially around the Director, Prof Mahalonobis's residence-cum-office. Occasionally, we would cross over to Institute's guest house and Hostel campus where Mama used to stay (students/ research scholars) could get virtually free accomodation: many  of us with residence within the City or nearby suburbs, prefered to commute to the Institute. We were on the top floor of the main building (a new building came up a few years later where most of the departments shifted): we would sometimes go to the huge terrance to enjoy an overview of the surrounding area and the cool breeze. Besides, Mama and I used to waste lot of their time over cups of tea debating developments in the country and economic topics of common interest. The three research scholar 'dadas' had lot of hard work to do: take classes/ tutorials, work on research projects and work on their own Phd dissertations. Yet, they never showed any displeasure with our disturbancs and wasting their time.

They completed their Phd in due course. Pradip-da and Diponkar-da stayed back in the Institute as teachers and became full professors later: they retired recently. They had always been very affectionate to me. Padip-da would always show initial reluctance to open up into  discussion but then slowly help me understand what he knew about a subject. Dipankor-da was our gateway to application of econometrics and to getting data punched for processing by the Institute's Honeywel computer where he had access to. Nirmal-da had leftist leanings: purchased and read Arrow's Social Choce and Individal Values before giftong the book to me with great affection. He would soon join the A. N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies in Patna, got interested in societal issues, moved to South and later to Pune toas Professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research by which time he became a specilist ecology / environment economist. I met him once in 2004-5 after we lost touch in the early 1970s. My contact with Pradip-da and Diponkar would remain strong until the early 1980 after which we would meet after intervals of several years.

At least once a month, Ramprasad-da, who stood second in the MA Examination with Pradip-da as the First and was then a Research Scholar at the Presidency College Research Centre, would visit us. He was a very well-read person already at that time. IU would look forward to his visits to listen to him and participate in the discussions he would have with all of us. He would tell us about his readings and assessment of the interesting controversies and debates among great economists (Schumpeter, Hicks, Joan Robinson, Keynes, Hayek, Kalechi, Kaldor,  Hicks, Friedman, Samuelson, Solow, Sraffa, and the like), among school of economists ( Classical, Neo-classical, Kenesian, Post Keynesian, Austrian, New Classical, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Chicago). He had picked up from close association of our Calcutta University and Prsidency College Professors many entertaining anecdotes about foreign economists as well as Indian economists like Amartya Sen, Sukhamoy Chakrabarty, Jagadish Bhagavatii and Mrinal Dutta Chowdhury, besides our own teachers like Satyendra Nath Sen, Bhabotosh Dutta, Amlan Dutta, Alok Ghosh, Rakhal Dutta, Tapas Majumder, Dipak Majumdar, Mihir Rakshit and others.
Not that I understood all that Rmprasad-da discussed: but I was amazed with his capability to acquire so much knowledge about various issues in economics and the profile of so many economists. His interest in subjects other than economics was also quite remarkable. These four 'dada' research scholars proved to be a great resource to me for my intellectul expanse and my own preparatory thoughts regarding my probable dissertation. I was indeed fortunate to have the association of these four young brilliant minds at this critical phase of diversified exploration along my unfolding voyage.