My Tribute to Amaresh Dutta Sir (Navamalati Chakraborty)

Probably the most previous trait that we have with us, is our our power to walk back years and days and beautifully see that exact moment, hear people speak, even the smile or a resounding laughter relived. Amaresh Dutta Sir was such a nice person that he taught us how to embrace life and not run from it.
I will narrate an evening when he rang up to invite my father, Dr Maheswar Neog, my sister Snigdhamalati and me for dinner at their Gauhati University Campus quarter. That very day in the morning when Sir had stepped out of his department he was waiting for his vehicle to arrive for quite a while. It was then that we too had finished our classes. Deuta with his tall long strides went to the parking lot to get the car. As he drove in, me and my sister were speaking to Dutta Sir. Deuta asked Sir too to step in. Sir was relieved and the four of us headed home towards the campus. After a while, Dutta Sir asked Deuta to stop the car. “Dr Neog apni boddo fast gari chalan. Jibon ta to ekbarei pai. Aami hetei jai boroncho.”
So Sir really got down and walked his way home. In the evening when we arrived for dinner, Sir and Ma’am welcomed us heartily and we had a nice cosy discussion on a great many topic. Sir advised Deuta to drive slow and Deuta reasoned that a car is not a luxury. It is meant to save time so that that extra minute could be used constructively. Dutta Sir said, “Na na, aami kintu apnar shonge omot. Ekta minute noshto houk na, bhalo bhabe to bari pouchabo. Dr Neog apni kintu ektu slow chalaben. Aamake kotha din.”
And later when we sat for dinner he mentioned about a close friend of his. His friend’s wife had passed away, and ever since then he gave up eating not only the non-vegetarian part of his meal but also those special things that his wife loved to eat. He had said, why should ladies alone be made to give up ‘aamish khauwa’. Their lives also should be respected. Their memories should also be treasured respectfully. It was just a pleasant dinner conversation but it revealed his personality. It is a shame he said when no one cares and remembers you after death, especially your dearest ones.
That was Amaresh Dutta Sir. He was such a nice, humane person, an exalted being. He was delighted when my first anthology was published way back in the seventies. He wrote to me, “I never knew that you too have this divine madness of composing poems my dear Nava.” And much later when he was with his son Amitava in his son’s Salt Lake home, he invited me and my husband over. He asked me to bring my children too. He was such a nice down to earth person, so very loving and affectionate. When I wished him for his hundredth birthday he spoke for quite a while and was happy that I called.
Our teachers are our mentors whom we respect, honour and find it a pleasure to adore. Amidst all the emotional scaffolding of life all the remembrances are our favorite memories and our understanding of them. The moment we step out of the classroom our education is not done. It continues. Our respected teachers leave behind for us, the depth and beauty of their thoughts. He was an incredible inspiration and I am sure that the spark of his spirit will ever remain behind with us always.