The Legacy of LalitaDi

The legacy of a person is left behind more in the lives touched and souls guided than the paperwork stacked and literature concluded. Professor Lalitagauri Ray is an unique example of someone who leaves behind a legacy of both.

Lalitadi, as she is commonly referred to as by colleagues, juniors and seniors alike is a known and revered face in the main campus of Jadavpur University,  Kolkata.  Having stepped into the campus for the first time in 1975, then to pursue a B. Tech in Food Technology and Biochemical Engineering,  she was carried into the campus for the last time on 30th March, 2016 having spent most of the intermediate time enriching the very campus she loved. She loved the campus , the department and the university so much that she waited patiently for 17 years from 1980 to 1997 to join the department in a teaching capacity.

In the 17 years between obtaining a Masters and joining as a teacher, she achieved an unparalled body of research that is quite simply put the stuff of legends. In those 17 years she also struck a lifelong friendship with soon to be Dr. Uma Ghosh, who would go on to be her colleague. Inseparable like Juno's swans,  the two defied age and strutted the campus from the Dean's office to canteen, enveloping everyone around them in their bubble of laughter and camaradiere.

Lalitadi, true to her epithet guided numerous students like an elder sister through their research work, laboratory experiments,  doctorate and post-doctorate researches and in the process not only changed lives as a teacher and guardian angel but also touched lives through her ever smiling countenance,  her selfless helping nature and her calmness in situations of crisis. Her legendary work ethic and equally famous smile impressed one and all who stepped through the doors of the department that she made her own.

Although our association with ma'am extends back only 3 short years, yet within this time the impact ma'am has had on us is tremendous. From her detailed explanations and hands-on training in the laboratory to her extremely well-planned out class lectures , which made the subjects easy to comprehend and analyse, from her incredible reserve of energy which compelled her,  despite not being the quickest,  to reach all her classes on time to her motherly nature which allowed her to personally pay attention to each students' problems- LGR Ma'am,  as we knew her,  was indispensable to us and the department.  Such was her universality that wherever we are asked about our department and we say "Food Technology And Biochemical Engineering " , we usually get the reply, "Oh,  Lalitadi's department? ". Everyone knew and loved ma'am and finding a fault in her would be akin to finding a hay-coloured needle in a haystack.

A connoisseur of everything Bengali,  Ma'am epitomised Jadavpur University - Inherently Bangali yet universal. A great admirer of Bengali theatre and history,  she preferred exploration of Bengal's past and heritage before soaking in the essence of foreign lands. She loved the quintessential Bangali evening snack - Muri (puffed rice) with beguni ( eggplant slices soaked in batter and deep-fried) , alur chop ( flattened spheres of batter and potato,  also deep fried) and piyanji ( sliced onion soaked in batter and deep fried) - so much so that she would often take a detour on her way home even at 9pm to make a stop at Shyambazar on her way home from Jadavpur , to buy her favourites from her preferred shop. She was an excellent singer and always supported the arts in the department,  ensuring personally that all the students got lunch during practise sessions for the cultural program for the reunion. She was also responsible for bringing excellent elocutionist Bratati Bandopadhyay as a special performer in the same cultural program.

Ma'am often scolded us for making noise and not being serious but she also assured us that a scolding in a heated moment did not amount to a grudge in the corner of a teacher's mind . She also made sure that the students she reprimanded the most also got taken care of the most.  A teacher beyond comparison and a person,  whose life is a story of inspiration - Lalitadi symbolises the 'good' that will always win in the end,  she symbolises the resolve to fight for our dreams no matter how difficult they seem to be,  she symbolises the glue that holds together a family and the life that makes many many others better.

Her sudden demise has left the campus that knew her so well,  sisterless and heartbroken,  it has left the people who knew her shell-shocked and numb and the students and teachers who were touched by her mourning and grieving. Lalitadi definitely had much more to give and yet her untimely death robs not only JU but also the city and the world of an exemplary human being above all.

The extra cup of tea that will greet UG Ma'am, the silence on the other side of the extension 2994 that will haunt RC Ma'am, the empty chair in the Biochemical Laboratory that will taunt PB Ma'am and the closed door to her empty room that will welcome DH Sir and the many ways the department will be rendered hollow by her absence will perhaps not be felt by us as much but in due time the reverberations will be heard,  loud and clear - the emptiness being shattered into a million tiny pieces by the selfish laugh of the Almighty as the enigmatic smile of Lalitadi charms him too.