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Tribute to Kankan Sir

Prof. Kankan Bhattacharyya was an eminent scientist and I'm sure his students will tell you about all the ways he trained them to become scientists. However, my interactions with him and memories of him are more of  a personal nature. I first met him in February 2019 right after I joined IISER Bhopal to begin my independent research career. In the dining hall of the Visitors Hostel at IISER Bhopal, there was one person who was the loudest, constantly cracking jokes, teasing people and taking the conversation forward. I was introduced to him, i.e, Kankan Sir, by one of my colleagues there and he immediately involved me too in the ongoing conversation. He was that person who instantly made you feel at home. Every day following this first interaction was a joy as he was constantly the life of the dining hall. Everyone used to be clustered around him. He was such an enthusiastic person and so full of life that it was infectious.

He also, in his own way, constantly tried to motivate us to do better in our scientific careers. One of the duties that I have to carry out as part of my job is teaching. Considering that I had never taught a class before joining IISER Bhopal, he asked me to attend one of his lectures to get an idea of how teaching is done. This one class was such a revelation to me. His classes were similar to his dining table discussions. There was fun, jokes, singing and some teaching. Time just flew by. And it was almost as if you learnt everything effortlessly.

That one year of our overlap at IISER Bhopal when I had almost daily interactions with him is something that I will cherish forever. He was one of those few people who had that charisma that attracted everybody. He was always the life of the party.

Last night I received an email from a colleague about the passing away of Kankan Sir. He had been battling cancer for about two years now and the last time I met him, nearly 10 months ago, he was already feeling defeated. This person who had such an infectious laughter had accepted that his time was near. It was so sad to see him like that. But, cancer does that to you. He still made jokes though, almost as if nothing could defeat his inner spirit. Last night we lost a great human being and I'm sure that anyone who has ever come in contact with him, however briefly, is going to miss him. May his soul rest in peace.

-Rati

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