O Captain! My Captain! #IStandWithAmitSengupta

"O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring"

Two of my friends from the 2013-14 batch of IIMC Dhenkanal aptly described him, 'O Captain! My Captain!. Amit Sengupta, the man needs no introduction. As one of my friends and his former students says, "His life speaks for itself". 

The past few days have been quite eventful for the students in this country. Unfortunately, for all the sad reasons. While these incidents have been disturbing me, the resignation of Amit Sir came in as a shock. For this man changed my perspective towards life. The ease with which he would transfer his unwavering strength of thoughts to his students is unparalleled. A teacher who always stood for the freedom of thoughts and expression. A friend, philosopher, guide.

"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world" said John Keating in the Dead Poets Society but I understood it from you Sir. And when today my Kafka decides to move out of this ghetto, I would like to thank him for making us believe in the power of our dreams. 

When I see some people denouncing your decision as a disgraceful act I feel agitated. But what makes me your proud student is the fact that your students have decided to shield you Captain. Such is the grandeur of your influence. As Priya rightly said,"His ideas, his energy level, his mere presence is capable enough to undermine the brightest of minds that we have in our IIMC faculty today."

I still remember the day you appreciated me for an article I had written in the daily newspaper. This was a fresh surprise for a young student, who had been reading the pink papers for eight months without any hopes of guidance, let alone appreciation. Sir for you it might have been natural but for students like me it wasn't. I still remember the way students wanted you to read their articles. The only reason why we would flock around you was because nobody had ever validated our thoughts. Not that we ever wanted any but at that tender age all we wanted was a guiding star. Probably, we were a bunch of 40 young minds waiting for a twilight. And today, we have 'sparked an inferno'. For in this fight of grace and disgrace, we are sure of one truth that our guiding star can't be heading in a wrong direction. We stand with you Sir. And I know you don't need to prove your metal to spineless arguments. You must be really proud when you see that your students have decided to speak. "I am his student. Tonight, let me bask in his glory. My radiant professor. Ever heard him say "beautiful"? No? And you claim to know what beautiful stands for?," read one of the Facebook updates by Sourav, another proud student of yours.

As Ishani aptly quoted,"Our real comrade, Amit Sir ! When he sat with us in the computer lab before the annual magazine and edited word by word without getting impatient at us. For hours, he kept editing and then after finishing it, he smiled at all of us and said, 'You all write really well'...He is an epitome of a 'real teacher' and a 'comrade' who makes us learn and not judge at things."

My dad who is a teacher himself says 'the success of a teacher is determined by the way he is treated by his students once they part their ways from the formal structure of the institution. That is the true report card of a teacher.' If this is true than Sir you have passed the exam with flying colors. :)

"That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute your verse" I choose to #StandWithAmitSengupta.