Prof. Ratan Lal Brahmachary (1932-2018)

- Silanjan Bhattacharyya

I was fortunate enough to know him in my time of despair. Despite warnings from my father and other well wishers, I chose to study Zoology honours for graduation. Before the first year had gone by, I realised that the course was more about dead, deformed animals in formalin than living ones. I was bored, thanks to the primitive syllabus and anoetic tradition of teaching. I stopped going to college and was lost. It was the end of 1970s.

This is when I met Professor R. L. Brahmachary (better known as RLB among his students), who gave me access to the greater academic universe of biology to which he belonged. I was fortunate enough to find him along with his brother Gopal, living in a rented flat in a house owned by the family of Suvrendu Sengupta, a zoology batchmate, where members of the Dum Dum Science Club met every weekend. Their activities included small surveys and projects of social relevance involving school and college kids. RLB was their friend, philosopher and guide. Recognising my passion for the subject and my need for an anchor, Suvrendu and his mother, a remarkable lady, invited me to stay with them.