Invocation at Prof. B. Sengupto’s farewell, 1967

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Institute Events , Administrators , Faculty

Prof. B. Sengupto was the first Director of IIT Madras. He served his tenure from 1959 to 1967. In an issue of the magazine Pradeep, there is a brief mention of the farewell function given to Prof. B. Sengupto. “Prof. B. Sengupto laid down office as Director, I.I.T. Madras on 10th December 1967. At a farewell function held on 5th December, glowing tributes were paid to his role in the development of this Institute by the staff and students of this Institute.”

Prof. Sengupto wrote an article titled ‘A Personal Remembrance of Things Past’ in which he writes about the origins of the Open Air Theatre (OAT), the location where this photograph was taken. The OAT was built during Prof. Sengupto’s tenure as Director. He writes, “The Open Air Theatre, originally a village tank, was most ingeniously transformed in the shape of a Roman amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 7000 and arrangements for a proscenium, dressing rooms and film projections.”

In the image, from left, a gentleman (yet to be identified), Prof. W. Koch (Physics Department), Prof. S. Sampath (Deputy Director), Prof. B. Sengupto (Director), Dr. A. L. Mudaliar (Chairman, Board of Governors), Mrs. Shanti Sengupto, Dr. Karl Pfauter (Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany), Prof. R. G. Narayanamurthi (Head of Mechanical Engineering Department), Prof. N. Klein (Gymkhana President) and Mr. C. V. Sethunathan (Registrar). It is likely that the invocation was conducted by students, seen standing at the podium. They are yet to be identified.

An identical photograph can be found in Album 0051 with the ID 001/0051/IMG_1609_1.

Collection:

Gourishankar Collection

Album Name:

Farewell to Prof Sengupto

Photograph ID:

001/0233/IMG_0661

Album ID:

0233

Date:

5 December 1967

Place:

Open Air Theatre (OAT)

Event:

Prof. Sengupto’s Farewell Function

Photographer:

C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.