A Fighter laid to rest....

There was no reason for us to be associated, as we worked in different institutes and unconnected disciplines.  But we belonged to the same institution, Deccan Education Society and more importantly, shared the same concerns about its health and vitality.  Circumstances brought us together and it was Dr Bharat Deogadkar who saved me from succumbing to sentimentality.  In the process I learnt a lot about the value of confrontation in institutional roles.  More about it later.

Dr Deogadkar was a post graduate teacher of Chemistry in Fergusson College, Pune and taught at the Bharati Vidyapeeth after retirement in 2008.  Strangers would mistake him to be a Police Officer on account of his build, gait and demeanour and maintain a respectful distance.  He was a very active member of PUTA - Pune University Teachers Association and represented the teachers of Fergusson College as a member of the Local Managing Committee for several years.  He earned respect of the succession of Principals of that hallowed institution on account of his forceful and fact-based representations.  He was a familiar figure in the sprawling campus of the Fergusson College, taking long strides with an upright military manner.

Dr Deogadkar fought a long battle with cancer and passed away on 5 Sept 2018, so aptly chosen Teachers Day!  I pay my tributes to him and salute his memory!

I became a Life Member of the DE Society in 1987 and was appointed as Director, IMDR in 1989 upon the retirement of my illustrious predecessor, Dr PC Shejwalkar.  As a LM, we function through Boards of LM's, which meet periodically and arrive at important decisions.  Depending on the importance of each matter, recommendations are made to higher bodies like the Joint Board, the Governing Body and the Council of the Society.  This is a peculiar system of bottoms up management, which combines local autonomy with centralised direction and governance.  It was laid down in the early years of the Society in the nineteenth century and has evolved and stood the test of time over the last over hundred years.

It so happened that in 1990 the Pune Board received a letter signed by 14 teachers of the Chemistry department of the Fergusson College listing several of their grievances against the HoD, who also happened to be a Life Member and hence a member of the PB. Dr Deogadkar was one of the signatories.  Principal, FC presented the matter to the PB which felt that the matter being serious, it should be  referred to the Joint Board.  The JB discussed it at length trying to find a way out of the difficult situation created by serious allegations made against a senior Life Member.  Several sittings of the JB were held to look at the administrative, political and legal angles of the matter.  Suggestions were made including one of asking the LM concerned to call a departmental meeting and  tender an apology to all colleagues admitting that there were errors of judgment.  But the LM flatly denied any wrongdoing on his part and insisted upon a statutory enquiry to be conducted regarding the allegations.  After prolonged discussion, a committee of LM's from Mumbai and Sangli was formed to hold discussions with the complainant teachers of Chemistry department, many of whom held Ph D.    The idea was to defuse the tension and arrive at some conciliation.  This committee came back and reported the gist to the JB and concluded that the discussions with Chemistry teachers revealed a more horrifying state of affairs than mentioned in the original letter.  There was then no option left but to follow the path of a duly constituted Statutory Enquiry.

This work began in August 1991 and went on for more than a year finally concluding with the GB ordering demotion of the concerned LM in Jan 1993.  The one man Inquiry Committee of Justice Dr RD Tulpule, retired judge of the Bombay High Court, held 100 hearings, allowed several witnesses to be examined and submitted a voluminous report of findings, which amounted to holding the concerned LM guilty of most of the charges of misconduct.  This whole episode was unprecedented in the long history of the DE Society.  A sitting Life Member was stripped of his Life Membership for acts of misconduct by the Body of Life Members and the Governing Body by following due procedure.  This episode was important as it showed the academic world that life membership was based on trust inspired by integrity and collectively all the Life Members were capable of dealing strictly and impartially with any trespass of the pledge, even though it was committed by one of their fellow members.

Through this period of about 20 months, I worked closely with Dr Deogadkar, since I was entrusted with the responsibility first as Assistant Presenting Officer and later as Presenting Officer, when Dr GN Jogalekar suffered a fracture in Mumbai which laid him low for several months.  We had to collect factual details of each instance of misconduct, brief the advocate (we had to engage one as the suspended LM had brought one to represent him) and also produce witnesses.  Dr Deogadkar not only knew all the details but was also concerned about setting right the abysmal state of affairs and upholding the honour and reputation of the Fergusson College.

Many of my colleagues in the Board were unhappy that I had been spending long hours over many months in this trial of one of our own brother Life Members.  I had put my doctoral work on the back burner for this entire period.  There were a number of occasions when I would experience a surge of fellow feeling and  a sense of futility of the entire inquiry process.  Dr Deogadkar seemed to sense my unease and he would always underscore the importance of upholding fairness, integrity and transparency of the noble profession of teaching.  His words of sage counsel would once again revive my spirits, dampened by the indifference all around.  His stand was vindicated when after a long trial, both the Inquiry Committee and the University Tribunal found the misconduct proved.  An unfortunate, painful and challenging episode in the history of Deccan Education Society had finally ended in a manner befitting the long and glorious tradition of academic excellence, professional integrity and democratic functioning.

My association with Dr Deogadkar grew into friendship.  When Prof Pulin Garg held a process lab for the IMDR faculty in 1993, I invited Dr Deogadkar to be a part of it.  A process lab is a setting in which participants sit around and talk about the vital aspects of life, personal choices and meanings they have held.  The idea is to break out of self generated constraints and experience real freedom to pursue what one truly believes in.  For all of us it was a totally new experience.  Pulin was the master facilitator who helped us delve deeper into ourselves.  Pulin used to come dressed in a dhoti and kurta.  Babanrao, as we used to fondly call Dr Deogadkar, was thoroughly impressed with the 'troublesome old man in dhoti'.  Somewhere the realization dawned upon him that all his energy was being deployed in being of service to others.  That was fine, so long as it did not push him away from his true aspirations.  There was a marked change in his pursuits subsequently.  He was no longer interested in doing 'more of the same'.  He started doing different things, taking charge of Laxmi Travels, for instance.  Years later, he would remember Pulin and the process lab, as the turning points in his career.  He would continue to refer to Pulin as the 'troublesome dhotiwala'.

The 6 years I spent after retirement in Gurgaon did not diminish our bonds and we did meet a couple of times after my return, when I noticed that Dr Deogadkar's health had noticeably gone down.  His spirit was strong and he held out for quite some time against cancer.  But the end came last week.  His strong conviction, unstinted support, exemplary courage and genuine warmth will always remain in my memory.  I will always cherish his silent but spirited contribution to the glory of Deccan Education Society.  I salute you, Babanrao!