Golden Age of Rajasthan University, Jaipur - 1960s and 1970s

Chittur Veer Vaidyanathan was born in Churu (Rajasthan) in 1948, and grew up in Jaipur. After a successful corporate career, during which his work with his company led to an Export Promotion Award from the Indian Ministry of Textiles, he is now a developer of real estate near Mumbai http://www.universalbuilder.co.in/.  He lives in Mumbai with his wife Hemlatha\; his son and daughter, both married, live in the U.S. His hobbies are swimming and traveling.

Subhash Mathur is a resident of Jaipur after superannuation from Indian Revenue Service in 2007. Presently, Subhash is engaged in social and charitable work in rural areas. Subhash is also Editor of http://www.inourdays.org/, an online portal for preserving work related memories.

Editor's note: This is adapted and expanded from an exchange on Facebook in October 2017. C V Vaidyanathan (older brother of one of my classmates) and Subhash (one of my older brothers) lived close to each other in C-Scheme, Jaipur in the early 1960s, and attended St. Xavier's School, Jaipur, followed by Rajasthan University.

Vaidyanathan

Veteran historian Prof Satish Chandra aged 95 passed away today (October 13 2017)

He was a phenomenal scholar of international standing. His study and research of Moghul Period and Medieval India is widely followed among students and researchers. He served for a long duration as a faculty member of University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, I remember, till  the mid 1970s.  University of Rajasthan was given the current name in 1956 earlier it was Rajputana University ).

In the 1960s, the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur had some outstanding scholars of National and International repute in its faculty. I am able to recollect some of the spectacular personalities. Begin with Prof M V Mathur, a distinguished economist who got his Ph.D. from Harvard in the 1940s. Then,  Prof Raj Krishna, another distinguished economist, who coined the most famous phrase "The Hindu rate of growth" to describe India. He wrote extensively on growth, investment and poverty. And Prof Raja Chellaiah laid out agenda for National Tax Reform committee.

Prof Emeritus C P Bhambri later joined JNU - he was a fine orator on political science. Prof R C Mehrotra, an analytical and organometallic chemist, was also associated with the Royal Institute of Chemistry UK. He later became the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi university.

Prof P N Srivastava, a radiation biologist of international repute, who later became Vice-Chancellor of Jawwharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

Prof V V John - English literature. Prof Daya Krishna - Philosophy. Prof Iqbal Narain - Political Science, who later on became Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University.

And several more distinguished scholars. I used to hear their debates and lectures in the campus.

I would also like to mention about Prof Ziauddin Khan, Dean of Public Administration. He was a pioneer in the teaching of "Public Administration" in India. During 1967-68, he introduced the first batch of BA (Honours) a three year graduate course in Public Administration with limited students. I had the privilege of being his student of the first batch. Prof Khan made himself available for lecture on the subject "Organisation and Management. "

Jaipur was indeed a place of reckoning even 60 years ago in developing education by establishing some fine institutes .

Ashok Sharma

Reading about Jaipur and the education stalwarts during that time, is nostalgia. You have described the wealth of knowledge imparted by these luminaries very aptly.

Subhash Mathur

You have nearly covered all except Profs S P Varma and Unnithan. Rajasthan University was a classy place full of life debates and discussions. Sports was also a high priority item. I also represented the University in COMEX (Commonwealth Youth Festival). Udayan Mukerji was my partner.

Vaidyanathan

Agree. COMEX.  remember you were one of the active members and participated enthusiastically. Further the university churned out significant civil servants including yourself during early 1970s. That's a hall mark of a successful institution. I got selected as management trainee with Crompton Greaves while Anil Goyal was picked by another sister concern of Crompton Greaves i.e., Greaves Cotton in 1971.

Subhash Mathur

The academic standards were high and there was pride in being part of a reputed university.

Vaidyanathan

II will like at this juncture to mention about your eldest brother, P C Mathur, who was then a faculty member of Political Science. He developed quite early in his career a reputation of immense learning. Several aspirants for jobs and entry into the civil service during the 1970s used to visit him at home and in his faculty to take guidance for the civil service entrance examination. Perhaps that is the reason that several from your family conveniently succeeded in clearing the tough entrance examination.

I have seen Adarsh Kishore (former Union Secretary Finance), Anil Vaish (former Chief Secretary Rajasthan ) Vijay Bakaya (former Chief Secretary J&amp\;K) along with many others from the campus thanking him profusely for their success.

Subhash Mathur

Very generous of you for the high praise. P C, as he was known, passed away in 2015. Amongst us siblings, he was a giant. The family misses him a lot but we keep his memory alive.

©  Chittur Veer Vaidyanathan and Subhash Mathur 2017