Dr Bibek Debroy - Some Pune Memories

It was with shock and profound sadness that I learned about the passing away of Dr Bibek Debroy yesterday. His last op-ed, which he wrote a few days back, published by the Indian Express yesterday, was so characteristic of him! Do read it if you still haven’t.

I knew Dr Bibek Debroy for over a decade. We got connected thanks to the wonderful Twitter platform (else there was no way I could have got to know him so well). I have many interesting memories of our interactions online and in person, but will share a few specifically around Pune.

In fact, I think one of the reasons he connected with me early on, on Twitter, was because I was sharing a lot of updates/history/news about Pune.

Dr Debroy's first regular job after returning from the University of Cambridge was at the Gokhale Institute in Pune in 1983. He stayed here for four years. He used to share wonderful memories of 'old' Pune from back then.

He lived in the Staff Quarters on Agarkar Road, near the Gokhale Institute campus - in the Deccan Gymkhana area. This area encompassing Prabhat Road, Bhandarkar Road, Law College Road and Agarkar Road - looked very different in the 1980s. There were hardly any tall buildings. Many nice old bungalows in small lanes, amidst trees.

Dr. Debroy used to reminisce about the quiet, uncrowded neighbourhood from back then. I was in high school in the mid-80s and of course I didn't know him back then. But coincidentally, he lived less than a km away from my home.

While living in Pune he used to visit some of the popular restaurants in the area, including the famous 'Roopali' restaurant on Fergusson College Road. Few years back when he was visiting Pune for a conference, I took him there. He had a great time, enjoying his old favourite items. I also took him to the Gokhale Institute Staff Quarters and he went and looked for his old apartment. We took photos standing in front of his old house. We drove around the Deccan Gymkhana area and he observed how it had changed significantly over the past four decades.

On another Pune trip couple of years back, I took him to the famous Raja Kelkar Museum. He also wanted to visit his old favourite 'Kale Pens' store near Appa Balwant Chowk - but was sad to learn that it had closed down.

He used to enjoy visiting Bhandarkar Institute and interacting with the researchers and administrators there. Two years ago, the institute conferred on him its highest award – the ‘Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar Memorial Award’.

Many have already written about Dr Debroy's scholarship, his genius, his tenacity. I will also mention his sense of humour here. It was always fun to hang out with him. Of course it was always a great learning opportunity. He was quite informal in interactions and protocol (even though he held a rank equivalent to a Central Government Minister).  

Over the past two years, his connection with Pune grew stronger again after being appointed as the Chancellor of two prominent Pune institutions – The Deccan College and The Gokhale Institute.

As many know, ‘railways’ was another big topic of interest for him. I am also a rail fan and this was another common topic for us to discuss online and in person. He connected me with the head of the National Rail Museum in Delhi, when I was visiting there a few years back. 

I will never forget this one call I got from him in 2015, a few weeks before the rail budget! I had just met him once before that and was surprised and shocked to get a direct call from him. He quickly got to the point and asked me if there is any famous Marathi railway-related poem/story that I can think of. I was wondering why he wanted it and he mentioned he wanted to include it in the budget related discussions. I thought for a while and couldn’t remember a poem. But I did suggest a well-known Marathi novel written by Shubhada Gogate about the building of the complex Mumbai-Pune Bhor Ghat railway line in the 1850s.

This tough mountain crossing was a huge engineering and construction challenge for the engineers and workers involved. He noted about the book and its background and then hung up.

Later on, I learned that the Railway Minister (Shri Suresh Prabhu) had mentioned about this book in his budget speech! I called him again and he just smiled. 

Thank you for the great memories and the interactions Dr Debroy. It was always a fascinating and fun, learning experience. Your scholarship and the stupendous amount of your written work will keep guiding many of us for years to come.