Categories
Tributes

Papiya Ghosh 1953-2006

By Jyotirmaya Sharma, In Seminar, February, 2007

She worked on the dispossessed, the exiled and the hopeless. As a historian, Papiya Ghosh was not necessarily concerned with the mainstream. For her the migrant workers of Bihar were of great concern, and among them the Muslims, who were shortchanged doubly. Her work spanned all those within the sub-continent who belonged and yet were marginalized. The displacement of individuals through the actions of individuals or the caprice of history bothered her. Her posthumously published work, The Partition and the South Asian Diaspora: Extending the Subcontinent, is a lasting testimony to her intellectual concerns. These stories were to her the real stories to be told loudly and clearly, just in case those who did not have a voice were forgotten.

Papiya Ghosh loved stories. Every event had to be narrated in the form of a kahani. She needed every detail about colour, texture, smell and sound to be part of the narration. She herself told fantastic stories, and her anecdotes were told in a masterly mixture of English and Hindi, where like criss-crossing streams the two languages and phrases she had invented merged effortlessly into one another.

Papiya is now dead, and the ghastly manner of her departure cannot be rendered as a ‘kahani’ in the way she liked to listen and speak. A friend who knew her told me recently of the effort she has made in order to get the Papiya we knew back to mind without the events of 3 December intervening. We, her friends, were so used to listening to good stories in Papiya’s company that it is difficult for all of us to comprehend the manner of her departure.

For me, the first memories of Papiya would always be that of her rooms in the Public Entry building of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study. Her hospitality was matchless, and her room the very picture of beauty and order. She hated clutter, disorder and ugliness in all forms, and her immediate environment reflected her finely honed aesthetic sensibilities. It was in these rooms where gossip achieved metaphysical heights, quarrels were sorted-out, and friendships for life made.

She had a pet name for all her friends. Those who were not her friends, but amused her were also rechristened. The list included Dolly, Sally, Awareness, Victoria, Imelda, Earl Grey, Molly, Reindeer, Savvy and so on. I was Tiger, named so after I growled at a speaker in one of the weekly seminars at the Institute. And of course, she was Polly. We became these names, for her, and for each other.

The centre of her intellectual life was driven by a deep consciousness of her identity as a Bihari and as a liberal. If these two identities came in the way of each other and stood in antagonistic opposition, Bihar eventually won hands down. She stayed on in Patna despite threats from the land mafia because leaving would not merely mean geographical displacement, but abandoning an idea and an engagement.

When I visited her in Patna in 2000, her greatest regret was that Auntie Ghosh, her mother, was no longer there and would have loved to meet me. She played some Rabindra Sangeet, and when I remarked that a particular composition was my favourite, Papiya tearfully told me that it was Auntie Ghosh’s favourite number too.

In 2001 and 2002, Papiya came to Hyderabad and pronounced that my new flat was ‘khoob bhaalo’. She loved the view from the hilltop, where she gazed fondly at the view of the Golkonda fort. She loved the dinner Peacered (her name for him, a translation of Shantilal), my cook, had made for her, and he was rewarded with several pictures taken of him in the kitchen with his paraphernalia around.

Four days before she passed on, we spoke on the phone for a long time. She always asked for the well being of the living as well as the dead. Papiya never failed to call me on the death anniversary of my grandmother, and she even remembered the day our favourite dog, Sumo, died. She sent up prayers for all of them. Her generosity and her sense of empathy were boundless.

Today when I look around, the beautiful porcelain coaster on which I place my morning cup of coffee was given by her. The wooden elephant from Indonesia on my shelf was a birthday present from her. A small porcelain bowl on my desk was her gift when I left the Institute. There are at least two dozen books on my shelves that were given by her over the years. If these objects are also part of a story, then, the manner of her departure only heightens one’s awareness of how narratives take a different turn and change the very way in which stories are begun, continued and come to an end.

Papiya was constantly sending up duas for everyone, especially her friends. Maybe, we, her friends, did not regularly send up enough ‘duas’ for her. Maybe, we never felt that someone so vivacious needed prayers. The Almighty shortchanged her in the end.

Categories
Tributes

Papiya Ghosh, A Committed Academician, Was One Of The Oldest Subscribers Of The Book Review. She Was Murdered On 3 December 2006.

By Meena Bhargava In The Book Review Vol. Xxxi, No. 1, January 2007

It is so hard to believe that Papiya is no more and that I am writing for an issue of The Book Review which she will not read. There was rarely an occasion when she did not send me an e-mail or call me up to give her jibes on the review that 1 wrote. Papiya was such a spirited, enthusiastic person that she will always stay with us despite her brutal killers, who snatched her away from us physically.

Papiya was a Professor of History at Patna University and held several distinguished fellowships. She was ICHR (Indian Council of Historical Research) Fellow affiliated to Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti, New Delhi; Fellow at Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla; Rockefeller Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Culture, University of Chicago and Fellow at the Institute of Triangle South Asian Consortium, North Carolina State University. She was also Advisor to Patna-based Asian Development Research Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Papiya did her schooling and graduation from Patna but her academic pursuits brought her to the University of Delhi for post-graduate and doctoral studies. She began her teaching career in Hindu College, University of Delhi. Although she held a permanent tenure and, she resigned from the job to join Patna Women’s College (subsequently she became Professor at the Department of History, Patna University) because her mother needed to be looked after. It is this decision of Papiya that made her a rare specie. How many of us, however duty-bound and caring, we may claim to be, would leave Delhi—the land of opportunities for a Moftussil University. But she defied the tag of Moffussil University marvellously. Papiya was a very popular teacher who brought deep nuances of History to Patna University and encouraged her students to join Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University for further studies. Several of her students, some of whom have become university teachers now, talk of their deep intellectual indebtedness to Papiya.

Papiya was not only a sincere, committed, dedicated teacher, but also an intense researcher too and her contributions to academics are many. She published widely in national and international journals. She worked on the Muhajirs, Dalit Muslims, South Asian Diaspora, particularly Bihari Muslims during Partition. Recently she had begun research on documentaries and popular folk songs of Bihar. It is unfortunate that she could not sec the fruits of her hard labour—her book entitled Partition and South Asian Diaspora: Extending the Subcontinents published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Books, which was released on December 4, 2006, a day after she was killed. She had completed her second book on ‘Popular Culture’ and was on to the third one. By her work on Pasmanda Mahaj, she had put Bihar on the national and international academic map. We must consider ourselves utterly unfortunate for being deprived of so much Papiya could have told us and contributed to the academic community.

…such was Papiya that she would have even forgiven her killers.

One of her close friends, Indrani Chatterjee in her e-mail to me wrote

Papiya was a very kind-hearted, generous, compassionate, warm person. One of her close friends, Indrani Chatterjee in her e-mail to me wrote, “…such was Papiya that she would have even forgiven her killers”. The persona of Papiya attracted her to people of sorts cutting across all barriers of age and gender. She loved life and everything that was good about life. I am sure that even when those ghastly, dastardly beings attacked her, she resisted fiercely and valiantly.

Papiya was an avid reader, with varied interests in prose and poetry. No trip of her to Delhi was complete without a visit to Bahri Sons in Khan Market. She got cartons packed with books for personal use and for the Patna University library. She was a connoisseur of literature, musk, art-photography, painting, films and cuisine of different kinds. In fact, it was Papiya who introduced me to several eating joints in Delhi. October.

The brutal killing of Papiya has left an irreversible, irrecoverable vacuum in many lives. I consider myself very fortunate to have known and been associated with Papiya. Let us resolve to commit ourselves to demand justice for Papiya.

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Tributes

Papiya Ghosh : In Memoriam

The tragic death of the historian Papiya Ghosh marks the demise of a truly extraordinary scholar, a popular teacher and a dearly loved friend. The manner of her death also exposes the rot that lies beneath our boasts of progress and in our systems of governance.
By Supriya Roychowdhury In Economic And Political Weekly, January 13, 2007.

Papiya Ghosh, professor of history, Patna University, died under tragic circumstances on December 3, 2006. Papiya graduated in history from the prestigious Patna Womens’ College in 1975. She then studied at the history department in Delhi University, from where she received her masters, MPhil and PhD degrees. She taught for a few years at the Hindu College in Delhi, and then moved to the Patna Womens’ College. In the early 1990s she joined the postgraduate history department in Patna University. During these years she periodically took time off from teaching to hold two prestigious fellowships, first at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, and then at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Simla. Papiya had been a Rockerfeller Fellow in Residence at North Carolina State University and at the University of Chicago. She had also been a Fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research.

Papiya’s research spanned a range that is astonishing in a context where most research in the humanities and social sciences has a tendency to be spatially and temporally limited. Her doctoral dissertation was on the Civil Disobedience movement in Bihar, 1930-34. Her subsequent work, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was focused on understanding the formation of Bihari Muslim identity in the context of colonial politics. As much of the scholarship on Muslim identity formation has focused on Muslim majority areas like Punjab and Bengal, her research on Bihar, where Muslims were a minority, clearly filled a gap. In later work she chronicled the multiple contestations and challenges to the formation of an exclusivist Muslim League type identity in Bihar, examining the politics and ideology of the Jamiyat-al-ulema-i-hind’s broadly composite nationalism. Papiya’s credentials as a careful historian as also a scholar of imagination were clearly established by this work, published in two papers in the Economic and Social History Review in the early 1990s.

In later years she focused more and more on the history, politics and culture of partition and die south Asian diaspora, presented in several papers, conference presentations, and regular contributions to the journal Refugee Watch. Her book Partition and the South Asian Diaspora: Extending the Subcontinent has been recently published by Routledge (2007). Papiya did not live to see her book in print, released in New Delhi a few weeks after she died.

Scholar Extraordinaire

This book, the culmination of years of meticulous research and writing, is indeed an intellectual tour de force. Much of the scholarship on diaspora has looked at 19th century Indian immigrants to places like Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam and Jamaica, as well as 20th century immigration to the US and Europe. Papiya’s work in this book locates diaspora in the partition experience, but she also pushes the study well beyond the 1940s into the 1970s and 1980s. This research connects the study of two Muhajir formations in East and West Pakistan, that had their beginnings in the aftermath of killings of Muslims in Bihar in late 1946, and then maps, the story of Bihari Muslims displaced from Bangladesh in the aftermath of 1971, located in refugee camps, seeking a temporary base in Bihar, and ultimately seeking asylum in Pakistan, some in the US and Europe. The striking feature of this work is not only that it extends the conceptual horizon of diaspora in time and space, but also anchors itself in the story of a largely ignored and powerless community.

But the conceptual framework is indeed much broader than this. Looking at the post-1980s diasporic experience of Muslims in the US and Europe, she is able to contest standard interpretations that speak of a pan Islamic diaspora as opposed to diasporic Indiahness. Papiya’s work shows that subcontinental diaspora, in the post-1980s, uses partition as a reference point not only in instilling but also in resisting Hindutva. Thus she reconfigures the interface of nation, diaspora and region, to use her own words “even as they reconfigure”. Mapping six decades, and incorporating an astonishing intellectual sweep, this book awaits much more substantive review than has been possible here. Perhaps the most striking aspect of her work was the understanding of history as process, highlighting the tension between choices and patterns, the contingent and the determined. Her most current areas of research were contemporary patriarchies, Ganga-Jamni literature, backward and dalit politics, Bhojpuri cinema and electoral music. At the time of her death, she was completing two volumes on pre- and post-partition Bihar.

Her work stands testimony to her scholarship. Of the countless tributes that have come in after her death, to quote one, her scholarship was indeed silent but stupendous. In a discipline that in India is marked by closed networks, highly self-conscious and exclusive professional fraternities, and, at least until recently, a pronounced Oxbridge/Ivy League bias, the recognition of her research, when it came, was on the basis of her work, and her work alone.

At present the professional/institutional context in the social sciences in India is defined to some extent by the marginali-sation of regional universities and the concentration of resources, connectedness, honour and power at the centre, i e, New Delhi. Papiya had the added disadvantage of being in a regional space/university that has long been on the decline. She developed a somewhat unique professional persona whereby she straddled different professional worlds with great ease. A frequently seen figure at the India International Centre, New Delhi, and at national and international conferences, her professional profile and life placed her well beyond the boundaries of Patna, while her research and teaching remained firmly anchored in the state in which she was born and where she so tragically lost her life.

As a teacher she indeed surpassed herself. As many former and present students have written in the last few weeks, she set for herself the highest standards in the classroom, and expected the same of her students. In an era where research, projects, funding searches, foreign travelling have pushed teaching, for most academics, very much to the back burner, Papiya maintained an unshakeable commitment to the classroom, amongst her many accomplishments.

Papiya, the Friend

Beyond all this, was Papiya, the friend, with the extraordinary capacity for warmth that won her a place in the hearts of al most all whom she met, across all divides. I met Papiya in Delhi University where I was doing an MPhil, and she had returned for some months to complete writing her doctoral dissertation. This was in 1983. Papiya’s room in the first floor of the South Block, in the PG women’s hostel in Delhi University, was almost an institutionalised space for much lively ‘adda’, before and after dinner. Some were doing their MA, others MPhil and PhD. As many in that cohort would remember, one on one interactions with her became the basis of many deeply rooted friendships that were sustained over the next almost 25 years. After that one year, we all went our different ways, each in a space of struggle with career, relationships, marriage, children, balancing opposed needs, demands, norms, institutions. It was life. One could talk to Papiya always, about anything. She had the uncanny ability to highlight your flaw or weakness, briefly, sometimes almost wordlessly, without being judgmental.

But above all this was indeed her overwhelming interest in a person, the capacity to listen, for deep sympathy, which extended really beyond the individual to her understanding of the human condition itself. It was this unusual quality of being able to negotiate herself between individual affection and a universal warmth, that made her ah indispensable anchor in many of our lives for the last so many years. She had the capacity to perceive a friend from very close, and from very far. The large circle of persons, with whom she connected so closely, could only have been possible with that combination of nearness and distance that she combined so effectively.

The uniqueness of her personality perhaps-went beyond this, to a rock solid bed of courage and humour. Her life was full, with research and teaching, travel and friendships, family. Beneath all this was the predictable struggle, with a declining city administration and a thoughtless university bureaucracy, sometimes with ill health, perhaps with occasional loneliness. But she took every thing on, with a combination of sardonic humour and a self-confidence that did not wait for anyone. Her every day life represented an enviable narrative in independence.

One remembers her joyous appreciation of things beautiful, be it a moving film, an Urdu poem, a song or a painting, of good food and wine, her sudden, hearty laugh, and the softness of her smile that started from her eyes. Again, in the many tributes that have come in since her death, so many have remembered her smile. Soon after her death, as her photograph was flashed across the country in the television news channels, that smile came across to her friends in a bizarre, last, farewell.

Papiya Ghosh was killed by intruders, in her sprawling home, on the night of December 3, 2006, along with Malathi, the domestic help who had stayed with the family for over five decades. So why was she killed, this woman of countless friends? The highly premeditated nature of the crime, as also its brutal and efficient execution, raise many disturbing hypotheses about its source. Of course, this is hardly the occasion to ponder on the universal nature of crime. One can only engage with the specificity of this situation, where a woman who represented achievement and affluence, and above all exuded independence, and perhaps a certain defiance, lived alone. The broader situation of course is that of a deep rot in a governance system that has lost all justifiable claim to govern, except that which stems from the inertia of citizens. The physical vulnerability of women -regardless of class or other defining factors – is once again underlined by the type of political institutional context that frames our lives. The link between the personal and the political, so ably argued in Papiya’s research, was so tragically acted out in her own life. This politics is not only that of a failing state, but also perhaps of an emerging political economy that not only generates greed but legitimises it in all forms.

As our stunned anguish slowly gives way to anger, frustration and a variety of emotions, perhaps it is that link between the personal and the political that we again have to make, as members of the academic community. Again, to quote one of the many touching messages that have come in through the internet, mourning her loss, “for all the afternoons we spent together talking of so many things, Papiya, this was no way for you to go”. But, the writer goes on to say, that perhaps it was, perhaps this is one way in which Papiya would galvanise us into action. .

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Tributes

Of Undivided Commitment

By Kumkum Sangari In Biblio, January-February, 2007.

Papiya Ghosh was killed with heinous brutality on 2 December 2006. Her demise has left her family, friends and colleagues grieved, shocked, filled with a sense of irreparable loss. Papiya Ghosh’s contribution as a historian of Bihar and as a historian of Indian nationalism and communalism is yet to be fully recognised, the more so because of her immense personal modesty and rectitude. The full import of her work will unfold in time (two of her books are still to be published), and here I only outline the range and uniqueness of her work.

Papiya’s writing has none of the parochialness associated with regional history but has the depth, immersion, and inwardness which characterise the best of regional historiography. Her work moves both outwards from and inwards to Bihar: it uncovers the articulation of nationalist struggles with the political history of Bihar as well as the regional recasting of nationalist politics, Nehruvian notions of secularism, and ideas of composite culture in the making of nation, community, quam and biradari. This history is regional but never isolated. The region has it own dynamic, class and caste specificity, and is also shaped by wider nationalist and communal configurations. Bihar is seen, as it were, from both ends as well as from a ‘middle space’ composed by the interactions of the regional and national. Thus the varied attitudes towards the Muslim League are examined in the interlock of broad imperatives, local tensions and the different class locations of muslims. Her most recent essay, writing Gngajamni: In the 1940s and After” (published as a tribute to her in Social Scientist last month) shows her remarkable ability to canvas broad political movements and elaborate the minutaie of local sentiments. She analyses syncretism/composite culture, as a formation opposed to Hinduisation and Islamicisation, in the multiple contexts of its regional and historical composition, its lived aspects, as well as its post-Independence trajectory as an ‘idea’. The essay traces the differing understandings of syncretic/composite culture in the 1940s in the writing of Congress figures like Rajendra Prasad and Syed Mahmud, and Muslim League figures, especially Badruddin Ahmed, and shows how these ideas came to be re-nuanced by Badruddin Ahmed after Partition not only because he joined the Congress but also to re-inscribe national belonging.

Papiya’s work on the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League tracks their tendentious use of women as community signifiers. In the 1920s and ’30s, the Hindu Mahasabha’s communal discourse, centred around shuddhi, specifically targetted Muslim women. This involved aggressive distortions in its incendiary publications and the forcible abduction of low-caste women for ‘reconversion’. Both forms of violence flowed into pre-Partition violence in the ’40s. She also shows how the Hindu Right’s construction of a ‘dangerous’ Muslim masculinity varied according to the class location of Muslims.

Partition as a political event was divisive. In her teaching and writing, Papiya emphasised the need to study it in an ‘undivided’ way, to look at its qualitative and affective aspects across countries and continents. She did major work on Partition and Bihar, Muslims who migrated, those who became refugees, those who were stranded or occupied in-between places, the wrenches of migration and the hardening of ideologies, and the futures that were sought but never achieved. She shows how Partition created fissures in the patriarchal politics of ‘community.’ Further, her work on Bihari (Indian and Pakistani) migrants in the UK and USA connects Partition to the enlargement of the South Asian diaspora, and calls into question the very idea of the nation and belonging after 1947. The field she shaped thus took in Bihar, India, the subcontinent and its diaspora.

Several aspects of Papiya’s work engage with Gender and Cultural Studies. Among these are the centrality of representation as a material force in the historical dialectic: the way representations of women, masculinity, Muslims and low-castes textured or even structured political movements; the way stereotypes of the disprivileged were made and their significance in assembling a history from ‘below’. Her intense interest in archived and orally circulating notions of the past goes beyond the closures of conventional periodisation (she often asked if modern Indian history stopped at 1947), and sees them as a palpable force in the lives of contemporary Backward and Dalit Muslims as well as Bihari diaspora. She set out to understand the embodied relationships of class, caste, religion, gender and reconfigured patriarchies, and in the past few years had begun to work on the circulation of Popular Culture such as Sufi compositions, Bhojpuri cinema and songs. Her work incorporates Gender and Cultural Studies but not in a superficial way. Her scholarship partakes of a profound inter-disciplinarity but remains based on meticulous archival research and sensitively interpreted interviews. It is the work of a historian with a vision accompanied with immense integrity, rigour, a grasp of complex social processes, an incisive insight and political commitment.

One of Papiya’s most important contributions was the nurturing of young historians (students, younger friends) both inside and outside the classroom. The generosity of her giving, the gifts of personal friendship, and a rich corpus of work are what she has left us with.

Papiya Ghosh did her Ph.D. from Delhi University on the civil disobedience movement in Bihar. She was Professor of History at Patna University and held several distinguished fellowships. She was ICCHR fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi; fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; Rockefeller fellow, Institute of South Asian Culture, University of Chicago; fellow, Institute of Triangle South Asian Consortium, North Carolina State University; Visiting Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was also Advisor to the Asian Development Research Institute, Patna. She had published widely in anthologies and journals including Indian Economic and Social History Review, Indian Historical Review, Journal of Historical Studies, Social Scientist and Refugee Watch. Her most recent publication is Partition and South Asian Diaspora: extending the subcontinent (New Delhi: Taylor and Francis, 2006).

The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences has started the Papiya Ghosh Memorial Fund (donations can be sent to R-l Baishabghat-Patuli Township, Kolkata-700094). Several other institutions are planning activities and awards to honour Papiya Ghosh and keep her memory alive: the school, college and university in Patna where she had taught; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi; and Oxford University, UK.

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Family, Friends & People

More Remembrances

Met Papiya in 1972 in Patna and last we met in her fateful house at 168 Patliputra Colony, Patna on 13.11.2006. We pray for the peace and tranquility of her soul.

Parimal Ghosh & Trisha Ghosh,
D-2/2430, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070.

Indrani and I always cherish memories of someone who has been so tragically torn from us and the world.

Sumit Guha,
21, Coan Pl. Motuchen, NJ 08840, U.S.A.

Dr. Papiya spent her life for the cause of the intellectual development of all her students. She was a courageous woman who showed other women how to be independent and liberated.

Sister Tirumala,
Notre Dame Academy, PP Colony, Patna.

I have lost a friend and a member of my family. But you will always remain in my heart and mind.

Pakhi Bhatia,
A-37 Gulmohar Park, New Delhi-49.

We met in the Department on Friday and I will keep on meeting you in my thoughts.

There is nothing in the world that can take away your shine and your brightness. You will always be there with us, the students, and in the world of academics.

May your soul rest in peace.

Maya Shankar,
Dept. of History, Patna University.

Such a bright presence. Her work will live on, and equally the happiness she brought to everyone.

Razia Ismail Abbasi,
A64 Gulmohar Park, New Delhi-110049.

Our parents were friends/colleagues in Patna. The Ghosh’s (their 4 daughters) were a part of our lives and growing years. When I was myself a young girl, I knew Papiya as a baby and was so happy when she grew up to be a brilliant scholar and a, wonderful human being. It is difficult to accept what happened – may her soul rest in peace. She will never be forgotten!

Vineeta Rai
4B Ashok Road, New Delhi.

What happened to Papiya – a courageous, dignified woman – leading an outstanding life, must never be allowed to happen. It affects women everywhere. Therefore, we need to write & fight for the facts to come out. Can this be a mere burglary? There is a collapse of systems here and Papiya is a victim of that more then any thing else.

Rohni & Viren Chhabra
“Aatma” B4/19, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-29.

Papiya was more than a friend, she was in fact a dear sister and a close friend. Many of us are yet to reconcile ourselves to this loss and may never do so. May the Almighty give her in heaven what he deprived on her on earth.

Jawhar Sircar,
C II/50 Satya Marg,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-21.

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Publications & Papers unfinished Work

Unfinished Work

Unpublished Article
  • Left Communitarian Feminism : The Tehreek – e- Niswan
Unfinished Books
  • Community and Nation : Bihar in the 1940’s : This book was published by Routletdge in the form it was in 2010 with a Foreword by Kamran Asdar Ali, University of Texas at Austin.
  • Backward and Dalit Muslims in Bihar
  • Studies on Bihar’s folk culture and music
  • Contemporary Trends in Indian Cinema, with a focus on regional Cinema.
  • Many more, which are spread over volumes of Notes and Manuscripts, which unfortunately could not receive Papiya’s attention, her deep commitment notwithstanding.
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About

Memorialising Papiya

For Papiya’s family, friends, colleagues, students and admirers, she lives on. She is FOREVER. To memorialise her appropriately and hold aloft her legacy various initiatives have been taken over the years following the incomprehensible tragedy that befell her.
Some glimpses are provided here.

PURNUJJAL PAPIYA GHOSH MEMORIAL TRUST

PURNUJJAL PAPIYA GHOSH MEMORIAL TRUST (https://www.purnujjalpapiyaghoshmemorialtrust.com) was set up by Papiya’s family in 2007 to promote the enduring values of excellence and equity that Papiya so beautifully embodied.

The Trust Brochure

It has instituted the following Awards in various academic and educational centres/ organisations with which Papiya was associated, since 2008.

  1. Annual Inter- School Debate Competition at St. Joseph’s Convent, Patna.
  2. Merit-cum- Means Stipends for select, needy students of St. Joseph’s Convent, Patna,
  3. Annual Award for BA History Topper in Patna Women’s College.
  4. Annual Award for MA History Topper in History Department, Patna University.
  5. Annual Award for MA History Topper of Hindu College, University of Delhi.
  6. Annual Award for Most Promising Young Scholar presented at the Indian History Congress.

The particulars of the Awardees can be seen in the respective websites of these centres/ organisations, as they are often not intimated directly to the Trust as they should.

Further, the Trust takes up regular philanthropic work , including extending family support to indigent families, scholarships, donations to Libraries and related socio-cultural outfits.

More Initiatives

To celebrate her truly inspirational life, a book, “Toast to Papiya”, with unique insights and wide-ranging memories with contributions from Family and friends and some of her own writings has been published in April 2008 by Dr Tuktuk Ghosh.

Celebrating Papiya : Video Vignettes

An Annual Award was instituted in Papiya’s memory by Saurav Sen, her nephew, from 2008, in the Department of International Development, Oxford University (UK) for the best M. Phil Dissertation. View the List of Awardees

Various Workshops, Seminars and Discussions on subjects related to Papiya’s field of study were organised by Dr Tuktuk Ghosh in cooperation with reputed institutions – Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, CSSSC, Patna University, ADRI etc

Jaya Ghosh, Papiya’s eldest sister has donated some of her academic work to the globally renowned library of US Congress, Washington DC.

A Treatment Facility, in memory of Papiya, was dedicated by her sister Keya and brother-in-law, Manas Kumar Sen, at the Indo-American Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh, India).

  • As a befitting tribute, the Syndicate of Patna University approved, on 3 May 2007, setting up of the ‘PAPIYA GHOSH CENTRE FOR GENDER STUDIES’ to promote research in this area of topical importance. National Research Late Prof. Vina Das of the Centre for Development of Women’s Studies, Delhi formally inaugurated it.
  • A Memorial-Debate on “Judicial Activism is not the Solution to India’s Governance Problems” and an Essay Competition on “India’s Role, as the World’s largest Democracy – Future Prospects” were organised by St Joseph’s Convent, Patna, Papiya’s Alma mater in October 2007
  • A 3-day Commemorative Programme was organized to honour Prof. Papiya Ghosh in Patna University, between 3rd – 5th December, 2007. It comprised a Memorial Lecture by former Professor of Delhi University, Prof. Uma Chakravarti on “New Scripts : the Nineteenth Century Educational Project for Women”.
  • A Memorial Fund for Ph.d and Short Term Fellowships in Papiya’s memory was set up at the CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN SOCIAL SCIENCES, CALCUTTA (an Institution under the Govt. of India) for young women Academicians from non-metropolitan areas of the country, at the initiative of Dr Partha Chatterjee, Dr Indrani Chatterjee and few colleagues. It was supported by, among others, the Dorabji Tata Trust. Four scholars received the fellowships between 2008-2010.
  • Papiya’s vast collection of Books and Journals have been donated by to the Department of History, Patna University and the East-West Centre, Patna.
Upholding her family’s Legacy : Purnujjal

Purnujjal Papiya Memorial Trust released a book in memory of Papiya’s parents, Ujjal Kumar Ghosh and Purnima Ghosh .

The Flipbook : Purnujjal is available for your to read

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BY PETITIONING THE AUTHORITIES

You may direct your pleas for ‘Justice for Papiya’ to Shri Nitish Kumar, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Bihar, who has made improvement of law and order a major focus area of his governance plan. His Address and Contact Nos. are :-

Shri Nitish Kumar,
Hon’ble Chief Minister
Government of Bihar,
Old Secretariat,
Patna-800 001
(India)
Tel : 00-91-612- 2222079 / 2223393 / 2222741
E-mail : cmbihar@bih.nic.in

Hon’ble Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, may be requested to ensure that justice to Papiya is neither delayed or denied. His Address and Contact Nos. are :

Hon’ble Chief Justice
Patna High Court.
Patna – 800 001
(India)
Tel : 00-91-612-2224758
E-mail : cjpat-bih@nic.in

If you know any reputed Organizations, State-level, National or International, which take up causes for securing justice to innocent, honest, law-abiding women such as Papiya, who fall tragic victims of dastardly crime and cruel violation of human rights, please urge them to come forward in this matter. The challenge is to get to the bottom of the indescribably horrific crime and bring it to its logical, legal conclusion at the earliest.

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About

About Papiya

Papiya was an accomplished Academician and a feisty single woman, who was totally committed to the highest principles of integrity, honesty and dedicated service. For the Family and those who knew Papiya well, she will doubtless “BE FOREVER”! Papiya’s life, values and contributions are truly inspirational and anything short of a continuing CELEBRATION of it, can never be contemplated.

Profile

Papiya was born on 8th October 1953, at DUMKA (Bihar, India), third of the four daughters of Ujjal Kumar Ghosh, an IAS officer of the Bihar Cadre and Purnima Ghosh. Her father was a victim of, what was widely held to be, a Political Murder, in 1957. She, along with her sisters, was brought up single-handedly by her mother, Purnima Ghosh, who took up a job as a School Teacher after the ghastly murder of her husband.

She was a Topper and the School Head-Girl, earning laurels in Debating, Dramatics, Elocution, Essay-writing etc. The winning trend continued in Patna Women’s College. Here, too, she was elected the Premier of the Students’ Union and stood out in all spheres. She, with her sister, Tuk Tuk, were the duo who contributed regularly to the ‘KOOKIE KOL’ Column of JS, a well known Youth Magazine and became a house-hold name, as a result.

Family

As Patna University was closed down indefinitely in 1975 during JP’s Agitation, Papiya moved to Delhi University to pursue higher studies, where she completed her M.A., M.Phil and earned a Doctorate Degree in Modern Indian History. The subject of her M. Phil and Doctorate Degrees was “Civil Disobedience Movement in Bihar, 1930-34”.

Papiya taught History at Daulat Ram College from 29 October to 26 November, 1977 and at Hindu College, University of Delhi, from 26.11.1977 to 8.2.1979. Although she had a permanent job in one of the best Colleges of Delhi University, she chose to come back to Patna Women’s College. This decision was not only driven by her commitment to provide support to her widowed mother, who was alone (the other sisters having, by then, moved out of Patna), but also because of her abiding conviction that she could contribute actively to the resurgence of Academics and Research in Bihar, which were not receiving proper attention at that juncture for various reasons. In fact the best brains were leaving Bihar, when Papiya took the bold decision to go back there. Papiya devoted 3 decades to her profession to Bihar. Nothing could deter her from her determination to give of her best, in spite of many frustrations and lack of suitable facilities.

After a tenure in Patna Women’s College from 12.2.79 to 30.11.91, Papiya, on promotion, moved to the Department of History in the Patna University, to take Post Graduate classes, as well as to guide, evaluate and conduct research. She brought updated course material to the attention of her students, stocked the Library with the latest publications, often at her own cost and taught in fluent Hindi, which was not her mother tongue or the medium of instruction during her School and College years. That the syllabus of the University was in sync with other Central Universities was Papiya’s constant endeavour. Her teaching methodology was also very innovative and she always tried to weave in contemporary themes and ideas to make “History” more relevant for her students. She taught several Papers, though her specialization was Modern Indian History. Patna University, because of various financial problems, often did not pay its Teachers and Staff for several months, but Papiya always kept the flag flying and did not let up on her academic pursuits!

Her Research Subjects related, inter-alia, to impact of Partition, plight of Dalit Muslims, Peoples’ Movements, Popular Syncretic Culture, Secularism, Contribution of the Underprived to Political Processes etc. Since she had a penchant for collecting data, she spent much time travelling to remote areas, meeting key sources (within and outside the country), spending her own limited resources. She would devote hours on translation, roping in friends and well-wishers in her endeavours! She also learnt Urdu to be able to do full justice to her Research work.

Papiya published various scholarly Articles in reputed Academic Journals. Her seminal book is entitled, “Partition and the South Asian Diaspora- Extending the Subcontinent”. Unfortunately, she did not live to see its formal launch on 1st January 2007. Both the Hon’ble President and Prime Minister of India, who were presented copies of the book, greatly appreciated it.

Prof. Ghosh has brought to bear the force of her intellect on this unique and interesting subject which would prove to be of great value to all those interested in the subject of the South Asian Diaspora. It is unfortunate that Prof. Ghosh is not with us to see the fruit of her efforts in writing this book

President Kalam, in a letter of 3rd January 2007, to her sister, Tuk Tuk

So meticulous was Papiya that she not only acknowledged all her friends in the book but also our domestic support who had passed on several years ago! And as the ever-dutiful daughter, Papiya dedicated her labour of love to her Parents and our “Kaku” (Uncle), Col. Arun Kumar Ghose, who stood by us, rock-solid, in the dark hour of grief after our father’s murder, till his death in 1991.

Papiya was a Merit Scholarship holder of Patna University. She was awarded the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (University of Chicago, in 1994 and Triangle South Asia Consortium at the North Carolina State University from 1996-97) as well as the Indian Council of Historical Research and University Grants Commission Fellowships (for M. Phil, Ph.d and Post-Doctoral work), being attached to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi and the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla between 1988-91 and 1993-96 respectively. She was Adviser to ADRI (Asian Development Research Institute), Patna and Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. It will not be an exaggeration to state that she was among the most academically accomplished in the Department of History in Patna University and was often invited to addressed important Seminars and Conferences in and outside Patna, where her insightful inputs were greatly appreciated.

Papiya could have got a befitting assignment elsewhere but she chose to stay in Patna, in an environment which was not the most congenial. Papiya shouldered the entire responsibility after her mother’s demise in 1997, without in any way disturbing her sisters. In deference to her mother’s memory, she kept the house unchanged and in perfect condition, as she knew what it had meant to her and how much of her life had been invested to make it a beautiful haven and sanctuary for her children

Papiya so looked forward to the visits of her family especially her nephews and nieces, Saurav, Gaurab, Madhur, Jagriti and Snigdha, for whom she was the most lovable and effervescent, “Bumble”! For Manas and Sujit, her “Jijas” (Brothers-in-law) there couldn’t be a more worthy sister-in-law! Papiya was ever-ready to move heaven and earth for Jaya, Keya and Tuktuk and was without doubt the world’s best sister! She was generous to a fault and treated them royally, making each get-together a truly memorable occasion!

For many years, Papiya kept indifferent health, suffering from chronic asthma. She underwent surgeries, too, which took their toll on her physical well-being. But these impediments could not dampen Papiya’s spirits! She used to be called the “Chiragh” (Lamp) of the Family. Her courage and fortitude knew no limits ! She was a true seeker and a “Spiritual Warrior”!

Though a very open, fun-loving, gregarious person, Papiya chose to remain single. The right to choose and decide according to her beliefs was very important to Papiya. She would have said, in her inimitable manner,

Kyon kahte hain ki jeene ka andaz badal de; aur hai hi kya is apne andaz ke siva? (Why should I be asked to change my style? I stand by my style and am proud of it!)

Papiya

It is difficult to come across some one more caring and affectionate than Papiya. She had time for everyone, regardless of age and background, often putting aside her own needs and requirements! She remembered everyone’s Birthdays and Anniversaries, even illnesses and took time out thoughtfully for them. Indeed, Papiya was a friend, par excellence and a peoples’ person, who touched many lives, so gracefully and unforgettably. For this she will be remembered for very long, with deep love and gratitude!

Papiya with Ma

Papiya had a very simple, disciplined life style and combined it creatively with a lofty world view, always exuding radiance and well-being. “Maharani of Kuch Nahin” (Queen of Nothing) is what she used to jokingly call herself! Her way with words and people was simply unbeatable.

Papiya cared for Malti- who was our domestic support for 40 years and was killed with her- much more devotedly than her own children could ever have, in good times and in bad. Such nurturing is indeed unparalleled ! Her every decision was dependent on how Malti would be affected by it. She always made her feel an integral part of the Family. The same held good for all the other supporting staff, who were, without fail, given “Treats” on all Festivals, and other special occasions!

Papiya and Malti Devi

In an almost rapid-fire elaboration, which scarcely does justice to her multifaceted personality, it may be said that Papiya had very wide, eclectic tastes – she loved writing poetry (haiku) and spinning zany descriptors, pampering and spoiling silly, her pet dogs, “Dumroo” and “Tum-Tum,” savouring a varied genre of music and a diverse range of books (she had a superb personal Library!), travelling to exotic places, dipping into Mainstream and Offbeat Cinema, culinary experimentation, trying out updated Fitness Programmes, delving into nuances of Sufism and meditation techniques, etc. (one could simply go on and on!)

Papiya was always game to try out new ideas and new looks and she gave herself several interesting make-overs in more senses than one! From one who shunned jewellery and anything even remotely fancy, Papiya lately opted for silk (of course, only khadi) and chunky jewellery, for those moments when she felt she should “liven up!” She indulged herself especially during her trips to Delhi, where she spent quality time to reconnect with her “ruh” (soul) in the serene, beautifully manicured settings of the India International Centre, watching with a sense of peace, the blossoming of the “kachnar” (flowers) from Room 35 and enjoying long walks at the historic Lodhi Gardens next door.

Papiya was so utterly law-abiding, honest, truthful and principled that she would never do anything that even remotely smacked of “irregularity”. She would not tolerate anything wrong and always boldly spoke her mind without any fear of likely adverse consequences. People- cutting across all strata and segments of society-have ONLY PRAISE for her distinctive and wonderful personality! She was equally famous for her tough exterior and very soft ‘dil’ (heart).

Vignettes of the inspirational life of Professor Papiya Ghosh of Patna (India), snuffed out too soon by a cruel crime and for whom justice is still awaited..

WE PLEDGE THAT PAPIYA WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US – AND WE SALUTE HER FOR HER DEEPLY INSPIRATIONAL LIFE !

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About

Appeal

This is to record our deepest appreciation for demand for justice for Papiya Ghosh, whose promising and well-lived life was brutally snuffed out on 3rd December, 2006 at Patna, by a group of ruthless criminals for no apparent reason! It is also an earnest Request for consecrating her unforgettable memory in a befitting manner !

There are many tough, deeply troubling and complex questions about why the reprehensible crime happened, the way it happened and when it happened – exactly 49 years to the day, when Papiya’s father, Ujjal Kumar Ghosh, IAS, was murdered by poisoning in a Govt. Hospital at Patna. Perhaps we will never know the answers!

Papiya was an accomplished Academician and a feisty single woman, who was totally committed to the highest principles of integrity, honesty and dedicated service. For the Family and those who knew Papiya well, she will doubtless “BE FOREVER”! Papiya’s life, values and contributions are truly inspirational and anything short of a continuing CELEBRATION of it, can never be contemplated.

We can only consecrate Papiya appropriately by ensuring that the perpetrators of the unparalleled, heinous crime against an innocent, law abiding, upright and honest, professional woman, do not walk away scott-free. In fact, that’s the very least we can strive to do, for the future is at stake! The implications for civil society and governance are wide ranging and must be appreciated by all concerned.

To know more about Papiya and the crime to which she fell a tragic victim and to enable you to lend your support, you are invited to please browse along.

"I questioned the mystic emissary of cosmic law about earthly parting and soundlessly he answered :

" I am the pilot of ever evolving life often mistakenly called Terrible Death. I am thy up-lifter, redeemer, friend, unloader of thy gross burden of body troubles. I come to fetch thee away from the valley of thy broken dreams to a wondrous highland of life, to which poison vapors of sorrow cannot climb.

"I have removed thy soul bird from the cage of flesh attachment. Long imprisonment behind bars of bones madest thee used to the cage, but unwillingly; thou didst always yearn for liberty. Now, cast away fear; thou hast won thine astral freedom !

"O transitory visitor to Earth, re-enter the beauteous skies ! Explore once more thine ethereal home ! "
 
"Whispers From Eternity", Sri Sri Paramhansa Yogananda, 1946, whose deep insights provided much solace and strength to Papiya"