Some people are remembered for what they achieved. A rare few are remembered for who they were. Prof Sachidananda Mohanty was both. Teacher, author, translator, editor, freelancer, administrator and organic intellectual, he was above all a fine human being who lived his life beyond any boundaries.
His achievements as a scholar spilled over the walls of any single university or institution. His academic contributions and social commitments, which so many of us witnessed and benefitted from, were his true ‘life force’. The quiet balance he struck between his personal, professional and public lives makes him unforgettable to us, now and for posterity.
In the classroom, he taught with a passion that students carried out of the lecture hall and into their lives. A
D H Lawrence scholar and a practising student of Aurobindo Studies, he valued Ashramic arts of life and living; and he sought to live them as well as teach them. His curiosity ranged across many other domains of learning. Long before the contemporary academic world fashionably adopted the label “Cultural Studies”, he had already begun advanced academic praxis in that spirit at the University of Hyderabad in the 1990s. A polyglot in Odia, Bengali, English, Hindi and French, he was an ethno-friendly person who respected and cherished both universal humanism and cultural diversity.
He remained a dedicated, free-floating intellectual, never bound by fashion or fence. He poured his fervour into teaching while zealously following academic developments across the globe. The world took notice. His work earned him several national and international honours, including recognition from the British Council, Fulbright, the Charles Wallace Trust, the Salzburg Global Seminar and the Katha Awards. His writing graced some of the leading journals and forums in India and abroad, including The New Quest, Journal of Contemporary Thought, Springer, Anthem Press, The Toronto South Asian Review, Economic and Political Weekly, South Asia Review, The Hindu, The Indian Express and India Today.
As an academic administrator, he served as Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Odisha, Koraput. He also held distinguished positions at American Studies Research Centre, Hyderabad, the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, the UGC and many other national universities and public institutions. The sheer range of his national and international engagements compels us to pause and ask: how much can one man achieve in a life that was so short?
Yet those who knew him speak first of the man, not the résumé. He was an epitome of discipline, diligence, aesthetics and ethics. Those who spent their campus years with him, in his departmental chamber or at his home on campus, will testify to this with a warmth that years have not dimmed.
He was courteous, humble and amiable in all his dealings, personal and professional. He never quarrelled with colleagues or students. Harsh or abusive words never crossed his lips. Jealousy found no home in his heart, and he never plotted against anyone. Nor did he ever acquire the political skills that worldly survival so often demands, for he chose goodness over guile. His students affectionately called him “Public Relations Officer,” or “PRO,” a tender nod to his courteous, pleasing public manner and graceful demeanour.
His blend of simplicity and modernity is rare these days. Affluence was never his pride, and simplicity was never something he disdained. He wore both his learning and his modesty lightly. Prof Mohanty leaves behind not only a library of ideas but a legacy of kindness. As a human being, he taught us how to live. His books will be read for generations, and the dear Professor will be missed in every heart he touched.