Prof. Rajagopal - A True Friend

This is not an obituary, nor is it a condolence message.  I am writing this to celebrate my friendship with Prof. C S Rajagopal, who left for the heavenly abode on 24-08-2022 at Bengaluru.  It was March 2003, Prof. C S Rajagopal came to SIT for attending the faculty selection process.  That was my first meeting with him.  A gentleman in a coffee colour suit, with a smiling face, holding an executive briefcase – that was my first impression of him.  As part of the selection process Prof. Rajagopal gave a presentation on the challenges faced by commercial banks in credit recovery.  I was impressed by his presentation, and we struck a chord of friendship in the first meeting itself.  Two months later, he joined SIT.  That was the beginning of a strong and close relationship between us, which continued as warm as ever till the end.  He was elder to me by 20 years, but that didn’t matter.  I learnt so many things from him, and he took my help and assistance in matters related to computers and technology.  Prof. Rajagopal taught at SIT from 2003 to 2009, moved to Dharwad as the Founder Director of Dr. D Veerendra Heggade Institute of Management and Research and continued there till 2015. 

There are many reasons why I consider my friendship with him to be special and true.  A blog post is not enough to describe my experiences with him.  So, let me just pick two instances that always come to my mind.  When I was about to submit my application for admission to the Ph.D. programme, I requested him to quickly glance through my research proposal and give his feedback.  He was at Bengaluru for some official work and didn’t have access to internet and email.  I wanted him to go through the proposal that day itself as I had to sent it to the University the next morning.  So, he went to his sister’s house, accessed his email, and read my proposal.  When I called him in the evening, he told me, ‘Ajoy, shall I tell you frankly, to me it appears to be the proposal for an MBA project.  It doesn’t look like a Ph.D. proposal’.  This frankness was one of his qualities.  Some might not even read your document, some may not tell you the truth, but he was different.  (I thoroughly changed my research topic later).

After about a year since I started my Ph.D., I got an offer from the industry.  It was an offer to head and set up a staff training centre of a leading financial institution at Bengaluru.  The offer was highly lucrative and irresistible.  Obviously, I spoke to Prof. Rajagopal and asked him what should I do? He carefully listened to all the details and told me, ‘Ajoy, in this job you will be doing very less of teaching/training.  You will be mostly handling administrative responsibilities.  If you are looking for a career shift, then you can accept the offer.  You have to forget your Ph.D., you can not pursue it along with this job.  But, if you are interested in continuing in academics, then you should say no to this offer and focus on completing your Ph.D. at the earliest’.  His advice gave me the clarity I was looking for.  I declined the offer and continued with my Ph.D.

Prof. Rajagopal was always full of life, energetic, smiling, and active.  He was a teacher admired by many.  He brought his vast industry experience into the classroom – not to showcase his heroism, but to explain the concepts with appropriate examples.  He was like an elder brother to me – the one whom I consulted whenever I took any major decision in my life.  When I tasted success, he cheered me; when I was in pain, he consoled me; when I was confused, he helped me get clarity; when I was right, he stood by me; and when I was wrong, he didn’t hesitate to point it out – what more do you want from a True Friend?! Life can only snatch away his physical presence.  He lives in the memory of all those whose lives were touched by him in one way or the other.