Prabhat Nalini Das

Prabhat Nalini Das (d. November 14, 2018) was a leading and celebrated Indian academic from Odisha. She served as professor of English and head of the English Department at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, New Delhi, and Ranchi University and Utkal University. She also was the very first Director/Dean of the Humanities Division at IIT Kanpur, and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the North Eastern Hill University, a Central University, India established by an act of the Parliament of India.

Early life and education

Prabhat Nalini Das had the distinction of topping every university she attended. She was a gold medallist at Ravenshaw University, where she earned her B.A. English (Honours). She earned her M.A. in English at the University of Allahabad, where she topped the university, earning three gold medals. She earned another Masters in English at the University of Minnesota as a Fulbright Smith-Mundt Scholar, and topped that university as well, winning several honours, including being the Best Graduate Student of the year (1954) from the Department of English, the Delta Phi Lambda Award, and a special medal for proficiency in writing. At Minnesota, she was a star pupil of Murray Krieger, Ricardo Quintana, Samuel Monk and John Hospers. She also studied with John Berryman and Allen Tate.

Family

Prabhat Nalini Das married Professor Bidhu Bhusan Das. Her parents were Krishna Priya Devi and Professor Radha Krushna Das, who was a professor of Physics and head of the department at Ravenshaw University, and a classmate, close friend and colleague of Albert Einstein's collaborator, Satyendranath Bose, of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. They belonged to an aristocratic, Zamindar family from Puri district in Odisha. Her children are Prajna Paramita, the first girl from Orissa to qualify for both the elite Indian Administrative Service and Indian Foreign Service, (opting for the latter as she placed amongst the top candidates); Oopali Operajita, adviser to India's Parliamentary leaders and world leaders, environmental hero, and a Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University; and renowned classical Odissi and Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer; and author Ashutosh Sheshabalaya, who wrote the bestseller, Rising Elephant.

Academic career

Prabhat Nalini Das had an uninterrupted and very successful career of 38 years. She taught at Ravenshaw University, and Sailabala Women's College, Cuttack, before being hired, at age 31, as head of the Department of English at Lady Shri Ram College, by the industrialist, Sir Shri Ram, and Dr. Olive Reddick, founder of the United States-India Educational Foundation, USIEF, in India. She turned down the post of principal of Lady Shri Ram College to move to the IIT Kanpur, as the first Director/Dean of its Humanities Division, at age 35. She was, afterwards, head of the Department of English at Ranchi University, a senior research fellow at the American Studies Research Centre, Hyderabad, and founder-professor and head, Department of English, Utkal University for almost nineteen years. Das also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, with independent charge of its Kohima campus, in Nagaland. A lifelong feminist, Das shattered many glass ceilings during her distinguished career.

Among her prominent students were Satyananda Mishra, IAS, Chief Information Commissioner, and Secretary, Personnel Department, Government of India; Pyarimohan Mohapatra, IAS, prominent political leader and advisor and mentor to Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha; Sovarani Mishra, of the Indian Income Tax Service, and Accountant General of the province of Jharkhand; award-winning writer, Yashodhara Mishra and Nobel laureate Aung San Sui Kyi.

Pioneer in Orissa textiles

Das was a pioneer in resuscitating the Orissa ikat saris and southern Orissa's Berhampur silk saris, as well as its tussar (raw silk) saris. So prized and rare was her collection of saris that part of it was requested for display at The Smithsonian during the Festival of India in the US, in 1985. Her collection was admired by both Pupul Jayakar and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.

Expert in Apex national committees and organizations

Prabhat Nalini Das was a member of the governing council of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in the late 1970s, nominated by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. She has been an expert on the selection and advisory committees of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which selects candidates for India's elite civil services; the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Central Sahitya Akademi, the Jnanpith Awards Selection Committee, and the National School of Drama. She was a special advisor on education, women's rights, arts and culture and development to Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo during his tenure as Chief Minister of Odisha. She is a Founder-Trustee of the Centre for World Solidarity and an advisor to the Centre for Youth and Social Development. She currently serves as an Advisor to the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Odisha chapter.

Patron of Odissi Dance, Music and Theatre in Odisha

Together with her husband, Professor Bidhu Bhusan Das, she supported and patronized Odissi dance and music, and Oriya and English theatre, right from the early 1950s. They helped Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Guru Pankaj Das and Guru Debaprasad Das when their career trajectories were evolving, and, later, in substantive ways, when these gurus sought their help over a protracted period of time.

Author and translator

Das translated several major Oriya works into English.

Works

• Prabhat Nalini Das (1969). The Captive and the Free: Essays in Criticism and Aesthetics. Lark Books.
• Bidhu Bhusan Das; Trilochan Misra; Prabhat Nalini Das (1994). Eye to Orissa. Information & Public Relations Department, Government of Orissa.

Translations

• Manoranjan Das (1993). The Wild Harvest. Translated by Prabhat Nalini Das; Jatindra Mohan Mohanty. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-7201-436-0.
• Manoranjan Das (2000). Nandika Keshari: (Sarala Award Winning Play). Translated by Prabhat Nalini Das. Prachi Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-85824-12-3.