PROF P. P. SINGH

PROF. P. P. SINGH

A TRIBUTE BY

PROF. IQBAL SACHDEVA

As the clock struck six in the evening, Prof. P P Singh, the founder director of the Punjab University Department of Journalism, entered the class room, which was the demonstration laboratory for the Hart Court Butler high School, that ran the day shift in their  premises.  All the sixty students, rose from their seats to show their respect for the veteran of journalism training in India. The students, many of them, were grown up working people in  their  mid forties.

Prof. Singh was a stocky, heavy weight dark looking person with a melon like head and rather looked sad and serious.  During my studentship in the course, I had rarely seen him smiling.  As he slumped in the speakers’ chair, we got all ready to face the two and more hours ordeal to listen to his mono tones.  Some of us were rather young and almost fresh out of college after graduation, but with green heads on grey shoulders.  There were only three ladies in the group, who looked mature, except the one who was quite young and dashing. Next to me sat Hari Kishan Due, who was a clerk in the AGCR and rose to great heights to become the editor of the Hindustan Times and  later a Raya Sabha members.  Many like him owe their meteoric rise in life to Prof. Singh.  I myself, became the senior advertising and public relations manager for an American multinational.

Once in a while, some of the mature students, with their obvious political leanings, would question the professor about the some burning issues facing the country and the policies and ideologies followed by the then government.  Prof would give long winded replies, generally not taking sides, but would ultimately pacify the critics.  After the class, the discussions would get extended and often witness some heated exchanges amongst the students about the right and wrong of the policies.

Rana Jang Bahadur Singh, perhaps the elder brother of Professor, who was the editor of the Times of India, would also visit the department as guest faculty and would indulge in loud rhetoric to criticize the Congress government and Pandit Nehru for his policies and actions.  Rana wore a black Jan Sangh cap which represented the Hindu ideology.  He would often lose track of time and the lecture would end up much beyond the two hour time, but no one dare to remind him that his time was up.

This was the last year, 1962, when the Department of Journalism was shifting to its new abode in Chandigarh under the canopy of the Punjab University. Prof. Singh, perhaps, did not like it but it seems that he had no choice.  Though there was some clerical help available in the department but Prof. Singh always liked to deal with the students himself in matters like sending a recommendation letter to a prospective employer or issuing a character certificate.  Though I was not too favourite a student of his but he know me.  It was vacation time and when I needed a character certificate, I barged into his house in West Delhi. He received me at the door rather dryly but when requested for that piece of paper, he made me comfortable.  He offered me  tea and in the meantime, brought out his portable typewriter and himself typed the certificate. Then he signed, folded it into an envelope and handed out to me, which I thankfully received.  That was the last meeting I had with him in my life.

But Prof Singh left an indelible mark on the personalities of several people like me and honestly, I owe lot of gratitude to him for many things I am able accomplish in my life.  I am sure, many of my colleagues would join me in acknowledging his contribution to our lives and also to the field of journalism and communication in India.

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