It seems like ages, when I try to remember my college days at Patna Women’s College. Two decades is a long time to remember much about everyone but today as I read about the murder of Dr Papiya Ghosh, all those memories started running back in my mind.

Today I feel honored that I was a student of Dr Ghosh while completing my Graduation from Patna Women’s College in the year 1979-81. I was a new student in the College and I feel she had also joined the College recently. I still remember her walk on the corridors. We were charmed with her simplicity and the innovative way of teaching. Learning History was fun for us with her around. I still remember she was one of the Teachers who did not believe in giving notes but rather believed in increasing the interests of her students in the subject.

Thus as I read about the gruesome murder of Dr Ghosh I also feel that we all have lost one of our most beloved Teachers. May God rest her soul in peace and give her family members strength to face this tragedy. I also wish that for once the Police Dept and the Bihar Govt should show enough responsibility to nab the criminals and punish them.

Good bye, Dr Ghosh, I will never forget you.
 

I never had a chance to meet Dr. Papiya Ghosh but as a student of Patna University from 72-74 doing intermediate from Patna College, I do not remember if she was senior to us or contemporary but her name as a student was famous among the history students. Later she joined teaching and commanded great respect among her students and colleagues. Those days during our times, Patna College respected the senior students or I would say the brilliant students and they were seen with very respectful eyes. I remember Papiya and her younger sister Tuktuk's names were famous not only among the students but also among the teachers who used to talk about their academic qualities in the class. It happens when you have not met someone but have developed regards for the person. Dr. Papiya Ghosh was one of them.

My nephews and nieces who were her students idolised her and felt proud to be the students of Dr. Ghosh.

My very humble homage to her and the family. May her soul rest in peace and give strength to the family and her students to bear this loss.

Murders or murderers, I believe, always had some motives, some enmity, some negative emotions towards the victim, but any of these with Papiya Ma'am? I cannot relate the person I knew as Papiya Ghosh and the tragedy that hit her. Extremely strict as a Professor who gave zero upon fifty to her History students in their tests but her warmth as a human being couldn't be missed out by those close to her.

Packed with energy, clad in Khadi, excellent command over language and those roaring lectures... You'll remain close to our hearts, always, our Papiya Ma'am!!

Today when I opened PatnaDaily after a lapse of sometime I never expected to see this - Oh my God – I am stunned and don’t have words for it – Ms Papiya Ghosh certainly did not deserve this –the Nitish Government must do something to find the culprits. It will be a shame if he fails in this task. Law and order in Bihar has gone to the gutters anyway refusing to bury its ugly head but Papiya Ghosh will be one of its casualties was unthinkable. Bihar being synonymous with anarchy has never seemed so true.

Ms Ghosh’s integrity and reputation as a teacher of history was exemplary – I remember at a time when we were still being taught in traditional ways with yellowing age old notes, from books that were written in historical times limiting our ability to question, Ms Ghosh introduced us to the wider world teaching us to research in new ways, refer to new publications, query traditional views on Modern Indian History and most of all respond to them in an innovative manner. It was HER teaching of Modern Indian History – I still think that made me ready for greater challenges in Universities/world outside my comfort zone of Patna.

"Simple living, high thinking" sounds so clichéd but in her case it was true in every sense. Oh, as students, how we idolised her for her intellect and how well she combined it with her simplicity - I admired her as one of the true intellectuals of modern Bihar. She was such a popular student of St Joseph's known for debating skills in the sane old days when Patna was the intellectual capital and not the crime capital.

In my view, she was the history Teacher with a difference – for good reasons of course that we had in our College days. Her knowledge, the lectures, her impeccable English, her commitment to work and the humility with which she performed her task - cannot be praised enough. She was also a stickler for time – her three words as she entered the classroom dot on time “bolt the door” before she started the lectures is resounding in my mind. Even now, I would imitate her when I would ask others to close the doors behind them! She had excellent opportunities outside Bihar but she chose to stay there and she was one of those role models who had travelled and studied around the world but always came back to her place of birth. It is a travesty of justice that that the same place has let her down so badly. She was a good soul and will rest in peace but the killers who did this despicable act should never ever be allowed to go scot free by the Nitish Government – it is a challenge for him. Having some understanding of the crime scene there, one has to be a complete idiot to believe that it was a simple case of robbery.

Ms Papiya Ghosh was one of the few shining lights in that decadent atmosphere of Bihar – Alas that light has gone so violently and so frivolously! Through PatnaDaily, her former student who would admired her immensely would like to convey her heartfelt condolences to Ms Ghosh’s friends, family and the academia of Patna University.

I have known Professor Dr Papiya Ghosh and her sister Mrs. TukTuk Ghosh IAS for the past 32 years ever since I joined the MA course in History at the University of Delhi way back in 1975. Papiya will always be remembered as an excellent and warm hearted person ever willing to help her colleagues. I was utterly shocked and traumatised at her brutal murder along with her live in maid, Malti Devi. I cannot imagine why anyone in the world would like to harm such a person as Papiya. She has earned a reputation for herself as a dedicated researcher in the field of Modern Indian History. Her students will miss a good teacher and the country has lost a leading historian.

The crime needs to be investigated and the criminals who perpetrated this ghastly act be brought to justice. From the Reports that have been published it appears that the police in Patna are treating this as a robbery and murder. However, all aspects need to be investigated and the academic community reassured that such crimes will not go unpunished.

My deepest condolence to Dr (Mrs) Tuk-Tuk Ghosh, her younger sister and the rest of the family.

I was a Science Student, and did not know Dr. Papiya Ghosh personally. But I had heard a lot about her from my sister, who was her student and from my Aunts, who are Professors in Patna Women's College. I was deeply saddened by this horrifying news. It is heart breaking to read about Professors like her and other good and learned people meet such fate.
I pray for her family and hope the killers are nabbed and severely punished.

As an alumnus of both St. Joseph's Convent and Patna Women's College I pay my tributes to Dr. Papiya Gosh. She was an inspiration for everyone at PWC and her intellectual pursuits will reverberate forever in the corridors of Patna University and further beyond by her students and admirers. Hopefully this ghastly crime will spur the government and the public into making Patna a safe place for people who do not make their livings from crime and its associated business.