In The Demise Of Dr Ramesh Chandra Sharma, Agra Has Lost A Treasure Of History

Historian Ramesh Chandra passed away on 10 August, his departure is like Agra being deprived of that thinker who was continuously engaged in acquiring knowledge and filling history with factual information. Dr. Sharma remained active throughout his life, even when he passed away on 10 August, he was presiding over the meeting of the Shaheed Memorial Committee to prepare for the programs to be organized on 15 August 2024 at the Shaheed Memorial at Sanjay Place.

His health suddenly deteriorated in the meeting. His elder son Anil Sharma, who was present as a member in the committee meeting, had to take him to the hospital, but by the time treatment etc. was possible, he had already died. Thus, Agra lost a selfless heritage thinker who did continuous research and reached the 88th year of his life.

Since my family and Dr. Ramesh Chandra Sharma have had a close relationship with his family for the last 70 years, I consider it my duty to shed light on his knowledge and personality through newspapers and this article.

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Sharma was my elder brother Maxi's classmate at St. John's College since 1953. When I was admitted in the first year of Intermediate in January 1957 at St. John's College, he was doing his M.A. in History and was a first-year student. Since both my house and his house were in Ghatia Azam Khan, I often used to accompany him while walking to college.

My middle brother R.B. Smith was his classmate. He used to address him as 'Ramesh bhai'. I remember very well that Sharma ji always had thick books in his hands, while all of us used to carry only routine books and notebooks. The books in his hands often also contained those books, which were not the ones taught in the university but were considered useful for advanced studies and research.

From Ramesh bhai to 'Sharma Sir'

When I was admitted to B.A. (First Year) in July 1958, Prof. Kanungo, who used to teach us History in Intermediate (at that time Intermediate was also taught in degree colleges), left his service in the college and went to some other college and Ramesh bhai was appointed as a teacher in his place. The college administration told us that he would teach us Indian History (Medieval Period). From that day onwards Ramesh bhai became 'Sharma Sir' for me.

At that time History classes were held in Room No. 9 on the first floor of the college building, perhaps they are held there even now. There used to be 60 students in the class, girls used to sit in the first two rows, behind them sat those students who were more interested in studies and were ready to answer quickly when asked by the teacher. In the last rows were those students who were more interested in mischief than in studies. Such students used to come to class only to mark their attendance and to tease classmates, especially girl students. Keeping them quiet was not an easy task and some old teachers had experience of teaching them, most of them believed that they neither studied themselves nor allowed diligent students to teach.

Changed environment

Even in such an environment, Dr. Sharma's work was far above average. The reason for this was the strictness or firmness in his voice. It is possible that it did not reach some of those sitting in the last row, but those who wanted to study started sitting quietly in the class and also started taking an interest in the lectures due to the teaching style. Within a few days, the class started running peacefully.

In those days, the head of the History Department was an English lady, Ms. Gibbs. Based on her experiences, this change in the behaviour of the students was surprising but pleasant for her. Actually, Ms. Gibbs's voice was not very loud, communication etiquette was her habit. Probably her voice could reach properly only till the first rows. Due to this, the students sitting in the last row kept talking among themselves all the time. The positive assessment of the new professor by the English department head was considered a big achievement of that time.

Pre-graduate and high school failure

The educational environment of that time can be gauged from the fact that one had to make several attempts to pass the class. But even after this, when the students could not pass, they used to leave the college and while putting a nameplate at home, they used to consider it their achievement to put Pre Graduate or BA Fail on it.

Many students who could not even pass high school despite many efforts, many of them used to get 'High School Fail' written on the name plate of their house. The logic behind this was that at least people would get to know that 'they have studied till high school'. These people believed that passing or failing is in the hands of God.

Generally, the reason for students failing was Maths and English subjects. I remember that since starting teaching, Dr Sharma was an inspiration for the brilliant students, while the unruly ones also accepted him as a polite teacher. Immersed in books,

-Neville Smith