Dipak Banerjee

These were difficult times for Indians, especially ambitious young Indians like Dipak.

In 1955, Professor Lionel Robbins was the chairman of the BSc (Econ) examination committee of LSE.

He was very old-fashioned, almost pompous, conservative to the core. The rumor is that he did not like Indians very much and was not in favour of a liberal immigration policy.

Dipak banerjee was Indian, a chemistry honors student from India, now applying as an External student to LSE because he loves Economics.

He went to a Polytechnic at night and worked in an accountancy firm by day for money.

Dipak had studied chemistry in Kolkata as per his father’s wish, A renowned headmaster.

After a stint of a couple of years as a fairly well-paid trainee at an English Bank in Calcutta, he had made enough savings and set sail for England one day in the early Fifties without the knowledge of the headmaster sir.

From the ship, He told an astounded father that he was going to join the London School of Economics for a BSc (Econ) degree.

But he was ignorant of Professor Robbins’ fetish of British supermacy.
The only grace for Dipak in1955, was that Professor Robbins wanted LSE to have the best people no matter what colour they were. And Dipak did disappoint him.

Robbins was so much impressed by his interview that not only he selected him but slotted him for assistant lectureship later at LSE .

He was disappointed when Dipak chose to come back to Presidency College as Assistant Professor after his PhD.

*Nirmala Patankar*, who did her BSc (Econ) at LSE the same year, came back to India too.

Dipak and Nirmala were happily married.

Avijit Vinayak Banerjee was born to them in 1961.