Nobel laureate's friend recalls his love for western music

Kolkata: Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee was fond of English classics and Western music, his friend in the Presidency College here said on Tuesday.

Abhijit Pathak said Banerjee had a select group of friends in the premier institute, of which he was a part.

"Banerjee had an abiding interest on wide-ranging issues and not solely in academics. From English classics to western music to films, he had deep interests and undoubtedly he was better informed than me on these," Pathak said.

He recalled one incident when he was

taken to a special show of Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and Great Dictator at the American Centre by Banerjee.

Pathak said he was introduced to Bob Dylan and western music by him. Revealing their divergent interest in the fields of arts, Pathak said, "while I knew the names and songs of most Rabindra Sangeet exponents by heart, I heard the name of Bob Dylan first from him."

"We came from different backgrounds. I came to the Presidency (College) from a Bengali medium school and was a bit introvert. We came closer after around six months," said Pathak, who is now a partner of a chartered accountancy firm.

It was clear that Presidency College, now Presidency University, nurtured Banerjee and shaped his future, he said.