Do You Have a Mentor?
In life, we need inspiration, and we need direction and vision.
Life is a big game.
Life is not so simple, yet not so complex.
Life is lovable and adorable.
Every day of school and college, teachers taught us a considerable amount about this life game.
Some of our teachers shared great tips.
Their teachings were almost like sweet fruits coming down from giant trees. They were so natural and fresh. The memories of those teachings still support me in facing the hardships of the game of life.
Teachers taught me how to play the game of life.
In my school and college days, I got so many good teachers.
They were gems in their own right.
They taught me language, science, mathematics, music, football and volleyball, swimming, and humility. Above all, they taught me how to play the actual game—life.
Memories of their teachings support facing the hardships of life.
I remember one of our grand teachers who retired before I joined college.
He was my MS supervisor's (Prof. Ajoy Kumar Chakraborty's) supervisor at the University of Calcutta.
He is Late Professor Manoranjan De.
Prof. De did his masters in power engineering in the late 1940s.
Prof. De did his PhD in optics with Prof. Harold Hopkins, who was two years younger than him (Hopkins is also the pioneer of optical fiber and the optics of laser disk).
Born and Wolf's textbook in optics, Principles of Optics, referred to Prof. De's pioneering research in optical aberration theory.
Prof. De had beautiful ideas in 3D imaging and holography, some of which were published.
I came to his contact while procuring some lenses and polarization optical components for our graduate school at IIT Bombay.
Prof. De was then past his emeritus professorship. He was acting as an optical designer and director of an optical lens and components manufacturing company, Precision Optics and Machinery (POM), which he had co-founded in Kolkata (Calcutta) in the late 1950s.
Prof. Manoranjan De wrote to me in a letter, "Don't disbelieve yourself."
When I was suffering from my doctoral research problems, he sent me a handwritten letter by snail mail. It contained some ideas in my relevant areas of research.
Unfortunately, I lost that letter, which was handwritten in Bengali.
I still remember one of Prof. De's advice in the letter – "Don't disbelieve yourself."
That letter from Prof. De acted tremendously to boost my self-confidence.
I still need his teachings. I wonder if I would ever get such a great mentor again.
I wonder if I am destined to get such a great mentor in my life again who could say, "Don't disbelieve yourself"
The celebrated Prof. H. John Caulfield advised me, "Try to do something you don't know."
In 2011, I came in contact with celebrated Professor H. John Caulfield.
Prof. H. John Caulfield was the guest editor of the March 1984 issue of National Geographic Magazine, which published the first-ever holographic sticker of an eagle on its cover.
Prof. Caulfield completed his PhD before I was even born.
Prof. H. John Caulfield was a pioneer in holography and optical computing.
I invited Prof. Caulfield to give special lectures at a SPIE students' event at a college in India. And he kindly agreed and came to India to help us. He was seventy-plus at that time.
We hardly had sufficient time to chat and discuss research topics during the event because I was too busy organizing it.
Prof. Caulfield offered me a short advice - "Try to do something that you don't know."
That was a way Prof. Caulfield incited me toward innovation.
Later, we interacted by email. I initiated research studies in a new domain - microwave imaging (it was a completely new subject to me).
I carried out some intuitive experiments on color sensing under microwave illumination.
He offered his short remarks on the results by email.
After a couple of months, Prof. Caulfield was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The doctors told that he would live for only a few more months.
He wrote by email that he would prove the doctors wrong and live beyond that limit.
His last few concise emails from the hospital bed are the last memories I have in my email mailbox.
I will never forget his inspiring words for innovation. I have had his blessings in my past research.
Prof. Caulfield's teachings are the humane tools that would help me continue playing the game of life.
I suppose most of you have something to share about your mentors.
Please go ahead and write a post about your story.
If you like this article, please click the "like" button" and "leave a comment.
Lastly, please don't hesitate to share this article with your acquaintances. That is the only way it can reach a lot more people.
<> Originally published in my LinkedIn Newsletter.
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About me
I am a researcher and contribute to the overlapping areas of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). I am an active user and promoter of GNU/Linux, free and open-source software. I develop cybersecurity and information security solutions, specifically graphical authentication security.
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Thursday, April 18, 2024
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