“It was the happiest period of my life.” Thus Dr. Manmohan Singh recalled his days at Punjab University (PU) and Hindu College, Amritsar, where the foundations were laid for his extraordinary journey that would make him one of India’s most respected leaders.
As the university’s most distinguished alumnus since independence, Singh was celebrated for his wisdom and humility. But he mostly attributed his success to mentors like Dr SB Rangnekar, head of the university’s economics department. Singh, who joined the department at Hoshiarpur in 1952, said Rangnekar inspired him to pursue further studies at Cambridge University. Returning as a senior lecturer in 1957, Singh taught at Punjab University until 1966, becoming a full professor by 33 – a testament to his talent.
Recalling his time during a visit to the university in 2018, Singh said, “Dr. Rangnekar and his wife Shalini treated me like family. It was the happiest time of my life.” His students also praised him. Professor Emeritus Professor HS Shergill, who studied under him, recalled, “He came fully prepared for every lecture, spoke with clarity and commanded respect. Even we, as students, never dared to be late for his lectures. “
Even after moving to Delhi, Chandigarh was close to Singh’s heart. He and his wife Gursharan Kaur once owned a house in Sector 11 and had a small but loyal circle of friends. As a member of the governing body of the Chandigarh-based Center for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), he was close to its Executive Vice-President late Dr Rashpal Malhotra and it is said that a room was always reserved at CRRID. for him.
Singh’s intellectual legacy is preserved in the university’s Guru Teg Bahadur Reading Hall, where he donated more than 3,500 books and mementos. In 2018, Chandigarh College of Architecture designed a special space to house its collection.
His association with Hindu College, Amritsar was equally permanent. Revisiting the campus 70 years after his graduation in 1948, Singh said, “This college has made me who I am today.” He topped the university in both the Intermediate and Graduation examinations by earning BA (Hons) in Economics.
Singh’s talent took him from Punjab to Cambridge, where he earned first class honors in economics, and later to Oxford, where he completed his D.Phil. His seminal book, “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth (1964)” challenged India’s inward-looking trade policies, foreshadowing the reforms he would later lead.
In 2018, while delivering a lecture at Punjab University to honor his mentor, Singh issued a subtle but strong critique of authoritarianism and divisive politics. Without naming names, he warned against attempts to divide Indians on the basis of religion, caste, or language and called for unity in the face of growing threats to democracy.
Earlier, Singh returned to Punjab University twice after leaving the university in 1967, receiving an honorary degree each time. On March 12, 1983, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Literature, and on March 11, 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws.
Like former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Singh was born in Jhelum, now in Pakistan. After partition, his family settled in Amritsar, while Gujral’s family settled in Jalandhar.
When news of his death broke, it felt like a personal loss for many in Chandigarh.
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