Rev. Fr. John Felix Raj, S.J., Hon’ble Vice-chancellor of St Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) delivered the second Annual Christmas Lecture at Parasmani, Santiniketan on December 17, 2022.

Fr. Raj spoke on ‘Brahmabandhav Upadhyay: A Prophet for all seasons. Teachers, noted civil society members and other dignitaries from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan and SXUK attended the programme. Parasmani is the Centre for Research and Social Outreach of SXUK in Ratanpally, Bolpur.

In his delightful address, Fr. Raj narrated Upadhyay as a paradoxical figure who played a key role in the struggle for independence, along with Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghose and others. Father referred to Upadhyay as a forgotten prophet of India’s search for nationhood and modernity.

While narrating life sketch of Upadhyay, Fr. Raj mentioned about Animananda who along with the former founded a school following Vedic tradition in Calcutta in 1900. Fr. Raj hailed their ideas of reviving the notion of teacher-student relationship in terms of knowledge sharing and building a stronger nation.

It was on Tagore’s request that Brahmabandhav Upadhyay shifted their school from Calcutta to Santiniketan with Animananda as a teacher there, he added. This incident was the onset of establishing today’s Visva-Bharati. Fr. Raj also shared Upadhyay’s contribution to Indian Christian theology.

While concluding, Fr. Raj invited the faculty members from both SXUK and Visva-Bharati to work jointly for research and innovation in related sectors. He also urged the students from both institutions to co-assist their teachers in research works.

Somak Sen