Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers

         Paramesh Ranjan Dhar – An Eulogy By Hirak Sen   [Delivered  at a memorial meeting organized by the Alumni of Imperial College London based in Kolkata (lovingly known as the Old Centralian) o n Saturday, September 9, 2017, in Room #150, at the Bengal Club] I will remember Paramesh Ranjan Dhar, or Parameshda to most of us, as a man 1.       of elegant style 2.       of inconspicuous charisma 3.       of finely tuned interpersonal skill 4.       of charming social skill 5.       of bold romanticism 6.       of outstanding marketing skill, and last but not the least, 7.       of preeminent expertise in pile foundation engineering.   In what follows, I will exemplify these with a few anecdotes from his life that I was a privileged witness to. But before I do that, let me tell you, by way of putting this in a well defined time frame, that he was born on 7th August 1933 and died on 5th August 2017, two days short of his 84th birthday. The year was back i

   He is dancing, bouncing and shuffling. He is gyrating around his opponent, with his graceful footwork, lightning speed, great power and remarkable stability.  I focus my binoculars on Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. In his blue-striped white trunks, red gloves, and hand-painted boxing shoes—not a mark on his face—his stance straight and unorthodox, he looks the picture of confidence. He is defending his title against challenger Brian London, the European Heavyweight Champion, aka the British Bulldog. London in his orthodox classic stance, white-striped red trunks and red gloves—his face bearing marks of many past bouts—feet shoulder distance apart planted firmly on the mat, he looks rugged and courageous. Ali is dancing and gliding like a figure skater and London responding to his gyration with minimal footwork. They are already 90 seconds into Round 3. This is happening at Earls Court Center in London. A magnificent arena with the boxing r

Louvre Pyramid illuminated at night  (Attribution: Creative Commons Attribution from Wikimedia Commons) I first visited the Louvre several decades ago when I was still a postgraduate student in structural engineering. I revisited the place last month. In between, in the 1980's, a large glass and metal Pyramid, surrounded by three smaller pyramids, was constructed in the central courtyard (Cour Napoleon). At the time the design was unveiled, most critics perceived this as an unwelcome intrusion of modernism into  traditional architecture. The design attracted much adverse criticism and like every other person affiliated to the construction industry I too was aware of the raging controversy. However, I told myself then to withhold my opinion until I have seen it with my own eyes because still pictures often do not convey the truth. Louvre Pyramid at daytime  (Attribution: Creative Commons Attribution from Wikimedia Commons) During the intervening years, in 2006, I als

I am privileged and humbled to receive the 'Keith Eaton International Award 2012" from John Nolan, President of the Institution of Structural Engineers. This was at a sit down dinner attended by some 150 members of the Institution from all across the globe held at Radisson Blu Hotel in Edinburgh on 19 July 2012. Receiving the award from John Nolan, President of IStructE

Preamble:  Prof. Roger Plank, President and Darren Byrne, Director of Membership and Examination of the Institution of Structural Engineers arrived in Kolkata on 12 March 2011 on a six day visit to promote structural engineering and to raise the profile and membership base of the Institution in the Kolkata region. In my three capacities, namely, as a Council Member, as the Chairman of the International Interest Group and as the Country Representative of the Institution--all of course labor of love for me, I organized the engagements, in which I sought and received generous help from fellow members Tapan Roy, R N Basu, Manoj Majumdar, Dr. B C Roy, Jeremy Hall, Phalguni Banerjee, Mriganka Roy, Salil Roy and Dr. Kalyan Ganguly.  While I joined Roger and Darren to make a threesome team at all engagements, some of the other members joined in at a particular event as mentioned later in this blog.  Over the span of six days the three of us attended some thirteen rewarding and enjoyable ev

Dr. J. C. Chapman in late 1960's Beyond borders: Dr. John Clifford Chapman, (Jack to his colleagues and Dr. Chapman to his students), had a long and distinguished teaching and research career in structural engineering at Imperial College. His career at Imperial College spanned over several decades during which he mentored some fifty researchers leading to their respective PhD's and publications in refereed journals.  His students came from all across the globe. During my time, for example, in the second half of the 1960's and early 1970's, his students included: Kevin Moffat from New Zealand, Don Williams from Australia, PTK Lim from Singapore, SP Sarana/ Prabir Neogi/ me from India, Bijaan Aalami from Iran, Lloyd Yam from Hong Kong, Alexander Stamenkovic from Yugoslavia, Ian Tereszkevic/ Peter Malewski from Poland, Patrick Dowling from the Irish Republic, Paul Lyons and Tony Duke from England. Dr. Chapman treated all his students equally. He was able to brid

One of many traveletors Splendor and awe:  On July 31, 2010, while travelling from Heathrow to Kolkata, I landed at New Delhi's Terminal-3 as a transit passenger. I had a couple of hours in hand and decided to explore the facility.  The new terminal was opened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 3 July but it became operational about a fortnight later.  Prior to the  formal opening of the terminal, MSN had carried a story on the Terminal entitled: "Splendour and Awe at Delhi's New Airport Terminal 3", and on 25 June I  had uploaded a posting  on the terminal in this blog. So I was more than curious to find out for myself what it looked like and  was exceedingly happy to see that it is a truly world class facility but then I had expected no less.   Same merchandise...same brands...across the globe The construction team: Construction and management of the T3 is handled by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which is a private consortium of the GMR Grou