Sajni Mukherji (1945–2025): Beloved literature professor at Jadavpur University and a friend to all

There is a curious tendency among Kolkatans – or maybe it’s more universal – to adopt teachers. “So-and-so was my teacher,” you might catch someone saying. The uninitiated will not know that a follow-up question is warranted. “Direct teacher?” “No, not direct, but she was like my teacher.” This distinction between “direct” teachers and a teacher in a less technical capacity – someone who has been adopted as an intellectual role-model, usually unbeknownst to them – can cause the occasional territory battle among “direct students” and “indirect students.” But in my experience, teachers who are prone to being adopted by a large number of “indirect students” often indulge both factions equally outside (sometimes even inside) the classroom.

An effortlessly indulgent teacher

Sajni Mukherji was one such. I say this with confidence because I wasn’t a “direct student” but ended up forming a close friendship with her nonetheless. Sajni-di had retired before I joined the Department of English at Jadavpur University as an undergrad in 2008 but she was one of the teachers whom seniors would mention frequently to inspire “golden age” envy in the younger lot. She had been at JU since 1976, following brief stints at Lady Brabourne College and the School of Language, Literature...

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