Silchar: The Mass Communication department at Assam University saw a rare moment of warmth and nostalgia on Tuesday as its former head, Prof Partha Chattopadhyay, walked through its corridors more than two decades after he last served there. The 89-year-old eminent journalist and noted Bengali writer led the department from 1999 to 2001.

Prof Chattopadhyay, who is in Silchar to inaugurate the Silchar Book Fair 2025, made time to reconnect with the department that grew under his early leadership. He was welcomed by the current head, Dr Charvak, and was joined by his nephew, S. N. Ganguly, former Senior Executive Engineer of the Calcutta Port Trust.

He spent several hours in the department, speaking with faculty, staff, and students, recalling its early challenges and taking in how much it has changed.

“It feels like coming home,” he said while pausing to look around the updated classrooms and facilities. “When I left more than twenty-five years ago, we had a vision. What I see today is that vision realised and even exceeded.”

Prof Chattopadhyay is regarded as a major figure in journalism and mass communication education, known especially for his widely read Bengali book on mass communication. His career includes international work, notably with communication theorist Wilbur Schramm at the East-West Center in Hawaii.

Former staff members who worked with him, including Pranob Bhattacharjee and Kutub Uddin Ansari, said the visit felt like a reunion with a mentor who shaped the department’s early character. Bhattacharjee noted that many of the technical and administrative skills the staff now use with ease were first instilled by Prof Chattopadhyay.

Students gathered around him as he spoke about shifts in the media landscape, the impact of technology, and the steady relevance of strong writing and reading habits. Before leaving, he said he hoped the department would continue to nurture curiosity, discipline, and integrity among its students.

Prof Chattopadhyay inaugurated the Silchar Book Fair on December 1. The fair runs until December 10 and continues to highlight the work of writers, thinkers, and educators whose contributions, like his, leave a lasting mark.

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