A homecoming for the West Bengal Governor, visits Chennai college where he served as faculty

It was a homecoming for West Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose who visited Guru Nanak College in Chennai were he spent his early years as an faculty in the Department of English

It was a homecoming of sorts for C. V. Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal, who visited Guru Nanak College in Velachery on March 4.

Ananda Bose was among the early faculties in the Department of English at the college. He had a year-long stint there in 1972. Guru Nanak College started in 1971 when Velachery was on the fringes of the city map and connectivity left a lot to be desired.

“I had to take two buses to reach the college,” the Governor recalled. A native of Kerala, Ananda Bose left the college after clearing the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination.

As it was the early days of the college, it had only two buildings and started as a men’s college. “This was a baby institute and I was a baby teacher,” he said in his speech laced with anecdotes stressing the power of education.

The sanctioned strength in those days was 450, and Velachery was sparsely populated.

“The greatness that has happened to this institute has also been replicated in my humble life,” said the bureaucrat who retired as chief secretary to the Secretary to Government of India. The institute has more than 7,000 students now.

He also mentioned his association with the Governor of Tamil Nadu R.N. Ravi as “service mates”.