Only yesterday I learnt of the sad demise of Prof. Som P. Ranchan, a scholar of international repute.
Unfortunately , I never had a chance to be associated with him, as
he joined the English faculty of
Himachal University in the seventies after I had
left . Friends who had stayed
back for further studies had the good
luck to be his students and to interact with him and were all praise for
his learning and scholar ship . He was a teacher, novelist, poet, critic rolled into one and had done commendable work on Walt Whitman,
the American poet. As an academician, he left his mark
home and abroad. Years ago a friend had
given me a book on Aurotherapy ,
authored by Prof. Ranchan. I had a
brief meeting with him in December,
2012 when an
acquaintance introduced me to him
and we had tea together in some
restaurant. It was a stimulating
experience. It seems poetry runs in the blood . Two of his younger
brothers namely Vijay Ranchan and Arvind
Ranchan are acclaimed
poets in Hindi and his daughter Renee
has a published English poetry collection to her credit .
R I P Prof. Ranchan !
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