“It was the happiest period of my life.” That’s how Dr Manmohan Singh remembered his days at Panjab University (PU) and Hindu College, Amritsar, where the foundation of his extraordinary journey that would make him one of India’s most respected leaders was laid.
As the university’s most illustrious alumnus post-Independence, Singh was celebrated for his intellect and humility. But he often credited his success to mentors like Dr S B Rangnekar, who headed the university’s Economics Department. Singh, who joined the department in Hoshiarpur in 1952, said Rangnekar inspired him to pursue further studies at Cambridge University. Returning as a senior lecturer in 1957, Singh taught at Panjab University till 1966, becoming a full professor by 33 — a testament to his brilliance.
Recalling his time at the university during a visit in 2018, Singh said, “Dr Rangnekar and his wife Shalini treated me like family. That was the happiest time of my life.” His students too admired him. Professor H S Shergill, professor emeritus, who studied under him, recalled, “He came fully prepared for every lecture, spoke with clarity, and commanded respect. Even we, as students, never dared to be late to his lecture.”
Chandigarh remained close to Singh’s heart even after he moved to Delhi. He and his wife Gursharan Kaur once owned a house in Sector 11 and maintained a small but loyal circle of friends. As a member of the Governing Body of Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) in Chandigarh, he was close to its executive vice-chairman, the late Dr Rashpal Malhotra, and it was said that a room at CRRID was always reserved for him.
Singh’s intellectual legacy is preserved at the university’s Guru Teg Bahadur reading hall, where he donated over 3,500 books and memorabilia. In 2018, the Chandigarh College of Architecture designed a special space to house his collection.
His bond with Hindu College, Amritsar, was equally enduring. Revisiting the campus 70 years after his graduation in 1948, Singh said, “This college made me what I am today.” He had topped the university in both intermediate and graduation exams, earning a BA (Honours) in Economics.
Singh’s brilliance took him from Punjab to Cambridge, where he earned First Class Honours in Economics, and later to Oxford, where he completed a D.Phil. His seminal book, “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth (1964)”, challenged India’s inward-looking trade policies, foreshadowing the reforms he would later spearhead.
In 2018, delivering a lecture at Panjab University to honour his mentor, Singh issued a subtle but stinging critique of authoritarianism and divisive politics. Without taking names, he warned against attempts to divide Indians on the lines of religion, caste, or language, and called for unity in the face of growing threats to democracy.
Earlier, after leaving the varsity in 1967, Singh returned to Panjab University twice, each time receiving an honorary degree. On March 12, 1983, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Literature, and on March 11, 2009, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law.
Like former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Singh was also born in Jhelum, now in Pakistan. His family settled in Amritsar after Partition, while Gujral’s family relocated to Jalandhar.
As news of his death trickled in, for many in Chandigarh it felt like a personal loss.
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