Opinion A tribute to anil wilson,1947-2009
My friend Anil Wilson lost his battle to pancreatic cancer last week.
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My friend Anil Wilson lost his battle to pancreatic cancer last week. When he first told me last October,almost in passing,that he had been diagnosed with cancer,I lapsed into stunned silence while he continued to say that he had already searched the Net and learned that there was,at best,a 2 per cent chance of recovery. He had always been so healthy that he had hardly ever even needed to take an aspirin! When he undertook what he thought was a routine medical test,the doctors pronouncement was devastating. Yet,in our subsequent meetings,he discussed his condition almost clinically,and went beyond it to discuss everything else that was happening around us,the forthcoming elections and,of course,matters that related to St Stephens College. With us always was Rita,his most supportive wife and a noted educationist in her own right. On one occasion,we spoke of our respective journeys,the need to do whatever we had to to the best of our abilities,but in a spirit of surrender to the Universe,for none of us could ever know for whom the bell tolled and when.
I first met Anil at a farewell lunch for the previous principal,Dr Hala,as early as the winter of 1991. I have to say,like my colleague and fellow Stephanian,Dr S.Y. Quraishi,I thought rather incorrectly that he was not the ideal choice for principal,because he had neither studied nor taught in College. He was comparatively young at the time of his appointment and he would have a very long tenure. But at that lunch,I was bowled over by his charm,his clarity of expression as well as his experience as an educationist. Over the subsequent months,I interacted with him quite closely and his ideas and his emerging vision for the college brought us together. We became friends. Our families met socially. Within about a year or so,he had blended surprisingly well into the ethos of the college. Within about two years,I began to think that he had always been there!
From morning assembly to observing the special occasions dear to old Stephanians,he did the right thing. By all accounts,he was a very good teacher and he blended discipline with an understanding of the aspirations of his young students. The students considered him to be approachable,fair and balanced. And that was his big plus in the running of the college. He initiated reforms. He took gender equality seriously and as the present principal,Dr Valson Thampu acknowledged in a recent tribute,he took the necessary steps that led,this year,to complete parity in residential seats between men and women students.
Anil ran a tight ship and he steered it confidently. He accepted that there was sometimes serious dissent,but his arguments were cogent and convincing. Where he could not achieve unanimity,he was graceful in accommodating the majority view. I came to appreciate these attributes as a member of the governing body where I served as the principals representative for four years. While the meetings were presided over by the chairman,the Bishop of Delhi,it was the principal who led from the front. It was in these meetings that we were all able to contribute to the various aspects of the running of the college and since I had the benefit of a ring side seat,I could observe closely the broad areas of college management and affairs.
He left the college to become pro-vice-chancellor of Himachal University for a year,to return in 1997,and remained principal thereafter for the next decade. In early 2007,he finally went back to Himachal University,this time as vice-chancellor a fitting culmination for a student from Himachal who chose to pursue an academic career. He stepped down from the vice-chancellors post in April 2008.
Last Saturday,Stephanians went ahead with a function to honour me for my appointment as the chief election commissioner . As Dr Quraishi said in an article that he wrote to commemorate Dr Wilsons life,I had been asked a few days previously whom I would like to have invited. I mentioned Dr Wilsons name as someone whom I would have liked to sit on the dais. Arvind Malhotra and Sudhir Sareen were true to their word. A chair was specially placed on the dais. It remained vacant. We commemorated Anil Wilsons presence in spirit. Rightly so,the occasion also converted itself into a tribute to Anil Wilson,a celebration of his innings as one of St Stephens colleges longest serving principals .
He leaves behind his wife,Dr Rita Wilson,son Amit,daugher-in-law Puja and daughter Anu.
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