A Conversation With Rudrangshu Mukherjee

Kartik Sundar, Class of 2020

“Sometimes I surprise myself with my own eloquence”, said Professor Mukherjee as the entire crowd burst into uproarious laughter. “Rudy”, as he is popularly known among students, provided a glimpse into his private life. Given the way the entire university looks up to him, it was unsurprising that the entire room was packed to the tee. Professor Mukherjee was interviewed in a one on one discussion, followed by a Q&A session and a rapid fire round on 30 January. Attempting to summarise all the things Professor Mukherjee spoke about would be doing them an injustice, but of the many things he divulged to the crowd his passion for cricket and classical music stood out most.

Cricket and classical music formed two of Professor Mukherjee’s biggest interests growing up. Up until the age of fifteen, his ambition was solely to play for the Indian Cricket Team. Upon realizing that he could not balance cricket with his academics, Mukherjee decided to quit playing competitively. His love for the game continued into his tenure at Oxford wherein he watched the sport religiously. And when the South African match-fixing scandal first broke in early 2000, it brought him to tears; hearing that people he looked up to were involved in the controversy broke Mukherjee’s love for the game.

His passion for cricket is equally matched by his love for classical music: during one of the trying times of his life, classical music was his sustenance. He was once diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy that required him to stay within the confines of his home for days on end; and until the medication began to cure him, classical music helped him during this period. To this day, his love for the genre remains as strong as ever, as he speaks of Beethoven’s and Bach’s symphonies even within the classroom.

The rapid fire round that proceeded after the interview saw Mukherjee answer a series of questions in the style of Marx’s Confessions. The interview went as follows:

Interviewer: Your idea of happiness

Mukherjee: None. I don’t think human beings can actually be happy. You can have moments of happiness, I have moments of happiness when I listen to Mozart or Beethoven or Bach, but it’s one hour.

Interviewer: Your idea of misery?

Mukherjee: Not being able to read and listen to music.

Interviewer: The vice you excuse the most?

Mukherjee: Cowardice

Interviewer: The vice you detest the most?

Mukherjee: Gratuitous lying.

Interviewer: Your favorite occupation?

Mukherjee: What I’m doing now.

Interviewer: Your favorite poet?

Mukherjee: Eliot and Yeats. Eliot, the correct answer is Eliot.

Interviewer: Your favourite maxim?

Mukherjee: Well I can only count my guru on this, “doubt everything”.

Interviewer: Your favorite motto?

Mukherjee: “Nonviolence is the first article of my faith, it is also the last article of my creed”, Gandhi.

Interviewer: And your favorite possession?

Mukherjee: My books and my music.