Summary

Biswanath Datta is an engineer, former CEO, and writer from Kolkata, who has overcome personal and professional challenges, and is now focused on sharing his insights and experiences through writing.

Abstract

Biswanath Datta, born and educated in Kolkata, has a rich history of academic and professional achievements despite early financial struggles. His love for books began in childhood with used books bought by his uncle. Datta has had two near-death experiences that have profoundly shaped his appreciation for life and the importance of human relationships. He pursued higher education during tough economic times in India, eventually founding his own consulting firm. Throughout his career, Datta has worked with high-level officials and on significant urban infrastructure projects, gaining a diverse cultural exposure. Now, as a writer, he reflects on India's transformation from a famine-stricken country to a Mars-mission-capable nation, and he is eager to share his stories and realizations on Medium, a platform he finds reminiscent of the vibrant discussions of his youth in Kolkata.

Opinions

Datta values the power of books as gateways to new worlds and perspectives.
He believes that life's uncertainties make it essential to appreciate the beauty in everyday moments.
His experiences have taught him the importance of community and collective living.
Datta emphasizes the role of the heart in making personal life choices, suggesting that emotions can guide us as much as rational analysis.
He is critical of the political landscape, hinting at a perceived lack of wisdom guiding the world's destiny.
Datta is enthusiastic about the potential of Medium as a space for diverse voices and robust intellectual exchange.
He is grateful for the opportunity to publish on Illumination and is committed to contributing his insights through his writings.

Hi, May I Introduce Myself…

Self Portrait of Biswanath Datta (by Author)

This is Biswanath Datta

An Engineer, a former CEO, thinker and writer, always curious to know!

I write from my heart. And to share my thoughts.

I was born and educated in Calcutta (now Kolkata), the first capital of India as a British Colony. A city, once beautiful, had declined to a mix of squalor and poverty on one side and persuasion of knowledge and art on the other. The city of Calcutta is home to four Nobel Laureates and immortalized by Dominic Lapierre in his book, “City of Joy”.

From early childhood, I was fond of books. Every year, when I was promoted to the next class in school, new books were to be procured. My maternal uncle used to buy me used books, because we were not able to afford new books. Back home, I smelled those ‘fresh acquisitions’ and each smelt differently. I touched and felt the pages. When I grew up, I understood that each book provided me a gateway to a different world, mysterious and worth exploring like a new toy. I was hooked and I still am so many decades later.

I nearly died twice. At the age of nine, I suffered severe food poisoning and had to be hospitalized. I remained unconscious for more than six hours and Doctors were rather unsure whether I would survive. But I made it. At age thirty, I got drowned in a boat accident in a harbour on the Bay of Bengal, when I went for a site visit with a team of four. Not knowing how to swim, I struggled to not gulp water, bobbing up and down until I was rescued after five dreadful minutes that seemed like ages. These incidents taught me to value and appreciate life, every day of it, simply because one is still alive. Life is uncertain, but death is certain in this uncertain world. So, I admire everything on earth, like the sunshine, the first rain after a long hot summer, and all such little things we take for granted.

It also taught me that we can’t live alone, we need ‘others’. Living life is a collective affair, each one of us is important in it.

Belonging to a middle class family with struggling finances, my mother always encouraged me to study. Sometimes, I was made to study, when my friends were at play. Thanks to her, I was good at studies throughout my school and in college too. After finishing higher secondary and armed with a National Scholarship, I got admitted to a top-ranked University. This was my moment of achievement. After I graduated after five years of grueling studies, I found no jobs were available, although I was within the top three. It was a really bad economic phase for India. So I did my Masters in the meantime. Jobs followed.

During my college years I met a young girl known to my family, but belonging to an even poorer financial situation. I knew that my parents would never agree to this relationship. They wanted a bride from a more affluent family and it was not wrong on their part. Anyway, after thinking very deeply, I decided to respond to my heart. More struggles followed for both of us, but after nearly five decades I am happy that I took that difficult decision. After all the analyses and arguments by our brain, it is our heart that guides us to make the right choice in our personal lives; that human relationship is one of the most cherished things in our lives.

Curiosity may kill the cat, but not me. I am always curious to know more, even if these are not new technologies, management skills or leadership abilities. There is a child inside me that wants to touch, sense and explore all that is unknown. This is one reason why I changed so many jobs in my career, finally being Founder and CEO of my own consulting firm. During my long professional career, I had served large Corporations and Governments, taught at the University and worked as Team Leader in large Urban Infrastructure Development and Environmental projects that took me to several countries, exposing me to a large variety of culture, language and religion, enjoying the company of multi-cultural team members and citizens.

I have had the opportunity of working with Ministers, Chief Ministers and top level bureaucrats with varying experience. Interestingly, part of that led me to realize the famous quote: ‘how little wisdom guides the destiny of the world’. Often, I have wondered, whether it would ever be possible for the society to live without politicians!

(Photo by Pereanu Sebastian in Unsplash)

I still have an Olympia Traveller

When I hung up my professional boots, I decided to go back to my old flame — reading and writing. I had seen so much happening around me — from famine (although I was far too small to comprehend), India gaining Independence with the most harrowing human suffering, the Partition of India, its tryst with democracy being the world’s largest, its Green Revolution; its Wars, India’s incredible development in Science, Technology and Communications, finally sending a mission to Mars at the very first attempt. I researched and studied the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of this journey “From Famine to Mars Mission”, creating a manuscript of nearly 275 pages and now looking for a publisher.

Then one article I stumbled upon on the internet brought me to ‘Medium’.

Medium is a wonderful place to read all the different voices, opinions, personal experiences and realizations. It reminds me of my years in Calcutta, where in a motley crowd, two persons start a conversation on any topic; soon others, complete strangers, chip in and after a few minutes it becomes a heated and animated discussion as if life depend on it! I find Medium somewhat similar — interesting, invigorating and often exhilarating exchange of ideas, thoughts and bringing writers together.

I am thankful to Dr. Mehmet Yildiz for inviting me to publish on Illumination and I look forward to publishing many articles.