Founder Vice-Chancellor of CSKHPKV leaves a void

        (16 August 1922 – 12 September 2017)

On a sun-lit noon of Tuesday, 12 September 2017, a pall of gloom descended on Palampur as the news got viral: Dr Het Ram Kalia is no more. Certainly, not just Palampur but the passing away of this legendary figure will be mourned far and wide: across the country and beyond. Dr Kalia’s is a story of a boy from  a rather remote Hamirpur village Jahu defying all odds, excelling in academics and finally making it to  the Ohio University in the USA through sheer brilliance and sharp intellect. Thus, returning home with a doctorate under his belt, for him sky was the limit.  He did a brief stint at HAU Hissar but finally his love for his own soil drew him to Himachal. And under his stewardship a College of Agriculture under PAU, Ludhiana, sprang up at Palampur in 1966. It was largely through his dynamism, vision and perseverance that this very college blossomed into what is now called the CSK HPKV, Palampur of which he became the founding Vice-Chancellor in 1978. In the formative years the challenges for him were many and varied but Dr Kalia steered the University’s ship with rare acumen and aplomb to make it one of the premier agricultural institutes of the country.

Dr Kalia was not just a brilliant scientist and a teacher. He was an able administrator and a visionary with a kind, noble soul. His radiant, vibrant persona with a neat, well-groomed crop of snow-white hair adorning his head lent him a peculiar aura. One can’t imagine meeting him even fleetingly and failing to come under his magic spell and charisma. He spoke impeccable, flawless English but had a special love for Urdu and the Pahari dialect as well. A learner always and imbued with childlike curiosity he, more than once, had  expressed his keen desire to learn Sanskrit from my father. Dr Kalia inspired all and helped a whole lot of youth climb ladders of success, build their careers and live happily ever after. His contribution in the field of agriculture and for the promotion of science has been matchless and laudable. Another defining feature of his tenure at the HPKV was the grace and gravitas he lent to the exalted chair of a Vice-Chancellor by keeping it sacrosanct and not letting the politicians erode its academic sheen.

In the evening of his life, he led a calm, quiet life in the serene and tranquil environs of his Palampur home (looked after by the Kalia clan with loving care)  against the backdrop of the mighty and magnificent Dhauladhar. The void this iconic personality, Dr H R Kalia, leaves amongst us – and more particularly in the academic world - will be hard to fill.
                                                                   ***