Among the distinguished botanists of Assam, Dr. Ananda Chandra Dutta was the exceptional perfectionist as a plant identifier, with expertise in tea taxonomy, tea morphology, anatomy and cytology. Despite passing his 10th class only, he shows example of such a brilliance in various domains that his life story remains a saga of inspiration and inquisitiveness.
Early Life of Ananda Chandra Dutta:
He was born in 1923 at Chekonidhara in Jorhat District. His family was not financially sound. As he mentioned once, his mother looked after the family by weaving all night. His father earned only six anna per month from a sugarcane farm. He could not complete his college degree due to the poor economic condition. So, he joined as a teacher at a school at Mariani travelling ten kilometer during Pre-Independence era.
Career and Achievements:
He joined the Tocklai tea research center’s experimental station as a junior technical assistant under the mentorship of William Wight for Rs. 50 per month in 1947. Dr. Wight was a noted British botanist. Being impressed by Ananda Chandra Dutta’s inclination towards plant physiology and his dedication, and his excellence in drawing even minute parts of plants, Wight gave him the responsibility of maintaining the herbarium of the Centre which had 10 thousand species of trees in 1952.
He also taught photography to Dutta even in the dark room. After the retirement of Dr. Wight, Dutta sincerely managed all his works of slides, diagram, design, layout, microphotography and so on. The relation between the two botanists was so cordial that at the time of departure Wight gifted him four almirah with 1800 books in total, his German camera, a German wall clock, and a binocular.
In 1987, Ananda Chandra Dutta worked as a photographer at Titabor sericulture farm for one year. He was reappointed at Tocklai experimental station to prepare herbarium index in 1990. He did not get much promotions due to lack of a higher degree despite showing exuberance.
He also proved with hands on experiment that vehicles could be run with oil extracted from The Indian Rose Chestnut Tree (commonly known as Nahor in Assamese). He wrote many research-based articles on medicinal values of indigenous plants of Assam.
As a plant identifier, Dr Ananda Chandra Dutta was an example of exceptional merit with the ability of identifying 3000 species of plants with common and scientific names. He could cut paraffin embedding section of delicate tea tissues, and count chromosomes by smear method as well.
He was good at playing instruments such as Flute, Pepa, Sitar, Gogona, Mouth-Organ, Harmonium etc. He was also proficient in weaving and knitting. Apart from the cultural side, he also used to play games like Football, Tennis and Badminton.
He was awarded the Doctorate Degree from Dibrugarh University in 2012, and was honored with the title “Prakriti Pran” for his contribution to nature conservation.
His Publications As A Writer:
Dutta was also a prolific writer His first book entitled, “Some common weeds of the T.E. in India” published in 1972. In the book, he included sample of various weeds with 128 drawings. In 1977, he set up a full-fledged tea museum with his own drawings and diagrams at Tocklai after undergoing a training at Birla Technical Museum in Kolkata.
After retiring in 1983, he joined the Assam Agriculture University as audio-visual aid assistant for the duration of 2 years. Few of his publications are: Some Shade Trees, Green Crop and Cover Crop Plants in the T.E. of North-West India (1979), Dictionary of Economic and Medicinal Plants and Their Medicinal Use (1985), Some Common Weeds of the T.E. in NE India, Photography (1980) – This is the first book about photography published in Assamese, Bonoushdhir Goon Aaru Rug Arugyo (2003) (in Assamese), Asomor Gos Gosoni (1st Part) (in Assamese), Udbhid Upadan – Part 1 (2004) (in Assamese).
He also published many articles and letters in different magazines and newspapers. After publishing his findings on international journal of Phyto morphology, he was so thrilled and motivated that every day seemed to be a new day of discoveries and amusements for this man with great zeal.
Death of Ananda Chandra Dutta:
This exceptional researcher of Assamese plants and folk culture, breathed his last in 2016 at the age of 93. His death is a huge loss for the society of Assamese Botany researchers.
His works and enthusiasm will motivate many young minds of the state in the coming days.
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