Prof JPS Uberoi dies at 90: Colleagues remember D-School’s towering sociology figure, his out-of-the box thinking

“He was a charismatic figure… as a teacher, he had a way of pointing things out that completely arrested you. And he could do that because of his original way of thinking, totally at odds with the received wisdom and conventional thinking that one is used to… He was brilliant at taking what seemed to be self-evident, and completely shredding it apart. And making you do the job of figuring out what to replace it with,” said sociologist Amita Baviskar, who had known him since she was six years old. Baviskar was his student between 1986 and 1988 and a colleague from 1994 onwards when she started teaching at D-School.

“Indian Sociology, especially the department in Delhi University, was very much a product of post-Independence decolonial thinking, that we need to understand our own society, as it changes and modernises… But, at the same time, it led to what has been called Indian exceptionalism… He was unique in that, from the very beginning, until his work on Sikhism in the 1980s and beyond, he did not work on India at all. His attitude was, ‘I might be Indian in origin but my work should address classical questions in anthropology’,” Baviskar added.

Speaking about his contribution to the Department of Sociology at D-School, Baviskar said, “The department was this dazzling intellectual place and Andre Beteille and JPS Uberoi were its most towering figures. Post MN Srinivas, it was all Uberoi and Beteille. So, in creating an institution that was known for its rigour and depth of thinking, and the quality of its teaching — I think as much as his individual work, this institutional work also needs to be appreciated.”

Beteille, who is 90 and ailing, spoke to The Indian Express about Uberoi’s brilliance. “He was a brilliant man, a brilliant mind, and a great conversationalist… I am shocked at his demise” he said.

A stalwart instrumental in establishing the discipline of Sociology in India, Uberoi was born in Lahore in 1934 and studied at the University College, London, and University of Manchester, returning to India in the late 1960s.

His colleague of many years, Rajni Palriwala recalls the several arguments and discussions the two had over a mid-morning cup of coffee or in some departmental activity. “I never really knew him as a teacher, but could imagine what it was like for the connections he made took you out of the box. Our offices were next to each other for several years. Our approaches were different and we would get into arguments often. But I would leave knowing there was something I had to think about…,” she said. “He was not an easy person but what was amazing was the way he made you think and how he would think with you… If you called him to give a talk, you would never know where he would take you, but he would come back to the theme after taking you on a journey that compelled you to think… Every department trying to make good its intellectual claims needs a mad professor and he was ours,” she said, adding, “I miss those exchanges and the stimulus.”

Palriwala believes the depth of creativity and contribution in Uberoi’s sociological and intellectual work has not been sufficiently recognised. “It may be partly because he questioned so many dominant paradigms, he did not let you stay in your comfort zone, he made it a point to provoke. I also must say that I don’t know how much of what he accomplished would have been possible without his wife, Patricia, who has also been an intellectual companion,” she said.

Professor Satish Deshpande, who also worked with Professor Uberoi, said, “He was one of the few anthropologists with fieldwork outside India. His very important work in Afghanistan is an example of that.”

Deshpande further said, “He was very inspirational for his students and spent a lot of time with them. He was completely dedicated to the institution and teaching. He also had a lovely sense of humour and the ability to laugh at himself.”

Baviskar, meanwhile, spoke about Uberoi’s ability to think about how two opposing things would come together.

“He took us on a walk through the walled city of Shahjahanabad … he had this remarkable way of seeing the city. It wasn’t how a historian would take you around and show you monuments… he made you aware of how the city of Shahjahanabad nestled between the hills of the Ridge, and the river Yamuna. He used the structuralist approach to great effect, showing how opposing things came together to create a unity in diversity,” she said.