What could speak for the legacy of an extraordinary communications teacher? Having taught seasoned journalists occupying influential positions in almost every national and regional media organisation in the country, and a few around the world as well, Dr Syed Amjed Ahmed, who passed away at the age of 76 in Bengaluru on Monday, can rightfully claim a lot more than that, though he wouldn't. Those who proudly identify themselves as his students have also excelled in advertising, films, public relations, corporate communications and academia, and been associated with prestigious institutions and well-known brands.
Dr Amjed was famously a pioneer in shaping the idea of a career in technical writing for mass communication graduates way before the digital revolution unfolded. This ensured that the mass communication department at a modest state university in Kerala gained a rare distinction of boasting among its alumni some of the leaders in technical communication in the country.
It is exceptional how he worked against many hard constraints as the head of the department of Mass Communication & Journalism at Calicut University, where he spent a major part of his academic career before becoming the founding director of the Audio Visual Research Centre (AVRC), University of Calicut, which was set to upgrade to an EMMRC (Educational Multimedia Research Centre), later.
Dr Amjed earned his Masters in Geology and MS in Communication, both from Bangalore University, before making the neighbouring state of Kerala home for the entire duration of his career. Finding ways through disharmony was second nature to him and central to his personal philosophy, as I had witnessed from close quarters on many occasions.
Reservoir of patience and genuine empathy
As a teacher, he would not only be at ease when students vehemently disagreed, but would also remain disarmingly calm to acts of raw anger directed towards him. He would explain his stance according to his reason and logic, listen to counterviews, stay vulnerable to defiance, and remain friendly, accessible, and open to further discussions regardless of a consensus in the end.
It is said letting the other 'empty the bucket' is the key to active listening in the face of acute disagreement. Dr Amjed practised this to a fault and was a reservoir of patience and genuine empathy. His ways of connecting across ideological differences with an open mind and uncompromising empathy could constitute a masterclass in democratic dissent.
When the AVRC, one of the media production centres of the University Grants Commission (UGC), was set up on the Calicut University Campus, Dr Amjed, as its founding director, was up against many odds. Not only did he have to navigate the double-layered bureaucracy involving the governments and the university for everything from funding to operating processes, he also had to lead the way in making education engaging if not entertaining. This in an era when millions of undergraduate students from the rural landscapes of India were dependent on the Countrywide Classroom program aired on Doordarshan.
Lifelong commitment to teaching
For educational experts still in the hangover of SITE (Satellite Instructional Television Experiment) and Kheda, educational TV was surprisingly stuck with the mundane idea of televising classrooms mechanically, the visual possibilities of the medium hardly explored. Dr Amjed redrew the benchmarks, making the very first programmes going from the AVRC of Calicut University wholesome educational documentaries based on academic syllabi, raising the levels of interest and engagement several notches above than before.
For arguably the first time in the CEC (Consortium of Educational Communication)-UGC history, real visuals of an open heart surgery taken at the Sri Chitira Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences, Trivandrum, were used in an educational documentary, which not only went on to win many awards, but also prompted a rethink on other AVRCs around the country as to how educational content can be reimagined for the visual medium. It was indeed a second avatar for Dr Amjed. He transformed himself into an award-winning television producer with his later programmes. To set the institute up for future-proof success, he devoted himself as an institution-builder, working overtime on the infrastructure, talent and resources, all guided by a challenging vision.
He did all of this without losing sight of his primary role in academia. Besides being a widely published researcher, and a guide to many PhD scholars, he was awarded Emeritus Fellow by the UGC and has many impactful academic projects to his credit. His commitment to teaching remained lifelong while his pedagogical uniqueness probably went unnoticed beyond his students’ circle.
Dr Amjed's teaching style was dialogical in nature. Not only in skill courses such as writing or editing, but even while dealing with communication theories, he could not do without students engaging with the ideas with reference to their own observations, experiences and thoughts. It was not uncommon for Dr Amjed to stop a class abruptly, citing that someone was sleeping, often taking upon himself the responsibility to be engaging at all times. And he would choose to remain inconclusive, reminding the students the need to go beyond the confines of the syllabus.
To facilitate that, he set up the department with a best-in-class library, a round-the-clock PTI teleprinter service subscription for students to learn the ropes of journalism, and an Apple Macintosh DTP system, a rarity in the early days of electronic editing and pagination even for the media industry. To work on the impossible fascinated Dr Amjed and neither age nor financial constraints deterred him in those pursuits.
Rare gem
For a state university, which used to struggle in the 90s to get campus recruiters visit even its Management and Biotechnology Departments, his Department of Mass Communication attracted top recruiters including technology companies like TCS who disregarded the limited infrastructure for the promise of the talent reward that was on offer.
Once I saw him approve of his students walking out of an important official function that he organised because they were united with the rest of the campus community for another cause. Dr Amjed was that rare teacher who would desist from using power to impose discipline and believe in the authenticity of empathy.
He was that rare human who would be friends with his students as well as their progeny, breezing over generational divides with a hearty smile. He was that rare colleague, uncompromising on the standards of work, yet unwavering about the rights of others. He was that rare leader who would be ruthless with hard feedback while remaining infinitely caring for those who received it. And for a lot of people who knew Dr Amjed, it will remain hard to remember him in the past tense, be it as a teacher, scholar, colleague, or leader.
(Sajan PK teaches at IIM, Bodh Gaya, and is a student and former colleague of Dr Amjed.)
