Prof. Amit Dutta

would consider myself unfortunate that couldn't take one of your classes.

However it was a real pleasure for me to have bonded with you in Yoga classes at the Naturopathy center.

Rest in peace.

We are very saddened by the untimely demise of Dutta Sahab. The complete staff of Tadka (Rave Moti) extends our deepest condolences. We would always remember his smile and his friendly nature. We pray, that God keeps him close and provide strength to his family.

December 2022 will be commonly remembered for the cold it brought.

Also it brought three Professor's by the same sounding first name together in a series of lectures in the Physics seminar room.

The class was set, Two in audience,One on podium.

As was common, Prof. Dutta parked himself at the backside of the room, occasionally and gently prodding the class into the depths of the subject.

This brought warmth to the heart of youngster and joy (of learning) to others (like me).

Little did we realize that this would be one of the last occasions to see Him in action.
As was clear to a lot of us,Prof.Dutta was a gentle soul,often prodding people around Him to think harder.

Strange are the way's of "Hard task Master" who presides these "Settings".

We will miss, His gentle presence, in the campus.

Deep Remembrance.

Vinamra (विनम्र)

Amit_da was one of the few IITK faculty that inspired me to go to graduate school and become a lifelong learner. He was a brilliant physicist, no doubt. In addition, he had the exceptional ability to be down to earth when explaining complicated topics as well as insprire his students in research.

There have been multiple instances over the past 16 odd years since I left IITK, when I have felt nostalgic about Amit_da's classes or our personal discussions about research. Many of these are when I encountered something in my career that immediately reminded me of a discussion we had in person. Amit_da will be dearly missed.

I left IITK in 2018 and landed among other IITK students currently in Germany.
Whenever we talk about fond memories of IITK, Dutta sir's name would automatically be taken. Such was His overall impact formed by integration of excellent teaching, easy going aura, diverse knowledge and humility. I was from Chemistry department of IITK, but audited two courses of Dutta Sir. He would make sure that, in pursuit of teaching the Physics students, we Chemistry students were not left behind. He would come to us and monitor our copies in the class to ensure that we were really following. He was also generous enough to take a few Statistical Mechanics classes during summer vacation specifically for the Chemistry students upon our requests. His unique voice still resonates in my ear. Sir, please remain as joyful and enthusiastic in the other side. You are and will be in our hearts forever.

Prof. Amit Dutta was not only my mentor but also a friend and my support system. He was an excellent teacher and a wonderful human, always ready to help others. He taught me to be a better person and I owe so much to him. I find it difficult to articulate in words my feelings and never though had to express it this way. I was planning to meet him this year and now I wish I had done it much before. I regret not being able to manage time for this.

He would motivate me by saying 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep'. I just hope that I keep his teachings in mind, work hard and do well to make him proud. You will be deeply missed Sir.

My deepest condolences to Amit's family and friends.

I first met Amit when he came to HRI as a participant in a school I organised over 20 years ago and we had kept in touch over the years. Although I was not his collaborator or as close to him as many of the others here, I wanted to write just to say that Amit was an extra-ordinarily warm and kind-hearted person and touched everyone he came in contact with. He was genuinely one of a kind. He has left us all too soon.

Goodbye, Amit

We miss you Amit. Thank you for your kindness, generosity and friendship. We pray for you.

Zakir

I came to know about Prof. Amit Dutta around when I started my Ph.D on quantum dynamics on which he has been a leader not only in the country but across the globe. I met him a few times, mostly in conferences and seminars. Besides being an outstanding researcher, he was also a dedicated teacher as well as a great human being. He loved to teach students not only physics but also all aspects of life. I realized this on an occasion in which he saved my life. I would like to briefly share the story of that horrible night with you all-----I was visiting Dresden, Germany for a conference. After reaching the guest house around 11.30 p.m, I started to open the door following the methods emailed to me. I got extremely frightened when I couldn't open the door even after half an hour of trying. It was too cold outside, I didn't have any mobile network or internet in my phone so that I could contact somebody, and I could see nobody in the surrounding area at that time of night. Being tired of making repeated failed attempts to open the door, I sat on the cold floor outside the guest house when I heard the sound of some person coming out of the guest house. He was no one but our beloved Amit Sir, I got life back in my body, he could identify me and said ---"Ah, I suspected right, somebody must be in trouble". Fortunately, he was awake at that time and heard the sound of my attempt to open the door lock. I didn't know how to thank him as I still couldn't believe that my life had just been saved by him. I would definitely die from very cold weather if I had to spend the night outside. But he didn't leave me instantly, rather taught me thoroughly how to open that kind of lock---as I said he loved to teach students in all aspects of life. For that one occasion, I got to know his love, care and affection for the students.

So, thanks sir, thank you very much for saving my life. Please, rest in peace wherever you are. You will always be remembered in our hearts.

I have known Amit for more than 25 years. Over the years he moved from being a student to becoming a close friend and well-wisher. Together we wrote close to twenty papers and a book. Each of these is associated with priceless memories, from the places where we sat and worked on them to the comments Amit would make about both physics and non-physics (interesting titbits about our co-authors and about the people whose names would appear in the papers like Floquet and Loschmidt), so that almost every paper became a life experience.

Amit was keenly interested in everything and we would talk about all kinds of things. He invited me to visit him when he was a postdoc in MPIPKS Dresden. In his spare time he was making a deep study of Germany during the second world war and this inspired us to make a memorable trip to Berlin. He would talk about books by Ashapurna Devi, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, William Dalrymple, the strange story of the Bhawal Sannyasi, and so many other things. He would often gift me books related to these chats. Amit became friends with my wife Piyali and would call her Boudi. He visited our home in Bangalore several times and would chat for hours while relishing whatever we would offer him for dinner.

Amit was always cheerful no matter what happened, from his father passing away to the discovery of his heart problem two years ago. Surely he felt sad inside but he would hide it well. Only rarely would he let a small remark slip out …

Amit was a legendary teacher and was extremely popular among all the students who met him, Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, undergraduates, everyone. Even if he met someone for a few minutes he would instantly make them feel comfortable and would talk to them like an old friend. His life in IIT Kanpur was completely devoted to students. He taught them many things but maybe he learned as much from them as they did from him. I never asked Amit the secret to being a great teacher, but if I had he would perhaps have replied modestly in the words of George Bernard Shaw: “I’m not a teacher: only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead - ahead of me as well as you.”

Goodbye Amit, I will miss you forever …

It is been almost a week Amit you have left us. We are still unable to come to terms to accept this tragic reality. I do not know how and where to begin. Besides being an outstanding physicist and an esteemed colleague, Amit you were a dear friend to me and my family. During the course of the past twenty years there have been several occasions where we spent good times, both through our professional work and family get togethers. Your warm personality and jovial nature always touched our lives. So Amit, you will be very dearly missed beyond any words can say...
Stay well wherever you are and be in peace.

-Sudeep Bhattacharjee and Family

Amit was a wonderful faculty colleague, great teacher, a great researcher and a very humble person who always had smile on his face. He was always very positive and helpful to others. Amit will always be remembered by us as an excellent faculty colleague, friend, and as a very humble unassuming person. We pray to the Almighty God to rest his soul in peace.

It has been difficult to process his passing away. I always imagine him filled with immense energy; while teaching some physics concept or trying to pull one's leg. I still chuckle when I remember how he used to butcher my name.

He loved his job and it was infectious; he would make sure you fall in love with the subject as well. It is a great loss for IIT Kanpur that we lost him so early.

Needless to say, whenever I will look back at my undergrad days, his presence will both put a smile on my face and also inspire me to understand Physics better. Thank you, Amit Sir!

- Shaurya

I am extremely saddened by the unexpected loss of Professor Amit Dutta. We knew each other because we shared research interests. As a result, we gravitated into the same academic circles and frequently crossed paths at conferences. He was a rigorous and thorough physicist, as I knew. His talks taught me a lot. Furthermore, we knew each other personally, and he frequently displayed interest in my activities. He will be greatly missed.

My deepest condolences for Professor Amit Dutta's family and friends

I have known Professor Amit Dutta for about a year and worked with him for a semester. I have seen him up close, and I have been loved by him. What attracted me the most was his kindness, jolly nature and ability to make everyone feel at ease. He was an exceptional researcher, an amazing teacher and an exemplary mentor.
My memories with him are still very fresh. On the last day we met, he treated us to tea and biscuits after his class. Our last memory is him patting our back and telling us to work hard.

Professor Dutta left us too soon. But he left behind warm memories and a legacy. A legacy that we wish to uphold and nurture. He is gone, but he will never be forgotten because he’ll live in us forever. He is evergreen in our memories of his. May his soul rest in peace.

It's hard to put into words how much the sudden demise of Prof. Amit Dutta has affected me personally. His loss has rendered all of us numb, and I still prefer to be in denial of the entire incident. Officially, I was his project student, but right from the first day, he made me feel as if I was interacting with an extremely close family member. He always wanted us to treat him like a friend, a colleague, or rather a parent. His smile and jestful nature was infectious, and you couldn't help but burst out in laughter whenever you were around him. His academic brilliance, and excellent teaching abilities need no new introduction, but his kind and loving personality made him the heart of IIT Kanpur. So, in this message, I would prefer to talk about his humanitarian side and his quirks and practices. In fact, when I first decided to have him as a mentor, I really didn't care about his field of research, I wanted HIM and only HIM to be my supervisor, just because of how he was as a person.

He always had some chairs right next to him in his office, and whether it was the weekly meetings or just a random chat, he never wanted us to sit across the table. He always made us sit right beside him, and he would pat on our backs while speaking. Many a times, he made me sit in his own chair, while he would sit on the opposite side, or explain stuff on the board. Quite often, he used to play old Bengali songs, and asked me to identify their singers if it was Kishore Kumar or Hemanta Mukherjee or RD Burman, and when I failed to give the correct answer sometimes, he used to jokingly call me 'The posh British'. He always had some nicknames for each of us, and even in serious situations, he was the one to lift us out of darkness. These little things about him made me idolise him as a physicist and as a person. In the rather short span of my acquaintance with him, I can safely say that he was like my guardian, and he knew certain secrets which even my parents didn't know. Being from his hometown in Kolkata, I was already aware of how he cared for the underprivileged society, and how much he was involved in multiple charity works at Dakshineshwar Temple in Kolkata. Even here at IITK, when I used to sit at his office, I had seen him interact with the support staff, and not only did he know each of them by their names, but was also very caring about their families. His absence has left a void in the Physics department which will take a rather long time to recover.

The day before that fateful accident, I met him on the road quite randomly, and he quickly invited me over for tea and a walk. We talked for over an hour on various topics, starting from Quantum Dynamics, to the new series on Netflix, and the transition of Bollywood music from Kishore Kumar to 'Besharam Rang', and the new Avatar film. And at the end, he patted us on our head urging us to work hard for our last semester, and warned us to stay indoors during the ongoing cold wave. Never had I imagined, that it would be our last meeting. I pray for his soul to have a peaceful ascent to heaven, and stay in an eternal bliss for the rest of time. I miss you, Sir.

There are heroes and there are saints. Most of us can think of aspiring for the former. AmitDa championed the latter!. Heroes have the 'other', for saints there is no 'other.' And this is what defines AmitDa.

AmitDa struck a connect with everybody, touched each life he met. He is what is a 'YugPurush' a 'Sanyasi' who belongs to all and all belong to him. We are all proud to have known a person like AmitDa. You inspire us all.

Your soul will rest in peace and your memories will make so many at home every time they remember you. Om Shanti.

I offer my deepest condolences to Prof. Amit Dutta's family, friends, colleagues and students.

Officially Prof. Dutta was my Master's supervisor, but within the first couple of weeks, he told me to consider him a colleague rather than a supervisor. He did away with any kind of hierarchy that I might have assumed to exist between us and seamlessly made me feel comfortable talking to him, with his usual jovial remarks. When I used slightly rarer words (like 'jovial'), he would joke that English is my strength and Physics is my weakness! Sprinkled with bits of his special brand of humour, conversations with him were very lively.

Always affectionate and helpful, he was just one phone call or a quick text away whenever I needed his advice. I already miss our chats in his office, as well as walking with him after a warm cup of coffee. He taught me a great deal, through both his words and actions.

Despite knowing him for just about a year, losing him feels like losing family. I deeply mourn the loss of a compassionate mentor and pray that his soul rests in peace.

The sudden demise of Amit da (Prof. Amit Dutta) was very shocking to me. When I first heard this news, I could not believe it for some time. He was not only an excellent teacher, a great scientist, but a person of very good heart. I first met him around March, 2012 at IIT Kanpur when I was a PhD scholar at SINP. Then I visited Amit da several times at IIT Kanpur for my PhD work. From then I know how kind, caring, energetic and humble a person he was. He never treated me as an outsider, but like his own student. He had a very big contribution in completing my PhD. Above all, he was like my elder brother who always showed his deep concerns for my personal and academic life. I will always remember all those kind and hearty words. He used to say, it is important to be a good human being before a good scientist. He was very much caring not only for his close family members, but the people around him. He always used to motivate and support his juniors to do good work. He was equally passionate in literature, history, politics etc. like Physics. He was also a very food loving person, who liked to offer food to others very much. I can remember all those days having dinner and different types of discussions in Amit da's Kanpur house with his other students. Amit da's demise is a great loss for the Physics community and for the people like me who were close to him.

We are deeply saddened by the untimely death of our beloved sir (Prof. Amit Dutta). He was an extremely energetic, charming, and enthusiastic researcher as well as a teacher. Apart from the above, he was an excellent human being. It is needless to say that I am academically attached to him as his Ph.D. student. I am very much emotionally attached to him as well. For example, I boarded my first international flight with him only. He only introduced me to Mysore Pak the famous sweet from Bangalore. It's only him due to whom my interest in history grew. He was just like a caring elder brother to me, with whom I could share many critical things. I got many life lessons from him that helped me a lot later. He always taught me how to become a compassionate, kind, and responsible human being.

Amit was a gem of a person. He was not only a distinguished physicist but also an avid reader of Bengali literature. His recitation of Tagore poems was a treat. His absence will be deeply felt by IIT Kanpur. It is hard to believe he is no longer with us. May his noble soul rest in peace. May the Almighty give strength to his family for this irreparable loss.

A great loss for IITK and the condensed matter community. Interactions with Amit were always enlightening and funny at the same time. I will miss him.

Prof. Amit Dutta, or Amit da, as I called him from our SINP days some thirty years back, was one of the central figures in quantum dynamics research in India. He was also a truly exceptional teacher; his ability to bond with this students both in and outside the class was simply amazing. But above all, he was a true gentleman and a compassionate human being. In this regard, I have seldom seen a person like him. His untimely demise is a loss to both the Indian condensed matter community and his students and friends. He shall be deeply missed.

On my first day of his class, he nicknamed me "affection" and called me that in front of the whole batch. He had this amazing ability to break that formal student-teacher barrier and create an infectious bond, which would kindle the curiosity within.

He gave me my first break in research. While everyone was going on foreign internships, I had no such opportunity. He had agreed to take me under his wing and let me pursue several projects. I published my first paper with him, and I will be forever proud and grateful that it was him who gave me my debut as a researcher.

His strong personality, gentle soul and vigour in his work have passed on to many of his students and will always be eternal.

Thank you, Amit Sir, for everything.
May his soul rest in peace.

Rest in Peace. You will be missed dearly and remembered fondly for all you were for: Splendid research, excellent teaching, wonderful mentorship for youngsters, and of course great sense of humour, and so many remarkable anecdotes that always enlivened your surrounding.

A genuine , warm and lovely human being - affectionate and witty . A voracious reader who was my husband’s professional collaborator . But went far beyond that in terms of their personal relationship. His smile was infectious and his love for food extremely enjoying . He will be sorely missed .

He was a fantastic s and soft corner faculty member and will miss you Amit Sir.

Amit,
You have left us heart broken by your untimely leaving this abode to a new one. I am particularly depressed for not being able to chat with you once in a while, and some fruitful discussions.

How could you give me the slip on putting you on a bicycle around the campus?

He was a fantastic teacher, who taught my batch many of the foundational courses and it was a delight learning from him. I particularly remember his classical mechanics course, which was so much more than just a textbook recital, it gave me perspective on physics. His personal interactions with everyone made it all the better, he definitely knew most students by name and tried his best to pay personal attention so that no one is left out. One of my fondest memories of him is when he would break into a Kishore Kumar song during classical mechanics lectures and would often quiz us on whether we had heard the song before. I also worked with him on my UG project and he helped me in every possible way to approach research and learn to solve problems, something I was completely incapable of doing on my own before that. In those interactions, I also noticed how he was kind with all his PhD students as well and treated them quite nicely. I had hoped to visit IIT Kanpur last year and meet him among all my other teachers. I'm sure they would have been very happy to know I was still pursuing research in physics. Unfortunately I couldn't visit due to the COVID wave. I wish I'd been able to come and interact with him one last time. May he rest in peace!

last respects to (Late) Prof. Amit Dutta

I persuaded Amit to apply for a faculty position in our department at IIT-K when he was a postdoc at the Max-Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden. Ever since he joined IIT-K, he has not only been a faculty colleague and a close friend but also like my younger brother. Amit has left behind his outstanding research output and a record of excellent teaching and mentoring. He also had keen interest in history, culture and literature, particularly Bengali literature. But, above all, he was a great human being. He financially supported a large number of poor people in the IIT-K campus and elsewhere. In spite of all his academic achievements, he was a very modest person. He never owned a motorized vehicle and enjoyed brisk walking. We could not imagine that an afternoon walk near his home could trigger the premature end of his life.

Dear Amit, the last gift that you presented to us on the occasion of "Griha Prabesh" in my post-retirement home in my home town will always hang on the wall and continue to remind me the happy days of the last twenty years we spent together in this campus.

Brother, rest in peace.

- Debashish-da (Debashish Chowdhury, IIT-K).

will miss you Amit sir

Amit sir, a true humble man. always interact with a smile on face. most of the time we met while walking on road. Sir used to interact personally and in every meeting asked "how's your family and kids" even though we never interacted professionally. his sad demise is a great loss to our department and humanity.

Amit sir, we will keep you alive in our memories and pray to god for the peace of eternal soul.

An unforgettable soul will be with us forever.

I remember during my course work once he told me- "Pooja agar Uttrakhand me koi IIT hota to mai vha pdhata I love hilly area most, But waha koi IIT nhi h."

He remembered the name of each student in the class and when he call someone by his/her name we were filled with energy and joy. I will never forget him.

Prof. Amit Dutta (Amit Da) was one of the brilliant theoretical condensed matter physicist of his generation in India and abroad. I first met him in 2011 at a conference and for the last 11 years regularly met him during my visits to IIT Kanpur and other conferences across India. He was extremely friendly and approachable personality for this he was extremely popular among us and students. He was extremely supportive towards our younger generation of condensed matter theorists and also an inspiration to me. His demise is a great loss to the Indian science community and we will always miss our elder brother like Amit Da.

Prof. Amit Dutta's family

Prof. Amit Dutta's untimely departure from this world came as a shock to me.

I consider myself fortunate to have been taught and mentored by Sir during my days at IITK. To me, he was a friend, guide and philosopher in the truest sense of the term. The statistical mechanics course designed and taught by him made me fall in love with the subject, so much so that I started working on the non-equilibrium statistical mechanics of astrophysical systems for my PhD. My friends and I revered him as a brilliant physicist. His deep understanding of natural phenomena and passion for physics moved me. He is one of the few physicists who knew how to draw the balance between reason and faith (he was a Kali devotee).

Sir was not only an exceptional teacher, mentor and researcher, but also a wonderful human being. I still remember the hilarious jokes he often cracked during class and at meetings. It was his jokes and leg-pulling that brightened my tough days of the last semester. He was full of life.

I felt a deep connection with him since we had many common interests. I remember the long discussions I had with him, not only on physics but also on various other topics such as geopolitics and the World Wars. Sir was exceptionally well-versed in these topics. He was also a connoisseur of music. I remember his enthusiasm and appreciation for my singing.

ir's untimely passing is a tragic loss to all of us: family, friends, and the world at large. It is a terrible loss for the physics community. But his outstanding contributions to science are timeless and will be passed on through papers, textbooks and word of mouth for generations to come. He lives on in us: his family and his students, who were his family away from home. I shall keep him alive in my work. I shall never forget.

Friends and family of Late Professor Amit Dutta

Very sorry to hear about the untimely death of Professor Amit Dutta. He was like elder brother for many of us. We used to meet him in front of the lift at the ground floor of, sometimes at the corridor of the 4th floor of the Faculty Building. He was always calm yet energetic, erudite yet humble. He was always surrounded by his students and it was clear that he was very popular with them. We will fondly remember his company, his enthusiasm, during the Kali Puja, distributing bhog at the pandal.

May God gives strength to his family and friends to bear this loss and may his soul rests in peace.

It was a true honor for me to know and collaborate with Prof. Amit Dutta for many years. We first communicated in August 2007 and our last communication was on January 9th of 2023, few days before the tragedy,

During these 15 years I had multiple meetings and collaborations with Amit; we wrote several joint papers with his talented students. I truly admired Amit both as a very kind person and as a great scientist. I will be missing him greatly.

Huge Respect Sir.

Prof. Amit Dutta taught me PHY101 (freshman physics) and I later sat in on some of his lectures in some other relatively more advanced courses. I have many fond memories of that course as well as interactions with him afterwards, particularly when I was gravitating toward research in physics. His enthusiasm for physics always resonated in his voice, which made a deep positive impact on so many of us. He will be fondly remembered by many generations of undergraduate and graduate students.

A gentle soul walked on this campus for nearly two decades touching many lives. Last time we spoke while waiting for Kali puja lunch reminiscing our VH days many years back. Who knew – now he is gone, too soon. All that remains is the sadness of the loss of a friend.

Amit was a gem of the department. Always cheerful and ever ready for discussing any issue. He will be sorely missed by one and all in the department. May he rest in peace.

Dear Amit,

Your warmth, your energy, and your laugh will be sorely missed. Why did you have to leave us so early?

I hope we will be able to emulate some percentage of the extreme humility that came so naturally to you.

I will miss your ability to guess some of my problems, and solve them without even batting an eyelid.

There are a lot of things to be said, and bad jokes to be cracked. That we can keep doing, just like old times.

I am at a loss for words with this sudden and premature incident. We arrived almost concurrently with Amit on campus. He was an excellent person and friend throughout. May his soul rest in peace.

A kind, witty and down to earth person with a great sense of humour, an excellent physicist, and a great teacher. Will miss you a lot !

Loosing a colleague with lots of promises,

Amit's Family and Friends

It has been an absolute pleasure knowing and interacting with Amit over so many years. He always displayed warmth and compassion. I would routinely run into him walking on campus, mostly surrounded with students. His sudden departure is a major loss for IIT Kanpur. We will always miss him.

Amit's Family and Friends

Needless to say that Amit Dutta was an excellent teacher, but he was also one of the few professors in the institute who were down-to-earth in nature and friendly with all his students, even those who were struggling in Academics, something that you don't see that often in professors.

You may have left us way too soon, but your memory will live on with us forever.

Rest in peace Amit

Will miss you, Amit

Amit was an excellent researcher, teacher, and colleague. His sudden demise has created vacuum in the community, a void that is impossible to fill. We have lost a great friend and human being! RIP, Amit!

A good soul, gone too soon. Please be at peace, wherever you are. IITK will miss you.

Amit will be sorely missed

Losing Amit is a huge loss to the department, the institute as well as the Condensed matter community. His positive outlook was immensely infectious. We will miss him.....RIP