Born in 1942 in Mirpur,
Jammu and Kashmir, (now in POK) in a well to do family, passing through a
traumatic period of partition due to which he suffered displacement and
bereavement (lost his father and other members of the family) when he was
nearly 5 years old, Prof Gupta is a person who is friendly personified in every
dimension and is an amazing gift of god to India. He is a teacher and scientist
of immense depth and breadth, both scientifically and socially. He is highly
regarded by the students, colleagues and scientists both in India and abroad as
an adorable person not only for his science but also for his friendly welcoming
smile and ready to be of help always.
His excellence in teaching and his research may be
attributed to his diversified interests. He is a painter of
no mean abilities and a vocalist in North Indian classical style. As music does
not permit any false notes, this quality is reflected in his entire
personality. With finely- honed sensitivity and awareness of details, whatever
he does it is done really well.
Prof. Gupta was on the faculty of REC Srinagar for about 2 years (1966-68) before he joined IIT Delhi for his PhD in 1968.
He did his PhD in 1972 – in the area of large deformations, under Prof. B. Karunes, IIT Delhi.
He did his Postdoc studies in Cambridge University under Prof. W. Johnson, and in Ruhr University Bochum, Germany under Prof. Th. Lehmann.
During his stay at REC Srinagar, he painted a 6 ft x 30 ft mural in the main hall of the hostels with the theme History of Civilization. His another painting “Self in Mirror” and this mural may be seen below.
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| Self in mirror (1963) |
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| History of civilization (1967) |