I was saddened to hear that Indrajith Aponsu, a senior lecturer of economics at the University of Colombo, passed away last week. The fact that compelled me to write something about him was his humbleness, friendliness, and outspokenness as a teacher and mentor to me.

He had been teaching mathematics for Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in economics, which is a subject that students coming from the arts stream tend to struggle with. I was lucky to learn from him during my Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes at the University of Colombo. Hence, this is written from the perspective of a student.

By all accounts, it’s difficult to find a humble person among Sri Lankan academia. However, Indrajith was a person who was not egoistic. He was ready to learn even from his own students. I can recall what he said during a lecture: “I like to be questioned, as I know how to deal with questions. So, challenge me.” He raised questions amidst the lecture and encouraged the students to ask questions. He believed that questioning would result in brainstorming. 

Sri Lankan academia is so serious that what they lecture is not easily digestible. Nevertheless, Indrajith was passionate about teaching and said: “All teachers are bulls****ers.” His lectures were never boring, due to the fact that he had sufficient vocabulary to joke and energise students to further explore. He was a very fluent speaker in English and used the combination of English and Sinhala to make his lessons more attractive. “Central Bankuwa” was such a word.

He used day-to-day examples to explain and simplify complicated theories. Moreover, he was so funny that we as students never felt like a senior lecturer was teaching in front of us, but a friend. I recall one such incident when I was at the university as an undergraduate. “Even if I am bald, don’t pretend I am a monk and preaching here. This is not a sermon. So, ask questions.” Hence, I must write here that questioning is a skill that he appreciated very much.

While some used their knowledge to misguide the public and earn some perks and privileges, Indrajith was an outspoken economist who defended his economics knowledge and rejected those privileges. In fact, he was an easily reachable resource person to all print and electronic media and unbiasedly explained complicated economic problems in simple words so that even a layman can understand. As a resource person, he managed to find suitable words in the language to convey the message in a more simple way, which is a skill that we rarely see among economics resource persons. 

He was a mentor to me. Actually, he was one of the two non-related referees in my CV since the day I passed out of the university. He sent my CV to his contacts when I requested him to do so. When I was still a fresh graduate, he encouraged me to follow a Master’s in economics at the University of Colombo and interpreted my idea to follow an MPhil in economics as a waste of time and money.

My mind takes time to accept that he is no more.

Dear sir, may you attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana!

(The writer is an investment professional and is currently reading for an MA in Economics at the University of Colombo)

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication