Sulakshana Sen

February 6th, 1948 - February 2nd, 2025

Sulakshana Sen (Patnaik) was born in Khordha, Odisha, India on February 6th, 1948. Her father, Gangadhar Patnaik, was a well-known attorney at the Khordha Court, and her mother, Sudha, was known for her kindness, generosity and loving demeanor towards all people in the Khordha town. Sulakshana was the fourth child and had two brothers and three sisters.

Sulakshana started her academic journey from elementary to high school with academic excellence and received scholarships throughout. She graduated from Ravenshaw College and Utkal University in Odisha and earned BA, B.Ed., M.A and M.Ed. She taught at Government Girls High School at Khordha for twenty years and selected to be the Head Mistress at the institution. She was an excellent science teacher and students adored her. In the year 1991, Shukdeb Sen married her, and she moved to the USA.

After coming to the USA, she taught at Daytona State College and Embry Riddle University as a part-time mathematics and statistics professor. She earned her third master's degree in mathematics and a Doctorate degree from the University of Central Florida.

She taught at Bethune-Cookman University for over twenty years and earned tenure professorship. She travelled all over Europe, Japan, China and presented research papers at various international conferences. Her children are Surya, Susan and Sagarika Sen.

After retirement from academics, she started her writing career. She published three books, titled "The Handkerchief and Other Short Stories", "Truth Has Its Way", and "Stream of Life." She loved dogs and her favorite dog's name was 'Goldie'. She loved gardening.

Sulakshana Sen passed away peacefully at her Port Orange home on February 2nd, 2025.

A verse from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

"I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! I bow to you all and take my departure. Here I give back the keys of my door- and I give up all claims to my house. I only ask for last kind words from you.

We were neighboring for long, but I received more than I could give. Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey."

Rabindranath Tagore