During 1984-85 I was an MPhil student of the Agra University. I was there on a one year leave from CMS college, Kottayam as a teacher fellow under the Faculty Improvement Programme (FIP) of the UGC. Our teachers were Dr S.P Goel, Professor and Head of the department and Dr Jaishanker then a reader. Both were good teachers but I got very close to Dr Goel. He spoke beautiful English and I felt delighted discussing various issues with him. I became a regular visitor of his residence inside the University campus. I still cherish those long evening hours I spent with him talking to him, hearing from him and violently reacting whenever there were conflict of ideas. I should say that these talks were very enlightening. We talked politics, religion, spirituality, art, literature and of course education. Those days I was very much impressed by Hindu philosophy and Marxist ideology. I read a lot of books on both. My faith was so strong that I was not prepared to listen to any argument against these. One evening I was in a combative mood while talking to Dr Goel and the issue was Hindu philosophy. Then an ardent follower of the philosophy, I was arguing vociferously and relentlessly. I felt that Dr Goel disagreed with my views. On that evening Prof Goel was unusually silent as if he wanted me to talk all that I have to. Even as I was very adamant and agitated and was trying to stick to my guns, I could see a disarming smile on Dr Goel's face. This added to my rage but Dr Goel remained unfazed. One can remain like that only when one is very clear in one's mind and thoughts. I continued for some more time but I could feel my arguments becoming less lethal. Finally I stopped. There was silence for some time. And in a very soft voice Dr Goel asked "Mr Rajan, let me ask you this. Forget the God or the Son of God Jesus Christ. Can you cite one instance in the entire history of mankind where an innocent person willingly opted to die for the sins of others? Why are you not moved by this supreme sacrifice by Jesus Christ? Tell me, what greater philosophy than this sacrifice? For a moment think of the humiliation and cruelty He suffered on the cross before dying for the sins of mankind?"
Oh GOd! I was terribly shaken by these devastating questions. I hung my head in shame and grief for not realizing this philosophy of love, tolerance and unparalleled sacrifice. I could not talk. I felt like all my strength drained off. I felt numb. I felt frozen in time. Yet I could feel the hot tears rolling down my cheeks. I sat like that. I dont know how much time elapsed. Finally I could say this much in a very feeble voice, but with the strength of faith:
"Sir, you my Hindu Professor has baptized me into Christianity".
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Prof E.C.G Sudarshan in CMS College-Part III
The Acharya finds no reason
Come 2007. Prof. Sudarshan was in CMS college once again. After 1986 he had visited the college on quite a few occasions, but this one turned out to be very special for me. Prof Sudarshan and Prof Bhamathi reached Kottyam on a harthal day. I was appointed the "teacher-in-waiting" by the then principal Prof Korulla Isaac. We received the honourable guests at the Kottayam railway station and drove to hotel Pearl Regency with police escort. Before leaving, Prof Sudarshan enquired about my family. He was greatly impressed when I told him that my son Renjan was an undergraduate student at the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI). The next day I had the good fortune of driving them to CMS college in my car. Prof Sudarshan gave a lecture and he was felicitated by the college community on his being awarded the Padmavibhushan, a national honour. They spent the whole day in the college. The next day morning I went to hotel Pearl Regency to officially see them off. They were going to Kumarakom and were to stay at the "Golden Waters" resort. Just when the taxi was about to start, Prof Sudarshan waved to me.I went near him and he said "I want to talk to your son. He can meet me at Kumarokam in the evening". I stood breathless. Just when I was thinking of freedom from the brunt of being with this greatest Physicist over the globe, I am asked to be with him in the evening too!
Renjan refused to come and I had a tough time convincing him. Finally by seven in the evening Renjan, Anna (my daughter) and I were in Prof Sudarshan's room in "Golden Waters". Prof Sudarshan said to Anna "Anna you come here and sit between me any wife. You and my wife look very pretty". Then he turned to Renjan and said "Let us settle down to business. Tell me what did you find most interesting while learning Physics?" I had a mild shock hearing this. I wondered what this first year undergraduate student will say. But he said he could enjoy Quantum Mechanics more once he read Group Theory. For the next half an hour Prof Sudarshan talked on Quantum Mechanics and Group Theory, all looking at Renjan. I was still wondering why we were invited at all. Just when we were to take leave of them the Professor proclaimed "you will have dinner with us". I felt a terrible shock. I was sure that food will not go down my throat in this great man's presence. But I was left with no option but to oblige.
The restaurant was in the midst of a garden beside a beautiful pond. Very close to where we were seated was a goose crying aloud. Yes, it was crying. I could feel it. There was scare and grief in its eyes. Its sound had a heart breaking tone. Then Prof Sudarshan told me that a python had devoured its gander in the evening and since then the goose was crying like that.I was astonished by Prof Sudarshan's pain and sympathy for the goose. He kept talking about the hapless goose.
The dinner was served and finally when the desserts came, Prof Bhamathi told Prof Sudarshan, a chronic diabetic, to share the ice cream with Anna. After having a detailed look at the ice cream, without raising his head, he murmured like a child " There isn't much to be shared"!
Now I summoned all the courage at my command and asked the Professor "Sir, it was a great honour for us when you asked us to be with you in the evening. Then you further honoured us by inviting us for dinner with you. How come Sir"?
Pat came the answer:
"For certain things there are no reasons"I was dumb-founded. Who can question the Acharya?
Come 2007. Prof. Sudarshan was in CMS college once again. After 1986 he had visited the college on quite a few occasions, but this one turned out to be very special for me. Prof Sudarshan and Prof Bhamathi reached Kottyam on a harthal day. I was appointed the "teacher-in-waiting" by the then principal Prof Korulla Isaac. We received the honourable guests at the Kottayam railway station and drove to hotel Pearl Regency with police escort. Before leaving, Prof Sudarshan enquired about my family. He was greatly impressed when I told him that my son Renjan was an undergraduate student at the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI). The next day I had the good fortune of driving them to CMS college in my car. Prof Sudarshan gave a lecture and he was felicitated by the college community on his being awarded the Padmavibhushan, a national honour. They spent the whole day in the college. The next day morning I went to hotel Pearl Regency to officially see them off. They were going to Kumarakom and were to stay at the "Golden Waters" resort. Just when the taxi was about to start, Prof Sudarshan waved to me.I went near him and he said "I want to talk to your son. He can meet me at Kumarokam in the evening". I stood breathless. Just when I was thinking of freedom from the brunt of being with this greatest Physicist over the globe, I am asked to be with him in the evening too!
Renjan refused to come and I had a tough time convincing him. Finally by seven in the evening Renjan, Anna (my daughter) and I were in Prof Sudarshan's room in "Golden Waters". Prof Sudarshan said to Anna "Anna you come here and sit between me any wife. You and my wife look very pretty". Then he turned to Renjan and said "Let us settle down to business. Tell me what did you find most interesting while learning Physics?" I had a mild shock hearing this. I wondered what this first year undergraduate student will say. But he said he could enjoy Quantum Mechanics more once he read Group Theory. For the next half an hour Prof Sudarshan talked on Quantum Mechanics and Group Theory, all looking at Renjan. I was still wondering why we were invited at all. Just when we were to take leave of them the Professor proclaimed "you will have dinner with us". I felt a terrible shock. I was sure that food will not go down my throat in this great man's presence. But I was left with no option but to oblige.
The restaurant was in the midst of a garden beside a beautiful pond. Very close to where we were seated was a goose crying aloud. Yes, it was crying. I could feel it. There was scare and grief in its eyes. Its sound had a heart breaking tone. Then Prof Sudarshan told me that a python had devoured its gander in the evening and since then the goose was crying like that.I was astonished by Prof Sudarshan's pain and sympathy for the goose. He kept talking about the hapless goose.
The dinner was served and finally when the desserts came, Prof Bhamathi told Prof Sudarshan, a chronic diabetic, to share the ice cream with Anna. After having a detailed look at the ice cream, without raising his head, he murmured like a child " There isn't much to be shared"!
Now I summoned all the courage at my command and asked the Professor "Sir, it was a great honour for us when you asked us to be with you in the evening. Then you further honoured us by inviting us for dinner with you. How come Sir"?
Pat came the answer:
"For certain things there are no reasons"I was dumb-founded. Who can question the Acharya?
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Prof E.C.G Sudarshan in CMS College - Part II
ACHARYA DEVO BHAVA
Prof Sudarshan delivered the 1986 Benjamin Bailey lectures in the library hall. A few minutes into the speech I sat bewildered. Oh God! a human being can talk like this? The speech was a profusion of philosophic, esoteric thoughts supplemented lavishly by quoting from the scriptures, vedas and the world of literature. I lost track of the speech but was still keenly listening and enjoying the beauty of the language and the air of mysticism he had created. The lecture was over in an hour but I felt like floating in the thin air.
Now the question-answer session followed with Mr George Issac as the moderator. With a masters in economics from Oxford he once addressed himself as the only intellectual in Kottayam! (Arundhathi Roy is his niece)Mr Issac invited the audience to ask questions. The first man to come forward questioned some of the remarks by Prof Sudarshan and even alleged blasphemy. He accused Prof Sudarshan of speaking against God. Prof Sudarshan answered very politely and was unusually humble. Probably emboldened by the polite answer another man came forward and made some scathing attacks for which too Prof Sudarshan gave gracious answers. When a third man walked up to ask a question I told myself: "If it is a question on similar lines then the man is walking to the gallows". The third man had hardly completed. Prof Sudarshan grabed the microphone (I could see the fire in his eyes) and made the following demolishing statement: "I am a Physicist. I am the ACHARYA of Physics. I cannot think and talk like ordinary people".
There weren't anymore questions and you could hear a pin drop.
I slowly stood up , bowed my head, folded my arms and could hear some inner voice telling me:
"Acharya Devo Bhava".
Prof Sudarshan delivered the 1986 Benjamin Bailey lectures in the library hall. A few minutes into the speech I sat bewildered. Oh God! a human being can talk like this? The speech was a profusion of philosophic, esoteric thoughts supplemented lavishly by quoting from the scriptures, vedas and the world of literature. I lost track of the speech but was still keenly listening and enjoying the beauty of the language and the air of mysticism he had created. The lecture was over in an hour but I felt like floating in the thin air.
Now the question-answer session followed with Mr George Issac as the moderator. With a masters in economics from Oxford he once addressed himself as the only intellectual in Kottayam! (Arundhathi Roy is his niece)Mr Issac invited the audience to ask questions. The first man to come forward questioned some of the remarks by Prof Sudarshan and even alleged blasphemy. He accused Prof Sudarshan of speaking against God. Prof Sudarshan answered very politely and was unusually humble. Probably emboldened by the polite answer another man came forward and made some scathing attacks for which too Prof Sudarshan gave gracious answers. When a third man walked up to ask a question I told myself: "If it is a question on similar lines then the man is walking to the gallows". The third man had hardly completed. Prof Sudarshan grabed the microphone (I could see the fire in his eyes) and made the following demolishing statement: "I am a Physicist. I am the ACHARYA of Physics. I cannot think and talk like ordinary people".
There weren't anymore questions and you could hear a pin drop.
I slowly stood up , bowed my head, folded my arms and could hear some inner voice telling me:
"Acharya Devo Bhava".
Prof E.C.G Sudarshan in CMS College - Part I
CHEMISTRY(Main), PHYSICS, MATHEMATICS(Subsidiary)
Prof. E.C.G Sudarshan is a name known all over the world with immense reverence. But we at the CMS college, Kottayam are a little extravagant in our pride and arrogance when we pronounce that name. Yes, we have every right to be so while talking about our "Old Boy". Prof Sudarshan and the former President of India Dr K.R Narayanan are the most illustrious sons of CMS College. Every time in CMS Prof Sudarshan is very eloquent on how two teachers here shaped his future. He never tires talking about his Physics teacher Prof. George M Thomas and his Mathematics teacher Prof Eapen. A third teacher whom he remembers so fondly well is Prof C.I Raman Nair, his Malayalam teacher.
I had the good fortune of seeing Prof Sudarshan way back in 1986 when he was in CMS to deliver that year's Benjamin Bailey lecture. On the day before the lecture he and the then Principal Prof P.T Abraham were walking from the principal's bungalow, an imposing edifice, to the office and I was following them, always keeping a safe distance. As they approached the "Great Hall" (that is the great name of the college auditorium) some boys and girls were sitting in the lawns chatting leisurely. In all probability a romantic interlude between boring classes. When the gentle Casuarina (Choolamaram in Malayalam) breeze with its accompanying soft music spreads over the idyllic campus, one gets transcended into a very sublime world of beautiful thoughts and images and often gets divorced from reality. But the students still had the wisdom to stand up in respect for this great Physicist. Seeing this Prof Sudarshan walked up to the group and asked:
"What do you learn here?"
The students in their innocence, but without any doubt answered:
"BSc . Chemistry(Main), Physics and Mathematics(Subsidiary)"
The Professor asked a very serious question in a lighter vein:
"How can Physics and Mathematics be the subsidiary of Chemistry?"
I am very sure that the students might have wondered: "Why Not???"
Prof. E.C.G Sudarshan is a name known all over the world with immense reverence. But we at the CMS college, Kottayam are a little extravagant in our pride and arrogance when we pronounce that name. Yes, we have every right to be so while talking about our "Old Boy". Prof Sudarshan and the former President of India Dr K.R Narayanan are the most illustrious sons of CMS College. Every time in CMS Prof Sudarshan is very eloquent on how two teachers here shaped his future. He never tires talking about his Physics teacher Prof. George M Thomas and his Mathematics teacher Prof Eapen. A third teacher whom he remembers so fondly well is Prof C.I Raman Nair, his Malayalam teacher.
I had the good fortune of seeing Prof Sudarshan way back in 1986 when he was in CMS to deliver that year's Benjamin Bailey lecture. On the day before the lecture he and the then Principal Prof P.T Abraham were walking from the principal's bungalow, an imposing edifice, to the office and I was following them, always keeping a safe distance. As they approached the "Great Hall" (that is the great name of the college auditorium) some boys and girls were sitting in the lawns chatting leisurely. In all probability a romantic interlude between boring classes. When the gentle Casuarina (Choolamaram in Malayalam) breeze with its accompanying soft music spreads over the idyllic campus, one gets transcended into a very sublime world of beautiful thoughts and images and often gets divorced from reality. But the students still had the wisdom to stand up in respect for this great Physicist. Seeing this Prof Sudarshan walked up to the group and asked:
"What do you learn here?"
The students in their innocence, but without any doubt answered:
"BSc . Chemistry(Main), Physics and Mathematics(Subsidiary)"
The Professor asked a very serious question in a lighter vein:
"How can Physics and Mathematics be the subsidiary of Chemistry?"
I am very sure that the students might have wondered: "Why Not???"
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