Prof V L Antony - 1

 I joined CMS College in 1981 as a junior lecturer. Stepping into the campus, almost instantly, I fell for the serene beauty of it. The fascination the campus held for me remains undiminished even after all these years. Despite coming from St: John's College,Agra, my love for the campus kept growing. One day, someone told me that there was a film show in the Chemistry department at 5.30 in the evening. I went there just out of curiosity and that evening turned out to have a profound influence on my life in CMS.

There were only four or five people to watch the film show on a 16 mm projector. Those days college teachers were well dressed and used to walk around with the look of intellectuals, strenuously created. Now a man in frugal native attire was busy arranging the projector, focusing it on the screen for greater picture clarity. For the minuscule audience the picture was reasonably clear and was eager for the show to begin. But the man working on the projector was focusing, refocusing, adjusting the angle of projection, the distance between the projector and the screen etc: as if some VIP was attending the show. After quite some time, testing the patience of the people assembled, he started giving a brief description of the film. I was perplexed for a moment. This simple man, in white dhothi and white shirt ..... unassuming..... talking in Malayalam... no airs..... yet talking with such authority? That day's film was a Chinese one on the topic of migration of birds. He even talked briefly on the subject of migration of birds. Oh, this is a classic case of 'deceptive appearance', I told myself. Yes, the multi faceted genius of Prof V L Antony was shrouded in what I described in the beginning as frugal native attire.

Very soon, Prof V L Antony became Antony Sar for me and all these years occupied a huge space in my mind. I will narrate some incidents that are etched in my mind. Most of the stories may sound very silly, but were important for me particularly during my formative years as a teacher. 

NIZY @ CMS (contd.....)

 In the previous post I started telling something and ended telling something else. Coming back to Niz's speech, let me write here the 'other two' points that caught my attention.

During the question-answer session, a student asked whether women face any discrimination at the ISRO. Nizy paused for a moment and raising the identity tag around her neck said,"once we enter our lab with this around our neck, we forget whether we are men or women". I felt a mild shock and told myself the following. "No wonder, how or why the prestigious institutions like the ISRO or BARC can do wonders for the nation".  Nizy was certainly talking about a very special work culture which I wish the students emulated. I am tempted to deviate, but I resist.

 Another question on Russia's failed Lunar project which coincided with our successful Moon Mission. The questioner was elated over Russia's failure as much as over India's success. Nizy's answer was totally unexpected, particularly at a time the when the whole nation was in a self congratulatory mood with no room for any rational thinking. I really felt proud of Nizy for talking like a professional scientist. She said, "we at the ISRO are not happy over Russia's failure. As scientists, we are instead disappointed. If they had succeeded we could have compared the huge amount of data we have collected with their's. That would have given deeper insights into many things we were exploring". Nizy certainly was talking about the ways of science where repeatability and agreement between data collected by various groups, before concluding something as the final truth. I wish the students gathered there understood this very crucial aspect of scientific pursuits. Again I am tempted to deviate, but I resist.

 

NIZY @ CMS

 (Please read the previous post NIZY MATHEW before reading this one, if you have not read it already)

Accepting the invitation from her alma mater, Nizy was in CMS college on the 12th of September. That was a time when she was too busy with the Chandrayan project. Yet she found some time for the visit. This was a big surprise for everyone in the college and the principal admitted this during his welcome speech.

The Great Hall (auditorium of CMS college) was jam packed. Students were eager to listen to Nizy, with the frenzy of the lunar landing still in the air with ever increasing intensity. By that time the ecstasy of every Indian was such that it had surpassed all realms of reality and transcended to sublime romantic levels. The students were very attentive and, at the end of Nizy's speech they freely asked her questions. Probably they felt the freedom of asking questions to their chechy (deedi).

Nizy gave a vivid description of the Chandrayan project. The students listened in awe every word she uttered. I was particularly struck by three comments she made, which I write here.

During her speech while mentioning the previous failures, she made the following statement. " At ISRO we need courageous people with indomitable determination, people with an indomitable spirit to excel and people who can endure with increased vigour in testing times or situations many might qualify as failures". At this point I told myself that this girl is speaking a sort of philosophy. Here I want to deviate a bit to make a point. During my 32 years in CMS college, I had to remain a mute spectator to a plethora of student's strikes. None of these strikes had to do anything with academics. These were simply part of larger political games. These political games and academics cannot coexist in campuses. That means there is no academics in campuses (politics is anyway there)? That may be a little exaggerated. I believe that the kind of academics in the campuses in Kerala is only at less than 20% efficiency. This is not just my opinion. This is what my students who continue in academics at good institutes in India and abroad tell me. During the function I wanted to draw Nizy's attention to this aspect but refrained as I did't want to destroy the jubilant mood of the students. After all they were celebrating a great victory of their nation and an important part played by their 'chechy'. If a student reading this is anguished he or she may know the following. Nizy and the scientists at the ISRO, are not resting on their laurels  nor are they any complacent. They may not be even congratulating each other anymore for the Chandrayan success. For them that is only an important point in their space odyssey. Of course a milestone, but only a milestone. They have miles to go and miles to go and never to sleep and dream. As the most revered Dr APJ Abdul Kalam said "Dream is not the thing you see in sleep but is that thing that doesn't let you sleep". If at least 10% of the college students in India pay heeds to the words of this great visionary, then we can confidently say  that India is on its way to becoming the greatest nation in the world. Then only.

PLEASE EXCUSE ME

I started writing this note with the sole intention of describing Nizy's visit to CMS College. But at a certain stage of writing I got a little emotional and inadvertently took a deviation, which I am not apologetic about. It certainly is high time the nation gave serious thought to the output-input ratio in our academic institutions. All institutions with less than 50% efficiency should be shut down. This may be done after giving sufficient time and warnings. If 50% is cruel, let it be 40%. Below that the whole exercise is meaningless.

I wanted to write about 3 things in Nizy's speech that touched me. Two, I postpone to some other time. Writing this much, I feel physically exhausted. This can happen to you too, if you are talking from your heart on an issue which you feel is imperative yet criminally neglected.

NIZY MATHEW

 

This year’s Onam is just over. The boozers of the state brought some relief to the empty coffers of the Kerala government by making a collective ‘contribution’ of a mind boggling seven hundred crores of rupees in less than a week’s time. This is more than the cost of the Chandrayan-3 programme by a neat 100 crores! To me, as one who never celebrates any of the festivals, this Onam too would have passed off as a sedate one, but for a very special gift I received from one of my old students. A gift I will cherish forever.

Nizy Mathew. That’s her name. She was my student during 1999 – 2001 for her PG in Applied Physics. On completion of her PG studies from the CMS College, Kottayam, she along with her class mate Sheena Solomon proceeded to Germany to do another PG in Environment Science. After that I did not hear anything from her.

On the Onam eve I had a phone call with Nizy at the other end. I felt very happy to hear her voice after some twenty two years. Even though she sounded very upbeat I had no inkling of what she was going to tell me. When I showed interest in knowing what she was doing all these years, she told me:

“Sir, I am working in Thiruvanandapuram for the past twelve years and at present I am in Bangaluru in connection with the Chandrayan Project”

Chandrayan Project? Did I hear it correctly? After a moment of disbelief, chaos in thoughts and of course ecstasy, I expressed my joy and I don’t remember what all I told her.

Nizy after her environmental studies did a PhD in Microwave Remote Sensing and was settled in Germany, with her post-doctoral research. Seeing her published papers, a senior scientist at the VSSC contacted her and told her that she can join them if she was interested. She could not ask for more. Perhaps she might not have realised at that time that she was asking for the moon!

The girl who touched the Moon  

Yes, Nizy is now the girl who touched the moon. Indeed she touched the moon surface without ‘burning her fingers’ at 50 degree Celsius. Nor did she freeze while probing the moon slightly below the surface at minus 10 degree Celsius. Yes, we can be proud of our scientists. They are made of sterner stuff.

Nizy was  the leader of the team that fabricated the equipment used for physically ‘measuring’ the temperature of the moon. She was also assigned the task of analysing the signals received after such ‘measurements’.

Nizy was upbeat over the phone. She had all the right to be so. I could gather from her conversation as to how scientists work round the clock at the ISRO. Passion, dedication, determination, endurance  greed to excel all rolled into one; that perhaps defines our scientists at the ISRO. Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Engineering; they have excelled in everything. They have mastered very high temperatures as well as very low temperatures. They have made 1.4 billion Indians proud. With this soft landing they have helped India crash-land on to the higher rungs in the elite list of nations with space technology at their disposal. Yes, the Rover is merrily engaged in 'Moon Walk' yet wisely avoiding those craters with deceptive looks, where no other nation ever dared to even peep into.

Nizy, after our telephonic conversation I am in a state of wild excitement, rapturous joy and my mind is in a chaotic state. I cannot concentrate even while praying. Don't blame me. I have every right to be mad! I am proud of you. Your Alma Mater is proud of you. The CMS College is yearning to receive you here at your earliest convenience. Your presence here will motivate the students to dedicate themselves to learning with an irresistible will to excel in life and be a part of the solemn duty of nation building, the way you and all the scientists at ISRO strive 24X7.

A big salute to the scientists at the ISRO. And thank you Nizy, for remembering me after all these years. Thank you Nizy, for remembering me even when you were there, ‘On The Top Of The World’.  Don’t know how to congratulate you. Words become too insufficient to express oneself in such situations. God bless you.

THE HARI SINGH HEGEMONY -- Fir Ek Agra Kahani

 

For us in the St: John’s college, Agra, the neighbouring Agra College was an enigma. The student strength during the late seventies was a whopping twelve thousand. Classes started at five in the morning. Many working men and women attended courses like LLB, M Com etc before sun rise. Also, those days, the campus was notorious for the ruffians among the students. Despite the enormity of this breed, there weren’t any law and order problems. Of the innumerable incredible stories coming out of that campus, we were particularly amused by the ones starring the legend like Hari Singh. Hari Singh was a former student of Agra College. After his formal education there he never left the campus. Every morning he would come to the college and leave only very late in the evening. He controlled those ruffians with magical effect and took upon the responsibility of maintaining calm in the campus. Even the college authorities welcomed his presence and considered him an integral part of the campus. We couldn’t believe when we were told that he even can declare a holiday for the college. Venerated and feared by one and all, he grew in stature. The Hari Singh diktats were unquestioned. Yet he never misused the unlimited power he commanded. Agra College was his passion. He worked tirelessly for the wellbeing of the college.

A Modern Day Mahatma

One day we got news that the final of the intercollegiate Basket Ball competition of the Agra University was to be played the next day between traditional rivals, Agra College and RBS college at the Agra College. My North Indian friends cautioned me against going there but I couldn’t resist the temptation of witnessing the match between two strong teams.

On reaching the stadium, I was surprised to see a large number of students wielding hockey sticks. They occupied one side of the stadium. “They might be there just after the hockey match final”, I told myself. But then, so many of them?

After occupying ‘strategic positions’, these boys started shouting provocative slogans. My friend sitting beside me told me that they are from the RBS College. Small missiles started flying into the court. The atmosphere was getting tense. As the profane slogans showed no signs of abating, a fragile figure emerged out of the crowd, walked to the center of the court with folded hands and appealed for calm. He said, “ The students of Agra College and RBS College are brothers. In a match only one team wins. Whoever is the winner, let us all accept them with sportsman spirit”. When every word was greeted with high pitched hoot, the diminutive man retreated with a sense of shame, failure and helplessness writ large on his face. With time ticking away and the situation getting worse the very same man appeared for a second time with folded hands and repeated his appeal for peace. The reply was a repeat performance from those boys who were now preparing to play basket ball with hockey sticks. The man retreated. “What else the poor man can do?”, I asked myself in desperation. After a few moments of tension, just when we were preparing to see the worst, with all hell let loose, the very same man appeared for a third time on the court. But this time he was not there with folded hands. I saw fire in his eyes. Pointing to those ’bad boys’, as if he was pointing a pistol at them, he proclaimed “Hereafter nobody will make any noise. This is Hari Singh saying”. Just two short sentences and the man disappeared into the crowd. I couldn’t believe. The fragile diminutive figure no way matched the icon in my mind: A six plus heavy weight with a heavier moustache? But I had to believe. All pandemonium instantly stopped as if it was switched off. You could hear a pin drop. Even the winter wind refused to blow. With everything including those ‘bad boys’ frozen, Hari Sing ordered the start of the event. There after we could hear only one sound. The tap tap sound of the ball hitting the ground and of course, the referee’s whistle too.

Back in my hostel, The Haileybury House, I told myself “whoever trying to bring peace is a Mahatma. Forget about the means”. An event which would have landed at least fifty students in hospital with broken skulls passed off so peacefully. Thanks to the one man army called Hari Singh. Indeed a modern day Mahatma?

Johny Johny, No Pappa!

 Recently I was at the iconic Indian Coffee House (ICH), Thirunakkara, Kottayam. I have any number of stories to tell relating to the ICH; stories of my first visit to an ICH sometime in 1975 to the latest. Every time it was the Masala Dosa and their special Coffee that I had to my satisfaction. For almost half a century the Masala Dosa tastes the same and the aroma of the coffee remains unchanged, as tempting as ever before. I can go on talking about the exciting ICH experiences over the past half-a-century. Let me restrict to the latest experience at the ICH, Thirunakkara, Kottayam.

A month ago I was there for my Masala Dosa and Coffee. The waiters there know that I like to get the coffee hot from the kitchen only after the Dosa was finished. That day as usual I was sipping the coffee after the Dosa when a man came in and occupied the chair opposite to mine. I almost rose from my seat seeing the film personality just opposite to me. It was the actor-director Johny Antony. Siting so near a celebrity in fact made me a little uncomfortable and perhaps noticing this he started talking to me like an ordinary man and tried to make me feel at ease. A minute into his jocular way of speaking non-stop, I was a little relaxed. I slowly turned around to see jealous faces staring at me for my luck, but to my dismay  could find none. I felt anguished by the insensitivity of the people and told myself that such a film personality in a public place in Tamil Nadu would have been treated differently and would have been mobbed by people for selfies and autographs. I felt pity for him and started talking to him. I told him that I have watched all of his movies starting with CID Moosa. To make him happy I made a brief analysis of his various movies and tried to shower some praise on him. Just when my strategy seemed to be working, he asked me whether I want to have a selfie with him. I could not have asked for more. I told him "very kind of you sir..., you are such a simple person...., celebrities never offer fans a chance for a selfie...., usually it's so irritating for the celebrities..". My words didn't seem to enthuse him much though that characteristic smile was there on his face all the time I was talking. After pausing for a while he told me "of all the things you said I agree with one thing... yes I am a simple person. But what can I do? Wherever I go people flock around me to take selfies thinking that I am Johny Antony and I oblige!"

I was crest fallen. Now I didn't turn around to see jealous faces as I was sure that all around it should be faces with sarcasm writ large. The only way I could have got back to life was to have another bout of Dosa and Coffee. And I did exactly that. 

The Big Game on the Big Screen and this Girl called Meera

 

December 18th,2022

The world cup football was to be played between Argentina and France. The CMS college was showing it live on the big screen.

By the time I reached the Great Hall, it was jam-packed with football-frenzy youngsters in their teens or early twenties. I was the only one with grey hair. With no chance to even enter the Great Hall, I stood dejected at the entrance when my friend Midhun condescended like a Messiah and took me to the front and managed to get a seat for me. The position of the seat was such that it provided a difficult angle to the screen. Seeing this, a girl seated next to me offered to exchange her seat with mine which provided a better angle. I thankfully declined her offer as she too had come there to watch the match. I could sense the care the girl was trying to provide me. When a seat next to her became vacant instead herself moving to that better position she forced me to move in and I obliged. To reciprocate her loving care to a stranger like me I asked who she was. To my surprise she told me that she was a 2^nd year BSc student of Physics in CMS I was even more surprised as she had given me all that care without realising that I had one taught in her department. Meera. That was her name.

Forty years from now, Meera, then only in her fifties,would be watching the world cup football on what screen, with what technology, God alone knows.

If Meera reads this post now, I am sure she will remember me then; yes forty years from now.

Time, Technology and some memories

 

This is a story from 1984. The Olympics that year was at Los Angeles, USA. Then with no TV we had no means to watch the greatest event on the globe. The Indian hockey team had won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. I still remember the picture in newspapers of the captain V Bhaskaran and his men in jubilation. After four decades India has not won the gold again in men’s hockey. Even the gold at Moscow was from a depleted field with the US and its allies boycotting the event at the height of the cold war.

The event was still in progress and one day the local administration made an announcement that the event will be shown live on a TV set installed at the Thirunakkara Maidanam. The sports lovers of Kottayam could not ask for more. On the day of the hockey match between India and Germany, I and Kuruppachan (C Sreekanta Kurup), then in our twenties reached the maidanam well before the start of the game expecting a big crowd. But there were only very few people, may be less than ten, to watch the match that ended in a goal less draw. After the match was over, two men, in their late seventies came to us and told us that they have been here some forty years before to listen to the radio broadcast for the first time!

Another forty years elapsed. On the 18^th December, 2022, I watched the Football world cup finals on the big screen inside the great hall, CMS college.

In 1940’s those two men listened to the radio broadcast at the Thirunakkara Maidanam. At the very same venue I and Kuruppachan watched the Olympics on the TV on the 6^th august, 1984. Almost forty years later I watched my favourite team Argentina winning and Messi kissing the coveted trophy on the big screen.

Forty years from now, who knows what the technology will be. One thing we can say with certainty is that technology never stops, it keeps galloping and we have to, keep pace with it.

Am an Argentina fan

 

During the early seventies I was a reader of the German magazine “The German News”. An uncle of mine was a regular subscriber to it. It was through this magazine I first heard about Willy Brandt who was a socialist leader and also the Chancellor of Germany. Reading more and more about him I became a fan of his. I became a fan of two more Germans. They were the great football players named Gerd Muller and Franz Beckenbauer. Both were big names in international football and Beckenbauer had the nick name 'Der Kaiser' meaning 'the emperor'.  Then I was a fan of the Dutch footballer, the handsome Johan Cruyff. He was a great proponent of the then new style called the 'Total Football'. I felt very sad when I read of his passing away in 2016. I had the same sense of loss when I read in news papers that the Brazilian player Socrates was no more. He was a medical doctor, in fact a paediatrician. Unfortunately both while being among the all time greats were heavy smokers. That’s another story.

Till the 1978 world cup I was not a fan or supporter of any country.  Television was yet to arrive. The radio didn’t give much information regarding the world cup.  As far as I remember (not very clear), those days I got sports news from two sports magazines, “The Sports Star” and the “Sports World”. The editor of Sports World was the great Manzoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Both magazines carried beautiful pictures of sports persons in action. During the 1978 world cup I became a fan of the flamboyant Mario Kempes and Argentina too. I think their jersey held some sort of a romantic fascination for me. That simple design of broad light blue stripes is an iconic one for me. From Mario Kempes to De Maria, from Maradona to Messi .......

Yes I am an Argentina fan.

Alma Mater, Alumni and some musings - 3

 

After reading my previous two posts some people told me that they sensed something  disturbing. They wanted to know the reason if I am really disturbed. Indeed, I am, after this year’s alumni meet on the 26^th of January.

VIDYA SOUHRUDHAM

Vidya Souhrudham. That’s the name of the Alumni Association of the CMS college. But this year it all started with no vidya and scant souhrudham. It is customary to have the  business meeting before the inaugural function where the new office bearers are selected.  Since I was never interested in these meetings, as usual, I remained outside the Great Hall. Meeting old students, who come there as “old students and old students  alone” with their minds filled with reverence for their Alma mater and love for their teachers and friends, is always a matter of great joy. While roaming around the campus I ran into a group which was in a jubilant mood, yet their language was very aggressive and slightly abusive. I could quickly understand that they were giving  vent to their anger against the “autocratic” and “audacious” principal who tried to bring the Vidya Souhrudham under the control of the college. Their jubilance was over the disruption of the meeting and the hurdles they could put before principal. They were bragging,how with number in their favour they could do this. This is a grey side of democracy, I told myself. Here heads don’t count, only headcounts count. Isn’t that grey matter doesn’t count a grey side of democracy? Some of the ordinary people like me there started asking among themselves; what is wrong in the association being under the college. Some of them narrated their experiences with other colleges where they were once students. They all were unanimous in their resolve that CMS is the only place where they can step into with a sense of belonging, remain there meeting teachers and friends, enjoy the unmatched beauty of the campus and leave with a greater sense of belonging and a pious aspiration to come back again and again.

A powerful group had come well prepared, with mustered headcounts, to spoil the business meeting. They emerged victorious as it always happens in CMS college and in CMS college alone. For over the past four decades I have remained a mute spectator to many a group hijacking the college and its activities. This time another aggressive group could successfully hijack another programme. This is the latest and can be the last if the college administration is resolute in freeing the college from evil forces.

I have often heard people saying that unlike other colleges CMS is different and it belongs to all. All who come here, all who roam here, all who booze here and have to be lifted away? I would ask these people to pause for a moment, shed their prejudices and ponder for a moment over what they have given back to their Alma mater to make inflated claims.The principal Dr Varghese C Joshua “after getting defeated and had to flee from the business meet” (this was what the jubilant group, I mentioned in the beginning of this note, was claiming) made a very powerful yet emotional speech during the inaugural function. He spoke of how the Alma mater is uniquely  important to its alumni. He enumerated how the alumni can support the institution and how important it is for the alumni to understand its romantic, spiritual and intellectual duties. May I advise you to watch the speech on the YouTube.

While being critical of those who came with malicious intents and drummed up support, I think I should thankfully mention the names of three alumni who have been working for years now, without any publicity. Their hard work never gets acknowledged as they always remain behind the scenes. Theirs certainly is a devotion to the college. I want to write their names here. Abu, Kiran and Roshia.

Alma mater, Alumni and some musings - 2

 

This is a sequel to my previous post “Alma mater, Alumni and some musings – 1”. Therefore anyone reading this post may please read the first part first. In this note I want to be less romantic and more realistic or pragmatic but I am sure that I am bound to fail in this endeavour. Yet let me try.

Technically speaking an alumnus is a former student of an educational institution. Again speaking technically, students after completing their studies receive their transfer certificates (TC) and are out from where they once belonged to. Now, technically and legally they have absolutely no right or business to interfere in anything related to the institution. If ever the institution loves or welcomes them back with honour and dignity, it is certainly out of its magnanimity and at a lesser level, generosity too. Though this is right technically, humans are not machines or robots. Certainly there is something called the umbilical cord relation. The cord becomes a non-physical entity along with receiving the TC. One cannot say that whatever is non-physical does not exist and it’s all an illusion. But then, aren’t such illusions the most beautiful things in one’s life? Indeed they are, I believe. So the umbilical cord and the romanticism or the beautiful philosophy associated with it is indeed real. With no doubt about this anymore, let me delve into some of the realities, temporarily abandoning all those subtle dimensions involved in the issue.

I have heard many people talking very emotionally of their Alma mater. But I have seen few doing anything substantial when it comes to helping the very same Alma mater.  The Alma mater needs no alms. It’s all about giving back. Giving back to the school or college that shaped one’s life. Well, most often all those sermons on the mount stop here. Now why should I talk about this “giving back”? It’s just to make it very explicit that the alumni have a solemn duty to support, ie, give back. Any talk or deed without this realisation is meaningless.

Rakesh Gangwal is the co founder of the IndiGo airlines and an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur. Last week he donated a mind-boggling  Rs 1000000000/- (One Hundred Crores) to his Alma mater. Prof ECG Sudarshan, the great Physicist is an alumnus of CMS college. In1986 he donated two computers (Work Horse II, HCL) to the college. No college in Kerala had a computer then. This donation , over the years, changed the life of many a student and the history of their families. In the same year, Prof Sudarshan made an even greater donation. He donated a huge collection of Physics books to the CMS College. These books were the personal collections of Prof Sudarshan and his teacher Prof Marshak. What greater contribution should an alumnus make.

When I describe the donations by Prof Sudarshan, it may give a wrong impression that any donation has to be in such material/monetary form. Far from that.  Wherever Prof Sudarshan went he was a great ambassador of CMS College. Even while speaking at the greatest centres of learning around the world, he talked about two of his teachers with great reverence. The two teachers were Prof George M Thomas of the Physics department and Prof P A Eapen of the Mathematics department of the CMS college. He kept telling everyone how these two teacher motivated him and shaped his future. (I am witness to the great Physicist doing the “shastanganamaskkaram” before these gurus. When he did this he was 75 and the gurus were in their nineties!). I have narrated this to make clear what “Giving Back’ means and how Prof Sudarshan considered himself small before his Alma mater and his revered teachers. Yes, ECG Sudarshan, one of the greatest names in Physics considered himself infinitely indebted to his Alma mater.

On flip side of this there are alumni who think that the CMS college exists because of them. Needless to say that there cannot be a more stupid notion. My only prayer is the following. Let even” those who come to scoff”, fight, defeat and conquer with profane intentions “remain to pray”, support, love uninhibited and praise the college wherever they go.

Let everyone know that this is a pious place. This is a place blessed by God. This is a place where future is born. This is a place where love is showered upon all without any sort of discrimination. This is a place where from the noble ideals of equality emanated at a time when all kinds of inequalities and associated cruelties existed in the society. This is a place where emancipation from bondage of sorts took its first roots two centuries ago. (Can you believe that a slave market where humans where traded like livestock existed very near to the present Kottayam town?)

Let me invoke the words of Amir Khusrau portraying the enchanting beauty of Kashmir:

  "Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,

Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast"

which means,

If there is a paradise on earth,

It's here, it's here.

Yes, I admit that there is an element of exaggeration in adopting these words as such for CMS college. But then, would anything lesser suffice? I doubt.

Alma mater, alumni and some musings - 1

 

Alma mater is a school, college or university that one has attended or from which one has graduated. Alumni is the plural noun for a group of graduates. Both are descriptions from the dictionary. These words have a much deeper, romantic and even spiritual meaning than what the dictionary says. It goes without saying that this group will be most happy when their rendezvous is their Alma mater. The CMS college celebrates the old students' meet on the 26^th of January every year with the enthusiasm of the old students once again back in the campus, soaring sky high. The function used to start in the evening and the aesthetically illuminated campus was a delight to watch. I am sure that no other campus in Kerala can match this unique elegance. Almost every year there used to be a “Ganamela” led by  Mr Prem Prakash, film producer and actor. I remember the “Pyaar Ka Nagma” duet by him and his highly talented daughter Thankam, which mesmerised the audience. Programmes like this transcended the alumni to nostalgic spots back in space and time. But these days, there are some dark areas in this otherwise beautifully lit campus.

The small playground opposite to the principal’s bungalow serves as the parking place for vehicles and is often poorly lit. But in the sedate moonlight the place is the ideal romantic place for people to assemble on an occasion like this and share old memories. People who were students here during different years forms different groups and “naturally” transforms to “high-spirited” ones. A few years back on such an occasion every parked car was acting like a mini bar. Even in their inebriation they posed no problem to the function probably because of their love for the college. Yet there were many who wondered whether this should happen in the campus. When Prof Korah Mani became the principal he changed the timing of this function from evening to morning. I still remember a very bold statement he made then. “I will not allow this college founded by committed, selfless missionaries with great vision to be converted into a tippler’s haven.

In 2005, I along with my family was in my Alma mater, the St: John’s college Agra. My wife and children were surprised to see me kneeling at the steps of the Physics department and removing my shoes before entering the place to which I owe my life, the place where I met Ghose Sir and Ram Sir who changed my entire concepts of learning and teaching Physics. The place cannot but be so sacrosanct to me.

As I don’t have the eloquence to portray my feelings as to what an Alma mater should be to its alumni, may I invoke the words of the greatest of the children of CMS, the former president of India, Shri K R Narayanan. During one of his visits to the college he made the following statement, “ every visit to the CMS college is a pilgrimage to me”. Isn’t this the ultimate statement regarding one’s love or bhakthi for one’s alma mater? Isn’t it a sin to go against the divine spirit of this ultimate statement and also against the soul embedded in those three magical letters, CMS?

Cruel Inaction

 

Some twenty five years ago a student travelling by a private bus in Kottayam fell off the bus suffering fatal injuries.  People were very sad reading the tragic news. As usual the news papers were full of discussions, allegations, counter arguments etc. After a week or so, my son, then a small school boy ran to me with that day’s news paper in his hand. He was very happy and told me that such accidents will not be repeated as the government has made it compulsory for buses to have doors that can be closed and opened. I was not any enthused as I was sure that things will be as usual after a month or so. But I was really surprised to see buses fitted with doors within the time allotted to them by the government. So finally the government is acting with an iron hand, I thought. Things went well for a month or so. Suddenly the bus-operators invented a new method to overcome the ‘brutality’ of the government. They all heeded to the government’s instruction by fitting doors.  The government had not asked them to keep the door closed while the bus was moving. They kept the door always open by tying it to the body of the bus, and as usual the government did not see this for long until, I think, the court intervened.

I thought of this when the food inspectors all over the state have suddenly sprung into action after some fatal food poisoning incidents. They pulled the shutters down on innumerable restaurants all over the state. They suddenly pulled out hundreds of kilograms of decayed chicken from the freezers. They, in their new found enthusiasm, found that the food served in many restaurants were not fit for consumption.  Kudos for the bravado of the duty bound food inspectors. But where were they when rotten food was pushed down the throat of hapless unsuspecting  consumers. Aren’t they answerable for their inaction? The news papers carry stories of the pyrotechnics by the food inspectors. But this time my son did not run to me with the news paper, because now he not a boy but a man in his early thirties.

SPEECHLESS

 We are speechless when Dr Sashi Tharoor speaks. Yesterday I remained speechless in the Great Hall, CMS College, all the while Tharoor was speaking. He was delivering the inaugural lecture of the "Bishop M C Mani Foundation". I need not make any comment on a speech by Tharoor. Like anyone in the audience I too was delighted  listening to him and seeing him too from such close quarters. The well attended function went off very well. The 'tornado' left and the campus almost instantly settled down to its serene, soothing romantic self.

The principal Dr Varghese C Joshua had invited me to his bungalow for coffee after the programme. I was walking alone towards the bungalow when two ladies joined me. One was my friend Dr Reenu Jacob, the Vice-Principal and she introduced to me the other as Dr Jeena who is with the dept of communicative English. Reenu also told me that Jeena was the compere of the programme. I expressed my sincere appreciation for her sterling performance during the function. Things would have ended there. But my mind kept telling me that this lady is no ordinary, she has some real talent shrouded. Talents often speak through the eyes. I was very sure, but how can I ask her, who was a total stranger to me till a short while ago. At this moment of confusion Reenu, almost out of the blue, said, "Sir she is a highly talented person. She is a dancer, a researcher and she has produced documentaries etc. I felt happy for two reasons. First, my intuition was true. Then, I feel happy talking to talented people even as I myself am not one. See, listening to talented people, in fact, you are listening to ideas. During our talk she wanted my opinion of Tharoor's speech. For two reasons I was reluctant to answer her. One how can I comment on a Tharoor speech? The second was more inhibiting. Yet I told her the following. "I should not be mistaken. Most often I do not get anything new from the speeches I listen to. Yet I religiously attend speeches by people like Tharoor for a certain reason. I may have some opinion regarding a certain issue in my mind but I may not be able to conclude that my beliefs are right. When people like Tharoor too have the same opinion I can feel assured of the correctness of my thinking. This is no mean thing".

The three of us talked for half an hour. It was very interesting and a little enriching too.

Note: Listening to Tharoor I felt happy when I found that some of my ideas were in agreement with his. One was regarding the government's decision to allow foreign universities to have campuses in India. Another was regarding training students to acquire a certain skill with total disconnect with the rest of the world. I think I will write about these in another post.