It took a lot of time to get relief from my college when I got selected as Reader at School of international Studies, Pondicherry University. In the early months of 1994, I made a switchover from college atmosphere to university environment. I don’t have the habit of preparing speeches for farewell. Perhaps after the meeting was over, I must have scribbled some. Today I stumbled upon those notes; looking back towards college days and life at university with all my self imposed academic discipline, I shall give a pat on my frozen shoulder that I have rendered a reasonable justice to MIM student community and also evolved as a critical commentator, though not as a great research scholar.
My farewell speech went like this:
While expressing my sincere thanks for the nice tea in the warm afternoon, let me spend a few minutes by ruminating over the past and thinking aloud on the present.
Poets would say that past can only be a false memory; I would consider it as a pleasant memory, remaining ever green in my heart, radiating joy and peace. Most of us, the faculty members of economics department were nursed and nurtured here, in the academically fertile soil of TAC under the benevolent nourishment of Prof.Sasankan, our founder professor of Economcs.
He was a professor in whose era we were proud to be known as students and later as teachers in Economics. He had the intellectual grace and human warmth in the class room which evoked spontaneous love and respect from students.
Faculty present have, belong to the second generation of teachers who have a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in the subject and increasing inclination and aptitude towards teaching. If some of you would recall your intellectual association with us at a future date, in your old age, that will be a music to our souls wandering in eternity.
There is a saying: Blessed is he who has found his work. Let him ask no other happiness.
All of us were lucky to enter into a profession which is dear to our heart, but our places of work, with a few exceptions have not motivated us sufficiently to exploit our full potentials; May be , partly we are to be blamed for this “ under employment academic equilibrium” ;in teaching, both VG and DD will stand in splendid isolation in this regard. I am not undermining others or myself.
More than the place of work, what matters is innate interest in work, and the will power and determination to sustain the tempo. Professsors M.L.Thangappa Panju, Raj Goudaman, Jothi of Tamil dept , P.Raja of English and Dr.Narayanan of philosophy dept have revealed themselves to a broader world by their scholarly writings .
In a land of spinners Kapil Dev at a young age aspired to become a fast bolwler; by crude technical standard, he was far below the potentials of fast bowlers of west indies and Australia. Yet by playing a record number of matches without missing a single test (his omission on disciplinary ground being an exception ) he could attain the peak by sheer perspiration.
Age and exuberance were on his side and half of his wickets came from the home pitch not suited for fast bowling-.By technical standard, he was far below the pace battery of West Indies and Australia, but he could sustain himself in test cricket for a longer period without being affected by injuries. We have to learn a lot from Kapil.
Therefore, like Kapil we must have dreams. Dreams can not survive without concrete action, and hence dedication and determination are needed and it should not be difficult to surmount the obstacles on the way towards progress and academic fulfillment. You must draw inspiration from all of us and work hard for building a bright and secured life. The world is full of uncertainty and human nature is unpredictable. But the path is not a rosy one. We can’t have a cake walk. Our home team could not sweep the series. The law of statistical average ultimately prevailed. The defeated side did not get vanquished in the final game. What matters at the end is we should continue to fight regardless of victory pr defeat.
In a sophisticated, research oriented university environment, I might feel like a queer bird. Nevertheless, the exposure to a broader and well informed all India audience, the infrastructure facilities available there and more important the demanding nature of students joining professional courses, would enthuse me to be comfortable with the subject and overcome my inherited handicaps and deficiencies.
We are now living in a crucial period of globalization and marketization. It is an environment of opportunities and challenges, freedom and excitement. I take this new assignment in the same vein inflicting an intellectual punishment on myself in order that I would become more productive and competitive. Eventually, it all depends upon how one utilizes the opportunities and make the best out of them.
My farewell speech went like this:
While expressing my sincere thanks for the nice tea in the warm afternoon, let me spend a few minutes by ruminating over the past and thinking aloud on the present.
Poets would say that past can only be a false memory; I would consider it as a pleasant memory, remaining ever green in my heart, radiating joy and peace. Most of us, the faculty members of economics department were nursed and nurtured here, in the academically fertile soil of TAC under the benevolent nourishment of Prof.Sasankan, our founder professor of Economcs.
He was a professor in whose era we were proud to be known as students and later as teachers in Economics. He had the intellectual grace and human warmth in the class room which evoked spontaneous love and respect from students.
Faculty present have, belong to the second generation of teachers who have a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in the subject and increasing inclination and aptitude towards teaching. If some of you would recall your intellectual association with us at a future date, in your old age, that will be a music to our souls wandering in eternity.
There is a saying: Blessed is he who has found his work. Let him ask no other happiness.
All of us were lucky to enter into a profession which is dear to our heart, but our places of work, with a few exceptions have not motivated us sufficiently to exploit our full potentials; May be , partly we are to be blamed for this “ under employment academic equilibrium” ;in teaching, both VG and DD will stand in splendid isolation in this regard. I am not undermining others or myself.
More than the place of work, what matters is innate interest in work, and the will power and determination to sustain the tempo. Professsors M.L.Thangappa Panju, Raj Goudaman, Jothi of Tamil dept , P.Raja of English and Dr.Narayanan of philosophy dept have revealed themselves to a broader world by their scholarly writings .
In a land of spinners Kapil Dev at a young age aspired to become a fast bolwler; by crude technical standard, he was far below the potentials of fast bowlers of west indies and Australia. Yet by playing a record number of matches without missing a single test (his omission on disciplinary ground being an exception ) he could attain the peak by sheer perspiration.
Age and exuberance were on his side and half of his wickets came from the home pitch not suited for fast bowling-.By technical standard, he was far below the pace battery of West Indies and Australia, but he could sustain himself in test cricket for a longer period without being affected by injuries. We have to learn a lot from Kapil.
Therefore, like Kapil we must have dreams. Dreams can not survive without concrete action, and hence dedication and determination are needed and it should not be difficult to surmount the obstacles on the way towards progress and academic fulfillment. You must draw inspiration from all of us and work hard for building a bright and secured life. The world is full of uncertainty and human nature is unpredictable. But the path is not a rosy one. We can’t have a cake walk. Our home team could not sweep the series. The law of statistical average ultimately prevailed. The defeated side did not get vanquished in the final game. What matters at the end is we should continue to fight regardless of victory pr defeat.
In a sophisticated, research oriented university environment, I might feel like a queer bird. Nevertheless, the exposure to a broader and well informed all India audience, the infrastructure facilities available there and more important the demanding nature of students joining professional courses, would enthuse me to be comfortable with the subject and overcome my inherited handicaps and deficiencies.
We are now living in a crucial period of globalization and marketization. It is an environment of opportunities and challenges, freedom and excitement. I take this new assignment in the same vein inflicting an intellectual punishment on myself in order that I would become more productive and competitive. Eventually, it all depends upon how one utilizes the opportunities and make the best out of them.
1 comment:
And Sir what an assignment you took over. I have some of the best memories of my life during my two years at MIM. The energy you brought into the classroom was so enabling that whatever crisis I had seemed negligible after an hour with you.
I can still picture the superb interview I had with you when I wished to join MIM. And the questions came from all over the room but I loved your questions that tested my mental math as well as knowledge of economic concepts like Ricardo's theorem on comparative advantage. I loved every lecture, every viva voce and every intellectual conversation I had on that campus. Most of all the energy that you helped engender like a catalyst.
A setting like the MIM class with cool sea breeze, sound of the waves, intellectual conversations, excellent classmates and led by fearless teachers like you was the elixir of one's student life. I am lucky I had that experience.
Atleast now I feel like popping an energy pill each time I read your blog posts. Its not the same as a MIM classroom but better than most.
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