In my active retirement work will be my source of satisfaction

Iam in the final leg of my academic journey. Hardly a year left for me to retire from active teaching and research- my work all along, for more than four decades.

Did this work give me happiness, peace, mental harmony? To be honest and tell the plain truth, the famous poetic quote,

“Blessed is he who has found his work

 Let him ask no other happiness”

Was fully evident in my life, right from the start of the journey (Auguest 6, 1970).

Personally, ever since I joined my service, teaching became my passion. I did all the home work to do the class work, which made me happy. My efforts to perpare for IAS, and to write Bank Probationary officer exam, were not that serious, they were rightly nibbed in the bud.

It was raining heavily in the campus today. A warm cup of tea in the pleasent company of my younger collague lifted my acadamic spirit. In a casual chat, I told him that, in my retiement period as to, I will not be sulking or suffaring how to fill my time.

I have many impending, unfinished academic agenda I told him. It’s not just going to be filling leisure time intellegintly or diligantly but rather working even more harder and in a more pleasanter  environment because of, a guilt feeling that, I have not handled and managed my time  more effectivley and more responsibly thus far. 

My obsession with teaching and the attitude of reaching perfection in what all I do, an under-estimation of my own talent and more important, lack of ambition and drive in my life stood as a stumbling block in my acadamic progress.

At times when I get into a pensive or depressed mood, I doubt whether I will have the zest and ‘time’ to work many hours of the day at 65 plus! Yes, I will, and also I can, because it’s the only source of happiness for me.

Prof. D. Sambandhan

29/10/2012.