Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thank you Prof. Murali
A few days after I wrote the letter to (Late) Prof. Veeraraghavan and was wondering how to deliver it to him, Prof. Muraleedharan called me up and asked me to speak at the condolence meeting of Prof. Veeraraghavan. In a way, I felt it was a godsend, since by reading out this letter at a meeting of so many good people who have known and liked him, I felt that I have delivered the letter to the late professor himself. In that meeting, when many people spoke about his life's various aspects, I got to know so much more about him and my respect and admiration for him grew even more. Rather than mourn his death, we should remember his illustrious life. I hope this institute keeps alive the memory of this exceptional soul in some form. It is said that people die young because God loves them so much and wants them back. In this case, I think God was jealous of leaving such a person as Prof. Veeraraghavan in our midst, that he took him back early.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Somebody please deliver this to him!
Arun Kumar
BTech Final Year
Dept of CSE, IITM
(Late) Prof. D. Veeraraghavan
Dept of HSS, IIT Madras
Dear Sir,
At the outset I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude for the affection and wonderful guidance you had given me in the two years for which I have known you. It is difficult for me to think of a class in my life that was as enjoyable and as educational as yours on constitution. I still remember how in every class, you used to provoke discussions and healthy arguments on governmental and constitutional issues. Your depth and breadth of knowledge, including current affairs, used to amaze me. Not to mention your ability to immediately recognize a student, with just one utterance of a word. Your classes were on a different plane from any other I have had here. For the term presentation, you listened to each and every statement of the speakers and even correct them instantly, when most of the class wouldn't even have had an idea of what was going on! I still remember how you appreciated the performance of our team, Sharath, Vivek an I, onthe topic of reservations. We even used to have wonderful discussions on this and many other topics when I came to meet you in your room, including the then developments of anti-reservation violence. You are the only teacher I know, who involved the students themselves in their evaluation. I still vividly remember that evening, when we collected everyone's marks and opinions on the presentations and you asked us to give our suggestions on the marks given. I have never come across such an open, fair and democratic evaluation scheme. Of course, you were more than just a class instructor for me. You got to know about me as a person, my family, my interests and so on. Your valuable advice and guidance changed my outlook towards life. I am sure it has profoundly influenced many of my peers as well. We used to visit you sometimes to discuss about various things, including the landmark Supreme Court verdict regarding the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. I still remember that visit, when I gave you some chocolates that my brother had brought from the US! Speaking of which, I am reminded of Prof. Muraleedharan, who was like a brother to you; I admired the camaraderie you two enjoyed. Many times, he even dropped by during your classes to catch the sleepyheads red-handed!
As time flied by, I heard one day that you had fallen ill with stomach ulcer or something similar. I tried to visit you, but your room was locked. I was concerned for your health but I didn't know whom to ask. Unfortunately, things became extremely busy in my third year. I thought you would be back this semester, fully recovered and healthy. I wanted to visit your house at least once, before leaving this institute. Sadly, fate had something else in store on that Thursday morning. I was shocked when my friend, Mahitha told me about your demise and the fact that you had cancer. I couldn't believe that you had such a serious health problem. If only I had known earlier, I would have at least had a chance to visit you, at the hospital or wherever you were. As Vivek and I came down to your house, I saw so many students and professors, all united in grief. It is a pity that I had to meet you in this situation. As you lay down on the floor, sleeping peacefully, the crowds circled around you to pay their respects. Your family was inconsolable; so were your friends. After the ceremonial rituals, they had taken you to the Kannammapet crematorium, the same place where we cremated my grandpa. I felt guilty for not having known about your condition, for not having met you, for not having spoken to you for so many months. I could only compensate by putting a fistful of rice on your mouth as you lay in your deathbed, Sir. As the ceremonial duties were being performed by your bereaved father, I prayed to God to give him and your family the strength to overcome your loss and that no parents should ever undergo the trauma of having to lose their child. As we watched, you were pushed into the electrical furnace and your body was ablaze. Amidst dignified tears, I returned, recollecting the times I had spent with you and the impact you had on me as a person. I will forever remember you as one of the best teachers I have had in this institute, indeed one of the best I have ever met. The fact that despite your physical limitations and all odds, you have managed to achieve so much and rise to this level, will continue to serve as an inspiration for me and countless others throughout our lives. Though life will have to go on for everyone you have left behind, you will continue to persist in the thoughts and hopes of many, for whom you are a symbol of courage, determination and achievement.
Yours sincerely,
Arun Kumar
BTech Final Year
Dept of CSE, IITM
(Late) Prof. D. Veeraraghavan
Dept of HSS, IIT Madras
Dear Sir,
At the outset I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude for the affection and wonderful guidance you had given me in the two years for which I have known you. It is difficult for me to think of a class in my life that was as enjoyable and as educational as yours on constitution. I still remember how in every class, you used to provoke discussions and healthy arguments on governmental and constitutional issues. Your depth and breadth of knowledge, including current affairs, used to amaze me. Not to mention your ability to immediately recognize a student, with just one utterance of a word. Your classes were on a different plane from any other I have had here. For the term presentation, you listened to each and every statement of the speakers and even correct them instantly, when most of the class wouldn't even have had an idea of what was going on! I still remember how you appreciated the performance of our team, Sharath, Vivek an I, onthe topic of reservations. We even used to have wonderful discussions on this and many other topics when I came to meet you in your room, including the then developments of anti-reservation violence. You are the only teacher I know, who involved the students themselves in their evaluation. I still vividly remember that evening, when we collected everyone's marks and opinions on the presentations and you asked us to give our suggestions on the marks given. I have never come across such an open, fair and democratic evaluation scheme. Of course, you were more than just a class instructor for me. You got to know about me as a person, my family, my interests and so on. Your valuable advice and guidance changed my outlook towards life. I am sure it has profoundly influenced many of my peers as well. We used to visit you sometimes to discuss about various things, including the landmark Supreme Court verdict regarding the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. I still remember that visit, when I gave you some chocolates that my brother had brought from the US! Speaking of which, I am reminded of Prof. Muraleedharan, who was like a brother to you; I admired the camaraderie you two enjoyed. Many times, he even dropped by during your classes to catch the sleepyheads red-handed!
As time flied by, I heard one day that you had fallen ill with stomach ulcer or something similar. I tried to visit you, but your room was locked. I was concerned for your health but I didn't know whom to ask. Unfortunately, things became extremely busy in my third year. I thought you would be back this semester, fully recovered and healthy. I wanted to visit your house at least once, before leaving this institute. Sadly, fate had something else in store on that Thursday morning. I was shocked when my friend, Mahitha told me about your demise and the fact that you had cancer. I couldn't believe that you had such a serious health problem. If only I had known earlier, I would have at least had a chance to visit you, at the hospital or wherever you were. As Vivek and I came down to your house, I saw so many students and professors, all united in grief. It is a pity that I had to meet you in this situation. As you lay down on the floor, sleeping peacefully, the crowds circled around you to pay their respects. Your family was inconsolable; so were your friends. After the ceremonial rituals, they had taken you to the Kannammapet crematorium, the same place where we cremated my grandpa. I felt guilty for not having known about your condition, for not having met you, for not having spoken to you for so many months. I could only compensate by putting a fistful of rice on your mouth as you lay in your deathbed, Sir. As the ceremonial duties were being performed by your bereaved father, I prayed to God to give him and your family the strength to overcome your loss and that no parents should ever undergo the trauma of having to lose their child. As we watched, you were pushed into the electrical furnace and your body was ablaze. Amidst dignified tears, I returned, recollecting the times I had spent with you and the impact you had on me as a person. I will forever remember you as one of the best teachers I have had in this institute, indeed one of the best I have ever met. The fact that despite your physical limitations and all odds, you have managed to achieve so much and rise to this level, will continue to serve as an inspiration for me and countless others throughout our lives. Though life will have to go on for everyone you have left behind, you will continue to persist in the thoughts and hopes of many, for whom you are a symbol of courage, determination and achievement.
Yours sincerely,
Arun Kumar
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Dilemmas of Morality
Have you ever faced a moral dilemma? A situation wherein you had to choose between that which is in your interest and that which is more than just about you? A situation where you had to choose between selfishness and common good? I have faced quite a few in my two decades of existence and here I share with honesty, two of the more recent and impactful ones.
It was the end of my first year at IITM and I had just completed my stint as an NSS Teaching volunteer. Noticing my enthusiasm, the chief student coordinator of NSS, Jayaraj, asked me if I was willing to coordinate a new group within NSS in my second year. This is the Science Activities group, whose aim is to change the way science is being taught at secondary schools from rote learning to activity and experimentation based learning. I grasped the importance of this mission and readily agreed to do so. But as the semester started and the load of the courses began, I started feeling that I might have made a mistake by choosing to become the coordinator. Sometimes I used to feel that devoting time to such activities is a waste since it doesn't help me in any way and I see most others just going about their academic activities, which I might miss out on. This was the thread of selfish interest that was running in my mind. However I also used to think about the good things I can do as the head of Science Activities and the nobility of service, epitomized by great selfless people like Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. This was a classic dilemma of my self versus my society. Which is more important? Why should I be in this situation? As I grappled with all these questions into the semester, I ended up not doing much for the NSS work, which was mostly taken care of by Jayaraj for the first few weeks. But the turning point was when I met Prof. Giridhar. On one fine evening, he called for a meeting of all NSS coordinators to discuss the plan for the rest of the semester and the December holidays. It was then that he explained about the kind of work that people have done at NSS and the impact it had on society. It was in that session that I got the answer to my dilemma.
The next situation was in my third year. I had volunteered to be an Internship/Placement Representative (IR/PR) for my computer science batch since it entailed staying back in the institute in December for the Placements when most pre-final year students would go back home. I being a day-scholar would be around and thus offered to be an IR/PR. After the internship season, the time came for deciding who the next Branch Councilor (BC) would be. Though many were happy with my work as an IR, many weren't. I was not averse to the idea of being the BC though I believed that some of my co-IRs, who were interested in the job, could also handle it. One fine evening, Sameer, who was the outgoing BC called me up and said that I would be the best candidate for the job and if I was seriously interested, I should contest the election for BC. It is a tradition in the computer science batch that the BC will be decided unanimously. I for one was uneasy about the prospect of contesting an election! My mind kept on wavering over whether I should stand for BC. In the end, I did manage to become the BC by unanimity. But that is where the dilemma started. Having become the BC, in order to do a good job, some sacrifices were called for. The choice of my BTech project guide changed because of this. My academic life did get affected though not as badly as some had warned me. But I still was slightly dithering about the whole thing. Why should I sacrifice these for the sake of others' placements? Why should I let my academic life be affected without any direct gain for me from this? Then again, I asked myself why not? It was after all for the class that I was doing this. It was for my friends and classmates who stood to benefit if I put in the efforts with sincerity that the post of BC deserved. This was for the common good of the batch and the department since most people were interested in taking up a job after the degree. As I grappled with this dilemma, the newly elected Academic Affairs Secretary, Amit had called for the maiden meeting of the new placement team. He explained our tasks ahead as well as the commitment and sacrifices required by each and every one, including him, to make the placements a success. As before, it was in a meeting that I got the answer to my dilemma.
As you must have noticed, I have stopped narrating the story of my dilemmas the moment I got my answers since what happened after that is in public domain. What happened before that is what I got to express here. As life continues, I am sure I would face more such situations in the future, which would test me and my convictions. If I'm lucky, I'd be able to write about them here again.
It was the end of my first year at IITM and I had just completed my stint as an NSS Teaching volunteer. Noticing my enthusiasm, the chief student coordinator of NSS, Jayaraj, asked me if I was willing to coordinate a new group within NSS in my second year. This is the Science Activities group, whose aim is to change the way science is being taught at secondary schools from rote learning to activity and experimentation based learning. I grasped the importance of this mission and readily agreed to do so. But as the semester started and the load of the courses began, I started feeling that I might have made a mistake by choosing to become the coordinator. Sometimes I used to feel that devoting time to such activities is a waste since it doesn't help me in any way and I see most others just going about their academic activities, which I might miss out on. This was the thread of selfish interest that was running in my mind. However I also used to think about the good things I can do as the head of Science Activities and the nobility of service, epitomized by great selfless people like Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. This was a classic dilemma of my self versus my society. Which is more important? Why should I be in this situation? As I grappled with all these questions into the semester, I ended up not doing much for the NSS work, which was mostly taken care of by Jayaraj for the first few weeks. But the turning point was when I met Prof. Giridhar. On one fine evening, he called for a meeting of all NSS coordinators to discuss the plan for the rest of the semester and the December holidays. It was then that he explained about the kind of work that people have done at NSS and the impact it had on society. It was in that session that I got the answer to my dilemma.
The next situation was in my third year. I had volunteered to be an Internship/Placement Representative (IR/PR) for my computer science batch since it entailed staying back in the institute in December for the Placements when most pre-final year students would go back home. I being a day-scholar would be around and thus offered to be an IR/PR. After the internship season, the time came for deciding who the next Branch Councilor (BC) would be. Though many were happy with my work as an IR, many weren't. I was not averse to the idea of being the BC though I believed that some of my co-IRs, who were interested in the job, could also handle it. One fine evening, Sameer, who was the outgoing BC called me up and said that I would be the best candidate for the job and if I was seriously interested, I should contest the election for BC. It is a tradition in the computer science batch that the BC will be decided unanimously. I for one was uneasy about the prospect of contesting an election! My mind kept on wavering over whether I should stand for BC. In the end, I did manage to become the BC by unanimity. But that is where the dilemma started. Having become the BC, in order to do a good job, some sacrifices were called for. The choice of my BTech project guide changed because of this. My academic life did get affected though not as badly as some had warned me. But I still was slightly dithering about the whole thing. Why should I sacrifice these for the sake of others' placements? Why should I let my academic life be affected without any direct gain for me from this? Then again, I asked myself why not? It was after all for the class that I was doing this. It was for my friends and classmates who stood to benefit if I put in the efforts with sincerity that the post of BC deserved. This was for the common good of the batch and the department since most people were interested in taking up a job after the degree. As I grappled with this dilemma, the newly elected Academic Affairs Secretary, Amit had called for the maiden meeting of the new placement team. He explained our tasks ahead as well as the commitment and sacrifices required by each and every one, including him, to make the placements a success. As before, it was in a meeting that I got the answer to my dilemma.
As you must have noticed, I have stopped narrating the story of my dilemmas the moment I got my answers since what happened after that is in public domain. What happened before that is what I got to express here. As life continues, I am sure I would face more such situations in the future, which would test me and my convictions. If I'm lucky, I'd be able to write about them here again.
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