Will You Walk With Me? - II

Dear Vanaja,

When I advertise about this thread, I can surely add, "Vanaja's lecture on genius - an extra bonanza, when you walk with me".

I read every line of your reply twice to understand the way the mind of a genius works.

If God makes a person a genius, it's a blessing. But if She does not give a proper outlet or the right expression for the genius, it's a curse. That was a case with R.

I have been R's close friend for a period of nearly 15 years, the formative years of our lives.

Only a few years back when R came crying to me with his problems, did I realise that what he lacked was human relations. Even if you are a genius, you need human relations skills to survive in this world. You need them at least till you go to the top, where people won't expect you to behave in a normal way.

R is a devout, pious man with clean hands and neat habits. In spite of this he is resented by his wife, detested by his colleagues and ignored by his children. Other than muttering a silent prayer for him, I could not do any thing. R moved out of my life soon after his marriage and as such I don't know his wife or children well.

Once again thanks, Professor Vanaja, for the erudite lecture on the very concept of genius.
regards,

Dear Chithra,

If Vanaja provided intellectual support, you were there for the emotional support. AC was not co-ed when we did our PUC and B.Com. In fact I longed to study with girls.

But as my DW used to say quite often, "God knows you very well, sridhar. That's why he never let you anyway near a girl or lady, till you were 45.R

Till I was 35 I had not even shaken hands with a girl. Only when I was 45 did I get my first female colleague.

B.Com, CA were all all-male forts in those days.

In fact during the Orientation Programme when our then Principal the late lamented M.A.Thangaraj encouraged us to ask questions, one student asked him,
"Sir, when will you make American College co-ed?"
All the rest of us booed the Principal.

In any other college the student will be shouted at and thrown out. But our dear princey informed us that as per the University Regulations then prevalent, we could not have a co-ed institution when there are ladies colleges within a 5 kilometre radius. And we had LDC, Fatima, Meenakshi all within that limit. So unless we shift the campus to somewhere near Chathrapatti we can not admit girls.

Now we booed the student who asked the question.

Your part of the experience was not only non-academic but a tad romantic too.
I have my own share of non-academic experiences, (which, though not as interesting as your "romantic ones") will surely be thrilling. But I don't want to delay the walk any longer. So let's have a look at them sometime later.

Thanks for adding colour and sparkle to the thread.
love,

Dear Varalotti
Thought will reach our destination today but you want us to rest again for a week............
Wonderful write up about the college some from your post and some from our romantic superwoman's post.
So now I know each and every corner of AC..............If I land up there I think I will never be lost...............
Hope taking rest will get over fast, and our jouney will continue.

Dear Mr.Varaloti,
Your sketching of R really moved me.I must also say that there are Rs in all walks of life.They are the ones who do not have double standards,who can not say, what is not the truth ,just to please others and call a spade a spade.I feel happy that such Rs are there,somewhere they put the fear of God in people.
Very rarely do we find teachers like the ones you have sketched in your essay.Hats off to them.
When R spoke with the Professor I was also there my heart in my mouth,what is the Professor going to do?
I enjoyed reading this essay.
mithila kannan

Dear Vidya,

[quote]

Originally Posted by Vidya24

Sridhara,Keshava,Raghava,Vishno,

(NB: The address issue on which we both are fixated, I cannot do better than this exalted version )

Thanks for adorning me with names which are fit only to be adorned on sarveshwaran, sreman narayanan.
With this exalted address my fixation on names, addressing and everything is gone.
We have a very popular saying in Madurai. I should explain the background for this.
In those good old days (probably the 40s, 50s) a man got a job in Madurai Municipality (It became a corporation only in 1971). A monthly salary of Rs.40 was considered a royal sum in those days. For a sovereign of gold cost only Rs. 10. The authorities had agreed to give a salary of Rs. 40 to our hero. But there was a problem with the designation. You know we Maduraiites give a damn to what we are called. So this man told the authorities,
"Call me thotti; pay me forty" Thotti is Tamil for scavanger, the entry level grade in the Municipality. So long as your fb is right and comments rightly about the leader post, I shall content myself with saying, "Call me thotti; pay me forty."

I am a little afraid that I am getting too personal with this walk. In fact I had written another piece for this week and was about to post it. When I read it the next day, it appeared like the brochure of the Tourism Department. I scrapped it and wrote whatever was there in my heart. Thanks for the words of appreciation. And really you have paid "my forty Rupees."

Your bringing in Salierie (I have not heard this name, will be grateful if you can give a brief note) and Mozart to this thread is impressive. If Genius has to have a happy, fulfilling life, it has to do some packaging. The world is not ready for the raw genius, in as much it is not ready to drink any drink on the rocks. I have had long talks with R. I told him that his views about the system are perfectly right. But you can't do anything about the system sitting inside it. So till you get some education, you will have to at least fake some respect for the system. Once you are on your own, once you hold a position where your views matter, then you can tear the system and build it afresh from the scratch. R did not buy this argument.

As a child, we often travelled to Karaikudi via Madurai. And the brief halt in Madurai would be the highlight of our trip, we coming all sore from country TVM. The fragrance of the malli enchanted us that we refused to take the strands off long after they had wilted. We would shop for a sungudi saree or pavadi piece, snack on masala dosai and badam milk in College House, worship in awe and longing at the Meenakshi temple and come home laden with memories. Your piece brought out the simple joys of those days back to mind.

That was a great description of a drive through madurai. You know when R came to Madurai last year we had lunch in College House. I have never seen such a great decline in standards in any other institution. Food was insipid, and the waiters insolent.

You will be surprised to know how it got its name. It was part of the Madura College. The building was the college hostel. Subsequently the College sold this building and acquired more land adjacent to its campus and built its hostel there. The person who bought the building named it College House just to remind us about its origins. In those days people use to travel a few miles in car to taste the coffee prepared in College House. One of the coffee masters of college house came out and started the Rajendra Coffee Bar, where you still get a good filter coffee.

Great piece, Sridhar and loving to read more of it.

Very reassuring, Vidya. Indhu was a little skeptical as I was dragging the walk to more than two weeks.

love,

Originally Posted by varalotti

Dear Vanaja,

When I advertise about this thread, I can surely add, "Vanaja's lecture on genius - an extra bonanza, when you walk with me".

I read every line of your reply twice to understand the way the mind of a genius works.

If God makes a person a genius, it's a blessing. But if She does not give a proper outlet or the right expression for the genius, it's a curse. That was a case with R.

I have been R's close friend for a period of nearly 15 years, the formative years of our lives.

Only a few years back when R came crying to me with his problems, did I realise that what he lacked was human relations. Even if you are a genius, you need human relations skills to survive in this world. You need them at least till you go to the top, where people won't expect you to behave in a normal way.

R is a devout, pious man with clean hands and neat habits. In spite of this he is resented by his wife, detested by his colleagues and ignored by his children. Other than muttering a silent prayer for him, I could not do any thing. R moved out of my life soon after his marriage and as such I don't know his wife or children well.

Once again thanks, Professor Vanaja, for the erudite lecture on the very concept of genius.
regards,

Professor Vanaja

No way. From my childhood, I never wanted to be a teacher. Though it is a very esteemed profession somehow I do not prefer it. May be for the reason, a teacher ought to be a perfectionist.

All these lectures are bookish knowledge. I am very well aware of a "Genius" state of mind as I am having one in my family circle. My words are out of the close study.

Though it is easy to identify the steps adopted by Geniuses, it is very difficult to apply them in practical life for an ordinary person like me.

And again - even if it easy to identify the steps adopted by Geniuses, it is a bit difficult to get along with them. Because we will not be aware of their conclusions. They will decide everything in their own intellectual way.

When others don't get along with them, they feel bad and even ramble that others don't understand them.

But as a friend your feelings are very genuine towards Mr.R. He must come out of his Genius shell to gain human relations. Again it is a difficult task for any Genius. Because their minds are established and will never decline.

Yes, what you are doing is right for your Friend. Continue praying.

Dear Malathi,
God blessed me and gave me the opportunity to move with many geniuses. Some of them rubbed a millionth part of their intelligence on me.
With the kind of experience I have, I am ready to conduct a crash course - Packaging Genius For the Laymen - 101 for all those geniuses.

R and I have had heated arguments. I always told him whatever you want to do, first get along with the system. If you don't like it, fake your love. Not that I loved to read those silly text books written by people sillier than us students studying the book. But I drew a clear line. I know what I should do honestly to score marks. I know what it is to live a practical life and insisted that R should also do that. In that I am like your elder son. I know how to beat any system. Be it the tax-law system or the CA syllabus system or whatever. I don't allow my views of the system to mar my performance under the system.

We had one more genius in our college. He was a hundred times more potent than R. Let's call him V. He finished his PUC and IIT offered him a seat in a location of his choice. He refused it and opted to study B.Sc. Special Maths in American College. Once he completed that an American University invited him to do Ph.D. straightaway without his doing the PG course. I don't know much about his personal life. His father is my client. I can only say that he is not as unhappy as R.

I am loving every bit of this walk! Waiting for you to get over your tiredness so that we can continue the walk!

Quite reassuring for me. I started feeling guilty as I have been dragging the walk more than 2 weeks.
regards,

Its just today I read the post (both I and II together) and initially was thinking have i missed the train. But Sir, ur picturisation thru your beautiful writing is so good i imagined myself sitting in the train besides u enjoying those vadais and idlis and soups, having a nap too and feeling the breeze as u were standing at the train door ready to get down the train at ur destination. I have never being to Chennai or even Madurai, but i felt the journey thru ur words.
In Part II again, I have never being to your institute (or heard its name, sorry) but I could feel being a fellow student alogwith you, admiring you and ur friend R and also feeling sad for him and equally feeling frustrated and tired as (U have concluded) for this rotten bureacratic system of ours.
Waiting to join your journey in part iii.

Your ardent reader,
Swati

Dear Sridhar,

So after a long rest, we have commenced our walk again thru the street of Madurai.

Really enjoying this walk and the visit to your Alma Mater. I really wonder about the interactions you people had because though we were in a Women's college that open and frank outbursts were never appreciated.

Felt very sorry for R rather than sorry the correct expression would be frustration. I can fully empathize with him. Really we need to look at our education systems as we have already lost lot of C V Ramans, Vishweshwariah etc. At least the Gen X should be benefitted.

Dear Varalotti sir,

At the outset, I must say I admire all your literary skills, having first acquainted myself with them through Woman's era, and following up through IL!

I have never been to Madurai or known anyone who hails from there. However, your writing evokes visions of a place very much at ease with itself and with its citizens..

You are absolutely right, that very few lecturers in the Indian educational set-up encourage feedback or even active participation from students. But then, it is very much a two-way game, because by and large, Indian professors do follow the practice of 'dictating notes' during class lectures, and most students are happy with that. So far, a win-win situation, unfortunately..

I remember a professor who once told us, "To survive in teaching, you should be either an extremely knowledgable person, or a very good-hearted person. Either way, your students will accept you. Otherwise, you will forever be on a sticky wicket.'

Looking forward to more reminiscences,

Sowmya