Remembering Appa

When I read posts from friends on Facebook on Father's Day I am a little lost for words. I haven't made any attempt to recall my father especially for Father's Day but I am what I am today because of him. Some of it, he taught. Before he could teach me more, he passed on. So, the rest I learnt by hearing about him from relatives and family.
Yes, when I had done poorly in class X and despite my poor marks I wanted to pursue Science, he took me to meet the school principal and firmly insisted that I should be given a place in Science Stream in class XI. I feel ashamed every time when I think of how badly I fared in class XII. The only solace is that he died before my class XII results were out.
On the day I returned after finishing the Physics test, he asked how the paper went. I said, "I am going to fail." He said, "Okay, go wash your face and study for the rest of the exams."
The appa I remember is one who taught me to read English classics.
When I had turned eight, he introduced me to French Revolution through Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Every morning we would sit at the Himalayan teak dining table in the living room near the entrance to the apartment, along with a dictionary. I would read aloud and appa would explain in Tamil. Slowly, I began to master English. I distinctly remember the day we finished the book. I cried inconsolably when Sydney Carton was guillotined.
Then there was the time when he taught me to ride a bicycle. He would take us to the Sayaji Park and would rent a baby cycle for me and Revathi. We would ride for half an hour initially. It became an hour and soon he got me a second-hand cycle.
To help me rid of road fear, he bought a new bigger cycle as I approached class X. He would ride the new bike beside me along the road. Soon he let me ride the new, big ladies bike and he would ride the smaller bike. His intent was to make me confident enough to ride on my own. I did just that. I don't recall his happiness. But I know it must have been an awesome feeling for him when he saw me ride to school and back without fear. I used to ride the national highway to get to school.
He had immense confidence in me. So much so that he encouraged to find and make pen pals. He took me to the post office to get inland letters and never once supervised what I wrote.
Yet, when a boy, a pen friend, visited me home, he made sure nothing untoward happened.
Yes, I miss him, 33 years after he died. No one can replace him. I feel the ache even today. 

Arm twisting at best

IIT-Madras' struggle to maintain its position as a premier institution has been challenged by the very students who opted for the institution for its name and prestige. There are those who love the campus and want to stay put and those who dislike the campus so much that they want it removed from the city scape.

There is a strong undercurrent of dislike that borders on jealousy - even among those who are within the IIT system. I fail to understand why there is so much dislike. The beautiful campus is a work of many years of nurturing - and no one is paying heed to it.

The students are a complex mix from across the country, representing the dreams of the middle class families that wants to find its place in the world.

There are several things I have found hard to accept: the way the students have embraced the fast pace of life - especially their desire to make fast money and gain promotions faster in the workplace.

I am talking of the way placement went last academic year here. It came as a surprise to me that that students who had worked so hard to get into IIT were ready to give it all away as they wanted higher salaries that start ups offered.

Chemical, mechanical and aeronautical engineering students made a beeline for marketing and strategy development jobs in Google, housing.com, urban ladder etc.
Students wanted to make it quickly up the corporate ladder they told me. They wanted to be part of the upper echelons in their company.

I wonder if they realise that it will also bring with it huge responsibilities and then heartbreaks.

I would have loved to see these fresh graduates consider creating something new with their hands instead of donning the formal black suits and ties and remain in air-conditioned office with a look of utter boredom just a few years down the line.

The students are not interested in working with their hands. Instead they want to plan for someone.

The latest furore over the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle has been going on for nearly a week. This kind of political involvement by the students is misplaced. Among the irate voices of political parties and the fringe elements sane views are being deliberately ignored even by the media.

The IIT officials are being branded as the uncouth upper Brahmin class that is suppress the other castes.

IIT-M also has made some mistakes in the past. Major among them is allowing Chennai Sangamam's inaugural function in its premises five years ago.

It is different from students hosting Saarang, their cultural festival. During the Sangamam, the State machinery was in full force in the campus and at that time no environmentalist attacked the IIT. Remember, the event brought into the campus an array of vehicles. No one thought much of the disturbance it would cause to the deer.

It was not a one-day event as the preparations went on for several days and the students did not protest then. Ideally they should have, as the noise pollution and the sudden increase of human presence would have made the deer restless.

I really feel sorry for the institution whose arm has been twisted by political desperadoes and the trend is only continuing. What a shame that our youth are being misled instead of getting ahead in life.

I only hope they don't live to regret their decisions.