MY TRAVEL

 MY TRAVEL

This happens to be the 300^th blog posting of mine. 

Confronted by what to say, I chose the present item as - one of looking back, with a purpose of recalling my own travel through times,  so that I manage TO RECALL the crux of this inconsequential title. How can my travel be of any relevance to others; I know that, yet I try my hand with this. Pardon me if it proves worthless at the end. Like all those of those times, I too began with a modest school education in Tamil medium- that too in a Corporation school at Raja Annamalaipuram, Chennai. The place was a huge coconut grove those days with a tiny building- The Corporation school. Ms Jasmine was our teacher who made learning a delight in that modest school. She taught us at levels I and II. At class III it was Mrs Emily another good teacher but not of the kid of the previous one.  That was just a brief stint, as I had to move to a new place /school, my father being on Railway Service; it was to Chingleput [the then spelling for Chengal pattu] to St. Joseph’s school for IV standard.

Then came another shift in place of duty for my father from chengalpattu to Karaikkudi. Curiously all his early transfers were Southward at least until my school education. At Karaikkudi it was one-teacher school, who by turns would teach different classes; it was a boon to Railway staff and children not to move out of railway colony. Such schools were among the recognized schools and the teacher’s affidavit was proof enough to admit wards to higher classes in Government-recognized schools. Completing my V standard at one-man school, I moved on to SMS HIGH SCHOOL in Karaikkudi town. Two years in one place! Railways moved the very office of my father from Karaikkudi to Sivaganga. Obviously, my journey followed suit and classes VII and VIII of mine were at Rajah’s High School, Sivaganga; If my English grammar is of some respectability, I entirely owe it to the then teachers at R H S, Sivaganga. An excellent foundation on English grammar was laid by Mr. K V Krishna Iyer and at VIII std by Mr. R P Asirvadham.

Where are such dedicated grammar teachers now? Nowhere-at least as far as I know.

Sensing that transfers would ruin studies, my dad left me in grandparents’ care at Srirangam for IX, X, XI standards named IV form, V form and VI form at Boys’ High School Srirangam which had some high caliber teachers; but my father was being moved from place to place [Sivangai →Manamadurai→ Mysore]. With my low score in SSLC Mathematics , colleges in Trichy, were out of reach for my PUC. My father’s presence at Mysore prompted our trying for PUC in Mysore. I managed a non-mathematics PCB entry and did my PU there. My entry to Biology was nearly foregone with no high scores in PU for Medicine. My studentship at St. Philomena’s college, Mysore proved quite a few things. The fire-brand teaching by Prof. TR Balakrishna at Mysore ignited in me the fire for excellence in teaching –having seen him perform to absolute delight of all students. Even in I Bsc., I decided to be a Lecturer [as if it was there for the asking]; sure I had the fire in me to go all out to be a lecturer. Mine is a case of how genuine teachers can truly transform spirits OF EVEN DULL STUDENTS AS ME, to strive for the desire. I should honestly submit that Mr. Krishna Iyer’s grammar and Prof. TR B’s diction and articulation really drove me mad to be a lecturer. A PG degree was the basic need to be a lecturer then; meanwhile my dad had been transferred from Mysore to Dindigul. My hunt for PG was again in TamilNadu and I landed at Annamalai University for PG 1965-67. Right after PG,  I opted to College teaching; but began as a Demonstrator in The Madura College Madurai from July 1967. I served in every rung of teaching in the same college until Sept. 2004; in the last 3 years of my career, I was the Principal in the same institution. I had the blessings of my Gurus in full measure but for which I could never have had a grand tenure as a teacher. Obviously, I kept myself abreast of all contemporary developments in the subject and the academy which witnessed conceptual revolutions like Autonomy, National Accreditation and related reforms there in. That in short was my travel through various institutions -9 in all, including two Universities of Southern India.

Prof. K. Raman