THE PASSING AWAY OF A TEACHER AND A PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL

       When a friend of mine called me yesterday to announce the death of Dr. A. R. Venkitraman, Venki to all those he endeared, I was deeply moved. Venki, after a very long and successful career as Professor and Head of the Post Graduate Department of Chemistry at the American College, Madurai, passed away in his son’s home in Cincinnati, USA at the age of 92. In a context where the pandemic brings every day the news of strings of death of young and old, as well the dear and far, one might ask what is there to publicly utter about a person who retired some 30 plus years ago, and waned away from public glare. For me, it is not merely a matter of expressing the personal grief alone. It is the kind of publicness and political-intellectual content Venki brought into defining his role as a teacher which needs reminiscing and celebrating.

        Hailing from Kerala, Venki joined the American College in 1951, two years before I was born. From here, he went to the USA, and earned his PhD degree in Chemistry from the University of Rochester. Unlike many who escaped into greener pastures, he returned to American College, to put it in his own words, ‘to give back what he received.’ It is no exaggeration that he raised a flock of scientists who put American College in the international map. Some even went to bag the Indian Nobel, the Bhatnagar Award. This side of Venki- the scientist-researcher and Chemistry teacher, is very well known to all and as a Sociologist I am least qualified to speak beyond this.

 However, the point I would like to make here is that, if American College could stand as the last bastion of the liberal academic world with its classic overtones till a decade ago, it was certainly because of the fierce commitment to values of freedom and thoughtful public actions, people like Venki were committed to. By some queer coincidence, Venki was the President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Madurai unit (1982). Henry Tiphagne of People’s Watch, was the Secretary, journalist T.N. Gopalan of The Indian Express was its Vice President and myself, its treasurer.

 Two incidents I would like to recall: the first one was the infamous police lathi charge in 1982, disrupting a procession organised by PUCL in Madurai. The retired Justice and founder of PUCL, Tharkunde himself was beaten up on the road. Venki could not be seen after the commotion. My worry was more about Venki. Soon I learnt that he was one among the few who ran to safety and reached IMA Building near the Medical College. The second incident was, the urgent need to present a ‘freed bonded labourer’ before District Collector Mr. Devarajan, in his Camp Office. We three, Henry, myself and Venki had to be present. By the time we finished our work and got out of the Camp office, it started raining heavily. It was a working day. Before I suggested anything, Venki walked into the rain saying, “Chinnaraj I have a class at 11 'o' clock,” and rode away in his scooter completely drenched. That was the balancing of a profession and public commitment Venki taught many of us, by setting up personal examples.

 Venki was 24 years older by age to me, but that never came in our way. I had not known Venki till I joined the college. The day I first reported for work, I had to go to his office and introduce myself as he was the Dean. In spite of his very endearing manners, I was a bit nervous. After he picked up the conversation, he casually pulled out a packet of cigarette and asked, “Do you smoke Chinnaraj?” I hesitantly nodded my head. “No harm, you can always come to my room for a smoke if you like,” he said. The next half-an-hour we were smoking and talking, and he was inducting me into matters official.

Nothing came in his way- age, gender, caste, class or religion. William Zumbro, one of the founder-Principals of American College was fond of saying, “ONE NEED NOT BE A CHRISTIAN TO DO THE CHRISTIAN SERVICE, AND ALL THOSE WHO ARE BORN CHRISTIANS, NEITHER ARE COMMITTED TO IT.” Venki perfectly exemplified what Zumbro said, and gave that rare flavour of cosmopolitanism and inclusiveness to American College. He was very ahead of his times.

 In 2008, when I was the Principal and Secretary, I had to wage the last battle defending all that stood for more than a century in the name of freedom, inclusion, tolerance and excellence. Venki stood by me, shoulder to shoulder. This I need to state here and now.

Besides mourning the death of a fine human being, friend and a public intellectual, I am suddenly reminded of a world that was lost for ever. For this new generation of educationists, drunk with commercialism and buried in corruption, this might look as an act of blasphemy and a practice in sorcery.

 

Dr. CHINNARAJ JOSEPH

Former Principal and Secretary

The American College

12-06-2021