I still remember the first day I set foot at the college campus with my father.When my name was called,I stepped into the office room of the Principal,Rev.Fr.Columbus.There was Rev. Fr. Joseph Paikada also who was my history lecturer(he became Principal a few years later).The Principal looed into my face for a while and to the papers in front of him on the table for a while and said: 'Study well.Never lose your career joining in bad companies'.I lived upto his valuable advice not only at the college,but wherever I have been.I could go through the college magazines from 1957 as two of my elder brothers were students of the college..
I spent five years at the St.Josephs.I attended the classes of teachers of all the departments of the colege.It was indeed a rare record for a student.In the Pre-Dgree class my optional subjects were history,economics and civics.We have also to study general science as a subject for which teachers from the physics,chemistry,boany and zoology departments took classes.Besides we had English and another optional language.I first opt for Hindi and sat for a few days and then changed to Malayalam.For my B,A.Degree course my main subject was Economcs for which we had a paper on statistics which was takeen by a lecturer from the mathematics department.Thus I could come in contact wth the teachers of all the departments in the college.There was a good library in the college from where I could borrow and read hundreds of books on various subjects During interval and free hours I would spend my time in the library readings periodicals and reference books.It was from here I went through the volumes of the prestigious Encyclopaedia Britannica and the complete works of Shakespeare.Though I never took part in any sports or games items,I would sit on the side-steps of the vast ground at the college and watch the matches and meets going on there.The college ground was a mini sports village having this or that items going on there everytime.Before starting the regular classes we had a bridge intensive course in English.It helped us to improve our English language.Expert teachers took classes on the different aspects of the English language like structure,usage,,comprehension,composition,grammar and communication.There were 80 students in our class.Some of them were day-scholars like me,some others were from distant places staying in the college hostels.There were four hostels in the college campus.At that time only boys were admilled to the college.Though there were students belonging to different socio-econonic strata,we were like a family sinking all differences of communities and religions.We kept a healthy cmpetition among ourselves for excellence in studies and extra-curricular activities.The seating arrangement in the class was so that two students share each desk and bench.I shared my seat with one Balasubramanian from Wyanad.He was a fair,smart boy from a noble family.He was nice,generous and helpful.Students said of him that he would never bite even if a person puts his hand in his mouth.I was happy to be with him for two years.He would lend money If I was in need and sometimes never wanted to return it.
There were many functions held in the college in which I would regularly attend.Many dignitaries and well-known persons from different walks of life would take part in them. It was here I first saw and heared the political leader K.Karunakaran,orator Sukumar Azheekode,jurist V.R.Krishna Iyer,eductionalist Dr. A.N.P.Ummerkutty,singer Yesudas,spiritual leader Swami Chinmayananda,poet G.Sankara Kurup,Geeral K.M.Kariappa,etc.
As a student I was seriously interested in time managment.The limited but precious time at our disposal must be utilised most appropriately.I had prepared a home time table for myself which I followed strictly.Time management is one of the important factors for success in life.We must find time As I have already mentioned,I was a voracious reader of al kinds of books in different languages.I am specially interested in reading biographies and autobiographies of great personalities.I read not only the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi,but his numerous biographies written by many persons,books by Jawaharlal Nehru including his 'Autobiography' and many other Indian authors including Tagore I also went through great religious books of all times,the Bhagavad Gita,the Bible and the Quran.I could the book,'India Wins Freedm' by Moulana Abul Kalam Azad,'The History of Indian National Congress' and books by Dr. Rajendra Prasad,C.Rajagopalachari, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan and Sri Aurobindo.I read many Maiayalam books including Thakazhi,Dev,Basheer,Pottekkatte,K,P.Kesava Menon and others.
It was at this time I became interested in national and international events and affairs.I also interested in Indian and foreign languages.The first Indian language I studied thus was Tamil and foreign language was French.I have already learnt Malayalam,English and Hindi from the school and Arabic from the Madrasa.But my communicative ability is not so good.I was not a good speaker.To be frank,I am reluctant to appear on the stage and address the audience.But as a contradiction in terms,he title given to me by my classmates was 'V.K.Krishna Menon' after the eminent statesman,diplomat and orator(a close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru and the Defence Minister of India during one of the crucial years in the history of independent India).There was nothing common between us except both of us belonged to Calicut by birth.I still wonder what prompted my co-students to call me so.It may be the fact that both were freedom-loving and wanted to be independent.During his last years Krishna Menon detached himself from all political parties.I stood at the college campus without joining any student organisation or working for any candidate at the time of the college elections though there were pressures on me as I am one of the ideal students liked by one and all.
My dress during my college days was dhoti-and-shirt.I did not wear any footwear.I had cropped my hair,but no moustache.My food habit was also simple.Though I was not a pure vegetarian at that time,I preferred vegetatian foods,At the same time I would take whatever is available at home without revealing my likes and dislikes.The financial position of our family was not so good and it was very difficult for my father to met the both ends meet.He had already retired and was getting a small income as pension.My three elder brothers were employed.But they had their expences.However they were regularly giving their 'contribution' to father by which he met the various expences of the house.Father would give me 50 paise or Rs.1 /- daily for midday meal.I would take tea and something which would be cheap.
One of the notable yearly events of the college was the college union election.There were two(sometimes more) contentants for the different posts for which elections wre taken place.There would be a 'notice war' between the rivals.If an organisation distributes a notice,the next day the other one would come the next day with a notice which would impress the voters and so on till the time of election.Elegant speakers,writers and organisers were there when I was studying there.The College day was organised at a grand scale in 1973.General K.M.Kariappa,the first Commamder-in-Chief of Independent India,was Chief guest.It was a thrilling experience to see and listen to him.The General shared with us for an hour his experiences,thoughts,vision and outlook on many things briefly.He was a true embodiment of patriotism,duty,fitness and all such qualities and values.
In 1973,I passed the Pre-Degree Examination conducted by the University of Calicut.I was one of the first to get admission to the B.A.Degree class in the St.Joseph's College itself.There were 50 students in our batch.The head of the humanities department was Prof.Sebastian P.Joseph.He took Political Science.He has thorough and deep knowledge of his subject.His method of conducting class was also unique.He would explain the topic in simple English and Malayalam if necessary so that even the below average student can understand it.He would take appropriate instances and examples from from the contemporary world and everyday life to explain his points.The class would become interesting so that we never knew the passage of time.Sometimes,he would ask questions to students to stuudents who were not attending the class and scold them if they could not answer.He never asked any questions to me since he knew that I was a keen attender of the class and could answer his questions.Political Science was the most interesting subject to me.I was the student who got the highest marks in the examinations also.In Prof.Sebastian's class we had enough scope to laugh also.He was the teacher in charge of the National Cadet Corps(NCC) at the college.He influenced the students much and hold in high esteem.
The other teachers who took classes for me were Prof.Jimmy Andrews,Dr.P.K.Jose.Rev.Fr.Joseph Paikada(all history teachers),Prof.Joseph,Devssia(economics),Prof.Devassia Thakadiyel,K.V.Easwara.Variyar,M.T.Varghese,Job Kattoor(all Malayalam),Prof.V.A..Kesavan.Namboodiri,Alexander Zacharias,Venugopalakrishnan(Hindi)Prof.Moochikkal Padmanabhan(French),Prof.C.A.Sheppard,P.K.G.Vijayaram,R.Viswanathan,Unnikrishnan,T.K.Mani,M.T.Emmanuel,Terrrence Jacob,Rev.Fr.Ivans,P.Jayendran,Balakrishnan,Haridas,P.P.John,Joseph,(all English teachers)Prof.K.T.Vijayamadhavan(zoology),Mathew Thamarakkad(botany),P.P.Skaria(Chemistry)and P.Ahammed(physics).Amohg my classmates were Mr.Nandagopal(who was with me for the post-graduation and who later became lecturer in economics at this college itself),Mr.Krishnadas(who became a bank fficer)and three friends from my native place(Moideen,Balan and Devadasan).There were many others whose names I do not remember exactly.
While studying in the degree class itself I began job-hunting.I appeared for the written tesr of the Railway Service Commission for the post of station master and called for interview in Madras which I could not go due to the financial constraints of the family.I often think that if Igt the job in the Railways,my life and my world would have been entirely different.(and perhaps I would never have written this autobiography ).I also applied for some obs of the Kerala Public Service Commission which would take years to get selected.And one such appointment in Panchayat Dept got while I was a PG student.
The declaration of the emergency by the President in 1975 was one of the crucial events taken place while I was a degree student.It affected every aspects of our life and even the mindsets adversely.As a student of Politics and the Indian constitution,I watched the scenario with deep interest.I could not support any move to curtail the fundamental rights and freedom of the individual.The public protest against the emergency under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan was strong.Though I did not take part in the movement as some of my friends did,I was sympathetic to the movement for restoration of the democratic rights and freedom of expression.
When I passed the B.A.Degree Examination in 1976,the principal enquired about my future programme and suggested that I must better pursue my post-graduate studies in one of the best colleges in the State.At that time there were no post-graduate courses in humanities in the Devagiri College.There was only posrGraduate course in English Literature.Prof.Sebastian asked me to join the PG course in Political Science rather than Economics.The elder members of my family were of the opinion that I should join a college to our house.Devagiri College and Guruvayurappan College were the colleges at walkable diistances from our house..And I got the interview card from the Guruvayurappan College. I went with father and was admitted there.The college was situated at Pokkunnu,far away from a walkable distance of four kilometres.There were 20 students in our batch .Most of them were from different places and stayed at the hostel. Prof.C.Narayanan,eminent economist was the Principal. There were other teachers like Prof. P.K.M. Raja, Prof. P. K. Sarat Kumar,Prof.K.P.Radhamadhava.Menon, Prof.B.K.Abdul Azeez and Prof.P.C.Krishnavarma Raja.Prof T.Sobheendran was also there, but he did not take class for us.Both P.K.M.Raja and P.C.Krishnavarma Raja served as Principal, Our senior batch included persons well-known in various fields like P.M.Suresh Babu,Prof.P.T.Abdul Latheef,Palazhi Premraj and Koyakkutty.My classmates included E.K.Nandagopal,K.V.Pavithran,V.V.Gopinath,Sundaran,C Madhavan,and P.V.Suvarnani (who became lecturer in the college itself),C.E.Sarammabi(from Lakshadweep),My juniors included T. P.Kunhikkannan,K.V.Kunhiraman,N.Mohanadasan and N.P.Hafis Muhammed.Among the teachers the names of Prof.David(statistics)Prof.K.K.Narayanan,Viswanathan Unni(English),Prof.P.C.Ettanunni Raja,V.P.Govindan Namboodiri,Unnikrishnan Chelembra(Malayalam),Prof.I.G.Bhaskara Panicker(maths),Prof.Shiyalikoya(sociology)Prof.Kunhayamu may be made.
There were three papers for the previous and five papers for the final,altogether eight papers.The optional papers were History of Economic Thought,Economics of Developmemt,Agricultural Economics.There were the other papers which were compulsory,viz,price theory,monetary economics,public finance ,planning and statistics.We had to prepare and submit written asignments on select topic as part of the internal assessment.There were seminars and lectures in whch eminent persons participated.A special seminar to mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of the 'Wealth of Nations'by Adam Smith was held. Prof.Mathew Kurien,economist and member of Parliament,Prof.M.A.Oommen(Kerala University)Dr.Raman(Madras University)and many professors from many universities and colleges.I was a also a participant ,but never presented papers.I often felt ashamed of my reservations.Even at the PG level I was not at all well-developed and matured person.My own critical evaluation of myself was of a sensitive,self-conscious person reluctant to mingle with others or take up any responsiblity due to my commitment to my conscience.I was a distant-looking dreamer who preferred loneliness and freedom.Whatever may be my socio-economic background and pesonality traits,I have a mind that of a deep and vast ocean.I have been considered a book-worm by others.No doubt,I am a collector and reader of books,At college I would simply spend my time reading while my fellow-students taking their meals.Sometimes I would in the transcendent shades the green leaves breathing fresh air and looking at the fitful waves of the Arabian Sea visible at the far end or the green valley full of coconut trees beneath the endless blue sky.Blessed by a blissful environment graced by the golden presence and melodious songs of delicate and colouful birds,I felt that the beauy of the land met at the college campus at Pokkunnu. I am interested in doing something for the good of the society.It was my real state of affairs.Even during my studies I found time for serving the poor,the sick,the weak and the down-trodden.
The two years I spent at the Guruvayurappan College were crucial as far as my intekkectual development was concerned.Though I never became a full time economist or an ideal teacher,it was here my level of consciousness found its true stream of course to destination.My college life was evenful and resourceful,but silent and serene,I never have been in the centre-stage,but once I was nominated as a candidate for the post of the University Union Councillor by agroup,but I declined.the offer.As far as my acadenic performance are concerned,I got university merit scholarship and state merit scholarship
Once I met with an accident when going to the college by walking via the Palazhi route.It was a rainy morning.I fell down while climbing up the hillside-way to college campus - a shortcut.Before exactly knowing what was happening I reached the foothill miraculously without any major injury,rolling and rolling.When my co-climbers were in a fix on what to do I simply rose up and wiped the mud and dirt from the body and went and sat the class as usual as if nothimg happened,ignoring the minor injuries,bleeding and pain.Some co-students cast their sympathetic eyes on me smelling something happened since I was a little bit late.and in a hurry but not so steady as usual.But before nobody could ask anything .the Professor came into the class.I never told of the incident as characteristic of me.There were some teachers and co-students who understood me very well and were very close to me.The late Prof P.K.M.Raja was one such teacher.He was a noble and magnanimous person true to the best royal traditions in all respects.He has a deep and thorough knowledge in many subjects besides a good command in English.His personal qualities are also equally praiseworthy.It was custmary for the PG students to spend some time during the noon interval in his office room listening to him while he was head of the department.One day when he learnt that I never tookany midday-meals,he willingly shared his meals with me ! After retirement ,he worked as the President of he Gandhi Peace Foundation,Calicut.
As a student of economics I was a success.I went through several books and journals published from India and abroad ,available in the college library.I also read many books on Indian and western philosophy including 'Das Capital' by Karl Marx.Though I was not a Marxist I had studied Marxism,its plus and minus points.We had written examination and viva voce for the first and second years separately.I attended them promptly and regularly despite the advese factors from various quarters. But the second year was interrupted by getting an appointment in the University of Calicut.I joined the university and took leave.I had to carry forward two things at the same time: one completion of my course,two,maintanence my job at the university.Besides I had my own personal interests and ambitions ,So there wree clashes of interests whch adversely affected my mind and body and of course my studies and performance at the examination.However.I could complete my course and pass the M.A.Degree examnation.
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