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When I entered into B Sc IIIrd year, my brother had passed Std X and joined for Pre-degree Course in my college itself. His aptitude was in Mathematics and therefore he could select either I A or I B class. In I A class , the second language was Hindi & in I B class, it was Malayalam. From Vth Std itself, he was weak in learning Hindi. So, after the results of Std X, I & my brother together made a decision - for Pre-degree Course, he would select Malayalam instead of Hindi as second language. I explained to him how I made a mistake in selecting a college for Pre-degree & then selecting the main subject for Degree course. We together decided that such a tragedy should not happen in his life. When he was in Std IX and X, I helped him and guided him to work hard and score higher than me. But, I didn't compel or provoke him because I was totally against that. Students should learn their lessons from their heart. They should understand each & every sentence in their textbook and also the ultimate goal of education - to work for humanity. However, I had a desire in my mind - he should also achieve distinction in Std X . Unfortunately, he couldn't but scored high first class. Thus, he joined for Pre-degree in I B class, the subjects being Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry.
In our studies, there was no one to guide us. We took many decisions, some of them were correct, others not. Now, I remember a scene from the ancient Indian epic, Mahabharata, written by Vyasa. In it, during the Kurukshetra battle, the Kauravas and the Pandavas came face to face, ready to begin the battle. Then, Arjuna, who was an expert in archery, had some doubts when he saw the persons in the Kauravas. Understanding his doubts, Lord Krishna spoke to him. "Now, when Arjuna saw men arrayed on both sides fro mutual slaughter , he was deeply agitated and Krishna spoke to him in order to quell his agitation, and remove his doubts. Krishna's exhortation to Arjuna at this juncture is the Bhagavad Gita which is enshrined in millions of hearts as the Word of God , and is acknowledged by all as one of the supreme treasures of human literature. ( courtesy - Mahabharata translated to English by C Rajagopalachari *) . But we couldn't find any advisor like Lord Krishna in our life when we faced with some critical incidents in our life.
B Sc Chemistry Final Year - the practical sessions - burette, pipette, the precipitates formed in test tubes after the experiments - everything were there. I was wondered when I saw colourful precipitates formed in test tubes of my classmates. But I was tired in my mind. I hesitated how could I pass the examination. The Final Year Degree Course - has another speciality. It is - Study Tour. Though it is a study tour, actually, it is a pleasure trip to most of them. I think it was to Malampuzha, Ooty, Kodaikanal etc. I doubted whether I could participate in it or not. I informed about this in my family but there was no response from my father. I had a small amount of money left in my Bank account which was created to deposit lumpsum grant. My classmates especially girls would always proudly declare that we are all united in everything. Therefore, when I mentioned that perhaps I wouldn't be able to come because of my financial problems, they became worried . After that, one of our Lecturers asked me, "how much money can you give ?" We were in the Laboratory, I think. I said, "Rs 500 / - " How did I reply like that ? I don't know. I think I had Rs 800 /- or Rs 900 /- in my account. But how could I give all the money ? I knew that my father couldn't give even 100 /- Rs to me.
The tour started in the morning. All of us reached the college. At first, we walked to the St Peter's and St Paul's Orthodox Church and prayed. Then, the next destination, being a Chemistry batch and a study tour, was a visit to a factory. I have kept a secret for you, here. The factory situated in my own village, Kadayiruppu. The richest family in Chittuparambil House - Mr M S Alexander's family owned that factory, "Aroma". From my childhood itself, I had seen some ladies walking through the road in front of my house at about 07.30 a.m. , for working in this factory. I have already mentioned this in one of the earlier chapters. I don't know how to express the exact work doing there. Pardon me for this because after the tour, in our record book, we explained about our 'study tour ' , we wrote everything we saw and experienced in that factory. When we reached there, Mr Alexander was there, to receive us. I stood there on one side because I had a doubt in my mind whether he would recognise me or not. He always travelled in car through the road in front of my house. Many times, when the car went through there, my mother would say, "there goes Mr Alexander's car ". My doubt was whether he had seen me when I walked through the road or waited in the bus stop. I remember one staff giving us a bowl and requesting us to smell it. When we did it, we could experience the smell of jasmine flowers. We were wondered to know that it was the essence of jasmine flower.
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* C Rajagopalachari - he was also known as Rajaji. He took part in the Indian Independence struggle. He was the first & last Indian Governor General of India. After India got Independence, he worked as Governor of West Bengal, Minister of the Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief Minister of the Madras State ( Tamil Nadu ).
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* C Rajagopalachari - he was also known as Rajaji. He took part in the Indian Independence struggle. He was the first & last Indian Governor General of India. After India got Independence, he worked as Governor of West Bengal, Minister of the Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief Minister of the Madras State ( Tamil Nadu ).
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