The One and Only

I did not know, back then, that I would finally become a teacher. All through my student years my passion was Hockey. I made the College team when I was in the PUC, stayed with the team while graduating and became Captain in my final year. Switching Colleges for my Masters, I continued to play hockey, captained the College team once again, represented the Tamil Nadu Combined Districts team and also became a Madras University Blue in Hockey, one of six Anglo lads who represented the Varsity in 1975. But that was all I achieved in the sporting arena.

I did have a First-Class Post-Graduate Degree in English Language and Literature, one of only twenty-five candidates who made that grade. I’m talking about the old Madras University which, in 1975, was the only University in Tamil Nadu, apart from the relatively new “Madurai-Kamaraj”. So, it was not just a fluke that I took up teaching: I had the credentials and I also had the pedigree.

After I took the interview and was selected, I joined the Post-Graduate Department of English, The New College, as a Tutor, on 1 August, 1975. It was just a month later that I became an Assistant Professor, on 2 September 1975. Soon I started handling MA classes and from that time onward I never looked back.

Before I go further, I must place on record, my gratitude and thanks to The New College, Madras (now Chennai), for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to serve on the faculty. I was just twenty-three years old, but even back then I was becoming one of a kind—the only Anglo-Indian to be on the staff of The New College; the record stands even today and, maybe, it will continue to be so, far into the future.

Allow me to give you some factual information.

The New College is most certainly one of a kind. It took its name, ostensibly, from the hallowed New College in Oxford, England. But The New College, Chennai is growing—horizontally and vertically, as a former Principal would say—at such a fast pace that no other Institution can match. And I, yes, little old me, I am a part of it all.

I did not know anything about The New College before June of 1975. I came, I saw, I conquered—as Julius Caesar is reported to have said—and my bond with the College is as strong as it will ever be. You do not know, gentle reader, that I applied to almost all the city Colleges. Only The New College responded. In truth, the College welcomed me without hesitation. It gave me a chance to be myself, to prove my worth, to “become a name”, as Tennyson’s “Ulysses” declares. The secular credentials of The New College are hallmarks of the Institution, even as it continues to be a Centre of Excellence for Islamic studies. As I said before, The New College is one of a kind.

The rules of the Government of Tamil Nadu favoured me in 1985, when it declared that Assistant Professors having 10 years’ experience could be promoted as Professors. So, there I was, at the age of 33, a full Professor. I like to think of myself, therefore, as one of a kind, too.

I participated in all the sports activities of the College and even served as Physical Director for a brief period. I also took interest in the Staff Club—now Staff Association—and was a member of a “Ram-Robert-Rahim” team of Office Bearers. Surely that too was one of a kind.

In 2003, at the age of 51, I became the Head of the Department of English. I had a dream, but other plans were afoot—I resigned voluntarily, to take up a lucrative position in the Sultanate of Oman. However, the dream still lives on, because the youngsters in the faculty have done us all proud—we are now a full-fledged Research Department. Of the more than half-a dozen scholars who took my place as Head, at least four of them were my direct students—again, a one-of-a-kind situation.

I retired in 2004, probably not the only Anglo-Indian Professor and Head, but certainly the only one who has served in an Islamic institution. You hear of Heads in Government Colleges, even Principals. Many Christian-minority Colleges boast of Anglo-Indian staff, but for most of them, English is not their subject of choice. So, I still rule the roost, quite alone at the top of the pile. If you know of anyone who has had my kind of roller-coaster ride, do let me know.

My connection with The New College still continues. We have a very robust Retired Teachers Forum, probably one of a kind too, given the scope and reach of its members, including the untiring efforts of the office-bearers. Every year, interested members go as a group to visit about half-a-dozen super-seniors, the camaraderie and joyfulness exceeding all expectations as we re-live the past.

When I joined the College, it was fashionable, even desirable, to smoke, as if your life depended on it. I would steam into the College, fully stocked. In the Department, non-smokers were a minority, so we had a field day, every day. I am glad to say that the habit has been weeded out on campus, both staff and students joining hands to banish the obnoxious habit.

Let me end by saying that it was The New College that made me what I am today. It opened up the Arabian Gulf to me, it took me to various parts of India on teaching assignments, it gave me access to a new culture, it nurtured in me the very idea of a university—a place of learning, of shared experiences, and of respect for others and otherness.

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PS: When the College celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1976, I was a debutant. When the Golden Jubilee came along in 2001, I was the Secretary of the Staff Association. When the Diamond Jubilee arrives, in 2026, I hope I will still be around to celebrate, continuing to be a member of that league of Extraordinary Gentlemen who can proudly say that we are part and parcel of the one and only—The New College, Chennai.

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