(Professor) R
Ramakrishnan of Aykudi (Tirunelveli District) is no more.
Son of a late middle-class
postmaster, (Professor) R Ramakrishnan grew to be an authority on English
language and phonetics. Probably, one of the few experts in English phonetics
in the country. He could speak English exactly like a Native American or
British in their own accent. A polyglot himself, he could speak chaste Tamil,
Malayalam, and Hindi like a native speaker as he could speak English.
A former officer
of State Trading Corporation, who could have possibly grown to be the top executive
there, relinquished a lucrative job in search of opportunities in areas where
his heart was – “teaching English”.
He was a man who
could really ‘take coal to new castle.’ He taught Judaism to the Jews, at some
point in his life.
Extremely
intelligent, he could grasp any issue, look at it dispassionately, and offer
his views.
Extremely loving,
though sometimes one might be tempted to call it eccentric, he was a benefactor
to many in one or other ways.
He impacted my
life too very significantly. But for him, probably, I wouldn’t have become a
writer, author, and self-publisher of my books. He was my earliest critic too
about my writing. He was the one to suggest, for the first time, that I had the
innate talent to write and do public speaking in English. I brought him to
Tenkasi to give a demonstrative session to a few groups of teachers on Spoken
English. He taught me too how I could use his methodology to teach Spoken
English and provided free materials to me for my use.
He was the first
to meet me from my wife’s side before our marriage (maybe, to find out whether
I was worthy of holding his sister’s hand).
Money was never
the motivating factor in his life, though he wanted a lot of them. Maybe, he
was strongly influenced by his father’s philosophy on money. Yet, before love,
money was no issue to him.
Prone to making
impulsive decisions, he could surprise many; changing his job several times,
moving places of residence, traveling to places to make surprise visits to
relatives, offering to take people to eat out or watch movies and what not.
A lover of Carnatic
music, philosophic in approach to life, a sharp critic of people and their
tendencies, yet very kind and generous at heart – Professor Ramakrishnan is no
more.
My only grouse about
him was that he was neglecting his health for quite some time and allowed that
to deteriorate. He could have lived longer like his parents and be a source of love
to many. Long live his Soul! Our condolences to all in his family.
I truly admire
his First Lady at home for being his true companion throughout the changes in
his life, which many times were quite turbulent. I also admire and appreciate
his children for their excellent understanding and love of their father.
It is very rare
to find personalities like (Professor) Ramakrishnan.
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