 |
Speeches of Alagappa Chettiar |
||
|
Speech
of Dr.RM.Alagappa Chettiar to Welcome Respected Sir, It is our ambition to create within this campus a center of learning and culture in all its aspects. There are at present located in all its aspects. There are at present location here an Arts & Science College, with nearly a thousand students, a Training College training about 70 teachers of the post-graduate standard, and the new Engineering College. The Central Electrochemical Research Institute- one of the eleven National Laboratories of India - will be a center of higher research in a field of great significance, both in knowledge as such, and in the industrial field. It is also proposed to shift the Ramanujan Institute of Mathematics, which I was prevailed to start three ago, to Karaikudi. The Students and the staff of these institutions from a colony, in which learning is, as it were, part of the very atmosphere, so that, gradually, what is created is not merely a place of learning but a way of life. It is this higher objective of inculcating curiosity a life pursuit and acceptance of truth at all costs that should be the aim of all academies. It is our hope that such a fulfillment will be facilitated by the creation of a number of institutions in this campus, each pursuing its won line of study but mingling with the others. It is in this view that we also hope to establish, before long, living accommodation for the students and staff within the campus itself to the maximum extent possible; for, otherwise, the busy hours of collegiate instruction and work are not sufficient to enable the students and the staff to come into intimate contact, which alone will help to create in the younger mind a proper attitude towards learning and life. It may not be out of place at this stage to say that such alone. It is our ambition to enlarge the scope of the instruction given here by such additions as other branches of engineering, polytechnics, technology and the like. It is hardly necessary at this stage in the development of our country to stress the need for sufficient technical personnel, especially on the engineering side. It has been remarked by foreign observers, not in a sprit of criticism but in all fairness that the Indian student is better in theory that in the practice of a technique. This is perhaps due to psychology inheritance of our part, which makes us feel that the skill in the use of the hands is a subordinate attainment. Modern technical efficiency however can never be stained or respected infull measure unless the hand and the head are in perfect co-ordination. In this respect, Engineering is like painting and Sculpture. It is our hope that we shall be able to correct this defect In addition to the need for the development of a Co-ordination ability, it is necessary that the country should train engineers at what may be called the inventive level; not merely a set of persons, whom with reasonable technical efficiency carry out a blue-print or execute a given plan, But engineers who are able to think out new developments in their field and make blue-print for them. In other words, unless we have engineers who will lead in their field, as for instance, the United Kingdom has done in the matter of jet propulsion; mere engineering efficiency will not carry us far. Further, the problem that confronts Governments and the people today is that of housing and community planning. One may legitimately wonders whether our technicians have paid sufficient attention to the types of indigenous architecture suitable to our climate and our way of life, which have been evolved through centuries of trial and error in this country, by suitable arrangements for air, light, keeping off moisture and heat, and in the use of local materials which are cheap and durable. This is not belittle the importance of advanced modern techniques in house construction, but merely to point our that, in the long run, a break with tradition is likely to yield more harm than good. It is the duty of our Engineers to effect a suitable compromise between the old and the new so as to get the best out of both. At the same time it is not our aim to look back rather than forward and to glorify the past, or to be weighed down by tradition. The culture of this country was great only when it was dynamic and fearless an, even in the spiritual field, asserted a change when it was felt to be necessary. Otherwise, Hinduism and Buddhism could not have grown and lived side by side, nor, reverting to the field of architecture, could a happy blending have been effected between the style of Hindus and the style of the Moghuls. It is this tradition of intelligent compromise and change that we should aim at in all things, and we hope that whom we train in our institutions, with your blessings, Sir, will develop that type of mind which will get the best of both worlds. One does not like to spoil the solemnity of an occasion like this by referring to such details as finance and administration. But modern education is a complicated process, which involves expensive apparatus and costly personnel. Inadequate technical instructions seems to us to be more dangerous than ignorance and passivity. We have launched a programme of work, which many feel is ambitious, but we have not embarked on it without a due appreciation of the commitments involved, and we are prepared to do the very best in our power to further our aims. The Institutions of the type that we are running do require the constant guidance and the financial help of Government. I have already referred to the munificence of the Government of Madras. We are not unaware of the financial difficulties of Governments of particularly of the States. It is not, therefore, too much on our part pf request you, Sir, to use your high office to afford us as much help as the Government of India can give. I shall not worry you with details on this occasion. Let me conclude by saying that we attached the deepest significance to your laying the foundation stone of this College. Apart from your position as the President of Indian Union, you represent in your own individual right all that is best in the culture of our land. You are one of those selected band of great men who gathered round Mahatma Gandhi from the earliest days of our struggle for Freedom, by way of Truth and Non-violence. You have emerged from the struggle with victory but not rancour, with calmness and not exuberance, humility and not pride. This is indeed truth to the tradition of our great land. It is our devout prayer that it will be given to us to benefit by you examples and that your visit will not merely be a happy memory but a permanent guidance. I think you for having been in our midst on this occasion and request you, Sir, to lay the foundation stone of the buildings of Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, of the Dr. Alagappa Chettiar College Endowment Trust.
|
|