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Veteran academic M.K. Sanoo and former Minister of Education C. Raveendranath donned their caps as teachers once again on Thursday as part of a programme by Kerala Bookmark to document the styles of eminent teachers who have influenced generations of students during their academic career. The documentary is an attempt to present before the new generation the way eminent teachers taught, said Abraham Mathew, writer and coordinator for the Kerala Bookmark project.
Prof. Sanoo and Prof. Raveendranath, loved by hundreds of their students past and present, were given a rousing welcome at the Maharaja’s College where the shoot took place for the documentary.
Prof. Sanoo, also a well-known critic and social activist, cited Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as saying that poets always were considered the enemies of the powers that be because the poet always created a republic of his/her own.
But it is the pen that rules and not the sword, said Prof. Sanoo, recalling a story about how God gave the poet immortality. Poems live on from generation to generation, acquiring their meanings and interpretations as times roll by, he told an audience of old and new students and teachers who had packed the Malayalam department lecture hall.
Well past 90, ‘Sanoo master’, as he is affectionately addressed, displayed great clarity of thought and spoke of Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and their opinions on the poet. “Poems are written in a possessed state of mind,” he said. Before the class, Prof. Sanoo was given a copy of his famous work Changampuzha Krishna Pilla: Nakshathrangalude Snehabhajanam.
Prof. Raveendranath took a brief class on sustainable development. He said GDP and material welfare alone did not constitute development as measured by some ideologies. Capitalism considers development as generation and accumulation of wealth but sustainable development is the process in which step by step, solutions are found for problems faced by all living creatures in an ecosystem. Solving the problems of the poor, marginalised and the working people are key elements to development, he added.
Speaking to reporters ahead of their classes, both Prof. Sanoo and Prof. Raveendranath expressed happiness at being invited to be teachers once again.
Prof. Raveendranath said the new generation of students are “more intelligent and resilient with good intentions, initiative and drive.”
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