Inspirational reminiscences of a university professor
Professor Sunanda Mahendra
LITERATURE: For most of us who are just lesser mortals and /or
sub luminaries, the very reading exercise of a biography or
reminiscences or, at least, the genuine account of the fulfilment of
one’s academic and lifetime achievements in a particular field leading
to his intended goal in life may be a starting point in the discovery of
inspirational material to lead a better life so far unearthed.
This was the feeling I had when I finished reading the
autobiographical notes written by Professor Samarajiva Karunaratne Mata
tama matakai (Wijesooriya Grantha 2007).
Professor Karunaratne is one of the most successful academics in the
field of Electrical Engineering, a Dean, and a Vice Chancellor, for over
a period of 35 years, who had had his own philosophy of life struggle
commencing from a village and gradually entering into the more urbanized
cities at home and abroad learning the subjects from the best of
scholars at the time, from the best seats of learning, aiming at
innovating some of the areas in the local field of technology unknown by
most of the masses at the time.
He is among the foremost academics whose services were obtained by
high-calibred engineers of the time like Dr. A.N.S. Kulasinghe.
This had paved the way for the former to innovate the use of the
computer to release the large-scale examination results in the country,
when the very function was confined to a laborious manual work by groups
of humans spending lots of money and time, delaying the whole process of
modern accuracies and methodologies.
He also gives an amazing account of how the computer was utilized to
design and build the Kalutara Chaitiya, as a part of his innovations in
the pioneer utilization of computer skills giving due gratitude and
recognition to those who helped him in the innovative measures.
Professor Karunaratne does not write harangues and copious accounts
of his achievements; instead confines to serious-minded life situations,
which he remembers closely.
This, in turn, he deems as packed with some sort of human interest.
In this manner, the first ten chapters, as we read, on are confined to
his manifold experience from the childhood to the adolescence.
Wit and wisdom, and folklore and rituals are intermixed, and
bountiful in many of the experience.
As for instance, he recollects the accounts of his father who
entrusted some of the family duties to him, such as going to the paddy
fields in order to keep watch on harvesters, but the protagonist sleeps
after a hearty meal provided by the workers, and the unbelievable
account of a blind man who climbs a coconut tree and skilfully plucks
the coconuts and even goes to the extent of remembering the number of
coconuts thus plucked, and the number of trees from which they were
plucked.
Then he gives a vivid account of his schooling days in Kegalle to
which he had to walk about eight miles daily from his home experiencing
things around. This growing up process is sensitively and creatively
captured in the work. The father, the mother, and the siblings matter an
integrated part in this part of the work, which reads like a sensitive
family saga that shifts gradually into alienation and disintegration.
This is where the humans in the village are scarcely seen; instead
the harshness and at times a rare species bearing pathos with the milk
of kindness to their fellow sufferers emerge, and the humans with self
motivated cravings pervade the scenes.
He finds them as passing characters who had not harmed him for the
most of the time in the academia.
But this does not disrupt his goal and the lifestyle of the isolated
young scholar whose very first achievement becomes the gaining of a
place as a budding scientist in the Institute known as the Technical
College in Colombo which was hailed as one of the most significant
places frequented by the foremost scientists of the country.
His only dream had been to be an engineer that he achieves from this
starting point and fortunately, as all the stars had been too kind to
him (my words and not his), and as he was a studious hard-working
individual, he achieves the best of his career from other institutes and
then enters the main University system to become a full-time lecturer in
his subject area confining himself to the teaching and research
culminating in a series of successes akin to a fairy tale like,
nevertheless, a true life journey.
He held the post of the Director at the Arthur C. Clarke Centre
affiliated to the University of Moratuva, in addition to being the
Professor of Electrical Engineering. He is also credited to have been
the writer of the history of the Moratuva University 1972-1997, and the
writer of the pioneer book titled ‘Fortrain Programming’ and several
co-authored books such as ‘Principles of Electrical Engineering’ and
‘Introduction to Electrical Machines’ meant to be used by students and
researchers on the subject.
As this is a series of recollections from the not-so-far-distant
past, he lays an example to other autobiographers of some, as we see,
are often fond of romantic scenes and love encounters, by paring down
such episodes to the minimum, some of the common place university
experiences and observations culminating in the meeting of his future
wife as well.
In several instances, he makes a passing comment on the university
unrest and the upheavals without going deep down in his observations and
analysis. Some of the most delightful insights into the life come from
his experience at Princeton University, America, where he stayed with
his wife for a brief period.
During this period of time he encounters some of the significant
cross cultural experiences like trying to adjust oneself to the
surroundings of a strange place, while on a brief stay, especially
without a prior knowledge of its susceptibilities and cultural links and
the manner one counts on oneself and the nature of the temperaments of
others as well.
There are instances where he observes that there are common people
who admire the services of the university dons and pay honour to them at
the deserving moment. This is, in fact, an eye opener to most of us who
have lost the links with the common people self-effacing ourselves as
infallible.
He narrates some of the events that he encountered in Princeton in
order to clarify this view, and makes an effort to compare notes with
the local system.
It is observed that he devotes more space for the accounts on
children: his two sons, in their educative measures, and grooming them
to be good citizens, which too had culminated in a success, and he
underlines the love and intimacies towards all of them, signifying the
human values in a traditional well balanced family pattern which he had
inherited from his village cultural roots, undoubtedly an unmeasurable
gift in social outlook.
To any one who is sensitive and humane, as a practical scientist who
thinks of the social matrix, he shows signs of his attitudes towards the
commoner, the need to change the world in the manner that suits its
requirements, and quotes an example where he wanted to come out with his
own theory by helping the students understand with a dictum of his own
‘no electricity is more expensive than the most expensive electricity’
(p. 234).
Many of the events as laid down in this work ought to remind the
reader of the positive thinking attitudes needed at the moment. He shows
the signs of the need for a person to be balanced in one’s work and
attitudes. I feel that all students and teachers at all levels of
education ought to read this as a supplementary reader.
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