India's Treasures

Swami’s Youth Lecture Brings to Light India’s Treasures

Gopura or pagodas of Madurai Meenaxi temple from 1905 captured in one view

Swami Vidyadhishananda

HOUSTON: The youth and children of Indian Diaspora living in America were inspired by what is behind the rich temple and architectural heritage of India. Swami Vidyadhishananda, the Himalayan saint and yogi who is well known to the Houston community, set out to illustrate this richness in a discourse given on Monday, August 29th at the Durga Bari Society temple.

Entitled “Inspiring Treasures of the Vedic Heritage”, his superb slideshow presentation was part of the Youth Program at the temple premises. Before the lecture, children and youth gave a performance of classical music and dance. As well as children and their parents, the lecture attracted a packed audience. Using rare photos, many dating from the 19th century, His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda showed examples of the magic and precision of Vedic architecture and monuments. He showed how Vedic temples capture the subtle expression of the cosmos and our world. Encoded into the temple structures and carvings is knowledge about the universe and how to build with sacred geometry. He explained how this knowhow is correlated to our worship and adds more meaning to our life and learning.

The lecture began with the Jagannath temple in Puri where the architectural elements of the spire are placed at a magic angle related to the celestial movements in our solar system. The connection with the universe is even more apparent at temples like Gavi-Gandhareshwara in Bangalore where the altar of Lord Shiva is at the bottom of a shallow cave. On only one day of the year, the rising sun shines down the cave and bathes the Shiva-lingam in light. This is the day when the sun enters Capricorn, thus the temple’s alignment is attuned to the dynamic soli-lunar calendar, the Swami pointed out. A similar example was shown from Kolhapur in Maharashtra where the rising sun enters a long corridor in the Maha-Laxmi temple on two separate occasions of the year in winter months, each time spanning three days, to light up Maha-Laxmi herself. The time of the winter solstice in December is thus precisely calculated by finding the date halfway between these two periods. These temple events continuously adjust key defining junctures of the Vedic soli-lunar calendar which in turn defines the muhurta or auspicious days and times for vows and meditation.

Swami Vidyadhishananda has visited pouranic temples throughout India as part of his monastic offering known as jirnoddhara, which involves the revival of temple structures and traditions including the supervision of priestly rituals. He has witnessed with his own eyes many miraculous happenings at the natural self-manifested altars. He mentioned about the healing tradition of the temple waters. In Himavat-Gopalaswami temple south of Mysore, drops of water mysteriously appear on the crown of Lord Krishna. As the altar is covered by a roof, the water appears from nowhere. The water is collected and offered by priests as a divine drink for pilgrims. Surrounding the temple is natural hilly terrain hiding some 70 lakes each with healing power for a specific disease where ailing devotees take ritual baths. Another case study showed the Maha-Nandishwara temple in Andhra Pradesh, where water gushes out from beneath the altar of Lord Shiva, not only in copious amounts for holy dips but enough to irrigate the farmland of the surrounding communities spanning a huge acreage.

Swami Vidyadhishananda gave the audience an insight into an age when magical altars and exquisite temple structures not only uplifted the devotee but also created a forum for comprehensive learning. They still do today in India but the knowhow and craftsmanship to build such structures and monuments are rapidly being lost. The Nonprofit, Self Enquiry Life Fellowship of which Swami Vidyadhishananda is the founder, preserves and disseminates the indigenous knowledge of India and safeguards Vedic fine arts and crafts. At the end of the talk, Swami Vidyadhishananda honored Dr. N. R. Joshi for his research on the natural sound origins of the Sanskrit letters. He also met privately with some members of the Indian youth community to inspire the younger generation.

For more information, email quest@swamahiman.org or call 909-543-6003.

Vitamin B

‘B' healthy with B-vitamins

Is fatigue, hair loss and a lack of appetite dogging your days? Then increase your intake of vitamin B, the veritable powerhouse of mind and body

Several generations ago, cooking in India was considered a fine art, one that took up the better part of the day. Women pounded their own spices, had access to pesticide-free produce, stored their own grains and prepared every meal with fresh ingredients. Family members ate together, and savoured every morsel.

Today, technology has transformed not just the way we do business, but our personal lives as well.

Preservation of food has indeed made some things simpler—it's now possible to throw together a meal in less than 15 minutes.

However, most packaged food that's ready to serve on supermarket shelves come at a cost that goes much beyond the price tag—these are laced with preservatives that strip our bodies of essential vitamin B.

Perils of processed foods: While providing you with a quick and tasty meal, fast foods and packaged products rank poorly in nutrition. In the long-term, this can take a toll on your health and wellbeing.

“Several studies have demonstrated that diets high in fat and low in nutrition place individuals at higher risk of vitamin B deficiency. The more processed the food, the lesser the vitamin B it will contain. Processes which include heating, radiation, prolonged exposure to atmosphere (oxidation), cooking with acids (such as vinegar etc) destroy most of the B1, B12 in the food.

Vitamin B12 and B6 deficiency is also common in strict vegetarians who do not drink milk or dairy products,” says Geeta Shenoy, a registered dietician based in Chembur, Mumbai. “‘B' vitamins are required by the body for production of energy, proper functioning of the nervous system, metabolism of fats and proteins, and formation of red blood cells. If you're experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, body aches, tingling of nerves, weakness, hair loss, lack of appetite, this could be related to a vitamin B deficiency.”

B 6--The Queen ‘B': Among the B vitamins, vitamin B6, experts say, is especially significant. ”Because of its key role in the formation of new cells, vitamin B6 is crucial to the healing of wounds and for the repairing of body tissues. Many skin disorders (like eczema) have been associated with this deficiency. Another critical role played by this vitamin is in the formation of red blood cells. So a B6 deficiency can also result in anaemia and fatigue,” says Seema Singh, head nutritionist at Alchemist Health Institute, a hospital in New Delhi.

Involved in over 100 chemical processes that take place every minute in our bodies, Vitamin B 6, Singh says, is a good vitamin to befriend. “It aids in weight loss, so it's important that you make sure you're getting enough. This vitamin facilitates the breakdown of glycogen (a form of starch) stored in our muscle cells and liver and helps in improving athletic performance.”

A recent study published in the Journal ‘Circulation', has linked low vitamin B6 levels with higher risk for stroke and heart attacks.

Since food is the only source for Vitamin B6 (as your body cannot produce it on its own), you must include it in your daily diet. “Excellent sources of vitamin B6 include spinach, bell peppers, turnip greens and Shiitake Mushrooms,” says Singh.

“Other good sources are garlic, tuna, cauliflower, mustard greens, banana, celery, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watermelon.”

Exercise

How Exercise Can Strengthen the Brain

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Doug Menuez/Getty Images

Can exercise make the brain more fit? That absorbing question inspired a new study at the University of South Carolina during which scientists assembled mice and assigned half to run for an hour a day on little treadmills, while the rest lounged in their cages without exercising.

Earlier studies have shown that exercise sparks neurogenesis, or the creation of entirely new brain cells. But the South Carolina scientists were not looking for new cells. They were looking inside existing ones to see if exercise was whipping those cells into shape, similar to the way that exercise strengthens muscle.

For centuries, people have known that exercise remodels muscles, rendering them more durable and fatigue-resistant. In part, that process involves an increase in the number of muscle mitochondria, the tiny organelles that float around a cell’s nucleus and act as biological powerhouses, helping to create the energy that fuels almost all cellular activity. The greater the mitochondrial density in a cell, the greater its vitality.

Past experiments have shown persuasively that exercise spurs the birth of new mitochondria in muscle cells and improves the vigor of the existing organelles. This upsurge in mitochondria, in turn, has been linked not only to improvements in exercise endurance but to increased longevity in animals and reduced risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease in people. It is a very potent cellular reaction.

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Brain cells are also fueled by mitochondria. But until now, no one has known if a similar response to exercise occurs in the brain.

Like muscles, many parts of the brain get a robust physiological workout during exercise. “The brain has to work hard to keep the muscles moving” and all of the bodily systems in sync, says J. Mark Davis, a professor of exercise science at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina and senior author of the new mouse study, which was published last month in The Journal of Applied Physiology. Scans have shown that metabolic activity in many parts of the brain surges during workouts, but it was unknown whether those active brain cells were actually adapting and changing.

To see, the South Carolina scientists exercised their mice for eight weeks. The sedentary control animals were housed in the same laboratory as the runners to ensure that, except for the treadmill sessions, the two groups shared the same environment and routine.

At the end of the two months, the researchers had both groups complete a run to exhaustion on the treadmill. Not surprisingly, the running mice displayed much greater endurance than the loungers. They lasted on the treadmills for an average of 126 minutes, versus 74 minutes for the unexercised animals.

More interesting, though, was what was happening inside their brain cells. When the scientists examined tissue samples from different portions of the exercised animals’ brains, they found markers of upwelling mitochondrial development in all of the tissues. Some parts of their brains showed more activity than others, but in each of the samples, the brain cells held newborn mitochondria.

There was no comparable activity in brain cells from the sedentary mice.

This is the first report to show that, in mice at least, two months of exercise training “is sufficient stimulus to increase mitochondrial biogenesis,” Dr. Davis and his co-authors write in the study.

The finding is an important “piece in the puzzle implying that exercise can lead to mitochondrial biogenesis in tissues other than muscle,” says Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, a professor of medicine at McMaster Children’s Hospital, who was not involved with this experiment but has conducted many exercise studies.

The mitochondrial proliferation in the animals’ brains has implications that are wide-ranging and heartening. “There is evidence” from other studies “that mitochondrial deficits in the brain may play a role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases,” including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, Dr. Davis says. Having a larger reservoir of mitochondria in your brain cells could provide some buffer against those conditions, he says.

Dr. Tarnopolsky agrees. “Epidemiological studies show that long-term runners have a lower risk of neurological disease,” he points out.

More immediately, Dr. Davis speculates, re-energized brain cells could behave like mitochondrial-drenched muscle cells, becoming more resistant to fatigue and, since bodily fatigue is partly mediated by signals from the brain, allowing you to withstand more exercise. In effect, exercising the body may train the brain to allow you to exercise more, amplifying the benefits.

Revitalized brain cells also, at least potentially, could reduce mental fatigue and sharpen your thinking “even when you’re not exercising,” Dr. Davis says.

Of course, this experiment was conducted with animals, and “mouse brains are not human brains,” Dr. Davis says. “But,” he continues, “since mitochondrial biogenesis has been shown to occur in human muscles, just as it does in animal muscles, it is a reasonable supposition that it occurs in human brains.”

Best of all, the effort required to round your brain cells into shape is not daunting. A 30-minute jog, Dr. Davis says, is probably a good human equivalent of the workout that the mice completed.

YouTube

With the growing reach and popularity of the Internet, YouTube has much to offer learners. Besides a mind-boggling range of topics, tutoring is on a one-to-one basis. And it's for free, writes GEETA PADMANABHAN

A techie group told me about The Khan Academy. “Check out the Salman Khan YouTube lessons,” they said. “This Salman engages students across time-zones without ever appearing on the screen.” I logged on.

Khanacademy.org has impressive stats. Some 77,331,379 lessons delivered, a library of over 2,400 videos covering everything from arithmetic and physics to finance, and history, with 180 practice exercises. There are brain teasers, tips on the credit crisis. GMAT problems? Check. IIT JEE? Check. Plate tectonics? Check. It's a growing collection of very popular free lessons.

KHAN ACADEMY

With an impeccable Harvard and MIT educational background, Khan developed his tutoring hobby when a younger cousin was having trouble with sixth-grade math. It was a hit, requests grew, and tired of repeating the explanations for family and friends, he created videos and posted them on YouTube. These morphed into Khan Academy, a one-man show of videos posted from his bedroom.

Each clip lasts a digestible 10+ minutes. His disembodied voice (he never appears on camera) thinks aloud and writes the equations and arguments in differently-coloured script. “It feels like someone's over your shoulder talking in your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard who is distant from you,” said Khan, once a “California hedge-fund manager by day and math geek by night,” but a full-time YouTube lesson-developer now.

Khan's “voice-in-the-head” style of teaching may be a big draw, but the medium itself has many built-in pluses. It's an attractive concept: short lessons that can be played over and over with P-in-P. A clever teacher can use YouTube lessons to advantage, starting from getting the students to listen. She can put together a playlist of YouTube videos on a single subject for continuous viewing, create quiz videos for instant feedback, make a “test review” video that students can study the night before the big test, and embed quizzes on a class blog or site so students can watch a video and complete the quiz at the same time. She can assign watching/creating videos as homework, giving herself the much-needed time to spark discussions in class. Completed assignments/discussions can be uploaded on the class YouTube channel, for future reference. YouTubers can implement something teachers have long recognised — there are many ways to explain a topic and there is more than one way to test student understanding. Imagine logging on to four different videos, all explaining the concept of number patterns in different ways. It is 1:1 tutoring.

Unlimited content, all free (YouTube.com/EDU). Some of the lessons are downright substandard, but you wouldn't want to miss lectures from MIT, UC Berkeley and, of course, Khan Academy on differential calculus, quantum physics and introduction to Computer Science. Lectures from world-known teachers are accessible anywhere, anytime. For English usage, expressions and grammar, you'd certainly want to listen to Jennifer at JenniferESL. She gets my vote.

SOME MINUSES

With more Internet users and broadband, YouTube and other video-clip (Google Video, Vimeo) lessons will become popular. But don't discount the downside. Sound quality is sometimes poor, pronunciation and slang could put you off. Choose your videos well, and encourage teachers to create content that is tailored to your particular student community. There'll be a big “thank you” from rural students when they discover the English learning possibilities on YouTube.

But the very reach of these free YouTube lessons should get us thinking. “Any video clip that shows “how” stuff works is usually better than just plain text,” said Datla V Reddy, GM @ KU Education Digital India, a U.S.-based company focussed on K-12 Curriculum Development, Learning Management Systems and Teaching Services. “It ensures that students get to see it visually, allows for better understanding and recall.” Some of them, like those from Khan Academy have achieved cult status, but should they be the sole way of learning? “They might blunt holistic learning as videos are usually one-dimensional and not interactive. Also in an uncontrolled environment like YouTube, there is no control on the educational accuracy of the video uploaded and hence may lead to occasional wrong learning,” he warned.

For a video lesson:

* Decide on a particular topic that your class would enjoy.

* Find YouTube URLs for videos on the topic.

* If you do not have an Internet connection in class, go to Keepvid, download the video to your computer for use in the class.

* Introduce the video in class. Distribute a vocabulary hand-out. Make sure to include the URL of the YouTube video.

* Watch the videos together. In a computer lab, students can pair up and watch videos repeatedly. Students can then work on the quiz sheet in small groups or in pairs.

* For homework: In groups of four to five students, students should find a short video of their own to present to the class.

Coimbatore

Memories of Coimbatore - Where science thrived...

R. Subbayyan on G.D. Naidu's exhibitions, playing gilli danda with Greek refugees and watching Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in action at Valankulam

He was soft-spoken, lean and dressed in a veshti. Big or small, he would respond to all kinds of questions raised by students. When I was a kid, it was G.D. Naidu who planted the seed of engineering in me. I grew up attending the many Science exhibitions he held. His exhibitions always had interesting objects. There was a coffee-vending machine in one of them. All you had to do was insert a coin into the machine and you would get a cup of coffee! I was fascinated by it and asked him how it worked. He explained how levers operated inside to mix the decoction, sugar, milk and water. A shaving blade invented by him, an automatic ticket dispenser, illustrations on the harmful effects of cigarette smoke…G.D. Naidu's exhibitions were visited by students all over the city.

We lived in R.S. Puram. The area was full of karuvelam trees. It was during World War II. Refugees from Greece were sheltered in hostels in the Forest College campus. Everyday, they would walk all the way to the South end of D.B. Road to buy fruit and vegetables — there were no shops in between. Shopkeepers would take the exact amount and return the rest if the Greeks unintentionally gave them excess cash. People were honest and full of integrity.

Sometimes, we played football with the Greeks. We also taught them gilli danda, popular with boys back then. Football matches were played at Irwin Stadium in Coronation Park (now VOC Park). Since most of us travelled by foot, we would go home really late if there was a match happening in the evening. It was Diwan Bahadur C.S. Rathna Sabapathy Mudaliyar, the municipality chairman, who installed street-lamps in D.B. Road and brought drinking water from Siruvani to Coimbatore. Diwan Bahadur Road (D.B. Road) and Rathna Sabapathy Puram (R.S. Puram) were named after him.

We would watch movies in Swamy Hall on Variety Hall Road. A tharai ticket there cost one anna. For two annas, you got to sit on a bench. The chair ticket was four annas. There used to be a restaurant on a lane off Avanashi Road with a board saying ‘Man paandathil seidha divyamaana saappadu', for two annas.

The lakes in the city were pristine. People would bathe in their waters. When I was a little boy, I remember watching the shooting of the film ‘Sivakavi' on Valankulam Road. M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar who played the hero had to push a man into the lake for the scene!

Those days, college students and teachers were more like friends. During my tenure as the principal of PSG College of Technology, I watched movies and played basketball with students in the evenings. Once, teachers and students manually installed a basketball pole in college. We also designed and constructed an automatic score board.

Deepavali was celebrated in the college grounds, crackers and all. But, when in class, we were very strict.

We had once invited Kavignar Kannadasan for a function of the Thamizh Mandram in college. Though he came late, he spoke for an hour to an audience of students delirious with excitement. In 1975, we installed the first computer centre in our college. The TDC 312, a huge machine, processed results for Madras University. Why, it even did the payroll for many companies, including LIC!

As a principal, I often did the rounds of college. On one such evening, I noticed a group of students playing cards in the hostel. “Look, it's the princi da!” whispered one of them who had seen me coming. By the time another student replied, “It can't be him da, he's probably asleep by now,” I was right behind them!

In 1954, I came across a young clerk in our college's canteen. A.V. Varadharajan was a bright kid with good marks in school. G.R.Damodaran offered him a seat in the college. We didn't know back then that one day, he would grow up to be an industrialist of repute. That he would be instrumental in the construction of the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex in the city.

Car of the future

Driverless car navigates Berlin streets

It can talk, see, drive and no longer needs a human being to control it by remote. The car of the future completely computer-controlled is on the streets of Berlin.

All summer, researchers from the city’s Free University have been testing the automobile around the German capital.

The vehicle manoeuvres through traffic on its own using a sophisticated combination of devices, including a computer, electronics and a precision satellite navigation system in the trunk, a camera in the front, and laser scanners on the roof and around the front and rear bumpers.

“The vehicle can recognize other cars on the road, pedestrians, buildings and trees up to 70 meters around it and even see if the traffic lights ahead are red or green and react accordingly,” Raul Rojas, the head of the university’s research group for artificial intelligence, told reporters at a presentation on Friday.

“In fact, the car’s recognition and reaction to its environment is much faster than a human being’s reaction.”

The scientists have worked on their research car, a Volkswagen Passat worth $551,800 with lots of built-in special technology, for four years.

Several other groups have also been working on such technology recently, notably Google, which has been testing a robotic Toyota Prius in Nevada.

“There’s a big trend for completely computer-controlled cars many companies and research centers in several countries are working on it and it is hard to say, who’s got the most-developed vehicle at the moment,” Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, a professor for automotive economics at the University of Duisburg-Essen, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Mr. Dudenhoeffer estimated that with the technology advances, it could only take another decade for the fully automatic cars to start becoming available for consumers. “Even today’s cars are often partially computer-controlled, for example when it comes to parking or emergency brakes.”

However, he said, that besides the technological issues, the legal challenges would be another issue that needed to be regulated — “Who will be responsible when there’s an accident the owner or the passenger of the computer-controlled car or the company that produced it?”

“However, all in all, one can definitely say that computer-controlled cares will be much safer than human drivers,” Mr. Dudenhoeffer said. “Especially if you keep in mind that most of today’s accidents are caused by human error.”

In Berlin, the university researchers received a special permit from the city’s security and safety controllers in June to use it in regular traffic under the condition that a safety driver sits behind the steering wheel, even if he doesn’t touch anything not the steering wheel, gas pedals nor brakes.

On a special testing ground, the team has also been allowed to let the car run without anyone on board.

“This kind of technology is the future of mobility,” Mr. Rojas said, who had a more conservative estimate than Mr. Dudenhoeffer, saying that it may be 30 to 40 years before they become available to the average consumer.

The key to the automobile’s intelligence is in the way the computer program runs.

“In the beginning with had trouble with the robotic driving style of the car,” said Mr. Rojas. “But we’ve worked on the programming and now its driving style is as smooth as a human being.”

Mr. Rojas estimates that once the technology specifically the sensors gets less expensive, such cars will eventually conquer the roads.

“It is similar to the beginnings of the computers 40 years ago, only research labs could afford computers, now everybody is walking around with a computer in his pocket.”

Ideally, the car will respond to orders by remote control, for example on an iPad or an iPhone. With a click or a touch, the passenger can call the car to his personal location and then order the car to drop him off at his desired destination.

“This kind of car is actually perfect for car sharing,” said Mr. Rojas. “There will be no more need for owning a car once the automobile has dropped off its passenger it will drive on to the next passenger.”

Remembering MSS

EVENT ‘Madura Geetham' is being held for the fourth consecutive year to mark the birth anniversary celebrations of legendary singer M.S. Subbulakshmi

Singers and musicians from the four Southern States are converging in Temple Town this week to pay musical tribute to legendary Carnatic singer M.S.Subbulakshmi as part of the fourth edition of “Madura Geetham”. This annual festival of music is organized under the joint aegis of INTACH, Madurai chapter, and Sri Sathguru Sangeetha Samajam, to commemorate the birth anniversary of MS in her hometown.

Like every year, school students will kick start the festival with a musical homage to MS at her ancestral home on Hanumantharayar Koil Street on Friday, September 16, which also marks her birthday. Some well known songs of MS will be sung by the children at 10 a.m. On the following day (September 17, Saturday), NadakalaPraveena Shiek .Mastaan will give a lecture demonstration titled “Nadabindu Kalaadhi namo namah” at Lakshmi Sundaram Hall, 6 p.m.

At the same venue, same time on September 18, a unique event will be coordinated where young budding Carnatic music aspirants from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh will render popular melodies of MS. The chorus called “Navashakti” will feature nine-member all-women team who will indirectly demonstrate how well the intangible heritage of classical Indian music is taken to the next generation.

Vocal renditions by Smitha Madhav, Saaswathi Prabu, Shubashree Ramachandran and Manasi Prasad will be accompanied by musical strains from the ghatam played by Ramya, Retnasree on tabla, Jananiy on keyboard, Nandhini on violin and Lavanya on muridangam. On September 19, the scene will shift to LAICO building where Nandini Anand, daughter and student of Mayavaram sisters, will play the violin in a recital titled “Inbavellam”. The concert will feature simple but rare songs of MS and Nandhini will be accompanied by her team members.

City school children who are members of INTACH Heritage Clubs will get an opportunity to understand the intricate world of Carnatic music in lay man's terms. This workshop, “Build a rasika” will be conducted by “Shri. N. Vijay Siva at Lakshmi School, Veerapanchaan, on September 20, Tuesday, from 8.30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The same evening, curtains will be drawn on the five day music festival with Shri N. Vijay Siva's recital, “Anthareeki Vandanamu”, saluting the great composers whose compositions were immortalized because MS lent her voice to them. This performance is slated for 6 p.m. at Hotel Fortune Pandiyan

For enquiries and more details about the event, call 9994499974

Modi-ji vindicated

Kalki

“‘Kalki' Krishnamurthy a multi-faceted personality”

“He can aptly be described as a “renaissance man” for his progressive ideas”

‘Kalki' Krishnamurthy was a multi-faceted personality and could aptly be described as a “renaissance man” for his progressive ideas, Cleveland–based businessman and patron of arts V.V. Sundaram observed here on Friday.

Speaking at the 112th birthday celebrations of the illustrious writer and freedom fighter, organised by the Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Trust at the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mr. Sundaram recalled how Krishnamurthy refused to swerve from his principles.

He was an art critic, novelist, dramatist, scriptwriter for movies, and above all, one who twice courted incarceration in his quest for the freedom of the motherland. His was a style which could attract even the common man.

“Whatever he wrote, he had historical evidence to support it. Even his magnum opus ‘Ponniyin Selvan' had characters whose names are found in the inscriptions of the Thanjavur temple.”

Referring to the period in which Krishnamurthi was at his peak (1930-50), he said it was virtually a period of a “revolution of sorts” in the State's history. Then he had the courage and conviction to harbour revolutionary thoughts encouraging ideas like widow remarriage, women's emancipation and freedom from bondage despite stout opposition. His ‘Thyagabhoomi' spoke of women's emancipation and ‘Alai osai' the thirst for freedom. Later, Mr. Sundaram handed over the Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Awards to Saketharaman, a budding Carnatic vocalist, and Nagai Sriram, a violinist.

Success,brick by brick

What does it take to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary? T. Krithika Reddy talks to Bala V. Balachandran, founder-dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management

Talking to Bala V. Balachandran, founder-dean of the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, is like reading a how-to book on success. From creating and maintaining a personal brand to taking challenges head on with nothing but a positive attitude as his ally, this Padma Shri awardee offers several lessons on leadership and life in an engaging style that sets him apart from droning academicians.

During his recent visit to Chennai — one of his many sojourns that add up to five months a year — the continent-hopping Professor Emeritus of Accounting Information and Management at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA, pushes the rewind button on his life and four-decade commitment to education. “I've not opened up on my personal side before. There have been several life-changing incidents.” His warm smile complements the tender morning sunrays streaming into the spacious guest house in Tiruvanmiyur.

Beating the odds is something that comes naturally to Bala. He doesn't mince words while recalling the poverty-stricken days in his hometown, Pudukkottai. “We were very poor. Once, we were humiliated by a relative at a wedding because of our social standing. My teary-eyed mom pulled me aside and said, ‘Son, I want you to study and do well in life. But never treat people like this'.”

DIFFICULT DAYS

Bala decided to give studies his all. He graduated from Annamalai University and even taught for a while. In 1967, he left for the U.S. to further his academic pursuits in the University of Dayton. “My wife and infant son remained in India. Those were extremely difficult days. Initially, I used to lock myself up in my room and cry. Then I decided that if it's pain first it's going to be gain later. I went on with life and completed my Doctorate from Carnegie-Mellon University. In the meanwhile, my wife too came to the U.S for higher studies. It was a terrible feeling. I was in Pittsburgh, my wife was in another part of the U.S., and my two sons were back in India — one with my mother and the other with my in-laws! All along, I just kept telling myself, ‘look at the positives'.”

In 1973, Bala joined Kellogg's faculty. The roadmap was clear. “It was a new beginning. I leveraged my time and sweat for academic accomplishments. I'm a huge fan of veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan. His dialogue on education being a powerful weapon in one of his films left a deep impact on me.” Bala served as Chairman of the Department of Accounting Information and Management at Kellogg from 1979 to 1983. Later, he became director of the Accounting Research Centre and served there till 2006. Now, as Emeritus Professor, he continues to teach. “In education, there is no retirement. If you are passionate about something, there's only joy, no fatigue. So it's work in progress,” says the 75-year-old, who turned ‘edupreneur' at the age of 64! “It was time to give back. I had to leverage all the experience I'd got from abroad to open world-class management institutions in India,” he says adjusting the tiny golden brooch with India and U.S. flags on his shirt.

VALUE-BASED EDUCATION

First, Bala helped set up the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon. Next, it was the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. “I sold my property in Neelankarai and founded the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Saidapet, Chennai. In two years, GLIM made such a name for itself that we were able to move to a sprawling campus near Mahabalipuram.” (Incidentally, GLIM is one of the few Platinum-rated campuses, what with its stringent green code.) GLIM's strengths are its faculty, curriculum and guest lecturers. “We get the best names, even Nobel Laureates to interact with the students.” A strong believer in values, the ‘not-for-profit' GLIM has a programme called Karma Yoga that's compulsory for all its MBA students. “Our motto is passion with compassion. We want AC-room-bound executives to experience slums, interact with and support poor people. Many villages near Mahabalipuram have benefited from this programme.” A visionary, he has also made learning of Mandarin compulsory. “I want our students to not just learn Mandarin, but also be aware of Chinese culture. With China poised for a big leap in the world scene, it will be useful to them in the years to come.”

After launching the Mumbai Business School last year, Bala is now busy setting up the Great Lakes University of Corporate Excellence in Bhubaneshwar. “It will be value-based business education with undergraduate and MBA programmes. We plan to open it in 2013. I've been invited by the Gujarat Chief Minister too to set up a management institute in Baroda. But I'm yet to decide on that.” It's apparent that he doesn't want to dilute Brand Bala. “If I lend my name, I should be totally committed,” says the professor, whom India Abroad named among the 50 most influential Indian Americans.

A big fan of Tamil movies, Bala took time off to pick up 60 DVDs during his recent visit. I went and watched ‘Deivathirumagal' and was moved by it. I'm a big fan of Sivaji and Rajnikanth. We have a lot to learn from our movies and our stars.”

LSD QUOTIENT

Bala's belief in communication as a tool to connect, rather than make a statement, is evident. As he relates anecdotes and parables, it's almost noon, and you haven't realised it! “Lord Ganesha is my ultimate CEO. And I often talk to students about the LSD Quotient — Lakshmi for wealth that will help you serve, Saraswathi for knowledge that's empowerment, and Durga for courage that will enable you to take risks. In life, there's this constant conflict between emotional quotient and intelligence quotient. I wish to balance the two.”

EASY EDUCATION

*DVDs such as Little Einsteins have always fascinated me. I plan to involve myself in bringing out similar DVDs that educate children effortlessly. It will be a part of the AIM for Seva project initiated by Swami Dayananda.

*I also plan to write a how-to book for parents. It will deal with shaping the minds of children in their formative years. I think the first 12 years in a child's life is very important. It lays the foundation for his/her future. It's important to inculcate good manners, discipline and compassion. Be strict without being dictatorial. I call it ‘tough love.'

*I'm also co-authoring a book on the softer side of software giants with my student. We plan to get into the life-changing incidents and the formative years of their lives.

The Vice-Chancellor who treated me like his son

P. RAMALINGAM
(The writer's email id is: ppchellaan@yahoo.com)

For me, it is an occasion for recollecting this grand personality standing in his immaculate long coat and dhoti worn in typical South Indian panchakatcham with medal and turban, without which he does not meet people.

I was admitted to B.Sc in Benares Hindu University in 1945. I had got admissions in all the three colleges in Madras — Loyola, Presidency and Tambaram Christian. But due to father's ‘ziddi' (it appeared to me as a stupid idea at that time), I landed at the university main gate three days ahead of reopening. At 16 and with no knowledge of a single word of Hindi, it was all a world lost for me. I was dispatched by train to Benares via Howrah. I had a first class railway pass as my father was a medical officer in the then M&S M Railway. I was timid by nature. My father had got my admission card from Principal Godbole from Shimla and I was told that I would be allotted a hostel room on arrival. When I landed at the imposing (to me) university gate, the security people had a hearty laugh and, in their broken English, told me that I would not find a crow on the campus and the offices would open only after three days. It looked as if I should go back home and face my father's ire.

Then I remembered that I had a letter from a friend of my father introducing me to his father at 80, who was living in the Hanuman Ghat area, where elders like him stay till the end of their life. He dips in the Ganga three times a day and, after Sandhyavandanam, goes to the Viswanath Temple in wet clothes. I had and still have a lot of reverence for such people when I see them. With this letter as my only hope, I asked a cyclerickshaw driver to help me find this old man at the Hanuman Ghat. The rickshawwallah was a Muslim, very courteous to me. He offered to wait until I spotted the old man. He is still a model of human behaviour. On enquiry, the local people told me that I should wait at the ghats and the old man would definitely come at 12 noon sharp for his rituals.

At the stroke of 12, an old man came running down the steps and, after a dip in the river, ran up the ghats in wet clothes. I ran after him calling “Mama, mama, I have a letter for you.” He quickly read the letter and asked me to hurry up and follow him after taking a dip in the river. By the time, I paid off the rickshaw driver, who was happy to have put me in safe hands. After my first visit to the temple, we went to the old man's small accommodation. He had a very hospitable group and neighbours, unlike the present day neighbours in flats, who just do not know who is living the next door.

The next morning, he went with me to the university gate and said he wanted to meet the Vice-Chancellor. The people at the gate did not probe why he was meeting the Vice-Chancellor, unlike as employees would do nowadays. On getting OK from the Vice-Chancellor's residence, we were ushered into the drawing room and offered coffee and asked to wait. Sir. S. always meets people only after 10 a.m. unless he is dressed up. He was in the room upstairs.

When he came down, the Vice-Chancellor met my local guardian, the old man. Coming to know of my problem from this guardian that the boy did not even know Hindi and had to stay with him without any facility for three days, he called up the hostel warden Pande on the phone and asked him to accommodate me in a room close to his residence. He advised the warden to take care of my food requirements, treating me as his guest until the hostels opened after the vacation and I was allotted a room.

Can you imagine a Vice-Chancellor going out of the way to help a newcomer student! How can I forget this rare specimen of human understanding? Today at 83, it is my privilege to recall him. To Sir, with love.