My former colleague
and friend Prof A Sreekumar is no more. His sons took him to the US and the best doctors there, could not save him. Cancer ultimately conquered him today in the
wee hours of the morning. But he will live on in the memories of the hundreds
of students and academics he touched in his life.
Though born
of royal lineage of the Kochi maharajas, he was always humble; almost
self-effacing. He trained to be an
engineer, became familiar with the leftist ideology in his college days and as
was wont by the Keralites of his times, grew a beard. The time he spent as an
MBA student of the School of Management under the tutelage of doyens like Prof
MV Pylee and his merry men was another life changing experience. Sreekumar started working in the same school
as a teacher- a junior among the men who taught him but a giant intellectually.
Somewhere along the line he was joined by Raji (Rajashree) his wife who lived
with all the idiosyncrasies of a man in search of a different meaning in life. Not the conventional life for him! He then went off in search of more meaning to
the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad; another mind broadening
experience.
Each class
which he taught was an odyssey for him to plumb deeper depths. He would spend hours in his preparation for
class. He would try to be as innovative
as the circumstances would allow. His
ideas were lofty; even as his personal bearing and his clothes were modest. Many are the academic battles in committees he
has won on the mere merit of his arguments.
He would spend hours reading the answers of the students and grading
them even as administrative tasks piled up and ate into his time. Truly
admirable qualities.
Even when he
was afflicted with the life threatening illness, he would still be on emails
and Facebook keeping up with his interests on all things academic. Even travelling after a serious surgery. Just
recovering from the after effects of the surgery, he would be often commenting
on events. It was in the last two months
that he became too ill to be active. His
last post on FB was a video of the NY Marathon taken from his bedroom window. Rather symbolic for a man who ran an academic
marathon for all his life- irrespective of whether he was rewarded monetarily
for it or not. It didn’t matter whether he got the medal or not. Ultimately, it was the race one ran that
mattered! I guessed that things were not going well when the video came up. There was no way he would have watched it
from the bedroom window if he could have stepped down and watched it at eye
level. I knew he was too ill.
A life well
lived. Proud to have known you, Sree. Great to have learnt from you. Wonderful to have shared life with you. And
to have fought with you on matters academic. Happy to have lived life with you
and laughed with you. Go in peace, knowing
that you have left the world enriched. And
given so much more than you have taken………
Bala@Goa
8 comments:
Sir, absolutely befitting requiem. I noticed, throughout, he did "nishkamakarma". From many quarters, he did not get the support and admiration he truly deserved; yet, he carried on with his mission as a lone soldier. For me, a matter of utmost pride to say "I too was his student".
Yes Babu. I hope that even this requiem would be motivation for all of us to be as Sree was.
Always wanted to know a little more about him. Thanks for sharing sir.
A man who truly defined the meaning of a TEACHER...who didn't deliver lectures but made us Think and Learn. A man who inspired us in so many ways doing small things. A man who was instrumental in awakening the entrepreneur in me...I was fortunate to be in his mentor group and receive extra individual attention. I owe so much to you dear Sir. A teacher par excellence... my most beloved Sir Prof Ancheri Sreekumar RIP
Thank you Bala Sir!
Sreekumar Sir will be the best teacher we have been blessed with.
On our WhatsApp group, we just remembered so many instances where we learnt just interacting with him. He will be in our memories for ever.
Thank you so much for these lines.
Sreekumar Sir will always be my Most Respected Teacher...
What a fantastic tribute to a even more fantastic person!
I have not come across any other faculty member who was more passionate than Prof Sreekumar when it came to pursuing the well-being of his students. A true Guru, who in his quintessential style, made his students think innovatively and always placed a premium on action-orientation.
His modesty vastly contradicted his rich intellectual capabilities. He was a scholar par excellence and his high standards of integrity are worth following. His sense of humor always put people at ease - be it a corporate executive or a university official.
I will miss you dearly Prof Sreekumar.
I wish I had joined the department a year or two earlier. Would have had an opportunity to be a student of his and I'm sure the learning would have been much more thrilling then what it was. Never ever met him but have immense respect for him from the things I heard from my seniors and teachers. RIP professor
Sreekumar
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