September 5, 2011
Years ago, when I first entered the portals of St Aloysius College, one of the things I was curious about was to know Dr A Lourdusamy, of whom my brother, his former student, had constantly sung praises. Over the next five years, I came to know why the English department of the college was the most loved place in the campus, and why Dr Lourdusamy its most loved teacher.
For those blessed souls who have had the privilege of being his student, Dr Lourdusamy needs no introduction. Take my word, you will not find a teacher like him anywhere in the world. His classes take you beyond the subject, and by the end of the hour, you will be familiar with not just the topic at hand, but everything else related to it, from history to current affairs to tens of literary citings. Personally, it has always amazed me the way he remembers so many things - they just seem to pop out of nowhere, testifying his immense wealth of knowledge.
In between he will test you on your knowledge, so it's advisable to be prepared for a 'Stupeeed!' accompanied with a friendly smile or a 'Beautiful!' if you are lucky enough to answer right. To be in St Aloysius College and not know Sir is quite impossible, whether he takes classes for you or not. He is, as they say, friend, philosopher and guide to every student.
And when I say 'wealth of knowledge' I really mean it. With more than 30 years of teaching experience and a long list of honours, publications, paper presentations, seminars and professional responsibilities to his credit, Dr Lourdusamy is a treasure trove of achievements. Besides being a vice-principal of St Aloysius College, he was the Steering Committee Chairman of NAAC, St Aloysius College, president of St Aloysius College Staff Association, member of the Board of Studies and Examination (UG), St Agnes College (Autonomous) and of Roshni Nilaya, member of the managing Council, Milagres Pre-University College, and subject expert of MA English programme at St Agnes College. In 2009, he was member of a panel discussion in the orientation programme for the Teachers of Singapore.
This apart, he was awarded the PhD on 'C D Narasimhaiah’s Contribution to Modern Indian Literary Criticism: An Assessment' by the Department of English and Foreign Languages, Gandhigram Rural University, Tamil Nadu in 2007. He has been a MPhil and PhD guide for students of several universities, Rayalaseema State University, Andra Pradesh and Gandhigram Rural University, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu among them.
Under his baton, National Seminar on Literature has been a regular annual event at St Aloysius College, an intellectually rich event that witnesses a conglemeration of the best minds in literature from across the country, where new ideas on literature emerge and where even students get an opportunity to present their viewpoints.
He was also instrumental in bringing MA English programme to St Aloysius College, to which I am personally thankful to him. A dreamchild of his, the MA programme is perhaps the best feather in his cap.
But more than anything, it is the camaraderie that Sir shares with his students that really sets him apart. If you enter St Aloysius as his student, you will leave the college as his friend, and stay so for the rest of your life. Even if you were to meet him years later, he would still remember you, and talk like a long-lost friend. With him you can share a laugh, share a problem, share anything. He is, what I can say, a student's teacher.
And now, having contributed so much to the college and to the field of education, Dr Arputhem Lourdusamy is on the verge of retirement. "The idea of retiring has not sunk in yet. I have about six months more, so I have not thought of it so far, and cannot think of it either," he says.
In a humble tone he adds, "I did not achieve anything great. Whatever I did was my duty; you are expected to do justice to your profession, and it's all part of my job."
"My interaction with students keeps me going. They relate to me, and this happens every day." No doubt, students have always been the centre of Dr Lourdusamy's life, that's what makes him special.
To conclude in a quintessential Dr Lourdusamy style, "Good Sir!"