BANGALORE: IN a rare gesture, wife of late professor Dr Venkatagiri Gowda, Savithri Venkatagiri Gowda, sold their house in Jayanagar IV block and donated Rs. 50 lakh from the sale towards the construction of a new auditorium in Bangalore University. The university gave an additional Rs. 1.5 crore towards its construction.
The auditorium has been named after the professor as Prof K Venkatagiri Gowda Memorial Auditorium and it was inaugurated by Governor of Karnataka, Dr Hansraj Bhardwaj in the presence of Savithri Gowda.
Savithri Gowda was later felicitated by the Governor and other dignitaries.
Savithri sold the house in 2007, three years after her husband died, and it was in accordance with the wishes of the professor who wanted to give back to the university whatever he earned from it.
Dr Venkatagiri was a professor for Economics in the University. The Governor humorously recounted that often his wife and he realised that they would not have a home if he was ousted as the governor. In this light, he appreciated Savithri Gowda’s gesture of giving up her home for the varsity. Savithri now lives with her children.
The Governor said good professors made a powerful nation and India needs to take a cue from the US and nominate these educators to their top posts.
Predicting the future of a free economy, he said knowledge too would move freely around the world and hoped India would contribute significantly through its research.
He added that India was currently lagging behind by 200 years in technological research and asked universities to concentrate more on research.
Criticising the current state of affairs in education, he said Syndicate members of universities should realise that educational institutions are not a place for politics, but for nation building. He also asked industrialists and prominent personalities to contribute to the development of the varsities.