Excellence in education and culture are, synonymous with Mrs YG Parthasarathy more fondly know as Mrs YGP. She says “A school is no longer merely an array of rooms, chalkboards, tables and chairs, waiting for the teacher and the taught. Today schools are structured with techno- savvy students and technology-based curriculum in mind.”
Born into an orthodox Brahmin family, Mrs YGP broke all norms and established the PSBB Group of Schools, which have struck an amazing balance between academics, art, culture, sports and a holistic approach to life, based on spiritual values. As an art connoisseur, she established Bharat Kalachar — with the purpose of incorporating art education. With artistes from around India and the world performing at Bharat Kalachar, her students have a deep understanding of the performing arts. She has a slew of degrees to her name and umpteen positions on various educational, cultural and women empowerment boards and most recently, was honoured by The Centre for Excellence in Education (U.S.A.), for her Leadership and Commitment to Excellence in Education.
Mrs YGP is truly amongst the first citizens of Chennai.
Over coffee at my house Mrs YGP expounds over the approach to education and the influence of globalization on today’s youth. She opens with a very relevant statement “That there are more RNIs than NRIs.” I look blankly at her and she explains, “Resident Non Indians vis-a vis Non Resident Indians — strangers to their own culture and traditions”.
I take her back to the day when I inaugurated the English Lab at PSBB T Nagar in the early 90s, and asked if she had the premonition of where the English language was going?
She replies, “Yes, yes, I knew that English would become the language of the globe, as I had seen how in Europe and Japan, the students were at a disadvantage due to their lack of English speaking skills.”
I ask, “Do you feel that children are “blinkered” by not looking outside of the curriculum?”
She agrees wholeheartedly, “Children take the easy way out and just log onto the internet and head to portals like Facebook, Twitter and so on. Technology, instead of being used for the improvement of our country, is being used for bestial activities available on the internet.” Approaching the subject of the new emerging social order, thanks to free education, the earning and spending power of the newly educated is bringing about a more egalitarian society but not necessarily for the better.
Mrs YGP responds, “The poor remain poor however, because of education among the lower income groups, there is a shift from free schools run by the government to private schools in search of better education, in the knowledge that it will give them a brighter future.”
I nod in agreement as when doing a background check on her, one of her students aptly remarked, “Our parents helped us to look at the world outside. Mrs YGP made us such, that the outside world would sit up…and look at us!”
Apart from the legacy of outstanding schools established by her, I asked her if she has a wish for Chennai?
And she says, “I wish for more sobriety, not that I am a puritan but we need to temper our society by regaining our spiritual values.”
As she gets up to leave, I slip in a final question, “Do you have any regrets?”
She turns to me with a hundred-watt smile and a twinkle in her eye and says, “I wish I had learned to ride a motorcycle or drive a car!”