THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘English Literature and Diplomacy’ was the topic that retired diplomat T P Sreenivasan chose to speak about on Tuesday, at ‘Prof B Hridayakumari Memorial Lecture’ conducted at University College, Thiruvananthapuram. He wanted to show that what he had learnt from Hridayakumari, who taught him at the college, was helpful in his profession, and hence the topic, he said.
He said that when Hridayakumari taught with poise, elegance and brilliance, he and his peers were not conscious of the impression she made on them. Sreenivasan, in pocket-sized cards, had scribbled amusing instances of how the lessons gleaned from English literature classes then came in handy later.
However, at the time of joining civil services, Sreenivasan said, he had thought that political science, history or economics would have equipped him better for his diplomatic journey. But he came to realise soon after that the deficiency in any knowledge could be more than made up by the words he owned, he said.
“The power of words is as important as the power of ideas you have,” he said. He added that diplomacy is nothing but words - spoken word, written word and most important, unspoken words.
The occasion was also the inauguration of the Centennial Celebrations of the BA Honours (English) course at University College. Writer Sugathakumari planted a mango sapling, inaugurating the function.
Sugathakumari said that the college in its glorious days had G Kumara Pillai, K K Neelakantan better known as Induchoodan, Ayyappa Panicker and Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri as its faculty. She said that the college had degraded because of external forces, not related to education, intervening in its affairs.
About her own sister, Sugathakumari said she could not speak much, but wished that someone had recorded Hridayakumari’s excellent lectures and kept it for posterity.
The keynote address was delivered by Department of Collegiate Education Director M Nandakumar, who said that he was fortunate to attend four classes by Hridayakumari, though he was a student of Zoology. Taking a cue from Sugathakumari’s words, he said that the lectures of eminent teachers in the college should be recorded.
A documentary shot by the college’s MA (English) students was screened. College Principal V T Beena and English Department head G Vijayalakshmi spoke on the occasion. The function was attended by alumni and retired teachers.