On the MCC Magazine | Reflections
24th April 2025
#reflections
Today, I was quite overjoyed and thrilled beyond measure, when I got a call from Dr. B. M. Arthur, (former Professor of Physics, MCC) and one of the senior-most MCC-ians (He’s 97 years old now).
He said he had just called to congratulate the MCC Magazine Committee on having his article published in the MCC Magazine.
“The MCC Magazine has come out so well. Congratulations to you and your team. I can’t forget all the beautiful things that happened in MCC from 1942 onwards. Thanks a lot. God bless you all”,
said Dr. Arthur, with such a graceful and peaceful voice that was laced with contentment and satisfaction on him. Thanks a lot to his nephew Prof. Samuel for facilitating the phone call today.
Interestingly, and coincidentally, his student Dr. Narasinga Rao, 87 years old now, (who is fondly called the grandfather of Undergraduate Research in Oklahama, US), has also given rich encomiums to his teacher Dr. Arthur, in this same Volume of the MCC Magazine.
Coming back -
Well, publication of the MCC Magazine is indeed a collective effort. We had 19 meetings this year, and I should acknowledge the commitment and dedication of all the members of the MCC Magazine Committee, who had sacrificed many of their precious Saturday holidays voluntarily, to spend the entire day in Campus, editing and proof-reading the manuscripts all through the year.
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| Meeting of the Magazine Committee | Saturday, 20th July 2024 |
And finally, when the red-letter day arrived, and when we saw the MCC Magazine of 264 pages in beautiful print, we were so delighted!
Special thanks to Dr. Jojan Job, Dr. Jayalakshmi, and Ms. Joseline Breeya for (the three J’s) 😊for being there almost every Saturday of this past academic year, to ensure that the Magazine saw the light of day on farewell day, 21st April 2025.
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| Release of the MCC Magazine by our Principal Dr Paul Wilson on Farewell Day | 21 April 25 |
The Madras Christian College Magazine was first published in the year 1883.
What began initially as a Monthly Magazine, with articles from MCC-ians and beyond, evolved into an Annual Magazine over the turn of the century.
The MCC Magazine is unique in several ways.
It’s not just ‘yet another College Magazine’ that churns out articles by the dozen, annually in nonchalant fashion! 😊
Quoting Milton –
It’s indeed the precious life blood of master-spirits of the College - a heritage document that’s kept, embalmed and archived for a life beyond life!
So unlike usual college magazines that sport just poems, essays and college reports, the MCC Magazine serves as a Heritage Document, a veritable Archive, a wealthy treasure-trove that has a majority of contributions from the alumni, and from retired faculty members as well.
One interesting facet of the MCC Magazine is that, it’s neatly structured into various sections – (a practice that’s in vogue even today) – with sections exclusively for book reviews, scientific writing, college musings, campus jottings, campus flora and fauna, world events, students’ corner, and other miscellaneous college notes.
Yet another interesting feature that’s a part of every Volume of the College Magazine is the famous quote by James Russell Lowell that adorns the front inside page of each and every Volume of the MCC Magazine right from the days of its inception.
Interesting, isn’t it? 😊
It also sports the Commemoration Address (usually given by the senior most retiring faculty member, each year), Graduation Day Address, Principal’s Reflections, Profiles of retiring faculty members, etc.
Some of the highly engaging articles featured in this Volume are as follows –
Our Principal Dr. Paul Wilson’s article reimagines a dynamic tertiary education landscape through end-user’s framework, that conceives of the curriculum as dynamically co-created through interactions among students, teachers, and communities.
Ms. Narayani Ganesh’s reminiscences on her father Gemini Ganesan, on how MCC provided her father’s life with good memories and experiences that helped shape his personality and turned him into a fine human being, is yet another testament to the ‘holistic nourishment’ provided by MCC.
The feature article titled, “Alice Mary Barnes: Her Legacy at MCC and Beyond” By Ms. Anne M. Dayanandan, the first Archivist of the College, is a tribute and a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to Prof Edward and Alice Barnes when we enjoy the cool green campus that is their legacy. The land that supports bird life, animals, insects, and vegetation that makes it a natural laboratory and is treated as a ‘wildlife sanctuary’, a rich legacy bestowed on MCC by the Barnes couple in the early 1930s.
‘Carvings In the Woods’, by Dr. Mekala Rajan, Head, Department of English, is a euphoric tribute to the aura of campus life, and its power to transform anyone who comes under its pristine and majestic influence.
Dr. Anulin Christudhas’s tribute to her teacher Dr. Manu Thomas Mathai, is a heartfelt testimony to the profound impact of a professor of MCC on a student’s academic journey.
Ms. Koteeswari’s article and Haritha Ramachandran’s poetic tribute highlight the sylvan ‘Forested Tapestry of College Memories’, while Dr. David Wesley’s script featuring an imaginary conversation between Rev. John Anderson and Rev. John Braidwood, titled, ‘The Three-Fold Cord’, a phrase used by Anderson to refer to the bond between himself, Rev. Johnston, and Rev. Braidwood.
Dr. Jojan Job’s article titled, ‘AGYEYA - A MAN OF MANY PARTS AND A LONG- FORGOTTEN ALUMNUS’, is a soulful tribute to an illustrious old boy of our College, a forgotten revolutionary, who was imprisoned during the Indian freedom struggle, a man who joined the Independence movement along with Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad, a soldier who served during the World War.
Ms. Nalini (Harris) Prakash’s article documents the first women’s hostel for MCC, in 1940, up until the time a building suitable to be a hostel was acquired in Guindy in 1950. On 27th June 1950, the women’s hostel at Guindy was inaugurated and it existed there for the next 18 years, says Ms. Nalini.
‘A Checklist of the Butterflies of MCC’ by our alumnus Mr. David Phinehas N, is a unique document, that catalogues the butterflies of MCC, during his Zoology undergraduate studies at MCC, carried out from July 2019 to April 2022.
This article assumes significance because of the fact that, for 22 years since 2000 there has been no update of the butterflies of MCC campus. The present checklist by David aims to fill this gap and note if there have been any significant changes in species composition over the nearly six decades of butterfly population studies on the campus.
“An Annotated Checklist of the Trees of Madras Christian College Campus – An Analysis” by Dr. G. Gnanasekaran et al. documents the rich tree diversity of MCC campus.
“Designing the International Guest House in Campus” by Ms. Cecilia Philipson documents the ‘Indianness’ that proved an inspiration for designing the International Guest House.
Dr. C. Annal Deva Priya Darshini’s article titled, “A Clock in the Quadrangle – Origin of the College Sundial” is a document of the College Sundial - which is ‘accurate to a minute’.
The article by the College Librarian Dr. P. Yesudoss et al. stresses the importance of utilization of academic libraries which is crucial to enhancing academic success, research productivity, and the advancement of knowledge within higher education institutions.
“Christian Contributions to Freedom Struggle” is a valuable article by Dr. B. Narasingaraja Naidu, which documents the role of the Christian community in the Indian Freedom Struggle.
We have a melange of articles of all hues in the vernacular, starting from Dr. N. Lakshminarayan’s highly engaging poem on ‘Journeying into the World of Books’.
We also have a poignant short story by Dr. Paul Prabu Santharaj titled, ‘New Path’, based on the Chennai Floods, followed by an insightful article that provides rare insights into the life and contributions of Tamil Pandit Maraimalai Adigal, Professor of Tamil in MCC, by Dr. J. Sudarvizhi.
Dr. Gnana Chandra Johnson has presented a very profound article on ‘Divine Love in Christian Literature’, while Dr. Sadasivam has portrayed the unique poetic sensibility of Velliveethiyār, a woman poet of the late Sangam period.
The Tamil Mandrams of the various Halls have been featured in Dr. Sebulon Prabu Durai’s article.
Dr. Jayalakshmi has shared some of her nostalgic memories in Hindi, and we also have an article in Malayalam titled, ‘Religious Diversity in India: Myth or Reality?’ by Mr. Aaron George Jacob.
This Volume also has a host of spirited poetry in Tamil and in Hindi by our students – past and present.
I thank our beloved Principal and Secretary Dr. P. Wilson for trusting in me and for entrusting this noble task to me.
I profusely thank Dr. Jojan Job, Dr. V. Jayalakshmi, Dr. J. Sudarvizhi, Dr. Marilyn Gracey Augustine, Dr. G. Gnanasekaran, Dr. D. Selvakumari, Dr. Sebulon Prabu Durai, Dr. Raja Sornam, Prof. Esther Hebrews, and all the other faculty members for their constant support and invaluable guidance in editing this Volume of the College Magazine.
I also thank our student volunteers who had helped us during the various stages of the typesetting of this Volume.
A special note of thanks to Dr. Jojan Job and Ms. Joseline Breeya for the vibrant cover design and the exceptional layout of the Magazine.
On behalf of the Editorial team of the College Magazine, I thank all the contributors for their highly insightful articles, that serve as invaluable documents towards cherishing and preserving the life, legacy and heritage of our College.
Finally, our sincere thanks are due to everyone who has played an invaluable role in keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Thank you for being an important part in archiving this rich legacy.
Viva la MCC!
PS: You may want to read our past post on how the MCC Magazine was the only go to, for many significant national / international events of the past, HERE
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