" I can’t forget all the beautiful things that happened in MCC from 1942 onwards" ❤️❤️❤️

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.

Dr. Narasinga Rao had once told us that, every year on the occasion of his teacher Dr. Arthur’s birthday, he’d send him a birthday cake, a flower bouquet and a birthday card – a practice that he continues till date, he fondly told us, showing photographs of the same from his mobile phone.

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.

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.

Release of the MCC Magazine by our Principal Dr Paul Wilson on Farewell Day | 21 April 25

On this note, it gives me great pleasure to write my little reflections as Editor of the legendary MCC Magazine.

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.

Dr. Arthur Mangalaraj’s nostalgic reminiscences bespeak to the enriching life and legacy of Madras  Christian College - on how his life at MCC began and continued over a significant period, right from  beginning as a student in 1942, to joining as a teaching faculty in 1950, and then becoming warden of  Selaiyur Hall in 1976 right through to 1985, when he retired from service in MCC.

Interestingly, his article in this Volume is followed by a special image designed in honour of Dr. B. M.  Arthur by his loving student Dr. S. Narasinga Rao, Dean Emeritus, University of Central Oklahoma, US, on the occasion of Dr. Arthur’s 97th birthday celebrations.

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

"How MCC Alumni had a Stranglehold on Important Economic Portfolios"

The MCC Magazine ❤️

Aura of the Archives

#reflections

The motivation for this post is an article in The Hindu, Chennai Edition, dt. 17th October 2023, that runs to half the space in the broadsheet, on the infamous controversy involving the Theosophical Society in Chennai, which had happened in the year 1884.

The Hindu, 18th October 2023, Chennai Edition

It was such a pleasant surprise to see the feature writer of this article, Pon Vasanth, referring to the September 1884 issue of the MCC Magazine, to authenticate further, on the facts connected with the controversy. 

The Hindu, 18th October 2023, Chennai Edition

Well, the MCC Magazine has always occupied great pride and prestige amongst alumni, faculty and students alike.

The Reason?

Right from the first issue of the MCC Magazine that was published in the year 1883, and till date, the MCC Magazine has always been an invaluable treasure trove of myriad hues.

MCC Archives Page in the Official Website of our College, says -

The MCC Magazine has always prided itself for its articles of high standards from reputed scholars both within and from outside the College.

It consists of separate sections for Scientific jottings, literature review, Notes and extracts which reported on world events and college notes.

Every minor detail about the faculty and the students were recorded meticulously including the correspondences and queries.

In this backdrop, I wish to immensely thank our beloved Principal Dr. P. Wilson, for having given us a vibrant framework to come up with a memorable Magazine.

He also emphasised on the importance of connecting with the rich past and the great legacy of MCC, to inspire and to motivate our present crop of students, since today’s students do not know much about the rich legacy and the culture that they have inherited from their mighty seniors.

A thought that was emphasised yet again, by K. M. Mammen, [the President of the MCC Alumni Association], while addressing the audience during the Distinguished Alumni Series, held yesterday in Campus. 

Mr. Mammen had said that, the Alumni Lecture Series was “designed to inspire and motivate our current crop of students.” 

Keeping this in mind, we invited articles that connect with the rich legacy of our College, and aptly named it as ‘Life, Legacy and Heritage Special Issue’.

As a result, the Magazine shaped up so well, thanks to the untiring efforts of all the vibrant members of the Magazine Committee, - Dr. Phebe Angus, Associate Editor, Dr. Sebulon Dorai, Dr. Raja Sornam, Dr. Indumathi, members, among others.

There were many articles of high renown contributed by alumni and faculty members.

One particular article intrigued and interested us so much.

It was from Dr. B. Narasingaraja Naidu, [Retired Professor & Chairman, Department of History, Bangalore University], an old boy of MCC [who did his PU, BA & MA in MCC, and passed out in 1966].

His insightful article was on Rev. E. Montieth Macphail, Principal of Madras Christian College and later VC of the University of Madras, 1886 – 1923, & 1923 – 25.

There are quite a few interesting and memorable incidents that he recollects with fondness, especially the send-off meeting given to Rev. Macphail.

Says he – [just excerpts]

A. G. Paul presented one fine piece of Thanjavur art and M. Bhaskaraswamy presented one piece of fine Madurai art. In replying, E. M. Macphail acknowledged the kindness he had received not merely that night but throughout his stay at Madras and alluded to the sympathy which ought to exist between professors and students if genuine work was to be done.

To my knowledge, the Rev. Dr. Macphail contributed five important articles to the College Magazine.

1. “Reminiscences of Dr. Miller”

2. “Kodaikkanal Observatory”

3. “The House of Lords, and the Free Church of Scotland”

4. “The Press and the Scottish Case”

5. “Two Royal Houses”.

He wrote book reviews also in the college magazine.

In his article on the “Kodaikkanal Observatory”, Macphail justifies the description of Grant-Duff that Kodaikkanal is the ‘Switzerland of India’.

Mitchie Smith was the Director of this Observatory when Macphail visited it. People, in those days, had a very vague idea of what an observatory is. This is why Macphail wrote this article to enlighten the people on this subject (on seven printed pages).

The earthquake that destroyed San Francisco was recorded in this Observatory in the form of some wave-like lines. Macphail was shown this record. He says in his article that, this earthquake was not bad when compared to the earthquake Columbia suffered on January 31, 1907.

I was surprised by the meticulous citations that he had given towards the end of his article – citations from the MCC Magazine - which dated back to more than a century ago, in time!

Well, the citations were from the MCC Magazine, April 1887, October 1887 and October 1923.

Yet another article in the present issue is worth mentioning here. The article titled ‘MCC Physicists and the Making of Modern India’ by Dr. N. Lakshminarayanan, former Professor of Physics, MCC, is awe-inspiring.

Says Dr. N. LN – [just excerpts]

It is indeed a great honour to talk about the Physicists from MCC and their contributions to the making of India. The impact of Physicists from MCC on the Indian State is of course part of Indian History – Mr. T. N. Seshan, Mr. M. M. Rajendran, Mr. S. Narayanan are some of the names that immediately come to mind.

Physics has driven civilisations and transformed societies. Physics and Physicists have been at the root of everything.

Then he proceeds to outline the contributions of DR. K. S. Krishnan, the eminent nuclear physicist Raja Ramanna, Professor Sudarshan, who is hailed as one of the greatest scientists India has ever produced and Prof. G Rajasekaran, the seniormost active high energy physicist’ in the nation, who passed away quite recently,

writes Dr. N. LN!

Apart from Physics, MCC-ians were busy impacting the Political Arena as well.

This interesting feature from Forbes India’s official web page, published on 15th February 2010 speaks to the “talk in government circles of how MCC alumni had a stranglehold on important economic portfolios”.

From the article – [just excerpts]

Most Indians have heard of T. T. Krishnamachari, who founded Chennai-based TTK Group way back in 1928.

He was one among three key businessmen — the other two being R. K. Shanmukham Chetty and John Mathai — that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru relied on. All of them occupied important positions in his Cabinet and all of them were graduates of the Madras Christian College (MCC). Enough reason for talk in government circles of how MCC alumni had a stranglehold on important economic portfolios.

TTK [MCC-ian] was minister for industry and later finance between 1952 and 1965. He built three steel plants, set up IDBI, ICICI and UTI, and crafted the Family Pension Scheme as an instrument of social security.

In hindsight, he is considered one of the founding fathers of modern India.

Shanmukham Chetty, [MCC-ian] a member of the Tamil Vannia Chetty business family, presented independent India’s first budget. At the end of year one, he too had to go. Some say he was asked to resign by Nehru due to a minor dereliction of duty by a subordinate official.

Then there was John Mathai, [MCC-ian] a former director on Tata Sons’ board who served as Nehru’s finance minister and presented two Budgets.

In the world of academics, too, MCC has made a remarkable impact and influence.

The Britannica Encyclopedia says – [just excerpts]

The Father of Library Science in India, S. R. Ranganathan, took his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Mathematics in 1913 and 1916, in MCC, and at Teachers College, Saidapet.

In 1924 he was appointed first librarian of the University of Madras, and in order to fit himself for the post he traveled to England to study at University College, London.

Ranganathan’s chief technical contributions to library science were in classification and indexing theory. His Colon Classification (1933) introduced a system that is widely used in research libraries around the world and that has affected the evolution of such older systems as the Dewey Decimal Classification. Later he devised the technique of “chain indexing” for deriving subject-index entries.

Times of India, 21st Oct 2023, Chennai Edition

Even as I am writing this article, today, MCC has honoured two of its distinguished alumni for their services in their chosen fields, in the fifth edition of the Distinguished Alumni Series that happened yesterday, in the grand Anderson Hall, MCC.

Deccan Chronicle, 21st Oct 2023, Chennai Edition

Interestingly, MCC I guess, is one of the few Colleges in the whole of India, to sport a dedicated office for the Alumni, that’s located just at the main entrance to Anderson Hall, for many decades now.

The Hindu, 21st Oct 2023, Chennai Edition

This Office was inaugurated yesterday, by the President of the MCC Alumni Association Mr. K. M. Mammen, after having been specially refurbished and widened.

Bespeaks to the high regard and esteem for the alumni from their beloved alma mater, and from the alumni for their beloved alma mater as well.

Dedication of the Alumni & Development Office

The Distinguished Alumni Series in progress, 20th Oct 2023

Alumni & Development Office

Viva la MCC! ❤️

"Miss Violet glared through her glasses..." 😊

Celebrating Writers | The MCC Way!

Today’s Musings | On Writing & Writers

19th October 2023

Today I had a visitor who was waiting to meet me. Stephen Annan came up to me and said, ‘Rufus anna, that old gentleman who is doing his PhD, has come to see you’.

I immediately got up and went to the Exams Office Gallery to meet with him.

It was Dr. Krishnamachari, (born 1934) doing his third PhD with the Department of Mathematics, MCC.

He gently handed me a five-page article, neatly typed out, which he said, was for the upcoming issue of the College Magazine.

I was so delighted to see the insightful article, with literally no typographical errors whatsoever on it, and written in such fine prose. I was thrilled to bits.

Overjoyed, I promptly asked Stephen Annan to give him a copy of the recently released issue of the College Magazine.

He also got my official email ID and said that he would send a soft copy of the same via email by today. Then I told Dr. Krishnamachari about the article written by M.K.N in today’s The Hindu. Dr. Krishnamachari said that, he’s always loved his [MKN’s] style of writing, and that, he’s [MKN] been writing with The Hindu quite consistently for many years now! 

[On an aside - this morning’s Editorial section in The Hindu newspaper, had this insightful article by Shri M. K. Narayanan, (born 1934) that caught my attention. What particularly intrigued me about the article was the fact that, he’s been a consistent columnist and a writer for decades. He is also an MCC-ian btw!] 😊

The third article that I chanced upon today, is a handwritten article written yesterday, for their College Magazine, by my Mom’s classmate [during her UG & PG days].

Article written yesterday, by Amma's classmate

And Amma's article! 😊

On an aside, Amma seems to be very good at keeping friends you see. 😊 Didn’t know that they had a vibrant bevy of friends who are keeping in touch with each other, sharing memories and events over WhatsApp on a regular basis. Chweet!

Amma had persuaded her friends also to write for the Platinum Jubilee issue of their College Magazine. [St. Mary’s College (Autonomous), Tuticorin].

Dr. Sudha Rani, Professor of English, St.Mary’s College, Tuticorin, gave me a gentle  reminder today for Amma’s article. I assured her that it would reach her by tonight.

In the meanwhile, guess what? 😊

Amma would have proof-read her article at least a hundred times – over and over again. 😊😊

Well, she had written down the article all by herself, in her own inimitable style, (in spite of the fact that Amma had had a stroke a couple of years ago), and after writing it out, requested if I could type it out before sending it to the Magazine.

After I sent Mom the typescript, yet again, Amma would have called me at least ten times for carrying out a few corrections in the typescript, which I gladly obliged! 😊

She wanted to be doubly sure that the article did not contain an iota of an error in any way, whatsoever!

I was so proud and overjoyed to see such a commitment from Amma, a trueblue literary being!

Yet another person, who contributed an article for our own College Magazine [MCC Magazine] is Mrs. Anne Dayanandan, founder of Campus School.

I remember, Anne ma’am asking me if five citations were okay for the article, and she also added that, she was looking out for more citations. Mrs. Anne, who’s also in her eighties now, then asked me for the word limit so that she could abide by the word count! How meticulous our seniors are, when it comes to the craft of writing!

Then, Mrs. Anne sent her article by email to the official Magazine Email id – magazine@mcc.edu.in

When I looked up the article, I found out to my joy that, the article was perfect to a tee, with no typos or errors of any sort, whatsoever.

I was at awe with her commitment to writing an article without any errors.

Yet another gentleman who’s in his early seventies now, Dr. Nirmal Selvamony—I admire him a lot—because of the fact that, he’s literally flawless in his writings.

Be it his research articles, or his book articles, or his books, or his Tinai series, you cannot find even a single mistake of any sort in any of the pages.

Well, I should also admit that it was Dr. Nirmal who taught me how to edit a ‘camera-ready’ copy, or ‘print-ready’ copy!

Dr. Ganesh, former HoD, Dept of English, MCC, is yet another stalwart who wrote extensively – and his words and pages will never have even the slightest of errors in them. Such was his commitment to his craft – the beautiful craft of writing.

Dr. N. Lakshminarayanan, Formerly Professor, Department of Physics, MCC, had given us a splendid article titled, ‘MCC Physicists and the Making of Modern India’, which was literally ‘literary’ in every sense of the word, written in such a lucid style, in flawless prose – A prose endowed with passion at having known such great legends.

A Screenshot Copy of the Page! 

Even down the years, I’ve admired our students who’ve always strived to uphold the rich legacy of the College, be it in their written or oral presentations.

I well remember the first volume of the Journal that we had initiated in the PG & Research Department of English, MCC, almost ten years ago – titled, Incisive Insights, in the year December 2013 – a Journal of the students, by the students and for the students, which contained critical explorations written by our own UG & PG Students.

Prof. Udhayaraj, (who was doing his MPhil back then), Prof. Anlin Stieda, (who was doing her II MA back then), and Prof. Divya. T, (who was in her I MA back then), were the Editors of this Journal.

Giving us all some memorable snapshots from the first volume of the Journal -

Here goes the preface and some snapshots for us all, from the Journal - 

And excerpts from Vidya Venkat's Article - 

Page 2 

Page 3 - 

Yesterday, again, our students of the I MA & II MA English classes made us all proud when they had their research articles published with Crescent University, Chennai.

Out of the 95 papers presented in the International Conference, only 39 were selected for publication, and I am so proud to say that, all the papers presented by our students have been published by them. 

Special congratulations to Lalitha, Dhanavaishnavi, Brindha, Aaron, Vivilia, Sneha, Jennifer, Jelshiya, Joanna and Sharon on having your papers published. 

Way to go, dear students. We are so proud of you.

'I write eight hours a day...' said the legendary Jeffrey Archer, when he gave a freewheeling interview at the Tata Literary Festival. You may want to read more on that Interview, on our past Blogpost HERE, to get the needed motivation to kickstart on your craft - the beautiful craft of writing!