My early life at the TCE

The engineering college interview was over several weeks ago. The waiting period was very tense. Everyday I went to the Ganesha temple near the village Oorani to offer prayer, and burn camphor as offering, to help me secure the admission. Finally after a tedious 2-month waiting, I got the letter of admission into Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, on 6th August, 1961. It was a thrilling experience for a country boy, to enter the portals of a great college to be trained as an engineer. At my Villur village an engineer is personified as demi-god.

Perhaps I was the first boy from Villur, and the first person from my family, to enter any college. I got down at the Tirupparankundram police station stop, and started walking towards the college, carrying my steel trunk, stuffed heavily with my clothes and small paraphernalia for a long stay in the college hostel. The steel trunk was my Periyamma's idea. She thought that in a shared dormitory type accommodation, this will serve as a safety locker, to keep money and other important certificates.

At the entrance to the college about 100-120 persons, my seniors, had assembled, and were shouting some slogans. “Down, down with kabalam, the mess warden...”, were some of the words which I could gather. The hostel inmates were on a mass demonstration against the warden for imposing rigid rules on mess timings. It seems that on this particular morning, the mess warden had entered the dining hall, and pulled away the plantain leaves served with breakfast, while the inmates were still eating.

“Down with yechi elai warden rams...” was heard at a distance for quite a long time. Fortunately for us new entrants, they let us pass into the college without any hindrance. Thus my first day saw a rousing reception and thunderous welcome from my seniors and there began my engineering college life.

Karumuthu Thiagarajan Chettiar was an industrialist and great philanthropist. He had established the college for the needy & meritorious students of southern region. In those days it was the only engineering for all the southern districts of Tamilnadu. There were seven engineering colleges then, with a total intake of 1200 students. All of them were located north of Madurai, the nearest being Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology at Karaikudi. Three figured at Coimbatore, and the remaining two at Madras. Thanks to the munificence of the Chettiar, even today the college admits students only on merit and does not receive donations or capitation fees!

Class work commenced the next day itself. I was staying in the hostel in the campus. It was an all-male campus. In those days only boys sought admission into the engineering colleges. As per the Founder's principle, only vegetarian food was served. However many students from the south did not relish the food, as they were accustomed to eating hot stuff that walked, crawled, swam, or flew. Hardly a month had passed, we were forced by the seniors to join their march to the Founder's residence to demand egg, meat, fish and chicken to be prepared in the mess. I was a vegetarian, but could not abstain from the march, lest I face isolation and segregation. A large student body trudged the 5-mile route from TPK police station to Meenakshi Nilayam, near Aandaalpuram, where the Founder resided. We were made to shout slogans like “mutton podu, allathu mandaiyai podu.” The some-what orderly procession reached the residence, and we were allowed into vast garden of the Founder's bungalow. The founder came out and met us. He asked our leaders what were the demands. He gave a patient hearing, and then addressed the assembled students. “I started this college to help the meritorious students of southern region. If food is an issue then my only option is to issue TC to all of you. You can join a college where your preferred food is served”, and he walked back to his bungalow. In the next few moment the students dispersed into thin air, and returned triumphantly to the college, contended that they could at least meet the Founder. Even today after 53 years, only vegetarian food is served in the messes of boys' and girls' hostels of TCE, and all the institutions established by the Founder.

Few of my life's lessons like adhering and being rigid to strong principles and values thus began with my college.

Prof R Rajaram