MY TEACHER PAR EXCELLENCE - Dr S Ramasami Ph D

Madurai Agricultural College was established in the academic year 1965. First
ever batch of 80 students were allotted to this college in that year and
almost all of them were from northern districts of Tamil Nadu. And the
students from southern districts were allotted to Coimbatore. The logic
behind this decision was this: The Language agitation was raging in the State
at that time. And in North, it was spearheaded by a Coimbatore Agricultural
College student - R Ramasamy. The hostels attached to the college were
needed to be closed often to check the spread of agitation. However, the
students hailing from nearby districts used to pack and go home without
much difficulty and return quickly when the college was reopened. Hence,
someone came with the bright idea of this interchange!

As I and my friend, N Ramasamy, a classmate from High School days

reached Madurai to join this College. When we enquired about its location,
people said we had wrongly landed at Madurai instead of going to
Coimbatore. However, we successfully found out the location even without
the help of google. We landed at Othakkadai and walked our way with heavy
luggages to reach the buildings called as hostel. Except these two strip
buildings, the other buildings to function as teaching halls and laboratories
were still taking shape.

The Yanaimalai, giving a pose of giant elephant resting on the ground was
the backdrop to the campus. But, the sun was unrelenting in its fury and
Yanai faithfully radiated all its heat on us.The hostel mess was not yet ready
and classes were yet to begin. It was a heroism in itself to live there and
walk down to Othakkadai for food. It was also not a mean feat either, as we
had to walk through narrow bunds and grasses, inhabited by snakes,
scorpion and other rightful and original inhabitants.
But, still there were a few teachers like Dr Amirtha Devarathinam and Dr M
S Venugopal to take care of us, braving all odds in the budding institution.
Then came a tall, thin person with dark complexion from Coimbatoe to teach
us Botany. His dressing was immaculate with black pants and white shirt
neatly tucked in. He had an air of intelligence and at the same time very
friendly with other teachers and students. It was Dr D Daniel Sundararaj, one
of the very few doctorates we had at that time.

Dr DDS was handling classes for post graduate students in Coimbatore.It was
whispered by some teachers at that time how could he manage to come
down to the level of teaching Botany for first year under-graduate students.
But, he proved the apprehension of everybody wrong by teaching the juniors
the way they understood and retained. Still I remember his ringing voice in
mentioning the names ' Gloriosa superba' and ' Musa madagascariensis'.

He did not stop with teaching. He was also the Vice-President of the
Students' club offering valuable guidance to the freshers and inexperienced,
as we did not have seniors. Oneday, he climbed up to the top of Yanaimalai
alone munching groundnut. From the top of Yanai he could get a panoromic
view of the whole campus and made a mental calculation of establishing an
Orchard, Botanic Garden, Parks, Ponds, Planting trees etc. Once we even
had a Club meeting at the top of Yanaimalai.

To ward of the blistering heat radiated by the mighty Yanaimalai, the

Professor had a brilliant idea of covering the same with tenacious green
creepers. He was also instrumental in planting various trees to make the
barren land of the campus green. He was in Madurai for a short period -
about a year, got promoted and left for Coimbatore. In my visits to the
Madurai campus after several years, I could see many of his dreams have
come true. Probably the single exception is covering the majestic Yanaimalai
with suitable creepers. To do this may a fitting gift to our much loved and
respected Professor of Botany Dr D Daniel Sundararaj, as he enters his 100th
year. On bealf of the Pioneer students of Madurai Agricultural College, I wish
him Good Health and Long Life.
(The Author was a student of Dr DDS and former FAO Expert. The picture
shows DDS with Principal Dr A Mariakulandai and Club office bearers. Photo
Courtesy : S Sanka Reddy)