‘Dr. URA always stood by his ideology’

Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar at ‘Anantha Smarane’

 Mysuru:  Former Minister Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar has said that the University of Mysore (UoM) was lagging behind in terms of quality education.

He was speaking at ‘Anantha Smarane,’ an event organised at Cauvery First Grade College in Kuvempunagar here yesterday to celebrate the works of Jananpeeth awardee Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy (URA).

Maintaining that the UoM has lost its charm, Prof. Chandrashekar said that it was unfortunate to note that the Varsity stands at the bottom among Indian University in terms of quality of education.

Pointing out there were days when the Varsity had faculty like Dr. Ananthamurthy, during which political discussions and debates were prevalent, Prof. Chandrashekar said that these were missing on the campus now.

Recalling that Dr. Ananthamurthy always stood by his ideology, the former Minister said that Prof. URA maintained his calm even during aggressive debates and discussions.

He always took a political stand rather than countering things personally, Prof. Chandrashekar added.

Dr. URA’s wife Esther Ananthamurthy said that he was always interested in Kannada and wanted the younger generation to pursue literature. He used to encourage children to study in Kannada medium schools, he added.

Prof. T.S.R. Sharma, a close associate of Dr. URA, recalled his association with the late        writer. Noting that he, Dr. Ananthamurthy and Esther were regular visitors to the coffee shop next to Prabha Theatre and stalwarts like Rajeev Taranath and Gopal Krishna Adiga would join them for discussions, Prof. Sharma said that Dr. URA was a vocal critic of Indian culture.

Prof. B.N. Balajee, who delivered the keynote address, recalled the time when Dr. URA taught at Manasagangothri.

Stating that Dr. URA was a role model for students, he said that Dr. URA, a great teacher that he was, would first teach students how to read and write in English.

Former Vice-Chancellor Prof. K.C. Belliappa presided. Retired Principal Prof. Vijaya Vaman, Prof. Umapathy, former IAS Officer A.K. Monnappa, writer G.P. Basavaraju, Dr. Mallappa, Dr. Lakshminarayana, Rathi Rao, Sridevi, Prof. Latha K. Biddappa, Bhagyadevamma, Prasad and others were present.