Born in a family of two cultures, and having lost my father when I was a boy, I was left rudderless. But, I am thankful to my dad for teaching me swimming in the sea, which became my passionate hobby. He took us all during each Summer vacation to Mysore, Bangalore and Ootacamund. I used to accompany him during his evening walks, especially in the nearby villages. After his sad demise, loneliness marked the beginning of my life. My mother had borne the burden of bringing up the four children. Sadly enough, I lost all of them.
In a way, I was a loner, struggling to keep myself occupied with the nitty – gritty of life.
Schooling was a major hassle for me as I was not interested in all the subjects and ostensibly lacked the freedom to express myself. Archaic syllabus that lacks the functionality in life added to the boredom of life. At least some essential skills could have been taught at the high school level. .
At present, the Government of India has introduced the New Education Policy that allows the students to choose subjects of their liking. The student can discontinue the course and later rejoin depending on the credits gained. So, it’s a flexible system which supports the students’ needs.
The worst part of education in my school was the catechism classes where one is taught to be a devout Christian by following the commandments of a semetic religion. I brazenly disagreed with some of the ideas which do not suit in modern times.
I was a non – conformist and was freed from the burden of attending such classes by the head of the institution.
“ Love your neighbour as you love yourself “- is a very enthusing teaching, hardly practised. The scope of sin is the most important part in this religion. I consider values of life proscribes sinning. Jesus was a social revolutionary who spoke against social evils prevalent during his time.
I find Sanathana Dharma and Vasudaiva Kudumbakam as concepts that go beyond the beliefs of all other religions as an integral part of a living civilisation. Once, one is inculcated with moral principles, sinning could be avoided. According to me, corruption, nepotism, rape, violence and self – centeredness are the worst forms of sinning.
I don’t know whether I could call myself a bully or not. The reason is because I fought whoever did any harm to my friends, even though I was not strong, but courageous.
When I joined the college, I started enjoying freedom as my subjects were of my liking to a certain extent. The teachers were open- minded.
Those days were the turbulent days of student unrest. Strangely enough, we had hardly two months’ classes during the first year and three months’ classes during the second year.
I continued in the same college for my degree course as it was the only nearest college offering the course I wanted to attend., The college functioned almost similar to the earlier years. We neither did know about the syllabus nor about the books to refer except for some subjects.
After graduation, I was lucky to secure admission in the University department. In my school and college days, I was interested in sports. But, in the University department, I studied sedulously as I was fond of the subjects. Besides, we had access to the department library anytime, which enabled me to become a voracious reader and helped gain more knowledge on subjects.
I also took part in student politics. First, through a tightly contested election, I became the General Secretary of the Students Union. .
In 1975, when Emergency was declared by the then, Prime Minister Smt Indira Gandhi, I was nominated chairman of the Students Union by the Vice Chancellor. In spite of the Emergency, during which all students union activities were banned in the country, we organised seminars and debates in the campus. Eventually, police raided the campus and arrested some students who were put behind bars and were severely tortured. Agonisingly, after returning to the campus, they discontinued their educational programs. I escaped by the skin of my teeth from the police.
With my multifarious activities, I was popular in the campus. Participating in all curricular and extracurricular activities was the prime concern. In a way, I was compensating for all those opportunities that I had lost in using my latent talents. I took two post graduate degrees. Learning became more interesting and easier now.
Soon after completing my masters programs, I joined the Collegiate Education Department and started a career which spanned to thirty six years in various positions in different institutions.
I started doing research, but had to drop the project as my guide got transferred. The Collegiate department cold – shouldered my proposal for a Faculty Improvement Program on flimsy grounds.
While teaching, my preference was always for the weaker students as their future depended on my ability to impart the required knowledge. Hence, I catered to their needs more often than concentrating on the talented ones.
What’s more, I got involved in the developmental activities of all the ten institutions where I worked and involved the students and some of the colleagues in such pursuits. Conservation of environment, developing leadership and communication skills, promotion of cultural activities through SPICMACAY, campus extension programs and NAAC accreditation programs, were the key areas of my focus to empower the student community and simultaneously improve infrastructure facilities in the institution. I supported the initiative of setting up a synthetic stadium at Govt Brennen college as a member of Parliament. I was principal of several colleges before I became an MP. I served the National Service Scheme when teachers were reluctant to take up this position. I took the charge due to two reasons- one, if no one takes charge, the unit will be terminated. The second reason is, if the unit is terminated, the student volunteers will lose an opportunity to serve the society, become socially- conscious and learn leadership skills.
I appreciated the immense potentials in the students, be it in the curricular or extracurricular activities. A teacher has to ignite the spark of enthusiasm to make them positive in their attitudes which would help them to gain confidence in facing the challenges of their lives. On top of this, they are resilient to changes and challenges. It is certain that once they imbibe the cardinal values of life, they will not hesitate to use their innate talents to achieve their goals in life. The teacher needs to inspire the passion for learning and to acquire the skills needed to succeed in life.
I am so delighted to see that our students have been occupying good positions in their fields.
Things have changed now. Students can select the educational programs according to their tastes and abilities. In an age of information revolution. they can learn faster by using the digital technology. They can go anywhere in the country or the world to study and work. As part of my allocation of MPLAD funds, an Urinology Department was set up at Govt Hospital, Thalassery. The long pending Thalassery- Mahe NH bye-pass project was expedited as a member of Parliament. I would like to see my home town develop as a centre of culture, tourism and improve its commercial activities since we can make use of the hinterland as the new NH bye – pass will provide more space. Simultaneously, the damaged pier has to be rebuilt to facilitate trade.
I joined several international NGO’s , and served the hapless. I became a trainer for NGO’s after undergoing an International Trainers Training program at Bahrain. I had the privilege of being selected by Rotary International to attend a Group Study Exchange program in the U S. I was the first State Chairperson of Special Olympics International, State President of Junior Chamber International, Lions District Governor, Master of Lodge Kannur in Freemasonry and Chairman of Malabar Heritage Society.
At my hometown, Thalassery, I was lucky to be a part of a scholarly group of debaters, known as the Ekkentros Forum led by a versatile personality, Shri K Kunhikrishnan, IRS. His commitment to the mission is beyond words. He got the discussions published in two volumes.
After a short period of hibernation, I penned down my experiences and observations about my profession. My mentor was Prof Dr P M Sankarankutty who without any hesitation helped me in consolidating my writings.
I was fortunate enough to be nominated as a member of Parliament by the Hon.President, Shri. Pranab Mukherjee, with the blessings of Hon. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi who is my Manasa Guru. It is a matter of great pride to have a visionary Prime Minister who transformed our country into a world power within such a short span of time. I presented two Private Members Bills in the Parliament – one about the lamentable life of Anglo Indians and the other about Comprehensive Waste Management. I had also brought the attention of the Central Government on several issues including environmental protection, salience of value education, Direct Benefit Transfer, issues of fishermen and Adivasis, youth joining ISIS, and many other issues of topical interest. Besides, I was a member of the Standing Committees on Public Accounts, External Affairs, Agriculture and a member of the Railway Consultative Committee.in this committee, I took up issues connected with Railways in Kerala which were mostly solved with the gracious efforts of Hon Minister Suresh Prabhu and Hon Minister Piyush Goyal.
It was a hectic time for me as I travelled around the country to extend a helping hand to the needy. I met people from different states and got exposed to the diversity of our nation. I can proudly vouch that ours is the only country in the world where the age – old civilisation has been preserved in different forms and life styles even after facing ruthless invasions.
During my travels, I saw how the poor and marginalised people who were struggling to eke out their living in horrible conditions. I saw the shockingly dreadful destruction of homes of fishermen devastated by the pounding waves. In the forests, I witnessed the inhuman lives of Adivasis living in dingy huts prone to the vagaries of nature. Famished children were playing hide and seek in the jungle without any fear. An Adivasi came to me and requested me to leave as he was expecting a torrential rain. I left the place immediately to avoid the onrush of heavy rain which might bring down boulders from the hill top, which I had experienced earlier in similar circumstances.
I had the fortune to represent our country in the International Conference of Parliamentarians held at Kazakhstan. They were very friendly to me as I was from India with whom they had close ties for centuries.
When she Ockhi cyclone that hit Tamilnadu and Kerala, affecting around 35,000 fishermen’s families and claimed 400 lives, I made it a point to visit the victims’ families by travelling from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari. Everyone was protesting against the bureaucrats’ inertia in saving the lives of fishermen caught in horrendous cyclone. I mustered courage to face the woes of the fishermen’s families who were confronting a life and death situation. I sought vital information from them about their missing relatives, and liaisoned with the Government of India’s Ministries and Departments to provide all necessary assistance to save the lives of fishermen struggling with their lives in the high seas. The Navy, Airforce and Coast Guard were doing their best to rescue the missing fishermen. Later, the matter was vehemently taken up by me in the Parliament so that the Central Government would provide the necessary assistance to the victims’ families. The Hon. Prime Minister visited Kanyakumari, Trivandrum and Lakshadweep and assuaged the concerns of the fishermen. The Central Government instantly responded by providing monetary assistance to those affected.
I have mixed feelings about my trips to the North Eastern states. The people were very amiable at large. I was able to inaugurate some of my MPLAD projects.
I faced traumatic situations only while travelling from Imphal to Kohima escorted by Manipur police. It was feared that the Kuki undergrounds, mostly converted to Christianity, might attack our vehicle, especially since I was a member of Parliament. I understood that these undergrounds were involved in heinous crimes. Most of them lived in the hills and were involved in cultivating Poppy as per the reports. For the first time in my travels around the country, I felt insecure and embarrassed by the fact that my life was in danger.
Now, we are shocked to see that these Kukis had infiltrated in our country from Myanmar like the Rohingyas. Kukis are found to have destroyed peace in Manipur by indulging in violent crimes against Meities, the original inhabitants belonging to an ancient civilisation.
I expect that the Kukis will soon understand their follies and entanglement in the criminal acts. It’s high time that they come forward to surrender their weapons and support the peace process so that Manipur can develop faster like other North Eastern states as envisioned by the Hon. Prime Minister. The Central Government is cautiously putting in all efforts to ensure peace in this region as they respect the dignity, human rights and security of all citizens in the country.
On 17 th February, 2018, I had a stroke of bad luck, which restricted my mobility.
My story can be wound up by adding few more words.
My family consists of my caring wife, two loving daughters and their fond husbands and adorable four grand children.
With me, indubitably, ends the story of Hays in this country.
Prof Richard Hay
Former Member of Parliament
Mob: 9497103510
[email protected]
(This is a short article which looks into the life of an academic- turned – politician, Prof Richard Hay, the Former Member of Parliament. The short biography reflects his experiences and passion for serving the needy. His professional and political career depicts his commitment and dedication to whatever he has been working on. He has been a model for the youth whom he inspired through his training programs. His concern for the poor is so obvious in his actions both as a public servant and politician. An excellent orator and a well-known author, he had written three books and several articles for leading publications. )
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