Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested, all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making as¬similation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library.

The ideal of all education, all training, should be man – making. But, instead of that, we are always trying to polish up the outside. What use in polishing up the outside when there is no inside? The end and aim of all training is to make the man grow. The man who influences, who throws his magic, as it were, upon his fellow – beings, is a dynamo of power, and when that man is ready, he can do anything and everything he likes; that personality put upon anything will make it work.

Swami Vivekananda might have made these powerful statements over a century ago, but they still continue to inspire many. Particularly Dr. Ramanathan P.V., Professor of English, School of Arts and Sciences at the Amritapuri campus.

Dr. Ramanathan recently received the Bharat Jyoti Award for his meritorious services, outstanding performance and remarkable role in the field of higher education.

The award instituted by the India International Friendship Society (IIFS) is given to men and women, specialized in areas of science and technology, education, industry, engineering, fine arts, politics and social work, for outstanding services in their respective fields.

Dr. Ramanathan received the award from Dr. Bhishma Narain Singh, former Governor of Tamil Nadu and Assam, at a seminar on Economic Growth and National Integration in New Delhi on May 4, 2012.

“A teacher is always a learner. One has to learn to teach the subject better with time and know that mere teaching of subjects and courses is not sufficient. A teacher in today’s higher education set up, particularly in an institution like Amrita, has to equip oneself to instill confidence in the learners, help bring out the best in them, broaden their vision and widen their attitude in tune with India’s heritage and culture, whatever be the subject one is teaching,” shared Dr. Ramanathan.

“ … In truth, I just received the award on behalf of Amma to whom it belongs more than to myself,” he added.

Coming from the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College in Chennai, Dr. Ramanathan joined Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in 2005. He has been instrumental in setting up the Department of English at the Amritapuri campus. Here he instituted several faculty training programs as well as initiated a guest lecture series.

He is currently guiding several PhD students at Amrita.

His main areas of his interest are English Language Teaching, Literature, Religion in Literature and Religious Poetry. Dr. Ramanathan is a member of the English Language Teachers Association of India (ELTAI) and the Comparative Literature Association of India (CLAI).

SEE ALSO
Moulding Posterity
Bharat Jyoti Award for Amrita Faculty

May 22, 2012
School of Arts and Sciences, Amritapuri