Dr. Ramanathan, Professor of English at the Amritapuri campus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, presented a paper titled Moulding Posterity in the True Spirit of India’s Heritage and Culture at the 35th Annual International Conference on Oriental Heritage 2012.

This four-day conference organized by the Indian Institute of Oriental Heritage (IIOH) in Kolkata during February 2012 attracted participation not only from all over India but also Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Sharing his views on the importance of inculcating Indian traditional values in the newer generations, Dr. Ramanathan felt that even the West could benefit from these, since the limitations and drawbacks of the western way of living have now become apparent.

According to him, lessons about spirituality, Dharma and Sanskrit should be an integral part of all systems of education, so that the youth of today understand the importance of being aware, alert and acting in a righteous manner under any circumstance.

“The value-based ancient Indian system of education cannot be brought back now. The next best way is to make value-based education compulsory. This is possible by retelling the two great epics of our land,” he said.

Elaborating further, he added, “The Mahabharatha and the Ramayana are part of the Indian ethos and need no preamble. Our children should be trained to go beyond the face-value of these stories to grasp the principles behind them.”

“Interwoven into each tale is the atma-tatva. Properly retold, our epics can enlighten our young on their filial, social, political, moral, ethical and spiritual duties and responsibilities and can help elevate and strengthen the soul of the learners.”

Dr. Ramanathan’s presentation won great acclaim from eminent men of letters, as well as learned pundits and scholars of oriental heritage, who had converged at this conglomeration in Kolkata from near and far.

The prestigious Lord Ganapathi Award of IIOH was conferred on him and he was honoured on the dais with tilak, garland and angavastra by the organizers.

On the way back from Kolkata, Dr. Ramanathan delivered the inaugural address at the two-day National Seminar on Trends in Contemporary Literature and Language Studies.
This seminar during February 8-9, 2012 was organized by the Department of English, Sri Sankara College of Arts and Science, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

His talk titled Significance of Vocabulary in Language Learning, left a lasting impact on the audience, which was composed primarily of students of the English language.

February 20, 2012
School of Arts and Sciences, Amritapuri