Page 11 - Vaidy

planning and the Indian economy with interesting anecdotes, rich data and an ever- readiness to engage with questions - all and sundry - that we asked.
Once as a guest speaker Professor Krishna Bharadwaj, sometime in 1984-85 I suppose, was presenting a seminar at CDS and Vaidyanathan got into a massive ‘showdown’ – or, that’s what we surmised - as they argued on issues in cost of cultivation in Indian agriculture. As we came out of the seminar sad and disturbed over the ‘acrimony’ between two great teachers and settled on the green bench at the Men’s Hostel, in a while we saw Vaidyanathan and Professor Bharadwaj walking towards the guest house laughing, holding each other’s hands! As the grapevine had it, from there they went to his house for dinner and, of course, a drink with other faculty members. That was a lesson we learnt from Vaidyanathan outside the classroom.
As we were planning for his farewell (was it in 1985?), to make it a bit sober and disciplined (so that it would suit his temperament, we thought) we gathered at the guest house lounge and somewhat well-dressed and drank softly. But in an hour or so Vaidyanathan was such great fun to be with, cracking jokes and being so friendly with us all. The cacophonic and no-holds-barred party went early into the next morning and as we walked Vaidyanathan up to the gate for him to return home, we handed over a signed- by-all poster saying ‘We’ll miss you Vaidy!’. His eyes welled up and ours too! That was the most extraordinary party to a teacher we loved so much and were deeply proud of.
We met briefly later at a conference at IRMA and most recently, during 2009-12, he was our advisor on project on inclusive innovation (with Raji, Joseph and me). He often mentioned about how they all built up the unique CDS culture where meticulous research matched with an abiding concern for the deprived and marginalised.
As many have mentioned, it is rare to find someone as committed as Vaidyanathan – a great teacher, a brilliant guide and a kind human being. His memory would live in our hearts, forever!
Das
Suresh Babu < sureshbabum@iitm.ac.in>
Sad to hear this news. Students of my generation missed him as he moved to MIDS, but we had his occasional lectures on Indian economy. He gave me a tough time for my job interview at CDS and I remember Chandan intervening . I had more interactions with him after moving to IIT Madras. Our meetings in his apartment in Besant Nagar with my colleague V R Muraleedharan was always a learning experience for me. Met him the previous day of leaving Chennai for Coimbatore , he had two gifts for me, a carton box of novels and another of music CDs.
My heartfelt condolences. M Suresh Babu
Page 11 of 23