The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : Reporter's Diary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 20, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Reporter's Diary

However difficult a task may be, it is always possible to achieve it. This is what an auto rickshaw driver proved in the city on Sunday evening when he was driving his vehicle in congested lanes with an unusual passenger — a calf!

And if you wonder how could the animal, which could neither kneel down nor stand comfortably inside the small vehicle, would have stayed for long, heave a sigh of relief. There was a boy to ensure that the calf did not jump out.

However, the traffic policemen outside the Central Prison made the vehicle stop for a while, unmindful of the tension of the driver and the calf.

* * *

A prisoner, Muthukrishnan, sentenced to undergo three years imprisonment for collecting Rs.50 as `mamool' from a shop owner in the city was the centre of attraction during a `prison adalat' conducted at the Madurai Central Prison here on Sunday.

The youth, who fetched an opportunity to air grievances of the prisoners before Justice M. Karpagavinayagam of the Madras High Court, received applause from the inmates when he introduced himself as an artist and pleaded with the Judge to provide him with the required materials to bring out his talent.

If provided with an opportunity, he promised to change the lives of all the inmates, teaching them the skills he had practised in his childhood.

Expressing his inability to understand the process of law, which put him behind the bars "for no fault of his," the prisoner said, "I am totally ignorant as how to get out of the trap and get released." He wondered why the Government was spending a huge sum on his food and other expenses for three years when the allegation against him was to the tune of Just Rs.50.

* * *

Several `practical' problems are coming in the way of colleges while conducting practical examinations for science students. Principals, in fact, call the external examiners who are deputed by the Madurai Kamaraj University as being `impractical' owing to their demands when they go to the colleges for externals in science departments.

The principal of a women's college in the city, along with other principals, brought this to the notice of Syndicate members at a meeting held recently. The external examiners who come to colleges ask for `difficult' and `different' things, which the principals find them hard to provide.

They ask for a special menu that is not available in the nearby hotels or in the college hostel mess. At times, the list of non-vegetarian items demanded by the external examiners is so long that the colleges have to find a way to account it.

Not just that, the list of `other things' go on even though they are coming only on official duty assigned by the university. The principal made it public that it was unbecoming of the examiners for the variety of items they demanded, and the problems were more for rural colleges.

They had to go to the nearby towns to get the items, she said and her view was supported by other principals.

"They are not coming as guests. They are on duty and how can the colleges be troubled by the external examiners," the principal asked.

And, more disturbingly they come only towards the end of the practical examination and just sign the papers. "Are they not supposed to be there for the whole day and supervise the students' practicals?" they asked.

* * *

Despite numerous awareness campaigns to shower affection on the disabled, still, there are people who add insult to the injury.

The other day, a cricket match for the visually challenged was organised by an educational institution. Of course, it was creditable, indeed, that the institution came forward and did something for the disabled.

The match was well-contested too. Right from the players to the spectators, all visually challenged boys, enjoyed the occasion thoroughly.

The commentators, who were also visually challenged, performed their job to perfection. When everyone did justice to their job, the scorer, who was a normal person, was nonchalant in his approach and committed grave errors while scoring.

Each and every time the scoring team representative came running to the table and pleaded the scorer to correct. But then he refused to budge and continued to do the same mistake.

Angered by the incident, the team representative started shouting at the scorer when the boy retaliated: "Am I blind? Go to your place." The representative was shocked and with heads down went back to his place.

* * *

(Contributions from Mohamed Imranullah S., Shastry V Mallady and

T. Saravanan.)

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