*
Prof. Dr. Charles Ryerson or "Charlie" as he is
known in friends circle came first to The American College as an Oberlin Rep
during the very early days of the program. If I remember correct he is the fourth rep after Joe Elder, Dav Gallup and
Dav Lockwood. Those days the Oberlin Building did not exist and the reps used
Coe Lodge as their residence along with a few faculty members of the College. I
had finished my graduation by that time and I had left Madurai. So I did not
have any interaction with him when he was a Oberlin rep. He was probably used
as a tutor in the English Department like Gallup and others were.
However Charlie had developed a love for people of Madurai
and their religion. These interests brought him back to Madurai many times
after his first visit and I had ample opportunities to know him. He knew more
about the Meenakshi temple and other smaller and rural temples in and around
Madurai than many in Madurai. He could talk on Chitra festival giving lot of background about the practices of people
of villages participating in it. Bicycle was his favorite vehicle in those days
and one could see him anywhere in Madurai riding on his bicycle.
He had many other interests and had motivated a few in USA
to go over to India for studies and research. One such person associated with
Charlie that I know of had spent lot of time on research about the Nadar
community particularly their "uravin murai" practices that had helped
the development of the community.
His another interest was Politics. At one time he was an
authority on the DMK movement. He had such a good contact with DMK hierarchy
that he could walk into Chief Minister Mr. Karunanidhi's office. Sometimes his
visits coincided with general elections in the country probably because of his
interest in political trends of our country.
He was Professor of Theology in Princeton. Though I had not
been to his office some of my friends have told me that he had a picture of
Meenakshi temple that I had given him was fixed on the wall in his office. The
picture, a rare one, shot from helicopter flying over the temple taken by a great photographer of Madurai, Mr. Christopher.
He is one of my friends from USA who had visited my home a
few times and enjoyed the hospitality of my mother. On one Chitra Pournami day
we had a moon light supper in my home Charlie and another Oberlin Rep Dennis
Hudson and one or more friends were there we enjoyed the evening looking at the
fire works of the Alagar festival at a distance from the open terrace of my
house. A meeting I can never forget.
May his soul rest in peace.
******
P.S.
Dear Dharumi,
News is in hand that Prof. Dr. Charles Ryerson is no more.
Suriakumar drew my attention to the news.
After I got the news Prof. Samuel Lawrence called me over phone and asked me
whether I could write a note on Charlie for the website you are maintaining.
There are many who could do a better job.
Yet I have decided to respond to our Lawrence. You may include it in the save
American college website if you think it will be of any use there. V.SRINIVASAN
Tthank you, V.S. ji. .... தருமி
Prof. A R Venkitaraman my teacher and a good friend of Charlie,with whom I had shared my above note while sending it to Prof. Sam George has pointed out one or two inaccuracies the note. am forwarding that mail to Prof. Sam George and hopefully that will appear in this site in due course after approval. Thanks Prof ARV, thanks Sam.
ReplyDeleteDr. A.R.Venkitaraman writes .....
ReplyDeleteDear VS,
Good that you decided to give a note on Charlie's Madurai in Dharumi. Since you were not in Madurai when Charlie and Gail first arrived, you may not know some early details. Charlie had his accommodation in an upstairs room in the then Mathematics Building where NCC had its Office at the ground floor. He never lived in Coe Lodge, nether the other reps (?). If I remember right Charlie had two teaching assignments. One was Moral Instruction to a group at the B.A. level. The second was to teach some non-detailed texts, again at the B.A. classes. So I would place him in the category of associate lecturer in English.
The first Oberlin reps were Joe Elder and his wife and the son of the then or former Secretary of the American Church Board ( the name I don't recall. But this son's son also came as a Rep a few decades later). Gallup was the second Rep. He was followed by Charlie and Gail. So Charlie was third in the line, not fourth.
If you intend to correct what you have written on Charlie, you don't have to (I prefer you don't) use my name as the source of the corrections. You can just say that re-examination of facts suggest some changes in details in what you have originally written and then present the revised version...
We all mourn Charlie's passing. May he rest in his God.
Venki
I remember Dr. Charles Ryerson as a very friendly and jovial person. Charlie, as he was affectionately called, moved with everyone on the campus, Faculty, students and non-teaching staff,freely and interacted with them informally. He was able to establish rapport quickly with anyone he came into contact,with his jokes and infectious laughter. In fact, it was a pleasure to talk and listen to him. One would not feel the passage of time in his presence.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that he loved Madurai and its people. But,more than anything else, he loved the American College so much that he would grab any opportunity to pay a visit, stay here as long as possible and do his best to help the College go forward academically and otherwise. And, as President of the Board of Trustees, he contributed a great deal to its growth and development.
And, when an attempt was made by the former Bishop, Christopher Asir, 2008 to bring it under the control of the Church, for his own selfish reasons he could not tolerate it. He was one of the first few who came forward to defend the College from this onslaught. He wrote a strongly worded letter to the Bishop, on 23rd April 2008 in which he categorically stated that the College, as per the Founders' wish was independent of the Church and it should remain so forever.
In his passing away, the American College has lost a true friend.
Dear DSL,
DeleteFrom the archives I have got Dr. Ryerson's old letter to the former Bishop, Christopher Asir, on 23rd April 2008.
In spite of the lapse of time that letter stands still as a testimony for the visions of the architects of our college.
i am publishing that letter in a separate post, the next one, dated 30.09.16