A Scholar Non-pareil

Years ago, I had seen Indira Parthasarathy when he joined our family in Srirangam on a day the Lord comes out of the temple in procession. He was looking intensely at the gorgeous presence of the Lord: was he wondering how Sri Ramanuja would have felt walking in the streets of this temple city and watching the Lord during the days of special procession? It was an unforgettable moment for me as I realized that Indira Parthasarathy has been more than a Professor of Tamil and an outstanding scholar. I realized that he was seeking the secret which moves a teacher and a scholar non-pareil like Sri Ramanuja to turn away from it all and see the sad state of affairs in the body politic. Such a deep, spiritual exploration of one’s inner and outer worlds must needs give the common reader a classic that re-reads social history and becomes a dependable lamp for future generations.