Southern Tamil Nadu Through the Ages - Report of the Book Release Function
Vinod Vincent Rajesh
Assistant Professor of History
Manonmaniam Sundaranar University
Tirunelveli
The Department of History of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli had the opportunity of hosting the annual session of South Indian History Congress. Under the headship of Prof. M. Desayar and the active presence of Prof. K.A. Manikumar, Prof. B.S. Chandrababu mooted the idea. The members of the Department unanimously desired to haveProf. K.A. Manikumar as the local secretary and Prof. M. Desayar as the local treasurer. In his capacity as a historian than a local secretary, Prof. Manikumar wanted to utilize the opportunity and give his maximum to the world of academics. Though a novice in the art of editing he nominated the present writer as the convener of the souvenir committee. He also additionally instructed to invite articles for a book which could be jointly edited by him and the present writer. The collective view was to approach scholars who were contributing in other disciplines as well. On that count, articles were invited from scholars and the response cannot be termed satisfactory although some serious scholars came forward to contribute.
Participants in the Book Release Function
The Souvenir with abstracts of the articles to be presented in the sessions ofSouth Indian History Congress was edited and released well on time. The articles invited were collected and systematized after a few days since the successful completion of the congress at our university campus. However, the Tirunelveli Corporation Slum Survey Project shifted the focus of the present writer and Prof. K.A. Manikumar’s high-profile assignments in the university administration slowed down the editorial work. But it was firmly decided to release the book around his retirement time. Hence the editorial work at one point of time became central to our academic activities and was completed.
Dr. A. Dhananjayan, Assoc. Prof. and Head,
Dept of Folklore, St. Xavier's College, Palayamkottai
delivering the welcome address
Keeping in spirit with the plan of inter-disciplinary collaboration, the book release function was organized in collaboration with the Department of Folklore of St. Xavier’s College on 28-07-2011. Rev. Dr. A. Dhananjayan, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Folklore with his colleague Dr. N. Ramachandran Nair, arranged for the smooth conduct of program. The proceedings of the program started by 11.45 a.m. Rev. Fr. Alphonse Manickam, Principal ofSt. Xavier’s College presided over the function and Dr. R. Dhanalakshmi, Joint Director of Collegiate Education was the chief-guest. Dr. A. Dhananjayan in his welcome address introduced the dignitaries briefly. The book was released by Dr. R. Dhanalakshmi and the first copy received by Dr. B. Maria John, Prof. and Head, Department of History, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli.
Dr. R. Dhanalakshmi, JD, Directorate of Collegiate Education
releases the book. Looking on are (from the left) Prof. Maria John,
Prof. K.A. Manikumar, Rev. Dr. Alphonse Manickam, Principal, SXC,
Rev. Dr. Arockiasamy, Secretary, SXC and Mr. Vinod Vincent Rajesh
In his presidential address, Rev. Fr. Alphonse Manickam mentioned that it was a rare opportunity to collaborate in certain fronts like this. He also expressed his expectation on academic outputs like the book that was released entitled Southern Tamilnadu through the Ages. In his felicitation address, Rev. Fr. A. Arockiasamy, Secretary, St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai narrated the transformation of oral tradition into writing practice and the changes it caused in the world of ideas with instances from the bible. He was appreciative of the variety of themes that went into the making of the book. Similarly Dr. R. Dhanalakshmi, in her address underlined the need for understanding historical elements in unconventional ways as before.
Prof. K.A. Manikumar delivers the keynote address
Prof. K.A. Manikumar in his keynote address elaborated the need of understanding social, cultural and literary theories. In his opinion that would considerably strengthen the arguments of the historian. He remembered great teachers and historians of his times and the legacy they left behind. He shared some of his field based experience in collaboration with institutes such as MIDS, Chennai and Department of Folklore, St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai. He also expressed his worry about the spread of unethical practices such as plagiarism in the academic world particularly among research students. In his vote of thanks, the present writer thanked Prof. K.A. Manikumar for having the generosity to provide him an opportunity despite inexperience in the art of editing. He also thanked the Jesuit institutions for having trained him during college days. Special mention was made of the contributions of the Department of Folklore under the headship of Dr. A. Dhananjayan.
