In Memory of Raju

I had previously mentioned that many wealthy Muslim traders in Koothanallur town would often support the celebration of Hindu festivals and restoration of temples with generous donations. I am reminded also of another example of syncretism from my college days – a part-time professor of commerce at the Vivekananda College, by the name of Mohammad Ismail. I did not take any classes under him, but he was very well known on the campus. He had a background in law (graduate of Madras Law College), but was a teacher in the commerce department, and was also considered a leading authority on Tamil literature, specifically Kamba Ramayana. For a practicing Muslim to have such a deep understanding of a difficult Hindu religious text was quite unusual, and even the Kanchi Sankaracharya is supposed have relied on him for interpretations of the text. I recently found out from Sanjay that he went on to be a Delhi high court judge, the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, and also the Governor of Tamilnadu. I did not know any of this. He was an unusually erudite man, and I still remember his face clearly from my college days.