Mangaluru: St Aloysius College (Autonomous) hosted a public lecture on ‘Society and the Intelligentsia’ by Rev. Dr Valsan Thampu, former principal of St Stephen’s College, Delhi University on Friday, February 15, 2019, at the L F Rasquinha Hall.
The dignitaries included Rev. Fr Dionysius Vas SJ, Rector of St Aloysius Institutions and president of the program, Rev. Dr Praveen Martins SJ, Principal of St Aloysius College, Dr A M Narahari, Registrar of the college and convener of the event, Dr Alwyn D’Sa, Director of the Administrative Block. The lecture was organised as an attempt to initiate a dialogue on the position of intellectuals in society today, and the way forward.
“The intelligentsia has the painful responsibility of serving as an outsider,” said Dr Thampu. Stressing on the importance of developing a perspective lest we end up as slaves of time, he insisted that the intelligentsia be a voice in the wilderness, backed by Truth.
The former principal of St Stephen’s College minced no words in his pertinent critique of the position of intellectuals today. “Today’s age is inhospitable to dialogue. The academia today exists hermetically sealed off from social reality,” he stated. “The disappearance of the intelligentsia today is directly connected to the disappearance of education. Out of an institution, the river of life must flow. The institution must thus be the source of social regeneration, and must exert a positive, humane, regenerative influence, it must kindle life,” he noted.
He hailed the college for being sensitive to the public. “Unless a society produces its own intelligentsia, it is doomed to destruction. St Aloysius College is the ideal breeding ground for the sleeping, dormant intelligentsia,” he remarked.
The event saw students from around the city and members of the public interact with Dr Thampu after an insightful session. Answering the questions of the audience, he expressed that free speech is a sign of intellectual development. “Your dignity is incomparable to your predicament as a parasite,” he said to a thunderous applause.
Rev. Dr Praveen Martins SJ, Principal of the college, advised the students to seek wisdom as knowledge without love is just knowledge, whereas knowledge with love is wisdom.
Rev. Fr Dionysius Vas SJ, in his presidential address, remarked that the college stands for humanism, an adventure of ideas and the search for truth.
Overall, the public lecture was immensely successful in initiating a conversation amongst the youth of the city to be “committed to life and truth,” as Dr Thampu aptly put it.
