“Ketil Vizhuchchelvam Kalvi Yoruvarku, Maatalla Matrai Yavai.” This couplet from the classic Tamil text, Thirkural, highlights the importance of learning. It says that the only wealth that is long lasting and eternal for a person is his learning and other material wealth is not true in comparison to the wealth of knowledge a person acquires through learning. These profound thoughts written by Thiruvalluvar, a legendary Tamil poet, are as relevant today as they were around 2000 years ago. Followers of this great poet and philosopher are no ordinary people too. From Mahatma Gandhi to Leo Tolstoy and APJ Abdul Kalam, world leaders of past and present have embraced this greatest work ever written on ethics and morality.
Thirkural is one of the many things that Tamilians are proud about. In fact, the existence of Thirkural shows the importance Tamilians had been giving to education in their lives. No wonder, some of the brilliant minds India had seen are from Tamil Nadu. Srinivasa Ramanujan, APJ Abdul Kalam, CV Raman, Venkatraman Radhakrishnan, MS Swaminathan, the list will hardly get an end when we talk about Tamilians who changed the world. The credit of making such change-makers must go the educational institutions in Tamil Nadu and this South Indian society that considers education as the foundation to bring wealth, social prosperity and political stability.
In this issue, we celebrate the success of Tamil Nadu’s education system by identifying ’10 Must-Watch Colleges and institutions in Tamil Nadu.’ These colleges have not only challenged the conservative philosophies of education, but also have created extra-ordinary results. On the cover, we feature, Great Lakes Institute of Management, which is now among India’s leading Business Schools with campuses in Chennai and Delhi-NCR.
Enjoy Reading.
Sarath Shyam