The name is James! Prof Reginald James.

The name is James! Prof Reginald James

Well, for some reason, most of my thought processes are surrounded by “Movies,” and this episode isn't an exception. During my +2 days at St. Gabriel's Higher Secondary School, I had the pleasure of watching one of the nicest Tamil movies of all time, "Moodu Pani."

It was a well-executed movie with a crisp story, chilling screenplay, extraordinary camera work, evergreen songs, gripping background music, and Balu Mahendra's brilliant direction. Entering the movie theatre, we all knew about the lead female, Shoba, who had just then won the National award for “Best Actress” for her role in the movie called “Pasi.” However, we didn't have an iota of a clue about the hero.

This movie was intense and had a hero named Prathab Pothan. Pothan wasn't your ideal “run around the tree” or an “angry young man” type of hero, but more of a middle-aged man next door. He made quite an impact on the viewers with his “Wooden Spoon” emotions, which were a basic necessity for this movie, and he pulled it off really well. He was also a graduate of the well-known Madras Christian College, Madras.

I particularly fell for his performance in the song “En Iniya Pon Nilaavae,” which starts with a little lead guitar and progresses into rhythm. Pothan knew his chords. He played the actual chords and strummed the strings properly, and it didn't look bad.

That one song was good enough for many of us to run to the guitar and start learning so we could “impress” people.

What does this have to do with one of my Professors? Hang on! I moved from Madras and was doing BCom, and we had an English professor named Rufus Inbakumar. Prof. Rufus graduated from MCC, Madras, and had a real high command over the language. I heard from someone that Prof. Rufus and Prathap Pothan were classmates and were still in touch with each other.

I happened to bump into a social gathering one evening where I saw Prof. Rufus and some of his friends “jamming,” and they were singing John Denver's famous “Country Roads.” Being a 17-18-year-old, all I could feel was jealousy, as these guys were surrounded by some lovely ladies, and these ladies were ogling all around these chaps.

As I walked out of this place, my mind goes, “Wait a minute, is that Prathab Pothan on guitar?” and I ran back inside. It wasn't Prathab, but another gentleman. He had striking resemblances to Prathab Pothan.

Weeks passed by, and here we are in our classes. This so-called Prathab Pothan's lookalike walked into our class and said, “My name is James, Reginald James.” He was a likable man. As we all know, some people have this wonderful charisma around them that makes them likable for unknown reasons. You look at Regi, he smiles at you, and you like him.

Regi was a stud and crowd-pleaser. I didn't learn much about accounting, commerce, or economics from Prof. Reginald, but I learned about “Life.” He taught me to be cheerful, take failures in stride, how to treat the softer gender, dress to impress, and above all, be a friend.

He is one Professor that I would call anytime and say “Dude,” and I am sure he wouldn't mind it. His Dad was one of the finest principals of Voorhees High School, and I have heard many testimonies about him. Reginald inherited a “Scholars Breed” and stayed a scholar forever. He then moved to Australia, I was told, and settled there.

And I am sure he is living his life out there.

Thanks, Prof. James, YOU DI MAN!

About me: My name is Visuvasam Titus Cornelius and I did BCom and Mcom in Voorhees (1983-1987 Batch). I now reside in California, USA, and work as a CPA.

vishcornelius@gmail.com