Feeling very happy that my Alma Mater, Ruia college, Mumbai, has agreed to receive my book, "Who am I? I am I - Ultimate Existential Reality Answer; Vedanta; God and Science conversation"
Last updated on 15th Mar. 2019
Some days ago, I had sent an email to the Principal, Ramnarian Ruia (autonomous) college, Mumbai.
First some info. about Ruia college from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramnarain_Ruia_College:
Ruia College is located in the central part of Mumbai close to Hindu colony, between the Dadar(Central) and Matunga (Central)railway stations. It is one of the most highly reputed colleges in the country.The University of Mumbai (MU) granted autonomous status to Ramnarain Ruia College in year 2017.
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Ruia College has become the first college in the country to achieve the 'College of Excellence' status by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
--- end extracts from wiki page ---
Here's Ruia college website: https://www.ruiacollege.edu/
Some extracts from my initial mail to the Principal, Ruia college, are given below.
Dear sir/madam,
I studied in Ruia College, Mumbai for 5 years for my F.Y.J.C to T.Y.B.Sc. education. I passed out with B.Sc. (Physics) in 1983. I take this opportunity to thank Ruia college for having taught me in those years.
I have self-published my first proper book (a blog book) titled, "Who am I? I am I - Ultimate Existential Reality Answer; Vedanta; God and Science conversation" which is based on my iami1.wordpress.com blog. It has been self-published on Pothi.com (a Bangalore, India based self-publishing platform company) with the printed (paperback) copy page being: https://pothi.com/pothi/book/ravi-s-iyer-ultimate-existential-reality-answer-vedanta-god-and-science.
I would be very happy to send Ruia college a printed (paperback) complimentary copy as a token of my gratitude and love for the five years that I was taught there.
--- end extracts from my first mail ---
After doing some follow up to ensure that the mail does reach the Principal, today I received a response from the Principal of Ruia college where she congratulated me, on behalf of the college, for having published my book, and asked me to send a copy of it to the college. It was indicated that the book copy may be considered for the college library.
I was overjoyed to receive this mail from the Principal of my Alma Mater, Ruia college. Some extracts from the mail response I sent the Principal, are given below:
Thank you so much for accepting, as I/C Principal of Ramnarian Ruia Autonomous College, my small offering of gratitude and love to my Alma Mater, Ruia college. I am flooded with joy and happiness. I feel really privileged that my Alma Mater college where I learned a lot of science, has given me the go-ahead to send my small offering.
Thank you so much for the congratulations you have given, on behalf of my Alma Mater, Ruia college! It means a lot to me. Memories flood in of Ruia college: attending lectures (Dr. Patel, HOD, Physics, Dr. Namjoshi (Physics) and Dr. A.P. Rao (Chemistry, if I recall correctly) are some of the names that come back so easily to me), doing practicals in the Lab., reading and/or issuing/returning books in the library, associating with National Social Service work (Dr. Shahuraja played a big role then in NSS), attending college functions, being in the students common room, eating food in the hotels outside, sitting on the 'katta' outside the college and watching cricket on one side in the cricket fields, or simply watching life on the other side of the katta.
I am very delighted by the possibility of my small offering book being considered to be added to the same library of Ruia college that I benefited so much from. Of course, appropriate persons would have a look at my book to see whether it merits being kept in the library. If it does pass that test and gets placed in the library of my Alma Mater where I studied most of my science, I will consider it as one of my great achievements in life, as this book captures the essence of my understanding of contemporary (early 21st century) God (spirituality/Divine power) and science conversation, where I have, of course, stood on the shoulders of great spiritual masters (contemporary/near-contemporary masters are typically not named in my book to keep the focus on the teachings/philosophy and avoid controversy about personality) and great scientists (all named with appropriate references).
--- end extracts from my second mail ---
I have organized a paperback copy of the book to be sent to the Principal, Ruia College. It should typically take a week to ten days for the book to be printed and then delivered to them.
The second half of today was a very joyful one for me because of this mail response from the Principal of my Alma Mater, Ruia college, Mumbai.
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I received a few Congratulations messages on my Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2293920084157889, associated with this blog post. I thanked each and every one of them. I also got quite a few Facebook 'Likes' for the post.
I have given below one of those comments.
A Ruiaite colleague of my batch, Sudha Vishwanath, wrote: Ravi S. Iyer congratulations Those lines about our college days, brought back old memories.
Your book will definitely be kept in the library.
Great achievement indeed for having received such an honour from our Alma mater.
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I (Ravi) responded: Thank you so much, Sudha Vishwanath.
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I received a few Congratulations messages over mail in response to my mail having above post contents. I thanked each and every one of them. I have give one of those messages below:
Wow Chief...that was really nice and makes me feel very happy n proud too for remembering the alma matter after reaching heights in spiritual journey....
I had also received your book and it was very thought provoking...and wish you all the very best and higher upliftment of soul in your spiritual journey....
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I (Ravi) responded (slightly edited):
Hey Biren Boss, as I have clear recollections of time spent with you in college, including in college library, I am so happy that I am able to share the joy of receiving the mail from the Principal with you.
About heights in spiritual journey: By the Grace of God and the diligent work of many spiritual masters who I studied in depth, I think I have got a good theoretical understanding of spirituality now, and the view Hinduism and Christianity have of it, with some exposure to the view Islam, Buddhism and Jainism have of it. But, on the practical side, while I know the path to be followed, I have my struggles with my many human weaknesses.
Thanks for the feedback on the book.
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15th March 2019 update: On 29th Sept. 2018, I spoke to Ruia college principal's office staff who confirmed that she received the book and that the principal has received the book.
I politely asked the principal over email sent on 9th Nov. 2018 whether the book was placed in the library but I did not receive any response. So while the book was received by the principal as per principal office staff, it is not known for sure whether the book did get placed in Ruia college library.
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