The Dr KP.Mishra Endowment Oration instituted in honour of a great cardiologist, a warm human being and above all a great teacher was aptly held at the Sri VD Swami Auditorium on September 5th which is observed as ‘Teachers Day”. The proceedings started with a soulful invocation to the Guru by an eminent guru, Srimathi Lalitha Narasimhan, retired music teacher from the Saradha Vidhyalaya who had groomed many a budding talent during her tenure. Shrimathi Sarala Panchapakesan eminent teacher, educationist and editor of Tattvaloka welcomed the gathering and introduced Professor Rajat Kumar Kar, an eminent teacher, a distinguished member of the Department of Education, Government of Odisha and the day’s speaker to the audience. She highlighted that Dr K.P.Mishra in whose honour the oration is instituted belonged to Chennai as much as he belonged to Odisha and added that Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya, is the life, soul and breath of the endowment.
This was followed by an introduction to Dr K.P.Mishra and an interesting genesis of the endowment instituted in his name, as a mark of respect and regard that the people of Chennai had for him, by Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya. Delivering the endowment oration on the title ‘Odisha in the Mosaic of Indian Culture’ Professor Rajat Kumar Kar weaved a web of magic with the Jagannath Temple, Konark and the rich folk music and dance of Odisha occupying centre stage and enthralled the gathering with his knowledge of history and folklore of his State. He explained that Odisha’s geographical position and history made it a perfect synthesis of northern and southern cultures, architecture and music, punctuating his address with soulful ragas to drive home his point.
The oration ended with an office bearer of the Chennai Utkal Association delivering the Vote of Thanks.