Government Victoria College, Palakkad is the oldest institution of higher learning in the Malabar region of Kerala. In January 1888 it was raised to the rank of a second grade college and was affiliated to the University of Madras. The institution was taken over by the Government of Madras Presidency in 1919.The teaching of Geography as an optional subject for ‘Intermediate’ students commenced in 1945. Before the creation of linguistic provinces in 1956, Palghat was part of Madras State after India’s independence in 1947.
The Motto of the College is the Latin slogan Labuntur et imputantur. Indeed it is true that life’s moments slip away and fortunately they are laid to your account.
Because of Victoria College, I am able to recall some of those moments that slipped away from my life about 55 years ago. I am speaking of the times when Palghat was a part of Madras State and when Victoria College was affiliated to the Madras University. In 1952, I was a four-year old kid and my father was employed in the Madras State Educational Service. He had obtained his M.A degree in Indian History from Madras University and worked in the Madras Presidency College, Madras which is now known as Chennai city. My father had also a Diploma in Geography and he was transferred to Government Victoria College, Palghat to teach Geography. In his long career in the Educational Service, my father taught mostly Indian History, and at Victoria College, he taught Geography and was assigned to the Department of Geography.
We lived in a rented house in Palghat. The house is on a dead-end street and it is the last house on the street and it abuts the college compound wall.The house faces the college cricket stadium/sports grounds.There is a canteen of the college right in front of the house.The stadium has a nice pavilion for the spectators to sit and watch the games. Our landlord had two sons who were then students at the college. Apart from my parents, I lived with my two elder brothers. For the first time in my life, I was introduced to the game of Cricket in this house while we lived in Palghat. In the front courtyard of the house, we had a large tree which served as the stumps for our game. Very often, myself and my brothers would watch the Cricket matches and I have seen for the first time the official scorekeeping sheets they fill up during the game. Cricket has been popular with Indians for a long time. It was not Mylapore, Madras and it was not my native place Rajahmundry where I took my first lesson to play this game. I remember Palghat as the place where my love for the game of Cricket began.
When I opened my PALGHAT ACCOUNT, my landlord’s two sons still look young and fresh like any other college students and I still have the visual image of myself and my brothers, all kids, playing cricket in front of the house. This is life. It is full of moments that quietly slip away and if you are lucky, the account that you have created is still there and you have the chance to recapture the moment and you can actually relive in that moment and the freshness of it is carefully preserved and it tastes as good as it was on the first occasion. Thanks to Victoria College, Palghat and I still have an account with credit balance.
ESSENCE AND EXISTENCE:
What is man’s nature and how to describe man’s essence? The essence is supported by existence. The existence is in the moments that slip away on which man has no control. Man exists as he helplessly watches the moment called future is churned into past, and present is only an instant in this future-past continuum. Fortunately, man can recall and revisit the moments that have slipped away and bring past into the present moment.
The Rudolf-Rudi doctrine of Spiritualism 
Comment sent by Prof.R.Subbarao(my eldest brother):
What a memory you have!! It is unbelievable.The land lord has two daughters who were college going(may be Prema and Uma if I am correct) and his two sons were of our age group(I think Babu and Appan).We all used to play.There was a swing also tied to the tree you have mentioned. We used to play the game AYARAM VANDI. I learned to sing the song ” Aayega aanewala ” from them.Song is from “MAHAL”.Lata Mangeshkar sang this song.
Comment posted by RUDRA.
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The nostalgia is unmistakable. Today GVC is still the grand old college of Malabar and has got an A grade from the accreditation board. I did my Pre Degree in 1970-72 there and have been member of the old students association for the last few years. There have been two get togethers of the alumni during the last 4 years and I could participate in only one when I created a commotion of sorts when the chief guest was Palat Mohands, an alumni and first Chief Information Commissioner of Kerala and I distributed leaflets alleging him of digging the grave of RTI in Kerala!
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Thanks for visiting this post and I am very happy to learn about your Palghat Connection. Kindly be nice to people who visit your College as its guests. We need to honor our guests and should not cause discomfort to them.
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It was a pleasure going through this nostalgia. I was also residing right next to Victoria and I could easily recall the house mentioned. While I was in College till 1962, this house was one of the four Women’s Hostels of Victoria.till a new women;s hostel was constructed near the Principal’s quarters in the early 70s.
Once a Victorian, always a Victorian…
Kindly visit: http:// osavictoria.webs.com http://victorianostalgia.webs.com
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Dear Colonel, Thanks for your kind comment. I am delighted to hear about the house where I lived as a little kid. I visited your site and it is very nice. You may be able to locate my father’s photo in the College Magazine. He taught Geography at Victoria College. His name, R. Suryanarayana Murthy may have been included in the listing of faculty members.
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Adhiti devo bhava is a well understood concept but unfortunately we have come to a stage where we seem to be deifying thugs, scoundrels and traitors who either have money or office of authority. Palat Mohandas, as the 1st Chief Information Commissioner of Kerala is responsible in a major way for murdering the Right to Information Act, which by my assessment would alone have sufficed to root out corruption in a big way and usher in meaningful democracy in this country without bloodletting. To this day I have no regret of what I did and continue to believe that had this been a society ruled by law Palat Mohandas would have been tried for treason and punished in an exemplary manner.
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I like your Spirit to oppose Injustice. The simplest thing that we can do is, to call what is wrong or unjust as WRONG. Very often, we lack the power, authority, or influence associated with wealth and social position to address the problem of Injustice. There is no remedy to injustice. But, as a man of Conscience, we must use our sense of discernment to openly communicate our true feelings when we witness acts of injustice. Truth has a power of its own. When the true nature of an act is revealed or exposed, that truth will be the cure and remedy to nullify the injustice that can no longer be hidden. Life is about Moments. At Victoria College, you have recorded your own Moments and had them deposited into your Account. Palat Mohandas may not come back to Victoria College again. Next time, if he visits, seek an opportunity to speak to the audience directly in the same meeting.
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