Dr Ramdas Pai North Star of Manipal Group, Says Pro VC
“Each interaction with Dr Pai brings to mind a beloved limerick on the virtues of listening and restraint,” said Dr Veeraraghavan, who has worked with the Padma Bhushan awardee since 2017.
Hyderabad: Dr Ramdas Pai, architect of modern Manipal, who turned 90 on Wednesday, has been a steadying force and a quiet North Star for the community, said Prof. Dr Madhu Veeraraghavan, Pro Vice Chancellor of the Bengaluru-based Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE).
“Each interaction with Dr Pai brings to mind a beloved limerick on the virtues of listening and restraint,” said Dr Veeraraghavan, who has worked with the Padma Bhushan awardee since 2017.
Dr Veeraraghavan quoted Edward Hersey Richards — “A wise old owl lived in an oak, the more he saw the less he spoke, the less he spoke the more he heard’ — and asked, “Why can’t we all be like that bird?” He noted that the verse reminded that listening preceded understanding. “We all know where the oak stands, and who keeps watch within it. The father planted it with rare foresight; the son nurtured, grew, and globalised it without ever abandoning its roots,” referring to the evolution of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
He noted that Dr Pai’s vision was not confined by geography. “Long before ‘internationalisation’ became a buzzword, Dr Pai was quietly weaving a global tapestry, extending MAHE's presence across continents. This was never mere expansion — it was the deliberate creation of a scholarly commonwealth, a vast canopy of interconnected branches where ideas and cultures could flutter and mingle freely.” Dr Veeraraghavan said.
Even more striking than this global ambition was Dr Pai’s unwavering anchor in value, he said. “At a time when expediency often eclipses ethics, Dr Pai stands as a resolute testament to a profound truth: those institutions endure not through opportunism, but through unshakable character.”
He further added: “In our tradition, Lakshmi — the Goddess of the eight forms of wealth — rides the owl, Uluka, a symbol of discernment amid abundance and a reminder to use prosperity with humility and care. How apt that the emblem of wisdom is also the mount of Lakshmi: a quiet companion that guards against excess and keeps vision true, much like Dr Pai’s watchful, values‑anchored leadership.”
