“That’s a very nice shirt you are wearing,” I told Krishna Kumar, a postgraduate student of mine. “And it must have cost a pretty penny too. What is the occasion?” It looked like Krishna was a bit offended. “I have an interview for a job in the afternoon. I tell you, even you wouldn’t take me seriously at an interview if I were not well dressed.”
This is a conversation I had when I was teaching in Madras Christian College. Fairly soon after the new session started, Krishna came to see me at my residence on campus, nothing unusual in MCC in those days. I tried to make him comfortable by exchanging pleasantries with him, but it was clear that Krishna was not used to it. “Let me tell you why I have come to see you. I badly need money to continue my studies,” he said. “Can you help me? My father earns just enough to feed the family. He managed to pay my fees for the BA course, but can’t go beyond that.”
