I had the opportunity to be attending the felicitation function for Padma Shri Dr.M. Anandakrishnan organized by Tamil Nadu foundation, USA today at Hotel Hilton, Chennai.
Padma Shri Prof.M.Anandakrishnan felicitation at Hotel Hilton, Chennai
Prof. (as we call him affectionately) accomplishments are long. I had the privilege of walking behind him in few occasions over nearly two decades period, trying my best to observe & learn, through one of his facets as Founder Chairman of INFITT propagating Tamil language in Information Technology. On three occasions I have seen him close from the dressing room and part of the team under him are 1999 Tamil.Net 8 bit Tamil encoding, 2010 Chemmozhi conference in Kovai, Tamil Nadu Government G.O. on Unicode standard, apart from a few other occasions.
(From left) Valli Anandan, T.N.C.Venkatarangan, Prof, Palaniappa Chellappan, Cadgraf A.Elangovan
He is a man of few words, but each word he speaks is measured and delivered after deep thought. I have written a few conference resolution drafts, and committee recommendation drafts, when I share them with him he reads them carefully and completely, then suggests edits of a few words, those edits will be insightful and at the same time profoundly alter my own understanding of the underlying work. When I was fresh out of college, being naive I thought that technical standards discussion meant algorithms & source code, but watching Prof. work I learned they are equally about navigating bureaucracy & procedures, managing personality landmines shrewdly and above all having your goal always in sight. A couple of detours in between during your journey should be welcomed, not resisted which can derail the whole train. His ability to spot talent at an early stage and bring them is legendary. Thank you, Prof.
May almighty shower a long life for you!!!