Love is bliss …! – Professor Solomon Pappiah

Q: : Today, you are a world renowned moderator. What served as your platform for take-off?

A: I did my 5th and 6th standards at the school run by Tamil Suvisesha Church. The school is functioning even today. They used to conduct classes called ‘Lyceum’ classes. ‘Lyceum’ is a Greek word, meaning ‘debate hall’. It served as my first training ground. They would select students with oratorical skills from each class and would organize debates on various topics. There were students who were even more skilled than me and it would be very interesting to watch them argue with gestures. But, in my class, I had no competitor. So, I was able to bag the first prize. The silver medal I got as prize was the first prize in my life. My mother was mighty proud of my ‘achievement’ and would show the medal to all her relatives and friends shedding tears of joy. She would express her love mostly through tears! And, with the help of one of my relatives, I joined the higher secondary school run by the American College. At the school, debates were held once in a month and, there were better orators also. I used to suffer from inferiority complex at those times because of my family background where poverty and illiteracy ruled. I was the first to enter a school in my family. And, because of my complex, I used to maintain a distance from others. And, I believed that I didn’t have the ability to do anything. This mindset would reflect in my performance in the debates. And, at one stage, I stopped participating in debates …

Pappiah, who stopped participating in debates, became so well-versed in oratory that eventually he became a judge for ‘Pattimanrams’. How did this happen? What efforts he made to resume oratory? What are his experiences in family life, in his stint as a judge of debates?