More ‘campus jokes’

July 24, 2012, 7:21 pm , the island


Having read the campus jokes 1 and 11, I was reminded of this episode which happened way back in mid nineteen sixties. I was an engineering student then at the Colombo campus studying Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics for the first engineering exam along with the Science students preparing for their General Science Qualifying exam. There were about 150 Engineering students in our batch and another 150 in the Science batch making a pretty big total of over 300 students to follow lectures.

Dr. Valentine Joseph, who used to come to the campus in an old rickety bicycle was our beloved Mathematics lecturer and the lectures were held at KG (King George’s) hall, being fairly big could accommodate all 300 of us rather comfortably. In those good old days, overhead projectors, Magi boards etc. were unheard of and the lecturers had to use the black board fitted on to the wall.

One day, almost at the beginning of the course, when Dr. Joseph was delivering a lecture, a hand went up from way behind and when inquired the student rather timidly said "Sir, I can’t see your handwriting." Dr. Joseph looked at him and got down from the stage and walked slowly all the way up to him, bent down and had a good look at the black board and said "I can’t see the board even, man!" and went back and continued with the lecture.

R . Arambewela
Colombo