Prof (Dr) Daniel Sudhakar Emmanuel, whom I addressed as Sir,
was a man of God, who feared and loved the Lord Jesus intensely and who ran a
beautiful race in the course of his 63 years!
Thirty six years ago in 1979, when I joined the then Allahabad
Agricultural Institute for the Intermediate Agriculture program, I met
Emmanuel Sir as an energetic young Lecturer with very different values, who
would go around the city on his bicycle to take part in Bible studies, prayer
meetings, visiting homes. His exercises included washing heavy bed linen,
cutting wood, etc. He believed and
practiced in working hard with discipline and excellence as a hallmark in all
aspects!
Though Sir never taught me for any of my degree programs, I
had the greatest of respect and he was my role model in more than many ways! He
was my mentor towards godliness, my spiritual guide and a person who had
absolute freedom in correcting, cajoling and directing me into paths of right
living. The “Fellowship Mess” running in
his bachelor’s apartment those days, was a place we not only enjoyed good food
but a joint for relaxing, and learning how a team could function with a roster
or timetable for doing different chores. He was an avid reader of
books and kept himself abreast with issues of importance, viz.,
technology, politics, science, civilization, environment, development, etc.
Therefore, I took much advantage of him, as he was a fantastic conservationist
too, and “lazy as I was”, I would get the excerpts of important articles from
the Times, Frontline, Reader’s Digest, etc from him!
I had the privilege to work and associate with him in
different spheres. There were many times for the “tickling of the funny bones”
– together with him I have laughed out so often, though the jokes never crossed
the boundaries of decency or fear of God! So many times we had travelled
together, and also had the “time of our lives” in "frog hunting”, picnics,
camps, retreats, cooking food and fun times. Many of the responsibilities
carried out for the EU-EGF programmes turned out to be pleasant and gratifying
in spite of the challenges! He was a great encourager and motivator! Time does
not allow me to recall the numerous anecdotes!
In 1981, after his marriage with Dr Margery, they made a
warm and open home for all kinds of people, regardless of class or category! I
call her “Akka” and together both of them made an extraordinary team in
accomplishing God’s purposes not just in their lives but scores of others too!
They cared and prayed for so many and took deep interest in the progress and
welfare of others. For them, each person was precious and they would not leave
any stone unturned to do their best! Perhaps, you have learnt that in their
recent trip to UK they were able to meet the girl, now a young woman, whom they
were instrumental in giving a second life 28 years ago! To cut the story short
– the few hours’ old baby girl was found by one of the workers of the then AAI,
by the way side – almost lifeless, and today she is a citizen of UK living a fruitful
life!
He has impacted so many generations of students not only in
Allahabad and Vellore but in other places too! However, both at SHIATS,
Allahabad & VIT, Vellore, cutting across different category of people it
was obvious that his life did influence his higher-ups, contemporaries, faculty
members, juniors, non-teaching staff, field workers, et al. While I took
part in the Funeral Service on August 28th and the Memorial Service on
August 29th, 2015, I learnt that some of them have confessed that they have
never come across a person of such great virtues and sincerity! Truly it is a
great testimony for the glory of our God, for whose cause, Sir was never
ashamed of! The 25 years that he worked
for AAI (SHIATS), was worth it, in every sense, and he had lived a life with
very high values of ethics, particularly in 3 areas, viz., wealth (money
matters), women (dealing with opposite gender) and power/authority.
It will be injustice on my part if I do not elaborate these,
at least in a limited way! In financial matters, he was much disciplined in
spending least for himself and was very generous in supporting so many poor,
needy and suffering people, and a good proportion of his income was contributed
for the cause of Gospel and the Missions.
Pertaining to the opposite sex, he obeyed the Epistle of Paul to
Timothy, and practiced absolute purity, which is a rarity in these days. Even when he was in position of authority, he
never misused his power to practice any injustice. His integrity earned him
positions in important decision making committees, where he proved to be
reliable and trustworthy. It is no surprise that SHIATS was represented by 2 of
the faculty members in the Funeral Service at Vellore on August 28th.
He always persevered to have an attitude which is Christ
like. He rarely exhibited panic in situations of stress but waited on the Lord
with a deep faith in God to do His sovereign will. Akka and Sir
always observed peace, with no conflict, which was their brand mark in every
dealing! Their daughters Talitha and Jerusha, I am sure would love to follow
his footsteps! I consider it as my
personal loss in having lost a very trusted friend, confidant, counselor, and
an exemplar, which is hardly to be found. He and Akka had been with
me not only in my times of happiness, progress and milestones, but much more
during my crisis and deepest periods of grief and stress. They certainly are a
blessing to my family too!
Before I conclude, I would state that my dearly beloved
brother did pursue what was commanded in I Tim 6:11-12 [But you, man of God, …
pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight
the good fight of the faith.]! Yes, my
wife and I are deeply grieved at Sir’s death, but are glad and 100% sure that
he has gone ahead of us into the heavenly abode prepared by our Lord Jesus and
will be able to meet him one day at the best place ever!
Thomas Abraham, D.Phil.,
Professor (Agronomy), #28-A, SHIATS Campus, Allahabad
