Enjoy your childhood, Venki tells schoolkids

VADODARA: 'Enjoy your childhood, this is the only childhood you have'. The message came loud and clear from the man who had allowed his son to make a career of music, midway through science college.
The Nobel laureate recalled that when his son Raman told him two years into his science major that he wanted to be a musician, he was a little worried, like most parents."But he is happy. He travels the world, he doesn't make much money, but money is not the most important thing. It's not going to give you satisfaction". Raman is a cellist based in New York and plays with the Daedalus Quartet. "I gave away all the money (from the Nobel prize) to buy him a cello," he later told TOI.
Talking to students of his alma mater, Convent of Jesus & Mary Girls High School, Dr Venkataraman Ramkrishnan aka Venki said, "My memories of school have been happy. We played, enjoyed and studied along the way". Worried about the way education had changed, he said, "Today right from the beginning children are put under exam pressure. Learning can be fun".
In his message to the school, he wrote, "I had a wonderful time during my childhood here and I hope the school continues to do well in the future and trains future leaders in India".
Autograph-seeking students chased him everywhere, even when he took a quiet walk with friends to a favourite restaurant in Fatehgunj. "Persistent students should be rewarded," he told a couple of girls who found him looking at Chikoo tree on the campus and signed their autograph books. For the rest, there was a message: "I am sorry, I will not personally give you an individual autograph, but really, you shouldn't care about such things. Instead you should follow your interests and also enjoy life".