Enjoy your childhood, says Nobel Laureate

Updated on: Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Enjoy your childhood, this is the only childhood you have', stresses the nobel laureate in Chemistry for the year 2009, Dr Venkataraman Ramkrishnan.

Talking to students of his alma mater, Convent of Jesus & Mary Girls High School, Dr Venkataraman Ramkrishnan said, "My memories of school have been happy. We played, enjoyed and studied along the way".

Concerned about the way education had changed, he said, "Today right from the beginning children are put under exam pressure. Learning can be fun".

Worried like most parents, when his son Raman told him that he wanted to be a musician after two years into his science major, the nobel laureate recalls, "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.

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".

Enjoy your childhood, says Nobel Laureate

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