懷念M.R.範•默爾西

懷念 M.R. 範 · 默爾西

我剛從多倫多回來，便聽到範教授病危的噩耗，腦內一片空白。一下班，我便直奔醫院，他躺在病床上，昏迷不醒，形容枯槁。兒子和侄子枯坐兩旁，無能為力。當晚，我失眠了，往事漸漸地湧現出來。

我與範教授的第一次會麵是在他義務為中國人開辦的英語口語班上。那是 2002 年 12 月一個周末的下午，地點在他辦公室隔壁的小會議室裏。參加者有約 20 人，英語水平參差不齊。範教授為大家提供機會練習口語。在我到來之前，他已辦了一年的法語口語班和三年的英語班（應中國人要求改的）。我一去，見劉春生博士與教授並排坐在主席座上，大家談笑自如。我立即為班上融洽的師生關係所感化，緊張感消失了，談話便有條不紊。每次大家圍繞一個主題，暢所欲言，主題無所不包。範教授主持討論並糾正大家口語中的錯誤，有時也講講自己的經曆或看法。每到這時，我們便聽得格外認真。這個班持續了一年半，後來到春暖花開的時候，我認為這麽好的天呆在室內浪費了，便建議休課，待冬季來臨時再複課。可惜後來沒有複課。這個教室，還被他借給中文班用，以便那些在魁省出生或長大的中國人的後代不忘自己的文化。

範教授自己也學習中文。他除了在英語課的結尾時練練中文外 ， 還特意請學生崔科 （ 以及前任 喻輝、謝寧等） 錄音中文課本 ， 安裝中文衛視，家中中文版影視也不少。他在美國時，曾設法以中文與 Motel 的中國老板溝通，因為老板不懂英語。初次見麵的中國人往往被他的中文鎮住，但幾年以來並沒有多少長進。

範教授不僅熱愛中國文化 ， 更愛中國人。他認為中國人比印度人更值得信賴 ， 他更願意與中國人交往。我與他認識之初 ， 便為他認識的中國人之多而折服。他曾數次訪問中國 ， 其中一次是聯合國教科文組織組織的大學代表團，我們曾看過其訪問錄像。他退休前的一批四位中國學生中，有兩位便是他訪問中國時的中方接待。他的豪華住房，隨時對中國人開放，每逢聖誕節等重大節日，中國人便會被邀請去他家聚餐。範並不會做菜，但這不妨礙他出資買菜，由中國人做菜，然後大快朵姬。我初到他家時，吃驚於陳列品中中國物品多於其收藏的印度物品，它們主要是每個中國來訪者留下的紀念品，包括一麵中國國旗。

實際上中國人早已把此處當家了 ： 短期訪問者可以無償在此住上數日或數月 ， 那些離開魁市的中國人回訪 ， 往往首選住在他家。他家是我們唯一可以不經預約隨時拜訪的家庭。我在他家常可見到或從電話中聽到回訪或問候的中國人，他們中有的還幫助帶過童年的小兒子納文恩 Naveen ，那是 1981 年那場災難性車禍的幸存者。那場車禍，奪去了其法國籍妻子、大兒子和大侄子的生命。自那以後，他便沒有再結婚。

他的中文衛視也幫了中國人的大忙：春節晚會、神舟六號發射、北京奧運會開幕式等，我們都看到了現場直播。他那極其複雜的家用電器係統是由劉春生安裝的。

範教授為中國人做的事，包括他與劉國津教授促成了拉瓦爾大學與吉林大學結為友好大學，促進了兩校醫學院的學術交流，包括聯合申請科研課題，包括他為中國人訪魁提供邀請信和擔保，包括校對研究論文的英文，包括寫求職推薦信，包括介紹前後抵魁的中國人相互認識等。作為回報，中國人為他整理庭院、戶外油漆 、在他外出時替他看家 等，也時常邀請他參加中國人的聚餐。 2006 年，他在家宴請吉大醫院來訪的 8 位醫生。 2007 年，他為訪魁的中國醫生團體申請美國簽證事奔走，不惜動用議員關係，使之成行。為此，錦州醫學院和吉林大學聘請他為名譽教授，拉瓦爾大學校長也不時就中國問題向他谘詢。他的關門弟子袁霞獲得本大學優秀研究生稱號，崔科獲得麥吉爾大學繼續深造的機會。

他的晚年生活極其簡單 ： 我曾見過他的自帶午餐是白米飯澆酸奶，他的鞋磨得變了形。我夫人曾送他布鞋一雙，還曾於一個風雪交加的情人節送他一件羊毛衫。可惜他隻在當天穿了一次，以後又穿破舊的了。但他對中國人是慷慨的，每有來訪，他必破費請客。在我們眼裏，範教授是一位令人尊敬的長者，但他卻把我們看成自己的兄弟姐妹。他在魁北克引進了印度的兄妹節（ Rakhy ），贈薩利給我們。他堪稱又一個柯棣華（ Dwarkanath Kotnis ， 1910-1942 ）。

他退休後並不清閑 ， 而是忙於寫課題申請書 ， 擬用中國茶和印度的一種植物治療癌症 ， 為此組織了印中美加的有關科學家 ， 可惜沒獲批準。他的晚年也是孤獨的：他受到帕金森氏病、健忘症和憂鬱的折磨。兒子去了蒙特利爾上學，隻有一個弟弟有時來陪他住上一段時間。

其實他不光對中國人友好 ， 他與法國的關係也不錯。他曾有一位法國太太 ， 曾在法國工作過 （ 他退休後法國還定期匯來養老金 ）， 本人擁有法國國籍 ， 他與法國同行的學術交流也很緊密。為此 ， 法國 Academie Clermont-Ferrand 科學院 大學聯盟授予他榮譽博士學位（ 2001 ）。我曾親見一法國來的訪問教授在他家住了半年，每天同他一起上下班。

印度是他的祖國 ， 範教授經常訪問印度 ， 聯合加印同行申報課題。 2007 年 ， 他在國際教育年會上主持了加 - 印教育論談。他退休後回印度訪問時 ， 還受拉瓦爾大學校長委托 ， 與印度的十所大學建立了校際聯係。他半個世紀前的移民魁北克，促進了後來印度移民的到來， 他的家也是印度人在魁北克的據點，在這裏中國人與印度人發展了民間交流。

他所作的一切 ， 源於他的泛愛及國際主義 ， 他始終認為他是個世界公民。他晚年回顧人生時 ， 認為友情是人間最珍貴的東西。他是拉 · 甘地和馬丁 · 路德 · 金的崇拜者 ， 是非暴力和世界無核化運動的支持者和力行者。 2 001 年他帶著和平使命訪問日本廣島和長崎，回國後廣泛征集反戰、無核化簽名。這時的他是如此有名，以至於他的訪日、訪美在當地報紙均有報道。

他所取得的成就和受到的尊敬，是他一生勤奮、與人為善、普愛眾生的結果。

In memory of M.R. Ven Murthy

Soon after I came back from a trip to Toronto, I received the tragic news of Dr. Ven Murthy¹s critical illness. My brain refused to process the thought. I went to the hospital as soon as I finished my work, to find him in a coma looking very haggard in bed. His son and nephew sat by his side, unable to do anything. That night, I could not sleep:  past stories kept going through my mind.

 

Prof. Murthy and I first met each other during his volunteer work giving an oral English course for speakers of Chinese. That was a weekend afternoon in December of 2002 in a small meeting room near his office. There were about 20 participants with different levels of English. Prof. Murthy offered us a chance to practice our oral English. Before my arrival, he had already conducted an oral French course for one year and later on, an oral English course for three years (the course alternated from French to English depending on the requests of the Chinese students). I saw Dr. Chunsheng Liu sitting on the Chair next to the professor. Everybody talked freely. I was immediately moved by the harmonious atmosphere of the class, and my adrenaline dropped, thus I spoke easily. For each class period, we focused on one topic, covering nearly all the aspects of life and the world. Prof. Murthy chaired the discussions and corrected our mistakes in expression, sometimes telling us his own opinions or experiences. We listened carefully when he spoke. The course lasted a year and half. Later, during the spring season, I thought that the good weather would be wasted if we continued indoors. I thus suggested we take a break for the course: we might make up the course during the following winter. Unfortunately, it was never made up. This meeting room was also lent for a Chinese class, for those CBCs (Canada-born Chinese) or to Chinese children immigrants so as not to forget their culture.

 

Prof. Murthy himself was also learning Chinese. He practiced Chinese at the end of the English course, he asked his student Ke Cui (and her predecessors Hui YU, Ning Xie, etc.) to record a tape of a Chinese textbook. He installed a Chinese TV satellite receiver. He also bought many Chinese movie DVDs. When he was in the USA with his brothers, he managed to communicate with the motel boss, because the boss did not understand English. The newly-arrived Chinese were always amazed by his command of the Chinese language. But he made nearly no progress during the last years.

 

Prof. Murthy loved not only the Chinese culture, but also the Chinese people. Maybe he even thought that the Chinese were more reliable than the Indians, that he would like to work more with the Chinese rather than with Indians. I was surprised that he knew so many Chinese. He had visited China several times, during which he was once a member of a university delegation organized by UNESCO. We watched the video of that visit. Among his last four students before his retirement, two were his guides when he visited China. His luxurious house was open to the Chinese at any time. During important festivals, Chinese people were invited to his house for a feast. Prof. Murthy himself could not cook well, but this did not prevent him from offering the foods needed for the parties; the Chinese would cook the foods, and then eat it all up. When I first visited his house, I was astonished by his collection of Chinese things: it was larger than even his Indian collection. They were presented to him by every Chinese visitor, and among the presents there was a Chinese flag.

 

Actually, the Chinese had thought of his house as their home for long time. Short-term visitors could stay here freely for days or even months. Those who left and re-visited Quebec would first choose his house as their place to stay. His house is the only one that we could visit at any time without an appointment. When I was at his place, I would always meet Chinese, or hear telephone calls from a Chinese person. Some of them even helped taking care of the younger son Naveen in his childhood, who was the survivor of the 1981 disastrous car accident, which deprived the lives of his French wife, his elder son and his elder nephew. He has not been married since then.

 

His Chinese satellite TV channel also helped the Chinese a lot. We watched live shows of many important events at his place: the national Spring-Festival spectacles, the launch of the Shenzhou VI spaceship, the opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, etc. His extraordinarily complicated system of electronic applications was installed by Dr. Chunsheng Liu.

 

Prof. Murthy did a lot for the Chinese. For example, he and Prof. Guojin Liu helped Université Laval and the University of Jilin become sister universities, thus improving  academic communication between the two schools of medicine so that both sides could jointly apply for funding of projects. As well, he also offered letters of invitation and guarantees for Chinese scholars to visit Quebec, he helped to polish the English of theses and research papers, and write recommendation letters for job applications, introduced Chinese people who had arrived at different times to each other, etc. In return, the Chinese helped manage his big garden, painting the exterior of his house, house-sitting when he was travelling, etc. They often invited him for Chinese parties. In 2006, he hosted a big family feast for eight doctors from Jilin University. In 2007, he helped a group of Chinese doctors apply for visas to visit the USA, taking advantage of a Senate. Jinzhou Medical School and Jilin University invited him as an honorary professor. The president of Université Laval often consulted him about Chinese affairs. As his last students, Xia Yuan received the prize for  Excellent Student upon graduation, Ke Cui continued her studies at McGill University.

 

His life during his last years was very simple: he prepared his own meals of rice mixed with yoghurt; his old shoes were deformed. My wife once presented him with a pair of new shoes, and she also presented him a wool sweater on a snowy and stormy St. Valentine¹s Day. But he wore them for only one day, after which, he continued to wear the old ones.  He was generous to the Chinese: he would pay for a dinner in a restaurant whenever a visitor arrived. In our eyes, Prof. Murthy was a respectful elder. He treated us as his brothers and sisters. He introduced the Indian Rakhy Festival to Quebec, presenting us saris etc. I think he is another Dwarkanath Kotnis (1910-1942) for us Chinese.

 

He did not stop working even after his retirement. He kept busy writing proposals. He planned to try Chinese tea and another Indian herb to cure cancer, with the cooperation of scientists from India, China, Canada and United States. Unfortunately, the proposal was not approved. His old age was also a lonely one: he suffered from Parkinson¹s disease, amnesia, and depression. After his son left for his university in Montreal, only Prof Murthy's younger brother could keep him company once in awhile.

 

He was kind to not only to the Chinese, but also to people of other nationalities. He had a good relationship with France. He had a French wife. He worked in France. He had French citizenship. His relationship with French colleagues was close. Universités clermontoises, Académie Clermont-Ferrand awarded him an honorary doctoral degree. I saw a French professor living at his house for half a year, going to and from work with him every day.

 

India was his motherland. Prof. Murthy often returned to India. He also applied for projects with Indian colleagues. In 2007, during the Congress of International Education, he hosted a forum on Canada-Indian education,. After his retirement, entrusted by the president of Université Laval, he helped set up connections between Universite Laval and ten Indian universities. His immigration to Quebec some half century ago promoted greatly the late-coming Indian immigrants. His house was also a base fore Indian immigrants to Quebec, where Chinese and Indians developed grassroot friendships.

 

He did all of this because of his international spirit. From the beginning he thought of himself a citizen of the world. When he recalled his life in his old age, he felt that friendship was the most important treasure in human society. He idolized Ghandi and Martin Luther King. He was a supporter and practiced non-violence and was for non proliferation of nuclear weapons. In 2001, he visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a passion for peace, and called widely for signatures against war and nuclear weapons. He was so famous by the time that his visited Japan and the USA that he appeared in local newspapers.

 

All the achievements he did and all the respect he received from others, were the result of his life-long diligence, his kindness to human beings and his love for all.