
SURAT, March 31: South Gujarat University Senate members who find time for trivialities and engage themselves in wordy duels on eminently avoidable topics have yet again given the short shrift to Ratan Marshal, the grand old man of Parsi literature, who is known for his contribution to fields of education and journalism.
For the third consecutive year, the SGU Senate could not award the honourary D Litt on Marshal for want of quorum. Incidentally, he was the first litterateur to be awarded the PhD in Gujarati language by the Bombay University.
The motion on awarding the degree was moved by Harish Doshi only to find that the number of Senators present in the house in its recent meeting was much less than the required quorum. Every year, the motion is placed on the floor of the Senate meeting at the fag end, the time by which most members leave the hall. Splitting hairs on inconsequential matters and engaging in filibustering to prevent their opponents from taking to the floor they lost precious time for two full days, in a repeat of their performance during the last two meetings. The mover of the motion expressed regret that the members chose to remain absent when such an important item was taken on the agenda.