Gratitude in Action: A Petrophysicist's Journey of Return

Gratitude, for Mr. Raghu Ramamoorthy, is not just an emotion; it is a way of seeing the world. Every success, every capacity to act or give, traces back to the foundations laid at IIT Madras. His story is less about a moment of giving and more about a lifelong echo of gratitude and of returning what was once received in abundance.

 

Mr. Ramamoorthy’s journey into IIT Madras began at a time when access to higher education depended as much on circumstance as on talent. He recalls with sincerity that had the fees been high, he might never have joined. It was only because the studies here were affordable that students like him could join. The institute, he notes, offered far more than technical education; it offered opportunity, camaraderie, and the shaping of a worldview grounded in humility.

His professional life reflects the depth of discipline and curiosity fostered within IIT’s classrooms and corridors. Yet, his fondest recollections are not of lectures or laboratories, but of morning mess halls, sports tracks, and late-night camaraderie among hostel mates. He laughs about the “horrible food everyone remembers fondly,” but behind that humour lies something enduring, the warmth of shared struggle and collective belonging.

When the time came to give back, Mr. Ramamoorthy didn’t look for a dramatic reason; instead, he followed a quiet conviction. “In order to give,” he says, “you have to have the capacity to give, which again is derived from the institute itself.” His batch’s contribution to the NPTEL studio project reflects this belief: a meaningful effort to make high-quality education accessible to thousands across the country. “The joy,” he adds, “comes not at the time of donation, but when that studio comes alive, and the lectures begin, that’s when people truly benefit.”

Guided by ancient wisdom, Mr. Ramamoorthy views giving as an act of surrender rather than ownership. He invokes the poignant line, "sab kuch tera, tere arpana kya lage mera" (everything is yours; what am I offering?) and the Bhagavad Gita's Brahm?rpa?a?, where every action dissolves into the divine. For him, supporting scholarships ensures deserving students access IIT's transformative education, not as charity, but as returning what was never truly "mine" to the greater whole.

If there’s one lesson he would pass on to today’s students, it is to focus wholly on effort, not outcome. Like a cricketer watching only the ball, not the boundary, one finds success by being entirely present in the act of doing. As the Bhagavad Gita reminds us, Karmanyeva adhikaraste; Ma phaleshu kadachana, we control only the action, not its fruit.

For Mr Ramamoorthy, giving back to IIT Madras is not just philanthropy; it’s closure and continuity at once, that is the act of completing a circle of learning and love. His message to fellow alumni is simple yet stirring: find a cause that moves you, and then ‘dhaaralamaa kudu’ i.e., to give generously.

Raghu Ramamoorthy, an Independent Petrophysics Consultant at Raghu Advisory Services, holds a B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 1982 and the MS degree in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1993. Prior to founding his consultancy in 2018, Ramamoorthy served in various roles at Schlumberger for 35 years finishing as Scientific Advisor - Petrophysics. He was honored by the Society of Petroleum Engineers in 2010 with the Regional Award in Formation Evaluation for the Middle East, North Africa and India for contributions to Petroleum Engineering in the area of Petrophysics. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Henri Doll Award and Conrad Schlumberger Award for best papers in Schlumberger. He holds several international patents on methods  and tools for formation evaluation.