My Father’s Story
May 6th, 2004 admin Posted in Experiences, Family |
My father is nowadays trying his hand at learning HTML and writing some of his thoughts as a webpage. To motivate him to try harder and to make his attempts visible to all I have posted his webpage attempt here in this post.
OM NAMASHIVAYA OM NAMO GANESHAYA OM NAMO VENKATESHAYA
MY STORY
by Venkata Rama Kishore
BEGINNING
Myself -sketch by Anil
I was born in Kolar, Mysore state (present-day Karnataka),a small town 64 km from Bangalore, the present capital of Karnataka state, on 27th Dec 1941 to late G.S.Varadavenkateshan and late Kuppachi Padma in my grand father’s house. My father was the eldest son of G.R.Srinivasa Rao( my grand father) and Subbalakshmi (Subbakkamma, my paternal grandmother). He had 2 elder sisters, two younger brothers and two younger sisters. Our family name is MUDAMBI. Though my father and grandfather adopted the system of using the village name followed by their father’s name before their name, this has not followed in my case. Thus the initial G stand for Gandlapalli, our village name. My grandfather’s middle name was Rangaiah, which was actually my great grandfather’s first name. My father followed the tradition by being named as G.S. Varadavenkateshan, where his middle name corresponds to his father’s first name, Srinivasarao. The surname still remained Gandlapalli.
My father, G.S.Varadavenkateshan(Baba)
My father, G.S.Varadavenkateshan(Baba) and my mother, Kuppachi Padma
ROOTS
Basics
We belong to the Brahminical order of Iyers. I was told that our forefathers were Telugu speaking Smartha Brahmins. They migrated from Kerala and settled in a place called Thummagunta, near the present day Nellore district (in Andhra Pradesh). So we are also called by the name Thummagunta Dravidas. In later years, some migrated to the present Karnataka State. Kolar where my grandfather and his parents lived is a border district between Andhra and Karnataka.
Being Smarthas we wear Vibhuti the sacred Bhasma (ash) on our forehead as horizontal lines (some call it as Railway kambhi’s i.e. rails). We are Shaivaites and worship Lord Shiva. Unlike Vaishnavas(worshipers of Lord Vishnu) and Madhavas(worshipers of Krishna, which is one avatar of Vishnu or Anjeneya). They are forebiden to pray or perform pooja to other Deities by their guru’s. On the other hand we worship the whole pantheon with out any restrictions. Thus our home-deity is Lord Venkateshwara and we regularly do pooja to Sri Rama, Anjeneya and other deities and observe all special pooja’s. Our Gotra is Srivatsasa. We have 5 rishis (sages) to remember for blessings while giving the pravaram(the self identification or introduction) Procedure. They are Bhargava,Shravana,Aapplavana,Ourva and Jamadaghni. Our customs, like naming of a child Namakarnam, Upanayanam and Marriage, etc,etc are all performed as per the traditions of Iyers.
An overview-Ancestral Background
I was told that my ancestors came and settled in Kolar district, Mysore State, at a village called Gandlapalli. My grandfather hailed from village Gandlapalli, in the Srinivasapur taluka of Kolar District. He the eldest son of Rangaiah and Rangamma (parents) our great grand Parents. Rangaiah was the Tahsildar of a taluka (sub-district of Kolar) under the British Colonial Rule and was responsible for land assessment, crop valuation, and revenue collection. He also acted as the treasurer at the district level. He rode a horse (given by the government) on inspection tours of villages under his jurisdiction and was considered an, important official in the district administration. The family were affluent too as they possessed landed property in their native village of Gandlapalli and its neighborhood, which yielded adequate quantities of rice, pulses, tamarind, and jaggery to meet the family requirement for a whole year and to lay by for a later lean year too. Tamarind yield was aplenty and substantial quantity was sold in the local market. My uncle(Ramamurthy) remembers that during their summer vacation, drying & separating tamarind fruit and seed was their main occupation. Clean tamarind was packed into sizable packs with dry leaves covering either side and stored in a dry place. The seeds once washed and dried, were used for a variety of indoor games. The young and the old equally enjoyed these games. That was fun, indeed!
I remember how I also took a part in the Tamarind period activities which used to encourage us to learn coexistence by working together. It used to initiate playing a number of games with the seeds thus separated. The favorite was a game using a wooden flat having two rows of semi spherical serrations carved in it. We used to hit on the tamarind fruit with a mallet (a wooden hammer with handle) to take out the seeds and at the end the day the individual with the highest count of the seeds would get appreciation/reward. This was an event of joy & competitive sprit. Next day this became the minimum target. During this work period normally my maternal grandmother used to read a novel or narrate a story. That used to take away the tiredness and boredom, and pump up our sprits to do better job. This was indeed fun filled work for every one as recounted by uncle Ramamurthy. My grandfather was a graduate in Arts and in Law (B.A.,B.L.) and practiced as an Advocate and specialized in Criminal Law. He built up a good practice and very good reputation in Kolar. He also attended the High Court in Bangalore. He was also the Standing Counsel appointed by the government to defend the accused who could not afford a lawyer. His entire life was spent as a practicing criminal lawyer. He earned not only a very good name in his profession but also a reputation as a kind hearted and spiritual man. My uncle( Ramamurthy, my mother’s brother) used to say it was great fun to go for long walks with him and hear him discuss the cases he had argued that day. I too enjoyed such walks (runs really) with my grandfather.
My grandfather was highly religious and a stickler of daily rituals. His daily routine without exception included: getting up by 5 AM, taking a cold water bath from the house well and performing the morning rituals before sipping a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Then he would attend to clients in the office (also situated in the house), bathe a second time around 11 AM, do the afternoon rituals and offering of freshly cooked meals to the Gods and partake the food. He would then dress up in the traditional attire prescribed for lawyers, and walk to the court a clear mile and a half distance away. He would return around 5 PM, take bath for the third time, perform the evening ritual, take a cup of coffee and some light snack, and attend to the clients till about 8 PM, and then have his dinner. He would read a while before going to sleep and in the event of a well-known speaker giving a religious discourse (or Harikatha), he would attend unto late hours of the day. This routine went on until his end. He died at the ripe age of 78 (1880 to 1958). Even his death was in a manner grandiose. That fateful day, he performed his evening pooja ritual and at the end of the worship, as was normal practice every day, he prostrated before God with reverence but did not get up. The camphor lit harathi was still burning I noticed when I entered the house after play (around 6:35 to 6:45pm). Feeling that some thing was abnormal called Tata…TATA… many times with no response. I ran out to get help, as no one was at home. All were permitted to visit a movie after the hectic day, it being the tatagaru’s grandmother’s ceremony that day. He died thus while saying his last prayer! He was, indeed, a great soul.
My grandfather was well read, a scholar. He was honest and upright. He was a lover of classical music. He encouraged my mother and aunt to learn music and sing on festive occasions in the house and at temples. It was amazing he had a variety of interests and fit them all into his overcrowded daily schedule without in any way interfering with his professional work or attention towards us. He was a towering personality not only physically but also in his ethical and moral values, and gave shelter, solace, and upbringing to many of us by sheer dint of his disciplined life. However, one flaw we could not miss noticing as youngsters was his caste distinction. He would not admit into the house any person of the lowest caste (dalit or scheduled caste as they are now called) That arose purely from a brahminical custom that prevailed in those days, which he too followed but otherwise, he was graceful and considerate to everyone without caste discrimination and as a lawyer, would defend without sparing any effort, irrespective of who the client was in the best tradition of the profession.
My grandfather had four sisters junior to him. None of them had high formal schooling but all were well versed in reading & writing, and were indeed voracious readers of novels, religious (puranic) stories in the local language: Telugu or Kannada.
The eldest, Kamakshamma, was among them the one with a domineering temperament and was married to a small landowner in the village. He was, perhaps, the first among the folks in the family to become a graduate (B.A.) All called him ‘Bava’( Tongal Venkataramaiah) and he was particular of reading the daily English newspaper from top to bottom. He was not that successful in life and later, after his only daughter was married to a Lawyer in Gooty in Andhra, he too lived with his daughter. He had five grandchildren who became professionals in different fields: veterinary sciences, law, accounting, military service, and eucalyptus fiber extraction. Their children too have prospered well as software engineering and in other fields. Some have now migrated to the USA.
The second sister, Meenakshamma, married to Gangadharaiah and settled in Ballagiri village close to the Kolar Gold Fields.They had 2 sons and 4 daughters. G. Ramaiah, the 2nd son (third issue) worked in mines at KGF. He would cycle(bike) or walk daily from Ballagiri, almost 5 miles away. He was well known and close to us. I was told that he was my father’s only bosom friend during his college studies and later. Meenakshamma had a phenomenal photographic memory and was able to recall a story read or a film seen, scene by scene, as was depicted by the author or director. She was able to narrate even the smallest details and the minute descriptions as in the story, in the course of story telling. Children used flock around her (and pester her) to tell a story and indeed it used to be a thrilling experience . This was a God given gift to her but went unrecognized and unappreciated. Even now “Durgesh Nandini”, her favorite novel, that she narrated to us during a visit to Ballagiri is imprinted in my brain.
The third sister, Savitramma, was married to A. Krishnaiah of Astakala family in Nellore. He was a graduate in geology and retired as Assistant Collector in Madras Presidency under British Rule. In those days, the next higher position to Collector was given to British Nationals or the ICS. Krishnaiah was very prudent in money matters, but in his own way a soft spoken and kind man. They had an only son, A.Purushotham, who took his PhD degree from Benaras Hindu University (BHU) in Rubber Technology and retired as the Director of Wood Preservation Institute in Dehradun. He was just the opposite of his father in money matters and absentminded too. His son took PhD in Physics and worked as a scientist at ISRO, Bangalore and retired. His son and daughter are both in the USA, the former as a software engineer with TCS, working on deputation to Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company in Indianapolis, Indiana and the latter, an MBA, joined her husband recently.
The fourth sister, Kamalamma, was not that lucky as the others. She was married to a teacher, Venkata Rao, in Anantapur in Andhra. He was also a bodybuilder and muscleman. He was short tempered and the wife suffered on that score.
On the whole, the family of my grandfather prospered relatively well. The men-folk were better educated and professionals for the most part, which fact helped their progeny to become professionals in their turn. The rural connection, thereby, gradually got cut off.
I will be doing injustice if I do not mention Muduvadi Srinivasaiah and Seetharamiah who were cousins of my grandfather (GRS). The younger of the two, Muduvadi Seetharamaiah, also popularly called Pedda Seetharamaiah, rised from a small post (Gummasta) and retired as “Shiresthedar” (a powerful govt. post in the Land Revenue department). Though he was only matriculate his drafting in English was superb. This was a God given gift.
Muduvadi was a village approximately 10 miles from Kolar. We were always eager to go to that place with Tatagaru because firstly, to reach that place we had to take a narrow gauge train towards Bangalore. Jannaghatta was the station (8 miles) to get off the train. It would typically be a 1 hour journey. From there on we would have to take an ox-driven buggy to Muduvadi village. Both journeys were always thrilling. Added to that we used to get special local home-made sweets like Pyalapindi, pakam pappu, borugula and attukula ondalu etc… with as much as we wanted of thick milk and butter at Muduvadi Sreenivasaiah’s home. I can never forget the red, naturally sweet, rice with dahi(curd) and before that the Ragula mudda with sambar & ghee.
Subbakkamma, my granny
My grandmother, Subbalakshmi – affectionately called Subbakkamma by one and all – came from an urban setting. She was born in Madras city – then called Chennapattanam and now renamed Chennai. She was the second daughter of her parents. Her father too was qualified in the legal profession and worked as a solicitor in the British Firm of King & Patridge. Her elder sister was married to Astakala Subramaniam, who was a leading advocate in Nellore. This gentleman was the elder brother of Astakala Krishnaiah, referred to earlier. My grandmother also had two brothers younger to her. One, younger to her, T.D.Ramaiahgaru, joined the judicial service in Madras Presidency after obtaining his Master’s degree in Arts and Bachelor’s in Law. He rose to become the District & Sessions Judge before retiring. The brother younger to him completed his master’s degree in Botany, joined the Botanical Gardens in Calcutta and retired as its Superintendent. He had a daughter and a son. The daughter had a short stint in the film industry and acted as a junior artist in a couple of films. She later married an Air Force Officer. Her youngest sister (Rangapinnamma) was married to B.Sitaramaiah, a lawyer who worked as a solicitor in the King & Patridge Solicitors’ Firm in Ooty, a hill station in the Madras Presidency. They finally settled at Uttaradhi Mutt road at Basavanagudi,Bangalore. During my collage days (graduation course, B.Sc) I used to visit them frequently. Overall, my grandmother’s family was affluent, educated, and urbanized. The present younger generation is, for the most part, settled in the USA and Canada.
My grandmother was fair and good looking and brought with her elegance, poise, and cultured sophistication. She was said to be a versatile Veena player in her hayday. It is said that a photo of her playing Veena is in one of the Museums in Chennai. She was a pious and good-natured lady.
She was tempermentally very mild and kind-hearted. She and my grandfather were made for each other.
My grandparents had seven children. My father was the third child and the eldest son. My mother in fact was the eldest daughter of my grandparents’ first daughter. My maternal grandmother was married to Kuppachi Subramaniam, who practiced Law in Nellore. He was very handsome and was said to have been a brilliant lawyer but had a short span of life. He died at an unlikely age of 32 from a surgery to remove a growth, which was then diagnosed as carbuncle. He left a large family of my aunt (who later became my maternal grandmother and mother-in-law to my sister) with six children to whom my grandfather became the ward. Even in those days, it was an uphill task to educate and bring up all. It goes to the credit of my grandparents that they spared no effort. Of my three uncles, the eldest, who was just eight when his father died, progressed under my grandfather’s care, obtained a Bachelor’ degree in engineering, and later while in service at TISCO got a Master’s from IIT, Kharagpur, and later a PhD in management from USA. He occupied several high positions in India and finally joined the ILO, an agency of United Nations and served as the Senior Advisor/Chief Technical Advisor before retiring. He has been a pillar of the family and helped many a member for higher education and in meeting social obligations. I am always indebted to him, as he was the one who virtually built me up by his generous financial support, technical advice and stubborn decisions. This has helped me to stand on my legs firmly and to take my own decisions and fulfill responsibilities.
My uncle’s wife is also highly qualified with a PhD in economics and worked as a researcher in the USA. They have a son and a daughter, both of whom are highly qualified professionals settled in the USA. His daughter-in-law is a tenured professor in Computer Engineering at a US university, and the son-in-law a Research Director in a Pharmaceutical Company in the USA. My grandfathers’ initiation was truly praiseworthy and amply rewarded.
My second uncle, Kuppachi Madhavan, served as an accountant with American Express in New Delhi but died prematurely of heart attack at age 45. He was not married.
The third uncle, K.S.ChandraMouli, qualified as an electrical engineer was married to my sister (Sreelekha). He worked in a public-sector fertilizer unit and retired as Deputy General Manager. (Engineering). Currently they are settled at Bangalore. His son is a software engineer with Philips. His daughter-in-law with a degree in Civil Engineering is now studying towards her Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering. My uncle has a daughter, K.Padma Naina (my mother’s name) who is, however, mentally challenged. Very unfortunate.
One of my father’s elder sister’s also happened to be his mother-in-law. My father’s other elder sister, Kittakkamma, was married to a Doctor who served during WW II in the Egyptian sector. And later lived a leisurely retired life.
Of the two brothers younger to him, one became a lawyer in Kolar and the other, after getting an honors degree in Geology worked for the Burma Shell Distributing Company and retired as a Superintendent.
Of the other two sisters, younger to my father, one married a landowner in a place called Kundur in Andhra and was a homemaker. The other, the youngest, unfortunately had a broken marriage but took to studies and completed Bachelor’s degree in Science (B.Sc.). She worked as a teacher in a High School and raised her only daughter who qualified herself with a Bachelor’s degree in Science and in Education. She served as a high school teacher in Mathematics and for a short while was elected as a member of the Kolar Municipal Council. Her four daughters, in turn became engineers and doctors. It is heartening to note that when parents, especially mothers’, are well educated, children too imbibe the culture of seeking higher education to prosper in life.
From the above it is clear that I must be grateful to God for having chosen me to be born in such a family. A family with such rich traditions, love and affection, values of life, eagerness to learn, advocates for education to both male and female children, encouragers of arts and helpers of the needy. Qualities such as commitment to a cause, faith in God, independence in thinking and putting forward suggestions and time management have borne the family rich dividends generation after generation.
With all these qualities exhibited at the right time by Tatagaru, he was a natural leader. Fairness in all his dealings made him an adorable leader at home and also in the society. He was respected and loved by one and all.
That the effect of the genes played its role is glaringly clear, as observed by Uncle Ramamurthy.
My Name
As I mentioned earlier,my fathers surname continued to be the village name, Gandlapalli, and his middle name was his father’s first-name, Srinivasarao. His full name therefore read as Gandalapalli Sreenivasarao Varadavenkateshan. But his younger brothers for some reason, were given or they adopted, Mudambi for their surname. The middle name continued to be Sreenivasarao. So my uncles were named M.S.Ranganathan and M.S.Balasubramanyam.
In my case if tradition were followed, G for Gandlapalli should have been my surname. If not that, the second option should have been M for Mudambi, as it was for my uncles. But strangly even that option did not come through. The G or M choices was forgotten(!) to be included in my name when I was admitted to the primary school by my aunt. Thus the name was recorded as Venkata Rama Kishore (V. R. Kishore) and that continued in all my future records. The date of birth was also recorded wrongly recorded then as 27th November, 1941 (in place of the correct date, 27th Dec 1941). And probably, the fact that his father was not there to take care of his admission to school, accuracy of date of birth etc., there is a sense of casualness and a distinct lack of persistence in maintaining accurate records - comment added by Anil, V. R. Kishore’s son
Kishore, as I was called by Baba (as I called my father) was included in my name given by elders, Venkata Rama (derived from the name of our family diety Lord Venkateswara of Tirupathi) at the namakarnam (naming) function. Why Kishore was added, I will take up separatly at appropriate time in the course of My Story. Mudambi was actually a surname given to my uncle’s most probably came from our village folk. Why and how it was derived is not known to the present generation. And an effort to inquire from the elder generations, proved fruitless, by the fact, as none is alive now who had the knowledge. We (my wife and I) desided in order to continue the legacy, included the surname Mudambi to our children in their name.
I was born a Capricorn, as per the Zodiac and as per Hindu system, in Mesha Rashi, Aswini Nakshatram,1st Pada. My mother toungue is Telugu. In school I was taught in Kannada, the official language of then Mysore state or the present-day Karnataka. Teaching in English medium was a choice that was allowed from the intermediate grade. Kolar district being on the Andhra Pradesh border, speaking Telugu was very common in day-to-day life. Learning two languages came in handy later in life.
My Parents-Early life
My father, Varada Venkatesan (affectionately called Varadu or Varadappa) was the eldest son and third child of my grandparents. In his early childhood, it is said, he spent most of his waking hours at a neighbor’s home. He grew up to be a handsome boy with bright, intelligent eyes and serious disposition, It was said he was not the easily mixing, socializing type but a serious student. It is worth mentioning that G.Ramaiah of Ballagiri was a real close friend during my father’s studies at Bangalore and later during the first job. They stayed together in the outhouse of Rangapinnamma (the youngest sister of my paternal grandmother) in Basavagudi, Bangalore. G. Ramaiah was the second son of tatagaru’s second sister as mentioned earlier. No other bosom friend was known to be there to my father.
He completed his education at age 21 or 22 with a Master’s degree in Mathematics and secured the first position (rank) in the University. He ws awarded the Gold Medal by the University of Mysore. He was the first person in the family to get that distinction.
This was the year 1937/38. The Government of Mysore, under the Dewanship of Sir Mirza Ismail, offered him a job in the Electricity Department on a ‘grand’ salary of Rs.39 per month. The days were kind, in those days, that one could live fairly comfortably even at that level of earnings. While working, however, my father took the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) examination and passed creditably in the written papers. In our family he is the first and last person to qualify in the written examination of IAS which was then and is even now considered a Herculean task. But he was disqualified medically due to weakness in one eye. Thus he lost the chance of serving as an IAS Officer. A big blow indeed. I was told though that he was born perfect and handsome. An incident in his school days had taken its toll. In his early school age, while playing chinni danda (a crude form of cricket) he was hit in one of his eyes by the flying chinni (a 3 to 4 inches long, 1 to 1.5 inches diameter, hard wooden piece with both its ends sharpened like a pencil). That had ruptured a vein supplying blood to the eye and caused permanent damage.
But the government offered him an Assistant’s position in the Central Governments department of defence Accounts and posted him to Shimla, the then summer capital of India. My uncle recalls how they were all excited when they heard of this posting for my father. The Kolar Municipal Council organized a public meeting to felicitate and honor my father. That was, indeed, a proud day for my grandfather and the family as a whole. Soon after his completion of studies, in the summer of 1939, my father was married to his niece, Kuppachi Padmavathi, called Padma (my fathers elder sister Velakkamma’s daughter). I was born in December 1941 and went to Shimla along with my mother and grandmother to live with my father. I do not have much recollection of that period as I was too young. Later I was told about the past. I was told that my sister was born in Shimla in July 1943. My father contracted pleuracy and was advised to go a warmer and drier climate for treatment. He returned to Kolar and was treated by the local District Medical Officer who headed the District Hospital in Kolar. Later he became the personal physician to the then Maharaja of Mysore. The treatment was good and my father made the expected recovery and by the year end, he was declared as good as cured and advised that he could join duty in a couple of months. My uncle (Ramamurthy) who had completed the first year intermediate examination in Bangalore was on vacation and attended on him during this period. My grandfather felt that my uncle should go to Saibaba of Siridi, near Nasik in Maharashtra to seek his blessing. My uncle undertook the journey, met the sage (he is only person in our family to have met the great sage) and got two big pieces of ‘vibhuti’ cubes as prasadam. Unfortunately for us, as he came out of the Ashram, he was knocked down by someone and he fell, resulting the breaking of the ‘vibhuti’ cubes. That was a bad omen, indeed. My father had a sudden relapse, the fluid from lungs, which was supposed to be drying up, entered the brain and my father died a fortnight or so later (on 2nd March, 1944) of meningitis. He was just 34 then. My uncle and all Family Members attended on my father till the very end but to no avail. At the time of my father’s death, I was only 2 years and 2 months old and my sister a mere 8 months. Thus a great soul, with a flair for Mathematics, had to go back with suffering in the prime period of his life. How true it is, as the saying also goes, that God calls back the good soul’s as soon as they complete the remainder of their Karma.My mother took two years to recover from the shock and trauma of widowhood at a very young age. I thank the modern thinking of Tatagaru in not allowing the barbaric rituals connected with widowhood prevalent in the society at that time to come into any kind of effect. He was logical in thinking for the right change and firm in decisions. Thus his actions were models for the benefit of society.
My mother had completed high school or matriculation examination when my father died. Encouraged by my grandfather and my uncle (her younger brother) who was then an engineering student in Bangalore, my mother resumed her studies, completed two-year pre-university program in 1948 and joined the Maharani’s college in Bangalore and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Science (B.Sc.) in mid-1950. She was in the hostel for one year and thereafter stayed with her brother who had by joined the IISc as a student in Aeronautical Engineering. The fellowship my uncle got allowed them to rent a small outhouse in Malleswaram and study. In August of that year, my uncle got a job with TISCO, Jamshedpur, which he joined. A few months later when he was able to get suitable accommodation, his immediate family joined him, which included his mother, my mother and two sisters. Also, from the very start of his career, he supported the grandfather financially. He realized the burden he had borne all along and that he was aging too. For the greater part of the time, until 1961 or so, my mother stayed with her brother (Uncle Ramamurthy). Later she stayed with her youngest brother (Chenni), who after he completed his studies took his first employment in Nagpur and later in Nangal in Punjab. I could take care of my mother and sister only after I completed my study in Engineering and joined the Steel Plant in Bhilai, MP(present Chattisgadh). This was in June 1965, soon after I completed the training (6 months from my date of joining as a GE - 20th August, 1964). I got alloted a independent house. My mother did not take up any job even though she was qualified. She was happy to stay at home and look after us.
I felt that by letting her work I would be doing injustice to the people who toiled their entire life for our house. The first person is a lady called as Gowramma. A very poor Brahmin lady who, as I was told, came to our house with her only son, a year or so old. She being very young Tatagaru and granny, with their kind heart, arranged for their safe & comfortable stay in a house inside the adjacent Anjeneya temple complex. She in turn used to help women folk in their various daily house chores. Her son, Ramanna, grew up passing metric (matriculation examination).
During this period of time Gowramma decided to perform her son Ramanna’s thread ceremony at Nanjanagud’s Nanjundeswara temple. I was attending the function on behalf of my family. We stationed ourselves at a hotel at Mysore. Next day early morning we went to Nanjanagud, had bath at the banks of the river there, Paschima Vahini. Then we went straight for the Upanyanam(thread ceremony) at the temple. After the function was over we had the darshan of the presiding deity. We were told Tippu Sultan (a former ruler of the kingdom of Mysore) presented the Shiva Lingam, light blue in colour. He became a devotee of Lord Shiva after an incident where of his prayers, heard by the almighty, led to a near rebirth of his royal elephant that had fallen sick with no hope of its survival. The free lunch or prasadam served as Pangthi Bhojanawas extremely tasty. We returned to Kolar after seeing important attractions of Mysore, Sreerangapatnam and Brindavan.
Ramanna then worked at co-operative society distributing ration items. He married. With the encouragement and support of his wife (who had some experience in her father’s business), opened a small restaurant. It slowly expanded gaining popularity.
Gowramma was not alive to see and enjoy this. I was told my father was under her care. She has the knowledge of some kind of medicine, which has been a boon to our family. When I has an attack of rickets, a deadly desease, which deform the bone structure permanently, she prepared medicine and administered to me. This was with the permission and acceptance of all elders. It seems I went in to deep slumber, after medication, for almost two days putting every one to anxiety, in spite of Gowramma’s confidence. This was the first life I got from her. The second was when Typhoid attacked my sister and me at the same time. Dr.Ahobalachar was treating us. The present-day medicine was not yet discovered at that time. In my sisters case it aggravated with an appearance of blue patch spreading on the tongue. This was a dangerous condition and can spread to me the next patient. Again Gowramma took initiative &cured the condition. Now I wonder as why her wonderful Knowledge of cure to certain conditions of human suffering was not encouraged. I always respect her for giving me life twice. She worked hard from the time she became a member of the family, till her death with her only motivation being making his son, Ramanna, worthy. When he actually became successful and stood on his feet, she was not there. Can we not classify her as KARMA-YOGI???
The Second, a couple, I want to remember are Smt. Achamma and Shri.Venkatachalaiah. They lived at Gowdahalli, 10 to 12 miles from Kolar. Shri.Venkatachalaiah was a purohit. They had some fields with annual yield to support the family. They were family friends of tatagaru and if any distant relationship existed, I am not aware. For any function, pooja or help they used to come to our place and these visits were reciprocated. I remember visiting them a number of times .The village atmosphere used to give us a thrill. This family was also very attached to my father. After the death of my father, Achamma’s affection and love towards me grew further.
Chinna Seetharam, their 2nd son was at our house during his studies and then during work. He had become the right hand of Ranganathababa by helping in his day-to-day work and thus he became a part of the household.
In Maadhu’s friends, apart from Panchapakeshan, Gururaj can never be forgotten for his wit and stories. Gururaj, a Brahmin boy from a nearby village was studying from high school at Kolar. He and his friend used to stay in a room. Three days of the week he used to have his meals, as per tatagaru’s arranegment, at our house. I used to enjoy his stories and thus developed a special rapport with him. He also used to clear my doubts. After intermediate he has done his BA and MA in Archeology from Mysore University joining Archeological Survey of India. I heard later that he attained a good position.
My heart felt, sincere thanks goes to these people who influenced me, helped me and gave me a rebirth at one time or another in their association with our family.
CHILDHOOD
My childhood was spent wholly at my Grandpa’s house, whom we used to call Tata. This big house, full of family members, was situated at Dodda Anjeneya (dodda prana devaru) Temple Street, in Kolar (district headquarters of Kolar district, Mysore state). Formerly known as Kuvalala.Kolar this name always brings to memory Gold. The gold mining area of the district was situated at a distance of 18 miles from here and was called KGF (Kolar Gold Field). The deepest mine was named CHAMPION’S REEF and was the deepest in the world (9959 feet deep). Britishers who set up mining operations here employed labor from Tamil Nadu (called kakas) and few locals. The other important mines were Marikuppam mine, Ooregaum mine, Koromandal /Coromandel mine, Golkunda mine, Mysore mine and Nandidurg mine. It was said that the area inside had a network of miles and miles of horizontal and vertical shafts in many layers as we went further down. The seams of gold ore were in the form of gold bearing freemilling quartz (sand) veins. The production was in the order of 800.3 tons of gold from 51.124 million tons of ore (approx 0.75 grams of gold per ton of ore mined and processed) over a period of 120 years. Extracts from the records say…” In that year 1873 Mr. M.F. Lavelle, a resident in Bangalore, retired from the army, with some knowledge of geology, applied to the Government for the exclusive privilege of mining in the Kolar District, his thoughts being principally directed to the possibility of finding coal. His request was granted on certain terms.. On these conditions, Mr. Lavelle commenced operations by sinking a shaft in 1875, near Oorgaum. But finding that large capital would be required for carrying out the work, he next year, with the approval of the Government, transferred all his rights and concessions to Colonel Beresford. This officer, with some friends among racing men, formed a syndicate known as the Kolar Concessionaires, who took up the matter in earnest … By 1881 the Concessionaires had secured the valuable aid of Messrs. John Taylor & Sons, a firm of mining Engineers in London. A general rush was then made for gold. … Up to 1891, about ninety seven square miles in all had been leased out for gold mining, the land being situated in every district except Bangalore. … In what was a desolate waste, a large flourishing town has sprung up, provided with most of the conveniences and institutions of European life. A branch railway on the standard gauge, 10 miles in length, was opened in 1893, running from the Bowringpet junction to the Bangalore line through most of the principal mining properties, and has proved an immense convenience and success. The principal commodity carried by it was coal, to which may be added timber and machinery.”
The population rose from 7085 in 1891 to 37964 in 1901!! Recent discoveries (1905) have disclosed that the lodes have a tendency to run in a direction towards the Dharwar Gold Mines, which presumably form part of the same geological formation, and as far as can be calculated the mines are capable of yielding gold in average quantities for many years to come.
This little mining town, about 22 kms, east of Bangalore, was once the pride of the erstwhile Mysore state, and also that of India. This gold mine produced a sizeable amount of gold during the days of the British Raj. It employed nationals from Britain, Italy, Germany and also a good number of Anglo -Indians. The entire labour force in those days, were the Tamils from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, who were the best preferred for their honesty, ability to work hard and with no ties to labour unions.
Other important historical places at Kolar…
Kolaramma Temple: Attributed to Rajendra Chola, this Dravidian structure has a well carved door and numerous inscription stones that belong to the Chola period. The deity Kolaramma is a form of Shakthi or Ma (Parvathi, the consort of Shiva). The Scorpion is her main weapon. Kolar was famous for many types of scorpions. It was believed that whoever worshiped Kolaramma ,the GRAM DEVATHA, got protection from the sting of scorpions which would cause nasty pain and at times even death.
Someswara Temple: A huge structure, with a massive Raj Gopuram, built in Chola period is the next attraction. Even to day, pooja is performed to Lord Someswara in lingaakara three times a day. The annual Rathutsava is a week long affair and done with ample pomp and show.
Kolar Betta : This hill also has a legendary name Shata-Shata-Shringa Parvata (the hundred peaked mountain). This hill has an extensive plateau on the top. This is also called Rushyashrunga parvatha. As the legend goes this is the place where lord Sri Rama met Hanuman and Sugreeva while searching for Seeta (from the epic Ramayana)..This may be true considering the huge population of monkeys in and around Kolar. Antharganga is a religious place on this hill almost midway of the highest peak. The temple is dedicated to Shiva, with a pond sourced by a perennial under ground source of water called Anthataganga or Pathala Ganga. This sacred water is organised to come through the mouth of black granite Nandi (bull) shaped carving. This area is developed as picnic come religious center. The annual rain fall in Kolar is a mere 11 inches and it faces water shortage every year. Anterganga’s source though never dries up. It is a mystery even today.
Our house’s main gate was situated in between the Anjeneya temple and the chariot (rath or thaeroo) shed of the temple, a huge and stately structure. Due to tatagaru’s popularity, name and fame in Kolar, our house was called and was well recognized as, Lawyergari Illu (Mr. Lawyer’s house).
I was my grandmother’s pet. Subbakamma was how everyone addressed her. She was a very gentle, soft spoken lady, with great tolerance. She was a very devoted house wife. She was very fond of music. She herself was a good Veena Player. She encouraged music in the house. Tatagaru was also a music lover and provided the right atmosphere for the children to learn vocal and instrumental music. My aunt was a good Carnatic musician. My mother also learned Vocal and Violin. The youngster’s learned from them.
My grandparents and all other members had a soft corner for me, probably because I was a boy born to the eldest son of the family, who is considered the Kula-Uddhaaraka (propagator of the family). Another reason might have been that of my father’s passing away at a young age and when we (my sister and I) were very young. So both of us do not remember any thing about our father. The incidents that took place in our father’s life were told to us, when we attained the age to grasp it.
I was told that I started talking early, at the age of 9 months. I was told that I used to call my father as Baba. That was at Simla, where Baba was working . I was addressed Kishore (meaning, young kid) by his friends at Simla. Probably Venkata Rama was a difficult name to pronounce for the North Indian’s and probably therefore the same appellation, Kishore, was adopted by father when calling me. The cold and moist weather of Simla, apparently did not suit my father. But he continued with the job which was considered as challenging, well-paying and difficult to get in those days (1938-1940) due to the threat of war (the Second World War). His health deteriorated with frequent bouts of high fever. He was forced to take long leaves and came over to Kolar, a dry place, for treatment. He was diagnosed as suffering from Pleurisy, a deadly decease of lungs. After a year-long treatment and medication, good response to treatment and near recovery was seen in him. Good hope of full recovery was given by the attending Doctors. A proper medicine had not yet been discovered for this condition. But research was on in the world. Father suffered a lot with this deadly disease of the lungs, in which the lungs get filled with liquid, making breathing extremely difficult. According to our family doctor Shri Ahobalachar and the District M.O., of Kolar, who were treating my father, they managed to get and try out the medicine that was under test and trial, from foreign laboratories. This showed good results (as stated earlier) but the patient died. The fatal day finally came on 2nd March 1944, when he was only 34. It was a big shock to all. but the biggest blow to my Tata, who was trying to forget the memories of previous unfortunate incidents faced by the family. My tata’s struggles, as a single earning member, responsible for taking care of the big family and how effectively he managed, I will take upon as a topic later.
Tatagaru apparently passed a resolution that I be called Kishore, the way my father used to call me with love. This was meant as respect to the departed soul. So from then on I was called Kishore by one and all. The name given to me during my Namakaranam, Venkata Rama, managed to survive in V.R.Kishore, as my name appears in all official records. This name thus replaced G. V. V. R. Kishore or M. V. V. R. Kishore, as it should have read fully, by the grace of my pinnamma (aunt), who enrolled me in primary school.
FAMILY TREE
The following FAMILY-TREE may be used as a reference for the story that follows.
The events presented below have taken place over a period of time, the recording may not be in chronological order, and only a few relevant facts are projected:
My fathers demise was the 3rd big blow to my grand parents, when they were just trying to forget and adjusting to the facts of life, taking responsibility and giving encouragement and support to the affected.
Velakkamma (30yrs), eldest daughter of Tatagaru, was happily married to Kuppachi Subramanyam, a practicing lawyer at Nellore (AP). They had 5 children (Padma, Ramamurthy, Hema, Kalyani and Madhavan) and Velakkamma was carrying (their sixth child) at the time of sudden death to her husband. This blow completely derailed her smooth sailing and happy life. She was at a complete loss with young children. Tatagaru, at that critical time, fully supported them. He brought them to Kolar, put the children in school and took full responsibility for his daughter and her family. Chandramouli, the sixth and the youngest of the Kuppachis was born at Tatagaru’s house. To ease the pain of my eldest aunt, my mother who was Velakkamma’s eldest daughter (Kuppachi Padma) was married to Velakkamma’s brother, the eldest son of Tatagaru, G.S.Varadavenkateshan. My father. Thus my mother became the eldest daughter-in-law to the Mudambi family.
Thus when routine life and peace was established in the home, Sharadamma, Tatagaru’s youngest daughter who was married to Subramanyam, came back home due to a misunderstanding between her and her husband. The marriage solemnized less than 2 years earlier, had broken. She was pregnant when this took place. Their only daughter, Sulatha, a year younger to me, was born at Tatagaru’s house and lived there thereafter. I heard that lots of attempts were later made to resolve the disagreement between Sharadamma and her family. Apparently though, all efforts failed. It was a very sensitive issue and frankly even today, why it happened, is a mystery. Those few who knew, kept it to themselves. This that happened to their youngest daughter, was the second blow to my Tatagaru and my grandmother, Subbakkamma. They just gulped this fact into the depth of their hearts.
My father’s (their eldest son) death at his prime age was indigestible to Tatagaru and specially to my grandmother and my father’s mother, Subbakamma. And it happening just after the above two misfortunes made it so much harder for them. Time, the greatest healer and God’s true boon to humanity slowly pushed these memories to back quarters of the heart and Tatagaru’s boat sailed ahead, facing the new challenges of life with a hope for a brighter future.
Krishnaveni (also called Kittakkamma), Tatagaru’s second daughter was married to Capt. Dr. Rapur Rama Chandran. He worked for medical corps of the Army at the African front during the 2nd World War. After the war he retired from the army commission and served as civil surgeon at Tirupathi, Chandragiri, Kalahasthi and some more places, all in AP. I remember visiting them at all these places along with elder family members. They were blessed with two daughters and two sons. Prasad and Chandrashekar, the two sons were born after the eldest daughter, Subbalakshmi (also known as Puppy or Pinnamma) and the youngest daughter, Uma.
Seethamma, Tatagaru’s third daughter and 4th issue (after my father) was married to Muppirala Jagannatham. He was a landlord at Kondoor village, very near to Sulurpet, AP. Chanchala, was their eldest daughter, followed by two sons Jagadeesh and Siri respectively. I do not remember having met Shri.Jaganatham. Seethamma too, as far as my remembrance goes, never visited (or was allowed to visit) her Puttinaillu (house of birth) either on casual or special occasions or festivals. Once Tatagaru, took us (Sulatha, Sreelekha and myself) to Madras. We stayed at the house of Shri T.D.Ramaiahgaru in Tandiyyarpet (a suburb of Madras). He was my grandmother’s brother. He worked as 1st class magistrate. He was the only relative who owned a car at that time. I was 12 years old then. He took us to important places around Madras. Every day after coming back from court he used to go to Triplicane or Marina beach. We used to enjoy the waves and the breeze, apart from eatables like Sundal, Nippattu, cut mango pieces with salt and chilli powder sprinkled on them, etc. Ramaiahgaru had a big collection of books on all subjects. He was a voracious reader. He had in his library, books suitable for children also. Actually he had books to catch the interests of every age and taste. He used to give me books to read and liked either the story to be retold by me or he would ask me questions about the story. He used to explain in very simple words any part of the book that we failed to grasp the meaning of. Though we were there for only 10 days, he kindled my interest in reading. He used to keep a tab on how we were doing our reading when he used to visit Kolar or through his letters where he encouraged the habit of reading books. He liked my mother’s brother, Ramamurthy (I call him uncle), very much. He took special interest in Uncle Ramammurthy’s studies and in moulding him. During this trip Tatagaru took us to Kondoor. The bus took 2 hours from Madras. We met Seethamma, Chanchala, Jagadeesh (a small boy then) but could not meet Uncle as he was out of station. I remember the Kondoor trip so well because in their thatched roof house, I was bitten by a scorpion for the first time.
My father’s marriage and that of Seethamma’s was performed together on the same day at Kolar, by Tatagaru.
M.S.Ranganathan (Ranganathababa), Tatagaru’s second son (5th issue) was married to Subbalakshmi, Kittakkamma’s eldest daughter. Kittakkamma was Tatagaru’s second daughter and Ranganathababa’s sister. So this marriage was also within the family relations like my father’s. Pinnamma (as I call Subbalakshmi) had become the second daughter-in-law of the Mudambi family. They were blessed with 5 children. Revathi and Harini were the two elder daughters. Then they had a son, Srinivas, followed by two more daughters, Sashi and Madhavi. At that time Ranganathababa was studying. He continued his studies to qualify himself as BA LLB. He started, in the footsteps of Tatagaru, by practicing law at Kolar. He was a civil lawyer. He got the goodwill of people due to the name and fame Tatagaru had earned, for some time. He could not get the opportunity to work with Tatagaru himself, as his junior, which would have gotten him the maximum exposure at learning the trade. This was because the final law examinations were going on for Ranganathbaba when Tatagaru passed away. This was year 1954. He, now being the eldest son, (as my father, the eldest, was no more) could not come back to perform Tatagaru’s last rites because his exams were on. I will talk about my Tatagaru’s passing away later. At that time I has passed out of intermediate grade and had got admission towards a B.Sc. Ranganathababa, after his graduation, must have worked for some years (where, I do not know) before he went for his LLB at Hubli.
M. S. Balasubramanyam (we call him Subbubaba), Tatagaru’s youngest son (6th issue) completed his B A (Honors) in Geology and joined Burma-Shell. It was an oil, petrol and diesel distributing come marketing company. He was married at Bangalore to Tondekere Keshavaiah Leela (I call her Leela pinnamma). They had a son, Avinash (also called Varadu I think) followed by a daughter (Amita). Subbubaba’s job being a transferable job, every 3 to 4 years he was asked to report at a new place. As Burma-Shell was a private company, the salary and facilities provided to its employees were comparatively very good in those days. So the inconveniences of frequent transfers were tolerated. As children we (Sulatha, Sreelekha and myself) always looked forward to more frequent visits from Subbubaba to Kolar. This was because he used to bring us nice presents and chocolates.
As an aside I should mention that the way both my paternal uncle’s (chinanna’s, meaning small father or in other words, younger brother to father) got the ending “baba” in their names, Ranganathbaba and Subbubaba, along the line, the same way I started off by calling my father Baba.
EDUCATION
After my father’s death, Tatagaru and uncle (Ramamurthy) took some bold steps regarding my mother’s life (daughter-in-law and first granddaughter of the Mudambi family). To reduce the haunting memories of her great loss and to divert her attention, Tatagaru with firm conviction convinced all family members including my mother, to continue her education. Thus she was admitted at a Missionary school run by a Christian mission where she completed Intermediate grade. Then she completed her B. Sc. at Bangalore. In the same school my mothers younger sisters (Hema and Kalyani) were also studying at different levels. A kindergarten was also run by the same school. So I was put in there at the age of three of three and a half. My pinni (Hema), used to carry me to that KG section and leave me there. Then after attending her classes used to pick me up and bring me back home. I do not remember any of it.
During that period of 2nd World War the Cholera epidemic was a big threat. It spread throughout the world taking a big toll on human and animal life. Added to it was the Great Famine which also swept the world. The only proven and adopted method to counter and control the spread of Cholera was keeping the surroundings clean and spraying DDT. Somehow, the fear of the people who came to spray the DDT (Pumpkottevallu, or literally, those who Pump) was deeply embedded in me. I gather from others that the mere mention of the word would scare me and I would get a fever. I used to take shelter at a corner of Annar (ref. Tatagaru’s house plan) with a face pale with fear. My mother’s mother or my father’s mother used to take care of me and tried to get rid of that fear from my mind. It finally did go away.
Schooldays’ Adventures
At the age of 5, I was admitted to the Government Primary School, Kolar. There I continued from 1st to 3rd standard. During this period, I was privileged, to have tuitions at home. Shri.Sripadachar, a retired school master was my appointed tutor or guru. He was a soft spoken, affable man. He had lot of patience. I remember well, how I used to pretend to be sleeping at the time of his arrival and how I was dragged from there to the master. This was a regular feat, my showing resistance to learning. Shri.Sripadachar used to call me with a very sweet voice Kishooraa and tell stories from the epics in between the lessons to make it tick. Now I realize how good his method of teaching was, to make the children understand the basics of any subject. I feel guilty now of not taking full advantage of his teaching skills and his knowledge. During my college days whenever I used to visit Kolar, I made it a point, to meet this first guru and to prostrate before him to get his blessings. The last I met him was when I came home after 2nd year engineering at BIT Mesra, Ranchi, Bihar. He was a very old man with all old age deficiencies bothering him. This time I took along with me fruits, a dhoti, a shawl and a sari for the grand old couple. They were overwhelmed with emotion and today I feel that those true blessings of them do have a part in my well being now. I heard after a year or so they both left for heavenly abode in quick succession.
During this period, in the evenings we (Sulatha, Sreelekha and I) used to regularly go to the town park. We would take along, Revathi and later Revathi and Harini, to play. We would return home strictly by 6:30 PM, study our respective class work till 8:30 PM.and then we would go for dinner.
At times we used to go for a walk or a run along with Tatagaru. He used to tell stories, news about the happenings from around the world. Tatagaru was a very pious man. He was connected with the activities of the Temples in the town. After Sandhavandanam (evening prayers) and pooja he used to go for a long and brisk walk, covering all the Temples in the town. As a trustee he would also give directions and guidance to the concerned temple persons. The trip used to be almost 2.5 to 3 miles covered in less than 2 hours including stoppages. He would then attend any party waiting for him or would have his dinner and then attend to the office work till late into the night. The early rising and the routine used to go on everyday with out any deviation (his routine is dealt with in detail in the section called Roots-Overview). The lunch was made ready by my grandmother helped by my mother by 9AM, for the Neiveidyam (offering to God). Three poor students, one per day, used to come on fixed days for lunch called Varannamu. Such was my Tatagaru’s magnanimity in spite of having a large family to take care of.
‘Walking’ with Tatagaru was the equivalent of running for us. But we used to take up that task for two reasons. One was to listen to his narration of stories from the epics and the second was for the prasadam at the temples he used to visit. He also initiated a Veda Pathashala (Veda School), where the Vedas were taught to students gurumukh. Gurumukh means learning vedas as it is prescribed in scriptures; by repeated practice of recital till it is memorized so that the student is capable of recitation with same tone and volume. Thus he not only earned a very good name as a criminal lawyer at the court but an equally good name in the society.
I studied grades 4th to 7th at the Government Middle School, Kolar. It went off routinely. At that time, 7th was a board (nationwide) examination. The examination. fee of Rs 5/=.was collected for this. This was the stepping stone for High School and further education. This system of conducting a board examination for the 7th grade was abandoned following our batch. The joy that the results of the 7th grade’s board exam was a PASS, was short lived. The celebrations lasted only till the marks sheet came. In Arithmetic, my score was 38/100. The minimum passing marks were 35. Tatagaru became very upset and angry. In the fit of frustration, as to how I was born to a University Gold Medalist in Mathematics, he slapped me on the face and pushed me to the room named Mamar (see Tatagaru’s house plan, Kolar) with instructions not to give me food. All this happened, before he left for the court that day. My grandmother was very sad and had not taken her food. Several others followed suit. But they could not go against Tatagaru’s words, not due to fear but due to respect for him. The soft hearted Tatagaru came very early from court to find about me. The message that nothing was served to me and that I was still locked up in the room, was not relished by him. Moved by his impulsive harsh action he personally brought food to me and fed me with his own hands. He analyzed the question paper and my answers afterwards and remarked that the bad result was due to silly mistakes I had made due to my casual attitude and carelessness. From then onwards, in spite of his busy schedule, he allotted a time slot to look into my progress with studies and to clear any of my doubts. Thus he guided me and kept tab of my progress. This was his approach. Though externally he acted tough at times, his heart was filled with love and compassion to all.
Tatagaru’s House Plan, Kolar
My mother graduated in the Science stream with PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) as her main subjects from Mysore University, at Maharani’s college, Bangalore in the year 1950. Maharani’s was a women’s college. At that time I was in class 5. I had just moved to the middle school from primary school). At that time Uncle (Ramamurthy) had completed his B.E. (Mechanical Engineering) degree at the Government Engineering College, Bangalore and was studying at Indian Institute Of Science (Tata Institute) for his post graduate diploma in Aeronautics Engineering. This was on a granted scholarship of Rs.400 per month. This was barely sufficient to take care of college fees and his and his mother’s expenses. With B.Sc. degree in hand my mother (I was told later) had tried for a job. But the world, in this part and at that time, was not encouraging a woman’s employment . So my mother’s wishes to work and earn so as to ease Tataharu’s monetary burden (may be a UDDATHA BHAKTI, as the squirrel trying help to Lord Rama in building a bridge to Lanka on the sea) remained a dream.Uncle (Ramamurthy) who secured job at TISCO, after his Aeronautics degree from IISc, Bangalore, quickly settled at Tata Nagar, Bihar. He not only shifted his mother and sisters (including my mother) to stay with him, but also financially strengthened Tatagaru to the extent possible. Uncle was a generous hearted person from his child hood. (I will touch upon this in more detail later).
In the year 1953, I completed my middle school education and stepped into High School at the Government High School, Kolar. My sister, Sreelekha and cousin Sulatha had by then then just entered middle school. I started playing football behind the Dargah (Mosque). Most of the teammates were Muslim. Their company made me talk in Urdu or broken Hindi to communicate better. This helped me when I stepped in Hindi speaking Bihar, for my engineering studies.The Dargah of Kolar has its historical importance. Hyderali Khan, the father of Tippu Sultan, was laid to rest here. It was called by the name Hyderali Darga. Tippu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, was a powerful ruler, who tried to unify the all small princely states to one. His dream of establishing a powerful Hindu state under his control and drive away British was only partially successful. The British were slowly gaining control in their efforts to make India a British colony. This was also made possible with the help of some trusted Lieutenants of Tippu, whose greed turned them to helping the British. The British army defeated and killed Tippu at the battle of Srirangapatanam.. Thus unfortunately his noble thoughts efforts came to an end.During the three years of high school studies things went normally. My understanding of the subjects and scoring had drastically improved. My mother was able to guide me when ever she was at Kolar. The only thing I remember of my high school days was the starting of the midday meals programme. Our Kannada language teacher KM was the canteen in-charge. Thus his initials matched to his additional job and he was called the Kanteen Master. During this period of time, my uncles (Madhu and Chenni,.my mothers younger brothers) earned a good name in playing football. They were there in all important matches. May be that made me play football at the Dargah. I used to watch their matches at our High School grounds, along with my friends.
That day was my 12th birthday. My mother gave me 4 annas to buy toffees. In the evening I purchased a few toffees and a meetha paan (betel leaf prepared with sweet ingredients). With paan in mouth, I came running home to distribute the toffees . My mother, on seeing paan in my mouth got angry and slapped with such a force that the half chewed pan fell out of my mouth leaving her finger impressions on my cheeks. She started shouting that today you have gone for paan, tomorrow would be bidi(small handrolled cigarette popular in India) and then a cigarette etc. That incident kept me away from any such temptations in the future. So that was the atmosphere at Tatagaru’s house. No one had any of these habits or tolerated them of anyone born in the family.During the summer vacations of 1954 (I was 13), just after class 8 examinations, an opportunity for a long journey presented itself. Subbubaba had been posted and had joined few days earlier, at Salur in AP. He asked me to accompany Leela pinnamma during that long journey as an escort. The route was from Banglore to Madras, then changing to a train to Visakhapatnam and there changing to a train to Bobbili (on the Raipur route) and then a final leg from Bobbili to Salur. Those days with only one or two trains in the route and with a single track and steam locomotives, you can imagine the time factor, apart from long waiting time enroute at the three transfer points. Subbubaba received us at Bobbili around 7 PM and the local passenger train to Salur was at 9 PM reaching at 10:30 PM (last leg of hardly 40 miles). It took more than two and a half days for the whole journey. After earlier experiences of so called long journeys to Banglore, Madras and Kondoor all along with elders, this was an escort duty. I was considered a person with Telugu speaking knowledge. Leela pinnamma did not know Telugu. So I was the one supposedly capable of managing things in Andhra Pradesh. Interestingly though, the people there (Bobbili and Salur) were not at all able understood the Telugu I spoke. Leela pinnamma asked me to get some sugar from the shop. When I asked for Panchadara they could not understand. Help taken from others in the vicinity was also was of no use. So then I simply entered the store, searched for the gunny bag containing sugar and then pointed to it. The immediate reaction was “Oh, you want Patica Pandu!” That was the local terminology for panchadara or chakkera. So it was a tough proposition even for Subbubaba.
College Studies
In the summer of 1956 I joined the Government Intermediate College, Kolar, after completion of ” metric” (the popular short-form for matriculation or SSLC, Secondary School Leaving Certificate). In “metric” I scored a high percentage to secure the 1st class. The medium of instruction changed to English here. This certainly helped my future education also. Initially I was confused a lot by the sudden terminology change from vernacular (Kannada) to English, especially in science subjects. taking notes in English was a challenge too. Sensing this Tatagaru organized coaching in English.
Shri Swaminatha Iyer, retired and living in the next to next house (after the Rath Shed), was appointed to teach me English. Along with me my friends Guru Murthy, Narayana Murthy, Narayana Swamy and Raja Rao (a total of 5) in our batch joined. He used to run one more batch at different time,
Our master was short in structure (5’ 4”) compared to Mrs.Iyer, a 6 footer. She was a very kind hearted lady. They had 5 sons and a daughter (2nd issue). Their eldest son taught us science in high school and left the job to join as a Railway Guard. Their second son ( 3rd issue), Panchabakeshan, was a class mate of my second uncle, Madhavan. Punjab, as every one used to call him, was also a very tall, handsome and well built person (like his mother). He was liked by one and all at our house. Mostly he used to spend time with Madhavan and Chenni at our house. Other sons of Mr and Mrs Iyer, prospered well in life also, but were not close to us. This was because after the demise of Shri. Swaminatha Iyer, the family shifted to Delhi. Punjab, getting a job at Delhi and his sister, married and living there, made Mrs Swaminatha Iyer live with them at Delhi.
Our English classes went on well. But now I feel that at that time adequate importance was not given to mastering the English grammar. So that has become a weak link in my written English.. Added to that was the fact that, even during my years at work at the Bhilai Steel Plant later in life, the writing part was miniscule compared to either physical or mental exertion. Thus in spite of cultivating a good reading habit, my written English never quite caught up.
Only after joining college, did I get two white pyjama pants stitched. Till then I had been only wearing shorts. My hair was cropped during early childhood, unlike my father and others who used to have long hair which they maintained daily by combing and then weaving into a braid. Dhoti, shirt, coat and occasionally a belt to hold the dhoti in place, was the dress during their studies. I have seen group photos of my father and his friends taken during some college function, with such an attire. I was lucky to be on the path of modern attire and looks. Two years of Intermediate studies went off well. I passed out in 1st class (years 56-57 and 57-58). .
After the 1st Intermediate year and during the summer vacation, Subbubaba and Leela pinamma were at Kolar for the holidays. Subbubaba was working then at the Bellary Depot of the Burma-Shell Company. One day when we were all sitting on the arugu (see Tatagaru’s house plan) chit- chatting, Subbubaba asked me to announce the time (as the clock was not in his line of sight). The wall clock was on the wall opposite to the main entrance to the house. It was clearly visible from the “Tulsi khatta” to every one. But to me the small and big hands of the clock were not visible clearly enough to announce the time. So, to get a clearer view, I started moving towards the clock. I was almost at the clock before I could see the hands clearly enough to announce the time. Subbubaba upon noticing this, asked me how I was able to see the black board in the classroom. Being a first bencher I could manage to directly to take notes, or would copy the notes from friend’s notes later. This confirmed that my eye sight was not OK. As I still had many days of the summer holidays remaining, Subbubaba took me along to Bellary. The first thing he had done was to take me to an eye doctor. It was revealed there that I was short sighted and also needed astigmatic correction, The power correction was -2.5 to both the eyes (considered high). The spectacles were ordered and I got them after 4 days. It was the 1st day of me wearing spectacles. Objects became so clear around me that everything was like a new discovery. The uneven surfaces of the roads were so glaring that I was afraid that I may fall. I practically relearned walking. Till I got used to wearing spectacles, I used to feel discomfort at the nose bridge and the ear support. From that time on wards the power increased to –4.5 in about 5 to 6 years time. Then it stayed constant till my 60s and now is showing a tendency to decrease. Thus spectacles have become an integral part of me since that first day in the summer of 57.
At home there in Bellary, along with Leela pinamma, I used to participate in cooking experiments. The judge was poor Subbubaba. As my college reopening was approaching, before I left for Kolar, a picnic was arranged to Hampi and the Tunga-bhadra dam. The day was Sunday. The whole of Saturday we prepared many items for the picnic. We packed and kept ready the eatables and other picnic items, as we were leaving early the next morning by Taxi. Hampi, once a powerful city under the rule of Sri Krishna Deva Raya as a part of the Vijayanagara Samrajyam (empire) was found by two brothers, Hakka and Bhukka, with the help of a great visionary and saint, Vidyaranya. The old glory is being attempted to be slavaged as a national treasure by the Department of Archeology , though it is in ruins. For details visit: http://www.nbs.ntu.ac.uk/staff/shirors/Hampi.html. The famous Virupaksha temple is still used for worship with Trikala poojas. When the lamps are lit on festivals the sight is simply unforgettable. After the darshan and Pooja of Virupaksha , the grand temple deity, we also visited Pathaleswara, stone chariot. We saw big stone carving of Hakka battling with a lion, the huge stables for elephants and horses. The massive sculptures of Ganesha and the Ugra Narasimha are amongst the more popular. They are carved in monolith (single stone), each 6 to 7 m tall. The glory and the riches of the rulers is clearly visible even now though the area is now in ruins.
From there, we left for the Tunga-Bhadra Dam. It is an irrigation (storage of 132 tmc Ft) come power generation ( 57 MW) multipurpose dam. It is a beautiful concrete masonry dam constructed on a narrow opening in the mountain range. Either side of the dam has watch towers, named Vikunt and Kailash. In the left bank’s beautifully landscaped garden, hungry, we found all the food made and packed at home, missing! Then we realized that we had forgotten the food back in the house. So we started off to Hospet, 40 miles away and the nearest town, in search of some thing to eat. On the way we could get some bananas. The road to Hospet is hilly with winding road and downward gradient. At this point, the driver declared brake failure. Inspite of that the driver managed to bring the car, employing all his driving skills, very slowly in that rugged territory, to Hospet. The car was repaired there. And finally we reached home in Bellary, in the dead of the night, only to find the food packed and ready, mocking us and spoilt. So how can such an experience be forgotten.
Death of beloved Tatagaru
Summer of 1958,before I joined finally for the degree course of B.Sc, a sad incident took place; the demise of Tatagaru, the pillar of the Mudambi family. That day being the annual ceremony of his grand mother’s death my grandfather performed the rituals strictly as prescribed by the sastras. After feeding the brahmins, the prasadam from the ceremony was distributed and that was followed by lunch. It was 4pm then . Tatagaru asked all to go for a movie (evening show starting at 6:30 PM ) to realx after the heavy duties of the day. I went to play football. Apparently he performed his evening pooja ritual and at the end of the worship, as was the normal practice every day, he prostrated before God with reverence. But did not get up. The camphor lit harathi was still burning as noticed by me when I entered the house after play somewhere between 6:35 and 6:45 PM. Getting a strange feeling that some thing was abnormal I called out Tata, TATA … many times but with no response. Then ran to get help, as no one was at home. All had gone to the movie at Prabath talkies. So I first called Gowramma who was next door and also used to work in our house. After seeing tatagaru’s not responding to her calls she asked me to call Dr. Ahobalachar, our family doctor and also to inform all family members at Prabhat talkies. I first informed the doctor who rushed to our home. I was in a fix as to what to announce at that juncture to the family elders. The movie had just begun and I was there to give this news. All rushed back home. The doctor declared him dead, prostrating before God, 30 minutes ago, due to heart failure.
It was described as quick painless death granted by God, befitting his devotee. He died, thus, while saying his last prayers! He was, indeed, a great soul.
As far as my remembrance goes we had not seen Tatagaru complain of or having any illness . He was hale and healthy till the last moment. The secret of his good health we attribute to his time management and discipline.
The news of Tatagaru’s heavenly journey spread like wild fire and the whole of Kolar (relatives, friends, colleagues, juniors, Judges, various religious and temple-related acquaintances and others) flocked towards the “LAWYERVARI-ILLU” (the Lawyer’s House) to pay their last respects to the departed soul and to condole the family members. Unfortunately my grandmother, Subbakkamma, was at Jamshedpur with my Uncle (her grand son ) and Velakkamma (the eldest daughter) on a hoilday visit. Thus granny was not present at the time of Tatagaru’s death. Unfortunately, in spite of the news being immediately passed on to them, they were not in a position to reach Kolar for the last face darshan of the departed soul, though they started immediately. As Ranganathababa and Subbubaba, my paternal uncles (chinnannas), were not in town, they too were informed. Even if they rushed back it took more than 2 to3 days to reach Kolar. So it was decided by elders, Pedda Seetharamaiah and our family purohit, in consultation with available family members (all female except Madhu, Chenni and myself) that the cremation would be arranged the following morning. And in the absence of Tatagaru’s sons, they nominated Madhu (uncle Rama Murthy’s younger brother and the 2nd grand son of Tatagaru from his eldest daughter) to perform the last rites. The body was preserved in ice overnight, as it was summer. Next day Madhu lit the fire after going through all the elaborate and appropriate ceremonies. Maybe it was a coincidence or maybe Tatagaru knew in advance (sixth sense) that his last days were approaching, for only a few months earlier Madhu’s UPAKARMA was performed. Upanayanam (thread ceremony) was considered a prerequisite for performing certain activities as per Sastras. And at that juncture Madhu was the only male member qualified. It was considered a great honor for Madhu, the grand son from the daughter’s side, performing the last rites for his grandpa. Under those circumstances, if I had under gone Upanayanam by that time, I would have been the natural or obvious choice for doing the last rites, since I was a sons son. All out-stationed family elders and relatives joined us for mourning, later. The 12 days of ceremonies went off fine. The 13th day was Vaikuntha Samaradhana, a thanks-giving to all who participated in our grief, gave us strength to bear the great loss and helped in the process of connected the Vidhi’s.
Thus Tatagaru, a KARMA YOGI in true sense, went to the land of GOD. But his blessings and teachings always stayed with us. To us, his memories, his love and affection, his way of tackling a difficult situation, his actions based on rich experience, his practical approch, his SEVABHAVAM (to help the needy) and many more virtues are the guidelines he left us . His memories, deep rooted in us, always caution us to think before acting, to pursue right action in his foot steps, with out hurting the feelings of others.
After declaration of result and with my marks card in hand, I applied for Engineering studies at Mysore University apart from sending the application for a B.Sc. course. Uncle (in absence of Tatagaru), influenced me and insisted my going for Mechanical Engineering. He explained that due to industrial revolution taking place every where in the world, this brand of engineers were in great demand. As he had predicted, in those days, production machines was in great demand to achieve higher turnovers than from labor oriented methods. This was the basis of his argument for giving preference to the Mechanical branch. I was called for engineering selection interview at Davanagere, an industrial and educational center. The chairman of the technical education board was the then vice- chancellor of Mysore University, Dr.Javaregowda. He was known as a pukka anti-Brahmin and always tried to discourage Brahmin’s to come up in life. During the interview, after seeing my credentials, he remarked that, since I have scored good marks in chemistry (98/100) I should join B.Sc and continue for Master’s etc. in chemistry. He further added the record indicates my flair for chemistry and so it is better to pursue that subject. The result was that I was not selected for engineering studies in spite of a 95% in PCM group (Physics Chemistry Mathematics) in Intermediate studies.
So joined for B.Sc, a 2 years course. I was a little late in accepting the seat for BSc, due to adventures of technical stream process. In spite of this, I was very lucky, to get seat at Central College, Bangalore. It was considered as a top rung college by the Government, with a dedicated faculty. I could not secure the hostel accommodation . So myself and Rajarao (son of Library Sreenivasaiah of Kolar, a class mate from schooldays) were sailing the same boat and took a room at Nrupathunga Road, South End , Basavanagudi, a suburb of Bangalore. Our college was about 4 miles away. We took bus passes. We used to often cook food both times. we also joined a mess (dining hall) called Annapoorna, for some time during that year. Annapoorna was serving food two times a day for 30 Rupees per month. Payment terms being pay in advance, collect coupons and use those to pay on a daily basis. As we could not participate in any games, we used to go for long walks after college hours or walk back from college for exercise. My total expenditure was footed by Uncle (Rama murthy) and this continued till my completion of Engineering and joining Bhilai Steel, Bhilai for a job.
After completion of 1st year B.Sc, with a 98% aggregate in PCM, I reapplied for Mechanical Engineering at Mysore University. This move was as advised by Uncle. His argument was that if I got through, I will be coming out as an Engineer an year earlier as compared to when I would if I joined Engineering after my B.Sc. The technical selection board organized the interviews again at Davanagere. The chairman was again Dr. Javaregowda . At the interview I was surprised by the memory of the chairman, who said, ” Mr. Kishore, we have met here last year and now in B.Sc. 1st year also, you have scored very high marks in Chemistry. So, why do you not continue to pursue studies in Chemistry and become a scientist as I advised last year?” The interview ended. I continued towards my B.Sc graduation.
In the final year I joined the Central College hostel. Also I got an old bi cycle for transportation. The hostel food was good. Every Sunday and on festival days we were served sweets and special dishes. The mess bill was considered to be the highest in Mysore state at that time, Rs. 45 per month to cover breakfast, lunch, evening tea/coffee and dinner. The room was a double occupancy type, with a cot and a study table for each occupant. Money, regularly sent by Uncle, was sufficient to take care of all expenses. I even managed to see English movies in the MG Road (Mahatma Gandhi Road) area of Bangalore. I also developed the habit of reading English novels, mostly fiction (detective and spy stories mostly ). This was a deviation from my earlier years when I was reading only Telugu and Kannada novels, detective or historical. Staying in the hostel provided both time and easy access to sports. So played Basketball and at times Cricket. Rajarao stayed at a relatives house, which eased his food and accommodation problems. Ranga pinnama (granny’s sister) used to call us for festivals. If we were in town and had not gone to Kolar, we used to enjoy home cooked food as a welcome change. Thus the year passed unnoticed. I did well in the examinations of final year B.Sc.
I will be failing in my duty if I do not mention the names of some of the teaches (or Professors) who taught us. Some had already earned laurels in their areas of specialization. My sincere respects to all of them. They were English Professor Anantmurthy, Physics Professor Ramalingam, Mathematics Professor Sreenivasa Iyengar, Kannada and Chemistry Professor’s names I cannot recall. Of these, the Kannada and Mathematics Professors, were already famous for original work in their subject. They had books written to their credit. Others in course of time rose to very high positions with their original work. Once again my sincere thanks and respects to them.
This time Uncle advised me to apply for Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs), College of Enginnering - Roorkee, and BIT-Mesra - Ranchi, along with Mysore University, to have more options. I took the entrance test of IIT and Roorkee. In IIT entrance I could do well in English, Physics and Mathematics, but the Engineering Drawing paper was Greek to most of the exam takers including me. We had no basic knowledge or awareness about it. You can guess the result. The Roorkee entrance test was very tough. BIT-Mesra was not having any selection test, but the selection was purely based of marks obtained in pre degree. In my case that meant, my intermediate marks. The additional qualification of holding a degree in science, got me a seat for the 4 year Mechanical engineering course. In the mean time I attended the 3rd interview in as many years at Davanagere with Dr.Javaregowda. The interview went along the same lines as in the previous years but with an additional remark about why I was trying to stick to Engineering studies like Vikramaditya to Betal (reference to King Vikramaditya and the Vampire, a series of fables in India). This time I was selected to study at Mysore University and the letter to that effect came when I already took the TC (transfer certificate) and joined BIT, Mesra, Ranchi (BIHAR). My destiny pulled me to BIT, Mesra.
Student life at BIT, Mesra, Ranchi
The day I got the telegram from Registrar, Birla Institute of Technology-Mesra, informing me that I was selected for the 4 year Mechanical Engineering course and requesting me to join immediately, my joy of achievement knew no bounds. The terms and conditions spelled out were that the annual fee would be Rupees 600, to be paid at the beginning of the session. The hostel room rent and the “mess” fees were to be paid monthly. It was a 100% residential college, meaning that all the students would have to stay on campus in the hostels provided for students. There were a lot of mixed feelings in the house upon reception of this news. Personally I was happy that I had finally made it. Granny expressed her fear about how I would survive at a place so far away and new to me. Some worried about the college fee, hostel fee and other expenses as it was considered a costly affair. Mother asked me to send a telegram (the quickest communication method available) to Uncle at Bombay to take his advise. Uncle who had joined a job at the Labor Institute, Bombay a little over a year before, had just then returned from Harvard. After he left the job with TISCO (owned by the Tatas) and joined the Labor Institute, it had sponsored him for a one year trip to Harvard. The next day a telegram, money order for Rupees150 towards my expenses during my journey and for books etc. came with a note that the annual fee had been sent to college directly along with a letter expressing my acceptance to join. Those clear-cut instructions emboldened everyone and prepared them for my journey. It was a quick and a bold decision taken by Uncle, encouraging and supporting me, with firm self commitment. That decision has become the greatest boon to me in shaping my life. I am and will be always indebted to him. Mother and I felt that God, in Uncle’s form showed us the way. Mother and Uncle were very happy. I applied for the TC (Transfer Certificate) to Mysore University, to be sent to me c/o Registrar, BIT. Then a week later I left for Ranchi, with all my clothes and books packed in a newly bought steel trunk (I still have that trunk with me). And with the blessings of all Gods (poojas were organised in all temples) and that of mother, grandmothers, maternal and paternal, all elders and family friends I was ready for the new life. There was a small fear lurking in my mind about how I would fare at that unknown place, with no or very little knowledge of Hindi, the most broadly spoken language of the area. How would I fare in the pursuit of technical knowledge. Hope of a better future was my only confidence booster. With such a mix of confidence and uncertainity, I left for BIT-Mesra, Ranchi, Bihar.
The journey was tedious with a change of trains at Madras and Kharagpur (on the Madras-Howrah line). To get to Ranchi I had to board the Howrah-Ranchi Passenger. This the last leg of the journey started at 2 AM at Kharagpur. Kharagpur, as an aside, has the honor of having the longest railway platform in the world, where trains stop one behind or in front of others unlike usual stations where trains stop on different parallel platforms. I reached Ranchi at 1 PM the next day. So the total journey almost spanned three and half days. I had received instructions that a college bus would pick me up at Fireyalal Chowk and that I would have to go there there from wherever I land at Ranchi. So after landing at the Ranchi Railway Station, I took a cycle rickshaw to Fireyalal Chowk and got into the college bus at 4 PM. I reached the campus, which was 14 miles away, on the Ramgadh Road and 2 miles inside off the main road at around 5 PM. The reception counter was open and a room with double occupancy was allotted to me in Hostel 2. It was 6:30 PM when I entered the room. The food at the “mess” (pure vegetarian only, it being a college owned by the Birla’s) was very good or maybe I was very hungry. I ate to my satisfaction and slept. My roommate had not arrived by then.
Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi, India, was founded by the philanthropist, industrialist Mr. B. M. Birla in 1955 as a pioneering institution of technical education and research in the ‘Industrial Heart’ of the country, Bihar (now Jharkand). Ours was the 5th batch of students. Only the 1st batch had graduated the previous year from Bihar University, Patna, which was the University BIT was affiliated to at that time. Our Director was Major Pande, retired from the army and a very strict man as far as discipline went. But he had a soft heart. He was loved and respected by one and all. The Registrar of the college was Mr. Malhotra. He was in charge of admission, hostel allotment, the “mess”, fees and academic scheduling etc. Thus he was an Implementation Officer for all the policies. We had two rows of three hostels perpendicular to the college main building. This made a big quadrangle with buildings on three sides. The collage building was two-storied with a central office block that extended on both sides to form a giant “L” shape. The office block had a high square tower rising out of it, with stairs leading to the terrace. The terrace had a giant dome shaped roof. The two outward extending arms of the building housed various departments, labs, lecture rooms etc. Beyond these arms, were various workshops housed in sheds. The Quadrangle formed between the college main building and the hostels was partially converted to a garden with a lawn and the rest had grounds and facilities for Football, Cricket, Basketball and Volleyball. All the 6 hostels were of similar design. Each hostel had two stories and a hundred and twenty double occupancy rooms. It accommodated 240 students per hostel. One reached the big dining hall complex with its annexure areas used for storage, the office and the kitchen, through the center of the hostel building walking through a covered passageway. Similar passages at a quarter length and at the three fourth length of the hostel led to the bathrooms and toilets. The baths and toilets were shared but sufficient in number and were situated on both floors. Hot water facility was available. Basically the plan of the hostel made it look like a gigantic letter “E”. The 7th hostel was under construction a little further away, in the middle of the surrounding jungle. The campus was built 2 miles inside the main road between Ranchi and Ramgadh, in a thick forest area surrounded by two rivers, Subernarekha and Jumar. This gave a peace tranquil atmosphere for studies. Ranchi, sitting on a high Plateau, with a comparatively cool summer, is the summer capital of Bihar. Weather wise therefore the place was ideal to be a college campus.
My room mate Mr. R. S. L. Aggarwal from Daltongung, Bihar, joined the next afternoon. He has come after 12th like most. The 1st day in college was a tour of familiarization conducted by Registrar to all departments, library, and workshop complex. Next day morning the Director addressed the new batch, Ran 60, to work hard to fulfill the individual dreams, the aspirations of parents and to become a worthy citizen of India. With the knowledge & skills acquired to put to good use in future for building the nation. It was a powerful & forceful motivation. So from then on the classes started.
Ragging was there even in those early days. It used to continue till Fresher day. Which was almost a month after the session has started for the academic year. The ragging was mostly fun centered & to know the hidden talents of new batch. The 2nd year boys (as no girl student was admitted at that time) were the most enthusiastic & 3rd year used to join at times & final year only for fresher’s party. The talent identified were the people to perform on FP attended by professors & staff. The general agenda during ragging was to asked Gk questions, to dance, walk on one foot or back words, to tell jokes, imitate, mono action, recognition of symbolic gestures etc . Insistence of, Sir, to address the seniors was another thing. As for as my case after two to three sessions they freed me from this. Even some seniors approached me to make a list of Gk questions, with answers. Those who resisted or tried to escape were tackled rigorously, in & to the process. Our Director was against ragging. Hence this fun activity was secretly organized by groups of senior’s. Any way it was not like or, anywhere near to the present day ragging & the bad incidents that as a result culminating. Serious studies, workshop practice, home works, drawing classes started just after the Fresher night. Evenings I continued playing Basketball, which I started at final B.Sc. at central college while staying in hostel. The mess bill was Rs.60/month& room rent a nominal charge of Rs. 20/=& dobhi, tooth paste, blades, note books, drawing paper & others all coming to another Rs.25/30.Thus my monthly expenses pack of Rs.120/= was not only sufficient, but I used to save least Rs. 10/=. From this accumulated sum buy other major requirements. It was a period of very happy days.
My roll number was 252(Mech -60). The first year passed off well. I stood 2nd in mechanical stream, 1st being my friend Mr. Garg .He & me maintained the same positions every year including the final examination. During first year, Engineering Drawing and applied mechanics was my pet subjects. It was taught by, prof. Arvikar (HOD, Mechanical Engineering & author of engineering drawing along with prof. Gunda). It was the prescribed text book. And Prof. Ranganath teached applied mechanics. My college friends used to flock to my room for solutions to home work assignments, doubt clearing activities including tasting Upma preparation made for, for a change of taste. As I liked helping out, more colleagues used to come for help. But this was not the case with Garg , who liked not to share. His Nature.
Prof. Ranganath used to give very typical questions for homework in Applied Mechanics. We wanted to find the root of this source. Finally succeeded to get hold of the only copy available in library mostly issued to him. Even Prof. Ranganath has to follow the rules of the book issue from library. This got in our hand BEER & JOHNSON with the solved examples. Also at the end of each chapter unsolved problems as exercise. We were surprised to see only solved examples were given for homework keeping the book out of reach. So copied the unsolved exercises overnight, returning the book to library and then used to pose those for solution to him. Many times he also tried to stall.
Send off party to the out going batch was a tradition and was always organized by juniors. We organized it with pomp & show to wish bright future to them.
In our batch there were few boys from AP( Lingaraju, Reddy, Srinivasa, moorthy), from Kerala (Zaakeria), Karnataka (Pai, Baliga). From Calcutta (K. C. Agarwal, Ganatra, Mundra, Lakotia,M.K.Sarkar & Trilochan singh (from tata), from Delhi& UP (Kakkad, Jaiswal and Garg )have become close to me. Other batch mates were also friends to the extent of consultations in case of doubt with their close circle formed. Thanks to, my B.Sc. Knowledge which came handy as those courses were repeated in one form or another making me easy sailing.
25th november 1960 was the day of Marriage of Uncle Rama Murthy with Leela Nanjundiah D/o Shri. Nanjundiah, chief engineer, Nagpur Electric Company at Nagpur. The marriage was a grand affair. I took few days leave of absence from college to attended the marriage. During the train journey to nagpur & back, could see a gigantic plant at Bhilai. Later realized it as Bhilai steel plant. Whoo, I could never imagine it will one day be my bread earner for rest of my earning life. The marriage of uncle gave me opportunity to meet all near & dear including Mother& granny. It was 1st meeting after joining BIT. During this period mother was Chenni at Kamptee, working for m/s Khandelwal & co, 15 miles to Nagpur city.
During the summer vacation of year 61, Uncle organized vacation training at MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA for me. M&M was a Bombay based, only, Jeep manufacturing company in India . The unit was at walk able distance from west Parel station on central line just after Dadar. Uncle, Auntie and my mother’s mother (Velakkamma ) were staying at Ghatkoper. As my training was from 8 am sharp and subjected to punch card time keeping system, late arrival mean closed doors. So with dabba for lunch & break fast finished, used to rush for local train at 7/7=15 am. Return was around 5/5-30 pm. This routine went on and on for 8 week long training. It training was mostly observation of the processes, with occasional lecture classes along with their recruited Regular trainees. It was an opportunity to see the applications of different knowledge like Metallurgy, Foundry practice, Machining, Manufacturing, Assembly of sub Parts to units & finally assembly of these subs to the final product the Jeep. Machining it self, a big subject with various methods like drilling, turning, planning, gear cutting, hobbing, grinding, honing etc, Combination of these were in use for the manufacturing of parts. With an another set of of machines gigs & tools to support main activity were organized. Maintenance, heat treatment, design were supporting arms for smooth flow of manufacture. It was virtually a mechanical engineers Wilderness. A great place for the application of all engineering knowledge at one place. I could not realize this truth at that time. But the notes made of my observations, with facts & figures, has come in a big way in my 3rd year & then as a maintenance engineer at BSP.
Returned back to college for 2nd year, a senior now. 1961-62 session has begun now.
Things went smoothly this session. Heat engines, strength of materials, structural analysis, electrical engineering and drawing were the main subjects taught. Workshop practice started in first year with chipping, filing has advanced with drilling, taping, turning and thread cutting in second year. The project assignment was to make a double end adjustable clamp. Drawing has become more interesting with the introduction to Isometrics, missing views, threads, rivet joints and simple m/c parts. Prof. Sahai was teaching electrical, similarly Prof. Ranganath strength of materials, prof. Murthy heat engines & prof. Arvikar continued drawing & also Hydraulics. As per trend set, our batch now acquiring senior position now, has gone for ragging. The new entrants used to take shelter in my room at hostel 6. I was called the savior & guardian of new batch. This led to more friends. My new roommate was Mr.K.C. Agarwal from Calcutta.
The unforgettable incident that took place was the sudden death of our beloved director major Pande. He worked selfless to improve the quality in campus in all walks of sphere It was felt a great loss. The mourning was observed for a period of 12 days. The college worked normal.
Prof. Chatterjee, then HOD, electrical engineering took up his position. The fears of new management have worn off quickly, with confidence brought in, by positive attitude and improvements. The other activity of the year was field survey camp in and around the campus. We have surveyed the Suvernarekha riverbed (dry at that time) to draw contour maps. Though a difficult Exercise (in hot open area) was very much fun filled to compensate. Also batch-by-batch we were sent to Dhanbad institute of Mining engineering for Theodolite survey. This was 4 days program. Thus the year came to an end with exams under the banner of Bihar University. That summer stayed back at college campus. During this holidays visited Mr. Sarkar home for few days, very near to Ranchi. He also joined BSP as technical assistant in construction department in August 64 along with me.
Third year (62-63) apart from all the subjects becoming tough elective subject was added up. We were (whole batch) now accommodated in the newly built hostel 7. It was about half a mile walk to college through woods. I took Automobile engineering as elective subject. Prof. Murthy taught it. He was also teaching Heat engines. We had separate workshop hrs allotted for dismantling and study of various parts of petrol car and diesel truck .Our final project was also given in elective subject. I took it most probably due to Mahindra & Mahindra training Experience So grasping the subject was easy and thus I could score good marks.
The project I was given was, to study the cold starting of diesel trucks at high altitude. This was a defense problem under study by Prof. Murthy. He wanted us to study for solution. It was a 2 yrs project for us(3rd&final years).
At this time the college announced to celebrate the 10 years completion from foundation laying coming in 64. This coincided with our passing out. One of the agenda point was to have an exhibition. Prof’s. Murthy, C,B.Mishra (1st batch of BIT to join teaching staff in mechanical engineering, who later has become the HOD of mechanical engineering.) and Ranganath were asked to coordinate the exhibition activities. The idea of a working model of Wankel engine was given by Prof. Murthy. This was assigned to 3 boys, Lakotia, Agarwal & Myself. Wankel engine (against the normal popular Reciprocating) was a Rotary 4-stroke IC engine run with petrol. It has not become commercially viable due to the gas sealing problems. Basically when an Epi-trochoid shaped piston rotates in a corresponding trochoid curve the annular area is divided in to 4 areas at any time with volume changes similar to intake-compress-expand- exhaust cycle. To avoid mixing of burnt & un-burnt gases the sealing of these individual chambers, the main hurdle posing requisite of axial and transverse ring seals. The requirement to fulfill was these seals fitted on to the the rotor with springs has a difficult role of continuous contact with the external cylinder to maintain 4 gas sealed but continuously changing volume. Spark is put through a timer to the mixture of air& petrol vapor at the end of compression in the compression chamber. The mixture ignites & explodes sustaining the rotation of the Rotor. This rotors shaft can be coupled to run for useful purpose. The work began with casting of rotor, outer casing, covers and sealing rings and eccentric gear shaft. To machine the Trochoid & epi-trochoid curves a gig were designed. This took lot of actual size drawing experiments to generate the curve. This work has consumed our summer holidays. I skipped, the industrial tour to south India comprising of visits to madras, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty etc during summer of 63, to work on wankel engine & the project .
At Ranchi local polititions and various student bodies were agitating for installation of separate University for this Chota-nagpur region .This was going on from last few years. Finally the RANCHI UNIVERSITY was born in 1963. So our third year examinations were under the banner of this newly born Ranchi University.
So we entered the final year engineering studies for the session 1963-64.We were now given single room accommodation at hostel 4. Project work, workshop assignments, model making plus advance studies in Hydraulics, Strength of materials, Heat engines, Machine design with lot of reading & consulting books at library has put every one to strain. Prioritization & time management was the only way to solve our miseries. Our grand 10 year celebrations were fast approaching. As called for, I was one to give design for the main entrance to the campus for the celebrations. All the model makers were extremely busy in assembly, trials & testing of their exhibits. Our model was tested for its working number of times, each time faced with some thing going wrong making it to stop. On the D-day we were praying that it should not fail our almost one & half years efforts.
The chief guest was shri. Morarji Desai, then prime minister of India. The celebrations Planed for 2days Have gone very well. The other ministers, dignitaries and guests were all satisfied with the college functioning&management, as reports came later. It look they were more impressed with the Exhibition of working models &other exhibits. Our Wankel Engine, in presence of PM, our Director, dignitaries and our beloved professors, started beautifully and speeded up to record 0.25 HP(horse power) on a Dynamo meter. Lakotia our model making batch mate explained the details on charts prepared for the occasion. At that time we felt although we are in Heaven. The prof’s committee responsible for this Exhibition were fully happy as regards the success it has brought.
For the details regarding discovery, history, application of WRCE & for working principal … please type “wankel engine” on goggle serch.. You will be delighted.
The project on hand “A solution to High altitude cold starting” was submitted. The solution put up was a design of Double injection pump plunger which give rich mixture of air& fuel at the starting. And after the engine cylinder attain temperature to sustain power the same plunger start giving lean mixture. Prof. Murthy looked happy about our project which we could realize from the marks obtained. After a lapse of 3 to 4 years, we heard, prof. Murthy getting doctorate for his paper on ‘Cold starting of diesel engines at high altitude’, left BIT Mesra to join Mysore University. Thus took full credit to himself.
Every Year Our assessment was on the basis of home work in each subject, colloquium, practical at various laboratories, viva-voce in each subject, on Quarterly and half yearly examinations. These marks as percentage was added to years final written & practical. The system thus designed to cultivate the habit of regularities in studies. We had a number of clubs formed for culture, art, mathematics, debate etc to promote. various skills among the students. The most popular being audio visual club. It has a 16 mm projector to show on every Friday evening movies. So we have seen number of Hindi, English and occasionally other language films.
In final year we got the idea of making a SOUVENIR as a prize document showing our photo, address & dob with a short write up depicting the traits shown and observed. A small group under the leadership of Mr. Baliga started the work. They have done a condemnable job and seen to it that the printed & bound copies distributed before we left, bidding good bye. In my case the observation was ‘Mobile Tutor’, Upma specialist apart from more adjectives. Mobile tutor was due to my habit to enter,on there call, while walking on the corridor, any one’s room to solve their doubts at any time.
Our Final Examination went off well. I felt satisfied to have faced it well.
Just before we have applied through college to HSL (Hindusthan Steel Ltd,HQ,Ranchi) & for TISCO, Jamshedpur for job.. HSL was having 4 steel units ( Bhilai, Rourkela, Durgapore, Kulti Iron foundry) & a design organization attached to HQ. The HSL interview was at Ranchi just a week after our final examinations. This followed by Tisco’s . On the appointed day & time attend the interview of HSL. Prof. Arvikar,our HOD Mechanical, who was a permanent member of the interview board was also present. Recognizing me at the interview as his student asked the other members to ask questions The interview started with the question what type of pictures you see & like? When Replied English western, Epic& science fiction. The next question was regarding the earlier steam locos in western movies having big chimney’s as compared to present day locos & how this change has come? I was knowing the answer and could satisfy them. (The answer given was: Chimney is required for creating draft for air to be sucked in to hearth of steam boiler for combustion of coal. Longer the chimney the atmospheric pressure difference at ground and top of chimney being greater air current flow from higher to low pressure zone. This is the called natural draft. The heat generated convert the water to steam to move the prime mover. The long chimneys could be reduced by using a suitable nozzle to create vacuum in air path after the hearth zone., Which helped sucking of air from atmosphere. A forced draft regulated by a damper.. Engine Chimney (earlier) was also doing the same job as natural draft device. But the length of it projection above the engine posed restriction for higher capacity engine design. Thus the Bernoulli’s principal of fluid behavior was the success story behind this modification). Some more Technical Questions. were asked but all were simple. Also asked my preparedness to join any unit if selected. I felt justice done to the interview. They said the results will be after submitting the marks sheets of final year. From Ranchi had been toTatanagar to attend the Tisco interview just a week after the HSL’s.. All the candidates were seated at an annex room to the interview room. The chairman of the board wished us before entering the interview room. Just Few minuets after I was called. Every one came to the interview, I heard, were thinking how I was called as first boy with the knowledge of call list. Soon I entered the chairman asked about my eye power & I answered. He remarked it is confirming to -4.5 as mentioned in the application. But they don’t take any one equal or more than -2.5. He was sorry that some error has taken place in the application scrutiny. .He clearly apologized for putting me in to trouble. Further said, sorry gentleman, you can collect the TA, DA cover at office and go. There ended the interview in less than 5 mts.
I was in constant touch with uncle who was very recently posted as Director, labor institute & informed him. of the status Then he said to pack up & come down to calcutta to wait for result & think for future course.
Before I close on this worderful memories of BTI,Mesra, few more incidences I thought is essential to record to make my story full.
1) During my third year, one day, I received a telegram from Ranganathbaba asking me to come there (kolar) immediately. This has not given any hint for the urgency of call. After two to three days later a detail letter came written by Ranganathbaba &Sharadamma . The essence of the letter was, I help them by committing marrying Sulatha & have to take a short leave from college for the function. Again there was no hint for their unilateral decision and the note of urgency. I felt some thing fishy going on. They also said it has the full sanction of granny. Letter from Sulatha next day opened the mystery. Sulatha straightforwardly conveyed that she and Raja (Narashima murthy s/o Mahadev sastry, who lived just few houses away) her B.Sc. classmate deeply loved each other and want to become life-partners. Added Raja’s parents have no objection for this alliance. But our family elders, including her mother strongly opposing to it, with a plea she is to marry only me as per their wishes. During our younger days this alliance was the topic discussed at time. This type of marriages in the family was given first preference. It looked from the tone of the letter that lot of restrictions put up to her in the house. Two letters I wrote one assuring Sulatha that I have never thought in that angle and will not come in their way. And wished success to them. The second letter to Ranganathbaba, showing resentment for hiding the facts of the problem from me, continued, that now I have all the facts the best solution is to make her happy. I requested them to go ahead with out any hesitation to fulfill the wish of them for a harmonious ending the problem. Any way wisdom prevailed they were married. They are happy even now with their kids well educated, married & leading their life.
2) Holi was an important festival in the campus, every year it was celebrated with pomp & show followed by special lunch and evening entertainment program. During our final year, 1964 holi day after the regular playing with colors, around 1pm returned to our hostel to find no water in the taps due to some electrical fault under repair. We were waiting chit chatting in the corridor of the hostel, we heard two 2nd year students coming running & shouting their two friends were disappeared in the pool of water in the riverbed. Kakked & myself ran to the spot followed by more. With great difficulty pulled the boys from the small pool of water. It being summer months normally the river is a dry hot sand bed. But a small pool was left available. The condition of both boys was looking not good. I tried to give mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration to one after water removal process. The second attended by kakkad & others. We asked to fetch the campus doctor. He was not available, as he has gone to Ranchi for holi. One recovered but the other further collapsed and went into coma. One of our professors rushed to spot with his car. With that boy in our lap in back seat left for Govt. medical hospital Ranchi 14 miles away. On arrival at hospital the doctors the declared we brought dead body. This was my 1st experience of seeing death from very near that too of a very young man at that early age. we came to know this boy was a good swimmer and he was trying to save the other not so good in swimming & who survived. As water was not in tap unfortunately that holi day, these boys ventured to river. The poor parents, with only one son, from Rajasthan came but it was a Herculean task to give peace to the collective. The survived boy took much more time to come out of the guilt. Some of us had tough time to convince him that it was not his fault but destined.
3) The food in the college was pure vegetarian. For those non-vegetarians and fish liking Bengalis, the options were either go to Ranchi or go to Chokkalingam canteen just at the out skirts of campus boundary. Chokkalingam was from kerala.It was told he ran away from military camp at Namkum near Ranchi & started from scratch to reasonable riches. The pure vegetarian boys used to flock to Udupi café or Mysore Restaurant or coffee house at Ranchi for a change. 4) Professor Pant, Joined in mechanical engineering in 3rd year with an assignment to start the new branch in Propulsion engineering (Rocketry) as master’s course from 64-65 sessions. The master’s course in mechanical, electrical & structural was also starting the same year. Prof. Pant who taught heat engines and strength of materials. He has talked me regarding my plans after completion of graduation. He insisted and also try to impress me that NASA is going to fund the project & many will be selected for training at US. So I must continue the studies to have bright future. I was getting his letters at Bhilai almost till November End to change my decision.
But how to explain the responsibilities towards my Mother & sister eagerly waiting. And reliving the burden of my beloved uncle was resting heavily on Me.
I left for Calcutta, as per instructions of uncle, with mixed feelings and reminiscences of Four Years of most Wonderful time spent at BIT,Mesra. There ended my schooling & College days at the age of 23 with 19 years spent for this purpose. “Education”, the title for this chapter as named, has not ended. The learning process continued on the Job, in life and even now, which has given courage to face problems and to think for the amicable solution.
Birla institute of technology, Mesra, has grown from day to day in all these years. It expanded its sphere of activity to global arena, attracting students from all over the world. It attained the status of an autonomous body. The present Vista Rama status of its the growth is recorded below for the information of the reader.
Present Overview of BIT, Mesra.
Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi, India was founded by the Philanthropist, Industrialist Mr. B.M. Birla in 1955 as a pioneering institution of technical education and research in the ‘Industrial Heart’ of the country. It attained the status of a technical University as a result of its achievements both in terms of research and excellent standards of academic programs. Founded by Philanthropist-Industrialist Shri B M Birla in 1955.
Granted the status of a Deemed University in the year 1986.
Education Programmes in 12 Branches of Engineering & Technology, Architecture, Pharmaceutical Sciences & Management.
Till date more than 12000 Graduates & 1500 Post Graduates have passed-out of the Institute.
Excellent track record of campus placements of students.
First Extension Centre in India established at Ranchi City in1984.
First overseas centre established at Bahrain in 1999.
Member of Association of Indian Universities and Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Academic standards recognised worldwide. Campus Overview
The Institute is located in a picturesque 780 acre setting at the confluence of the rivers Jumar and Subanarekha, 16kms from Ranchi. It is fully residential, providing accommodation to about 2000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 500 members of the faculty and staff. The buildings, which include lecture halls, research laboratories, workshops, library etc. cover an area exceeding 3,50,000 sq.ft. It has co-educational facilities with separate hostel accommodation for girls. The well laid out campus provides all facilities for cultural, recreational and sports facilities.
To have more details including campus pictures please go to : http://www.bitmesra.ac.in/index.html & also at google serch engine by typing “BIT mesra Ranchi”.
I was in the train with two trunks (steel) now to Calcutta, destination uncle’s house. 2nd trunk I purchased at Ranchi town recently to take care of books etc in addition to one accompanied me from Kolar 4 years ago. During the journey my thoughts roamed around my Uncle’s Goodness & generosity without which what I achieved was impossible. His encouragement, direction and committed financial help for 4 long years were commendable. I have no idea as how he dedicatedly fulfilled his task in spite of his work, family and other commitments. Auntie a kind hearted lady and with a philosophy to “help needy”, had a positive stroke to my advantage. I owe a lot to her. The love & affection of her towards me is even now continued in the same spirit. Coming back to uncle, from his child behavior & the path he has followed, it struck to me, his helping nature for uplifting needy as an inborn trait. It was told, when M.K.Gandhi as leader of congress& independence mover addressed a mass gathering at Nellore during Satyagrah & liberation movement calling for funding in any form, Uncle barely 5/6 years has ran to the dais and offered the Gold chain from his neck. His act very well appreciated by Gandhi by lifting him and giving a BIG KISS. Can any Honor be Greater than this to the Parents??? This was what he was. This proves my point rose on his trait. Then due to demise of his father at very young age. He along with mother, sisters & brothers has come under the protection of Tatagaru at kolar. At times felt he has acquired the qualities of Tatagaru through genes, natural for a grand son. Living with granny& tatagaru acquired more through observation, following up the customs and helping needy etc, from them. He was a self made man. Had abundant determination & self-confidence. It is the eldest son in our society, in absence of father, suppose to take all his responsibilities of the family. That may be the reason for all longing for 1st issue to be a Worthy Son.. In uncle’s case With 2 younger sisters and two younger brothers the responsibilities were heavy. My mother (uncle’s elder sister) marriage, in normal course giving relief to the responsibilities, instead has turned out other wise. All that already touched earlier. Uncle gladly & boldly accepted (clear from his actions) these.
In the year 1954 Hema was married to shri. Srengeri Subramaniam working at a private firm at Madras. Kalyani, the next sister was married to shri L S. Rama Sharma working as PA & stenographer to post master general, Bangalore. Madhu & Chenni’s education was supported. Madhu, not good at science subjects, elected commerce as field of study for himself. This had created some resentment & unhappiness to uncle as he expected him also to become an engineer or doctor. Madhu after completing his course at Poona joined American-Express Banking at Delhi & lead his life. Chenni the youngest brother after inter joined Acharyya Pathashala at Bangalore & successfully completed A.M.I.E in Electrical discipline and joined M/s Khandelwal at kampete, a Ferro alloy company. During this period my Mother was with him as mentioned earlier. Till then Uncle has not thought of his marriage.
All the acts of above is natural for a responsible and duty bound elder son of the family. That was what Uncle was. His greatness then lies in my bringing up (The son of his elder sister) to stand on my legs. For this I am indebted to him ever. He has helped many in the past and is helping more even now. Thus helping turned as an obsession with him. His weakness was to help any one approaching him for education. He very much disliked the help misused. It was told once a person asked uncle to give some money, as he is very hungry. Instead giving the money he took him to a nearby hotel, ordered a meal for him and paid the bill. This incident should not be misunderstood. Uncle’s action clarify, the mone