PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER, AND LESSONS-PART THIRTEEN (From Librarian to CPRO to CM KCR) ..... A Journey from Khangi School to Center for Excellence : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER, 

AND LESSONS-PART THIRTEEN

(From Librarian to CPRO to CM KCR)

A Journey from Khangi School to

Center for Excellence

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Prefatory Note

(These reflections arise from close observation and lived experience during a defining phase in the history of Telangana. They are offered with deep respect for Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao, a leader of rare intellectual depth, political courage, and unwavering commitment to the idea of Telangana. What follows is not merely recollection, but an attempt to record how vision, resolve, and governance converged to shape a people’s destiny.

While this narrative draws upon a professional journey that spans eleven organizations and multiple institutional settings, it consciously begins with the final and most consequential phase of that journey. A brief reference to my academic formation is included at the outset only to provide essential context, before the account moves directly into the concluding chapter of my professional life.}

‘Winners focus on winning; losers focus on winners.’ Why do leaders sometimes win and sometimes lose? Win or lose, the defining quality of leadership lies in the ability to set a good example for one’s team. It is often said that yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is certainly ours to win. In a vibrant and evolving democracy like India, electoral defeat, even severe defeat, followed by resurgence is not unusual. It has become an accepted feature, notwithstanding occasional disruptions. In any democracy, the only permanent reality is change, often ever-changing. No leader or political party remains in power permanently.

Rudyard Kipling, the British-Indian author, captures this timeless truth in his poem 'IF': 'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same; If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that is in it, ⁠And, which is more, you will be a Man, my son!

Therefore, the two impostors: ‘Triumph and Disaster’ must be treated alike. Being carried away by triumph can lead to downfall, while perseverance after disaster often leads back to success (Triumph). In that spirit, I wish both leaders continued success in their respective journeys.

On December 3, 2023, my PRO colleagues and I were seated at Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of KCR, watching the election results unfold. The outcome became clear in the early phases of counting itself. Around 4 PM, along with a few others present there, I met KCR as he was preparing to leave the official residence for his farmhouse. He remained calm and composed, took leave of us, and entered his car. With that moment, our official association came to an end, though occasional personal contacts continued.

Last but not least, apart from the immense professional satisfaction I derived from my long association with Chief Minister KCR, my journey was also marked by a Love-Hate Relationship: not of my choosing, and not with all, but certainly and arguably with a few among CMO staff. 

At its core, however, my experience was enriching, intellectual, and deeply fulfilling. A special and respectful mention must be made of S Narsing Rao, Principal Secretary to CM KCR, one of the noblest individuals I have ever worked with.

He left a highly lucrative, influential, and much-sought-after position as Chairman, Coal India, to join the Chief Minister’s Office purely on KCR’s call: driven by his belief in Telangana’s development as a true Telanganite. His command over facts, always evidence-based, was extraordinary. I often witnessed him remain calm and composed while senior officers struggled for data pertaining to their own domains, only for him to respond with complete accuracy, but strictly when asked by the Chief Minister.

He never intervened unnecessarily, never sought attention, never concealed information, and never hesitated to share knowledge. Almost on a daily basis, my colleague Vijay Kumar Gatika and I (until he left the CMO for reasons unknown to me) spent time with him in informal knowledge-sharing sessions, which significantly broadened our understanding across a wide range of subjects.

I also worked closely with Chief Advisor Rajeev Sharma; IAS officers Smita Sabharwal, Sandeep Sultania, Shanti Kumari, and Sheshadri; IFS officer Bhoopal Reddy; Central Cadre Officer Rajasekhara Reddy; well-informed Pendyala Arun; and my PR colleagues Vijay Kumar, Hazare, and Saidi Reddy, Jacob, Chakravarthi, all of whom were consistently cooperative and supportive. Vijay Kumar’s capabilities of capturing the essence of CM KCR review meetings was exceptional.

One lingering dissatisfaction, however, remained. Beyond those mentioned, a few never acknowledged Public Relations as a professional discipline. To them, it was treated as clerical work, reduced to office logistics rather than strategic communication. This reflection is not one of grievance, but a candid narrative: positive in intent, yet honest in emotion, capturing the realities of working within a complex administrative ecosystem.

Leaving the Chief Minister’s Office after serving as CPRO offered me the distance needed to reflect, without bitterness, without awe, on the mind of K Chandrashekhar Rao. What struck me most was that his political imagination was never episodic or impulsive. It was deeply historical. Telangana, for him, was not merely a contemporary grievance but a continuum of unfinished struggles, inherited memories, and unresolved betrayals.

In several conversations during my tenure, KCR spoke not of himself, but of Dr Marri Channa Reddy, with whom also I had the rare privilege to work as his PRO. KCR referred to him not as a predecessor, but as a political conscience. He once told a group that included me, almost in passing, that the passion and commitment with which Channa Reddy led the 1969 agitation left a lasting imprint on his own thinking. That admission was revealing: KCR saw his movement not as an invention, but as a second act of a long-deferred resolve.

What distinguished KCR’s mind was his ability to learn from Channa Reddy’s failures as much as from his successes. He often reflected on how Telangana was once within reach, yet slipped away due to national compulsions, strategic compromises, and internal dissensions. That awareness shaped his singular obsession with timing, control, and narrative discipline. Unlike earlier leaders, he resolved never to let the cause be diluted, deferred, or negotiated away. Only after stepping away from the Chief Minister’s Office did, I fully grasp how naturally K Chandrashekhar Rao thought beyond regional and even national boundaries. 

KCR’s leadership style, which many misunderstood as rigidity, stemmed from this historical memory. He believed that ambiguity was fatal to Telangana’s cause. Hence his insistence on clarity of purpose, centralized decision-making, and unrelenting focus. From the inside, it was evident that this was not authoritarian instinct alone, but a lesson drawn from the past, from watching how earlier momentum was squandered.