FROM KHANGI SCHOOL TO CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE-1
BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER
PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER, AND LESSONS
FROM LIBRARIAN TO CPRO TO CM KCR
VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO
I am now 78 years old and volunteered
to be the ‘Secretary, Center for Brahmin Excellence (CBE),’ an institution that
was born out of a deep understanding of the need to preserve, nurture, and
contemporize a community by sustaining and strengthening its vast intellectual
capital. This role, at this stage of my life, is not merely an assignment but a
continuation of a lifelong engagement with learning, people, and purpose.
I was born on August 8, 1948, in a
remote village Vanam Vari Krishnapuram, located in Mudigonda Mandal of Khammam
District in present-day Telangana. Having born and brought up there, I spent my
early childhood in an orthodox family, and received early education in the same
village surrounded by Communist Party dominated villages. Thus, I imbibed a mix
of ‘Socialist and Spiritual Ideologies’ and learnt lessons in ‘Humanism.’
My early life was shaped by simplicity, limited resources, and the quiet
strength of rural values, which later became an enduring foundation for my
personal and professional journey.
Since my late school days itself, and
especially, after completion of bachelor degree studies, as I spent three years
in my village engaging in Agriculture, Village Development, and Field Level
Politics, I was ‘in quest of meaningful and acceptable Governance’
having witnessed the plight and exploitation of rural illiterate by Village
Land Lords. Inadvertently, in my journey I had come across several Political
Administrators, Public and Civil Servants, that included Legislators,
Ministers, Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries etc. in
some of whom I found few answers.
The Best ‘Thrilling and Cherishing
Learning Experience of my Life’ was, my generation’s Pre-Primary, Primary,
Higher Secondary School and College Education six-seven decades ago. I received
my primary education in my native village. In Fact, inspiration for my writing
this series came from my Grandchildren, in the hope that one day they evince
keen interest, read them, and in the process, may be benefited to decide on
what is worth emulating from the past. My Basic Education commenced in 1951,
when I was three-year-old, in a ‘Khangi’ school, the ‘present day
preschool’ kind of setup, though the teaching methodology and content
differed a lot.
A characteristic style of discipline
was inculcated to kids at that formative stage which seems to be absent these
days. Memorizing and writing Telugu Alphabets, Numerals, Basic Mathematics like
Addition, Subtraction, Tables, Multiplication, Days in a week, Months in Lunar
Calendar Year, names of 60 Lunar Calendar Years, Star Signs, Seasons etc. were
taught by an elderly knowledgeable person in the village, on his own volition,
and not really for money. ‘Pedda Bala Shiksha’ considered as ‘Children
Encyclopedia’ in the Telugu language, that covered literature, arts,
culture, morals, games, mythology, and science was the source for the content.
Next year by advancing my date of
birth by one year to be eligible for admission in First Class, I was put in the
Local Single Teacher Government Primary School which was located in a Hut till
it was moved to new (Small) buildings. That single Teacher whom I can never
forget taught us to think everything with ‘Common Sense’ first. After
fifth class, for sixth to eleventh class or Higher Secondary Class (HSC), my
parents admitted me in Rickab-Bazar High School in Khammam Town.
Thus, for my High School Studies and
later for Pre-University Course, I moved to Khammam, which marked my first step
away from the comfort of familiar surroundings and into a wider world of
aspiration and challenge. Subsequently, I pursued my undergraduate studies
(First year in SR and BGNR Government College, Khammam and last two years in
New Science College, Hyderabad) at Osmania University, earning a BSc degree
with Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry as my subjects.
Being a student in the Higher
Secondary School, was a ‘Lifelong Experience’ and every teacher taught
to cherish forever. The standards were so high then, that, securing second and
first-class marks was considered to be very difficult. Nevertheless, in HSC
examination I passed in Higher Second Class. It was an ‘All-Round
Development’ or developing us in multiple aspects, like physical,
intellectual, emotional, and social. This type of all-round development was
aimed at helping students become well-rounded and able to function effectively
in all aspects of their life. Grateful to my School and to every Teacher by
name.
I was a School First student in my
Higher Secondary Certificate in 1962, but ended up with third class and
compartmental in PUC and BSc respectively. Even in my Nagpur University PG (MA
Public Administration), I could secure only third class. I was never a ‘Brilliant
Student.’ However, I secured University Second Rank in my Bachelor of
Library and Information Science in 1974. I will brief them later.
Unlike present day 10+2 Schooling and
College it was 11+1 Schooling and College then. It was one year Pre-University
Course (PUC) in place of present two-year Intermediate. After HSC with Telugu
Medium of Instruction, I enrolled in PUC with Mathematics, Physics and
Chemistry as optional subjects, English, Telugu as languages and ‘General
Studies’ as special subject in SR and BGNR Government College in Khammam,
affiliated to Osmania University, with English as Medium of Instruction. SR and
BGNR College, was the first college that was established in Khammam initially
as a private college in 1956.
Switching from Telugu to English
Medium was slightly difficult, but quickly I adjusted. The methodology of
teaching too was unique. Telugu, English, General Knowledge were taught to all
the optional groups’ (MPC, BPC, Commerce, Economics and Geography) students in
combined sessions. Physics and Chemistry subjects were taught commonly for MPC
and BPC students. Mathematics was taught for only MPC students. Poetry, Prose,
and Grammar (Conjugation of Verb etc.) were taught in English subject. Teaching
staff consisted of Lecturers, Tutors, and Demonstrators.
Having secured only third division in
PUC, and ineligible to get seat in Engineering Course, I took admission in the
‘Three Year Degree Bachelor of Science (BSc) Course’ with Mathematics,
Physics and Chemistry as optional subjects; English, Telugu as languages; and
General Studies, a ‘Broad-Based Approach’ subject that covered the whole
gamut of science and humanities in brief. ‘First Year was Rest year’ as
no University Examinations were held at the end of first year to go to second
year. First one year of my degree study was in Khammam College and last two
years in Hyderabad, New Science College.
It was only after completion of second
year University Examination was conducted in languages and General Studies, and
at the end of final year for the optional subjects. For languages there were
four papers two for each subject, and for optional subjects ten papers, three
for each subject, and four in Physics, the extra being Modern Physics, to be
cleared in one go. No holiday in between two examinations except for Sunday.
We had to memorize three years study
for the final examination and two years study for Languages, and General
Studies. Semester System and rest days between paper and paper, making it easy
to remember was unknown to us. High Reputation New Science College under the
leadership of C Sudarshan an eminent academician as the founder Principal, as
well as SR and BGNR College, had the best teaching staff.
I secured second division in Languages
and General Studies and appeared for final year examinations during April-May
1966, when my actual age was just seventeen and half years, but
half-way-through withdrew. As I was propelled and engaged in village politics,
I did not appear for the Supplementary exams also, and it was only in March
1968 I was able to clear Mathematics and Physics and later Chemistry in
September. A compartmental graduate I am!!! My academic journey continued with
a postgraduate degree in Public Administration from Nagpur University.
On completion of my Graduation in
September 1968, married in April 1969, spent about three years in rural
environment, among ‘Communist Friends-Relatives’ from neighboring villages, and
engaged primarily in agriculture, as well as ‘Local Politics marred by
Insinuations, Threats, and Casteism’ my interest turned towards studies
once again, desiring to complete Post Graduation (PG). By then I was also vexed
with village politics, that often took the form of murders, police camps in the
villages, police harassment of innocent opposition cadre, hooliganism etc. (TO
BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK)
{{From my Forthcoming Book
PROFESSIONS,
CHECKERED CAREER, AND LESSONS
(From
Librarian to CPRO to CM KCR)
A
Journey from Khangi School to Center for Excellence}}
ADDITION:
Jwala, A Complete Human
Being
AN OPINION By Bhandaru
Srinivasa Rao
Veteran Journalist and
Former All India Radio News Editor
Lately, I have begun
writing about my life’s journey. In nearly three-fourths of these 277 parts episodes,
one name appears without fail, that is Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao. My life has
been so closely intertwined with his that, in a sense, I have been his shadow.
Jwala is my childhood friend, a schoolmate in our early years and, later in
life, the husband of my niece Vijayalakshmi. Over time, through sheer
self-effort, he rose high, fell, and then rose again with renewed vigor. There
is hardly a job he has not done.
He began his career as
a librarian at the BHEL Higher Secondary School and, step by step, climbed all
the way to the post of Chief Public Relations Officer to the Chief Minister of
Telangana. In more than three decades of my working life in Hyderabad, I held
only one job, in one institution: All India Radio. Toward the end, I did spend
a brief, unwilling stint at Doordarsan. Jwala’s journey, however, was entirely
different. He worked in many jobs of many kinds, some government positions,
others that belonged neither here nor there.
Retirement, therefore,
never really came his way. Between one job and the next there was a gap;
between one gap and another, a job. Thus flowed the rhythm of his life. For a
man who keeps working, there is no such thing as retirement, that is his
policy. According to Jwala’s theory, retirement can be spent happily, joyfully,
and with zest by meeting friends, close companions, relatives, and well-wishers
from time to time, blending old memories with new conversations. He believes
that relationships, whether of kinship or friendship, endure only when they are
nurtured through regular contact.
That is why he remains
in touch even today with everyone he has known, from childhood friends to every
officer and staff member he encountered during his professional life. He calls
them occasionally, even when there is no specific reason to do so. Watching
Jwala demonstrate, in practice, the importance of human relationships, there is
much to learn. If Jwala were to be described in a single breath, he is this: a
good son, a good father, a good husband, a good friend, a good journalist, a
good writer, a good employee, and a good officer.
All these qualities
combined, that is Jwala.
