A thousand moons

CONTENTS Page

Topic 1
2
My early days 6
My days in school and college 13
My first appointment 16
My foray into civil services examination 17
I clear the UPSC examination 20
I join Postal Service 21
S.S.P, Mysore:my long tenure begins 26
Learning lessons of life 28
My father passes away 29
Under the wings of Velankar 31
I get my pomotion 35
I become a father 37
I join Atomic Energy Department,Bombay 39
I join IGCAR,Kalpakkam 40
Marathon tour of the South by car 41
Reentry problem 43
My daughter’s musical journey 45
A movie with D.D.G,Vigilance 50
A blueprint for Scientific mail management
My promotion to SAG Level

Topic Page
My Kashmir visit 51
My posting as CPMG,Karnataka Circle 52
Paperless office and I 53
A stack of bags between me and CPMG seat 53
Bhagawans Satya Saibaba’s miracle call 55
Shri.S.C.Mahalik’s visit to Bangalore 56
My son on threshhold to his Ph.D 56
My tenure in Bhopal 56
My daughter’s marriage 57
Back to Hyderabad 57
Back to the pavilion 59
Uninted harm from unintended trap 59
Invitation to Perth 61
I am now a grand father 61
Friends and detractors 62
Accidents nd close encounters 78
My wife 83
My favourite books 92
My role model 93
Religion and personal God 95
Towards Universal Love-Satya Saibaba’s 69th birthday 97
My sunset years 98
Epilogue 100

A thousand moons – Chapter-I

The scene of my father waiting to see me off by Howrah Mail
on that mystical evening on a warm day in June,1959 at Central
Station will remain ever etched in my memory. For here was an
old man past 60 years and superannuation from government
service willing to bet his last pie on his son’s higher education;
for that train which was bound for Calcutta had me as a
passenger whose journey was up to Kharagpur.My father
wanted me to study for M,Tech in Geophysics in IIT
Kharagpur. I protested saying he was already retired after 30
years of service in the AG’s office and it was time I his eldest
son should take over the family burden and give him the well
earned rest. But luckily for me though admission was granted
there was a rider that the question of offering me scholarship to
pay the term’s fees would be decided after the first term. So,
much to my father’s regret I had to look around for job. But this
gesture of my father and motivation to spur me to greater
heights in academic career fixed my sights high.

I was born on 22 May,1939, in my maternal grandfather’s
house in Kancheepuram.For reasons best known to him my
father gave the date as 18th June for entering my date of birth
in School records.Already my elder sister senior by 8 years
was studying in higher secondary school when I was admitted
in wht was called Elementary School.Some eight years after
my birth two brothers were added to the family the two
separated by 2 years from one another.Last to be born was a
younger sister .My father used to say often “we are seven”
perhaps to foster a more secure bonding amongst us.

My father had education upto what is now known as pre-
university level .One of the English text books presumably,
prescribed for my father had “F.A” written in ink on the
coverpage indicating the course as “Faculty of Arts “ another
name for the predegree class. Though initially employed as a
clerk in the Collector’s Office in Chingleput he hoping that
service under Central Goernment would be more paying
switched over to a job in Accountant General’s Office situated
in Fort St.George.He was fond of speaking in English and his

1

handwriting had a calligraphic quality! From what I used to
observe about him was he was a strict disciplinarian who
wanted his children to play less and study more.

At the age of 4 years I enrolled myself in a school run on the
pyol of a house at the street corner and the” school “ master
used to teach us besides Tamil verses of Avvaiyar, English
alphabets and Tables up to 12 numbers. A few months later
when I was 5 years I was put in a primary school called
Ramakrishna Elementary School. The school was located on
a street just behind the house where we were living on
Godown Street in George Town. The only thing I remember
was the school used to distribute biscuits which became
stale due to storage over long period. The biscuits were
courtesy of American Peace Corps intended as relief
measures for a war endangered country where dropping of
bombs by Japanese army held the people in constant fear.
The explosion of Emden bomb added fillip to the fears.

The year 1944 was at the peak of hostilities and the British
Government ordered evacuation of Madras city. So our
family had to resettle for such period as considered
necessary in Bangalore where the whole A.G’s office was
shifted. My father located a house in Chamarajapuram
locality. I was put in a Kannada Medium School .The first
word in Kannada I learned was “I want to go home” as I was
sad that my mother dropped me in the school and left me
crying!”Mane hogu baeku” was the beginning of my
language training. Today if I am quite conversant with
talking in Kannada it is due to my first introduction to that
language in Chamarajapuram!After a few months when the
hostilities were over and Allies won the war we again
moved back to Madras and George Town. I resumed my
study in Ramakrishna School and finished 5th Standard.

My mother began to worry about my admission to Higher
Secondary School. She wanted me to try by writing a
entrance test in St.Gabriel School on Broadway not far

2

from my house. She anticipating that I would have done
well and even prepared in advance some sweet dish to
celebrate my admission! When I didn’t make it in
St.Gabriel she took me very soon afterwards to A.G.Jain
High School and waited by sitting on the steps of the stair
case till I returned after writing entrance test. This time I
was successful and my mother paid the fees and got me
enrolled in that school. I continued in that school without
interruption till I reached S.S.L.C level. Meanwhile my
father shifted residence to a locality in Mint area not far
from where the State Government’s Mint and Government
Printing Press was located .It was customary on my father’s
part to always add a class or two when he introduced me to
his friends .So even when I was only doing 9th Standard he
would say I am appearing for S.S.L.C Examination! When
he returned home after office his eyes used to scout for me
on the streets to check if I was playing with other boys not
minding studies. If he located me in the midst of boys
playing he would be liberal with abuses and even physical
treatment. Sometime he even used to follow me to a cricket
ground about a mile away from house and on spotting me
on the field he would chastise me and lead me home. But
after shifting to the Mint locality a change was felt by me
myself ,to wit, I started showing interest in studies. I was a
regular 1st rank student in my class. The ease with which I
could read English poetry caught the attention of my
School Head Master who himself prepared me to speak the
lines from Gettysburg Speech of Abraham Lincoln and
made me deliver flawlessly the famous speech. at the
Annual School Day function. I also came first in the entire
School in the public examination though the score itself
was not anything to boast about! The main reason behind
shifting to Mint locality appears to be bad company I had in
the house on Godown street .The tenants were drawn from
a mélange of backgrounds-one was a cloth merchant,
another a family of temple priests , still another a political
worker. My father found the habits of the children from
these families were corrupting me and so he was on the
lookout for a house where lesser number of families were

3

put up. The sight of myself sitting on the carriage with the
other archakas accompanying the Deities mounted on the
chariot on one of the days of Brahmotsavam must have
been galling to my father. Depending on his mood my
father while entering the threshold of our house would issue
a call – Babu at the foot of the staircase .That call
depending on the length of the 2 vowels in my name would
indicate if he was expressing his affection to me and
impatient to hand over the sweet hill plantain fruits , my
favorite or was in hurry to let out a reprimand.

As already noted my behavior and habits showed a turn for
the better and I was lucky to get admission to Loyola
College to pursue Natural Sciences in the Intermediate
class which is what is now known as Pre University class.
My friendship with studious colleagues
engendered a sense of competition and I was ready for my
under graduation class. My mother who till then used to
send me on errands for grinding masala powder or chilli
powder at the nearby mill desisted from now on wards this
practice on the premise that I was busy with higher studies
This work also fell on the shoulders of my younger
brothers. I worked during summer holidays in the AG”s
office earning amount proportional to the number of GPF
accounts for which interest for the financial year was
calculated and posted in the GPF cards.

While at Loyola college I utilized to the library facility at
Bertram Library. As I was inclined to appreciate the
lighter side of life I enjoyed reading novels of
P.G.Wodehouse.The funny characters like Lord
Elmsworth,Aunt Agatha, Bertram Wooster,Jeeves kept me
amused. I also completed reading of all the novels of
Arthur Conan Doyle.

I found lectures of Dr.Srinivasan in Chemistry class
interesting .I enjoyed doing practical exercises in Physics
Dissections of frogs to study anatomy of the frogs were
most tiresome what with nailing the limbs to the

4

dissection board’s nails. Of all the experiments dissection
of frog’s brain was difficult as it required precision. After
I finished my Intermediate with first class I wanted to do
honors course in Chemistry. But as I did not study Moths
in intermediate class I was not eligible for a degree in
Chemistry as a Main subject.

The question was which subject in the main stream
was to be subject of my specialization’s had pitched
my sight on subjects which would fetch me degree
within shortest time. As against two years each for
Bachelors degree and Masters I went in for the 3 year
Honors degree course in Geology. On the basis of
marks obtained by me in the Intermediate
Examination and low income level of my father I was
found eligible for Poverty-cum-merit scholarship.
Thus I was able to pursue my study free of term fees
.We were only a compact group of 12 students of
which 4 students were drawn from promotion from
Bask level. The course entailed field work comprising
map reading, doing contour survey of the nearby hills
and study tour of sites rich in fossils and minerals and
ores like Chaibasa Jamshedpur in Bihar and Madhya
Pradesh. In the third and final year I rose by dint of
hard work to a level where my other equally
industrious colleagues but hailing from richer family
background were eager to do joint study for which
they came all the way from Mylapore seeking me at
my house in George Town! My mother was not found
wanting in hospitality and served the study team with
hot puris and potato curry!

It was thoroughly satisfying to me that I along with
one more friend from George Town cleared the
Honors Examination with First class in the final
Honors examination leaving the rest of the class
with second class. Encouraged by my academic
potential my father just then due for retirement in
1960 advised me to go for M.Tech in IIT Kharagpur

5

to pursue Geophysics. But I was clear in my mind it
was time for my father to retire from work and take
well earned rest after serving the Government for
over 30 years. But my father motivated me to seek
admission in Kharagpur and God wiling I might
succeed in getting scholarship which will ease to
an extent financial burden. My father accompanied
me to Central Station to see me off by Howrah
Mail. Luckily for me the IIT authorities offered to
consider my request for financial support provided I
completed the first term by paying fees. When I
expressed reluctance to go for further studies my
father had no other go but to support me in my quest
for a suitable job. It was time that I the eldest in the
family started earning my elder sister having
married 10 years ago.

I got response from Geological Survey of India to
join as Apprentice in their headquarter office on
Chowringee in Calcutta. Initially I was
accommodated with my friend in his uncle’s house on
Mompas Road in South Calcutta. Within a few days I
could locate not far from my friend’s place a mess
where I would get food and breakfast as well as a bed
to sleep by sharing a room with two other employed
bachelors. I had to pay only Rs.forty for this princely
style of boarding and lodging !Coffee and Idlis or
Uthappam in the morning and three course meal
before leaving for work and before going to
bed.Meanwhile I responded to an advertisement from
Atomic Energy Commission and applied for a Group
post of Assistant Geologist on a pay scale of Rs.375-
675.It was a touring job wherein one had to camp for
10 or more days in places selected from the Survey
Map each year from October to June. One was
entitled to daily allowance besides contingent
allowance to engage a cook and field guide to
accompany the officer during trekking on the rocks
in search of the atomic mineral Uranium. The officer

6

had to carry an instrument called Geiger Muller
counter which would detect and measure radioactive
material in the surrounding area and rocks,etc.

The Atomic Minerals Division had its office on Race
course road .The office was located in an a old palace
converted for the purpose and the building was called
Patankar Bhavan.Though in the first year after joining
the department I took a room in a hotel named Raj
Mahal not far from Majestic and City Railway station
I succeeded in locating a room in a three storey
building opposite Swastik Theatre.The rooms were
close to the hotel New Krishna Bhavan and I found it
easy to visit the hotel for breakfast before proceeding
to office by walk as the rooms were centrally located.
My other room mates were employed in the
A.GsOffice not far. When it was departure time for
Madras mail to start its journey at 9 o’ clock and
announce the departure by means of long whistle
which I would become home sick and I would feel a
twinge in my heart as the train was carrying all others
to my home town but leaving me behind away from
my parents and brothers. Earlier while awaiting my
shift to Bangalore to join the new office of Atomic
Energy my father took me to the famous draper and
tailor Gani and Sons and get me a pant stitched with
sharkskin material of yellowish cream colour and a
terylene shirt of light blue colour.My fatter took great
interest and pride in finding for me new dress and a
wrist watch to boot-a favreleuba watch’s e also had a
practical bent of mind in the matter of keeping me
adequately financed when I was on touring job
changing camp every 10 or 15 days. So he opened a
joint account in Indian Bank in Parry’s corner in
Madras and whatever cheques or demand drafts were
received from Atomic Energy office in Bombay he
used to credit the amounts to our joint account. From
this account he would draw money and remit to me
by money order required amounts to my last known

7

camp address.

My first train journey to a town called Tarikere in
Shimoga district was picturesque. When I passed
through station called Mundre I could easily relate
the endless boulders covered with lichen with the
description of glacier age conglomerates of
Shivpuri described in the text book..It was exciting
to imagine that this valley of Sharavati could have
been covered by vast sheet of glacial ice! The
journey from Bangalore to Tarikere was my first
exposure to red tape phenomenon. Though year
after year geologists would be moving in the
Guards’ compartment of the train their field
equipments like tent, field-kit like the G.M
counter,etc on every occasion of the field party
requisitioning booking of these equipments the
Railway Guard old insist on inspection of the
equipments and production of State Government
order authorizing the Geologist to tour any part of
the state and assuring general support to their field
activities. But each time the packages containing
the tents Would be offered for loading into the
guard’s compartment the guard would ask us to
measure the length and other dimensions and
generally accept for loading into the compartment
at the last minute when the signal for starting the
engine would be given and the long whistle blown
and there will be commotion while the tents would
be pushed into the carriage.

As I said earlier my father would be remitting by
money order an amount equal to my monthly needs
like grocery, etc.But taking payment of money order
intended for me and lying at different post offices as
and when I was shifting camp was an ordeal as at
every new place I had to establish my identity to the
satisfaction of the officer in charge of the post office!
My experiences in Channagiri and Savalanga were

8

quite irritating.

Tarikere is a fairly big town; unlike villages like Mundre or
Lingadahalli were small villages and interaction with the
village headman or patel as he was called was easy and
general requirements like milk and curd would be easier to
get. Another help that the headman would be approached for
would be a local field guide who would show the route to
particular spots while carrying out the survey as also to
carry the G.M Counter. I would be ready at six o’clock for
my trek when my cook taken from Madras would be ready
with coffee and breakfast, uppuma.After breakfast I would
start for the reference point in the survey map with the guide
in two. On one of our trekking endures the guide throwing
formality and protocol to winds asked point blank, “sir, why
are you caught up with this mountain climbing work; this is
a thankless job!”Though his remark hit the target in myself
pride I had no convincing answer as the job gave me and my
family financial support and left no room for debate over the
dignity of the job itself. But I diverted my spare energies to
sensitize myself to the surroundings complete with tall areca
plantations, teakwood trees covering the sky in a canopy of
vegetation. The variety of bird calls and occasional bear’s
footprints lent an air of mystery and expectation. The sights
and sounds also served me as occasion for learning sporadic
lessons as would be revealed by these Kannada sayings:”if
you see a tiger raise a commotion by shouting ;if you see a
bear take to your heels”.(holiday kandare hool
madu;karadiyai kandathare kaal echchu”).I also learned
Koppa in Malnad was the most unhealthy spot and so a
punishment posting.(“thappidha maaduthire Koppathalla
aaku”). I used to write to my parents regularly reporting my
experience in the field including instances of bears’ foot
imprints,etc.My journey across the Shankar gudda Reserve
forest pitching camp on the way in Inspection Bungalows of
Forest Department was memorable. The villages
Sirigere,Hanagere, Mandagadde nestling in the gentle slopes
of hills with no civilization in sight except for forest guards
and rangers and the movement of trucks loaded with wood

9

auctioned in the coup conducted by the forest department
were picture perfect. The early morning scene of the houses
engulfed by mist allowing but hazy outline of the trees and
hills with almost other- worldly crowing of the cock was
eerie and unforgettable.

My mother when I took leave of her on the eve of my
starting independent field work gave me a palm sized note
book in which she had written in fountain pen in her
handwriting vanquishing for sheer beauty and elegance even
pearl dross, Sri Venkatesa Suprabatam.I was to recite it
every morning after bath and it remained my proud
possession as if it were an amulet which save me from
perils. This little hand written book neatly bound by hard
cover was an attraction to my senior colleague who shared
accommodation during laboratory season in
Bangalore.Sri.B.Yagnanarayanan my colleague and I used
to recite Suprabatham together. An interesting incident that
occurred in the first field season was my decision to return
to Bangalore for the recess season, premturely.Instead of
closing camp on 1st June I wound up my field work on 1st
May itself. The Officer in Charge in Bangalore Office
Mr.Y.N.R.Rao was aghast at seeing me back in the Head
quarters .He promptly ordered me to return to field and
continue survey from where I left.

Since it was my first field assignment my father thought it
better to keep company with me for a few days. He was
happy to spend time in the camp, strike friendship with
neighbours and generally discuss politics if they were
educated. I had a cook also named Srinivasan whose main
weakness was his allegiance to Bacchus! For keeping in
touch with world affairs I had with me a National transistor
music from which was a great source of relaxation.

It occurred to me that my father may like to see the Jog
waterfalls some 60 miles away from Tarikere.So we two took
the Talaguppa express which halted at the Talaguppa station.

10

The morning was very pleasant and around 9 AM we started
descending on the side opposite the falls. In about two hours
time we reached a slope from where we can take a
comfortable view. This waterfall is the highest in India
comprising four sections –Rja,Roarer,Rocket and Rani.We
enjoyed the fast falling water throwing to long distances the
water spray and the multicoloured rainbow. The problem
started only on the return journey as the climb up the hill
didn’t go well with my father. Now I was at the receiving
end. My father showed his resentment at being made to climb
as he frequently went out of breath. I was praying all the way
that the ordeal would soon end.

In the next field season 1960-61 I was allotted the tract of
hills north of Bhadravathi.It had thick forest cover and the sky
was hidden from view by the tall teak plantations and other
trees. The bus route from Shimoga to Sagara on the North
Karnataka border provided exciting view of the extensive rain
forests. Matching the colourful route interspersed by nice and
tiny villages enroute was the musical call given by the
transport company staff who used to list the bus stops along
the way starting from Shimoga,Savalanga ,Shiralkoppa Sagara
the last stop having an extended hyphenation. Here also my
father joined me when I arranged a camp at Channagiri.Here
also we were in need of some good covered accommodation
and a local school teacher came forward to rent his house for a
fortnight. But the first day itself proved disastrous as the
whole house was swarming with bugs and needless to say the
night turned into a nightmare and robbed of sleep we got up
early and began to think of alternative accomodation.We
made friends with Mr.Iyengar a Licensed Medical Practitioner
and an itinerant doctor who would travel on different days by
bus on different routes and keep appointments with patients
in the villages. He would visit the patients and examine them
and dispense medicines .So we took his help and prevailed
upon the Inspection Bungalow attendant to spare us a room
for 10 days. At this time I knew there was a large lake some 0
or 15 miles away called Sulekere Lake and my father and I
paid a visit to the lake and were thrilled to see the vast sheet

11

of water.

My father began to frequent the doctor family at his residence
when I would leave for my work. The secret parleys became
public some time after we left Bangalore. It appeared the doctor
proposed to offer his daughter’s hand in marriage to me at that
time his daughter was hardly eighteen years when I myself
would have touched twenty three. My mother didn’t allow this
proposal any further as I was not ready for marriage myself.

When I was touring these parts like Bhadravathi,Honnali, Male
bannur ,etc a terrible incident occurred. I was camping at a
village called Nallur in Honnali taluk of Shimoga district. On
the western side there were some hills and rocky terrain which
needed to be surveyed for Uranium. On that day when I
proceeded towards a village called Guddathu komarahalli where
the annual festival of Sri Ranganathaswamy’s chariot
procession on Ratha sapthami day was in progress. Suddenly
there was hue and cry and people ran here and there and the
crowd which was busy a little earlier in pulling the chariot
began to disperse except for a handful. To my enquiry I got the
reply that a child of some three years which was observing the
festival somehow or other got caught under the wheel of the
chariot and could not be revived. This tragedy haunted me for
very long time after I left the place .

I later planned a camp at Harihar for a month .Harihar used to
be called twin city as Devangere , the other town was hardly 10
mile from Harihar,I used to visit Devangere every Sunday for
two things to leave for dry wash my shirt and pant and enjoy
tiffin in a decent hotel in Devangere.I offered every evening
worship at Hari hareshwar temple.

The camp I stayed in Male bannur was easily the worst
hyegene wise and handicapped by water shortage. But this
place offered refuge for Veterinary department stockman who
became my friend owing to the fact that the two of us were
probably the only graduates. He was preparing for some
competitive examination conducted by the State Government

12

of Karnataka for Group B officers. When we renewed
acquaintance 30 years later in Bangalore it was entirely in a
different situation when I was Chief Postmaster General and
he was English Lecturer in Government College of Arts. The
latter on perusing some news paper coverage of postal
function wherein I participated raked his memory and found
the young geologist in Male bannur was the Head of the
Postal Service in Karnataka and came to my office and
renewed our contact.

At this point of time my father decided it was time to have our
own house instead of paying rent on tenancy basis. A
considerable amount of money from my salty and allowances
besides his own receipts from AG’s office on account of
retirement benefits were sufficient to buy a readymade house
in North Madras in Perambur.The family moved into the new
house bought by my father.

My mother was not happy with my nomadic life and on one of
my trips to Madras to see my parents and brothers and sisters
she advised me to try my hand at cracking the IAS and Allied
Service Examinations. It was the third year of my service as
Geologist and I was due to be allotted to Madurai district with
mandate to tour the hills and rock formations on either side of
Cumbum valley.I took her advice seriously and after applying
for the ensuing examination I began to collect all relevant
materials like Text books on Indian History, British History
and Dr.K.S.Krishnan’s book on Stratigraphy of India and my
college notes in different areas of Geology.It was also my
habit to prepare a scrap book containing articles which
appeared in the Hindu on various subjects like Art and
Culture, Scientific topics, Politics etc.So armed with these
materials I made a serious attempt to prepare for the main
examination in October,1962.My camps at
Chinnamanur,Periya kulam, Chithaiyan kottai etc were useful
sources of knowledge because in the district level library at
these places rare books like Macaulay’s Handbook of British
History, Warner and Martin’s Text book of British History,
Sardar K.M.Panikar ‘s Survey of Indian History, Nilakanta

13

Shastri’s book of South Indian History provided a rich
reservoir of information and knowledge. I cleared the written
paper with fairly good score. I obtained 80 percent in
Geology, 70 percent in General Essay, 62 percent in Indian
History, 60 percent in British History and 50 percent in
General Knowledge. When on the first day of the examination
we finished writing on a topic in General Essay I was
accosted by my father waiting t the entrance of Memorial Hall
, on the Broadway as to which question did I attempt to
answer and when I replied I wrote about traditions of Indian
Music he became furious with disbelief and derisively
questioned what did I know about music in the first instance!
Among the scrapbooks assiduously collected by me from
news papers the Sunday Magazine section of The Hindu main
article “Art and Morality” by His Highness Jaya Chamaraja
Wodeyar was priceless and helped me answer any question on
Indian music or culture with great felicity.

My seniors who thought nothing much of my effort did
not attach much importance to the permission granted to
me to appear in the Civil Services Examination and were
wondering if after all I would clear the hurdle of Personal
Interview which ultimately decided if someone would
enter the service or not. So with a view to deprive me of
valuable time during recess season my Director in
Bangalore asked me to carry out a study on uranium
content in the ashes of Neyveli Lignite and gave me
marching orders to proceed to Neyveli in August 1962.For
one complete month I was sitting by the side of an electric
furnace which was turning the lignite to ashes. It was the
idea to analyze the ashes to see if it contained any trace of
uranium! Whether I could find uranium or not I succeeded
in tracing long lost family of my eldest cousin who was
working as Office Superintendent and I enjoyed my stay
with his family.

Again after clearing the written papers I was asked to
accompany another senior colleague to prospect for
Uranium in Gadwal in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh

14

in addition to my usual quota of field job. Only my senior
Mr.K.Venkataraman Senior Geologist who was my mentor
in Neyveli was my sympathizer and encouraged me in my
efforts. So when I cleared the oral interview also and
found my name as one of the successful candidates for
Group A posts declared by the U.P.S.C and saw it
published the same as Bashyam Iyengar Srinivasan I
thought I did full justice to the honour of tagging on my
name to my father’s name also!

So when I went to Madras to see my ailing grandfather
my father expressed happiness at my success in the UPSC
selection and urged me to go straight to Egmore where
my grandfather was on deathbed. Already my grandfather
must have begun his journey to the kingdom of no return
when my grandmother on seeing me whispered into my
grandfather’s ears that his grandson has after all cleared
the IAS and Allied Examination!

The influence of my maternal grandfather on my
character, piety, tolerance ,compassion towards all is
something remarkable and unmatched by any one in the
family. Until I finished SSLC examination I was his
regular disciple and taught Tiruppavai,Kanninun
siruthambu,Sri Vishnu Sahasra namam, Suprabatham,etc
works of Sri Vaishnava texts. He inculcated in me the
spirit of quest for knowledge in Sri Vaishnavism by
taking me with him to listen to discourses on
Tiruppavai,Acharya hridhayam,select verses from
Nalayira Divya Prabandham,etc.I developed interest in
listening to discourses of Sri Annangrachariar, Sri
Varadachariyar Swami and Sri Embar Vijaya
raghavachariyar.

Whenever I visited Egmore and stayed with my
grandparents and sister and uncle it was an undeclared
duty of mine to assist my grandfather and work the
handpump after getting up from sleep at four o’clock
to get water isued by \Corporation of Chennai. During

15

pongal holidays I would be totally engrossed in
watching basketball volleyball tournaments conducted
in the Corporation grounds. A variety of teams from
all over Tamil nadu and even neighbouring states
would participate and show their skill so that the best
team could be awarded trophy. I would miss my lunch
and snacks so that I was present at the grounds when
the deserving teams were at play

My father ,it seemed, had great prescience in the matter
of my career advancement. my father had easy access
to the successive AGs by virtue of his expertise in the
matter of selection of diamonds. He helped his bosses
to buy flawless diamonds for the wedding of their
dughters.That was why he used to confidently say to
his superiors like the AG that one day his son would
rise in his career and occupy the chair the latter
occupied! I finished my training in Mussorie
successfully and was at my home town awaiting
allotment to the service from among several Group A
services under the Government.
In retrospect I feel how the risk, I took in my 24th year
which was the maximum permissible age limit and also
my first attempt by attempting 5 papers prescribed for
Central services examination and how the personality
test in Madras centre was a more manageable
challenge, paid off!

It was anticlimax when I finally received the
allotment letter from the UPSC tying me and post
office in a knot. My mother sensing my
disappointment at not being allotted to IAAS, IRS etc
services consoled me that the harmless postal service
was just the thing for people like me who might be
lost in the maze of cunning ways of the world. Here
was no risk of being trapped as scape goat for no
faults of ours! One can spend peaceful nights after the
day’s work is done.

16

A thousand moons-Chapter -II

After a few days orders for my training in Mussorie
National Academy of Administration were received.
I packed clothes and other essentials and armed with
the transistor I left Madras by G.T Express and after
alighting at New Delhi took the Dehra dun
expres.From there a bus took me and other
prospective trainees to Mussorie and the bus travel
negotiating the hairpin curves was quite an
experience .When I left the bus stand with the suit
cases and holdall,etc I didn’t realize I forgot to
collect my transistor and until the tonga travelled
about a kilometer I didn’t recollect the missing
luggage! When I suddenly remembered my
transistor I immediately got the vehicle take a U
turn and lo and behold the transistor was safe and
sound and remained in the same spot as I left it. So
much for the honesty of the Garhwali folk! I was
lodged in a room to be shared by two probationers
in Chapelton.

The remaining five months were one long session of
lectures, visits \,debates etching the middle of this
term we had a break when we could make a quick
trip to our native place. Table tennis was a main
source of pastime and entertainment and I could
improve my skills reasonably well.

The Director General of Post and Telegraph issued a
detailed time table of different training segments
and Tamil Nadu circle sent in further elaboration an
itinerary of training modules. The first three months
were spent in the company of an outstanding officer
Mr.B.P.Kini, Senior Superintendent Trichy
Division. He WAS a model of efficient MAN

17

management and his inspection visits were a great
source of knowledge. He was thorough in all the
details of postal operation. He having worked
initially as a clerk in the office of Postmaster
General, Madras wrote and qualified in the Grade A
Central services examination for post office
personnel and by virtue of having qualified in that
examination was directly posted in 1957 as
S.S.P,Trichy. So his erstwhile colleagues had a
mixed relationship with him some proud that one
among them became an officer and others jealous
and were waiting for his fall.

When I was in Pudukottai for undergoing training as
Postmaster I had occasion to meet my old college and
Geology class mate Mr.C.S.Rangachari whose
parents were in Pudukottai.He invited me to his house
and we talked about our college days before I
returned to my quarters. The Sduperintendent
Sri.T,S,Srinivasan who wore turban as different from
another T.S.Srinivasan without turban was a best
friend of mine. When I fell sick and was on leave at
Madras in our Perambur house he came all the way to
enquire about my health. My training as Inspector
was in Chingleput sub division where I worked as
Inspector I found work interesting and even submitted
to my PMG a proposal to upgrade a branch office to
sub post office.

I had for paying table tennis my friend Namasivayam
qualified in accounts. He became such a close friend
that throughout the long period of friendship he
followed my progress to different higher grades and
shared every happiness in my life getting children,
promotion, buying house etc .No birthday of my
daughter or son would be celebrated without a
greeting card from Namasivayam.Even I may forget
my wedding day but not my friend!

18

I could notice within a short time that if we could
treat our juniors in rank and not in age with due
respect to their talents,intelligence,ability the
promoted officers would bear no grudge against
their superiors though much removed by age. What
makes for success of us is confluence of right time,
place and right amount of effort. Compulsion also
determines whether we move up or get into situation
of no escape during which time opportunities slip
from our hands. So the bard of Stratford on Avon
says through Brutus in Julius Caesar :

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

I know Sri.Sadasivam who did M.Sc in those days,
probably in Physics who remained initially as
Inspector of Post Offices before finally retiring as
Postmaster,Thanjavur.May be his family
circumstance or adequate level of motivation was
such that he could not but work to a goal that
depended on available quantity of time. As
Shakespeare observed we must seize the time by its
forelock and attain our goal. If we can adopt such
attitude towards our colleagues and subordinates
they will also have their self pride protected from
being trampled away. Once their ego is satisfied and
they feel we are prepared to treat them as our equals
we will succeed in our enterprise.

My experience in RMS,’M’ Division was one
extended spell of happiness. We underwent training
under Mr.C.Ponnurangam who was I inspector RMS.
Mr.C.Ponnurangam was a lively spirit which refused

19

to be dampened by any fluctuation of fortune. H e
used to accompany me, and my two other batchmates
S/Sri.R.Narasimhan and S.Brahmanadam on our
inspection tours. This Ponnurangam had a child’s
heart and was always ebullious with cheerful spirit
cutting jokes and recounting stories real as well as
imagined! He was to occupy later in my life a greater
space not so much for any impact on my life but to
mitigate a great wound he sustained in his life.
Now that training in different modules was over it
was my turn to await posting orders. In due course
orders from P&T Directorate transferring me to
Mysore Division in Karnataka circle were received by
me. I was happy because there was something
magnetic pulling me towards Karnataka. To begin
with I went alone to Mysore promising my father to
call him after I located a suitable house .I found there
was 2 room accommodation in the first floor of a
rented building on Vani vilasa Road near
Lakshmipuram.The ground floor of this building
housed the Divisional office..The divisional office
was a compact office with about 20 or 24 staff in the
ground floor surrounded by a neat garden and it had
also had a recreation club with provision for playing
table tennis.

But within a week of joining Mysore division news
came that my father got a stroke of coronary
thrombosis and when I saw him at General Hospital,
Madras it was a heart rending sight. He was prompt
with his request that I should do something whereby
my younger brother could pursue further education
after SSLC.He had just then passd his S.S.L.C
examination. Those were the days when a mere post
card in which I narrated circumstances in which I
attended to my father in the hospital and that my
request to locate a suitable college for admission to a
diploma course in engineering would fetch the
desired result. Mr.Narayana Rao the Town Inspector

20

to whom I addressed the card met the principal of
National Institute of Engineering ,Myore and got his
approval to admit my brother in the civil engineering
discipline of the college. I after discharging my father
from the hospital returned to Mysore along with my
younger brother who joined the college and began to
study the engineering subjects. This was the
qualification which helped him to enter service in
Madras in the office of Chief Engineer Civil first as
Work Assistant and then he rose from the post of
junior engineer to sub divisional engineer. I am proud
to say I could see my youngest brother though not a
gradate rose to the position of group B officer in
BSNL mainly due to my protective cover extended to
him from the beginning till his retirement.

After a year or so my another brother who completed
M.Sc in Chemistry joined me in my house and started
working in CFTRI .It was this brother whose thread
ceremony was organized by me with my mother, sick
father and younger brother besides elder sister and
uncle who specially travelled up to Mysore for
performing the rituals.

Earlier on the very first day in office I faced an
interesting issue, that was , selection of a Public
Relations Inspector who was then called Town
Inspector. I devised a practical question bringing to the
fore investigation skills of the candidate wishing to be
selected for the post. Of the 6 candidates one
Mr.Subba narasimha Shastri’s performance was up to
the mark and I asked my head clerk to notify the result
in the afternoon itself. The successful candidate
wanting to thank me for selecting him attempted to
come up to the first floor and see me for the purpose.
When I came to know the reason for Mr.Shastri’s visit
to my room I asked the Group D official to send him
back as I thought there was no element of favours

21

shown to that employee and there was no need for
further ado.

The foregoing incident served to project me as a
disinterested and impartial officer .But in due course
of time this particular official did show tremendous
enterprise in performing his duties effectively and
gradually by dint of his good qualities got attached
to me very much. Whenever I used to leave on
inspection tour by train he would meet me at the
station and see me off. I was new to the style of the
staff showing resentment by collective
demonstration through their negotiating body called
Union. So at times when I passed an order which
they thought inimical to their interests they would
meet me in a body led by the Union Secretary. The
latter himself a well educated person who missed
the bus to move up the ladder of promotion in the
department chose to vent his resentment by means
of trade union activities offering resistance to
anything I attempted in the best interest of the
department. An acid test case arose when under the
personal orders of my PMG the postmen staff who
were seated in a corner of the main hall shared by
public counters had to move to adjoining structure
where a hall was put up for exclusively this
purpose. they were reluctant to move to the new
premises. Here I was caught up between PMG on
one side and the organized Union on the other
.Somehow I managed to convince the postmen by
selective method of carrot and stick and I succeeded
in shifting the postmen to the exclusive delivery
hall. This helped me to remain in the good books of
my PMG.But the unions by misrepresenting my
several decisions to the immediate boss, ie, the
Director of Postal Services thereby alienating me
from the Director succeeded in driving a wedge
between me and my immediate boss..Thus when he
asked me over phone from Bangalore to revoke

22

suspension of a branch secretary of the union I
remained stubborn and asked my Director politely
to pass the same order in writing to be complied
with. I knew the office bearer was suspended for his
insubordination and dereliction of duty and based
on Postmaster’s recommendation the office bearer
had to be suspended.

So much so my Director got vexed with me and
one evening took the trouble of reaching me on
telephone in my house and expressed his
dissatisfaction bemoaning the fact while my
horoscope tallied with that of my PMG the
horoscopes of his and mine didn’t tally! This
identification of myself with my PMG somehow or
the other came to be my cross. This
misunderstanding got further fuelled because
whenever the PMG chose to visit Mysore I got the
information first and would meet him at Chamundi
Guest house and accompany him on his line
inspection visits .

I had a wonderful friend in John Standen working as
Inspector of Post Offices,Kollegal He taught me
scooter riding. Once in the initial stages of my
learning the scooter with Standen on the pillion I
thoughtlessly applied both front and foot brake with
the result the scooter suddenly stood up on its front
wheel only to invite a loud exclamation from
Standen ,”Oh my bucking bronco” in the cowboy
style! Standen was full of wit and humour. Another
colourful person working in the Head Office was
Harold Watsa who always had a Wodehouse book
in his hand. He could not speak without provoking
you to laughter!

After a brief period of my stay in the first floor of
office I finding accommodation to the office not

23

sufficient vacated the first floor and asked some
sections and staff to move up. I found an alternate
accommodation in Lakshmipuram quite close to the
office. My wife liked the house and soon busied
herself in raising a nice flower garden. She exerted
herself to make our life comfortable. She neatly
budgeted the expenses of our household
requirements within the salary I earned. Not a visitor
to our house would take our leave without enjoying a
bit of her hospitality and a hot cup of coffee. The
two brothers had nothing to quarrel about. Every
inspection trip I would undertake would be complete
with provision for our lunch , mine and that of my
steno grapher, Mr.Lakshmana Rao.It will be either
uppuma, Adai – a kind of pancake made with toor
dal dough or chappathi and potatoes.This way I was
safe from any complaint of corruption in the matter
of outsourcing my food!

I have to confess that being an inexperienced
beginner in administration I took certain decisions
the intensity of which was disproportionate to the
cause. For instance I viewed far more seriously
instances of staff keeping cash short .Because there
were too many instances reported of shortage of cash
while closing accounts of the concerned offices I
conducted surprise visits at closing time of offices .In
one such case my surprise check of cash and stamp
balances of Vani Vilas Post Office revealed the
postmaster keeping cash less than what the office
accounts showed to an extent of Rs.900.00.The
postmaster one Mr.Satyanarayana was promoted from
the rank of postman. So when after due process I
awarded him penalty of reduction in rank to postman
grade he took it to his heart so intensely that he
committed suicide to escape ostracism. Thought the
penalty had a provision to restore him to the clerical
status after 6 months he didn’t like loss of face! When
my office inspection was taken up by the Director

24

who had a dim view of me took me to task for being
heartless and not tempering harsh disciplinary
measures with clemency .In yet another case of cash
shortage I put the treasurer of Lakshmipuram Post
office, who had adverse record, to test. I in the
company of an impartial witness inserted ten rupee
note in the cash bag to be sent to Lakshmipuram Post
office in the evening. With the amount inserted
outside the account the receiving office must report
the cash excess by that amount. I soon thereafter paid
a visit to the same post office and straight went to the
treasury. When I verified the cash balance I found
that the treasurer did not report any excess amount
found by him though it was a fact I myself just a
while ago included that money in the bag. In the
normal course the treasurer after taking into account
the receipt from the particular office should have
found cash excess by Rs.Ten. So I having caught the
official red-handed initiated disciplinary proceedings
against the erring official.

Barring the above instances I conducted myself
reasonably well. I had a bunch of loyal staff on whom I
could always count and they were drawn up from
clerical as well as inspectorial ranks.
S/Sri.R.S.Rao,V.Natarajan,Venkatachar,K.R.Narayan
Rao,S.NarasimhaShastri,Govinda
Rao,G.Rangaswamy,G.Swreenivasu were the ashta dik
gaja in my court. I had maintained excellent rapport
with Sri.P.P.Prabhu,IAS,Municipal Commissioner who
also looked after Mysore City Improvement Trust
Board was liberal towards my request for allotment of
sites for constructing post office buildings. He also
allotted some developed land for our co-operative
housing society and out of his discretionary quota
allotted me a housing site in the posh locality of
Saraswati pura.

Around that time circle athletic event was to be

25

inaugurated by a V.I.P . My PMG chose to send me to
Coorg to meet Gen.Cariappa and invite him on PMG’s
behalf and escort him to the venue of the event in
Bangalore. My meeting Gen.Cariappa at his sprawling
estate in Coorg lined with silver oak was a memorable
experience. When I met him on the previous evening to
fix up our program for the next day the General
enquired with me what breakfast would I partake, It left
me completely spellbound at the courtesy shown by
some one of the stature of the General who was our
first commander in chief and later who served as
ambassador to Australia! He offered me idlis and
coffee while he himself took some eggs and coffee.
Throughout our travel by car from the General’s
bungalow to Bangalore he kept up a lively conversation
enquiring about my studies, job, etc. As it was the day
of Bakrid he was quick to observe how orderly were
the Muslim brethern while offering namas.The sight of
our brethern in orderly lines in mosque after mosque all
along the route was inspiring.

My colleagues in the circle got it wrong attributing
some bias towards me as reason for my prolonged
posting in Mysore division. And this grew deeply to
such an extent that some of the senior colleagues when
they occupied position of power in the Directorate later
they showed the fangs.

When my father passed away in 1970 my request for
shift to Madras to take care of my mother and other
members of the family was conceded and I was
ordered to join as Senior Superintendent of
RMS,Madras.My departure from Mysore would have
gone unnoticed but for the enthusiasm shown by my
probationer Sri.G.V.Mohan.He organized a gala band
party at the Divisional Office and took me in a
procession up to the car which was to take me nod my
family to the railway station. The last act I performed
before I left Mysore was to hand over to my staff the

26

housing sites I was allotted in my official capacity by
the CITB,Mysore whose Chaiman was my batchmate
in Mussorie Sri.P.P.Prabhu.After the exciting tenure in
Mysore the tenure in Madras was uneventful except
for the opportunity to work with
Mr.C.Ponnurangam,.He became a regular visitor at my
house. I was transferred quickly from one post to
another and I felt working as Assistant Postmaster
General (Staff) was no great sign of recognition but on
the contrary an instance of never ending saga of an
overburdened donkey! My elder sister who was now a
senior faculty in Stella Maris College .Thanks to my
sister’s invitation to occupy a flat bought by her in
Mylapore I and my wife moved in along with my
mother and younger brother..

As I found the job of APMG (Staff) not challenging
enough I made a request for posting me as Assistant
Director General in the directorate. This time I left for
Delhi to take up the new assignment along with my
wife. Our stay in Madras lasted for 10 months. we were
still childless and my wife had to bear sly remarks from
our neighbours and my mother’s support to her daughter
in law was not complimentary.

In Delhi I had as my friend ,philosopher and guide
Sri.Ramanan a Northern Railway officer in the rank of
Deputy Chief Electrical Engineer. He received us at the
New Delhi station and took us in his car to his quarters
on Mathura Road. We were accommodated for two
weeks or so within which time we could secure rented
accommodation in Amar Colony in Lajpatnagar. The
behanji was a good lady reasonable in quoting rent and
the accommodation was a one room set on the ground
floor. I brought my vespa scooter by which the distance
to Dak Tar Bhavan was no great deal. In the summer it
was an ordeal to sleep indoors with only a ceiling fan on
and Delhi summer without air conditioner was
unthinkable. Every evening when I returned from office I

27

would take a bar of ice-cream .My wife liked seeing
Hindi movies and we were familiar with theatres like
Sapna or Uphar and enjoyed watching Hindi movies.

The office experience was very positive. Though initially
I was allotted M II Section dealing with stores I caught
the attention of Senior Member (Post) Mr.S.B.Velankar
who assigned me the work of Establishment section, too.
My target was to fully take advantage of the norms of SIU
(staff inspection unit) to call for and examine proposals
from the circles to create or bifurcate divisions and build
up sufficient units to justify new promotional posts like
directors and postmaster generals. A time bound plan was
hatched and a Expenditure Financial Memo was to be
submitted to Finance Ministry within 6 months. In one of
such projects when Sri.S.B.Velankar was to tour a
number of divisions with a view to reviewing on the spot
and sanction justified proposals he took along with him
me also to assist him. When our flight was about to take
off he turned towards me and addressed me as
follows:Srinivasan !I wish you a happy lunch midair, on
your first trip, “knowing this was my first official travel
by air when airlines crew were about to save us lunch.

As a result of his drive enough number of posts were
created and senior eligible officers who were over due for
promotion were provided posts in SAG and JAG and their
promotions ordered. In the above exercise my case for
promotion to JAG Grade was also covered resulting in my
promotion to the grade of Director. During the 2 years
between 1971-73 I must mention the overwhelming
support I got from Sri.S.L.Rajan , Director PRP.The
spatial proximity I enjoyed with reference to
Sri.S.C.Mahalik,who was several years senior to me and
his assessment of work I turned out then must have made
him look at several issues and problems I faced when I
moved up the ladder to the post of PMG,Bangalore with
genuine sympathy and understanding.

28

My getting orders to take up the post of DPS Coimbatore
was a result of imbroglio and a comedy of errors. When I
joined Directorate in one of our parleys Sri.Velankar
assured me that when my turn was due for promotion the
newly created post of City Director would be mine in
keeping with my seniority and responsible charge held by
me. But Sri.Devarajan, Director Staff informed me that
Sri.Brahmanandam was being sent as Director
Coimbatore. So I asked Sri.Velankar if the assurance
given to me earlier was not going to be
respected.Sri.Velankar as though nothing happened to
warrant my excitement smilingly asked me if I wanted to
be sent to Coimbatore and when I affirmed it was so
assuaged me and said I would indeed be sent to
Coimbatore and Sri.Brahmanandam will be going to
Bhopal.

Coimbatore turned a new leaf in my life. We hired a first
floor premises of a spacious bungalow on Race course
road. I set up office in the front portion of the premises.
The rear portion duly separated by a glass panel served as
residential quarters. Only two staff members were
provided one IPO for postal work and the other for RMS.
One Stenographer looked to dictation work and a Group
D staff looked after the office and visitors. Within a short
time of joining office I bought a new car –Premier
President model. I learnt in no time driving. I took my
wife to Ootacamund to see my wife’s sister whose
husband was Manager Production, Hindustan Photo
Films. Among the haunts I and my wife visited were
V.O.C Park,Marudmalai Hills ,Muruga Temple, The
snacks sold in GauriShankar Hotel were another
attraction. I used to watch movies screened in the
Rainbow theatre within arm’s distance of my office. Both
Sri.R.Mani my P.A and S.S.Venkataraman IPO in my
office were polished gems. With the help of
Sri.Venkataraman I could commission several studies
some of which were the subject of review by the Work
study team of the Directorate. This Venkataraman was a

29

person of great acumen and suave in manners and always
with a sense of humour.We three during our inspection
tours followed one policy. I did not expect any officer or
staff of the office we were going to inspect to receive us
at bus stop or rail station. Secondly after completing
inspection of the subjects which could be covered for the
day we would proceed straight to omen restaurant and
presented ourselves at local cinema house to view
whatever was on offer. This way we would avoid any
office staff at our camp and their request for favours!

In 1973 there was countryide shortage of white printing
paper. Post offices had no adequate stock of even essential
forms with the result that there were rampant criticisms
against postal service. When I called for public tenders the
response was highly dissatisfying. Private merchants
quoted abnormal price which at that rate would leave our
budget in a shambles. So I preferred Government of
Mysore paper mill Bhadravati Paper Mills to others even
though that mill wanted advance payment of the price of
paper we wanted to take off from the mill. In Government
procedure advance payment was anathema. But the
alternative was to continue with shortage. So I took a bold
risk in sending my Superintendent Coimbatore Postal
Stores Depot to Bhadravathi on truck with a cheque for the
cost of paper to be purchased. The amount was somewhere
around Rs. One lakh.Within four days my Superintendent
successfully returned to Coimbatore with required quantity
of white printing paper. Not only did I take a risk in
issuing a cheque in advance of the transaction but my
Superintendent too risked driving in a truck from
Coimbatore to Bhadravathi- a distance of 400 odd miles to
and fro. I thanked Sri.M.Jayaraman.M.A the PSD
Superintendent profusely and made suitable entries in his
confidential records.

Towards the end of 1973 accepting my invitation to
inaugurate Philatelic Exhibition sponsored by the
Business community in Coimbatore Sri.Rabi Ray,

30

Member(development) P&T Board came down to
Coimbatore. After the inauguration he planned to visit
Postal Training Centre ,Mysore .It was with great pleasure
I took Sri.Ray by may car to Ooty and thence to Mysore.
While he returned direct from Mysore to Delhi via
Bangalore I returned to Coimbatore.

My wife was happy with the new set up of office close to
quarters. I had an unexpected guest when
Sri.S.K.Parthasarathy from the Directorate visited my
office .I was happy to invite him for lunch and my wife
played a perfect host .Somehow I felt changes for the
better were around .In the early part of 197 there were
symptoms of my wife’s confinement. True! I was going to
become father after 8 years of marriage! I was consulting
Dr.Isaiya a popular gynaecologist and her nursing home
was ner my office.My office assistant Sri.Sridhar was
ofgreat help to me buying things like vegetables,grocery,
etc.He used to prefer Krishna Iyer hotel near the CTO for
bringing dosa which my wife liked.When she developed
pain on a Sunday I took my wife safely in may car and
admitted my wife in the Isaiah nursing home .Within two
hours of admission my wife delivered a baby girl. I was so
happy when I heard the child cry and little did I anticipate
that this sound issuing from my baby daughter would in a
few years sound musical befitting a child prodigy. The
naming ceremony was a memorable event when I invited
my colleagues in Coimbatore district telephones besides
my own colleagues and staff on the postal side. Some time
afterwards my wife and the baby child moved to
Mannargudi for a few months rest .Needless to say I
myself drove the car all the way from Coimbatore to
Mannargudi in a space of 10 hours.

Two things happened towards the end of my stay in
Coimbatore one of which ended on a happy note while the
other was an unexpected tragedy. First thing first. I had a
habit of keeping myself open to ideas and comments from
my staff. This habit of accessibility to lower formations

31

enables one to get to the bottom of any matter without
distortion. So whenever I had to visit the barber shop close
to the PSG Arts College I used to enquire about the family
and general matters from the barber who would attend to
me. He it appeared had a near relative, girl, working at
Coimbatore Head Post Office, in a E.D position. Somehow
she got entangled with a senior level employee working as
Public Relation I inspector and was even otherwise well
qualified with a post graduate degree. The latter appearing
to do a good Samaritan job posed as a well wisher of the
girl spent time to teach her and prepare her for answering
departmental test as and when held to promote E.D
candidates to clerical position. He had worked himself into
her confidence so much that she left her savings account
pass booklet in his custody. Meanwhile slowly the
inspector began to show his affection passionately and the
girl believed in his feelings for her. At one point of time
when the girl asked for the pass book so that she could
withdraw some money the inspector dodged her demands
and attempted to frighten her to make public some
exchange of letters of emotional sentiments. Now the girl
understood her plight and at the same time could not afford
any attrition. Once he relative came to know the delicate
situation he thought of taking into confidence some senior
officer for help. So once he narrated the story I assured him
of a way out. I asked the Superintendent of post offices to
straight away suspend the inspector on the ground that he
did not submit daily diaries, which complaint can be
attributed to any inspector at any given time! The inspector
held in good esteem was shocked at the damage the
disclosure would cause to his image. The superintendent
directed him to see me when the suspended official went to
him for revoking suspension. So when the inspector came
to me with a long face I asked him to confess everything
that happened and got the same in writing besides
confiscating the so called missives of romance and pass
books. Immediately thereafter his suspension was revoked
and the hapless girl escaped from the ordeal.

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The other incident is more calamitous. Sometime early in
Summer of 1975 Coimbatore telephone district cricket team
proposed a friendly match with Cricket team of Postal
division. The teams selected a suitable ground on Avinashi
road. The telephone team had the option to bat first. After
an hour or so the game was progressing interestingly when
to save a hard hit ball from crossing boundary the fields
man ran vigorously and succeeded in fielding the ball. But
he had developed thirst and came running to dressing room
for water. Hardly did he swallow few drops of water than
he fainted and fell. The entire team converged upon him
and tried to revive him but without success. Before he
could be taken to a hospital nearby he unfortunately
breathed his last. Then I came to know it was Subba Rao
postmaster of Collectorate Post office .Now the question
arose how to convey the bad news to the deceased’s
family’s e took SubbaRao and broke the news to his wife.
Soon before the news spread we organized a mail van into
which were loaded a few mail bags intended for Salem and
the family , his wife and a young baby daughter were put in
the van and a postal clerk was sent as escort to Salem where
Subba Rao’s parents were residing. I t appeared Subba Rao
had a weak heart that could not bear the strain of a cricket
game. Needless to say only after I got appointment order
from the PMG for employing the late employee’s wife as a
packer in the post office on compassionate ground did I
heave a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile my PMG Sri.V.Janakiraman after visiting my
office hinted at relocation of the office to Madras. He was
not enthusiastic about keeping a Director in charge of a few
units while my colleagues in Chennai were burdened with
divisions as well as share of work thrown up by Circle
Office. So in due course I received transfer orders as
Director of Postal Services, West ,in the PMG Office,
Madras.

I packed and shifted to Madras with a heavy heart at having
to leave Coimbatore a city with salubrious climate and

33

comparatively garbage free civic society I learned to take
changes as they came. The one good thing that happened was
the company of Mr.Mani in my new office where I was to
join as Director (West).He continued to provide me with
secretarial assistance in my new dispensation. When I left
later Madras for Bombay Mr.Mani also left Madras for Delhi
where he joined Central secretariat pool and after working in
different ministries his service was requisitioned by
Mr.N.C.Salve Union Minister for Law. Mani thereafter rose
to great heights and he long after I retired is still in active
service employed by one Governmental organization or the
other. I was happy to attend his daughters’ marriage.

Responding to a news paper advertisement about
accommodation for rent I inspected a first floor
accommodation. My family still away I had to decide on the
portion lest another prospective tenant should move into the
premises. I agreed to the house owner’s reasonable demand
of rent .My office on Mount Road was about 2 kilometers
away and one could even choose to walk should the occasion
demand. When I look back I cannot but wonder how
providence guides us on in our journey of life. After my wife
and the child joined me we began to think about our future
and the need for a secure roof over head. The locality where
we live is a calm one without the noise of cars and buses
reaching our ears .In a city where due to ever burgeoning
demand for space multistoried flats were the order of the day
the enclave where we are put up with avenue of shade giving
trees has remained unchanged. My wife after inspecting a
few areas like Chamiers Road, Srinagar colony and even
T.Nagar came to the conclusion that the present layout where
we chose to rent out accommodation is better than the rest ,
though a little more costly. For next to our own dwelling was
a plot of land still remaining unoccupied .

This locality known as Sri Rangam Avenue came to be our
permanent address. After several rounds of bargaining the
landowner agreed to alienate a piece of land measuring 60 feet
by 40 feet. Initially my PMG sought my help in searching for

34

small plot for him in the vicinity where I lived .But he could
not decide when this plot was shown to him. At this point my
wife observed instead of looking for a plot for others we
might ourselves acquire the piece of land that was for sale.
My friend and colleague in Circle Office Mr.R.Kannan
Investigation inspector must have met the landlord umpteen
number of times before he convinced him about the
genuineness of our case. But for the efforts of Mr. Annan I
could not have clinched the deal. Within 9 months I got a
house in one floor constructed and before I received transfer
orders to proceed on deputation to Bombay I was able to let
out the house .\

I had a vast jurisdiction to tour and inspect offices. At
headquarters I had to cater to the whims and fancies of my
PMG who all of a sudden developed a taste for designing
publicity hoardings. He took pride in coining slogans on the
hoardings to be erected on our office compound wall. Slogans
like ‘honesty is best policy” to sell Postal Life Insurance
policies were his favorites’ t was my job to choose a suitable
advertising agencies and design suitable colour combination
of the background and size and colour of the fonts. Even
Sunday were not spared as my boss would think of some
modifications and summon me to office o review matters! So
when disenchantment with the situation around me was
growing , by an unexplainable stroke of luck deliverance was
at hand when I got a transfer order to proceed on deputation
as Deputy Secretary in the Atomic Energy Commission at
Bombay.

Thanks to my wife’s magnanimity I decided to shift to
Bombay along with my unemployed sister first intending to
take my wife and daughter later within a month. Soon after
joining the new office I was able to arrange a counselor’s job
for my sister in Tata Memorial Centre, Parel where my sister
as a stop gap measure could spend time usefully besides
picking experiece. Meanwhile I got my sister’s name and
qualification registered in employment exchange. In a few
weeks’ time my sister got a job as Group C employee in

35

Sorting Division at Byculla in Maharashtra circle. Meanwhile
my wife and daughter arrived. I got my daughter who is now
2 years old admitted in a Montessori School called Krishna
Montessori School located in Surya Flats just opposite my
quarters .I found great pleasure to walk my daughter by
holding her tiny hand across the road and safely deposit her in
the class room. My wife too could locate an amenable
Gujarati maid servant who helped her with sweeping and
moping and cleaning vessels. I joined a car pool in which by
turn the four of us all except me belonging to IAS cadre of
Gujarat and Maharashtra states. I was fortunate to have
Sri.Sood as my Under Secretary for some months before he
was given independent charge.

Driving cars in Bombay required special skills particularly
during monsoon. The traffic was quite fast though orderly and
a lot depended on the good condition of the vehicle. My wife
and I used to visit Nana chowk or Byculla market for
vegetable shopping and Crawford market for buying fruits.
Marine Drive was an exciting experience always. Laxmi
Temple at the end of Bula Bai Desai Road or Warden Road
was a great attraction. Every evening we three would walk up
to the temple and join the aarthi at 7 pm.

At the office the experience was quite new as the subjects to
be examined and proposals to be made were quite
exciting.Examination of a proposal to acquire Russian made
computer posed challenge to me as the concept of real time
transaction speed of the computer was for some time
puzzling. For one who had never set his eye on computer in
Postal service appraisal of proposal from units like BARC was
quite tough. In such a circumstance a call from Chairman
Atomic Energy Commission about an entirely a pedestrian
matter was great relef.I went with my Joint Secretary
Sri.M.Panchappa to Sri.H.N.Sethna’s chamber I found he was
to arbitrate between his Director’s suggestion to discontinue
subsistence allowance payable for an officer under suspension
and the latter’s appeal to pay him increased subsistence
allowance .I cited to the Chairman the Rule provision under

36

relevant provisions of F.Rs and General Service Rules if the
continued suspension was not due to the making of the
concerned officer the officer is eligible to get increased
subsistence allowance. The Chairman was happy at
satisfactory resolution of the issue.

It so happened when I finished discussion on another issue
with my Joint Secretary the latter wondered if I knew the
background of my selection to the post of Deputy Secretary.
While reviewing confidential records of officers selected for
appraisal by the Chairman, Department of Atomic Energy, who
was also Chairman of the Selection Committee the latter
observed I had worked as Scientific Officer in Atomic Minerals
Division between 1953-62 and later as a result of UPSC
selection I was now working as an India Postal Service officer
having thus a combined background of scientific and
administrative experience would be suitable for the post of
Deputy Secretary in DAE. This recommendation of the
borrowing department was accepted by Department of
Personnel and issued necessary orders to this effect. Two
memorable projects I handled in the space of 2 years were
acquisition of BESM Computer for BARC and Copper –
Beryllium alloy project of BARC.

While in Bombay my best friend from Atomic Energy was
Sri.C.Shankar, Under Secretary Administration. He continued
to keep in touch with me and show all courtesies to me
whenever I used to visit Bombay on official tours from
Kalpakkam.Similarly Sri.C.V.Sundaram a senior scientist of
Grade H who was the architect of the Cu-Be Alloy project used
to frequently meet me and ascertain the progress in the matter
of approval to his project. I became so much identified with the
project that he used to address me as Copper Berillyium
Srinivasan. He maintained regular contact with me even after he
retired from Atomic Energy and he headed National Academy
of Sciences till he passed away.

Towards the end of 1977 I felt a compelling need for going
down south so as to be of help to assist in the family’s effort to

37

marry off my sister .Meanwhile in October,1977 my wife and
daughter left for my wife’s native place as my wife was
carrying a child. I waited till my boss Sri.M.Panchappa secured
a reliever so that I could hand over my charge to the other
officer and proceed on transfer. The post to which I got
transferred was Chief Administrative Officer a post equivalent
to Deputy Secretary in Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic
Research..By the time I reached Madras my uncle ailing for
some months passed away in a hospital. At about same time on
28th November 1977 my wife gave birth to a male child. I
rushed to Mannargudi and was present at the naming ceremony,
My father in law suggested that the baby boy might be given
the name of consort of Sri.Mahalakshmi ,that is, Srikant.

After a period of 3 months my wife returned to our quarters in
Kalpakkam .My daughter started attending the primary school.
The School was running on CBSE Syllabus Central
School. My wife had assistance managing household.
Sri.Ramachandran working as Extra departmental messenger
visited my quarters and brought vegetables and other sundry
items besides taking my daughter on his bicycle on ride around
the township. This Ramachandran showed interest in learning
English and arithmetic and wanted to reappear in 10th standard
public examination. Accordingly he appeared and passed in
the examination. At the same time the Centre needed some
Group D attenders to work as helpers in the
Laboratories.Ramachandran was eager to get employment in
the Centre as it was a central government job with attractive
salaries and pensionary benefits.Besides, the Centre followed
for every grade periodic review for promoting deserving
workers to higher grades. But the only hitch in
Ramachandran’s case was his over qualification. For, the
Centre needed candidates with 8th standard. So I asked
Ramachandran to submit necessary papers with school records
showing his promotion to 8th standard. The interview
committee found Ramachandran fit and he was given
appointment as a Group D in a Laboratory. I had satisfaction of
appointing a poor and deserving candidate in a government
job.

38

Another qualified person I helped get a job in Kalpakkam was
one Mr.Ranganathan younger brother of my co-brother whose
father wrote to me a touching letter stating the difficulties of
his youngest son , though a Philosophy post graduate
remained jobless. I got this Ranganathan to apply to the
Department of Atomic Energy in response to a news paper
advertisement and by constant pressure on the Director
Purchase and Stores got Ranganathan selected for the post of
Purchase Assistant and got him statione in Kalpakkam.

I found the centre a fertile ground for favoritism among the
administrative staff. Depending on the strength and weakness
of the scientific officer concerned the personal staff enjoyed
privileges not shared by all. The Administrative officer had to
abide by the scientist’s predilection throwing rules to winds. I
also learned my predecessor , an officer from IAS Andhra
Cadre was uncomfortable and had to quit under duress. A s I
found many scientific officers were unaware of their rights
and privileges I compiled a manual of orders issued by
Administration codifying various orders applicable to all the
staff and scientific officers in the matter of qualifications
service requirements special allowances like house building
advance etc so that all could benefit by these orders. So I had
to observe caution in my dealings with scientific community
as well as subordinate administrative staff. By and large I
acquitted myself satisfactorily and by the time I had
completed my tenure in Atomic Energy I was busy searching
for vacancies where I would be fitted in my parent
department.

With 6 months to go for completion of my tenure my search
for a match for my younger sister was complete and I with
the financial help from my elder sister celebrated the
marriage of my sister for which purpose I sought transfer
from Bombay. Soon after the wedding it occurred to me my
elder sister and my grandmother were direly in need of
change of place after previous year’s bereavement with the
loss of my uncle. So I planned a long road tour by my car in

39

which my grandmother, mother, elder sister my wife and our
two kids ,my younger brother besides Rajaram my man
Friday from the days of Coimbatore were all accommodated
in the Premier President Fiat car. We took the highway
connecting Chennai –Trichy-Madurai halting at places of
religious importance to offer worship at the nearby temples.
When we turned from the highway into an interior road
hemmed on both the sides by paddy fields I met a risky
challenge to my driving abilities. When I was driving on the
narrow road I noticed a truck coming down upon me
menacingly. He didn’t show any sign of caution while
driving past me and almost by the skin of my teeth I could by
clinging to the edge of the road inch forward but not before
the truck scratching on the right side door of the car.

Towards the end of my Kalpakkam tenure a tragedy marred

the otherwise peaceful course of life in the family of

Mr.C.Ponnurangam. He did not get back to normal life after

disruption of marital life that occurred a couple of years ago.

One morning when I was getting ready to go to office I

received a phone call from Madras that Mr.C.Ponnurangam

was no more. I immediately took the vehicle to Madras and

located the Royapuram residence of Mr.C.Ponnurangam .I

could hardly believe myself that my friend of eternal smile

and jocundity was lying inert from a sleep from which he

would not return. The anguished cry of his children,

particularly the youngest daughter and most attached to him,

Tara wept inconsolably. The sight moved me so much that I

made a determination that IRwSs5o.0u2l0d0/w- iepveerhyemr otenatrhs to the
extent possible by remitting till her

scar was healed by the hand of Time.

After relief from Kalpakkam I made all out efforts to find a
suitable slot for me to work as Director in a suitable circle
not far from Madras. I learned that a post of Director was
vacant in Hyderabad as the officer posted there was
unwilling to leave Delhi for personal considerations. I
pointed out that vacancy to the Staff officer in charge of
postings and transfers and for reasons of etiquette the officer
may be called Mr.Sage as he was not only considered

40

sagacious but also loaded with likes and predilections. He in
turn asked me if Mussafurpur would suit menthe suggestion
indicated that at his level I would not secure justice. So I
made bold to speak with Member (Personnel) who himself
was back from deputation .He showed sympathy and asked
me to wait till he looked into papers himself. As the officer
posted o Hyderabad finally declined the posting and on top
of it resigned from service the path was clear for my posting
to Hyderabad!

Soon after I joined my post of Director of postal services
(Mails and Stores) I was on the lookout for a suitable
music teacher. My daughter was admitted to IVth standard
in Golconda Central School. Music teacher taught her for
the first few months and the problem was I should after
returning from office take my daughter to the teacher’s
house and take her back home after the lesson. My search
in Jawahar Bala Bhavan helped me in finding
Sri.Devarajan a A grade AIR carnatic music vidwan who
was agreeable to come to my home and teach my daughter
for one hour daily except on weekends. He was a good
teacher. My daughter applied for National talent
scholarship in learning music. In two years time her music
teacher prepared her to perform on stage mini concerts for
about an hour’s duration. She received excellent review by
the vernacular press .On hearing her singing carnatic
music songs and Meera bhajans on Madras Door Darshan
the latter interviewed her and praised her as a child
prodigy. Needless to say she won first prize in all the
competitions held under the auspices of All India Post and
Telegraph Cultural Organization. It was my good fortune
to accompany her as the circle manager of the cultural
competition team to Kolhapur, Chandigarh and Calcutta
where in all the places my daughter Srividya won first
prize in Carnatic music entry. My colleague in RMS
Mr.Rajeswara Rao accompanied us to all these places.
When I could not find enough time in Kolhapur to take
Srividya to the movie Maavaali featuring my daughter’s
favorite Sridevi she was put out for my breaking the

41