A thousand moons

promise .

The promise was in return for her securing first place in
the competition the reward wood be the movie. When we
visited Calcutta I showed her all the places of tourist
importance like Victoria Mahal.

While the domestic life was not found wanting in any
aspect my office scene was one of turbulence and agitation.
Within the first 3 months I walked into a trap whereby I
after examining some claims submitted by a member of
staff for work performed overtime on holidays I found the
claim reasonable and ordered payment. The claim was as
against double overtime allowance was due the particular
staff was compensated by single rate of Tacit was not on
record that there were several claims of this sort and hen
this matter was brought to the PMG’s notice he got furious
and berated me for having taken a decision without
consulting him. He rejected all the claims which were
received in this fashion. Soon afterwards the Union
representing the staff declared stoppage of work and mail
bags were lying on station platforms and in mail offices
leading to hold up of sorting work and leading to delay in
issuing mails for delivery. The press photographed and
published in the newspapers the accumulation of mails. The
matter reached the notice of Directorate and the Minister in
charge of Communication Sri.C.M,Stephen called for a
report. I laid bare the issue and observed that as work was
turned out on holidays I ordered payment as per rules. The
Minister approved the stand taken and asked the circle to
dispose of the matter as per rules. Because the Minister
earlier was a popular Labour leader the matter ended
amicably as far as I was concerned!

Close on the heels of the above controversy an agitation
was planned by the Unions towards the end of November
1982 for non settlement of OTA bills .That was due to
insufficiency of funds..The Hyderabad winter is quite
severe and particularly for a person like me accustomed to

42

the heat and humidity even in winter months Hyderabad
proved menacingly cold. I developed fever and had such a
severe nonstop head ache I felt terribly overwhelmed by
my condition. I had to keep at home .On the office front
the agitation started. The PMG thought I was avoiding to
face the strike by the unions and therefore remained
indoors for the duration of strike. On the contrary my
office APMG took me to consult a doctor close by who
prescribed some medicines. It took two days for the
temperature to decrease and head ache to lose its severity.
In the meantime my colleague in charge of Head quarters
job in circle office was deputed to go to my home and
satisfy for himself if after all I was really unwell!

By now I learned the art of managing strikes. I developed
contacts with the City Police Commissioner and whenever
the unions raised their banner and their collective voice I
used to request for stationing police force within a striking
distance. If after all reasonable efforts to persuade the
striking staff failed I had to lean back on police help. I used
to move from different centers of staff concentration raising
slogans and preventing loyal workers from entering office
.On such occasions the loyal staff duly escorted by police
force would retrieve mail bags and move them to centers
opened at different locations for the loyal staff to attend
work and dispose of mails to the extent possible. After a
week or so the striking staff would lose steam and return to
work first in trickles and in due course greater number and
thus would the agitation peter of. At this time
Sri.Periyanayagam took over as PMG relieving
Sri.M.S.Palrajan who left for Delhi to join the post of
Deputy Director General ,PLI.

On one of these days when I was busy negotiating with the
Unions I found Col.Sri.Shivnath, Deputy Director General
on his visit to the Circle. I found some element of secrecy in
what could have been a routine matter. I was told by my
PMG that I would drop whatever business I was busy with
and keep company with the DDG and act according to his

43

requirements. I could not believe myself when Col.Shivnath
proposed that two of us, himself and me, would watch a
movie and relax for a few hours. I overcame my disbelief
and got with the help of my personal staff two tickets for a
matinee show in the nearby Zammarud theatre .The DDG in
the middle of the picture brought up the topic of chronic
theft and pilferage of valuable contents of insured parcels
passing through Hyderabad. He very politely asked me if I
was aware of the magnitude of the problem which was
bringing bad name to the service. I narrated to him the steps
taken by me thus far .A pattern of same set of crew of mail
motor service schedules on days when abstractions were
reported and with a view to pinpoint on the particular bad
elements the Assistant superintendent posted on this duty
was waiting for a suitable opportunity to nab the elements. I
told Col.Shivnath that it was a matter of few more weeks
when we would be exposing the shoddy affair.Before
zeroing in on MMS as the potential medium of the criminal
activity I searched for all other possible hideouts .

So as expected my ASRM, Mr.Waghmare on one Saturday
at 7 am called me and said he suspected the particular
schedule which was running late by 15 minutes as of then at
Nampalli station point. He assured to follow the schedule till
the end and report if anything in the meanwhile cropped up.
As expected when among the various mail and parcel bags
were received after due check particular parcel bag marked
for Jubilee H.O was found in a tampered condition and on
opening the same under full inventory it was found to
consist of some stones weighing approximately equivalent
to the invoiced weight,

The same night with my approval the Inspector of Police
,Jubilee area raided the houses of both the mail guard and
driver and quite a few evidences incriminating to the staff
wee found. On the following day interrogation of the two
members of the staff revealed the names of other guards and
drivers involved in the racket as well as the modus operandi
involved in the abstraction of contents and substitution by

44

paper pieces or stones. It appeared one trusted sorter used to
alert the guard who was on duty on the concerned day about
the particulars of the bags ,post office of origin and
destination and weight and other dimension particulars. With
the information available the concerned staff would keep
handy the stones of appropriate weight or pieces of paper to
make it look as dollar bills before starting the schedule.
When the vehicle reached Hussain Sagar lake they would
park the van in an unobtrusive spot and take out the bag
earmarked for the operation and after abstracting jewellery
ot other valuable material replace the envlop with the
material selcted for substitution nd close the bags as before
and continue the schedule.

The police interrogation revealed the network between the
registration sorter in the mail office, mail guard and driver on
the MMS the trader willing to buy stolen goods. The
particular raid brought to light 18 or 20 MMS staff involved
in the racket and the arrest of these staff resulted in a
commotion which had to be contained. Disciplinary action
against these staff resulted in removal from service and in
certain cases summary termination of their service. Suffice it
to say the festering wound which infested the RMS for over a
couple of years was cleansed and public faith in RMS
restored.

When the above investigation was gathering momentum I
received orders to join an international team of UPU trainees
from China,Bangladesh,Malaysia and Pakistan. A s per the
schedule the UPU consultant would expose us to postal
administrations in Thailand, Pakistan and India. There was
nothing much new learned except to state that Indian postal
administration was far more advanced.

It was H Hyderabad which lent itself for conducting
experiments at rationalizing statiscal analysis, computerising
booking of registered letters and money orders, etching used to
find the exercise of prescribing new mail bags for any localities
only based on the traffic observed on a particular day of visit of

45

officers from directorate. So I asked my staff to evolve a pattern
of collecting statistics of mail processed and bundled or bagged
depending on volume to particular destinations ,ie,outward mail
rather than count the incoming mail in various bags and bundles
to justify direct bags. This procedure called by my staff a matrix
method was found to be more rational and scientific. I prepared
a report accompanied by facts and figures collected during a
recent survey of mails in Hyderabad sorting office. When this
report was perused by my senior in mail operations in the
headquarters he appreciated and approved at his level’s e also
recommended this new method to be adopted all over the
department and apprised the Director General of the same. At
this point of time a Heads of Circle Conference on postal and
mail operations was being convened. The DG who perused my
report on Statistical analysis of mails decided that as an
exception Director (Mails and Stores) in Andhra Circle
should also participate and present my paper on the subject.
After the conference was over my procedure on statistical
collection and analysis was incorporated as departmental
procedure for uniform adoption .I was lucky to obtain foreword
from the czar of mail management Sri.S.B.Velankar to my
departmental publication entitled “Blue print of Scientific Mail
Management”.

Director (Head quarters)

My tenure at Hyderabd was not without prickly thorns. Director
(Head quarters) whom let us call by pseudonym Mr.Owlsey ( no Mr.Trouble
descendant of the cardinal) was senior to me by one batch and
was a constant source of trouble. He had a habit of running after
MPs and Mashed ingratiated with them stooattthaiant his one main
ambition was to continue in Andhra Circle after promotion as
Additional PMG.Luckily for him another officer who was
occupying the post of Additional PMG left the Circle to join as
PMG Assam. Mr.Owlsay managed to remain in the circle as
Additional PMG, Armed with increased powers my friend began
to give free reins to exercise of powers such as incur expenditure
for snacks and tea under the pretext of entertaining guests when
really none called on humph e got all news papers in vernacular

46

or English from all divisions and it was a sight to see him carry
in both the hands heavy carry bags crammed with news papers
so religiously hoarded by him, for the ostensible purpose of
monitoring work of post offices even in remote localities as
might be reported in these papers. The real purpose was not far
to seek. These papers would find way to old paper shops in
exchange for a few hundred rupees! These were minor
aberrations as compared to the crowning glory of all
misdeamenours. Our friend was already in possession of a
building constructed with the help of funds allotted by the
housing ministry .This amount called House building advance
was returnable in monthly installments .

The ministry with a view to liberalizing the provisions issued
orders to grant further mount to thus who could not complete the
construction for want of funds. Our friend suppressing the facet of
having already completed his building and also let out the same
applied for the second advance and invested the same in a finance
company. The staff unions were not to close their eyes to this
transgression .The unions issued a telegram to the Member
(Finance) about the violation of the rules. It was highly
embarrassing to the additional PMG and he had to repay the
irregularly availed amount to the government account.

The officer jumped to the inference that this was the handi work
of an officer in the office who was on friendly terms with the
particular union when the fact was otherwise. The additional PMG
thought he should wreak vengeance on the officer who caused
this embarrassment.

Towards the close of financial year , I remember it was 1985 when
Mr.Kesavan SRM,AG Division requested my postfacto approval
for purchase of sorting cases for his mail offices. As it was the 3rd
week of March he proposed to go ahead with the purchase from a
furniture maker on whose firm the G.M Andhra Pradesh Telecom
circle placed orders for some furniture after due tender process. He
had also issued a cheque as advance payment. Now it was for me
to approve or reject the proposal. But I wanted to satisfy myself if
the GM had really approved the particular firm. So I raised a few

47

queries asking my APMG (Mails) to examine circle office records
and submit his recommendations. But the APMG didn’t place any
file available on the subject nor did he recommend not to purchase.
By this time the financial year was over and the cheque also was
delivered to the firm in the usual course.

Now the officer who didn’t submit the file with necessary
recommendations remembered the payment of cost of sorting cases
without my approval and brought to the notice of Additional PMG
this lacuna for whatever advantage he might derive. My friend lost
no time to make out a seemingly serious allegation against me and
helped Secretary of the Union friendly to him with the material. The
Union also lapped up the issue and asked the All India President of
the Union , a senior Congress party leader Sri.Lalit Maken to pursue
the matter and proceed against me for the alleged act of negligence.
In the meantime a new PMG joined the circle. Mr.Periya nayagam
was in the last lap of his service. He wanted a easy way of spending
time. So in return for delegating the entire responsibility of
managing the unions to me I would assure him of a long siesta after
lunch in the office. To begin with he appeared to be on cordial terms
with me. But when he found me non cooperative in the matter of
capricious postings and transfers of officers he became hostile
towards me. So when the directorate called for facts in athe furniture
case he used to heckle me .When there was an attempted shooting by
some political rival of Mr.Maken my PMG would make public of his
vicarious pleasure by enquiring if I carried any rifle and was it not
myself who was found near the VIP?

Meanwhile in the postal directorate my services as Director R&D
were required. Thus when I was on leave and visiting temple at a
place called Nachiyar koil the message from the Directorate asking
me to proceed immediately on transfer to Delhi was handed over to
me. I and my family took the morning train and in Chennai I left my
family in the care of my sister and I myself took a flight to Delhi. I
was allotted a postmaster’s quarter in Lajpat nagar Post Office .With
a view to bring my family to Delhi I reached Bangalore in the
evening and took my meal in the vegetarian restaurant. I also got
accommodation in Bangalore – Madras mail. On the following day
the food served in the restaurant t Bangalore city station began to act

48

on my digestive system. The result was endless visits to toilet and
due to frequent purging I was getting dehydrated. I postponed
admission to a hospital thinking my condition would turn better. But
at night fall I began to develop delirium and got myself admitted to a
hospital just behind my house. The duty doctor could not arrest my
diarrhea and in the early hours of the morning I passed from bad to
worse. I t was then my wife came to her full stature. She telephoned
her younger brother who was an MLA in the ruling party and with
his influence and that of Health Minister I was ferried to the General
Hospital. Within a space of 3 or 4 hours my diarrhea showed signs
of abatement. By afternoon I became normal thanks to some
medicine which worked wonders for me. In the meantime my
colleague from circle office came to the hospital on being asked by a
senior officer as to why I had not reached directorate as promised by
me before leaving for Madras. He must have given an account of my
predicament and in a few days’ time Sri.P.S.Raghavachari Member
(Operations) visited me in the ward and satisfied himself that I
would after all return to Directorate shortly!

Meanwhile the admission process of my daughter to VI standard
Started by me before I let Delhi to bring the family was half way
complete. So I sent my youngest brother as escort to my wife and
two children. The admission process having been completed my
daughter joined school. Similarly my son also joined school in 2nd
standard. The school ,Andrews Ganja Central School was not far
from the post office queers allotted to me pending regular allotment
of entitled accommodation by CPWD department. The
accommodation so cramped and unsuitable for an officer of JAG
was subject of sarcasm by my junior G.V.Mohan who described the
quarters as unbecoming of even his house maid! He himself son of a
senior bureaucrat of the rank of Chief Secretary got his entitled
accommodation from the housing ministry.

I was expected by my department to work wonders as Director R&D
.Unmindful of such disincentives I did my best. When a EFC memo
proposing acquiring and installing of automated sorting machine the
department without exposing me to mechanized sorting in vogue in
the West depended more on my verbiage and writing skill! Training
Undergone by me in Administrative Staff College in Hyderabad

came to my rescue in working out discounted cash flow analysis of mechanised air

mail sorting project in Mumbai.

49

inspite of serious efforts and treatment at Nizamabad Orthopaedic
Hospital he could not be saved. After some time when the
Directorate convened a condolence meeting I could not but give
expression to the feelings of sorrow at the passing away of a fellow
human being.

Thanks to the efforts of Sri.Raghavachari I was recommended to
UPU for appointing me as Consultant for Bhutan Postal System for 3
months. I had the facility of computer in Bhutan DG’s office and I
brought out a Post Office guide for Bhutan.I utilized the advantage
of Nepal’s proximity to Bhutan and made a quick dash to
Kathmandu. I visited and offered prayers to Pashupathinath, and also
collected some saligramams.

I got my promotion to SAG without loss of seniority and after a few
months as Deputy Director General Planning I moved to Madras as
Controller of Mail Operations having jurisdiction over the four
southern circles. The credit to post me as Controller of Mails went to
Sri.Kailashprakash. He ascribed my proficiency in mail operations as
sufficient justification to move me as Controller as if all my earlier
postings were proof of my suitability in those assignments! In fact I
had requested Sri.Kailash prakash to post me as Regional PMG,
Dharwar which post was vacant. I could also succeed in getting
approval on file of Hon’ble Minister of Communications. But
Sri.Kailash prakash who was now the DG Post didn’t carry out
Minister’s decision. I pressed for posting at Dharwar as I admitted
my daughter in a Engineering College in Dharwar. But since
Sri.Prakash was adamant to send me to Madras I put my daughter in
a hostel in Dharwar. Though I did not succeed in my efforts to join
as PMG Dharwar my wife succeeded in discovering she had excess
sugar than her system would accommodate. The administering of
insulin to control sugar level which started in around 1990 continues
to this day.

Before I shifted to Madras I wanted to take my family on leave travel
concession to Srinagar. Accordingly myself, my wife and my two
children travelled by a bus to Srinagar. We enjoyed a well earned
holiday for four days. The sight of snow covered hills sent my

children to raptures.

50

As my rejoining duty was not known in advance to any one
Regional PMG who airdashed a few days earlier to Directorate with
a view to canvassing for herself the post of Chief PMG Bangalore
.When I did actually join the post my Head quarters DPS was taken
unawares and kept the Regional PMG posted with the developments
and asked her what should be her response to this development as if
there could be any other way than take instructions from me. Earlier
when I reached my office room to take my seat in the office I found
to my surprise and shock a small mountain of empty bags heaped up
in front of my locked room as if the bags were barricade against my
entry into my own room!

My stay in Bangalore was memorable in more ways than one. I used
to have a liking for Kannada language. It resembles in some aspects
chaste form of equivalent Tamil language. For example the literary
version of the word “marriage” in Tamil is identical with spoken
version “madhuvai” in Kannada.”Manai” in Kannada means the
same in Tamil. The words “hosa” , “halaya” are due to the
replacement of ‘pa” for “ha” even as “haalu” is the same as “paal”
meaning milk.So in no time I picked up the language which was
adequate even for public speech.

Overall my tenure as Chief PMG was quite enjoyable. I could make
changes in sorting arrangements whereby postings of mails in post
office clusters were presorted before being sent to mail offices for
further detailed sorting. The first paperless post office in Museum
Road Post office came into being owing to computerizing operations
in counters for both S.B and non-S.B operations besides sub
accounts work of the post office.

I was assisted in all my endeavors by a handful of handpicked
officers and staff. As in Mysore division I had with me a think tank
of committed officers like Sandeep Patnaik,Sarangi,Charles
Lobo,B.V.Srinivasaiya,K.V.Doreswami,Warrier,G.R.Sreekanta.I did
not realize then that I would have the pleasure of meeting
Mr.Charles Lobo twenty years hence in Chennai. Mr.Lobo who has
since acquired a doctorate degree from Goa University was
promoted as Chief PMG Tamil Nadu circle and he was quick to

51

revive our frienship.In fact he suggested I might attempt a
memoir!The floods of the year 2015 saw a good samaritan in action
when Mr.Lobo offered his car and men to distribute fod packets to
the marooned people in Besant nagar.

I had unearthed corrupt practice in the city of taking money for
selecting extra departmental staff. Based on written complaint from
an applicant for a E.D. job in some post office in Bangalore East
division I obtained particulars of a cheque for Rs.five thousand
handed over to the Inspector attached to East Division which amount
was found to be promptly accounted for in that official’s account in
the bank. This Inspector was also a circle secretary of IPO’s Union. I
got disciplinary proceedings issued for major penalty and after due
evidence adduced during the Inquiry the Inspector was awarded a
major penalty of dismissal. Though the accused official brought
political pressure to the D.G the latter after getting convinced by
discussing with me and other officers in the circle agreed with the
disposal given to the case.

I may also recount of an easy going official in charge of philately
subject. This official actually of the rank of Assistant
Superintendent took the celebration of Chilren’s day in a routine
manner. For the celebration the Circle had invited the Governor of
the State to release the first day cover and commemorative stamp.
Till the morning of 14th November the ASP ,Philately did not
confirm receipt of the commemorative stamp or cover in the GPO
Treasury. It was my habit to personally verify if necessary materials
were in place before proceeding to the venue of celebration. Arriving
an hour before the time of the function I visited the GPO and asked
for the bag in which the stamps and covers should have been kept
ready for the function. Then to my shock I found just then a bag
containing the materials in question was being opened. The ASP on
the contrary informed me earlier every arrangement was already
made and we can proceed to the venue. So the staff were directed to
prepare a bag with required materials like stamp and seals and
stationery in addition to the just arrived stamps and covers. We made
it to Raj Haven a few minutes before the time of arrival of the VIP
who was to be the chief Guest and inaugurate the release of the
commemorative stamp. The function was concluded without any

52

misadventure .When we were about to disperse I asked
Mr.Manjunath, for that was the name of the ASP what would have
happened if we had not visited the GPO and collected the 1st day
stamps and covers he nonchalantly replied that he was ready with a
bag containing the stamps and covers issued for the previous year
and those materials would have come handy for the function and the
Chief Guest would be none the wiser for releasing stamps already
released last year as according to our ASP there was hardly any
difference between the stamps issued every year to mark the event!

When in Bangalore a interesting incident which had a far reaching
significance took place. I was reading some book around11 am that
fine morning. My wife used to feed a cat with milk. That day the pet
animal instead of proceeding to the cupboard where milk used to be
kept went ahead with me following to the room where a T.V set was
installed. Somehow I was prompted to put on TV and the first
channel I happened to see showed Sri Satya Saibaba in a bhajan
program bestowing his blessings on the devotees gathered in the
venue at White field. I made impromptu a suggestion to my wife that
we may visit Traiyee Brindavan the abode of Sri Satya Saibaba and
participate in the bhajan as it was Sunday. I called my friend a
retired APS officer,Col.Muniappa requesting him to join us in our
trip to Whitefield. Mr.Muniappa my friend since 1973 will visit us in
our quarters every Sunday and spend some time talking with me.He
promptly called on me and was ready to go along with us to White
field. By 2 pm we all reached Brindavan and took our seats in one of
the front rows. At the appointed time Swami emerged from his
quarters and began to move around the seated devotees. I had with
me a prayer in which I sought his blessings for performing my
daughter’s marriage early. First he came towards the row where we
were seated and when he stood in front of me but looking at some
other devotee I rose from my seat and prayed him to accept the chit I
carried.Bhagawan accepted the chit and passed into my palm some
vibhuti .Later when he went near where my wife was seated and
when she began to hand over her prayer Bhagawan said in Tamil that
He has already got the paper from someone else meaning myself.
Then He began to materialize vibhuti and handed over it to her
besides sprinkling the sacred ash on her head.

53

Shri.S.C.Mahalik Director General Posts’ visit to Bangalore.

I had the privilege of conducting in 1994 Circle wide Stamp
Exhibition named Karnapex ’94 during my tenure.The exhibtion was
held in the prestigious Vidan Soudha.The valedictory function held
in the impressive Hotel Taj was presided by
Shri.S.C.Mahalik,Director General who graced the function with his
masterly address to the philatelists.Incidentally it was a golden
period in my service spanning over 34 years when I got an
opportunity to serve under a Director General non pareil who
transformed postal service from a prosaic style to a thoroughly
professional style of administration.Ashri.Mahalik commemorated
his visit to Bangalore GPO by planting a few saplings in the flower
bed in the G.P.O.

Sri.Mahalik’s visit to Bangalore was the last event I participated
before my transfer on promotion to Bhopal as Chief PMG in HAG
level.But befoe I left Karnataka circle I had one responsibility to be
discharged. That was to decide on the subject and college in which
my son Chi.Srikant would pursue higher education in engineering
,So both my son and I visited Manipal near Mangalore where in the
REC Manipal Srikant took the entrance examination.In the
counselling held at Bangalore he elected Mechanical Engineeing
available in REC,Rourkela.He preferred Mechanical Engineering to
Electronics availble in a private college in Mysore.His choice proved
to be appropriate as after securing B.E degree he went on to pursue
M.S in Mechanicl Engineering in Clemson University.He completed
successfully his M.S project in 2002.He enrolled for Ph.D in Fluid
Dynamics in the same university and despite his Guide leaving his
university abruptly and so also his Ph.D candidate it should be said
to the creditof Srikant that he successfully submitted his thesis and
defended his doctoral thesis in Fluid Dynamics and was awarded
Ph.D degree in 2005.He did post doctoral work in the prestigious
Georgia Tech University in Atlanta for 10 years.Thanks to the rich
experience gained by him he secured a job in industry in 2016in a
company near Detroit,Michigan,

Soon after Sri.Mahalik returned to Delhi I received my posting order

54

to join as Chief PMG Madhya Pradesh circle at Bhopal.My family
including my son ,daughter and wife , travelled by Madras –Bilaspur
Express and detrained at Rourkela.We stayed for 2 days in the REC
guest house.My son after paying term fees and hostel charges got
ready to start attending college from the following day.He also found
the room allotted convenient and what was more comfortable when
he found his room mate congenial.

Our experience while travelling from Rourkela to Bhopal was an
eyeopener.I found the people of Madhya pradesh respectful and
warm hearted as the staff and officers began to greet us at every
station the train stopped !Some time the respect showed took almost
a feudal character with the visitors touching our feet and doing
namaskar.The compartment was almost filled with sweet boxes
brought as gifts.When I settled down to routine with file work and
case discussions I could not but observe that there was absence of a
sense of urgency.Leisurely way of life in Madhya Pradesh applied
equally to office work .The affection and loyalty showed by PLI
Inspector of Circle Office Mr.Maqbool Ahmed was truly
overwhelming.Because I had a far more important project on hand,
that of settling my daughter in marriage , which was best done in a
south indian milieu I was keen to leave Bhopal on
transfer.Accordingly within 6 months of my joining Bhopal office I
got a transfer order to Hyderabad where the post of Chief PMG fell
vacant on the incumbent proceeding on promotion to Delhi.

It was in Bhopal the marriage proposal got crystallised.My daughter
finished her B.E Degree course in Computer Science and was
looking for some work experience.Unlike now the software industry
was yet to pick up momentum.I sent my daughter to join a small
enterprise in Bangalore.My main regret was, despite my motivation
my daughter was not keen to study for M.S in the US. Though I
engaged a driver to teach my daughter car driving and though she
picked up the essential maneouvres of driving her lack of confidence
came in the way of driving car !

As I had alreadyworked in Hyderabad for 5 years as Director(Mails
&Stores) I was familiar with officers and staff.I took interest in
computerisation of registration sorting work in the mail offices.Not

55

only invoicing of the articles was done but a realtime graphic display
of the speed of sorting and invoicing by the individual sorters could
also be achieved.This provided a tool for the supervisor to monitor
the output of the different staff for better management.I was happy
to spend my last few months in service without strike or any other
distracton.I could find time to organize wedding of my daughter in
Madras.Th fact that a month after my retirement at the age of 58 yers
the government extended the superannuation age to sixty made no
much impact on my morale as I felt it was better I called it quits
when the going was good !Ican not forget the warmth and gala
festivities with which my Director of Postal Accounts
Sri.P.V.Sudhakar got up a grand farewell party at a local hotel near
my office where for the first time the occasion provided an
opportunity for my wife being given a share of the honours.

56

A thousand moons – Chapter - III

Forthe first time my wife agreed to travel by air from Hyerabad to
Madras.In a separate truck my luggage was brought on which
occasion my best man Friday Sri.Rajeswara Rao accompanied the
truck.Though I had given notice of my coming to Madras several
months earlier my tenant was still holding on to my house.He
explained that as there was delay due to his contractor he was
obliged to extend his tenancy and in any case he would vacate the
house in June 1998 when his own construction would be over..
Though he did vacate the house he left without returning the key to
the house. Due to my apprehension that some such thing would
occur I had at the time of handing over the accomodation prior to my
departure for Bangalore I had built a room sufficient to do some
cooking and retained another room for serving as a bedroom..Some
how when he finally vacated the portion he took the key to the main
portion whereby I was prevented from operating the motor to pump
up water from the borewell.As the tenant would be visiting my house
off and on I had to get the services of electrician to shift the control
from inside the room to the switch board outside.This had to be done
before the tenant would make his apperance suddenly without prior
notice.It was strange but true that I had to carry out reairs by stealth
in my own house !After the tenant finally returned the key I entered
my house formally.

Retirment life was not all that boring.As my wife is a committed
devoteeof Puttaparthi Satya Sai baba we used to attendSai
Bhajanevery Thursday and Sunday held at Sai mandir near Boat
club.Our visit to Sai Bhajans was a great spiritual journey.The
darshans of Swami which used to occur in my wife’s dreams
continued to occur assuring her « why fear when I am here »
As if our daily routine was too prosaic to continue without
excitement both my wife I got involved in an incident not of our
making !My wife ‘s cousin nd her husband were living not far from
our place in Chennai.Sometime in the year 2002 I received a call
from the husband of my wife’s cousin which changed dramatically
from a routine call to an emergency call when he asked me if I could
make an immediate visit to his flat for discussing some important
domestic issue.I out of abundant caution asked my wife also to join

57

could gain some idea that their son and his wife might have had
some controversies though their son would not have given cause for
misunderstanding. It was the girl’s mother who urged them
frequently to help her second son get an opportunity to visit his
sister’s place for better job opportunities.Ultimately the matter was
settled with no gain to both the parties.Now where do we, my wife
and myself stand, in the entire episode and qualify for becoming
victim of corporeal punishment ! The reason for the violent
reception my wife and I were subjected to became obvious when in a
course of 12 monthsthe girl and the boy separated legally !

Some time in May,2003 my wife and I got invitation in June 2003
from my daughter and son in law in Perth to vist them for 3
months.She was also mployed in the software major – Computer
Associates for around 3 years.Though seeing our daughter after a
lapse of 4 years gave us immense pleasure at the same time the
pleasure was not without a tinge of sadness.It was seven years since
her marriage took place ; but still we were despondent without a
grand son or grand daughter.But the veil of sadness did not take too
long to lift.In May 1997 the first tiding of happiness from Australia
lighted our life with joy.Our daughter has conceived and we may
look forward to the new arrival some time in November of the year.
The date 16th November 2007 deserves to be inscribed in gold.My
daughter delivered a male child in a nursing home in Chennai.Again
in 2014 my daughter delivered another male child on15th August.

Now it ws almost ten years since my son ws settled in a job and it
was high time he married. After earnest effort over a period of a
year I succeeded insecuring a match for myson and his marrige was
celebrated on 15th May, 2009.But the event was not without its
share of unhappiness.Is it not true that pleasure is a brief interlude
between spells of pain.On the day previous to marriage my wife
slipped and fell in the toilet damaging in the process her hip
joint.She stoically bore the pain till the wedding was over and after
bidding good-bye to the just married couple we admitted my wife in
Isabel Hospital where a major surgery was performed on her and hip
replacement was done.Till date her limp is a constant reminder of the
above truism of life .

58

A thousand moons- Chapter-IV

Friends and detractors

Sri.Yagnanarayan :

In my career spanning over nearly forty years I made quite a few
friends.Essentially an introvert person friendship was more of an
accident than design.Upholding trust, steadfast loyalty and
extending helping hand even at short notice became hallmark of
relationship fostered between me and my friend
Sri.B.Yagnanarayan.Innumerable were our long walks on
Sampige Road accompanied by wideranging discussions on
variety of topics from Maddur vada to quintessence of Sankara’s
philosophy !He admired the little booklet presented to me by my
mother made in her own hand containing Sri Venkatesa
Suprabatham written in her pearl drops of handwriting. We used
to recite the Suprabatham every morning after bath when we
shared a tiny one room house on Palace Road.Our hunting for
onion vada sold in a shop on 18th Main Malleswaram is
memorable more for the aroma of fresh fried onion vada than its
actual taste.

My life long friendship with my senior in the Geology
department of Presidency College is a classic example of abiding
friendship that didn’t suffer setback in testing
circumstances.Mr.Yegnanarayanan was attached to Bangalore
Laboratory of Atomic Minerals Division of the Department of
Atomic Energy where he was allotted Cuddapah and Kurnool
districts of Andhra Pradesh for prospecting for Uranium at the
time I myself entered the Department as Assistant Geologist in
August 1959.We used to meet frequently in the ambient
atmosphere of Bangalore’s Majestic Circle then not so noisy or
crowded as it has become now.H e needed someone who would
listen to his exploits in his field assignments, how by sheer
eloquence he would win friendship of District authorities and
secure their cooperation in his assignments !True to his averment

59

he was a fine conversationalist, well read in English literature and
British history. He was fond of quoting the above author about
the democratic pretensions of Oliver Cromewell whose
democratic whig fell exposing he naked sword which he relied
more on to rule England.I would almost anticipate his quotation
and say in chorus the part about whig and sword !His erudition
and recall from memory of pithy sayings and couplets from
Naaladiyar,Tirukkural,Avvaiyar made a great impression on me.I
would often adwmoinrdeerhow a person of such many sided excellence
could not make it to the IAS in which direction he made a couple
of attaempts but only to lose out first time in written papers and
second time in personality test

Mr.Yegnanarayanan came to know my budding interest in
exploring the mystery of UPSC examination.Not affected by any
complex at his own failure he very earnestly encouraged me in
my efforts and suggested a few authors whom I must acqaint
myself more seriously if I were to good score in that
paper.Macaulay,Ramsay Muir,Warner and Martin were some of
the authors introduced to me. It didn’t occur to me that the stiff
standard maintained by the UPSC before 1957 by prescribing a
minimum marks to qualify in the personality test was done away
with and if only to oblige lesser mortals like me lowered the bar
for us to scale !

After I cleared the UPSC examination in 1963 our friendship
grew to greater heights.He periodically kept meeting me be it in
Mysore Chennai Mumbai or Kalpakkam where my postings in
the Indian Postal Service took me.His visits to Mysore where I
worked as Senior Superintendent of Post Offices occurred more
frequently and he cultivated friendship with my mother, wife and
brothers .Whenever we met in Chennai I used to get closer to his
another side to life, that of stoicism and forberance.Of his 3 sons
the youngest was afflicted with rectum cancer and the elder boy
was mentally affected by some psychological problems which
even required him to stay aloof in a bachelor accomodation and
needed frequent visits by the father amidst his touring work !

60

I got selected by the Atomic Energy Commission to work on
deputation from Postal Service as Deputy Secretary in the Head
Quarter Office in Old Yacht Club, Bombay in 1976.I learned to
my surprise the very selection personally made by the Chairman
of AEC was the result of happy combination of
circumstances.When Confidential dossier Records of potential
candidates were put up for perusal by the Chairman of AEC who
was also Chairman of Selection committee he was struck by my
experience in the Atomic Minerals Division i which unit I had
served as Assistant Geologist from 1959 to 1963 efore I got
selected by the UPSC for selection to the Class I Central
Services.So the Chairman thought here was a candidate who was
familiar with technical side of administration as well as its
administrative side comprising knowledge of rules and
procedures of governance.This resulted in my selection as
Deputy Secretary in the Head Quarters office as conveyed to me
by my Joint Secretary to whom I reported in my duties as Deputy
Secretary.

My selection to the Central Services was not to the liking of my
superiors in the Atomic Minerals Division who having invested in
time and resources in training me for a prospecting job now had to
spare my services to another government department.The news of
my leaving for postal service soon came to the knowledge of my
friend Mr.Yegnanarayanan who was working in Delhi.I tink in
retrospect my posting in Bombay was entirely due to Divine
providence as my tenure in Bombay and Mr.Yagnanarayanans’s
increasing closeness with me was wholly to change the course of
life of the latter.Mr.Yagnanarayanan was at this time going
through the worst phase of his domestic life.His youngest son
Ramesh was suspected victim of cancer of the colon.My friend
needed a firm base in Bombay to provide treatment to his son
aged 13 or 14 years.H ealso needed philanthrpic support from his
contacts who would buy kits to enable my friend’s son to make an
easy and hyegenic by-pass to provide outlet for his biological
waste through a surgical sac attached to his colon.Pending a
durable arrangement for Ramesh’s stay I offered to put him up in
my Anand Bhavan quarters on Warden Road.He was a great
company to my 2 year old daughter.Ramesh was a precocious

61

child.H e seemed to be interested in all intelligent activities like
cricket chess or word play, etc.Meanwhile Mr.Yagnanarayanan
suggested I should discuss with my boss ,himself on depuation
from Customs and Excise Department for his regular posting in
Bombay mainly from medical attention angle.For, the Tata
Memorial centre a pioneering institution which specialised in
cancer therapy was ideal refuge for young Ramesh.Mr.Panchappa,
for that was my boss’s name was himself keenly aware of his
wife’s treatment at the Centre could not but empathise with the
sufferings of my friend .He got my friend’s request examined and
provided him a lasting solution by posting Mr.Yagnanarayanan at
BARC Laboratory.Cruel it may seem the efforts of my friend to
west his young child from the jaws of death could not bear fruit
and despite Herculean efforts to take his son to UK for further
treatment went in vain.This game changing event would not have
been possible but for my accidental posting at Bombay.

Though treatment to Ramesh proved futile and my friend lost his
dear son he recouped himself and continued his social activities as
before true to the dictum neither pain nor pleasure should
overcome us.I think my little contribution to mitigate his loss must
have weighed with him in the scale of our friendship that before
he breathed his last he had passed on the significant aspects of
our friendship to his only surviving son working in New Jersey
as Scientist.The latter when he visited Chennai to perform the
obsequies he made it a point to meet me in my house and asked
me to attend the ceremonies of his father for old time
sake.Needless to say I participated in the ceremonies and shared
the sorrow of both the son and his mother.

My detractor in the Directorate:

After my tenure in Atomic Energy commission I was in waiting for
a posting in my parent service.So during the leave period I looked
around and found that a post was vacant in Hyderabad where my
colleague who was already in Delhi sought extension of her tenure
in Delhi and went on protesting her transfer to Hyderabad.She had
children education and other issues which made it very necessary
to continue in Delhi.So I made bold to suggest to my senior who

62

was in charge of postings and transfers to consider me for the slot
in Hyderabad as my colleague in Delhi had very little scope to
change her mind.Already the post in Hyderabad went without an
officer in that post for over 3 months.But this senior colleague of
mine had different ideas and providing me at a place not far off
from Madras was not to his liking.He instead offered me the
vacancy in Muzzafarpur in Bihar Circle.I politely declined and
made a fervent plea to to find a way to post me at Hyderabad.When
I found he was in no mood to help m I chose to speak directly to
the top officer ,Member in the postal services board in charge of
postings.He somehow felt differently and appeared to be
supportive as he might have felt an officer who worked in another
ministry and returned with his reputation unsullied might after all
deserve some encouragement.After all the Member himself was on
deputation with Ministry of Tourism before he reverted to the
parent ministry.So within a day or two of my speaking he ordered
in the file tht I may be posted to Hyderabad.This dealt a blow to
my senior’s prestige and from that day he bore me a grudge and as
subsequent events would show he gave me no end of trouble in my
career.

My deep introspection over what could have got my equation
amiss with Mr.Sagitarius, that is the pseudonym of my senior
who preferred me to work in Muzzafarpur rather than Hyderabad,
took me ten years back in time.My first posting was in Mysore as
Senior Superintendent in 1965.I never knew I was going to be
related to him.ln his search for an eligible groom my prospective
father in law landed in Mysore in my quarters.He was accompanied
by his nephew who in turn was my Postmaster General’s brother-
in-law!This relationship was not in my knowledge till after my
marriage.While my PMG was a stickler for work and did not
differentiate between his officers my immediate boss who was a
senior director had no love lost with his boss or in other words the
PMG.While the latter easily fell a prey to flattery and psychofancy
which the comrades in the Trade Unions offered in abundance my
PMG was unmoved by words sweetened with eulogy as well as
criticism.Somehow I measured upto him and found myself often at
loggerheads with my immediate boss who thought I would carry
out my PMG’s instructions promptly but not his own!.

63

Needless to say I was retained in what may be called paradise on
earth six long years, much to the chagrin of my fellow
colleagues.Notable among these was Mr.Sage who had seen 3
stations within the span of my Mysore enure.Probably he was
biding his time.Much later when I succeeded him as Assistant
Director General in charge of Establishment it was my good luck to
work with one of the All time great postal administrators
Mr.Velankar.We together took the best out of Finance Ministry’s
norms to expand postal network which helped not only in
increasing the number of postal managers to administer the
expanded network but incidentally increased the number of
promotional posts like Directors and PMGs.So no wionder I
became popular as the one who could translate my Boss’ vision to
promote many officers who were waiting for long for
promotion.After all this formula called SIU formula was brought in
when my senior worked under another great stalwart
Sri.L.K.Narayanaswamy working on the Postal Services
Board.Mr.Sagit perhaps stung by bitterness at having lost a golden
opportuinty to be of help in increasing promotional avenues and
earning a good name, in a formal meeting conceded that while he
used the SIU formula to freeze the network his successor, that is,
myself exploited to the advantage of all.

It was in 1981 that an opportunity arose when the veneer of good
manners and geniality wore down exposing mischief mongering
tendency and indifference to genuine hurt that may be caused by
his actions.Apparently acting on a circular from UNDP to sponsor
a few officers to present papers at Riga, in Russia my name among
two or three others was communicated to the UNDP,Delhi.There
was no great selection mechanism contemplated and names
proposed by the parent department would be accepted for being
nominated to the meeting and necessary funds tickets, etc arranged
by the UN body.Knowing fully well I from Hyderabad had no
chance as opposed to two others already in the Directorate my
senior sent me an urgent message disturbing my training course at
Administrative Staff College of India and asking me to proceed to
Delhi for arrangements to attend the meeting in Russia.I without
any clue to the whole exercise prepared a paper overnight and
collecting what winter ware I had, took the flight to Delhi.

64

When I contacted my senior about the papers to be processed by
me he said I should find out from UNDP office in Lodi Colony.My
enquiries at the latter office revealed my name was not in the list
for whom UNDP should arrange for visa from Russian
Embassy.In case I would finally make it to the seminar I needed
warm clothes and I had to make urgent visit to a friend who having
visited Russia earlier would offer his clothes.I collected the
clothes.When I met Mr.Sagit in the afternoon to post him with the
developments in the UNDP the first thing he wanted to know was
if I bought woollen clothes for the trip.I could faintly notice the
malicious intent behind that query.When I persisted about no
proposal in the UNDP office about including my name in the list of
visitors to attend seminar he evded the issue.I said it seemed I was
taken for a ride as actually when there was no prospect of sending
me abroad he was posing as if what all I needed were woollen
clothes and not visa.Thinking that idiomatic expressions were to be
taken only at face value I didn’t bargain for an outraged reaction
from my friend who took umbrage at the freedom I allowed myself
in using idioms in conversation between unequally placed
colleagues like us and demanded an apology for the liberty I took.I
dint want to blow this issue out of proportion and promptly
satisfied his thirst for blood!He said I should wait till the whole
night when after all the Embassy might receive instruction late in
the night and issue me visa.I need not expatiate on the dramatic
irony contained in his suggestion.I returned to Hyderabad sullen
and seething with anger and nursed an idea to complain about the
whole episode to the Minister.I t was my wife who made me see
reason and made me realise that I had long way to travel along with
this colleague who placed in 3 batches above me had all the
potential to cause me setback in my career and hence I should drop
the matter as a bad dream.

Mr.Velankar:

The circumstances in which I was posted to Directoate in June
1971were quite unenviable.Within a space of a few months from
October 1970 when I was provided a berth in TamilNadu circle as
Senior Superintendent RMS M Division I was shifted as Vigilance

65

Officer and I started working with great enthusiasm .But lo and
behold , Within 3 months I was shifted as Assistant Postmaster
General Staff .When I represented to my PMG that I was happy as
V.O and the transfer to Staff branch was unexpected I was told
that in Madras Circle the APMG post carried high reputation and
that I should have no quarrel.I told him as far as I am concerned
that post was glorified donkey and may be I was singled out for the
treatment as I would without complaint groan under the weight of
the load of files which would require disposal!

So I lost no time in making a oral request to Sri.P.S.Raghavachari
who was then Director Postal Technical in the Directorate to
provide me with a slot in the Directorate.Sri.Raghavachari who had
a good reputation with the Members of the Postal Board informed
me that I would be soon transferred to the Directorate as Assistant
Director General Technical and Stores.Luckily for me I caught the
attention ofSenior Member of P&T Board Sri.S.B.Velankar who
was the most outstanding officer ever to preside over the Board!
For it was he who within 6 months of announcement ushered in
after a thorough planning and survey the six digit pincode for the
India Post!

Sri.Velankar was in great hurry as he had hardly a year or less to
go before his retirement within which time he promised all the
eligible officers promotion to higher grade.He had to put to good
ue the SIU Standard just then received from Finance Ministry and
almost in a wirlwind tour fashion he used to take me with him
wherever he toured to get proposal for creation of new
administrative divisions on the spot approved and given effect to.In
the years preceding that due to dearth of posts promotions were
few and far between.I rose to the occasion and helped to create
adequte number of divisions which were the building block for
creating promotional posta like Directors,PMGs etc.So when
Velankar had to go abroad for 2 weeks tour to UPU he entrusted
me and my Director Planning Sri.S.L.Rajan to prepare and finalise
what was called EFC Memo –short for Expenditure Finance
Committee Memo for submission to the Finance Ministry by the
time he returned to India.Needless to say Mr.Velankar soon after
his return to India took the EFC Memo personally to Secretary

66

,Finance in the Government and got the concurrence for creation of
the posts required.True to his promise he gave effect to the creation
of the higher promotional posts and elevated the eligible officers
lke S//SRI P.S.Raghavachari,K.R.Murthy,S.L.Rajan and a score of
others.In this background when I accompanied Sri.Velankar on
flight to Madras he turned right to me who was seated beside him
and said “ Srinivasan ,this is your first meal in midair ,,,enjoy
yourself!I don’t think there could be another Velankar who would
treat a junior officer like me as his friend of a long time !He didn’t
forget my own claim for promotion and posted me as the First City
Director by posting me as Director of Postal Services, Coimbatore
in June 1973.

S.K.Parthasarathy:

After my innings with Velankar ended I was mainly used as a
mercenary for extracting work from me.All opportunities to
sponsor officers on foreign assignments including training were
available for those who were familiar with the ropes.I didn’t mind
the lost opportunities and concentrated on how to turn around the
performance of the department.I was the sole Director in the entire
department who was entrusted with mail operations in the entire
circle of Andhra Pradesh unlike bifurcation of the RMS divisions
into Regions for entrustment to the different regional
directors.While in Hyderabad I brought out how mail statistics
could be better analysed and the efficiency of the different RMS
units could be numerically evaluated.This was the first time such a
study was organized in the department.My initiative paid off and
Sri.K.R.Murthy Secretary ,Posts saw merit in my project and gave
me an opportunity to present my study among the different heads
of circles who assembled in Delhi for the annual Heads of Circles
Conference.Needless to say the revised method of compiling
statistics was adopted by the Director General for the entire
department.

Perhaps my work as Mails Director and Director R&D was taken
note of by Sri.S.k.Parthasarathy.I had not earlier worked under him
either in the field or headquarters.But when the post of
PMG,Karnataka Circle fell vacant in June 1991 Sri.Parthasarathy

67

who was Director General foud out from me my keen desire to
work as PMG ,Bangalore.Much against competition I was posted
as PMG,Bangalore.For the first time I was convinced there were
officers even now who would spot merit and reward
adequately.For it was my stint as PMG Bangalore that gave me
better vista of postal operations to appreciate technological
problems in a better light and armed with sufficient administrative
powers I enjoyed freedom to usher in improvements .I brought into
operation ‘Paperless Office” concept in concrete form in selected
post offies due to computerisation.I also saw to it that networking
operations rather than stand-alone model were best suited for the
post office and it was sheer clairvoyance to anticipate Core
Banking Solutions now the order of the day in Banking system
allover.For these improvements I can not but show gratitude to
Sri.S.K.Parthasarathy.I am happy to find that friendship can be
cemented vertically also.His Secretaryship has not come in the way
of acknowledging friendship between two of us, one a Director
General and Secreatry to Government and the other but a mere
Chief Postmaster General!

T.K.Sampathkumaran:

In an otherwise turbulent period often interrupted by strikes and
protests by staff unions there was silver lining in the stormy
clouds.I came across Sri.T.K.Sampathkumaran ASRM in the Circle
Office whose retirement was just 3 months away.We struck rapport
in the very first month of my tenure and he without any thought of
reward became my friend philosopher and guide in non official
matters.H e took very kindly to my two young children and became
a regular visitor to my residence.I felt a person like Sampath can
not retire as a non executive after nearly four decades of service in
the department.So I suggested to my PMG that we make him an
officer in the department at least in the last one or two months of
his service.My PMG also saw merit in the propsal and found a
way out to circumvent his seniors and made him eligible for
posting as Superintendent TP Division in the RMS.This was but a
small reward for the officer who served the department so loyally
and drew affection of all his seniors like PMGs who were able to
spot the talent he possessed.

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My children loked forward to seeing him on Sundays and we
used to see Tamil cinemas in his company.He volunteered to
escort my eight year old daughter to the various Carnatic Music
competitions held by the department in Tirupathi,Kurnool.and
other places in Hyderabad and safely brought her after the
competitions.He became so indispensable that even the task of
packing and transporting my household goods and car by train
when I had to move on transfer to Delhi was taken over by him
voluntarily.

R.C.Waghmare

At this point of time Hyderabad sorting office was becoming
cynosure of criticism more or less across the country.Almost
regularly insured articles alleged to contain silver or gold
jewellery were tampered with and contents abducted causing
huge embarrassment to the department.The laxity in checking
the condition of parcels at every stage of their handling and
limited time available for carrying out check encouraged free
passage of parcels to their destination.Taking advantage of this
situation maliciously inclined staff tampered the parcels of
potential costly contents and replaced the ontents with stones or
rubbish weight for weight.So at the offices of delivery
unsuspectingly the tampered parcels would find their way to the
hands of the public who on noticing the fraud would prefer
complaint to the offices concerned.Invariably after protracted
time either the parties would be told there was no foul play at the
offices which handled these parcels or in a few cases of parcels
insured a fraction of the insured amount would be disbursed and
case closed.When this became alarming the Deputy Director
General (Vigilance)’s attention was drawn to the situation
obtaining in Hyderabad.The situation became so alarming that
detailed reports from circle office didn’t carry conviction with
the directorate.So Mr.(Col) Shivnath , the DDG (Vigilance)
visited Hyderabad and held discussion with me as to the
possible modus operandi that could result in the loss of valuable
contents of these parcels.Col.Sivnath was so sensitive and
polished an officer who didn’t want to offend me during

69

discussions about either laxity in investigation or total
helplessness in tackling the cases chose to take me to a nearby
theatre ostensibly to view a Hindi movie.I was puzzled at his
behaviour and wondered if he really wanted to pas time in my
company or was going to administer to me a stern rebuke in
dark ambience of a cinema theatre.So when the matter came up
as to what procedure would I employ to bring this abstraction
scandal to a speedy end I ventured to seek three months time
within which the racket would be busted.I had a band of
dedicated Inspectors and Assistant Superintendents who shared
my ideas of cleansing bad elements in the sorting offices.We
prepared a chart showing names of drivers of mail motor
vehicles carrying mail bags, mail guards who used to accompany
these vehicles for purpose of lifting and loading bags.This chart
was prepared after observing for a period of 3 months who were
all on duty in a repeated manner and that too drafted for work on
identical days when such staff would be on duty.Already I had
been following this case personally whereby I used to frequent
all the familiar haunts which the staff in question used to
visit.Mr.Waghmare was one such dedicated ASRMs who was
instructed to watch for any abnormal movement of the MMS
vehicles and delayed arrival of these vans at the sorting offices
where mail and parcel bags were to be handed over.

I received a call rom Mr.Waghmare at an early hour in the
morning on a Saturday when I was informed that a MMS vehicle
reported at a head post office for exchange of bags 10 minutes
behind schedule.I instructed him to proceed to the Head office in
question and enquire if any parcels were received in a tampered
condition.When similar was the case the ASRM in the presence
of all concerned staff opened the bag in question and made an
inventory of the contents of the bags opened.In a particular bag
received from a Sorting Office in Uttar Pradesh silver articles
mentioned in the correspondence accompanying the parcel were
not to be seen and instead some small stones were noticed.Their
weight tallied with the weight recorded on the list or invoice by
the Sorting Officials who handled the bag in question, last.Then it
was apparent that the official who by mere handling the parcel
could suspect its contents got in touch with the driver and guard

70

who were drafted on duty on that day with the help of office
telephone of the concerned office where as per the schedule of
arrivals and departures the staff in question would also make
themselves fmiliar with the post office staff and help themselves
to the information conveyed by the Registration assistant in the
Sorting Office which despatched the parcel bag in question.The
information was vital in as much as the MMS crew would come
to know about weight and dimension of the precious commodity
which they will prey upon!The crew selected a secluded location
under a tree on the Tank bund road alongside Hussain Sagar Lake
and conveniently open the bag in question and extract the
contents and replace the same with stones of corresponding
weight and reseal the contents in the bag as before .The entire
operation would not cost more that 10 minutes and that would
explain the reason for the delayed arrival of the van.So when I
was posted with this information I lost no time and gave
permission to the police inspector to cause search of the
residences of the suspected officials who were on duty that
day.Not only several valuable contents were found but names of
all the other conspirators were also got divulged from the staff
who were apprehanded that day and their premises
searched.With the prosecution of the drivers and guards who
were involved in the fraud successfully concluded almost a
decade long history of crime in Hyderabad. Came to an
end.Mr.Waghmare was not merely a junior colleague of mine but
a lifelong friend,too!

Detractor (H.Q) in Hyderabad:

In this background as did the biblical serpent enter Adam’s
garden in Eden, Mr.Owlsay(no descendant of the Cardinal)
entered my life and career with venom in the sac and pseudo
friendship on the tongue!

This Owlsay belonging to a batch senior to me was already
familiar to me when I held charge of a RMS division in Madras
and he himself was a Director.So we continued from where we
left when I took charge as Director in charge of mails and stores

71

case to the union and thus complaint against Mr.Owlsey came
about resulting in the cancellation of the loan and resultant denial
of unlawful monetary gain.The Additional PMG with the help of
FNPTO Union tried to frame me in a case of advance payment
made by SRM, Guntakal Division to a furniture dealer in
Hyderabad.The consequence of this conspiracy and relentless
campaign against me dragged on for 2 years even after I was
transferred to Directorate first as Director (R&D) and then as
D.D.G (Planning) till the Secretary himself found no merit in the
allegations against me and finally dropped the case.Not only this
,the Secretary known for his acumen made away with my anxiety
and assured me of my promotion to SAG grade.

C.R.Kutty:

Mr.Kutty is a self effacing person.I never foundhim chit chatting
during office hours.He was also a member of Bangalore Post office
RMS and Telecom Housing Society.He was keen tat I not only got
a good plot at a vantahge location but also put up a structure early.
Timely advice on more than one occasion from him saved my plot
of land from being trespassed and taken over from me. It was
Mr.Raman Kutty who helped me in the selection of the plot
allotted to me by Bangalore Postal Housing Society.Fortunately for
me his plot also was located just opposite my plot and he
constantly kept watch over any disturbing activities on my land.
So first when my neighbor sank a bore well in my plot, ostensibly
accidentally, Mr.Kutty telephoned me in Chennai and asked me to
visit Bangalore and end the illegal operation. Luckily for me this
problem was sorted out after I wrote to my neighbor and borehole
was sealed. Another time when my neighbor on the other side
sought to convert the empty piece of land as tennis court for his
children to play Mr.Kutty alerted me even as bulldozer was in
operation on my land. I rushed to the spot and almost physically
stopped the activity. I also decided to lay a compound wall around
my plot. When a good price was offered to sell the plot Mr.Kutty
advised me to sell away the plot which I heeded.

Mr.V.C.Vijayaraghavan:

72

Mr.Vijayaraghavan is easily the most impressive personality I ever
met in my life. When I came on transfer to Kalpakkam
Mr.Vijayaraghavan was the first person I met in Shastribhavan on
Haddows Road here we had a liaison office.It was this office which
was presided over by Mr.Vijayaraghavan as its L.O for a very long
time. His long tenure is a measure of his indispensability and
popularity among government departments both central and state
and popularity among senior bureaucracy and even judiciary! He
arranged for my transport to Kalpakkam for a few days till I was
allotted quarters in Kalpakkam.He maintained such a liaison with
passport office ,airlines, and other such related agencies that he
would make foreign travel a tension free exercise. Many dignitaries
would happily maintain contacts with Mr.Vijay.Once he took me
to Ms.M.S.Subbulakshmi’s residence opposite Valluvarkottam and
introduced me to the legend of Indian music and what is more got
both of us a nice cup of coffee from the great model of hospitality!

My work brought me in touch with Mr.Vijay regularly on my way
to and from Bombay where I would be proceeding in connection
with H.Q work. Even after my transfer to Hyderabad ,my parent
department , our contact was intact. For, Mr.Vijay once he gets to
know somebody in the usual social contacts he would never forget
the contact.

An opportunity presented itself for me to be recipient of a
significant contribution of goodwill from Mr.Vijay.When my son
became eligible for admission to Central School in Hyderabad I
noticed that Central School rules for admission. Among the
applicants he criteria for selection of their wards would depend on
the number of transfers of the applicants. While scrutinizing my
service book I noticed that my final transfer to the office of
Director General Services Organization was not entered in the
service book. So the Accounts officer who maintained the record
sent the service book to Mr. Vijay the Administrative officer in
charge of Shastri Bhavan Office for making necessary entries in
the book. This was promptly done by my friend and my
application with the maximum number of transfers In the last five
years became eligible for my son’s admission to the 1st standard in
Golconda Central School.

73

A thousand moons – Chapter V

Accidents and Close encounters:

While the very accident of my birth in a middle class family and
rise to fairly comfortable station in life is outcome of my fate the
too frequent accidents which could have made my exit from this
world a certainty but for Divine intervention.

Maton Hill near Udaipur:

After my completing my Honours degree in Geology from
Presidency College Madras I was fortunate to get selected for
Group B post in the Department of Atomic Energy in August
1959.We in all about 50 new appointees were allotted for field
training for reconnaissance and survey for atomic minerals in the
FOOTHILLS OF Aravalli hill ranges some 20-30 kilometers
from Udaipur.

The trainee officers camped in what was called Swiss cottage, a
name for the tents in which we were put up. We had organized a
cook who also stayed in a similar tent and provided us breakfast,
lunch and dinnner.Our routine was to get up early morning and
after washing ,brushing etc proceed to the mess and have
breakfast. This completed we used to visit the hills, part of
Aravalli formation, equipped with compass ,Geiger Muller
counter –equipment to measure radioactivity and make notes of
rocks and minerals found and like this repeat the exercise on
different days according to a program or schedule by which we
would complete the survey of a given area shown in Survey of
India map.

After a week or so when I was trekking on the slope of a hill I
stumbled upon a rock and was pushed by my weight down the
slope and began to run down gathering momentum at each step.
Not far away from where I hit the ground lay a giant sized
boulder which I missed hitting by a few yards! Had it been
otherwise my skull would have been shattered and I would have

74

met with a certain fatal accident. I can’t owe this streak of fortune
to anything but to my favorite Deity Sri Venkateswara.

Kollegal Scooter accident:

A minor accident involved collision between my two wheeler and
bullock cart. I was returning after a surprise visit to Kollegal
Selection Grade post office, along with my personal assistant on
the pillion at around 6 or 7 in the night. As the road was free of
traffic and I wanted to reach Mysore early I rode the scooter at
some speed. Even before I could sense what was happening a
bullock cart was driven without a warning lamp and was merrily
crossing the road when despite my best attempt to stop the
scooter I could succeed only in crashing against the wheels of the
cart. My steno was thrown off on one side and I myself on the
other side. To add to the confusion a police constable appeared
on the spot as if from nowhere and began his harangue
denouncing me unmindful of the violation of the cartman!The
police man wanted me to lodge the scooter and wait for
communication from the station on the following day. He saw
reason to allow me to proceed only after I impressed upon him to
report the matter to the Superintendent of Police who was my
friend. He mounted on the pillion and I had to maneuver the
scooter at a steady speed of 10 or so kms per hour depending on
only single gear as the gear cable was cut in the impact of
accident. After we managed to reach the police quarters and I
briefed the officer about the accident the constable who rode with
me was advised to let me proceed to destination!
Cochin Express- Mangalore mail collision:

The third accident which occurred not only concerned me but a
whole lot of passengers travelling by Cochin Express .As soon as I
assumed the charge of RMS “M” Division I had to visit
Coimbatore on Inspection duty. The train I travelled by left
Central Station some 10 minutes earlier to the scheduled time of
departure of Mangalore Mail which was also allowed on the same
track as Cochin Epress.Due to some bottleneck on the track our
train had to crawl towards Perambur station when by the oversight
of Mangalore train Guard this train which was following us

75

rammed into the rear of our train and in the impact the Guard of
our train who was craning his neck to observe what was
happening got his head smashed by collision of the two trains. All
of us , myself and my staff who were sorting mail were jolted and
given such a rude shock that I lost balance and fell on the floor of
the compartment. Naturally the trains were halted on the outer of
Perambur station and I had to organize relief measures for my
staff. After some delay the train started moving and when it
reached Erode a major junction where I could avail some more
time than at other stations I chose to wake up my PMG from
sleep and inform him of the accident and at the same time clearly
brought out the fact that all the staff on board the train were safe.
Needless to say my PMG appreciated my presence of mind by
assuaging him of any happening of untoward nature.

Escape from car-lorry collision:

The last and more nightmarish accident was more of the nature of
close encounter or brush with death. When I was serving as Chief
Administrative Officer at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic
Research at Kalpakkam I had thought of taking some vacation
around June 1982.I planned a trip by my car to see temples and
other tourist spots like waterfalls , etching gathered around me my
wife and our two children aged 6 and two, and my old mother,
grandmother, elder sister and younger brother in addition to my
man Friday Rajaram, in all some seven adults and two children. I
took upon me the task of driving the Fiat car of 1974 vintage. The
route to be followed was after leaving Chingleput to take the NH
49 touching enroute Trichy, Madurai, Tirunelveli before turning
west to Trivandrum, Kottayam, Kumuli and take the Cumbum
valley to return to Chennai via Madurai.

We wanted to worship at Sri Nindra Nambi Perumal and also seek
the blessings of the Jeer at Nanguneri.After this was over we were
returning to the main road. The roads in these parts were narrow
and several feet higher than the surrounding paddy fields.
Suddenly as if from nowhere I was confronted with the task of
negotiating a huge truck coming from the opposite direction
sharing a major portion of the already narrow road. I tried to

76

maneuver the car to the left side of the road as much as space
would permit .The truck was mercilessly and menacingly coming
towards me leaving hardly a foot or so free space between my car
and the truck. The car could no more sidle up to the edge of the
road lest it should slip and fall down on the paddy field some 10
or 15 feet down below. The truck was in haste and pulled past my
car with a heavy thud due to its impact on my car’s door.
Fortunately the menace was over leaving a prominent scar besides
wrenching in the process my front door! It was the usual hit and
run affair. All my co-passengers felt they had a narrow escape and
were lucky to avoid the jaws of death!

Food poisoning incident of 1986:

The last incident related to my sickness in 1986.I planned to take
my family from Chennai to Delhi after my transfer from
Hyderabad. I had to reach Chennai via Bangalore and as the
arrangement was a last minute one I had to chose travel by train
from Bangalore. I took my dinner in the vegetarian restaurant on
the station. I had no idea that the ordinary meal from that
restaurant could almost cost my life. As my wife’s role as my
savior brought me from certain death due to her initiatives I have
reserved this episode in the chapter dealing with my wife.

Adventure a la Secret agent 007:
It was sometime in 1985 when I was doing duty as Director of
Postal Service in Hyderabad an interesting incident took place.
My daughter was learning music from her music teacher in the
Golconda Central School. The music teacher took with her
selected students from 3rd and 4th including my daughter to a
Inter School Music function .The team led by the teacher was to
leave by A.P. Express and I went to the station to see off my
daughter. A little while before the train’s departure the music
teacher called me to the compartment and whispered to me that
some two persons whom she indicated discreetly were at the
station and another teacher Mrs.Reddy who also came to see of
the team was the target of these two persons and Mrs.Reddy
feared they might kidnap her once she came out of the platform.
My daughter’s teacher requested me to take Mrs.Reddy in my car

77

safely and drop her at the School at Golconda. So as soon as the
A.P.Express pulled out of Secunderabad station I asked
Mrs.Reddy to follow me closely and get into the car in the parking
lot. Even before the two suspicious persons could follow us we
managed to board the car and in one sweep I pulled out of the
parking lot and not minding the one-way regulation I drove the car
at an energetic speed and hit the High way to Begumpet Airport
and drove the car towards Banjara Hills and Pnjngutta direction at
the same time satisfying myself that the motor bike by which the
two persons were supposed to follow us were not anywhere in
sight. On the way Mrs.Reddy revealed to me that the two
unknown persons were following her for the past few days. As her
husband was working in Middle East and remitting regularly
money and she was alone with her daughter she was apprehensive
of some mischief .So after I entrusted to the care of the Principal
of the School I went to the Control Room and informed the Police
Commissioner about the fears of Mrs.Reddy. The commissioner
thereafter posted some police force in civil clothes at the house of
Mrs.Reddy till the mischief monger were isolated and dealt with
as per law.

78

A thousand moons – Chapter VI

My Wife

The first visual of my wife busy with the house sprucing apparatus
and wearing a puzzled expression on her face simultaneously her
eyes assessing me standing on her house threshold is engraved in
my mind as fresh as I first saw her. My sister her husband and I
were to see the girl and meet her parents in Mannargudi an
agricultural town rich with paddy fields and coconut trees. We
were slightly ahead of the meeting schedule, hence the
unpreparedness of the inmates. I should say it was my would be
partner in life that approved of me rather than myself choosing
her for my life’s journey..Her face looked then as ever serene and
of course beautiful if beauty is a quality which compels one to
take another look not content with first look!

I succeeded to secure the parents’ concurrence for the girl’s hand
in marriage.Bhama, for that was her name became my wife on 7th
September 1966.Though I might have fancied a function in a
spacious marriage hall in Madras I could none the less feel happy
to be the object of festivities which included a ride on elephant
specially commandeered from the temple for the occasion! Our
first journey by car with my parents giving company was quite
memorable with my wife’s warmth and floral fragrance
transporting me to another world. We travelled via Trichy, Erode
and Satyamangalam before crossing the Tamil Nadu Mysore
border and reaching Mysore in comfort before nightfall.

My wife was always particular that when I went on inspection
with my steno she would prepare Adai a variety of pancake made
of toor dal or suji rava uppuma in a quantity sufficient to both of
us. Whenever friends or subordinates visited us in our house she
made it a point to offer them coffee hot and tasty. Our life in the
house on Lakshmipuram not far from Ganesh Theatre was an
extended honeymoon!.My wife used to enjoy visits to Devaraja
market and do vegetable shopping. Our visits were mainly

79

managed without the help of two wheeler. Walking on Sayyaji
Rao road,Ramavilasa Road and on the road leading from Railway
station to Crawford circle used to give us immense pleasure what
with fragrance from Margosa trees. Though childless we managed
to keep away sadness mainly on account of the next door child of
3 years who often preferred to sleep on our mattress in our house.

When visits were due to Gundalpet or Melkote I never missed the
opportunity to take my wife with me to those places. We used to
carry eatables and even food to last the period of stay in the guest
house. I took advantage of the trip to Gundalpet to drive the
scooter up the Nilgiri ghat and reach Ootacamund and make a
surprise visit to my co-brother’s quarters belonging to Hindustan
Photo Films where he was employed as a Manager Production. We
along with my wife’s sister husband and their children toured
round Ooty visit Botanical park,Pycara tunnel, Dodda betta,
etc.One of the visits worth remembering was our journey by bus to
B.R.Hills which enthralled us with the verdant beauty of the
wooded hillsand rare sighting of the bison!

We enjoyed our visit to Melkote temple where we offered worship
to Selvapaillai Perumal and also had a breathtaking view of the
vast sheet of water in the Thondanur lake a living proof of Swami
Ramanujar’s genius that not only gave great momentum to the
spread of Bhakti movement but also visualize and design and
construct the great lake which waters thousands of acres of paddy
cultivation.

Soon after my marriage I purchased Vespa scooter and on a few
occasions I used to take my wife on the pillion to visit and carry
out inspection of post offices while she used to wait in the quarters
of postmaster. Once when I combined a visit to a rural post office
enroute Sravana belagola I found there was very little time to
complete inspection and climb the few hundred steps on the hill
leading to the giant statue of Gomateswara .So I in my broken
Canarese exhorted the postmaster to submit accounts and records
fast as I was short of time!.The postmaster who was already
bewildered by the unannounced visit became further nervous and
somehow or other he showed all the records and the accounts were

80

in order.

My wife is very much in love with flowers and generally the
greenery. We were lucky to get a small frontage to our house in
Lakshmipuram.My wife bought from Horticultural Society seeds
of various flowers, She planted them in our small garden and in no
time flowers of multifarious hues like Dahlia, Asters
,Zinnia,Chrysanthemum,Begonia,Salvia.There was a riot of
colors’ was given additional duty of waking up at slightest noise
of stray cattle straying into our compound and attempting to graze
the plants..So when Dussera season arrived my wife’s enthusiasm
took wings as she was eager to show the plants grown by her in
our compound at the Flower Show organized by Dussera Festival
Committee headed by the district collector. No wonder my wife’s
exhibit was adjudged the best exhibit and my wife received from
the hands of Karnataka Governor the First Prize. From now on my
wife’s enthusiasm to acquire plants and nourish them became her
second nature wherever we were transferred .Though it was going
to be 2 years since we married in September,1966 we were not
blessed with addition to the family. This provided an alibi for the
neighbors to pass harrowing remarks concerning my wife. But
my wife suffered in silence and remained stoic and never lost her
grip over our domestic reins and piloted the ship safely. I would
empathise with her each time she used to pass through her painful
monthly periods with great self control and my afternoon visit to
house from office was to give her relief from brooding over the
situation. I used to bring for her dosas from our favorite canteen
remembering her distaste for the usual food cooked by her! I even
now remember how scalding her tears were and I unable to bear
her agony would lend my company in this lachrymose event. As if
to find solace among the flowers in our little garden my wife
would lose herself amidst the smiling begonia and rollicking
dahlias! She would find in these plants a source of soothing balm
to her agonized soul .

At Bangalore where I had opportunity to serve as Chief Postmaster
General the gardeners became her best friends and chief among
them was Narayana who staked his life and soul to enhance the

81

beauty of General Post Office garden and also incidentally our
garden in the CPMG Quarters! By then we became parents of two
nice children both of whom have lent lustre to my family. But my
wife was neither too elated when she bore children nor pessimistic
when we were on dry patch!

My wife never was enamoured of jewellery as well as silk and
other fineries. She was simplistic in her attire .Flamboyance was
anathema to her and loud voice intolerable. She was never
demonstrative of either happiness or sadness. She would manage
with what funds I used to bring home by way of salary and she
would never be parsimonious in her role as a host. No one who
visit us was sent away without atleast a steaming cup of coffee.
The servant maids who would visit our quarters for cleaning etc
used to be surprised at my wife’s easy mixing habits and absence
of standoff or haughty demeanor.

It was Coimbatore where I was posted as Director that revealed my
wife’s comparatively relaxed style of living. It was also
Coimbatore which made us parents .Beyond comparison within
family circles I begot a lovely daughter and God was at work in
helping us produce a happy result of genetic engineering which is
one aspect of marriage! The date 8th September 1974 ,8 years after
our marriage was consummated , has enduring significance in our
life. My wife and I visited several Hindi movies like Bobby and the
taste in seeing and enjoying Hindi movies grew in my wife and this
prepared her for more hectic life in Bombay where I was to proceed
in a year’s time. We acquired a new Fiat car and made tour of
Nilgiris by car a number of times.

Providence guided me in planning my life .Within a few months of
shifting to Madras as Director Western Region I could buy a plot of
land .Here too I abided by my wife’s advice to plan our house in the
central locality of Egmore from where my office –Office of
Postmaster General was hardly 2 kms.My wife used to rake
legitimate pride in her selection of the site where we could build a
compact house according to our design.

82

I t was typical of my wife’s accommodative nature when she didn’t
pull a long face when I decided to move to Bombay to join the
Department of Atomic Energy as Deputy Secretary along with my
younger sister leaving behind my daughter and wife to be picked up
after a month. The plan was to look for a job for my sister while
simultaneously register her name and other details at the Bombay
Employment Exchange .I knew with her post graduate qualification
which would fetch her bonus marks to be added to the aggregate of
marks for the 10th Class and Graduate degree my sister once
registered would easily qualify in the selection of Assistant job in
Postal Service in Maharastra Circle. So when in a month’s time that
circle advertised a few vacancies in the different divisions my sister
could submit her application duly supported by employment
exchange registration and get selected to a post of Assistant in
Byculla sorting office. Had I not had a free hand I would not have
settled my sister’s career and the credit goes to my wife who
cooperated with me.

My wife joined me as planned after a month She very much liked the
location of our residential quarters . Anand Bhavan. We were
accommodated in a spacious first floor flat called Bhavan located on
the prestigious Bula Bhai Desai Road known earlier as Warren
Road. We had for company the famous Breech Candy hospital .The
celebrated Lakshmi Temple was just around the corner. We three of
us were regular in our evening visit to the temple and participated in
the evening Aarthi .I used to take my 2 year old daughter to my office
on India Gate at Old Yacht Club. My daughter immensely liked the
sea front and the Marine Drive .My wife liked to do the vegetable
shopping at Nana Chowk or Byculla market Crawford market as the
fancy took us .She also liked to visit the Haji Ali near Worli Sea face.
I never felt bored in the hectic life we had at Bombay..My wife liked
to hear the waves crashing on the boulders in the backwaters just
behind our flat. So when my request for transfer to Kalpakkam was
acceded to we were really so much in love with Bombay that we had
to tear ourselves from Bombay My family commitments , to wit, my
sister’s marriage project compelled us to shift to down south.

Earlier my wife had to leave for her native place in advance of me as
it was time for her delivery, the second child of us, this time a boy!

83

My wife’s role as house maker found its full bloom when we
relocated at Hyderabad due to my transfer. She loved her strict drill in
getting up early to prepare food for all of us, dress up the two kids
and make them ready for leaving for the school by bus. By the time
my daughter returned from her school my wife used to be ready with
home work tasks, mock tests with questions in English,Hindi,Science
etc subjects offered along with the evening snacks! She also sat the
daughter in front of her to teach vocal music till I found a regular
male vocalist who would train my daughter.

My wife’s heroic qualities found their vent when I had to be
hospitalised. After a tenure which lasted 5 years in Hyderabad my
services in the Postal Directorate were required and I was asked in the
middle of a month long leave sanctioned to me which I spent in my
wife’s native place Mannargudi, to proceed to Directorate to join as
Director R&D .So I left Mannargudi and after handing over charge as
Director Mails and Stores in Hyderabad I flew to Delhi and joined
duty in the R&D section. With a view to bring my family from
Chennai where they had moved I took a short break to fly down to
Chennai and return with family to Delhi. But due to difficulty in
securing accommodation at the last minute to travel to Chennai I took
the route via Bangalore. I had to take some food from the Vegetarian
Restaurant on the station platform and catch the night mail to Madras.
A few hours after my arriving in Madras I developed some symptoms
of food allergy resulting in diarrhea .I lost count of the number of
trips I made to the toilet and by evening I contracted dehydration and
ran high fever. I decided to move to nearby hospital and my wife
joined me in the vigil and monitor my progress. But my condition on
the other hand worsened and by the the time it was early day break I
became delirious and my pulse went erratic and I was disoriented. I
began to lose control of my limbs and developed fits. My wife was
further unnerved by the doctor attending on me saying all their efforts
were not fruitful to stop my sinking and gave up all hope. But my
wife was not to give up hope and she asked her younger brother a
MLA in the Ruling party and got ambulance to shift me to General
Hospital where experts could be depended upon to help me. By ten
o’clock I was admitted in the General Hospital and with the direction
from Health Minister I was given prompt attention and with a space
of 3 hours I was brought around to near normal condition. After a

84

week or so I was discharged and I could again breathe the air thanks
to the role played by my wife akin to the legendary Savithri who
rescued her husband from the clutches of death!

It was the 69th Birthday of Sri Satya Saibaba that provided a turning
point in my wife’s life. Both my wife and I decided to spend a few
days on the occasion of celebration of Swami’s birthday. We
travelled by car from Bangalore to Puttaparthi.We made
arrangements for accommodation in a independent room allocated for
VIPs. We found a surging crowd and wherever one turned there was
a sea of humanity. The music program and Swami’s speech in the
specially decorated Poornachandra Auditorium was soul satisfying. I
kept notes of the various programs with a view to write an article
about the birthday function for being published in The Hindu. I was
happy to find my article accepted for publication along with a photo
of Swami reproduced at the end of this book.

The one direct effect of my wife’s participation in the birthday
celebrations was her resolve to give up something she liked for the
sake of Swami! My wife used to drink 4 to 5 cups of coffee till then.
But now she decided that she would express her devotion to Swami
by abstaining from coffee totally in her life. Till now she is steadfast
in her pujas and meditation daily. She would get up from sleep at
3.30 am and after tidying up the photos of Gods and Goddesses and
having her bath she would spend remaining two hours chanting
Sahasranaama and Satya sai ashtothram,etc. She would be excited
and feel happy the whole day whenever Swami appeared in her
dreams specially on festivals like Deepavali or Sankaranthi or Tamil
New Year day,etc. Even now when I am nearing the end of narration
of my story on Thursday a week after Bhagawan’s 91st birthday she
was blessed with Swami’s darshan in her dream .Thus her life is spent
in complete harmony and abiding faith in Bhagawan.We never
missed Sai Bhajans at the Sai Mandir on Thursdays and Sundays
until I was advised against driving my car.

In a lighter vein the following incident is reported here. The incident
which slightly put off my wife’s mood was when one day while
having my lunch I found fault with samba tasting less salty than
usual .The occasion provoked my sense of satire and thus followed a

85

limerick entitled ,”Cold Dinner”.

Cold Dinner (5)
What bizarre horrors from culinary crime doth arise, (10)
From o’er done meat to under cook’d rice!
Ere long had I nurs’d a fond hope (20)
To pen.a satire, half as well as mocking Pope.
These lines, I now write, to my better-half are due:
To the dreaded dining table is the scene ne’er new:
When ill-bred palate and insatiate tongue
O’er five star food and friv’lous habit is hung,
No feebler excuse doth one need to arouse
In the self-wil1ed spouse, lasting grouse!
Vile ingratitude, Vanity, heart of stone,
Is thy name husband, or ‘nother name for groan:
To the sights and smells of kitchen strange:
The hissing Prestige, on the cooking range
Is unheard melody, but for the ears of Keats;
No shriller whistle was e’er blown at the heats.
What bubbling hope doth coffee’s vapours waft?
Which but to smell is to wield a secret craft,
Where smell is vision, and vision smell!
Thin throuoh the rising curls of aroma’s veil

Lift I my head at the reluctant morn;
No more betwixt me and the bed is loyalty torn:
A hum in the breath and a tune on the lip,
Ne’er was my intellect at the Sense’s tip
So beguiled by the evanascent charm:
Only an arm away from uproarious harm;
Not rolling thunder on the glass shatt’r’d more’
Not suburban EMU on the rails roll’d o’er and o’er
As when my cup of coffee, saucer, spoon et al

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From my shaking hand had a splashing fall! (30)
Ill fares the day, to hungry ills a prey: (40)
Give me my day’s bread, Thee my Lord.I pray ! (50)
I sit at the table, a picture of poise (60)
Resolv’d to bare my lips but to eat sans noise:
“Tut, tut what if, the soup is short of a pinch,
Think of the struggle, my son, on Dhandi’s beach.
Even Spencer’s sauce hath lost its savour,
Dear mother’s hand hath greater flavour!”.
“An ounce of labour is worth a ton of satire”
Lest one silly remark stoke simm’ring ire!
No gossip or joke on our neighbours will mend,
Nor ready wit, nor idle banter will the strife end.
Oh, ‘tis vain to hope she’d return to her
Accustom’d mood; harm done once is for e’er;
What charm did Menaka on the sage ply to lure;
Revers’d are the roles and ‘tis vain to cure
The penance of my spouse, ‘tonce a stranger;
The air is strained and I’feel her anger;
No gentle tread will follow till the drive’s end,
Nor can I cast one longing ling’ring look behind.
Brood and brood and the mood is no good,
When evening comes I drag my feet of wood,
Where’s the face that launched a thousand ships?
Not at the door or near the rose that creeps;
Since when even bright Salvia lost its lustre?
Hibiscus grew gloomy, smile gone from the Aster?
The leaves and the flower, plants and the bower
Are Eve’s best friend and share alike their power.
Home, my sweet home, where’s the cheer?
“Coffee in the thermos, ‘tis hot”, d’you hear?
I’ve a1itt1e head-ache; so don’t mind the dinner
If ‘tis cold, or you may eat out”; she’s the winner!

In fine the fact that we two overtook the 50 yer mark together without
any significant difference of opinion in September 2016 would show
ours conformed to the axiom that marriages are made in heaven!

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A thousand moons – Chapter VII

My favorite Books:

My visits to Bertram Library in Loyola college campus offered me
unlimited scope for enjoying light novels such as those of
P.G.Wodehouse. I always carried a book of Wodehouse and there
was no boredom in the company of Bertie Wooster, Lord Elms
worth or aunt Agatha! When I started working , later on,
I found spare time in Mysore division where I relatively fresh from
college wanted to catch up with unread works of Wordsworth,
Alfred Tennyson,Longfellow,T.S.Eliot and others. Wordworth’s
pastoral poem entitled Michael left a deep impression on me. I also
began to attempt writing philosophical poems. Next when I found I
had not only more leisure time in Kalpakkam but a relaxed
atmosphere I could spend more time on a book more bulky than
classical works. Novels of Thomas Hardy, Harold Robbins, and
works of Indian authors like R.K.Narayan attracted me for the
pathos of human predicament. I found Hardy’s thinking process
akin to Indian ethos where he believed in the inexorable pulls and
pressures of fate or providence, whatever one may call. Anna
Karenina the central character in Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna
Karenina compels one to engrossing reading. The conflict between
passion and filial love and ultimate victory of disillusionment
made me a great fan of Tolstoy. I made such a convincing
presentation of Anna’s conflicting emotions on my friend who
worked with me in Atomic Energy that he borrowed my book and
read it happily. The abject love towards almost a human God in his
Gitanjali moved me to tears. The novels of R.K.Narayan –English
Teacher, The Dark Room, Waiting for Mahatma were some of the
novels which had a great influence on me. In Tamil I found
Ponniyin Selvan an evergreen attraction. Even after 4 or 5 times
reading the novel I found the novel as fresh as when I took it up for
reading.

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My Role Model

The death of my role model Mr.M.B.Sarangapani, a legendary
PMG in his own right stirred me to my literary heights.
Mr.Mohanram son of Mr.Sarangapani settled in USA to whom his
sister forwarded the letter of condolence sent to her in Bangalore
came all the way to meet me in Egmore while on a visit to India.
He was curious to know how could it be that his father inspired a
person like me to try to emulate a towering personality like his
father. The letter of condolence sent to Smt.Shantha,a retired
General Manager of State Bank of India goes as reproduced below.

“The message that your dear father is no more was as sudden as it was dreadful. My

wife Bhama, my mother in law Ambujam and myself have no words to truly reflect our
feelings of sorrow not merely at your loss and loss to your mother but at the passing
away from our midst of some one of the stature of Sri.Sarangapani.

He was one of those who with a larger than life presence would have admirably
adorned any position. Unlike a post or position adding to the stature of a person here
was a unique person who brought luster to the post he occupied.

The earliest recollection of my first PMG under whom I served for full five years in

Mysore was that of an austere looking aristocrat looking over an

equally special book of classical fiction authored by Bertrand Russel. That figure in the
first class compartment of Chamundi Express with “Chrome Yellow”(that was the book
in his hand), a few minutes before the departure of the train is still engraved in my mind
as fresh as it was when I set my eyes on him that evening.

Sri.Sarangapani was first a devoted administrator than anything else. He bent his
extraordinary genius and intellect to serve the cause of public service. Nothing was too
low or menial for him in the discharge of his duties. Many a times I had accompanied
him on line inspection which took him to sundry shops and stalls to enquire how the

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communication lines worked. Needless to say he was my role model in the rest of my
career.

He savored the coffee which he himself would order at Mysore Dasprakash Hotel in
preference to thermos filled coffee brought to him by his subordinates. He carried the
etiquette of personal integrity to such an extreme which would render him liable to be
misunderstood in ordinary light of conventional hospitality. But he went about his task
unmindful of petty criticism. To say he strode like a colossus on the arena of the
Karnataka Circle is only to take shelter under a cliché for want of a better and original
paraphrase. His repeated advice to his juniors was not to run after “the fishes and loaves
“of office.

My wife Bhama and I had a unique and special opportunity to look closely at
Sri.Sarangapani from an entirely different angle when we shared quite a few hours of holy
communion with Lord of Melkote on the Vairamudi Seva night when Mrs.Sarangapani was
also present. Here was a different man patient and waiting for the benediction of the Lord
Thiru Narayana. The expression “intellectual arrogance” will aptly cover the man for he
wore it not with insolence but as a becoming ornament as would an emperor wear his royal
clothes which will be an affront to the rag of a commoner! For long long time his finely
chiseled features and awe inspiring face would keep me company whenever I recall my
association and listen to his soft and husky voice in my mind’s ear..
Comparisons are odious. But if one must compare, at all Sri.M.B.Sarangapani with any other
great person, he can be compared only with Sri.C.Rajagopalachari for only that will do justice
to his intellectual honesty and incorruptible integrity.
In this hour of great personal sorrow my wife, my mother in law and myself share along with

your family the pain of separation of Sri.Sarangapani from our midst.”

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A thousand moons-Chapter -VIII

My views on Religion and Personal God:

Coming as I do from a traditional family I have adopted the customs
and beliefs in matter of prayer and worship. The array of photos and
miniature idols of the various incarnations of the God of creation-
Maha Vishnu are testimony to our adherence to Vaishnavite cult.
Towards the end of my career , say 3 years from superannuation I
began to apply caste mark as proof of my identity with Vaishnavite
moorings. Whereas in the vast majority of adherents to any sector
subset caste mark will be be-all and end-all of our faith in the more
elevated case of beliefs the external expression of identity does not end
with caste marks.

A knowledge of the vast corpus of religious literature like Valmiki
Ramayana Sri.Vyasa ‘s Maha Bharatham,or Bhagawat Gita of
Bhagawan Sri.Krishna Himself is a more convincing proof of our
identity. Again these literary classics are held to be derivatives of the
Vedas - direct pronouncement of God Himself. But the question is
who is this God. What are His attributes. Different saints or seers have
interpreted the existence of God differently. Sankara’s maya vadham
flew in the face of vast evidence of objects like physical manifestation
s in the form of hills and oceans and seemingly endless variations of
organic life uniformly characterised by a central food canal, a neural
network at the head of the different forms of life and limbs to enable
motion. A subtle theory interprets supreme intelligence itself as
permeating the seemingly real objects akin to the mirroring of the one
real source into diverse forms and there is nothing without this super
being .But Sri Ramanuja didn’t accept the above intelligent
interpretation. He on his part presented a model of the three aspects of
the universe like the animate ,inanimate and the super conscious
intelligence. He explained that every animate object is permeated by
the super power. If the principle of no second being is to be accepted
then how does one realize the existence of super power or
parabrahmam?Any knowledge to comprehend the power of super being
gained in a state of agnyana or illusion will also be an instance of
maya. At the end individual souls will not be able to realize the

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