Bhasker Rao Sir (sitting in the front row right hand to brother)
Bhasker Rao Sir (as we call him) joined our school as telugu
teacher in his teen years. He grew up in Puttur and after completing
his studies in Telugu literature joined our school.
Durga Teacher (his wife) also taught us telugu in the primary school.
I remember from 5th class onwards Sir handled
all our telugu classes.
He was unique in terms for teaching telugu poetry. He used
teach by first singing the poem and then used to explain
the poem ( just like Ghantasala Bhagavat Geeta )
He did this everyday for 30+ years and some of us think
this resulted in problems for the throat.
He lived his life contentiously and served our
school for almost all his life.
Personally he helped me a lot by giving rightful advise
at much needed times (going to US, renting Aliabad house,
Old Boys Association etc.). He also used
to share his issues with us (daughters' marriages etc.).
Being our Sir, we can learn a lot from his simple life. I think
he is one of the very few who stuck to his ideals
till the end. We never heard anything remotely negative
about Sir all our lives. He is the one who knew how to talk pleasantly and
always maintained good appearance (always well dressed, walks straight,
talks clearly). Also he never left our school until his death
(re-joined the school after retirement as primary school principal).
He played lot of roles for our school (telugu teacher, managing
printing press, ITI, warden for boarders, primary school principal,
running OBA) and more importantly had knowledge of every kid and parents
of Boys Town. Streets, lanes and by lanes of Aliabad, Jahanuma,
Shamsheergunj, etc.. miss this teacher as much as we do. He chose
to move to Aliabad this January from the city just to be close
to our school. All three communities (here religions) respected him
and as he was the only one allowed to roam freely in sensitive areas of Jahanuma
during communal riots. Lot of Muslim families and students in Jahanuma
miss him as much as we do.
His sons (Naren and Pavan) and daughters are all settled in their lives.
Bro. Celestine, myself and Surie specially miss him a lot.
Though we completed our schooling
in 1978, some of us (specially myself and Surender) were in
close contact with him till his end. I met him last December in
the school and also he attended our gruha pravesham function.
Our beloved telugu teacher died after 40+ years
of dedicated service to our school and families around. His last wish was to do his
funeral in school premises, which was fulfilled with all people from all walks of life taking a last
glimpse of a dedicated teacher.
Please forward to any other Boys Town student you know
Venkat Aekka
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