With
the completion of our final examinations both my brother and I had reached a
milestone in our life. We were sure to get through successfully and would be
the first graduates in our village. We were anxiously waiting for our results.
We were also wondering as to what the future held for us. My brother had
decided that he would look for a job, preferably in Bangalore
Meanwhile
the things were very bad, otherwise, in our home front. Our younger brother
Madhava had finished his SSLC, but could not continue his education. As a stop
gap arrangement, he started working as a shop assistant in Thimmappa’s shop in
Agalagandi. We had to look for a suitable alliance for our younger sister. The
problem was- we had no wherewithal to conduct the marriage even if we were to
find a suitable groom at that juncture. To add to all this, my eldest brother
had to come back to village as he could not manage to maintain his family in
Shimoga in view of the failure of his business. His Shimoga dream had come to a
disastrous end. His father-in-law had also lost all his money in his failed
ventures in Shimoga.
For
me securing a rank had almost become an absolute necessity. I had set a
standard for myself by my PUC rank. It was a challenge to maintain that
standard. But there was no way to expect my name in the rank list in view of
the low marks I was expecting in Chemistry. As per my own calculations, it
could not be more than 70 percent. Whether that was sufficient to fetch me a
rank was a big question.
Our
results were to be announced on 25th June 1969. My brother Madhava
went to the post office to collect the newspaper. He came back at about 4 PM
with excitement. He had searched my name in the rank list from top to bottom.
His eyes stopped exactly at the tenth and the last rank. There it was - my name
at the very end. I had managed to place my name there almost hanging at the
tail end! I had scored 79.9 percent marks in the overall position.
When
I went back to Sringeri, I was greeted with great enthusiasm by Srikantaiah and
his family. Srikantaiah was very happy for me. I felt I had met his
expectations. My lecturers were also very happy. The Principal too expressed
his happiness. He was expecting to be relieved from the college shortly to join
the Mysore University
I
began my journey towards my admission in the Institute in the right earnest by
remitting money for the prospectus and application for admission. I received
them within a week. The more I read the prospectus, the more I felt it would be
a privilege to study there. Dr. Satish Dhavan was the Director of the Institute
at that time.
For
me it was not only the question of getting an admission in the Institute; I had
to plan for meeting the expenditure. The balance in my bank account could make
me survive only for a few months. I had to tie-up for the total expenses.
But
somehow things appeared to fall in place. My Mathematics lecturer N R Bhat had
all along supported me and was responsible for my excellent performance in
Mathematics. He was selected as a probationary officer in syndicate bank and
was posted for training at Manipal. Before he was relieved he assured me that
he would help me financially. He asked me to contact him after joining the
institute. Meanwhile I got another support as if from nowhere.
Advocate
Srikanta Bhat, who had stood for assembly elections unsuccessfully, sent me a
message to call on him. His house was about 8 KMs from my home. I met him as
called for. I found him to be a highly polished nice gentleman. He enquired
about my future plans. I told him about my Tata Institute ambitions. I also
told him about the delicate financial position of our family. He told me that
he would take me to some families known to him seeking their contribution. I
told him about my earlier painful experiences when my father had taken me
around. He told me not to worry and to just accompany him.
To
this day I have not been able to understand why Srikanta Bhat took so much
interest in my future studies. There was absolutely no reason for him to help
me out. He neither knew me personally, nor my family. He was gaining absolutely
nothing by helping me. He was quite a resourceful person as I could find out.
He took me to certain families close to him. Unlike my earlier experiences,
this ‘collection drive’ was a
pleasant one. To my surprise all the families had heard my name as a rank
student. There was absolutely no necessity for me to request them. The moment
Mr. Bhat told them the reasons for our visit, the contributions just followed.
The minimum contribution I got was rupees fifty. In all, Mr. Bhat got me a
contribution of about rupees six hundred (including his own contribution), a
substantial amount in those day standards.
Mr.
Bhat helped me in other ways also. One of these families had their son studying
at IISC. He was doing his graduation in electrical engineering. I was
introduced to him and he briefed me about the facilities and other matters in
the Institute. Another family had their son-in-law in the IIT Kanpur as a
Professor. Bhat took the trouble of introducing me to him. He gave me lot of inputs. To put it in brief,
Mr. Bhat not only helped me financially, but also prepared me intellectually.
Mind you, Bhat did all this without any publicity. Except his own family and my
family, nobody else knew his contribution for my education. A rare personality
indeed! I remain indebted to him for life.
I
got inputs about the Institute from another source. I had earlier mentioned the
name of Dr. T K Bhat as an important personality in Sringeri. He was quite aged
by then, but still was practicing as a doctor. He sent a word for me. I was
informed by him that his one son was an Associate Professor in the Institute in
the Department of Physics. His other son had completed the Master’s degree in
metallurgy in the institute just then. The doctor asked me to meet his Professor-son
and take his help whenever required. I was overwhelmed by his gesture.
I
got a call from the institute to attend a test and an interview for admission. They
were to be held in the last week of July. I had not visited Bangalore
The
month of July 1969 was very significant in the history of India
The
second event was the historic landing on the moon by Neil Armstrong, the
legendary American astronaut. This event was well covered by the news papers
and we took great interest in this event. The Apollo 11 landing took place on
20th July 1969.
I
have earlier written that Srinivasaiah of Puradamane had helped me financially
for my education. He was very happy for me when I secured the rank for the
second time. He came to know that we brothers were going to Bangalore Bangalore
We
left for Bangalore Leyland
busses. The red coloured heavily-built Leyland
busses had a lot of charm for us. This was the first time I was traveling in
such a bus and that too to visit the capital of our State. I had drawn one
hundred rupees from Syndicate Bank for our expenses. I was in great spirits. We
passed through Chickmagalore, Arasikere, Tiptur and Tumkur on our way.
We
entered the city limits by 8 PM. The bus passed through Yeshwantpur,
Rajajinagar and Malleshwaram before finally halting at the Subhashnagar Bus
Stand. I had arrived at the Bangalore
-------
(To be continued)------
