MY MIRACULOUS ENTRY INTO REC NIT CALICUT

 16th of June 1982 was a very happy day for all of us who had studied science stream at Sathya Sai College because most of us had done very well.I got 83 in Chemistry which I think should have been 90 even today in which case I would have got seat to study Electronics at KREC Suratkal but this did not happen. Many of my class mates we were all together; Shailendra Khare, Santosh, Bhaskar, Sanjay Dawar, Ramprasad and few others.

It must have been around 10 AM.For all practical purposes there are no buses during these times from Kadugodi to K R Puram railway station ; so all of us decided to walk to Hope Farm which we did.Waiting for bus at Hope Farm Santosh mildly made a comment at me. Didnt you apply for seat in REC in inter-state quota. I said NO. He told me 18th is the last date to apply to KREC Suratkal for inter-state quota and all you need is to submit a postal order of Rs.15.I did not know where this place Suratkal is and he told me it is in Mangalore and post will only take one day to reach this place. On a BMTC bus from Hope Farm to K R Puram Station I decided to do something about applying to KREC for inter-state quota.

The time must be around 12 noon and I hurried from the Railway Station bus stop towards my house and on the way picked up a cycle for rent and told my mother that I have to apply for inter state quota and I need Rs.15/-..and she readily complied with a rare scent of optimism in her face.

I rode the cycle to the post office writing a covering letter and making the Rs.15/- postal order. The time must have been 2:00PM 16th of June 1982. The mail exits from Dooravaninagar at 2:30pm and it was a close shave.

To Mangalore the mail would reach the day after if there was no postal delay which is 18th June 1982 and the last day to apply for out-station REC seats.If everything goes well the return mail with prospectus and the forms must reach on 20th June 1982.I spent sleep less nights from the 16th to the 20th.On the 20th morning around 10 AM I hired a cycle again and decided to ride towards the post office and as fortune would have it I met the postman infront of the Murugan temple in Vijanapura and asked if there was any mail for me and ...............LO..............    he removed a large parcel and handed it over to me and it was from KREC Suratkal with the application forms.My joy knew no bounds. It was as-if I already  got a seat at REC. Miraculous last moment gamble which paid off. Sometimes optimism pays rich dividends.

The rest is history....with the confluence of other factors I got a seat at REC Calicut .My missing a seat in the first instance at KREC Suratkal had largely been compensated through the inter state quota.

I was destined to meet S V Giri, Srinath Shetty, Jerald Harry Dsouza, Gayathri Bhat and Arvind Poal Masaji  and many others at REC NIT Calicut and live for more than four years in the hills of the Western Ghats where this institute is situated.

D NARENDRA PRINCIPAL 0F SATHYA SAI COLLEGE IN 1980

 

TO THE LEFT IS SHRI NARENDRA AND TO THE RIGHT IS SHRI NANJUNDIAH ANOTHER KEY PERSON DURING THESE TIMES.

Shri. D Narendra  was the Principal of SAYHYA SAI COLLEGE in 1980.I used to enjoy a good relationship with him  and even went to his flat once for some purpose. His son Bharath was also friendly with me.

I remember Shri D Narendra because he was a good teacher of English language. In addition to being Principal he used to teach English both prose and poetry. I used to get good grades in English because of his excellent and experienced teaching.

In retrospect he was a good Principal and went about his chores very well.

DEEPIKA M SUNIL

 

DEEPIKA..THE ELDER DAUGHTER OF MY BROTHER SUNIL

ANANTANARAYANAN MY SENIOR AT SATHYA SAI COLLEGE

Anantanarayanan used to be my senior both at Lowry Memorial High School and at Sathya Sai College in Whitefeild. He joined Sathya Sai College along with Stanley another senior of mine at Lowry School.Sathya Sai College had a penchant for students from Lowry Memorial School  due to similarity in operational culture and had affiliation to the American ethos and way of life.Sathya Sai College at Whitefield had few American professors on its rolls like  Dr. ALLWYN DRUCKER.

Anantha as we used to call him was a moderate success at Lowry Memorial School but was a big success in the Commerce stream which he took up later being a rank holder all-through his five year stint at Sathya Sai College.In the BCom exams af Bangalore University to my memory three students would always figure in the rank list, Anantha Narayanan, Kiran Vaid and Deepak Melwani.

He used to be our inspiration though we studied the science stream. His sister also was a student at Lowry Memorial School.In Lowry Memorial School Anantha had a class mate B R Suresh and another person whose name I dont recollect.B R Suresh I cannot forget because they used to call him B R Dumma because he was a very fat person. AnanthaNarayanan would play table tennis also well.

On being inspired by people like Ananthanarayanan even I got 52 rank at the Pre-University Board in Karnataka state in 1982.I should have got a better rank because I got only 83 in Chemistry which I think even today should have been atleast 90. Had I got 90 I would have got seat at KREC Suratkal in the first list itself which I didnt.

leg bye cartoon

 

SAI BHAJANS

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YEH RAAT YEH CHANDINI HEMANT KUMAR SONG

 

KOI HUM DUM NA RAHA HINDI SONG

 

MY GREAT GRAND FATHER KOTTAYAM KADANKOT CHINDAN NAMBIAR

 

This is a rare and priceless photograph of KOTTAYAM KADANGOT CHINDAN NAMBIAR, the father of my Grand Mother. A unique person in many ways and of compassionate and constructive disposition and a true Genius of sorts. I was for a very long time trying to get a glimpse of his persona which has happened now and some facial similarity with me cannot be totally over-ruled and a stern countenance even which I carry.

His ancestors are from the Kottayam village in Telicherry about which I had written earlier. He is the second generation of people who made the village of Cherukunnu their home. His immediate ancestors fled the township of Kottayam in 1800 ad or so from the hegemony of the East India Company who took control of Telicherry and its surroundings. When Kottayam Kadangot Chindan Nambiar was nine years old his uncle built a traditional Naalu Kettu house in Cherukunnu extending their dynasty in Cherukunnu in Kannur or Cannannore which exists even today.

K K Venugopal who was the Attorney General of Govt. Of India is a grand-nephew of Kottayam Kadangot Chindan Nambiar. The people of this clan are well mannered and development oriented building artistic houses with professional finesse. Dr. K C Nambiar FRCS who was the Dean of Stanley Medical College Madras is a nephew of this person.

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