This article is a tribute to my revered father . I have come this far holding his principles tight to my heart and following them.

My Principled Father Mr.V.L.Rao.

On the platform of Srirangam railway station in Tiruchiraapally District stood a boy sixteen years of age.  A forlorn, awe-struck figure, who was thin, fair and emaciated .

An old man passing by saw this boy and asked him, “Where are you going Paiya?”

The boy looked the man straight in the eyes and said “To Bombay”.

The old man probed, “Have you informed your people at home?’’

Appukutti as he was called then replied, “I’m going there to look for a job. My brother-in-law will receive me. Only my mother and younger brother live here. So, they can’t come to the station. My father died last year.”

This young man was none other than Mr. V.L. Rao, my revered father, who rose to the position of Secretary to the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. In the corridors of Bombay High Court, a name to be reckoned with during his tenure there.

He left Srirangam with a ticket and five Rupees in his pocket. He had not seen anything except the temple town of Srirangam. He was going to find a job to repay the debts his father had accrued. His father had lost his job as a ‘pundit’. The boy had grown up in poverty.

In Bombay he stayed with his sister and looked for job. This was the time of British rule. There were not many jobs available and no vacancies anywhere. Very few establishments offering employment existed at the time. He located a temporary job as a clerk in the high court. He further qualified himself and got a permanent job and rose to make a name as a man of principles.

He was given three extensions after his retirement, which was a record at that time. He worked under Englishmen. This made him a disciplinarian and a stickler for time. He ran his household very strictly. He could not stand laziness. He was very methodical and maintained a diary of daily expenditure. He cleared his father’s debt to the last penny. He took good care of his widowed mother and educated his younger brother who later rose to a high post. My mother supported him in all of his enterprises.

He would help all his relatives in their time of need. People immigrating from his village to Bombay would stay with him until they found a job and settled down. He would return from office as late as 8 p.m., and then find time to teach typing and shorthand to his kids in need. He paid for performing the marriages of two poor relatives and a maid-servant, in spite of leading a middle class life himself.

He was very generous but could not tolerate cheating or bribery. He was very sympathetic and caring towards the poor and needy, specially the women and maid-servants whose husbands abused them. He encouraged poor kids to study and make a life for themselves by citing his own life. To give an example one of the maids had a spastic son. So he and my mother gave him nutritious  meal everyday along with egg .

He hated the habit of drinking liquor. According to him liquor was the cause of poverty and downfall of a person.

He was a believer but did not like rituals. He was against conversion in religion. He was more of a doer. He respected his wife’s religious fervor and helped her to perform festivals in grand scale though he did not believe in it. So much so that he performed all the festivals at home even when she was no more.

He practiced ‘yogasana’ including the headstand till the age of ninety three. Due to a fall he started practicing simple ‘asanas’ as he grew older. Till the time of his death, he did yoga and ‘pranayama’.  He was very independent-minded and forthright. Till the age of ninety he washed his own clothes.

He would eat only ‘satvik’ food and had only two meals a day and a light snack in the afternoon.  He never snacked at odd times. He was a good husband, and helped his wife with the household chores. He was a good singer too.

He was not a social bird. Instead of his going to other people’s places, he would invite people home. He was very proud of his children and believed that they would never wrong anyone. He was a very affectionate person. He would visit his children from time to time and preferred their company to a friend’s.

He had faith in our system of laws. That is the reason he took a neighbor to court for illegal construction, at the ripe old age of ninety five. He was a very alert citizen. He wrote letters to newspaper editors regularly on issues that concerned the public. To cite an example - it was his effort which started the 8 Limited bus route in Chembur, Bombay.

A father holds a very big portion of a daughter’s heart. Generally speaking, he is the parameter by which she judges all the males in her life. There may be exceptions to this rule however. The difference in age between us was four decades. But I never felt that difference. He was modern and ahead of his time. He had assimilated all the good qualities of his generation. He was 1905 model! He lived a full life of 98 1/2 years and had all the hopes of making it to a century - but for destiny. On 28 December 2003, he died a peaceful death after an independent and exemplary life. He had no sickness and was no trouble to anyone.

On the eve of his 99th birthday stepping into 100, a century on September 11^th, I wish to pay tribute to this great departed soul who has left behind six children, twelve grand-children and fourteen great-grand-children with a hope that they too would lead an exemplary life. I bow to him. Please join me.