Rs 150

My grandfather is known to be a very practical man. It probably stems from the fact that he has an engineering background and was trained to think logically; then again, this is my inference.

As an answer to my question about his education, he narrated his struggle for education.

“I studied until my 10th class in Gadwal. Back then, 10th Board Examination was known as Matric. After my Matric, I went to Hyderabad to pursue my higher studies. I was interested in Engineering but one needed an Intermediate degree to pursue Engineering. I did not have that kind of money to spend on Intermediate and then on Engineering. My brother Babu (Manohar Rao) and I were in the same class although I am a year older than him. He chose to study Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) along with his friends and eventually became a clerk. But I had different plans.”

Since the trend in those times was to study B.A., I was curious to know what made him choose the road less travelled.

“When we lived in Hyderabad, our house had just one room and all of us could not fit in that single room. So, at night, some of us slept in my father’s office on a regular basis and woke up early in the morning to head back to the house to freshen up. An Anglo-Indian stayed right above my father’s office and every morning I would wake up to see him get on a car. The car had an inscription on it that said ‘Deccan Airways’. This was an independent airline run by the Nizam of Hyderabad during the British Raj in India. I was in awe when I saw him dressed in a suit and get on to that vehicle. I wanted to be like him one day. I was determined to find out what he did to get to his position. I stayed back on one of the Sundays as that was the only day he would tentatively be free. As I had hoped for, I ran into him. I gathered courage to go up to him and speak in English. My English was poor and I barely managed broken English. But I was adamant on finding out more about him. He patiently answered all my questions and described his job. He said he was a Ground Engineer for the airlines. Every word uttered by him seemed like music to my ears. I remember till date that I was astounded by his words. He told me that the Nizam State railways and Airways sponsored selected people for training at the Government Technical College in Hyderabad. When he saw the slightly disheartened look on my face, he told me that the college accepted direct admissions as well. I was elated to hear that.”

“Soon, I enquired more about this college. One day, I cycled all the way from Secunderabad to Mint Compound to have a look at the college. I still remember the incident as if it were yesterday. The chaprasia peon, or here, the gatekeeper (guard) at the gate stopped me and inquired about my business there. I told him that I was just visiting the college and he let me in. As I walked along a corridor, I came across electrical lab, mechanical lab, chemistry lab etc. I was spellbound by the sight of the machines. There were actual machines in the lab. I also saw a single-propeller aircraft and was very fascinated by it.”

“After seeing all this, I had a very strong desire to learn about machines. I wanted to join this college by hook or crook. I had made up my mind by then. When I approached my father with this idea, he wasn’t very convinced but he anyway let me take the admission test. As my bad luck had it, the admission test was introduced in the year I was applying for admission, due to high demand. Fortunately, I passed the test but this was not the end of the hurdles. My father could not afford the fees and until the deadline to pay the fees neared, he did not give me any money. When I visited the college on the last day for the payment of the fees, I was told that I had to pay by 3 p.m. of the very same day. I sat on my cycle and pedalled as fast as I could to reach home in time for my father’s lunch break, when he came back home to eat. ‘Annawhat he called his father, today is the last day to pay my fees’, I said. I address my father as Anna. He said he wasn’t in a position to pay and pensively asked me to approach his boss Pentaiah instead. Only if he was willing to lend me the money, I could study at the Technical College. Otherwise, I would have had to study B.A like the rest”.

“So I headed to Pentaiah’s house; it was next to Anand Bhavan. His daughter answered the door and asked me to wait for him in the living room. As he entered, I saw him dressed impeccably in a suit and looked very handsome. I began to explain to him my situation and told him that my fees was Rs. 150 and if I didn’t pay my fees the very same day, I would lose out on the opportunity of studying at that college. He didn’t say a word and silently took out the cash from his shirt pocket and handed it to me. I remember that day very distinctly even today.”

“Exhilarated by his generosity, I thanked him, took the money and cycled back to the college. The clerk at the college was fussy and refused to take money from me as I had surpassed the deadline. I was asked to get an approval from the principal and only then the clerk would accept my fees. Nervously, I headed to the principal’s office and when I peered inside, I saw him sitting at his desk dressed in a suit. Since it was right after the British Raj era, people of his stature usually dressed up in suits. I narrated the entire series of events in broken English and he was kind enough to hear me out. He rang a bell and handed the bellboy a note that said ‘Admit this boy’. I was ushered by the bellboy to the clerk and was finally admitted to the college.”

I was spellbound for a moment. Having never experienced such adversities, I found it hard to relate to his situation but appreciated his determination nevertheless. Life is indeed very strange. As much as one would like to attribute success to hard work and determination, there definitely seems to be a bit of luck in every walk of life. I was suddenly grateful to have been born into such a loving and caring family.

I looked at him with great respect and decided to give him some rest and hence called it a day.