V Kondal Rao: A treasure trove of talents

Everybody's not blessed to remain hale and hearty at the age of 87. But here is an octogenarian, full of beans and with an ardent love to learn, busy flipping through umpteen books that keep him active day in and day out.

True, Velchala Kondal Rao is a multifaceted personality - great educationist, able administrator and a renowned literati – all rolled into one.

Kondal Rao started his career as a lecturer in commerce at Sri Raja Rajeshwari College in Karimnagar, in 1956. He was selected to the post after the interview conducted by a committee headed by none other than former Prime Minister P V Narsimha Rao.

I, who was a student of the college at that time, sometimes used to walk in front of his lecture room. I used to hear the rapid flow of words from Kondalarao's mouth about a lesson in commerce.

Dr S S Barlingay was the principal of the newly-started college and whenever he used to go abroad, as a senior lecturer, Kondal Rao used to be In-charge principal.

Those days, Kondal Rao was fond of horse races and used to go often to Hyderabad to participate in the races. After a stint in Karimnagar as a lecturer, he was selected as a principal of a newly-started college at Jagtial.

He selected an excellent teaching staff for the college like late Sampath Kumara Acharya, a famous Telugu writer, P Ram Narayan who later retired as Deputy Inspector General of Police and G Raja Reddy who is presently working as advisor to the Telangana government in matters of finance.

Some of his students from Jagtial college became Vice Chancellors of different universities and even Chairman of Higher Education Council. A strict disciplinarian, Kondal Rao not only used to maintain discipline in the college, he also used to sit in the lecture halls to observe the way the lecturers were imparting education to the students.

The library that he developed in Jagtial college was appreciated by many including R Vaidya Nathan Iyer who was the Sub Collector of Jagtial those days. From Jagtial, he came to SRR College as its principal.

Once he received a complaint from a girl student about eve-teasing, without wasting a minute, he rushed to the class where the offender was virtually lifted by him and slapped him. He also rusticated the student from the college and since the student belonged to the minority community there was hue and cry from his community people.

The matter went to the notice of the District Collector. And the Collector asked Kondal Rao to withdraw the rustication order as otherwise it might become a law and order problem. Kondal Rao adamantly refused to oblige. And expressed his readiness to quit the job, if the Collector was still insistent in the matter.

Years later, when Kondal Rao was going to his in-laws' village, the bus was fully loaded and was he was standing as there was no seat left. Suddenly a young man saw him and offered him the seat. The young man was none other than the student whom he rusticated years ago in Karimnagar.

Rao started Sathavahanana Institute of Post Graduate Studies and made it a tremendous success. From Karimnagar, he came to the City College in Hyderabad as its principal.

When he was working there, he was selected as Joint Director of Higher Education. Throughout his career, Kondal Rao exhibited a rare capacity to build successful institutions and those are the things that he will live by.

He is unremittingly modest and is unflappable, enjoyably ironic with a razor-sharp mind. He is disarmingly frank and straightforward and a great delegator unwilling to concern himself with the nuts and bolts of things. This endeared him to his subordinates.

He was in fact respected by his staff as few bosses are respected anywhere. He was always trustful of his subordinates.

His enthusiasm for work became greater and greater with passing days. A perfectionist, he has great aesthetic sense. His friends know that he has, in the intimacy of personal friendship, a quality which is almost feminine in its caressing charm.

He has that magnetism which makes people work for him with far more than routine conscientiousness. He is also a tough task master and drove himself as hard as anyone. He is deeply read, widely cultivated and a mill race of intellectual energy.

Even at the age of 87, he is still learning. He loves books, he loves literature. Both his home and his office are still a friendly happy places to visit. Though he is a strong man, he is not obstinate. And is always ready to see others' point of view.

His inveterate reputation for integrity and his insatiable capacity for activity amaze many. He has the courage and a non-negotiable sense of dedication to interests of institutions he had served.

I am not saying that Kondal Rao is a man without flaws. He had them, but these are nothing compared to the extraordinary qualities of head and heart he possesses.

After retiring as a director of Telugu Academy, he started Viswanatha Sahithya Peetam and revived Jayanthi, a multilingual quarterly magazine. He brought out special editions of Jayanthi on many personalities including Pattabhi, Pablo Neruda, Sadhashiva, C Narayana Reddy and many others. He has also translated Balagangadhara Tilak's 'Amrutham Kurisina Rathri' to English and translated into Telugu Tagore's Geethanjali.

He has published number of his poems and became a crusader against introducing Telugu as medium of instruction in the schools of Telangana State. In all, in his life, he has proved his mettle as a consequential leader - one who is at peace with himself.

(The writer is a senior journalist. Views expressed are personal)