My report cards read: Silent, obedient and neat

Recalls P Karunya, the runner-up Indian Idol and also the man who is rocking both Tollywood and Bollywood with his melodious voice

“I did my entire education in Hyderabad. I did my schooling in BPDAV School, Kanchanbagh, which laid a strong foundation for my interest in singing in various languages. Our Principal Seetha Kiran and my music teachers AS Lakshmi, Manjari Srivastava and Tapati Dutta were very encouraging. They were a positive influence in my formative years which propelled me to pursue music as a career.

I did my Intermediate in Sri Chaitanya Junior College, Chaitanyapuri and engineering in TKRIET,Medbowli.

I was never naughty at school. I was opposite of it, to say the truth. In one of the parent-teacher meetings, one of my teachers asked my father why I never made any mischief! It was as if they were expecting me to make at least a reasonable amount of mischief. All my report cards read, silent, obedient and neat.

However, during my engineering, I discovered a new side to myself. I was part of a gang of eight friends who bunked classes to catch movies or just hang out.

There is one funny incident I remember vividly. I had just parked my vehicle in the campus and was rushing to class as I was already late for the first period when I suddenly saw my friend running towards me. He sat pillion and asked me to start the vehicle as the principal was chasing students loitering in the canteen and late comers. I immediately started my vehicle and when I looked back, our Principal was chasing us on foot. It was hilarious, but we were driving and got away. We had a lucky escape.

I was always a prize-grabber, especially in singing, at all the inter-school competitions. In my final year of school, I was politely asked to step aside and give somebody else a chance to win.

When I was in Class VIII, I won the finals of the popular ‘Paadutha Theeyaga’ conducted by SP Balu on ETV which was a new high in my life. After that, I became famous all over AP.

After Class VIII, I always stood in top 10 in academics. However, Mathematics was still my main problem. I used to commit silly mistakes. I even failed in Maths once. But from my Intermediate, I don’t know what came over me, but I started loving the subject. Even in my engineering, I scored cent percent in Maths every semester.

My friends were fond of my singing. I used to chill with them for some time and then go home and practice on my own. By the time, I was 17, I felt I needed to be really focused and ready to plunge into the music industry. So I could not just while away all my free time. I had to read and in the other time practice music. Even then, I spent a lot of time with my best friends and my family. My parents are the coolest people on earth. They surprise me all the time and my sister Deevena is my best buddy. I used to play a lot of badminton with her.

I was a front bencher till my engineering until my best friend Siddu taught me the thrill of being a back bencher. I think the transformation happened at the right time because I was ready to let go and realised that at least in engineering, individuals need not be spoon fed, they need to take some notes and do majority of the work by themselves. So, I quit being a studious and boring and started enjoying college life.