Fitting tribute to a rare visionary

His greatest asset was his quality of leadership by which he could bring together people from all walks of life and get done by them anything he wanted for the common good. He has lived a full life of great service and achievements. At a well-attended function in Vijayawada on April 12, arranged by Chowdary and Rao Foundation, the first Mummaneni Subba Rao Memorial Lecture was inaugurated by Nadendla Manohar, Speaker, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. K V Chowdary, IRS, member and special secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), New Delhi delivered the lecture on "Tax payers � tax collectors, relations and responsibilities". In a brief inaugural speech Manohar underlined the need for paying taxes honestly to enable the government to fulfill its role in serving the people through several developmental activities and narrowing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. It is an age-old practice of rulers to help those who create wealth through progressive measures and collecting from them taxes in a reasonable manner and helping those whose welfare is social commitment of any right-thinking government. Those who have been listening to him most of the time in the Assembly say 'Please sit down' and vexed with his request not being heeded, were very receptive to his very fine articulation of his thought-provoking ideas in a very commendable way. It is a well-known belief that, 'Tennis player' is a synonym for a 'gentleman', and to some of us who had occasion to watch Manohar on the tennis court as a very effective and stylish player on the Andhra Gymkhana courts during East Coast Championships, it was a pleasure to watch the handsome young man speaking with the same fluency of his strokes in both flanks. It is yet to be seen whether what is a loss to class tennis is a gain to the prevailing political world! He paid glowing tributes to the great visionary, Mummaneni Subba Rao, for his sincerity and commitment to making Vijayawada a center of quality higher education. The chief speaker, K V Chowdary, who belongs to this district, has risen to an eminent position in the world of taxation by virtue of his highest integrity, abilities and commitment to the very responsible job entrusted to him at all stages of his career right from the beginning. In his PowerPoint presentation, he gave very interesting figures pertaining to taxes, how much from how many and how much of compliance and the need for inculcating in the minds of taxpayers that it is in their own and in the interest of the country that everyone should realize their social responsibility for the larger good of the country's vast dumb millions. His speech was marked by his deep concern for the right attitude of every citizen for welfare of the poor and downtrodden in making them partners in the nation's progress towards a real welfare state. It must be said to his credit that he had all statistics of the financial position at his fingertips. Held in high esteem for his pious disposition and disciplined habits, he commands attention at high levels. Mummaneni Subba Rao is a self-made man, starting from very humble beginnings in his native place, Bobbarlanka, from a village Munsif. He has to walk nearly sevenA miles every day to a school in Challapalli and had to go all the way to Visakhapatnam for B. Com later. He knows the need for providing educational facilities in these parts and that urged him to take the challenge. Siddhartha Academy was the result of his effort in bringing together a large number of like-minded philanthropists. He joined Brahmaiah and Company, a well-known firm of Chartered Accountants, and obtained FCA and became its partner. He was groomed in the profession by Parvathaneni Brahmaiah, a stalwart among the chartered accountants in the country. With all his deep commitment to his profession and active involvement with the affairs of Siddhartha Academy, Subba Rao was closely associated with several social, cultural and service organizations in Vijayawada. He was chairman, board of trustees of Durga Malleswara Devasthanam, president of Rotary Club of Vijayawada East. He was conferred by Rotary International, 'service above self' award in 1999. He was a member of the board of directors of Nagarjuna University. He was in the taxation committee of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Siddhartha Kalapeetham, cultural wing, and Siddhartha Foundation, philanthropic body of the academy for helping needy students with scholarships, were started under his guidance. It is no exaggeration to say that there was no important function or activity in the city with which he was not actively associated. Affable and genial by temperament, he was a shrewd judge of men and matters. His greatest asset was his quality of leadership by which he could bring together people from all walks of life and get done by them anything he wanted for the common good. He lived a full life of great service and achievements. P Lakshmana Rao, partner, Brahmayya and Company and secretary, Siddhartha Academy, presided over the function, and Cherukuri Chowdary of the foundation spoke about the proposed activities.