“Vidya vihinah pasuhu” says Bharthruhari! One without education is equal to a beast! Education is only children’s real welfare is the belief of many parents. At my 10th year my parent relocated to a nearby town for our education purpose. Leaving fertile lands and moving to town seems to be the most stupid decision socially. Even after all cousins and relatives had requested and counseled them in many ways to stop them, my parents had strongly decided to move on for their life goal- children education and career, I remember my dad telling me many times all you had is your education and only education not any lands or properties to rely on. Which is pretty common thing every parent tell their child in south India or at least in middle class families to my knowledge. Our first house we rented is a very small tiled house with three rooms connected to five portions including ours. This is where we as a family came to new world to share the neighborhood beyond our relationship. I think we stayed for almost 8 months and moved to little bigger four roomed with two portions house four lanes away. The same thing which happened earlier while we are leaving our village got repeated; all the ladies from neighborhood came to mom and bid a very emotional farewell. It happened not just once but every time when we move out to a new house in an interval of two to three years. I think this happened repeatedly because my mom accepted and acted- you neighbor is the one who needs you.
Over a period, moving is not at all a hassle because dad use to take care of the transport and heavy materials, me and my sister use pack both bedrooms, mom use to pack the kitchen. We use to make it very clear which box goes to which room over which shelf. I on the other side use to deal complete electrical stuff by the age of fifteen. Started packing at six in the morning,we use to set the house by eight in the evening leaving 10-15% unorganized. Usually our house owners or neighbors use to call us for dinner by the time we had our own dinner ready to serve. Together we use to keep the house very neat and organized. My mom never treated a rented home like the one rented even house owners use to love her interiors and space organizing in the house which she’s best at.
After I got my first job at Taj in Hyderabad I wanted my parents to shift from Guntur, where I rented a penthouse which I personally had made it go through huge changes in wall colors, flooring and little interior from my office staff help. The Owner of the house is so stunned with the work and asked whether I am willing to buy the house; I said not really, that’s the best we expect for ourselves when we want to live in a place around. My Parents especially my mom taught us to live in better world around or make the world around you better. I never remember having a bad neighbor or a mean house owner in fifteen years of our rented life.
Even today what I have done to Velivennu campus over seven years is similar, I am here for a purpose and I have applied all my genuine efforts and strained my potentials to max by raising it eventually, I have become the face of SASI at the same time I face lifted the campus as well. I just brought the best out of it both physically and academically not because I have taken it for granted as mine; it’s just the people assumption or conviction over the development. I just did the best possible to my potential. When I came to hear that campus no more need my attention by the Chairman and Family, It didn’t leave me in much surprise or as much as pain people had expected, I felt like moving from a one rented house to another. Even emotional attachment with people is same. Usually people pour out emotionally only when they know you are walking out of common path of life, to me these colleagues sound much similar to those of long standing neighbors where we lived together like a family.
“Service to others is the Rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”- Mohammed Ali. After all you are here on this earth for rent and philosophically speaking your soul rented your body developed it well and leaves it when time triggers. I am not upset or in pain because to my past experience every time I moved out whether I moved to a better or bigger. Change is Inevitable in one’s life I am accepting it with more positively.
Thank You!!
