Leaving much room for reflection

This photograph was taken in 1955, in front of National College, Basavanagudi, when I was in the final year of BSc. Coming from Government Boys’ High School in Hassan, I joined the junior intermediate class in 1951. Professor in English, K Sampathgiri Rao, was our principal at that time.

His classes were so enjoyable that on many occasions, at the end of his class, we would request him to continue and complete the narration. He was well-informed about the literary giants of the West and had a wonderful command over the language. He was a Gandhian who could also speak in detail about Indian historians and national leaders who fought for freedom. In 1952, Sampathgiri Rao was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council. V Gopalaswamy Iyengar, ex-registrar of Mysore University, became the principal.

Later, Sampathgiri Rao returned in 1954 and handled our classes. B P Nanjundiah was the class teacher for ‘B’ section (with Sanskrit as the second language). He was a strict disciplinarian and would not tolerate students attending classes in a casual manner. His habitual instruction to students was ‘Barko!’ meaning ‘take down what I am saying’. This word became a popular term for everyone who used to imitate him and unknowingly get caught and receive his ‘blessings’!

In 1951-52, the buildings one sees today were not there. There were only five classrooms and two laboratories. At the backyard where the college office and principal’s room are situated today, there were small rooms with asbestos or tin roof for the primary and middle school classes run by National High School. For want of classrooms, we were sometimes asked to sit there. There were no benches and we had to sit on wooden planks (‘manegalu’). Even then, we had a lot of fun and never complained.

In those days, the college used to conduct compulsory monthly tests. Once, my classmates and I bunked a test due to lack of preparation and went to Lalbagh. Later, I was confronted by my uncle (and guardian) and tried to lie. I received ‘kapala moksha’ from my uncle and he showed me the postcard received from the college. My friends and I cursed the college wholeheartedly then!

When I joined the college, there were many good lecturers. We enjoyed the classes of MSS (Calculus) since his teaching was crystal clear and the working process was simpler. Dr K D N (English) used to dress like a gentleman and looked like a European with curly hair. His handling of Shakespeare was excellent.  

D S Bharadwaj (Chemistry) was a very good basketball player. H V Gundu Rao used to dress in a spotless white ‘dhoti’ and ‘kurta’ and handled Physics in a sophisticated manner. We really missed Dr H N’s class as he was handling only ‘A’ section (with Kannada as the second language). But at the end of the academic year, he conducted revision classes in Physics for all the final year students and we were very relieved as his treatment of the topics was brief and very helpful for the exam. Manjunathiah’s classes on Trigonometry were enjoyable as well. Ours was the last batch of BSc, students who had 12 non-detailed books (English) for study. Many of us had not even purchased all the books, let alone reading them!

During those days, there was lush greenery throughout the stretch of K R Road, keeping the area cool even during summers. So was the stretch from Sajjan Rao Circle to National High school. We used to call it ‘Bangalore’s thandi sadak’. In our batch (B section), we had many bright students who were nicknamed ‘kudumis’. Some of them went for higher studies, some to research institutes and others joined service. Many rose to top positions in their respective fields. I joined the National Sample Survey and worked for 5 years before moving on to Bharat Fritz Werner, a machine tool industry via HMT, where I served for 16 months. 

During those days, the cultural activities of the college were popular and used to attract many people from the surrounding localities — Basavanagudi and Visveswarapuram. Our college was known for staging dramas of T P Kailasam, Parvatavani and Dasharathi Deexit. There were fine actors like B N Nani, Sitaram, Padmanabha and Jayaram. Dr H N gave his full support and encouragement without which such high quality programmes could not have been produced! Even staff members used to take part in the plays.

 His departure to the US for pursuing PhD was a very emotional event and the scene at the Bangalore Railway Station deserves to be recorded separately! I am also grateful to S K Deshikachar, a Chemistry lecturer, who taught me Sanskrit without any fee in return and extended selfless assistance to me. My association with my alma mater and Dr H N became closer in 1964 when I was elected as the secretary of the National College Old Boys’ Association. I became the vice-president the next year.

I salute my alma mater for giving me beautiful memories to cherish and for making me what I am today.

(The author can be contacted at [e-mail])

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