… some
sixty-five years back … that was Vijayadasami day … the sky was cloudy … the
ground was still slushy …yet... in the evening, as I was playing with other kids of
the neighbourhood, my pedananna (elder brother of one's father) called
me: “Radha … Radha” and in the excitement of the play as I didn’t respond
to him … he coolly came from behind and caught hold of my hand … As I was
wriggling to get out of his hold, he, pulling me gently out of the playground,
said: “Basavasankararao mastaru, pillalu
vachharu … hallo kurchunnaru, eroju badiki vellali kada, pada … the teacher
and students have already come and sat in our veranda. Aren’t you to go to the
school today? Let’s go!”
… enthused
by the news, I followed him happily … As
we reached home, my aamma (wife of father's elder brother) led me into the
house through the backdoor … After taking a ‘quick-bath’, as I adorned myself
merrily in new clothes got stitched for the D-day, my aamma, combed my hair and finally led me to the veranda … As I
reached the Simhadvaram … seeing so
many new faces sitting in the veranda, I held myself back … perhaps out of
shyness … and as I was wiggling at the door, someone from the middle, clad in a
short-sleeved white shirt with uttareyam over the shoulder called me gently: “Arey, Gollamudi ra, ela vachhi kurchoo! Arey Gollamudi come, come and sit here!”
… pushing me
gently from behind, my aamma led me
to that elderly man sitting in the middle among the children … He, taking me by
his hand, made me sit by his side … and I, sitting by his side, looked around
quietly, and seeing so many boys and girls attired all in pretty clothes and
giggling merrily, cast my eyes down …
… in the
meanwhile, my aamma brought a basin
filled with rice and put it before the mastaru
... From behind, my nanna was
hurrying up the mastaru, saying, “muhurtham datipothundi … kaneeyandi Pantulu
garu ... hurry up mastaru, before
the auspicious time passes away…”
… pulling
the basin filled with rice nearer to him, he recited the prayer, “Shuklam baradaram vishnum / Shashivarnam
chaturbhujam / Prasanna vadanam dhyaayeth / Sarva vighno pashantaye” … and
the children sitting around accompanied him in chanting. Then taking me onto
his lap, mastaru, holding my right
hand instructed me to recite “Om Namah
Shivaya!” … and as I uttered what he said, he led me to write the same slowly with my index-finger on the rice in the basin … He repeated the
same thrice ... and then, transferring me to the floor asked the children to
chant the verse … “Sri Ramuni
dayachetanu” … He asked me to join the chorus, which I might have …
attempted shyly … either rightly or wrongly … don’t remember exactly now …
… then I was
asked by my pedananna to distribute
the coloured slate-pencils to all the students ... As I was doing it meekly, my
aamma and amma distributed
pappubellalu—lentils mixed with jaggery —and bananas to the children … and with it as the cacophony
created by the kids reached the ceiling, mastaru
yelled at them to be quiet ... at once the hall became dead silent … I was
horrified by the sudden silence.
… as I stood
transfixed in that silence, my pedananna,
putting tamboolam—betel leaves with
catechu and a pair of bananas—passed on
by my aamma into my joined palms and
placing over it two rupee coins, instructed me to present it to the mastaru … As I offered it to mastaru, pedananna then asked me to offer pranam to mastaru … And
as instructed, I did it very religiously—prostrating at his feet, as I do in
front of our God …
... there was a little disagreement, of course, quite in a friendly-tone between my Pedananna and mastaru over the dakshina—a Vedic concept of offering donation for the services of a teacher for performing aksharabhyasam—which my nayanamma (Paternal grand mother) blew off with a friendly comment … I think … and over a laugh all that was settled.
... there was a little disagreement, of course, quite in a friendly-tone between my Pedananna and mastaru over the dakshina—a Vedic concept of offering donation for the services of a teacher for performing aksharabhyasam—which my nayanamma (Paternal grand mother) blew off with a friendly comment … I think … and over a laugh all that was settled.
… then the mastaru instructed everybody to get up
and proceed to the school … As everybody got up and started for the
school, mastaru took my finger into his palm and asked my aamma
to give me my slate and slate-pencil, and with them he led me to the school run
by him.
… holding
the slate and slate-pencil in one hand, as the mastaru led, climbing down the steps to our veranda, I timidly
followed him to the school … Mastaru
thus initiated me into education and taught me from okatava taragati nundi idavataragati—Ist
class to 5th class …In the course of time, he also taught me handling the
school in his absence—by making the kids recite lessons from Pedabalasiksha or multiplication tables— and finally, training me to write the admission
test for First form, he got me admitted to Tenali Taluk High School in the year
1954.
… and with
it my finger slipped out of his hand and started finding its own course in life
… I shall ever remain indebted to Basavasankararao
mastaru for all the good Samskar—manners he had inculcated in me, which indeed
ensured that I had a safe journey through the life … so far …
Today
neither that mastaru nor my nayanamma, aamma, amma, pedananna, nanna … none of them is around me … but
they all remain with me virtually…
Sri Gurubhyo namaha.
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