Raghuraman

After doing my Pre-degree at the State Arts College, Coimbatore, it was time to decide on the future direction of my education. There were many problems and obstacles primarily because of the rules of the state Government which gave preference to students based on a caste system, an ill conceived biased policy which gave low priority to students, such as myself, who belonged to a forward class. In spite of good grades we had to fight for a seat on any professional course. My first priority was to go for medical colleges. I was not successful and therefore I focused all my energies to get on to agriculture courses. Thank God, with the help of my eldest brother Ramani and the state Agriculture Secretary, I managed to get a seat of admission at the Agriculture College, Coimbatore. After some nervous waiting I took a secret vow to get back at the authorities by excelling in studies far ahead of the 90% of the students who had entered through the back door. A performance which I was able to fulfill all the 6 years, with the support and guidance of the Gods of my understanding: Marudamalai Muruga and Vauputhra Anjaneeya.

I enjoyed a satisfying performance with awards, medals, recognitions, positions of importance in college committees and games teams. Whom should I thank for all these? My teachers, my gurus, my parents, especially my mother and my supportive brothers and sister. As they said, you do your part well and God will take over the rest- and it happened! Besides, it was a lesson learnt. Whatever you do, if you do it with your complete commitment and involvement you will succeed. Well proven all through my later years!

It was a resident course with a few exceptions given to students who had their residences close by and I was one of them. Our house was 6 kilometres away from the college and I had a bicycle to cover the distance, generally four trips. A typical day started at 5 am as we had field practical classes all week from 6-8 am in subjects like Agronomy, Horticulture, Animal husbandry and Civil/Mechanical engineering. We were required to report at 6 am in half sleeve shirts and trousers in field Kaki colour with our pocket notebooks and pencil. In a class of 400 students we were divided in to three batches AB, CD, EF and allocated per name initials. I was in CD group, the only Raghuraman. Thank God for it, for there were many students with the same name and we had to call them by their different initials. In the process I was also given the name TVR, easy to identify and address!

Let me talk of some of the colourful classes now. For Agronomy we had to report in the central farm of the college. There were four blocks in the farm each with 100-200 acres of land. There was a farm manager and field supporting staff, all separately treated as a profit/loss centre under the overall control of a senior farm manager. There were huge go-downs for storage of grain and harvested produce, stores for tool and implements, sheds for manure and pesticides and many rows of cattle shed with huge animals for field work and many tractors. After a quick briefing session by our teachers we would go to the fields for the days class work. It could be anything, any operation going on in the farms we would participate. We would undertake and learn the work. Sometimes it could be the preparation of the field involving bullockor tractor drawn ploughs, levelling, irrigation, sowing, weeding, interculture, fertiliser application, harvesting, packing and transporting to the yard. The animals were well trained and soft in behaviour and knew their jobs better than us. We had no problems with them after we overcame their initial fear. I was half the animal’s height and would look insignificant compared to their girth and stature! They sometimes bothered me but would listen to my direction most of the time. Some days I would quietly carry some treats for them well hidden in my pockets which would be gladly accepted!

I vividly recall a few incidences. Once we were given training in Guinea grass cutting. We were taken to a large lush green grass field where grasses were ready for cutting. We were given a plot each to cut, tie and shift to a tractor trailer. Even though they had drained the water from the field earlier the ground was slippery. It was fun initially, but after some time it became a little tiresome, so we were allowed a breather and a drink of water. Back to work, and in a mood of over confidence, I cut the grass and pulled it closer, far too close along with the sharp sickle and down went the blade of sickle deep into my leg about half an inch. I screamed in pain, was given emergency treatment at the farm and taken to a nearby hospital for ATS and a proper dressing. It took almost a month to heal and I was nicknamed “jumping jack”! After that I was fairly careful with implements, particularly the sharper ones!

Many a day I used to go to these classes in the early morning after a glass of hot chocolate. My mother had not liked this at all and was persuading me all the time to eat a breakfast which she was willing to make for me even at five am! But it did not work so she tried another way. It was a time when my elder brother, Das, had come home on leave. He was in the Foreign Service working for the central Government and had the opportunity to work in many places including the Far East, Middle East, Europe and US. His visit was one that all members in the family looked forward to, as he would bring utility and electronic goods for the home and many gifts to each and every one of us. Much to my surprise he had come one day early morning to my field class in Agronomy under the pretext of seeing our classes and was chatting with my class teachers. He smiled at me good naturedly and waved. I was working in the middle of a muddy paddy field. What transpired between him and my teachers I did not know until I was given a nice dressing-down by my teachers for coming to field work classes without having breakfast! Though I was annoyed with my brother initially, I gradually started to get up early enough to eat a breakfast before going to classes. In the process mother was happy, my endurance went up, and this habit came in handy for me in my later years as an orchard/plantations manager when early breakfasting became a routine!

For practical lessons in Animal husbandry we would go to the college veterinary hospital early morning and were taught procedures to diagnose sickness, medicines and administration techniques. The animals involved were cattle, goats and poultry. I learnt with fascination how the doctors there effortlessly treated other outpatient animals (dogs, cats and horses). I liked this subject and used to score very high marks in the class and won many prizes. However the civil engineering practical was a bore. The mechanical engineering was tolerable as it involved tractors, pumps and farm machines and this field knowledge helped me a lot later. I dearly liked chemistry and we were taught physical chemistry and organic and inorganic chemistry in both theory and practical forms. Horticulture was another subject I excelled in. It was a delight working with orchard trees like mango, sappotas, grapes, bananas, and lemon. For training in hill fruits like apple, pears, plums and pineapple we were taken to farms in hill stations.

Four years rolled along effortlessly, the bottom line being I came out with first class grades with many a distinction in selected subjects. I was among the first ten of a class of 400 students. Prizes and medallions were conferred which made my teachers, parents, and well wishers proud. I was also involved closely in college dramatic and debating teams. In field games I was the college cricket captain, and a reserve player in hockey and tennis teams. We won many inter-college cups in cricket and once we won a hard fought tournament called the Rukmani memorial trophy in Palakkad, competing with many colleges of Kerala. My college sports authorities awarded me the college colour in cricket for this achievement, an award which goes with some golden stripes that I had to wear for special occasions.

In those days jobs were given by the state department for those who had written the final exams, as there was a severe dearth of staff in the agricultural field. I received my order of posting to go to Ooty, a hill station, for a special project on a soil conservation scheme and a farm experimenting with hill vegetables. I was thrilled. A salary of Rs 300 per month felt great. Off I went to join the project, staying in a hotel/boarding house sharing a large room and bath with two other officers. All expenses including food came under Rs 200 leaving a surplus of money to buy things for my mother and father during my monthly home visits along with a big basket of hill fruits and vegetables much to the delight of my parents. It was a great pleasure seeing my mother fill up the fridge and kitchen shelves saying when Raghu comes home, the entire market comes home!

Each and every father and mother give their best of what they can to their children and in the process endure many a strain and tension without a complaint. They expect nothing but a kind word in return. Every son and daughter should remember this all the time and ensure that their words, acts and deeds reflect a care and concern for their parents to make their life as pleasant as possible, now and at all times.