Springdale Academy de International - Annual Day

I was invited to be Chief Guest at the Annual Day of the Springdale Academy de International school which has its branches in the Dilsukhnagar part of town. They have 3 branches, one at Tirumala Hills, B.N.Reddy Nagar and Maruti Nagar. This is their 3rd year and they have already grown into a 400 odd student school going right up to the 9th class. The function was held at the Babu Jagjivan Ram auditorium, Kothapet and was to start at 5 p.m.

I reached slightly late due to a breakdown in the car that was to pick me up. By the time me and Bhavani Shankar, Harsha's colleague from Powergrid who was instrumental in inviting me for the function, reached the place it was 630 p.m. But the children were really cute dressed in their costumes and so well rehearsed that they sang, danced, recited almost flawlessly. So good and so happy were they that you really wanted to take them home with you.

After a few programs they invited us on the stage and there were the mandatory speeches which must have bored the hell out of the parents and the kids but we tried to keep it short and also passably important for the function. The message the similar - dream high, go after your goals and work hard. Which they already seemed to be doing. And then there was a large round of prizes to be distributed to all the winners in academics and sports from first to ninth.

After the ceremony we got off the stage and witnessed some more rousing performances by the children, all  looking so divine. Equally happy and satisfied were the staff and management as the function went on smoothly with each program better than the next. Dances, tabla and keyboard recitals, songs, recitation - it was really fantastic. And unlike in most schools promoted by NRI promoters the main promoter Shri Raghu's daughter was studying in this same school and not some elite school faraway.

Springdale is clear about giving holistic education to its students and it was very evident in all their activities today. They are also committed, caring and loving towards their children. It has been ranked 20th in an All India survey by India Today and 6th in the state as schools likely to be thought leaders which is a huge achievement already. They also have a tie up with a US based system which improves the quality of knowledge transfer to the children from the teachers. It was really heartwarming to see the joy, the happiness, the beauty of all the kids and the teachers and I really had to tear myself away. If Shobha had not been down with a ear infection I would have stayed the length of the program. I really meant it when i thanked Bhavani Shankar for inviting me and making my evening so pleasurable.

At Secunderabad Club for the Twenty 20 Inter Club Tournament

Was invited by my good friends Ashish Uniyal and Sandeep to be Chief Guest at the Secunderabad Club Inter Club Twenty 20 tournament which got kicked off today. Eight cubs are to participate in this tournament which include Nizam Club, Celebrity Club, New Club, Fateh Maidan Club, Press Club, Deccan Club and another club I cannot remember. It is the eight edition of the tournament and it is sponsored by Kingfisher. All matches are to be held at the Secunderabad Club grounds which is a lovely place to play over a three week period.

The program was short and sweet with the President of Secunderabad Club and another good friend Keerti Nasimhachar throwing the tournament open. It was compered by Varun Chinmala, very competently, a young lad studying sports management in New Zealand. Apart from members of the press, a few members of the Secunderabad Club, officials from Kingfisher and captains of other clubs, I could also spot my cricketing friends Swaroop, Chatterjee and Vidyuth Jaisimha. I was then invited to speak a few words and I did. This is the gist of my speech:


Thank you for inviting me here as Chief Guest on this occasion of kicking off the Secunderabad Club Inter Club Twenty 20 tournament. I know that all the clubs that are participating have a healthy rivalry, and compete keenly especially against one another. Also this culture of sports and games is being kept alive so wonderfully by all the clubs especially Secunderabad Club and they deserve special congratulations for the good work.

Sports is integral to society and its growth. In my opinion if we played enough sports there would be no war. If we did exhaust ourselves on the sporting fields then there would be no need for us to prove who is bigger, who is stronger. So better we exhaust ourselves on the sports fields than war fields. It is about the spirit of competition and while we are on that I would like to dwell on it a moment longer.


Another analogy to sports and war that I always make is that to me sports is all about war. One must approach each game, must compete, like its war. Only when we take it up with such passion, with such seriousness do we take it to the next level. And one will surely realise that this competition gets better and bigger when tehre is agreater cause than the self at stake - a school, a college, an institution, a club, a state, a nation. Give it your all all of you who will play this tournament and make it count for your club because it will not only bring in splendid performances for your club and the game, but you will grow as individuals as well.


It is important that we cultivate this spirit of competition because true compassion lies beyond fighting hard for a cause like this. As we practice it in smaller arenas we shall grow more comfortable in the bigger arenas. We shall feel prouder to be part of our club, society, state and nation.


I am reminded of a saying that goes - you know more about a person in one hour's play than in years of acquaintance. I know that for a fact. There are gentlemen here who are sitting on the dais (Keerti and Sandeep) who despite their gentle demeanour outside showed a hostile side to them when they had to fight tooth and nail for their club's honour many years ago.


So go for it. Give it your best and raise the bar with your performances. Also, I must assure you, that the beer will taste much sweeter and better if you compete to the best of your limits.

Thank you.

It is nice to be part of anything as elite as the Secunderabad Club. I must now get a couple of copies of 'If You Love Someone..' over to the club library too as Astad suggested.

Article in the Indian Express - February 13, 2011

The following article appeared in my Sunday column 'Un Intended' in the New Indian Express.

Pregnant Autos With Superpowers

Harimohan Paruvu

If traffic is an indicator of the culture of a place, we in Hyderabad have evolved distinctly in this area. Today, few places in the world can match our traffic. Though better experienced than written about, certain aspects of our traffic must be dwelt on for the sake of documentation. Apart from monstrous trucks, bullying buses, rascally autos and silky smooth two wheelers, one segment of the Hyderabadi traffic that strikes fear in the Hyderabadi heart is the pregnant auto. Yes, normal auto rickshaws also strike fear in your heart, but that’s nothing compared to what pregnant autos can do to you. 

Pregnant autos are normal autos with the supernatural capability to expand in such a grotesque way that they can accommodate eight passengers in their insides. In the front seat (there is only one), three passengers cling to the driver’s collar and shirt sleeves, who in turn clings to the steering. In the backseat, packed tighter than lovers from the Roman era, are four to five men and women, huddled closer than they would ever be with their spouses, making up for any shortfall in their romantic lives in the short distances to their destinations. Imagine this auto, packed with some eight to nine humans, heads, legs and hands sticking out at odd angles, flying at top speed heading uncontrollably at you like some drunken bull that has broken out of a bull ring. It is a sight that strikes cold fear into any heart and makes many non-believers believe in God. Obviously, these autos can ply only on roads where no law exists because no law would allow such things in public places.

Some thought that pregnant autos were the incarnation of some Goddess and almost started a new cult. Only upon a closer look did they realize that the heads and limbs in the auto belonged to a happy bunch of passengers. But there is yet another supernatural aspect to these autos. Pregnant autos are invisible to traffic cops. The poor cops can spot your seat belts, your pollution certificates, your mobile phones but they can never spot these pregnant autos as they careen at speeds not less than 100 mph, weaving in and out of traffic, picking up and dropping whole bodies or parts of passengers, balancing on two wheels precariously as they negotiate turns and braking to a complete halt when required. The whole world can see them, feel them, but traffic cops cannot. No wonder the pregnant autos of Hyderabad are the scariest proposition since the Ramsay Brothers. It is like having a tipsy James Bond drive Noah’s Ark.

Pregnant autos are a special feature of our Hyderabadi culture, and need to be preserved. However, I doubt if we can take this any longer. Everytime a pregnant auto appears, people on the road lose a few years of their life out of sheer stress. Yes, pregnant autos can be used productively for society to inflict third degree torture on hardened criminals or to frighten little children to drink milk, but overall they serve little purpose except increase the number of heart patients. I suggest that our traffic cops be given special powers and special glasses instantly (or glasses with special powers) to spot these pregnant autos and stop them from scaring the daylights out of everyone. As it is we have regular autos to worry about and now these. Maybe, like tigers and other wild animals that are dangerous but still need to be preserved, they could be kept in special enclosures. I don’t mind paying to go and watch them on a safari!

The Bounty Hunter - Movie

Watched 'The Bounty Hunter' on HBO or Star movies last night. For a movie with so much hype and a big star cast boasting of Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston, it fell flat. I sat through for a long long time hoping that it would get better sometime but it never did. I gave up towards the end. The movie tried too hard to be funny and never succeeded, not even once. The chemistry between the two was non-existent and the most interesting part of the movie was watching Gerard Butler eat - he eats in a really funny way - chomping, gnashing, crunching whatever is in his mouth in a rather uninhibited manner. Aniston excelled in the few limited faces she makes.

And you think, oh, even these guys muck up big time! I just saw a review site on the net and it gave a rating of 5.1/10.

Invictus - Movie Review

Watched 'Invictus' after a long period of wanting to watch it thanks to Sagar who lent me a video. It was brilliant, full of great insights and wonderfully underplayed moments. 'Invictus' which is latin for Unconquered or Undefeated is based on a book 'Playing the Enemy' by John Carlin. Directed by Clint Eastwood, 'Invictus' is the true story of how Nelson Mandela, soon after his election as the South African President goes about his job of uniting the blacks and whites of South Africa. Knowing how difficult his job is, Mandela decides that sport wold be a great way to unify the country. The World Cup rugby tournament which is to be hosted by South Africa is a year away and Mandela wants the South African team to win, against all odds.

That is not easy because South Africa was not tipped to go beyond the quarter finals and New Zealanad and Australia were far superior. But spurred by his great vision for his nation ("Our nation is hungry for greatness") the amazing Mandela brings great love and forgiveness in building his beloved South Africa ("Brick by brick"). He insists on having Afrikaner bodyguards much to the dislike and suspicion of his black ANC bodyguards ("reconciliation must start now"). And his spirit of forgiveness for the very people who locked him away for 27 years ("forgiveness is the key") is seen as he walks amidst a booing crowd of rugby fans to a solitary fan holding the new South African flag to congratulate him. He insists that the name Springbok is retained as are the colours because that is the identity of the white minority against all popular belief, all advise. "we must walk together if we want to build a new South Africa".

Mandela meets Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and tells him of how excited he is for the Springbok team and how he wants them to win the World Cup. "The entire nation supports you". Egged on by his President to "exceed their own expectations" Pienaar and his men, all white, save one black player Chester, win matches against all odds, beating Australia on the way and New Zealand in a hard fought final. 'I will break my hand, I will break my leg, but I will not let Lomu go past me," says Pienaar to the team as they wonder how to stop Lomu the unstoppable Kiwi before the final. A trip to Robben Island where Mandela spent 27 years of his life in a small cell barely enough for a man to stand with hands outstretched by the team further cements their conviction that they must do it. South Africa won the World Cup against all odds in 1995.

This is what can be achieved when there is a greater cause other than oneself. An institution, a nation, led by men and women of extraordinary vision, of great qualities, of an indefatigable desire to see their nation on top will find the foot soldiers who are willing to lay their lives for such a cause. They will rise above all things petty like colour, caste, creed, region, religion and merge into love. It has been proven time and time again that all things great are achieved only by such passion, belief and commitment. Many times the players will feel that they are risking too much but they day they cannot risk that much for the country, for the society is the day they are no longer fit to be in that position. Invictus is a wonderful tale, subtly told, of how great nations, societies can be built by belief, by conviction and by each one backing one another fully. Morgan Freeman excels as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon looks perfect as the Spingbok captain Francois Pienaar of the South African Rugby team. A definite watch for all those who love movies, sport and human nature.

Anjali - Lessons While Sitting On the Floor

Yesterday I realised that it was more fun talking to Anjali at her level i.e. something around 3 feet or so. So I just sat down on the floor and so did Shobhs and we took our plates and food and started eating like in the olden times, sitting on the floor. Oh, Anjali got super excited with everything coming down to her level and she wanted to serve us and insisted that we eat this or that or have another helping etc. It was a nice experience too and I am planning on doing it on a regular basis now.

Anjali, pleased with her handiwork

But apart from the meal it was Anjali's enthusiasm that made it all so much more fun. The fact that things were down at her eye level got her very excited and I realised how important it is to do that more often. And with more people. Secondly her excitement at us doing something new was infectious. I mean we can do so many things that we do differently right? That is what makes life more interesting. I mean look at me, sitting and blogging away like I climbed the Everest when all I did was sit on the floor and eat my dinner. There is something about doing things differently that makes you want to share. Also helps your creativity I guess and also helps you to stay alive. Another thing I noticed was the kind of responsibility that Anjali took when she saw us sitting at her plane. It was almost like she took charge when things got down to her level. As if 'I know you guys are not used to this but let me help you out'.

I'd like to see what she does when she eats with us, sitting on the floor today.

Lunch With Anjan

Anjan, as we call our old friend Anjaneyulu, invited me for a much-looked -forward-to lunch yesterday. It is one place where one gets to meet so many people one wants to meet - several of them your own friends that you want to meet, but don't get to meet because you are too busy. (These days we are all too busy to even meet ourselves.) There are all kinds of people - from old college chums from the Engineering college, businessmen, lawyers, writers, directors, heads of companies and so on. It is a mixed group but one that is chosen well.

Anjan and I went to the Osmania College of Engineering at the same time - 1984-88. He did his Electronics or ECE as they called it and was a complete nerd, a jholawala, with his bag, a kurta, an intellectual if there was one, as he busily went about attending several cultural and literary festivals in the town and country. He was a brain no doubt and that in itself put him in a league that we did not belong. We, the guys from Civil Engineering, were then at the bottom of the pecking order and were normally not considered elite in any sense. To top it all, me and my group of friends were notorious for our inclinations to spend more time at sports grounds, for all things unacademic, for hanging out at the canteen when we should have been in classrooms and you can see how far removed our worlds were. Anjan was also famously known as 'Engine Oil' then - I know not for what reason, but I know he brought many accolades for the college by participating in and organising cultural and literary competitions in a big way.

Though our interactions during college days were civil and polite, I remember, there were not many, owing to our completely different proclivities. He was someone who, we all assumed, would join the research teams of some big IT major or NASA or something and end up with a nice, cushy job abroad, who'd come back with his millions someday and start a Chair in some elite college or something. I lost touch with everyone after college and only occasionally heard about what others were up to. Sometime I heard that Anjan was one of those who had cleared the Civil Services and joined the IPS. Soon after we heard of the good work he did in the badlands of Rayalaseema, putting down and controlling crime with a tough hand. Since I heard much from completely unbiased sources, I knew that though he seemed to be following a course that might offend a few, he was doing something that would make a difference. Many officers would occupy their chair, do nothing, preserve themselves and come away, doing nothing to improve the situation. But Anjan, they said, would do something, even if it meant going out of the way, even if it meant putting himself in the line of the fire, and do something at the risk of being brought down. There was a big reputation now, of a tough officer, to this gentle, soft and almost painfully diffident ECE student that I knew.

When I first launched my book 'The Men Within', four years ago, I had decided to call almost all the people I knew since it was a big thing for me. VK, or VP (Vijay Kumar, or Vice Prez,, the fun loving promoter of Indus School, who was also in ECE and was the most famous face of ECE in those days) told me that Anjan was posted in Hyderabad and I could invite him as well. I called him and he picked up the phone almost instantly with a "Seetharamanjaneyulu here". He placed me almost instantly despite the two decade gap, was happy to know that I had written and published a book, said he would try and make it for the launch. But it was short notice and he could not make it and that was that. Or so I thought.

Anjan made it a point to read the book. He got it from one of the bookstores. He then called me up and congratulated me on writing it. He called me over to his office and we discussed the book over lunch. Now, discussing my books is my favourite pastime and to do so with someone who read it thoroughly was fascinating. More so in the Police Office. Anjan took me across and introduced me to his superior who he said, had also read the book and enjoyed it, being a former cricketer himself. We had a fine time and I left after a nice lunch. And so we got back in touch and have remained so since.

What pleased me most was the effort he took in getting a copy and reading it critically and taking the trouble to let me know that he appreciated a good job. Now, I know a lot of my friends who are cricketers who have not read the book till date, many others who have and liked it but never told me that they appreciated it. It makes things a lot different when someone reacts because after all all creative work is to elicit a reaction - favourable or unfavourable. And this is where Anjan is brilliant to me because he participates in the process - when he, like so many of his peers and stature, need not.

He saw 'Ashta Chamma' and once again invited Ram the producer, Mohan the Director and Suresh along with me for another fine lunch at his office. Once again with a fine critique of the movie, the process, the business and mostly much needed appreciation. This indicates the way he is - he will go out of the way if he feels the cause is justified. He does not wait for public or popular approval. He kept track of what we were doing and once a year, invited us to a get together of many friends. I never know that he was such a social guy but his networking and his desire to know and meet different people was phenomenal.But in all those melees he keeps his literary and cultural side to him alive by watching movies and reading books in spite of his busy schedule.

For the launch of my second book 'If You Love Someone...' last year he promised to come and he did, well in time, and stayed almost the entire duration of the function. One of my friends who does road contracts came to that function and asked who he was. I told him. He asked me if Anjan had served in Kurnool. I said yes. And then he told me how Anjan had helped them out when they were being troubled by some extortionists. After the issue was settled the company asked Anjan what they could do. "He only asked us to help out in the construction of some police constables house construction work if we could,' said my friend who is a forthright chap himself. "We gladly gave them bags of cement. He never asked anything for himself." I remembered Anjan showing me an sms in one of our meetings - "people will ask favors of you only as long as you are in a position to do favours for them." He believed in helping out to the extent he could - and that was something I could sense. I never asked him any favour but I hear from others that  he is someone who goes out of his way to help. Obviously he would, as someone who believes in that sms. I personally prefer someone like that who does not mind taking that bit of a risk, to explore to someone who sits pretty and does nothing. Plenty of them about as well. I don't think it helps anyone.It is important, I feel, to participate.

"I will write a book," he told me yesterday. "Not fiction though. Not autobiographical also. Something that would interest anyone but more so, students of Political Science." I found the gist interesting. I always found it funny that here I am writing books and our gentle cultural secretary was the tough cop. But I am glad he decided to write the book he means to because I am sure that it is a process that he will enjoy immensely. It is a side to him that he will enjoy revisiting. I can visualise the jholawala intellectual, sitting by himself at the canteen, poring over his manuscript. Looking forward to read that book of yours Anjan, and to many more meetings on our little successes - which we must celebrate with equal fervour as our failures. Because if there is one thing I have learnt, it is that there is no shame in a failure when the effort behind it was wholesome and honest.