Tukaram kumbar hochaknalli

Born in a poor family in Hochaknalli village in Karanataka in1951.

Father was a potter who expired in1967. it was a suicide.

Educated in neighboring village up to matriculation.

Married after matric examination, in 1969 summer , though a minor.

Went to college at Bidar, completed my degree in science during 1973.

Was employed in telecommunication department since 1974.

Worked for 34 years and opted for retirement during 2009.

My passion is science; since 1994 I am after it.

 Science is Natural Truth about the Universe. Mathematics is the language of Science. It all started from astronomy, the observation of moving objects in the open space during nights.Tykobrahe did this observation regularly for a period of two years and constructed many maps of the stars. It was known that only a few objects were changing their locations with respect to the other objects. These were known as planets. This data was used by Kepler to construct formulas relating to planetary motion.

My Education:

I took minimum marks in science in my 7^th board exam.my score was 43% only, where as I could score 90% in maths paper. I used to spend most of my time in making maths notes. Mr. Gurubasappa was my maths teacher. He explained maths in very excellent way. He was ideal teacher. Both my parents were illiterate as did the others in those days.

There was only on NTMS primary school in the locality of about a dozen villages. Very few students would attend to this school from neighboring villages. I joined this school in 1961 as a third standard boy. I was regular to my classes. Some times when food was not ready in the morning, I would go to without eating any thing. By the time I was 6^th standard boy, mid day meal was arranged for students from other villages. The local student would go to their homes for mid day meals relief.

When my primary school education was over, I joined to 8^th standard, as a new TDB High School was just started the previous year. It was second batch when I joined to this new school. There was no building and they used a temple premises to start with. The temple called ‘Maharudrappa temple’ had vast ares surrounded by many mango trees. It was in a remote place away from village, like a natural Ashram.

Here in this school, I completed my high school education.My head master was from Tumkur district. Maths teacher was from Belagavi district. Social teacher was from Kamalapur area. I got first class grade in my high school final board exam. My science teacher, guided me to continue my education as science student. And I did so.

I took Mathematics a major subject and Physics as a minor subject for my degree.but I got a second class merit about 57% in my degree. I was selected in Telecommunications department on my SSLC merit as Telephone Operator in 1974.

My maths and physics combination helped me to write my competitive examinations to get my promotions in the department up Junior engineer’s grade in due course of time. For last ten years of my service, I was Sub Divisional Engineer Telecommunications. I worked as SDE Phones Bidar from 1999 to 2008. Bidar is the place where I completed my collage education.

After retirement, I had opted for free teaching activity.

I teach high school students, the subjects like Maths, Science and English.

I had found the truth

I had discovered science after 21 years of my graduation in science,probably in 1994.Though I was science graduate, I could not make out what science really was all about! I had completed my B.Sc. From Karkataka university during 1973.

I had encountered a book called” Vaignanika manodharma” which taught me all about what exactly science is and all about science history.The book was written by one Mr. G. T. Narayanarao, in Kannada which is my mother tongue. It contained all about, How the heliocentric universe was confirmed. How the speed of light was enumerated by Romer and all. How Galileo Galilee confirmed that the earth rotates around the Sun. The Newton’s universal law of gravitation fascinated me. The true story of nature started revealing before me. I asked to myself, “Does the so called God really exist?” The probable answer was no, there is no God as we define it. But the notion of God was needed for peaceful co-existence of social life.

 I had one more question in my mind that “what would be the height at which the clouds form above earth surface?” With some reference, I came to know that temperature falls by two degrees, at the height of every 1000 feet above the ground level. By some calculations, I could guess that probably at the height of about 5 to 6 kilometres height , the temperature falls to zero degree Celsius. Therefore the clouds should form at that height. I found that my argument was roughly good. I attempted to calculate the diameter of Sun by some experiment assuming that the distance to Sun from earth being 150000000 kilometres. I applied Trigonometric formula and radian measure to do so. I calculated the geostationary orbit of satellites as 36000 kilometres.

Thus my journey started in that direction. I calculated the speed of earth around the Sun by applying elliptical motion to earth. This result was almost nearer to actual one. Most of the superstitions vanished of my mind.I became a thinker in new direction. Started reading to understand the nature in a better way. Every day I spend reading and taking some notes of science when ever time permits to do so after my duty hours. The journey is still in progress even after two decades.

I had retired of my duty and once went to my sister’s village casually. One day, I happened to visit the new government high school at that village. There was no maths teacher available to teach the students of high school. I attempted to teach them. Somehow I became a teacher there and taught there till a new teacher was appointed for that school after a lapse of two long years. I still visit that school regularly and if a period is vacant without a teacher, I teach the students some thing on maths, science or English language. People started addressing me as a teacher. Little kids would salute me in respect. Some of the students occasionally visit me at my residence. They seek and learn maths basics at my private coaching location in the evening hours after school time is over.  

I had discovered many truths of nature and wanted to teach the interested people. But it was difficult to come across such curious people in rural environment. Most of the education is all about scoring good grades for getting a good job and earning money for livelihood.

 once I visited a high school in a neighbouring town, and met the management and expressed my desire to teach science to the students. But the head master did not care for what I was saying to. There was a girls high school, in the same premises, where I was given a last period to teach. By the time I started some introduction, the students from villages would request me that they need to leave the school to catch a bus to their village and I was forced to terminate my lesson.

I happened to read photosynthesis. The breakdown of water molecule into hydrogen ions, electrons and oxygen due to sun light absorption was interesting. When electron absorbs sufficient energy, it is ejected gaining momentum and this energy being transferred to ADP molecule to form ATP, the electron again gets energy and move further, where it is captured to form NADPH molecule. This activity made me to think the nature of electron that electron can be ejected and can be absorbed in some other molecule in photosynthesis. I had learnt the nature of electron.

My interest then turned to chemistry. I studied the nature of covalent bond and ionic bond. How metals and nonmetals combine to form salts and all.

The semi conductor crystal of silicon could be used to make ICs to build logic gates and they can be used to make calculations and the solid state amplifiers and all.

The 1980 saw the advent of personal computers and internet services were the result of modern world.

On-Demand Book Printing With the Océ ColorStream Flex 10000 Production P...

Hyderabad Karnataka, The police action for merger in Indian Union.

Mir Osman Ali Khan

September 17 marks seventy years of Hyderabad's union with India. It was on this day in 1948, thirteen months after India gained independence that the state of Hyderabad ruled by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, surrendered to the Indian forces.

The police action, a euphemism for military action started on September 13, 1948. It had been conveyed to the Nizam that should he put up a fight, there will be unnecessary bloodshed. That did not prevent the Razakars from taking on the Indian forces. 

It took four days for Indian forces to reach the outskirts of Hyderabad. A Congress committee headed by Pandit Sunderlal that was subsequently set up, estimated that between 27,000 and 40,000 people were killed in the four days between September 13 and September 17, 1948, making it one of the bloodiest face-offs in independent India.

Mir Osman Ali Khan

That evening, the Nizam walked into the radio station for the first time in his life. With the Indian forces taking over his kingdom he had ruled since 1911, the Nizam's fall from grace was only too apparent. No red carpet was laid out for him at the radio station, no anthem was played. The Nizam rushed back to King Kothi palace after the broadcast. 

Gorata village in Hulsoor taluka of Bidar district had been destroyed by Razaker activists.

This is the proof of atrocities against local population by Nizam administration after Indian freedom.
The razakars started looting a house in open day light.. The people took a decision to punish the culprit.
when the culprit was returning towards Gorta, local people killed him. The Nizam administration, on hearing the incident, sent troops to Gorta and destroyed all the village by litting fire.Many innocent people died of this unfortunate event.

Thoughts on the future of education.

For me it’s about passion, curiosity, imagination, critical thinking, and grit.

1.     Passion: You’d be amazed at how many people don’t have a mission in life… A calling… something to jolt them out of bed every morning. The most valuable resource for humanity is the persistent and passionate human mind, so creating a future of passionate kids is so very important. For my 7-year-old boys, I want to support them in finding their passion or purpose… something that is uniquely theirs. In the same way that the Apollo program and Star Trek drove my early love for all things space, and that passion drove me to learn and do.

2.     Curiosity: Curiosity is something innate in kids, yet something lost by most adults during the course of their life. Why? In a world of Google, robots, and AI, raising a kid that is constantly asking questions and running “what if” experiments can be extremely valuable. In an age of machine learning, massive data, and a trillion sensors, it will be the quality of your questions that will be most important.

3.     Imagination: Entrepreneurs and visionaries imagine the world (and the future) they want to live in, and then they create it. Kids happen to be some of the most imaginative humans around… it’s critical that they know how important and liberating imagination can be.

4.     Critical Thinking: In a world flooded with often-conflicting ideas, baseless claims, misleading headlines, negative news, and misinformation, learning the skill of critical thinking helps find the signal in the noise. This principle is perhaps the most difficult to teach kids.

5.     Grit/Persistence: Grit is defined as “passion and perseverance in pursuit of long-term goals,” and it has recently been widely acknowledged as one of the most important predictors of and contributors to success.

Module 1: Storytelling/Communications

When I think about the skill that has served me best in life, it’s been my ability to present my ideas in the most compelling fashion possible, to get others onboard, and support birth and growth in an innovative direction. In my adult life, as an entrepreneur and a CEO, it’s been my ability to communicate clearly and tell compelling stories that has allowed me to create the future. I don’t think this lesson can start too early in life. So imagine a module, year after year, where our kids learn the art and practice of formulating and pitching their ideas. The best of oration and storytelling.

Module 2: Passions

A modern school should help our children find and explore their passion(s). Passion is the greatest gift of self-discovery. It is a source of interest and excitement, and is unique to each child.

The key to finding passion is exposure. Allowing kids to experience as many adventures, careers, and passionate adults as possible

Module 3: Curiosity & Experimentation

Einstein famously said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Curiosity is innate in children, and many times lost later in life. Arguably, it can be said that curiosity is responsible for all major scientific and technological advances; it’s the desire of an individual to know the truth.

Coupled with curiosity is the process of experimentation and discovery. The process of asking questions, creating and testing a hypothesis, and repeated experimentation until the truth is found. As I’ve studied the most successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies, from Google and Amazon to Uber, their success is significantly due to their relentless use of experimentation to define their products and services.

Here I imagine a module which instills in children the importance of curiosity and gives them permission to say, “I don’t know, let’s find out.”

Module 4: Persistence/Grit

Doing anything big, bold, and significant in life is hard work. You can’t just give up when the going gets rough. The mindset of persistence, of grit, is a learned behavior I believe can be taught at an early age, especially when it’s tied to pursuing a child’s passion.

I imagine a curriculum that, each week, studies the career of a great entrepreneur and highlights their story of persistence. It would highlight the individuals and companies that stuck with it, iterated, and ultimately succeeded.

Module 5: Empathy

Empathy, defined as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another,” has been recognized as one of the most critical skills for our children today. And while there has been much written, and great practices for instilling this at home and in school, today’s new tools accelerate this.

Module 6: Ethics/Moral Dilemmas

Related to empathy, and equally important, is the goal of infusing kids with a moral compass. Over a year ago, I toured a special school created by Elon Musk (the Ad Astra school) for his five boys (age 9 to 14). One element that is persistent in that small school of under 40 kids is the conversation about ethics and morals, a conversation manifested by debating real-world scenarios that our kids may one day face.

Module 7: The 3R Basics (Reading, wRiting & aRithmetic)

There’s no question that young children entering kindergarten need the basics of reading, writing, and math. The only question is what’s the best way for them to get it? We all grew up in the classic mode of a teacher at the chalkboard, books, and homework at night. But I would argue that such teaching approaches are long outdated, now replaced with apps, gameplay, and the concept of the flip classroom

Module 8: Language

One of the areas I found fascinating is how some of the most advanced parents are teaching their kids new languages: through games. On the tablet, the kids are allowed to play games, but only in French. A child’s desire to win fully engages them and drives their learning rapidly.

The ideal Democracy

Fiber cable connectivity should reach all villages. Panchayat meetings should be held at each village too. The Punchayat-raj should not become a profit making organization for elected members. The households in a village should be the real targets of development. Liberal debates should be held on matters of concern for well being of all. The administrative offices like Tahsildar, Talukdar, and the other such organizations should not harass the general public, when they visit such offices for their needs. Procedures should be made simpler. Parallel organizations should be established for alternative services in case the monopoly organizations fail to address the problems of village residents. Problem solving attitude is needed, not the bureaucratic method of harassing public. The skill of service worker should be enhanced to suite the modern electronic media type of administration. Time saving, decisions and work commencing procedures need be adapted. Many times zerox records of land holdings and such documents are asked for in public offices. If electronic media is interlinked, the information could be collected on behalf of the customer [villager]. When Adhar-cards are generated, there will be some mistakes, like date of birth, which sometimes do not tally with the record of election cards etc. This should be corrected at Panchayat levels itself. The actual crop cultivation area should be made available to panchayats as soon as the seeds sowing are completed. Bases on this, the per-head purchase of agricultural commodities by the government need be made. Otherwise it also becomes a middle-man profit making activity. The last man’s welfare should be the goal of all democratic activities. Corruption starts even in electing public representatives. Methods need be evolved to remove them on actual basis. Many fake documents are generated on spending public money. This need be addressed seriously. The sweat of citizen should not go wasted.

Cannot we make this to happen? Let us try! Where there is a will , there is a way.

H K Tukaram

Born in 1951 on Mahanavami festival, October nine 1951 Tuesday, as the first son in an undivided family of two brothers in a small village called Hochaknalli, in a potter’s family and was loved by all family members and brought up with tender care by all the members together; Tukarm, so called me my parents. I was sent to school to a neighboring village for primary and secondary education. I passed in first class in my SSLC board examination held in 1969. Then I Joined the B V Bhoomareddy College Bidar for degree in science. Mathematics and Physics were the subjects I opted for my B Sc course. i Passed my B Sc in 1973 with good merit. Joined the Post and Telegraph department as Telephone Operator in 1974 and was posted to a taluka place called Bhalki, in Bidar district of Karnataka.

After serving for a period of five years, I appeared for competitive exam and was selected as Phone Inspector and after initial training of six months induction course, I was  posted to Sandur, in Bellay division as exchange incharge . The CBNM exchange was housed in a rented building with five operators one RSA and a local lineman. I shifted my family here and remained here for one and half year. Again I appeared for competitive exam for the post of Junior engineer and was selected and was posted to Trivandrum for one year, for induction course and finally I was placed as Junior engineer Trunks at Raichur, in Karnataka. By this time I had three children and remained at Raichur for twelve years, 1984 -1996.

In 1996, I returned to Bidar on a mutual transfer. In 1999 I was selected as SDE and posted in district office Bidar itself. Worked until my retirement at Bidar and constructed a residential house in Bidar town.

Science fascinates me. G. T. Narayanarao, explained the meaning of science through his kannada book, Vaignyanika Manodharma [The scientific temper]. I encounter this book in 1994 while I was working at Raichur telephones. I understood the meaning of science at last! This made me to think in a different way. Many questions arose in my mind. And my journey into the scientific world started. Still I am a traveler in a bus called science. Once I attempted to evaluate the diameter of Sun through simple calculations. The value what I got was not discouraging. Science is exact mathematics. One needs mathematics to read scientific equations, which are the the truth tables of the nature. For Example,         E =mc2 , E= hv  and so on. Somehow my attention turned to chemistry and I entered into unknown journey. All branches of science are interlinked as we go higher and higher in our understanding the nature. Curiosity generates questions and makes us to solve puzzles of nature. I could visualize the nature of electron while studying the process of photosynthesis. How electricity and chemistry are related; The concept of Farad [quantity of charge] etc. And many and many, are such encounters; the turning points, in the natural scientific puzzles.

See a simple property of silicon diode, or a transistor, which opened entirely a new era of many possibilities; The ICs, the PCs, and www. The quantum theory solved almost all chemistry related problems. The photo-electric power generation by passive systems called solar cells. These things changed the way we work and live. 

The beginning of the telephone system

1837-invention of Morse’s Telegraphy.
The basic telegraphs-1837
In 1820 Mr.Oersted of Denmark found that:
⦁ There was a magnetic field around a wire carrying an electric current.
⦁ When the wire is coiled to have N turns, then the magnetic field along its axis is N times greater.
⦁ If a piece of iron is inserted within the coil, the magnetic field further increased by a factor of 1000.
This constitutes the principle of a relay. In its tern a relay can make or break other electric circuits. The telegraph is based on this idea. One Mr. Henry of Newyark discovered that the relay could operate even when the wire was over three Kilometers long.
Samuel Morse, an amateur scientist along with his student Alfred Vail put the existing idea together and evolved a system to communicate over long distances. They also invented the Morse code by which all alphanumeric characters could be represented by a combination of dots and dashes. It was a remarkable break through in long distance communication, the first in the world.

The first Telegraph line came in India in 1853. London was connected to Calcutta in 1871 by over head line.

1852- Telegraph service started in India.

1868- Europe had been connected with India by telegraph lines.

1876-The telephone was invented in USA.

1881-The Oriental telephone company, was licensed to open telephone exchanges in India.

1882- First Telephone exchange was opened in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Ahmadabad.

The central exchange Calcutta had 93 subscribers.

1907-First central battery telephone exchange installed at Kanpur.

In 1914, on the eve of the First World War, the next big administrative changes had come. The Postal Department and the Telegraph Department were amalgamated under a single Director-General.

1913-14- Automatic telephone exchange opened in Simla, [HimachalPradesh].

1927-Radio Telegraphy started between India and UK.

1933-Radio telephony started between UK and India.

1953- A 12 channel carrier system was installed for trunk working in India.

1960- The S.T.D. service between Lukhnow and Kanpur was commissioned.

1972- The telecommunications accounts were separated from that of post offices.

1975- First PCM system installed between Bombay and Andheri, for local junction working.

1979- The OFC [Optical fiber cable] system was installed at Pune, for local junction working.

1984- C-DOT [committee on development of Telematics] established for manufacture of digital switches.

After gaining independence from Britain in 1947, the national government continued the colonial legacy, organizing post and telegraph services exclusively in the domain of the state. 

I was appointed as Telephone operator during the year 1974 and was posted to a CBNM telephone exchange at Bhalki in Bidar district of Karnataka state. A trunk line circuit was available along railway line from Bhalki to Bidar and a three channel carrier system was built on it for trunk working. We used to put through calls for public using ticket booking system.

When I had a little experience, I was made H.T.O. [head telephone operator] as all seniors got transferred to other locations. Electro-magnetic relays were used for signaling the subscriber line indicators. All calls switching was done manually, including local calls. Many village Public call offices [PCOs] were terminated directly on the trunk board. This was the beginning of communication in rural and district head quarters. The Number of Telephone connections at Bidar city were about 300 and at Gulbarga, it was 700 telephone lines. Telephone revenue accounts office was opened at Gulbarga. DET was the head of telecom management for Gulbarga division. Most of the village population in this region, did not understand what the telephone was. The telephone usage was limited to business community and VIPs and public offices like police station, hospital railway station etc. ITI Bangalore was the place where the network switches were manufactured for south India. The large cities had automatic exchange switches. The Mysore city had cross-bar switching exchange.

 One person [Telephone Operator] had to work at a time to connect the people for local and trunk service needs of communication. Yes it was the beginning of telephone services to people. All calls were handled manually. The dedicated staff used to work day and night in shifts, to serve the need of the public. The government, the polish, the trade and the public were dependent on this simple system.

People used to wait in queue, to get their turn, to talk to for-off places on trunk routes. Trunk Calls were booked and tried on priority. Signaling and voice were used to pass call switching information between stations. The system worked with frequent interruptions, due to trunk lines failures and all that.

Up gradation started in the system[1980s]

The departmental own buildings came up in five years.

The local exchange automatic switching machines were installed. They were all mechanical switches working on electromagnetic principles [the Strowger switching exchanges].

More number of trunk-channels were installed, to connect trunk-calls quickly.

The working force was the line men, the operators and the technicians for different works apart from supervisors and engineers. The divisional and sub divisional offices managed the system operation and maintenance and developments. Officers were highly respected for their caliber.

Public call offices [PCOs] were opened for a cluster of villages in a local area. Then the villagers could use the phone services on emergency. The system expansion started at district places. The number of lines increased, so also the supporting staff. All this happened around 1980.

Large scale recruitments started for junior engineers in DOT. One more high tech cadre of district managers was created with modern know-how on communication systems.

After 1980s the microwave trunk routes were planned and installed, started working by 1985. This changed the game of connecting calls on demand. Even the STD services were started immediately for important customers. STD PCOS were opened for instant call connection. The technical and revenue assessing works were upgraded. By 1990 the electronic switching systems were being manufactured in Bangalore. Gradually replacement of old mechanical switches by electronic switches was taken up at district places. This changed the game again, so that new connections could be provided to the desired customers on demand by laying additional local cables. The system expansion was an easy method and could be done with lesser time lapse. Connections started increasing gradually. The call switching failures were minimized.

The technical staff called technicians, who used to maintain electro-magnetic switching units had become surplus. The trunk calls connecting operative staff also became surplus. These two important cadres have lost their impotence. This and also open-line maintaining line-staff too became a vanishing cadre. These people were used for other maintenance and developmental activities. A new cadre called phone mechanic was introduced for external works in the field units. The RSA [repeater station assistant] cadre was also vanished. The Junior Engineer cadre became the important technical staff. This was an important phase change in the DOT.

Optic fiber networks were established to interconnect exchanges together. The operator was no longer needed so also the technician was eliminated. The long distance open-wires maintaining line staff was eliminated. It was only high tech people like engineers and clerical staff was needed. For maintaining local cables local phone mechanics were retained. This changed the entire system architecture to high tech. This thing went up to 2000.

The advent of mobile technology made a competitive environment and parliament passed the telecom policy bill to privatize the telecom system and therefore multiple operators’ entered the scenario, as service providers. The competitive environment started and the DOT officers had become a multi-switch to do all things together. Most of the seniors [officers] retired. Some confusion prevailed since the adoption into new working method was somewhat changed. The red tape privilege vanished for DOT workers. It was like do-or-die situation. Some of the senior officers became illiterate before their juniors due to high-tech working environment.

From a simple open-wire lines system, to microwave trunks and OFC cables, it became high-tech function. Digital switching units replaced most of the manpower. The junior-engineer was the only working cadre which was needed. Other higher officers were only the managers, like district manager, zonal manager, and circle manager and so on.  Even revenue assessing was automated. The game was changed to minimum staff.

This was a journey of 1970 to 2000, a span of three decades. I witnessed all these drastic changes in my service in the DOT India. What a wonder! Really a large leap in communication methodology happed in the world, at the time when we entered into 21^st century. The era of internet and internet banking and all that were value adding services! Of modern communication networks.

Telephones landmarks [India]

1876-The telephone was invented in USA.

1881-The Oriental telephone company, was licensed to open telephone exchanges in India

1882- First Telephone exchange was opened in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Ahmadabad.

The central exchange Calcutta had 93 subscribers.

1907-First central battery telephone exchange installed at Kanpur.

1913-14- Automatic telephone exchange opened in Simla, [HimachalPradesh].

1927-Radio Telegraphy started between India and UK.

1933-Radio telephony started between UK and India.

1953- A 12 channel carrier system was installed for trunk working in India.

1960- The STD service between Lukhnow and Kanpur was commissioned.

1975- First PCM system installed between Bombay and Andheri, for local junction working.

1979- The OFC [Optical fiber cable] system was installed at Pune, for local junction working.

1984- C-DOT [committee on development of Telematics] established for manufacture of digital switches.

1995- First mobile telephony service started at New Delhi.

The department of posts and telegraphs was owned by Central Government of India. The telephone exchanges were controlled by P and T department. Post Master General was the head of a circle. Indian telephone industry [ITI] was the public sector company to manufacture the system requirements of Telecommunications.

1985-DOT [Department of Telecom] was separated as independent department.

1986- Mahanagar Telephone Nigam [MTNL] and Videsh Sanchar Nigam [VSNL] were separated.

Microwave towers were installed along the length and breadth of the country as trunk routs.STD services were extended to District headquarters. Digital exchanges were manufactured and large scale expansions were carried out with modern switching centers. OFC cables were buried throughout the nation for trunk services.

Liberalization activity started to meet the demand of the general public.

1997-TRAI [Telephone regulatory Authority of India] was constituted.

2000-TDSAT [Telecom Dispute Settlement and appellate Tribunal] was formed.

The Operating wing of DOT was converted into a corporation called Bharat Sanchar Nigam [BSNL].

Algol Shanker reddy

Algol Shanker Reddy was my senior in primary school. We used to go for evening walks together. He used to speak on many topics. He was a fine thinker too. When I was inducted in Posts and Telegraphs department, he was a government High school teacher. He worked for a year or so as teacher at Nirna high school. Subsequently he was selected as commercial tax inspector and was posted to Gokak, a border place towards Maharashtra. He was still a bachelor. He was a standard person to whom I had followed. After his primary education, he went to Humnabad government high school. Then he went to Gulbarga for his collage study. He completed his B.Sc. degree with mathematics as major subject. He went to Dharawad for his master’s degree in applied mathematics.

            While I was studying in BVB College Bidar, I too opted for mathematics as major subject. He gave some of his books for my reference in degree course. He completed his M.Sc. Mathematics. On seniority he became commercial tax officer and was working at Bidar for some time. Then, I was working as sub divisional engineer in DOT at Bidar.

He built a house at Gulbarga and settled there. I took a plot at Bidar and constructed a residential house.

But he had unexpectedly expired of brain tumor problem while taking bath in a rented house in Bidar. The valuable brain is lost forever!

One Mr.Bapureddy was his elder brother who took interest in Shankerreddy,s education. Mr. Bapureddy arranged for his financial needs and the key person to change the chances of his life . I was closely monitoring the prospects of his life. Mr. Shankerredyy was very talented even as a child. Once he performed the role of a girl in a local drama in kannada language in our village during my childhood. I was really lucky to have his association in my early life events. He was a nice guide for my carrier building. I followed him as a junior.

               The success in life

“It was time to tuck my son into bed. We have a habit of reading him a story before he sleeps, so I casually asked him, “Ravi, who would you like to have read you a story for the night?”

He said without any hesitation, “Mom, of course!”

Ouch! That hurt.

“Why Mom?” I asked.

“Well,” he replied. “She is good at telling stories.”

He was right. My wife does tend to bring stories alive.

I have spent my entire career in the communication industry working for different agencies. One would expect me to deliver great stories, but as my son so clearly pointed out, it is not my greatest strength! However, over the years, I have added value by helping people tell their stories. As a coach and mentor, I have helped people connect their own dots. From their workplace presentations to key aspects of their lives, I have helped them relate their stories.

I believe every life is an interesting story and this story is best written when people go through life’s experiences by staying deeply connected to who they truly are. Unfortunately, not many people know themselves deeply enough. Our schools, colleges and workplaces do not teach us the art of self-introspection. So most of us go through life with just the intention of meeting the standard expectations of our parents, teachers and society. Then, somewhere down this line of trying to fit in with the lot, we lose touch with the key elements that make us who we really are.

The journey of self-discovery is an interesting one. For me, it started by asking myself repeatedly why I thought, felt and acted the way I did in different situations. I believe that staying connected to my sense of self is the reason I have enjoyed the experiences life has thrown my way. The more I have walked down this path, the more I have looked forward to this never-ending journey. I have come to believe that success depends less on major life choices and more on our daily decisions, actions and habits. These are based on our perception of right and wrong and are influenced by our thoughts and feelings. Even though it is known that the brain plays an integral part in creating each of these—thoughts, feelings, perceptions, habits, behaviour and more—surprisingly, very few of us are aware of how our brain helps us get there.”

My education

 I was admitted in a neighboring village in 3^rd standard, somewhere in 1961. My father Gundappa and a village wiseman, Basvanthrao Patil, took me to Kheni Ranjol middle school. They admitted me in the month of June. NTMS [new type middle school] Kheni Ranjol, was the only muddle school serving for the neighboring population of around ten villages. The school building was impressive. Rooms were large and well ventilated and the roof was RCC. It was like a mini collage. There were seven teachers and a head master. The office room was centrally located in the middle portion of the building. There was a foot ball ground on the right corner; A volleyball court in the north side, at a far off distance. Most of the students were boys. Girls were very rare, those days. Most of the villagers were illiterate. The school was opened after a decade of Indian independence. Hyderabad Karnataka was dominated by Nizam government and urdu was a language of Tahasil office administration. Some people learned a modi language for writing loan papers of village monetary business.

 Since childhood mathematics fascinated me a lot. I could score 90% marks in mathematics in seventh board examination. My mathematics teacher, Mr. Gurubasappa was very much happy with my performance in mathematics. In 1966, I was a fifteen years boy studying in NTMS Kheni Ranjol, a neighboring village which is about one kilometer away from my village Hochaknalli. I was a boy from backward community and my parents were illiterate potters. From TDB High School Ranjol Kheni, I could get through in first class in my 1969 SSLC examinations. One Mr. Kashinath was my classmate who also got first class in SSLC examination. There was only one degree collage in district head quarter Bidar managed by HKE Society. Though my father had expired when I was a 9^th class boy, I dared to join Science collage without having got any assistance from any corner. After my SSLC exam I was asked to marry a girl from a remote village who was also illiterate. It was a child marriage and my mother forced me to marry so early. My in-lows had offered me 10 grams gold ring in my marriage which I sold for my admission to science collage called BVB Collage. During Those days, it was only one year PUC Science course. It was the only collage in the district and there were around 300 students studying in PUC Science course. Only 90 students could get through the examination. I was second to my collage, in merit. I was fortunate to get Government loan scholarship for my degree course, for a period of three years. For B.Sc. degree course, there were about 35 students for mathematics and physics branch and the rest had opted for chemistry and biology.  There was only one girl student in my class who was called Ratna. She and I were competing for good-grade in study and we both got second class grade, while the rest of the students passed in third class, during that academic year. This created a kind of affection between us but we never talked or mingled. She used to smile at me whenever she happened to see me in the campus. For second year B.Sc. she opted for major physics course and thus our classes were then separated and that solved the unwanted problem of mutual induction. One Mr. Shrinivasa and another Mr. Suresh were my good friends and classmates. Both of them were from Brahmin community. After degree, Srinivas became a high school teacher and Suresh joined engineering collage Gulbarga and it was told that he joined in electricity department in Maharashtra.  She was so lovely and so intelligent and we both used to walk to our respective homes by foot after collage hours. Many a times I would go a little early to my collage and wait for her arrival by walk. But it was a one-way affection, and we never talked even for one occasion.  One day while in college, we three friends were sitting in a remote room in second floor and were busy singing liberally as it was a free time.  Ratna entered the room and we immediately stopped singing. She smiled and returned back. She was lean, beautiful intelligent and like a goddess indeed!

She was in physics group and I was in mathematics group and we would rarely meet. There used to be common classes for some mathematics related to physics. During such common classes we could see one another. It so happened one day that I was late to the collage and the common class was in progress and as I was a late comer, I could find vacant bench just behind Miss Ratna. I sat there. The lecture was in progress and I tried to concentrate on the subject matter. But alas, my heart started beating vigorously without my consent. And that was the biology of behavior among opposite sexes.

One day, it was examination day. The paper was in the afternoon session and we were recollecting the exam topics. The bell rang and I immediately rushed into the campus and traced my role number in a room. I entered the room, searched the marked seat and sat in my seat. Other students were also sitting in their respective seats. Ratna entered the room and she too searched her place and sat on her seat. The answer sheet was issued where we wrote our role numbers; then followed the question paper. It was a chemistry paper and we were from mathematics group. I enquired with the instructor. He could not find mathematics question paper. He went out and immediately returned and asked us to go to another room where mathematics hall is available. He asked us to raise our hands to know the students of mathematics branch. I and Ratna raised our hands. All other chemistry colleagues were seeing us, I and Ratna. By this time we lost a couple of minutes time. We immediately started toward the new room. It was in another corner of the building. We started running to save the time. It was like a running race. We chased each other’s and reached the new marked destination, took our new answer sheets and started writing again our role numbers. Our hearts were beating because of quick running. However I myself and Miss Ratna, got highest marks in our mathematics examination and that year, we both passed in second division. The rest of the students passed in only pass class. Thanks god! that was another wonder.

I had completed my science degree in 1973 with mathematics and physics as core subjects and passed with good grade. I was appointed in Posts and Telegraphs department in 1974 as Telephone operator.

After initial five years service, I appeared for a departmental competitive examination for the post of ‘Phone inspector’. The exam was held in polytechnic collage Gulbarga. There were about 75 participants who came from different districts of Gulbarga division to take part in the examination. In the exam, only two candidates were selected. I was one of the two. My hard work during degree fetched me a promotion. I was elated with new hope for better life. It was 1980 and I was trained in Hyderabad RTTC for the new post for a period of six months. I was posted to Sandur Telephone exchange as in-charge officer. After working for one year, I again appeared for competitive examination for the post of junior engineer; this time from Bellary division. Among 70 candidates who participated from Bellary division, only three were successful. I was one among the three.  Thus I entered the executive service as Junior Telecom officer. My mathematics and Physics subject was relevant to my field of work. I was lucky indeed. Thanks god! I was sent to Trivandrum for one year initial training and posted to Raichur city as Junior Engineer in 1984. I had my stay at Raichur for twelve tears continuously. My special interest was underground cable maintenance and development.

During this long stay, I used to go for refresher training courses all over India to upkeep my knowledge of changing engineering practice in telecommunications. I witnessed the change over from electromagnetic system of switching calls, to digital electronic switching of calls and automation of trunk traffic for STD calls. The mechanical moving parts were eliminated by digital switching exchange where call switching is fault free. Computer controlled solid state calls switching eliminated all mechanical errors. Expansion of exchange capacity was quick and could be done in less time, and number of telephone connections increased rapidly over the years. The Indian digital switches were developed in Bangalore and field trials conducted in Karnataka for the first time. The initial digital switch was of 64 lines, prior to 1990. The switch was enhanced to 128 line and then 256 line 512 lines etc, in a couple of years. One 500 line switch was installed in Raichur. Within a decade 5000line digital exchanges’ were popularized for district head-quarters. The period 1990 to 2000 saw quick expansion of systems in India. Telephone became affordable to common man. Telecom policy 1999 made changes to the system administration and the state owned telecom department was renamed as BSNL[Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited]

I worked as Sub Divisional Officer Telecom for a period of a decade and retired at the age of 58.

Tukaram Kumbar B.Sc.