My Story of Life Experience

MY STORY of LIFE Experience   -- Lakshmana Rao  SDE L RTTC Mysore

Here I wish to share my life experiences  during my study period and during office work.

My father is from Mysore  and mother from Thuthipet NA Dist of Tamil Nadu  my mother died when I was 5 years old. . Ours was a poor family and my father was working as a laboratory Assistant in Sarada Vilas Boys High School Krishnamurthypuram  Mysore.

My study started through Primary school in Govt school Amble Annaiah Pandith

Primary School opposite Laxmi Talkies in the year1956.

In 1960 Laxmipuram Govt Middle School  near Ballal Circle.

In 1964 Sarada Vilas Boys High School 1966 Passed SSLC

In 1970 BSc., in Sarada Vilas Science College.

During my study periods ie., 1960 to 1966  was a very difficult period. My father”s income was very meager to maintain the family. Other type of work also done to meet the challenges of life to earn for bread.

Worked as a Water boy in  SSLC Exam  Centres ,

In Ramanuja Road 16^th Cross Post Office worked during the regular ED Packers leave period ie Collecting letters in different locality PO Boxes Stamping and Preparing Delivery Bags to HPO.

Worked as assistance to Head Cook for marriage and other functions.

Worked as Sales boy for about 1 month in HNK Gowda and sons Steel shop.

As a Manager in Mysore Tourist Home Lodge for about 2 months  8 Am to 8 pm  on Rs.50/- Per month salary.

In 1966 My SSLC exam fee was  paid by Lions Club since I was First in High School”s First Tml exam.

For my BSc Study I was getting National Scholarships of Rs.60/-pm for 3 Years.  So my College Study financial problem was met.

In 1970 after my BSc Final year Exam one of the neighbour of our house in Chamundipuram told me to  apply for the CS Telegraphist job in P&T Dept. So I applied and got selected for CS TL Training for 8+1 months training in TTC CTO Mysore at Rs. 80/- PM Stipend  for the training wef 3^rd August 1970.

After one months practical training at CTO Bangalore I was posted to DTO Shimoga. Wef 5-5-1971. In Aug 1971 my father expired leaving my stepmothers, one step brother and two step sisters. My step brother got  the job in Sarada Vilas Boys High School on compassionate grounds. He lookedafter the welfare of the family.

After serving for 1 and a quarter years as CS TL I got selected for RSA post as a Departmental Outsider. And sent for 6+2 months induction training at CTTC Lucknow.  Experience in Lucknow was a memorable one. Stayed in the accommodation opposite CTTC sarojininaidu Marg with fellow trainee batch friends from Gujarath MP and  UP . No bath room was there and used road side tap for taking bath. Camp rope cots were purchased for use.  It was too much hot

And sweating terribly in summer. After a month changed the accommodation and joined with Karnataka batch mates who were 5 in total. 

After RSA Training posted to Gadag Carrier Station wef 11 March 1973 which was under Hubli Division. Gadag was a dry place and Market for Groundnuts and Cotton..I got fully furnished Room for Rs.35/-PM Rent. Before moving to that room I was staying in a tiled roof house adjacent to famous Gadugina Veeranarayana swamy temple.where daily  tiny baby scorpions rows  were seen in the house. Good films I used to see in Hubli    Viz Bobby.

In 1976 got transferred to Hassan Carrier Stn. In Hassan stayed in the House with BSJayashankar Swamy and Thyagarajan who were JEs & Sundararaj Iyengar RSA Hassan. Mr Lakshmana Gowda was SDOT Hassan.

In July 1976 got mutual transfer to Mysore Carrier (STR)  with Sri KS Prasannakumar my RSA Batchmate.

In Jan 1988 deputed for JE Training for 33 weeks in RTTC Bangalore.M07 Batch, Rlway resvn seat No.7 , JE Batch Roll No.07  Room No,07 in Hostel  a coincidence.

In Aug 1988 got posting as JTO Microwave & Mux Madikeri

In Dec 1990 got transferred to Mysore FC under STR worked with L Mahadeviah and KV Srinivasa Murthy JTOs FC

Also worked in MW Chamundi Hills, MW O/D, MW MUX and Gokulam  OF Stn

From 1998 to 2000 worked in different spans as SDE officiating HASSAN Trans Mtce.,Division 

In 2002 Jan got posting to Mysore SSA  as SDE Transmission Mtce Mysore.

In 2002 Nov 1^st got opportunity as SDE Lecturer RTTC Mysore when Sri Rajareddy was the Principal. In RTTC. got more theoretical and technical knowledge about transmission systems from oldest to the latest systems.

I am very lucky to serve in this prestigious institute imparting knowledge through theory and practice.

Suddenly in 2005 I was transferred and relieved to QA Circle  on All India Transfer. After a month that order was cancelled and I reported back to RTTC Mysore.

Some of the incidents I came across are

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1)    <!--[endif]-->While working in Madikeri it was required to attend faults during night hours also.  MW Repeater used to be on top of hills and Mux  about 8 KMs away.No autos used to come. It was a frightening experience to move in the forests and hills. Another station was Kotachimotta near to Virajpet.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2)    <!--[endif]--> While working in Chamundi Hills MW station a small cobra appeared in equipment room. Suddenly I called Mazdoor Mr Krishna who was on duty.

What I observed to my astonishment was that when krishna showed his palm the cobra did not move but when  I showed it was moving.

He caught the cobra and left it to the forest.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3)    <!--[endif]-->One day while going to MW Chamundi Hills station for morning duty near the gate found a cow eaten partly and left by cheetah.a ghastly scene.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4)    <!--[endif]-->Once I went to Bangalore Telecom Buildings to get one of the faulty Conventional 1000AH Battery Cell for replacement. The Battery Cell was heavy and so Lift operator without any demand helped to transport to the 5^th and 6^th floors in the lift. While transporting he got his toe injured and blood oozingout  Suddenly people gathered and gheroved me to take him for treatment and will not allow us to go back. No officer helped there but told me to give complaint against those obstructing for movement of MW Vehicle.  But I took the injured to the hospital got admitted him and informed his family members and arranged for further treatment and left.

An unexpected incident is it not?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5)    <!--[endif]-->When accompanied the Inspecting Officers of STR for sight seeing tour to KRS dam our MW Vehicle Tempo Traveller  met with an accident ie., when parked in the KRS , MW vehicle without driver moved to the down level and dashed against a taxi. The taxi driver started to quarrel  and finally came to settle with some amount. Ah! finally settled the matter.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6)    <!--[endif]-->When myself and sri G Shekharmurthy SDE went to Karwar  for FTP in one of our evening walks along the main market area we observed a cobra also moving along with us  and suddenly we moved away from that spot. A bite is avoided by gods grace.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->7)    <!--[endif]-->Once  I alongwith my wife went by train from Mysore to Bangalore 0600 AM to attend my relatives marriage function. That day my colleagues(GRS) wife and children also were in the same compartment

And chitchatting.  In Maddur station the train halted for 5 minutes for tiffin break and started moving. By that time my wife drew napkin from the handbag and observed something fallen out of window and we could not know what it is until we checked the bag when it was half an hour of the train left Maddur station. Astonishingly we lost the  Gold Necklace with pendant  costing about Rs 20000/- about 5 years back. With the Necklace box. We felt very bad and decided not to go to Bangalore. We contacted the Guard and informed about the loss of Gold Necklace near Maddur Rly station. He told us no use now since it is gold nobody will return it anyhow he informed the Maddur Railway Station Master. Maddur Rly station Master arranged railway track inspector to findout and got the reply not found. In the same compartment Sri Vijayakumar DE Mobile was also there and after knowing all these he also tried his best to get the lost item but couldnot get it. Finally I decided to return by  another train and observe myself along the track by standing near the door. As per the return plan we boarded the 1030 hrs train and I stood near the door and observed along the track. To my astonishment I saw the Necklace Box few feet away along the track near Maddur River Bridge. It was 1230 hrs by that time. I noted the place and wondered how it eluded so many people and got to my eyes only. Really it is just like a miracle. When train halted in Maddur we alighted and gone to meet the Railway station Master and we came to know that  he is in the house after the morning shift and our complaint is not registered and hence to pursue ourselves.  We cameout of Railway station and asked an autorikshaw to take us to Railway Bridge telling him  we have lost some item and not told him the specific item lost.

The auto driver took us and on the way told us why we are going and normally people will go near to bridge for suicide and so many incidents happened like that he told. We specifically told him we lost an important item and so we are going. Still he was in doubt. When auto came near the bridge he told my wife to sit in the auto and he will accompany me to fetch the item. We have to cross the bridge along the Railway line. It is an horrifying experience to walk along the railway line since no way out if any train comes. It is the time of  Chennai Mysore shathabdi train crossing the bridge. Alas after crossing the bridge the train passed. After searching the spot where the Necklace box fell I found the box and found the necklace intact in the box. So fortunate to get the lost one. At that time the Railway Gangmen came and felt happy that I found and they could not find it even after inspection. The auto driver sighed a relief since he thought we were the couples for going to fall from the bridge.  We told the auto driver to takeus to the Railway station master”s house. So he took us to Stn Master”s house. The station master was very happy and provided lunch to us and his wife gave to my wife Thambula and blouse piece etc and informed Auto driver to take us to Bus stand safely.  After leaving us in Bus stand in Maddur the auto driver went with a smile.

An unforgettable incident just like a story happened.

My friends during the school and college days

     In middle school while studying in Laxmipuram school near Ballal Circle Mysore daily after the school myself,  Mr Ambarish ( Cine Star and politician ), Chandrashekhar  and Ravi ( Working as Chief Manager SBM Mysore now) were all walking together upto Chamundipuram Circle. Mr Ambarish was in 8^th std and we in 7^th std studying. At that time 7^th and 8^th stds were merged and sent to High school I year ie., 8^th std.

     In High school  class and benchmates were  M. Nandakumar (son of late Dikki Madhava Rao the cine actor) the famous Physics lecturer in Mysore. 

     In college, Mr Mukundan  K R  was a famous Maths Lecturer in Mysore city and he is no more now. Myself and Mukundan went for B certificate Exam in NCC.  Smt Esther Angella the w/o U R Ananthamurthy was in same section BSc II and Final Year in Sarada Vilas College Mysore. Mr N.Balasubramanya Retd 6 months back as Chief Manager SBM HO BG ( whose friend  is Narasimhamurthy famous for hasya serials also gave his performance for Kannada Rajyothsava day of RTTC Mysore alongwith sihi kahi Chandru  6 yrs back arranged through my friend) Also Balasubramanya told he was teaching Maths to sri AVSrikantan who was studying in Sagar Shimoga as his father was in SBM Sagar

                Family Life

    In 1976 went to Bombay for my relatives Grihapravesham function. While alighting  the train in Bombay Mulund West Railway Station at about 1030 hours a man suddenly snatched my brother”s wrist watch daringly. When raised an alarm he threw the watch and went away.  We really ashtonished at this incident.

While returning from Bombay by Bus  we stayed to break the long journey in Chitradurga where our distant relative stays. There in that house was my distant relatives daughter who was working in  the same department as a T.O.  And so naturally exchanged our general views..  Later when we returned to Mysore  the proposal came for that girl  and accepted and got married on 31 May 1978 in Chitradurga.  My fatherinlaw was  working as a Manager in Merchants Co-op Bank Ltd Chitradurga and his elder brother was a retired Divisional Commissioner  of Bangalore Mr K Sheshagiri Rao.. In chitradurga  one of my wife”s colleague Mr G S Nagaraja Gupta also attended our marriage. The photos at that time were all in black and white only.

After the marriage my wife got transferred to Mysore Division. At that time Mr H V Bhat was the DET a dynamic and helping officer.  We got two sons.  There were shift duties for both of us which helped us to bringup our children. It was really very difficult to lookafter children since both of us are  working.

My First son Studied BE in SJMIT Chitradurga. When he finished BE and when results came at that time  the WTC in New York was under inferno by terrorists. And suddenly Jobs were dropped. He tried thousands of companies in Bangalore and elsewhere. He got very upset and repeated trials got selected in HCL Tech Bangalore in Aerospace domain. After a Year of service he was deputed to USA

Hamilton Sunstrand Co., in Rockford near Chicago.  And in 2008 he was deputed to Belgium of Europe At that time he called us to visit  so we visited one month in Dec 2008

And toured 8 countries in Europe and enjoyed our visit. Again my son was deputed back to USA to the place where he was working. He again told us to visit him and he is very much interested to show us the USA and to be with us. Hence we tried for NOC and Visa and finally succeeded in getting in time and visited USA for six months from April 2010 to Sept 2010. But meanwhile my second son Prashanth was deputed to UK London from his UK based Co, TESCO We felt nobody to assist him as he is going on first time on international flight. Somehow with friends help he managed and with baggage visited UK. So our family members were out of country for about 3 months.

Kedarnath and Badari Tour Experience

In 2005 May went on Kedarnath and Badari Tour of Himalayas with KSGopalakrishna, GRSubramanya family members. Really a memorable tour. Myself and my wife  went on trekking the 13+13 Kms mountain up down distance by foot. Mr GRS was filling confidence to us that we are able to climb without any problem. All of them moved forward and when only 1 and a half KMs  remaining to the Kedarnath Shrine came the heavy Snow Fall. Really a wonderful experience and at the same time afraid of the further movement. The other people ie., some shop owners of the shops in between where we took shelter told us not to wait but to move fast towards shrine and the lodge. So we moved near the shrine which was closed due to snow fall and went near the lodge. We have not found the clear way but only ice way round the lodge. With difficulty and slow movement we carefully entered into lodge where our friends were eagerly waiting for our arrival and were also in utmost anxiety. In the room of the lodge where we slept was not provided with heater. We were not able to move out of bed and blanket rugs to close the door also. That was a chilling experience for the first time and the temperature was below -4 degree centigrade.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Tour

     In October 2005 planned and went on LTC Home town tour to Andaman and Nicobar Islands by flight for the first time experience. My second son Mr Prashanth was also with us for this tour.Colleagues accompanied were with families of G S Nagaraj Guptha, M. Nagendraiah, Mr Sundar JTO Laxmipuram, Mr G Shekara murthy and Mr Udaya and his son.  Since all of us traveled in flight first time we took photos/ videos in flight and through the  Plane windows and enjoyed the thrilling experience.  In Port Blair seen Chatham Saw Mill, Aquarium,Cellular Jail gallows Mt Harriot island,Ross Island. Baratung Islands where the mud volcano and  lime stone caves were seen.All types of transport except train was there. In North Bay Coral Islands I went and seen Corals inside sea through the  dive ie., They will close the mouth and nose through breathing pipes and we have to  head down sleep on tyre and the swimmer will drag us to some distance in to the sea and show us the coral beauty beneath the sea  (Scuba diving). A wonderful experience.

Tour to Amrithsar in oct 2007

We had a tour programme with GShekharamurthy, B S Raveendra and M Nagendraiah  along with family members. We planned to go to Varanasi first and then to Amrithsar.  We all went to Chennai and the evening train to Varanasi did not turn up and we waited till morning. We were not knowing when the train will depart to Varanasi. And no proper announcements. Suddenly the train marched and some passengers were not boarded the train. In that sri M Nagendraiah went to Saravana Bhavan in Rly station to to get tiffin packets to us. Alas!  When train suddenly marched I phoned him to his mobile and so he left the hotel without tiffin packets which was ordered and rushed towards train but could not board the train and left there. Our group thought of pulling the chain and no other option left. Hence GSM madeup his mind and pulled the chain to stop the train and the train halted. The inspector came and questioned as to why the chain was pulled. Since so many people pulled in other compartments also there was no further questioning and after releasing the break the train started to move and by that time At last we could sigh a relief and Mr M Nagendraiah joined us for further journey.

For our unfortunate time we had  similar experience in Varanasi Rly station also.

After seeing Varanasi temples we had to board the train next day in Varanasi Rly Jn. To Amrithsar. The train was late and it did not come to the platform previously announced. And at last moment there was change in the platform.  When the train came we had to rush to the changed platform carrying luggage an hectic experience and the time was very much limited. Only few of us could catch and enter into the train and others leftout. Again bravingly decided and GSM pulled the chain to stop the train. The train halted. The complaint was lodged with the guard and found no use. Mean while other leftout passengers boarded the train and our journey to Amrithsar started. Really breath taking experience.

Tour to EUROPE

In Nov/Dec 2008 we had a chance to visit Europe since my elder son was working on deputation in  Kortrijk near Brussels capitol of Belgium.

It was the first International flight experience we had. The plane was a wide carrier and a Non stop 10 and half hours flight from Bangalore to Paris   Charles Degalle International Airport by AirFrance flight.  When the flight landed in Paris Airport at 0830 hrs in morning. There we had to get down and go to the shuttle bus transportation inside Airport to the terminal buildings. Thereafter finishing the checks and immigration and stamping the passport we came out of the terminal gate.  We had to enter the Railway station which was four floors below the ground floor.  It was very difficult task for us to search the rly terminal because it is a huge building with so many terminals and we could go by sign boards shuttle bus, train lifts walkways etc., Since we were having anxiety we enquired so many people but found many do not know English only French or dutch So there was a language problem.

(Will continue)