This is the second of five memoir-in-essays dictated by Guest Writer and International Journalist, Ramarao Malladi (1948 - 2026), and recorded by Prema Camp. Read more from Ramarao at his website, South Asian Tribune.
I was born on the banks of a river, nearly seven and a half decades ago. Mine was a religious family steeped in Hindu Gods, but it was never wearing religiosity on its face. My mother used to worship seven Gods a week while my father frequented religious places and was regular in his prayers to his family deity. The household was very particular of education and everyone was encouraged to read books of different genre, and discussions used to take place on the subjects of the books and also the news from the radio. I was a good student, good at studies and debate, though not in sports. I was encouraged not to be argumentative but always think and look beyond the headlines.
By the time I finished the high school in 1964 and entered college I developed interest in various subjects that ranged from philosophy to politics and from mathematics to physics. This interest gave me a broad-based friends circuit—some from my own age group and some who were really senior to me. Both at school and college we had a weekly debating class, and I was always active in this debate. One memorable phase was mock parliament, where I used to thunder as leader of the opposition to a thunderous applause from the audience.
Right from the beginning I was always with my books. My household was full of books on different subjects. Some are novels, some on religions, epics. When I was six to seven years old, still in primary school, I was introduced to the epic Mahabharata and the Hindu celestial songs, the Bhagavad Gita, both written for children. These two books were written when the author was put behind jail during the period India was fighting for independence from the British colonial master. My primary school was run by the government like most schools in those days. I started at five in primary school for five years. After that I went to a high school, a government institution. At that time the schools were running a uniform syllabus in co-ed classes, and every student was encouraged to read, write, and articulate.