K R Rao

Calendar : 5th September, 2018. Time : 06:00 am.

I picked up my phone to make few calls. As I dailed numbers on my 4’7’’ screen, I was humbled by the years gone by. Years ago, it was the day for me to make my formal speech for all teachers till my 12th standard. The same traditional starting “Adarniya pracharya mahodaya, adhyapak gan aur mere priya saathiyon. Aaj main aapke saamne ......” and the rest is history. 

    Raghvendra Rao, known as K R Rao sir, was my school teacher. It has been six long years since the last time I saw him. Yet, that feeling of Rao sir’s class is fresh in my memory till today. 

     I am always proud to be a part of Kendriya Vidyalaya. Being a KV student, I had my classmates and teachers from all over the country. Philip sir, mathematics teacher was from Kerala. From Varanasi, Gouri Shankar sir’s hindi was unbeatable. Thinnest man I ever knew, Kakalvar sir taught us Sanskrit. My chemistry teacher was transferred to Kalaburgi (It was called Gulbarga back then) from Hyderabad. K R Rao sir, too, hailed from Andra Pradesh. He taught us English from 8^th to 10^th standard. 

   I can still remember the excitement of his classes. He engrossed us in every possible way. On the go, he would ask us to enact a play, express our views on social issues, discussed situations of life, read aloud our favorite phrase from textbook, write a poem on what we liked and hated, asked a random question about love. He would, be, do, let us get as creative as we could. 

   Every year I wish couple of teachers. As usual, the moment Rao sir picked up and my “Hello, sir” followed, he replied “Yes, Prerana. How are you?”. The feeling when your school teacher recognizes you on phone is way too emotional to describe. We exchanged a few words. I found out he has is retiring from his career as principal next June and is presently at KV, Karwar.  After final greetings, we hung up. I had a big smile plastered on my face. 

    It’s unreal how a single influence can make a huge difference in our lives. He is that person who taught me to think, to feel the world and people, inspired me to look beyond and above all, brought out the writer in me. I owe it to him for whatever I am able to with a pen in my hand today. Thank you, sir.  


Always a proud KVian,

Prerana