Primary School Drop Out Honoured by Engineers
Who is an educated person? In our common perception today one who is a graduate is educated and if he is a postgraduate or one with a Ph.d he is highly educated and accomplished. Four decades ago the bench mark for being considered as educated was a pass in SSLC. In other words, conversely , in our thinking one who had no schooling or had not studied in colleges is not educated person.
The Institution of Engineers ,Mysore Chapter, honoured one such “uneducated” person last year, breaking its old two and a half decade old convention. What are the special traits, attributes or qualities these engineers saw or considered in that uneducated person as to distance itself from its self- established norms as to bring this fifth standard drop out as to drape him with shawl, read citation and eulogizing him along with retired engineers on the same dais.
What they saw in this forty one year old Bogadi Sreenivas were the innate sterling qualities that “Vidya” ,education, that ingrains in a person , the qualities that many of the so called educated lack and the qualities Sreenivas is endowed with.
While many of us remember that Master Builder and Great Engineer Bharata Ratna Sir M Vivesvariah on his birth day, as a ritual, Sreenivas, a machanic with his little scooter garage in Vidyaranyapuram has deified him placing him on the same pedestal as he finds a place for Lord Venkateswara. Sreenivas The photo of the Lord is placed along with Sir M V and and lights oil lamps one before the God and another one whom he has deified, before he starts to his garage. You can find these two photos
in his garage along with Sri Raghavendra Swamji.
August 27 is an important day for Sreenivas for it is the birth day opf Sir M V .He distributes sweets to people in the neighbour hood of his garage. Senior Citizens who go for repairs enjoy privileges. If it is minor repairs he will not charge and if they are of major one needing replacement of parts he will ask them to get and will only collect nominal “labour charges”.When the Institution of Engineers honoured him they had given him Rs 1000,With thius corpus fund he added Rs 29,000 and with annual interest accrued on Rs 30,000 Sreenivas has adopted a girl and meets her school fees. (He is father of three daughters).While we the scribes tend to have the word “Press” painted on our vehicles with a sense of ego, Sreenivas had sports the name of the name of “Sir M.V.painted on his scooter.
How is it this scooter repairer was drawn to Sir M V and what is it that he found in this great engineer that others might not have noticed, or having noticed ignored them ? Sreenivas had been reading writings on the great sons of India. One such book was on the life and ideals of Sir M V . He felt it would not serve any purpose if one reads and forgets those ideals. If some of them are
practised in one’s life , there could be no better way of remembering him , he articulated within himself. He is a model “employer” also. There are four or five fellow workers in the garage and if in a day the earnings are more than the average he distributes the extra earnings among all of them.
Sreenivas, after obtaining permission from concerned officials, visited Krishnarajasagara Dam some years ago, to study the great marvels created by Sir M.V. He is working on a model of KRS and when it is completed he intends to present it to the Institution of Engineers.
Well, You call him educated or uneducated ; I leave it to you.
The Institution of Engineers ,Mysore Chapter, honoured one such “uneducated” person last year, breaking its old two and a half decade old convention. What are the special traits, attributes or qualities these engineers saw or considered in that uneducated person as to distance itself from its self- established norms as to bring this fifth standard drop out as to drape him with shawl, read citation and eulogizing him along with retired engineers on the same dais.
What they saw in this forty one year old Bogadi Sreenivas were the innate sterling qualities that “Vidya” ,education, that ingrains in a person , the qualities that many of the so called educated lack and the qualities Sreenivas is endowed with.
While many of us remember that Master Builder and Great Engineer Bharata Ratna Sir M Vivesvariah on his birth day, as a ritual, Sreenivas, a machanic with his little scooter garage in Vidyaranyapuram has deified him placing him on the same pedestal as he finds a place for Lord Venkateswara. Sreenivas The photo of the Lord is placed along with Sir M V and and lights oil lamps one before the God and another one whom he has deified, before he starts to his garage. You can find these two photos
in his garage along with Sri Raghavendra Swamji.
August 27 is an important day for Sreenivas for it is the birth day opf Sir M V .He distributes sweets to people in the neighbour hood of his garage. Senior Citizens who go for repairs enjoy privileges. If it is minor repairs he will not charge and if they are of major one needing replacement of parts he will ask them to get and will only collect nominal “labour charges”.When the Institution of Engineers honoured him they had given him Rs 1000,With thius corpus fund he added Rs 29,000 and with annual interest accrued on Rs 30,000 Sreenivas has adopted a girl and meets her school fees. (He is father of three daughters).While we the scribes tend to have the word “Press” painted on our vehicles with a sense of ego, Sreenivas had sports the name of the name of “Sir M.V.painted on his scooter.
How is it this scooter repairer was drawn to Sir M V and what is it that he found in this great engineer that others might not have noticed, or having noticed ignored them ? Sreenivas had been reading writings on the great sons of India. One such book was on the life and ideals of Sir M V . He felt it would not serve any purpose if one reads and forgets those ideals. If some of them are
practised in one’s life , there could be no better way of remembering him , he articulated within himself. He is a model “employer” also. There are four or five fellow workers in the garage and if in a day the earnings are more than the average he distributes the extra earnings among all of them.
Sreenivas, after obtaining permission from concerned officials, visited Krishnarajasagara Dam some years ago, to study the great marvels created by Sir M.V. He is working on a model of KRS and when it is completed he intends to present it to the Institution of Engineers.
Well, You call him educated or uneducated ; I leave it to you.
posted by Krishna Vattam at
11:42 AM
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