|| om tat sat ||

"September 1 - Semya paramaannamu !! (2016)"

September 1st is the Birthday of my father - Semya paramaannamu is the special dish of that day!

September 1st is also the birthday of my sister Vijaya!

"September 1st and Semya Paramaannamu" - has become the annual headline story on September 1st for the last few years sharing memories of the distant past.

This time September 1st , we have the fifteenth chapter of Bhagavadgita namely Purushottama Prapti Yoga - as our topic in Kasarabada.org.

Last year this time it was the third chapter of Bhagavadgita which was also my father's favorite. So after twelve months we are on the fifteenth chapter which is also his favorite.

In the favorite fifteenth chapter the sloka
- "अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणीनां देहमाश्रितः "-
is another favorite.

My father would make us write this sloka in big bold letters in four lines and have it pasted on a card board , color the boundary and have it hanged as a painting ! That is a sloka he would make us recite before eating our food at lunch and dinner.

So having his favorite, namely the fifteenth chapter of Bhagavadgita on September 1st is a happy fortunate coincidence for 2016!

One another favorite subject of my father is Scholarship.

He was quite proud of the scholastic achievements of his children. In this connection there were moments etched in memory and recounting those stories leads to a feeling of elation. So let me elaborate.

It was the summer of 1957. There was a marriage probably in Ramachandrapuram of East Godavari district. It is the marriage of Gadiraju Chalapati who is my father's nephew. The marriage party is the family of Nanduri's. The brides name is Roja ! With all Kasarabadas of that generation present in full strength which included five brothers with their families and the members from five sisters families it was quite a gathering.

The news flash which was the happy topic of discussion among all Kasarabadas and related families in that marriage gathering was the academic achievement of my sister Lakshmi who stood first in her school and got the third rank across the state in the state level Board exams for SSLC or the sixth form.

That was a news on the All India radio with a mention that she is going to get a merit scholarship for further studies.

Every body was excited and that was the topic of discussion among all present ! My father was naturally a delighted happy and proud father ! Added to her SSLC or sixth form marks list which was shared with all was my fifth form marks list from the same school. The happy matching of my school marks with her Board level exam marks marked me out as an equally good prospect for the next year ! It is quite another matter that that particular wish did not materialize next year ! All in all that marriage become a noteworthy memory and it pleased my parents immeasurably.

Subsequently I also got a scholarship and my father had the pleasant choice of deciding between a departmental scholarship (for Post & Telegraph employees children) and the institute scholarship !

The thoughts of those memorable events namely the Govt merit scholarships and beneficial impact on our family led to us plan and establish similar scholarships at the Gayatri Vidyaparishad college of engineering in Visakhapatnam , Andhra Pradesh, India.

This year three students Putchakayala Pavani( 2nd BE) , Kaluri Praveen Raja ( 3rd BE), Yechuri Venkata Padmavathi ( 4th BE) have been selected as Kasarabada Scholars and awarded a scholarship amounting to Rs 2000 per month for the nine months of the academic calendar.

These have been awarded through Athato Foundation, a registered Kasarabada Trust.

We took the help of Dr Bhavaraju Subba Rao and Dr Pulugurtha Lakshmi Jagadamba of Visakahpatnam (AP) in establishing these scholarships.

This year the Trust also provided benches for seating the children in the seventh class of the Govt upper primary school in Krishnaraja Puram, Bangalore.

The Guntur Majeti Guraviah high school informed us that they awarded the best student and best teacher which were funded through the corpus established by the Kasarabada Trust.

We are happy that the Athato Foundation is reaching a stage of financial stability to be able manage all these activities.

Everything seems to falling in place.

That is the enjoyable sweet dish -" the semya paramaannamu" - for this years September 1st.

|| om tat sat ||

 

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