Determination nudged him to realise dreams

Vizag: Patriotism among the younger generation is on the decline but it was not the case seven decades ago, recalls Viswanadhuni Balamohandas.

Born on 1947, August 15, Bal- amohandas feels that people are more concerned about 'I'. "But change happens when the 'I' gets replaced with 'we'," says the 74- year-old retired Professor, who considers himself fortunate to be born on Independence Day and named after Mahatma Gandhi.

A school dropout, his determi- nation to achieve his goals made him eventually become a Vice- Chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University in 2005. "When my fa- ther made me join the First Fo- rum (now Class VI), I did not utilise the opportunity but freaked out with a friend.

I used to while away the time, wander- ing around cinema halls with him. One fine day, I was caught red- handed by my father when he was coming to the school to meet me but ended up seeing me on a tamarind tree. He gave me a tight slap and took me back home only to discontinue my studies and en- gage me in farming work at Thakkellapadu, Guntur district," recalls the former Professor. But that three years of farming did not stop him from dreaming big.

My brother was doing PUC (Pre- University Course) then. I wanted to resume my studies too," tells Balamohandas to The Hans India in a free-wheeling chat.

His brother convinced his fa- ther to admit Balamohandas in Matriculation at Narsaraopeta.

"Fortunately, I had a good mentor M Gopalakrishnaiah to coach me the basics. I was determined to grab the second opportunity and give it my best shot," shares Bal- amohandas, who is settled in Visakhapatnam.

Instead of three years, he was able to complete Matriculation in

11 months and there's no looking back. Later, he secured first class in PUC and pursued B.Com., M.Com with merit scholarship and Ph.D in Commerce and Man- agement Studies in Andhra Uni- versity.

"When I was an Associate Lec- turer in AU, I got a chance to im- part lessons to my seniors as I could complete my course in a short period," he laughs.

From Associate Lecturer to a Reader and Professor of Manage- ment Studies, Balamohandas grew to the level of in-charge Vice-Chancellor of AU.

"I broke a record as I was the youngest Pro- fessor of India at university level at the age of 31. In 2005, I had a chance to serve Acharya Nagar- juna University as Vice-Chancel-

lor for three years," elaborates the former V-C, who bagged several awards, including Vishala Bharathi Gaurav Puraskar, Life- time Achievement Award and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award. Balamohandas has so far writ- ten 11 books. At the age of 25, he brought out a textbook for PG course 'Indian Industrial Econ- omy'.

In his later years, he au- thored spiritual books, including 'Ananta Vinayaka' and conducted sessions on 'Management and Vinayaka' to help students apply the rules of Vinayaka, a 'smart scholar-leader'. To lead an active, healthy and peaceful life, Balam- ohandas suggests to contribute to society in whatever little way pos- sible and engage oneself in a con-structive manner