Guru Deva
Mr. G.Sivarama Naidu (S.E.Rtd) S.K.UTY- Anathapur
Gurudeva is a teacher who leads his disciples to God. Such teacher is like a God to his students. During 1973 – 1975, I was working as a Site Engineer at Renigunta –Guntakal double line formation work (Southern Railways) for Sri Y.S.C.Konda Reddy. I was fascinated with his regular habits. Mr. Reddy woke up by 5:00 a.m. to finish his morning calls and read the Bible for 15 minutes. Mr.Reddy was very patient and used to serve coffee and tea to all the workers. Within two days of joining him in work, I could understand his workmindedness. Whenever he talked to the officers about work, he always used to focus on the quality of work. He always mentioned that “Work is Worship”. As an young adult, I could not understand his words those days. Mr.Reddy had thorough knowledge of his work. Once we were traveling for 12 kilometers in 3 hours on a trolley estimating the work done so far and Mr. Reddy expected a particular amount to get from the department for the work done. But the officers said that not even 60% of that amount may be sanctioned. Later on the department officers took 4 days to make exact calculations and finally came to the figure almost closer to what Reddy garu estimated in 3 hours time. Such was the accuracy and intelligence of Chinna Konda Reddy. Whenever Reddygaru came to inspect our work on the site our heartbeat was increased. He never spared even a small mistake. We were 91 afraid when Mr. Reddy came for inspection. He never tolerated any mistakes in the work. In those days when we started the third reach banking work, we were getting around Rs. 3,000 loss. I was supervising the third reach’s 20% bridge foundation concrete work. I didn’t realize that Mr.Reddy was supervising from above, we found 8"Granite rock. According to the specification, we had to remove the rock and finish foundation. I just made the workers cover the rock with the concrete. Meanwhile, someone came and told me that Mr.Reddy was calling me. When I went to him, he was angry. I didn’t understand the reason for his anger. The conversation went like this. Mr.Reddy: Panthulu , what did you do?( He used to call me panthulu) Me
: What did I do Sir?
Mr.Reddy
: Don’t you know what you did?
Me
: I don’t know Sir.
Mr.Reddy
: Didn’t you cover the rock with concrete?
Me
: Yes, Sir.
Mr.Reddy
: Why did you do that?
Me
: Granite is Rock. If we mix it with concrete then it shouldn’t be a problem.
Mr.Reddy
: Is it like that in the specifications?
Me
: No Sir
Mr.Reddy
: Did you learn this in Engineering?
Me
: No Sir. I was really afraid that day. He said “I really trusted you, but you
are going against the specifications. Is that what they taught you in your studies?” saying that he started hitting me with his umbrella. I was afraid and ran away from there and I saw him throwing small stones at me. That evening I was sitting alone. A cook came and told me that Mr. Reddy asked me to come for dinner. With lot of fear, I went to dinner and sat with Mr. Reddy. He asked me again. 92
Mr. Reddy: Why did you do that? Me
: I was angry. We are already getting Rs. 3,000 loss per day. Also,
we have to finish the work as soon as possible. If the granite is there with the concrete, then there won’t be any problem. Mr. Reddy: Panthulu, why do you care about my losses and profits? What is your duty? Your work is to follow the specifications. If you think about profits and losses instead of the specifications, I will not tolerate that kind of behavior. I can’t answer to myself. You are an engineer. In the future, you may be assigned many responsibilities from the government. If you think in different angles and ignore the quality of work, then that is not going to be a correct decision for both of us. God never accepts people who sin. Please don’t do it again. He said it peacefully. I sat alone and thought about what Sri Reddy said that night. I realized that he was a great person. From that day, my attitude on the work changed. Now I am retired recently as S.E. from the department. From the time I joined in the department as J.E. I worked all through with his spirit. As I got older, I realized how quality work is necessary for the community. In many contexts of my life I thought of him. I developed a good relationship with their family. I have a lot to say about him. I am able to see him in one of the slokas of Bhagavadgita which I read daily- Krishna warns “Arjuna the ordinary people will follow what the great people do. Great as you are, you can not do this mistake. What a thought it is! How sincere he was! I learnt a great truth that work is worship. Not only to me but for so many people in those days Reddy garu became a model. Truth and righteousness have meaning only in the lives of such people. Blessed are the parents who gave birth to such a child.