Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Kalyan Ram walks down memory lane

— PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

ALL SMILES: Cine actor Kalyanram, an old student of KCP Siddhartha Adarsh Residential School, enjoying a joke with the current students in Vijayawada on Thursday.

VIJAYAWADA: A day after an exhausting schedule of Yuva Garjana that brought him into public glare, Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, actor and son of Telugu Desam leader Nandamuri Harikrishna, chose to relax and headed straight to a ‘rejuvenating destination’ – his alma mater K.C.P. Siddhartha Adarsh Public School at Kanur.

Reunion froze time and years that passed seemed insignificant. Age took a holiday, though only a fleeting one, to rekindle fond memories of his three-year stay at this residential set-up. “As a child, I was quite arrogant. The fact that I am the grandson of a legend like N. T. Rama Rao had gone into my head and I would look down upon everyone I came across. My parents were naturally worried about my attitude and they thought it best to put me in a boarding school, away from home,” he shared with a select group of students and teachers.

“Schooling makes a world of difference in an individual’s life. I am happy to have studied here because I have spent some of my best moments on this school campus,” he reminisces recounting how difficult it was initially for him to abide by the rules that made it mandatory for hostellers to do their own washing and cleaning-up jobs. “But then I slowly learnt to be self-reliant by doing things on my own.”

It was a visit that helped the actor relax, reflect and refresh by reconnecting with good old days and the set of people who made a difference in his life. “He is my mentor and whatever little English I am able to speak today, I owe it to him,” he said, pointing to S. Chandrasekharan, the school principal who was then his class teacher.

Overriding the surge of emotions evidently caused by the actor’s modesty, Mr. Chandrasekharan recalled interesting incidents associated with his ‘special student’.

In an interactive session with the seniors, he walked down the memory lane to talk about his role as the captain of Yamuna house, the happy hostel life, the role of Viswamitra he donned in a play, his favourite teacher, his best friends and how they managed to sneak into the library to read Tintin comics or have the girls come to their dormitories to play shuttle in the wee hours. “School life is a crucial phase. Make the best of it. Open up, absorb everything imparted here and give out your best. This will certainly help you to put your best foot forward in the days to come,” he advised the boys and girls who listened to their anna in rapt attention.

He then launched the school website by filling up the first alumni association form and opened a philately exhibition before going around the school building.

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