When unfurling the tricolour was a crime

I began my schooling in Ujjain Mahakali temple, Ramkote, under a banyan tree in 1932 and later studied in the Primary School, Sultan Bazar, and finished my schooling from Chaderghat High School. I joined Nizam College (it was then affiliated to Madras University) for my Intermediate.

In 1945, I joined OU Engineering College. Although the medium of instruction was Urdu, a lot of English textbooks were also available. First year classes were held in temporary sheds behind the college before the imposing Engineering College came up.

I was a boarder in ‘B’ hostel near Arts College. The rich or well-to-do and poor boarders had same facilities available in the rooms and in the mess. Most of us used to meet and exchange pleasantries in Urdu. I did not notice communal tension or any kind of such problem in Arts College, OU area during my studies.

The national flag was hoisted at the Arts College building on important occasions in spite of the risk involved in climbing atop the Arts College building. On August 15, 1948, Flag Day was observed and national flags were hoisted on Arts College, other colleges, OU hostels, Nizam College and other colleges, schools and government buildings in Hyderabad. I was leading a procession in Nizam College after the meeting and police attacked the students to disburse them when some were assaulted, including me. After this, the principal of the college asked the police not to enter the college premises without his permission.

(Babu Rao Varma did various courses in OU between 1943 and ’87)