Just drop by the Deputy Director (Information and Public Relations) Office here on any Monday. You will find A. Ramamurthy clad in white dhoti, shirt and khanduva attending to his duty. Perhaps, he is the only one in that office who comes in ‘Telugu attire’ (read dress code) every Monday.
He has been practicing this since the past two years, since then district administration had instructed all the officials to follow the ‘Telugu dress code’ every Monday in the aftermath of the World Telugu Conference that was celebrated in Tirupati in December 2012.
Now, perhaps he is the only one who follows this in the entire district headquarters. “I had made an active participation in the World Telugu Conference (Prapancha Telugu Mahasabhalu). Message to follow Telugu dress code impressed me a lot. So, I have been following it since then. It gives me not only satisfaction but a sense of discipline and commitment to my duties,” Ramamurthy says, who is going to superannuate early next year.
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It was then Chittoor Collector Solomon Arokiaraj, who had instructed the official machinery to follow the dress code mandatorily every Monday. “Apart from being inspired by the Telugu meet, I have been just obeying that official order. That’s all,” Ramamurthy says.
“Till Mr. Arokiaraj was the Collector, almost all officials, except a few, were seen in the Telugu dress code on Mondays. Mr.Arokiaraj himself also followed it religiously,” he recalls.
During his successor, K. Ramgopal’s tenure, the officials at all levels have abandoned it.
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“I am happy that my dress code makes many, even passers by on road, remember that it’s Monday. They might be remembering the glory of Telugu language, history and tradition. I do not know,” Mr. Ramamurthy says with a smile.
Asked about the State bifurcation, he said: “It is a big matter and I am a very small employee to comment.”