Ambiguous Tax Laws and Corrupt Government Employees are a Drag on the Nation

About six years ago I had a series of encounters with a Lower Level Service Tax official who troubled us because we refused to bribe. He applied all kinds of tricks and troubled us for almost four years. For example he will keep asking us to submit the same records again and again. He will not admit the income we earned from services rendered in other countries and paid in foreign exchange as exempt from service tax though the rule said this very clearly. He will keep asking for more and more evidence even when we submitted bank statements, letters bills etc. He will pick up small differences in service tax calculations and keep asking us for records etc. It is a series of encounters with him that made me decide that it is not worth working and expanding my consulting business. I realised that I am earning more for the Government. I am happy to earn for it provided I am treated with respect. I discovered that the more taxes you pay and more honest you are the more you are harassed at least  by the Service Tax Department. I am giving below a few mails I had written at different points of time. In contrast  I must say that I  always had positive experiences with the Income tax department. They were reasonably prompt is settling things and never harassed me for paying high tax. On the other hand at one time they were very polite as we were contributing a good deal in the form of Income Tax.
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Rao TV <talamrao@yahoo.co.in>
To: loksatta_initiative@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, 11 March, 2006 2:15:36 PM
Subject: Re: [loksatta_initiative] Discussions : Corruption.

Appeal to Service Tax Department

Please Don’t Harass Professionals -Honest Tax payers. These are the people who are serving the nation through their services and Taxes.

 

 

 

 

As new services will come under the purview of service tax many professionals who are well qualified and serving the nation in different capacities will come under the purview-Doctors, Lawers, CAs  etc.  However the government is not fully and properly equipped to deal with them. If they don’t deploy appropriate manpower and deploy more corrupt officials who don’t understand and appreciate the contribution of these professionals to the government the taxes they pay besides the services they provide to the public we may be driving the country into intellectual bankruptcy. People will be busy paying service tax and delaing with the officals of the service tax department who don't understand the complexity and the nature of activities. For example in HR area if one does not understnad what is 360 Degree feedback he may waste the time of the professional in asking unwarranted questions. To  Imagine a doctor spending his time calculating the service tax and dealing with service tax officials who think that very one is corrupt and keep searching for evidence to prove the same is a natioanl wastge of intellectual capital!!!. Some professionals in the recent past had harrowing experiences with them. I hope Loksatta will create a forum of Honest Tax Payers and create public monitoring  mechanisms to ensure that what is due to the government goes to the government and  corrupt officials don’t harass people who pay their taxes properly and also help in creating a better society for the future.

 

Citizen’s Code of Conduct For Service Tax Officials

 

1. Please show respect for professioanls and stop harassing honest tax payers as they are earning for you and your salaries also come out of their taxes.
2. Please allow them to do their work so that they can do service and pay tax to you.
3. Please complete audits on time
4. Please don’t ask for same information and documents over and over again
5. Please give proper receipts to documents collected.
6. Please sign register when you go to the premises of the party
7. Please don’t ask honest professionals for bribe – they are already paying for your and other officers salaries through their taxes.
8. Please be as honest in serving the Nation as you want the tax payers to be.
9. Please remembers the Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers Chartered Accountants, Businessmen are in the process of serving you  and the society
10. Please don’t disrupt their work. Allow them to work so that they can earn and pay your taxes and contribute to the Nation in many ways.
11. Please answer their queries and letters and please clarify their doubts.
12. Please don’t quote inappropriate rules to scare them. All of them are not expected to know everything you know just as you don’t know everything about their profession...
13. Please don’t treat every one you meet as “Chor” and use abusive language.

 

"K.N. VENUGOPAL" <we_bangalore04@yahoo.co.in> wrote:

Sir,

 

I read your memo with great anguish.

I do not have any solution to offer. This is just to say I am with you

 

Regards,

K.N.VENUGOPAL

Rao TV <talamrao@yahoo.co.in> wrote:

I am Chairman of a management consulting Firm. We have been paying our service tax and other taxes regularly and honestly as a Management Consultants. In the year 2003 they introduced service tax for commercial coaching from July 2003. When it was introduced it was said for a long time that this service tax was meant for technical coaching like commercial and secretarial services etc. and they could not  clarify  it for quite some time (till today) if  management training is also covered by it. Our letters to the Commissioner of service tax till today remains unreplied. We wrote to Mumbai Director General and he referred it to the local commissioner in our city and we got no response. However not waiting to get the clarification we started collecting and paying service tax from December 2003. Our service tax has come for audit and we received communication from the local service tax office that we should submit all our accounts for audit purposes.  We received two notices from two different officers within a week - one asking to give three year accounts and another asking for the last five years data. Several visits we made to the office the officers concerned were not to be found and no one was willing to accept the accounts documents. We were worried as honest tax payers that we will be unnecessarily harassed for not submitting the accounts while the officers were not to be found. Finally we sent the accounts by registered post. A few weeks after that an officer from the service tax department came to our office and said that he has come to audit. He walked along with another person and did not seem to know anything about the work we do. We had to explain to them for several hours about management consulting, the nature of work we do, give details about different companies we work with and so on. It took a long time explaining to him. He made several trips and we extended all courtesies for lunch tea, his pick up from his office very respectfully as we thought he is serving the nation and we should respect him. There after he kept coming off and on and keeps asking us the same questions again and again. He interviewed some of our employees and wanted to speak on phone to our branch in-charge in another city. Off and on passed on nasty comments about some of our clients like “ Oh company bahut chor hai”. He wanted us to collect certificates from our clients that they have not claimed certain refunds from the service tax department in the city where they are based. We did all that for him. He wanted to see me and when our accountant told him that I am traveling on business, once he threatened that he will conduct raids on us and stop all our work unless I meet him. When I met him he was very polite and asked many questions complimented our work and our sincerity and said he would save us the trouble of having to use a tax consultant and will help us with his advice. I did not understand what he is meaning often. He also would say that he does not expect anything from us in return. Privately apparently he remarked to some of my staff that he will not leave our place without something.

 

He wanted me to pay service tax for the programs conducted between July 2003 and December 2003 for the certificate programs we were conducting some of these programs were announced even prior to the 2003 budget but money collected after the budget. He refused to give anything in writing to that effect. I was advised not to ask for anything in writing as he may get angry and may create more problems. Since the money is only going to government and we can always claim refund we paid promptly nearly to government the service tax a hefty amount including for conferences (which in our view are not covered under commercial coaching) though he never clarified. He said that he is now going to put up the audit report to  the Commissioner who will interview us and finalize the report  and also pass refunds. This happened in December end. We thought that everything is over and felt relieved. He called us up the other day asking for some more information. This audit  is going on for the last six months. We are a small company with just a few professionals and this kind of behavior of government officers is bothering all of us and affecting our work. When our accountant visits the service tax office he warns him not to reveal the identity of the company for which our accountant is working.  We are happy to pay whatever is due to the government and we have been paying the same. What we fear is if we have to bribe. Whom so ever I talk to advise us to pay him something and get rid of him. Is this the society  we want to leave for the future generations? Is this the kind of government we are paying taxes for? I don’t feel like working any more. The way our FM keeps taxing I feel that there is no point earning and paying a service tax to the government for providing all the pain all the way. I feel that at my age when I should be enjoying life why should I earn for the government? Why is my time being wasted by some young and corrupt officials at lower levels. He is very young man and I don’t know how many more have to suffer in his hands.

When I shared this with others like our CA he also told how professionals are being treated badly by this department. Is this the way professionals are being treated in this country by our government? It gives me sleepless nights when I think of this. I don’t want to claim that I am perfect in everything I do. No one can be perfect especially when the government is itself is not clear about what is to be taxed and what is not to be taxed. Even after the law is passed debates goon and our officers interpret the rules as per their wishes. We have not made any mistakes willfully. Is there any one who can help this country?. Is loksatta the agency?. Is it useful to start an Association of Honest Tax Payers and  start using Gandhian techniques against corrupt government officials? Some of them seem to operate so cleverly that it is very difficult pin them down.. Can any one help?

I am planning that at least in a city where I live to take out a procession of honest tax payers with a list of demands on government officers, though there is a fear of being further harassed. Can loksatta help? 

 From: Rao TV <talamrao@yahoo.co.in>
To: Sharma Chander Mohan <cms_929@yahoo.co.in>
Sent: Sun, 12 March, 2006 6:59:22 AM
Subject: Re: corruption

Dear Shri Sharmaji:

Many thanks for your e-mail and for your offer.

Thanks for giving your numebrs. I will contact you to explain my agony and what I am concerned about. I am happy to pay taxes.   Government officers should be concerned about collecting more revenue by facilitting honest tax payers to do their work. I will tell you how much time we spent with this officer in the beginning expalining to him all about our work and showing him all our accounts bit by bot for the alst five years. Perhaps he found us to be nice and vulnerable. We have no evidence to pin him down as he would not even acknowledge the reciept of the documents but merely take them away. I think a code of conduct should be put also on the governemnt officials auditing taxes.

Thanks  

Rao

 

Sharma Chander Mohan <cms_929@yahoo.co.in> wrote:

Dear Mr Rao,

 

This is with ref to your mail ragrding corruption and difficutly in Service Tax interpretation.

 

I have reasonable knowledge of the system within the Service Tax department to combat corrupt practices as also for resolving interpretation difficulties.

 

While doing so, I continue my humble efforts, which are prone to misinterpretation, hence I try to keep away from limelight and make silent contribution.

 

I am optmistic and feel within the department there are  mechanisms to inculcate confidence building measures.

 

Since I am not aware of the town that you are in, hence would appreciate if you interact on one to one basis, with me over the mail.

 

To begin with, the details / copies of  the reference made to Dir Gen, Ser Tax may be given.

You may also advise me if you are having patience to plead the case legally through normal  channels, which may be time consuming but has all the elements of integrity, transparency and reasonableness with possibility of paying taxesand interest on unpaid taxes, if they are legally due.  

 

Should you feel this interests you, then you may carry forward this mail with your comments.  

Thanks. Best Wishes and Warm Regards, For Profitable Tax Compliance Practices - Helping Qualitatively. 

Integrity Pays

 

From: Varun Arya <aryav@sancharnet.in>
Sent: Thu, 16 March, 2006 6:51:00 AM
Subject: [HRInnovators] Fwd: Never to give up!

Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 20:07:55 +0530
To: tv rao <talamvrao@rediffmail.com>
From: Varun Arya <aryav@sancharnet.in>
Subject: Never to give up!

Dear Prof. Rao

Appreciate very much your mail. I thought of reading the attachment of your mail when I had some free time and I have just finished carefully reading it. 

You have faced the onslaught of only the Service Tax deptt. We have faced MHRD, AICTE, state government, local administration, police, CID, service tax, income tax and many many others during the initial three years - everyone trying to extract money from us by trying to harass us by asking us repeatedly same questions, which were already answered. I can say with immense pride that we have not paid the single paise to anyone. Today no one from the government - state as well as central, repeat no one, can stand at our gate and ask for any favour. No one can give a ring and ask me to meet him or anyone.

Let me share with you our approach :

- Never consult any lawyers. The lawyers are generally the liars. Their interest is more in exploiting the client, rather than helping the client. We have always consulted the serving senior judges at their residences and have always got the right advice, despite the lawyers telling us that consulting the judges may be construed as the contempt of court. Of course, we did not have to pay anything to any judge for their advice and guidance. In fact I had the pleasure to savour their so gracious hospitality at their residences. The cases were fought by us and we insisted with the concerned judge of our case that we wanted the hearing and judgement and not "dates". Wherever we found that the judge of our case was swaying in favour of the other party for the reasons other than merit, we always complained about the judge to the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and High Court.

- Never consult any CA. They are generally the agents of the various taxation departments and taxation officers. Take your own decisions and just go ahead with the same.

- Whenever a complaint is made about any officer or judge to the higher authorities, always copy the complaint to the concerned officer or judge so that he/she is aware of the nature of complaint.

- Never call any officer or judge as "Saheb" and do not extend any courtesies except a simple glass of water. If he asks for any favour, just ask him to get out.

- Insist that the officer visits you after fixing prior appointment. If he/she comes without fixing appointment then tell him/her to go back and come after fixing appointment.

- Never visit the office of the concerned officer. He will make you wait and show his importance.

- Never answer any queries, never show any documents and never provide any documents without first getting their need and purpose in writing and also his/her showing you his/her identity card.

- Expose the concerned officer to all his/her seniors in writing including right upto FM and even PM & President as well, as may be deemed appropriate. When required, share this with press & media and other like-minded people as well.

Just to illustrate the above, I am attaching some communications which I had sent to the Income Tax Department. These were sent despite the advice to the contrary by everyone. I sent these because I personally believed that what I was doing was right and I had a right to do so. In any case, ultimately the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax informed me that an enquiry was instituted against the concerned officer and he was shunted out. After that no officer dared to visit us or send us any notice. Similar has been our story with every department, including even the service tax department (a letter to them too is attached).

I will be glad to meet to you to discuss the matter so that a suitable action plan can be made to ensure your being free from problems created by the service tax deptt. Remember - when the going gets tough; the tough gets going. Please never ever give up!

I would like to forward your mail to various groups dealing with fighting the corruption and also IIMA groups. Kindly give your permission.   

Thanks and best regards

Varun
=
At 05:41 11/03/2006, tv rao wrote:

  Dear Varun:
Many thanks for the same. I am enclosing my recent enounters with service tax department. We are being penalised for not bribing and they keep asking us for all kinds of records again and again. I am so fed up with the system I feel like closing the consulting company I have started. You have shown a lot of bravery in the past. I am turning sixty next week and feel that i should spend my time better way than earning for the governemnt. We have been paying taxes to the tune of 45% of what we earn when the IT and service tax are put togetehr and in return what the governemnt gives us is corrupt officals who don't even treat professors with some respect and a system that encourages such people.
Thanks for your mail.
T V Rao

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Rao TV <talamrao@yahoo.co.in>
To: Sharma Chander Mohan <cms_929@yahoo.co.in>
Sent: Fri, 17 March, 2006 12:22:26 PM
Subject: Re: corruption

Dear Sharmaji:

I called you on your cell last Sunday. There was no response. Now I have got a formal communication for the service tax auditor after we insisted that he gives anything in writing. He slapped on us all kinds of tax short falls applying wrong rules (in my view) of the current year to previous years etc.  I can tell you more. This is anticipated as we refused to bribe him. The fact that the audit alsted over six months itself shows something. I am quite happy that at least after seven to eight months of ordeal we have got finally something in written. I am approaching a tax consultant. I will be quite happy to pay to government anything that is due to them as it goes only to my country. However I can't let corrupt officials get away threatening people and applying rules as they like. 

I had been a professor at IIMA and worked very closely with the government ( HRD Ministry etc .). I have worked closely with people like Dr. Rangarajan as the HRD  Advisor to RBI, and with Sam Pitroda on a commonwealth secretariat project. I am mentioning this because you mentioned about the credibility of people whoa re seeking help. We teachers have some difficulty agreeing to corrupt practices in government. I have had excellent experience with the IT department. I had no issues with them in Ahmedabad. I am told the problem is mainly with service tax department as they have excise mind set and they don't have a good image around. My experiences so far prove the same. Any views and suggestions sir?

In any case we should leave a beter country for our future generation.  Governemnt employee salaries should be hiked up if it helps.

 

T V Rao 

Sharma Chander Mohan <cms_929@yahoo.co.in> wrote:

Thanks.

 

Govt has adequate measures in place to deal with the situation like that of yours. We can mend the situation.

 

Only problem is that at a later stage, people buckle down for reasons best known to them. They are comfortable until the demands are not pinching them.

 

Even without that, credibility of people approaching/ raising the issue, is important for the people attending to it. 

Thanks. Best Wishes and Warm Regards,

 From: Rao TV <talamrao@yahoo.co.in>
To: loksatta_initiative@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, 18 March, 2006 4:33:23 AM
Subject: Re: [loksatta_initiative] Re: Discussions : Corruption.

I have been advised by one of the core committee members of Ahmadabad Loksatta that writing to the Government under the RTI (Right To Information act) would do some good of ensuring public accountability of public servants. I have drafted the enclosed list of questions to be asked to service tax department. I learnt that Loksataa earlier organised a conference with service tax department.  This is perhaps the beginning and with one department. If any one is willing to join hands with me is most welcome and it would be a great support. Their answers, if they give will be made available for other members of Loksatta and other yahoo groups. If any of you are experts in asking such questions under RTI please let me know if they have been framed in a useful way and please suggest changes or additions. . I think Loksatta has an important role

Thanks

T V Rao  

Kris Dev <krisdev@gmail.com> wrote:

I feel Mr. Rao and Loksatta and all forums interested in anti-
corruption and civil liberties, shouldtake up with the media and press and show case the details, for a public opinion and debate.This sort of ambiguous situation exists in every spehre of govt.activity and no one seems to be responsible for any such actions.

We need to cleanse the system and make all actions transparent and every official accountable. When and how is the mute question?!

Kris Dev

--- In loksatta_initiative@yahoogroups.com, RAMSU <ramsu1943@...>
wrote:

 The whole department is a bunch of gangsters - out to
 prey on deliberately-unclear & unclarified rules.
 Please speak to the Department-Head on the goings-on
 and send a specific communication to the Finance
 Minister as well as Chief Vigilance Commissioner. In
 fact, by providing to the rascal-officer free access
 to  transport, food & other niceties, you have already
 got entrapped into the bribe-mechanism !

RAMSU

 Right to Information

To

Public Information Officer

Service Tax Commissionarate

5^th Floor, Central Excise Bhavan

Ambavadi, Ahmedabad 3800

Ahmedabad

Sub: Under the provisions of the Right to Information Act 2005

Dear Sir:

Under the provisions of the Right to Information Act 2005,  I seek the following information from you office. I would appreciate if the same is supplied at the earliest as per the requirements of the right to information act?

Warm regards

T V Rao

Former Professor, IIMA

Management Consultancy/ Commercial Coaching and training

General

1. Whose is primarily responsible to pay service tax? Is it the service provider or the service receiver? If it is the receiver, what is the liability of the service provider in case the receiver refuses to pay?

2. It is said that service tax is a tax liable to be paid by the person or organization availing the services of a service provider. In case the user of service fails to pay the service tax or refuses to pay the service tax is the service provider liable to pay the same? If so within how much period and from what source? Whose responsibility is it to recover such tax? Is there any provision in the service tax laws to give adequate time for recovering such dues from the service consumer without the service provider being subject to penalties and interest for failure to pay the tax on time?

Executive development Programs

3. Are Executive Development programs (publicly announced knowledge and skill development programs) organized in hotels and other premises by a management consulting firm be treated as commercial training and coaching? Since which date is the fee received from such programs becomes a taxable service (1 st July 2003?) ?  If such program fee collected has become taxable (say from 1^st July 2003), what is the actual date of passing such a law or rule? If a program has been designed and offered and the participants registered for the program before the date of passing the law, is the participant liable to pay service tax? (This is because many management schools, firms and institutions plan and offer their programs six months to a year in advance) Is the service provider liable to pay tax if such a program is offered during the tax period but conceived and announced prior to the date from when the law has come to force?

Export of Services

4. Since which date is the exemption to   management consultancy services exported to other countries and fee collected for exporting services to other countries  received in foreign exchange been withdrawn and has become subject to service tax?  What are the conditions that should be fulfilled for such an exemption?

5. Is it true that Indian firms paying in foreign currency from their foreign currency accounts consultancy fee is exempt from service tax? If the provision has been withdrawn from which date has it been withdrawn and the service receiver or provider liable to service tax?

 Audit

6. Is there I a code of conduct prescribed for service tax auditors? If yes please supply the same. If no, please provide information on the following:

6.1. Are they expected to maintain any departmental register of their movement whenever they go for service tax audit?

6.2. Is the register available for public scrutiny?

6.3. What are the norms of duration of audit? Is the audit manual available for public? If no what are the reasons for such a document like audit manual not being available to public who are payers of such a public tax like service tax? If yes where can copies be available? And what rights the tax payers have on the audit?

6.4. Which year’s rules (on tax rates, services covered etc.) should be applied in auditing the tax for a given year? That year’s rules or the rules made applicable in subsequent years? Under what provisions such new rules can be applied with retrospective effect?

7. Is the tax payer supposed to know each and every small detail of the service tax laws? If yes what has the service tax department done to pass such information in detail to its tax payers since the last ten years?

8. Is the service tax auditor supposed to know about the nature of service provided by the service provider before he goes for such an audit?

9. Is the service tax payer expected to send transport and meet the food and other living expenses of the auditors during the audit? If no, does the audit manual provide clearly not to accept such courtesies and treat them as breach of discipline?

Harassment of tax payers and disruption of their work

10. What is the action prescribed for delaying audit reports and misguiding the tax payers or threatening the tax payers? What kind of evidence will be admitted? Are the tax payers supposed to maintain records of the visit by audit officials? If an officer quotes the service tax rules wrongly and takes over six months to complete the audit and repeatedly summons the staff for explanations etc.. With an intention of scaring or harassing the tax payer (for example by applying the rule of the current year to the previous year when they are different) extract money from the service provider unlawfully, what provision is made for action to be taken on such an erring officer? Can inconsistencies in his own report be admitted as evidence for such an action? What action is prescribed in the code of conduct?

11. Should the tax payer have a right to ask the auditor to sign a register and give receipt of all documents he takes? If the auditor refuses to give the same what is the course of action left for the tax payer without being harassed further?

12. What are the safeguards the service tax department has provided against harassment of tax payers by the auditors?  How are they being enforced? Is there a customer satisfaction survey and a 360 customer appraisal of the auditors? How is the accountability of auditors ensured by the department?

13. If an audit officer threatens the party about conducting rides disallowing some parts of fee and such other matters etc. what should the service tax payer do?  What provisions are there in the law to protect the tax payer from such harassment from audit officers?

Copyrighted material

14. If in a management consultancy firm charges a fee for using its copyrighted material as royalty is it taxable service? Since when? Under what law? What re the conditions for it to be considered as management consultancy?

15. Are book royalties earned by a management consultancy firm taxable? Under what law and since when?

16. If a consultancy project involves collection of statistical information about individuals and collation of the same using copyrighted instruments, is the fee changed for the same considered as management consultancy? Under what law or provisions of the finance act? Since when?  

17. If a routine service like data analysis is provided through internet without any human involvement is the service taxable? Since when? Under what law or rule?

18. If a substantial part of the service provided by a management consultancy firm is of routine nature and is carried out by non professionals (secretaries, typists etc.) as a part support service to the consultancy is it liable to service tax? Since when? If yes, if the same service is provided by an outside party on a salary or an outsourcing fee is it still liable to be taxed?

Advance Fee

19. If in a project the consultancy firm collects the fee in the form of advance fee for services to be rendered and the service is not yet rendered is the service not yet provided liable to pay service tax even before the service is rendered and the final settlement is made? Under what rule? Since which date? 

20. If the service is finally not rendered and the project is not complete, can the refund of service tax be claimed from the department?

21. If a service provided in a particular year (2004-05) but the fee is collected in the previous year (2003-04) what is the service tax liability? i.e.  at what rates the tax be paid : (i) tax applicable in the fee collected year or (ii) tax applicable in the service rendered year?

22. If it is in the year when the service is rendered then what is the rationale in asking the service provider to pay tax on the basis of the cash received? What exactly does the law say?

Clubs and Other services

23. If a management consultancy firm creates a fan club (like creativity club or 360 degree club) and services them through newsletters, management literature, games and exercises,  and statistical analysis and copyrighted psychometric test etc. is such a service taxable? Under what rule and since which date?

24. There are sports which give exercise to physical wellbeing. Similarly there are intellectual and mental sports like a creativity club who offer services for small fee to maintain the club membership is it liable to tax? Since when? Under what law?

Service Tax payers in Ahmedaabd

25. How many management consultancy firms are registered in Ahmedabad as management consultancy firms? How many of them pay service tax for the Training program they conduct under the head commercial coaching and training?

26. Are they all paying service tax on the program fee they charge for the programs they are conducting?

27. Do AMA, EDI, NID, CEPT, CERC, IIMA pay service tax on their consultancy services?

28. Do they pay tax on all their Executive development programs they conduct? If not what are the rules under which they are exempt?

29. How many audits have been conducted this year? What is the duration of each of the audits by your officers? How much money has been collected?

30. Are there targets of service tax collection given to your officers? Is there an incentive for meeting targets? How many of your officers have been given such incentives in the last six months?

Centralized registration and CANVET

31. If a firm maintains its branch is another city but follows a centralized accounting system and pays income tax and service tax centrally from its inception, is the firm required to apply again for centralized registration? Or should the branch office register separately in the city where it exists and pay its service tax in the city where it is located? What is the rationale?

32. Since when (date) is the centralized registration made compulsory? Is it necessary for a firm to keep registering every time it opens a new office or recruits a representative office even when it is paying all its taxes at the Head office?  

33. If a consultancy firm X pays service tax on a project fee and a person ‘A” working on the same project as a consultant claims service tax and pays the same in the city where he/she works, can the firm “X” reclaim the service tax paid as the service tax has been paid twice for the same project? Under what conditions is such CENVET credit not allowed to be taken? Please quote the law or the rule.  

 From: rajesh arora <rajesha@bom3.vsnl.net.in>

To: talamrao@yahoo.co.in
Sent: Sat, 18 March, 2006 12:21:19 PM
Subject: Querries on Service Tax

Dear Prof T V Rao,

 

I am happy to see your efforts to seek information on this area, as I too run my own Mgt consulting firm. Your queries are all very valid and we professional should get some inputs from Govt Bodies on these issues.

 

Warm Regards

Dr Rajesh Arora
Director - TQMS
Approved Professor in Management, Heriot Watt University, UK.
Trainer - SHRM
Best Speaker Award, TOAST MASTER International, US.

I think the so called civil society representatives are wasting the nation’s time on focussing on issues like whether the PM should be covered or the Mps, IAS officers should be covered etc. JP has already done enough to ensure that corrupt Mps are not elected or even given tickets. Why don't they push it? There is no doubt the more responsible position holders should be above board. However there are many issues that need to be tackled. Corruption is at the core of the country. We make laws that encourage people to be corrupt. For example most of the laws dealing with Income tax, service tax and many other taxes are made in such a way they could be interpreted the way the lower level officer likes and harass the public for money. Mostly they harass the honest people. Corrupt citizens have a way of dealing with corrupt officers. It is only the honest who suffer.  Corruption is there in almost all government and Municipal Corporation and other offices that deal with public. If any in my view it is less at the top as at least the top fears that if they are caught they are behind the bars. At lower levels there is no such fear as there are associations and many other interest groups that come to their rescue.

There is also a need for change in the DNA of all of us Indians. We are selfish, jealous, want all rules to be applied to our neighbours and when we flout rules we want exceptions to be made to us and can go to any extent to get such favours. In academics and industry we also pull down our neighbours and Indian competitors and show a lot of respect for people from other countries and MNCs.   For example we get management experts from other countries paying them thousands of dollars and if we can't get them at least we want a foreign consulting company and may not implement anything but use their name to sell our brand.  

 T. V. Rao 

The Girl from Mulki

The Girl from Mulki

“We meet  to depart and we depart to meet again” said Rabindranath Tagore.

These are the words written by my “Thangi” (means younger sister in kannada) almost 45 years ago in 1965 September as we were departing on our first quarterly vacation from Regional College of Education.  I was feeling bad to leave her and the campus though it was only for a few days after our exams were over.

I was hardly 18 years of age and finished my graduation and joined the one year B. Ed. Course at REC Mysore. In Kannada Thangi means younger sister. She was not born in my family but she came to be my Thangi after the first few meetings with her. In a short period of time I got very attached to her. Perhaps I saw someone depending on me like a younger sister on her elder brother. I joined REC after my B. Sc. at Loyola college Vijayawada.  I wanted to do my M. Sc. In Chemistry. The Principal of Loyola College Fr. Gordon felt I was too young to do my M. Sc. and could wait for a few more years. In the mean time he got me an application form from RECM which was paying stipend of Rupee 75 per month for those intending to do their B. Ed. 

I came from a rather poor family. I was born to a rich father but he deserted my mother after I was born as he belonged to different caste and his village fellows did not want my mother to take any part of his wealth got him married to someone from his own community. My mother was keen that I get educated well. The Loyola college principal who took a lot of interest in me became almost my Godfather and took care.

I was perhaps the youngest in RECM among those who came to do their one year B. Ed. Most others from all four states of Andhra, Mysore, Madras and Kerala were much older than me. Some were already Master’s degree holders. That was the first year of RECM introducing a four year integrated B. Ed. Course. There were many other youngsters. I was admitted and in the first week itself we were to form into four different houses. Each house called as “sadan” was a mixture of students from different states and streams and included the one year B. Ed. Science, Commerce and the four B. Ed. Science, Home science, commerce and Agriculture students. There was a meeting of the members of sadan. My name figured out in Bapu Sadan. We all assembled in a big hall and there is to be the first cultural program meant to select the cultural secretary and other office bearers.. I did some mimicry on the stage mixing a few Telugu songs. Then came this girl Thangi who sang a song “He Mere vatan ke Logo....”. Young girl from Mulki a village near Mangalore. I did not even know much of details about her except that I liked her song very much. It was several years later I came to know it was sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Pandit Nehru even got tears in his eyes when he heard this song from Lataji. Thangi later gave us a beautiful Kannada version of the tune “Oh Kannada nada Bhuvara... etc.” I wish I have the entire song now to remember my Thangi well. I wish we had all the modern facilities so that I could record and hear that song over and over again. Thangi had a lovely voice and we longed to hear her sing on the stage.

Bapu sadan elections were held. I was proposed by someone to be Secretary and Thangi to be the Assistant or joint Secretary. There was unanimity and we became the two to organise many things. I recollect us organising hardly anything as most things used to be organised by the college: picnics, cultural events, speeches etc. I remember Thangi sing when the Governor r of Karnataka V V Giri visited us at that time. She sang that beautiful “Oh Kannada nada Bhuvara..”

It is not our association in Bapu Sadan that got me closer to Thangi. One of those early weeks at RECM we were sitting in the open canteen. The canteen in those days used to be in the middle of the College and the demonstration multipurpose school. If you sit here you can watch the students come from their hostel to the college. They have to walk a few hundred yards perhaps 300 or so yards cutting across the open fields in front of the hostels between the college and the hostels. Our hostel was closer to the college and the girls’ hostel far off. That day we saw three girls first year of the four year B. Ed. Ones running in the play grounds. They were running helter skelter. We noticed that something was wrong. Then we saw one of the senior boys (One year B Ed) boys following them. He was a little ugly looking and with crooked hands. His hands did not appear normal. He was always lifting them up. I and my colleagues rushed to the girls.

Thangi came running me and said “ Anna this man is following me. He comes where ever I go and I am frightened”. As she was telling this, the fellow walked by our side and went fast us pretending as though it did not concern him. It was difficult for us to conclude that he was following the girls or it was a mere imagination on their part. I assured Thangi that I and my other friends will keep a watch on him and she has nothing to fear. I asked her the normal time when she goes to the class and assured her that I will keep a watch on him as my room faces the open fields and around that time I can see them go to the college. Later we got the name of the student as Mr. Nirulla. He was supposed to be a somewhat abnormal person as our enquiries revealed but a good person. It looks he had an obsession with Thangi.

Wherever he saw Thangi he used to follow her perhaps involuntarily. The campus is so open that I also found it hard to say that he is following her. Once I questioned him politely and for every question he would smile and not reply. It became my job to keep an eye on Thangi and Nirulla for almost a few weeks.

That is how our relationship grew.  I don’t remember when we spoke first more and more after this. I told my story to her once and how I am the only child and longing to have a sister, as I spent my entire childhood all alone. She told me her story of how she had a good friend in the school by name Ashok Shenoy in her village Mulki and how much I resembled him. She also felt perhaps that is one reason why she felt quite close and comfortable talking to me.

I felt so happy that entire year to have a sister like  her. It looked as though we were born in the same family and got separated for so many years and got together after 18 years. She  was perhaps 14 or 15. I liked whenever she called me Anna and I used to call her all the time Thangi. As I had no one calling me as Anna till then it meant a great deal to me.

The relationship grew and we used to do many things not aware that the college community is noticing us.  We used to write letters to each other and exchange them through the library. I will keep my note book as I enter the library at the entrance where we are to leave our books. Thangi will come and leave a letter in my note book and after she enters the library I will go out and collect my note book but leave a letter in her note book at the entrance. Now I cannot quite recollect what we wrote to each other so much. I guess we wrote about each other’s studies, life, families etc. as there was no other opportunity to meet. When we are in Bapu Sadan excursions we were rarely  together as we had our tasks to do. However I used to always long for her to be there. I believed that she also did the same. Some of the other girls became jealous of our relationship. One of them who longed to be with me was one Meenakshi.

Thangi had her trio of friends: Shubha, Sudha and Thangi. Wherever they went they were together. They even dressed the same most of the time. The campus was very envious of their closeness. I am sure they were also envious of our closeness with the girls. Sometimes I heard later some of the Kannadiga students went and scolded Thangi for being so close to a Telugu fellow.

For me the relationship was that of Anna and Thangi. I never had anything except that. I felt so happy that God has given me a Thangi after all these years. I used to bring Cherries from the city wherever I went on Sundays. The cherry shop I still recollect near the bus stand next to the Palace in Mysore. Thangi used to come and wait for my return and collect the cherries from me at the bus stand. Her hostel warden Essica Barnabas also was fond of me. She used to appreciate our relationship but used to give me smile of warning. On some of the Saturdays and Sundays when we got time we used to meet and talk for a while and go.

Thangi introduced me to her brother Ramesh and father who came to see her brother Ramesh  off when he got a job in Lucknow. I also wrote a couple of letters to Ramesh  at Luknow explaining how much I loved Thangi as my sister and telling him about how I am the only some and longed for a sister. He even wrote a poem from Bhagavad-Gita suggesting that I should not get too attached to her and attachment leads to frustration and anger and losing of senses.  I never understood it for quite some time as I thought that wishing someone to be your sister is not "desiring" something. It is only later I realised the  psychology so well depicted by Lord Krishna. How much I longed her to be  close and when it is far how I was getting frustrated.

My association of one full year with Thangi has left lasting impression and mark in my life. Little did I know that for me it meant a real sister? Perhaps those who have real sisters forget them fast as they would have had enough of them as children but those who discover their sisters late may not be able to forget them. I do not know what the relationship meant for Thangi. I only know that it either did not mean the same or something which I am not aware has happened or something which I said had done irreparable damage. I came to know that after I left the college she had to continue for another three years there. In the second year some of the Kannada students went and told her things that may have made her develop some kind of negative feelings to me. Or maybe it is psychological reaction of losing an Anna or I do not know. Once I was out of the RECM and she went home, she stopped writing to me or replying my letters. At home in the village I had only one thing to do all day. Wait and wait for her letters from Mulki. The post man Purushotham must have got fed up with me as every day  between 9 and 10,  I walk to the post office and look for letters. Day after day I expect and I used to get nothing. Perhaps I got a couple of letters in the entire two months or so.

She donated a sari for my mother. I was so happy about it and my mother was also happy. She did not wear it yet and I got a message that her parents were asking for the sari and I should return it. I had to parcel it back.

I graduated with first class and also got the first rank in science stream. I decided to pursue my studies in psychology s advised by one of the professors at RECM who saw my interest in psychology. I joined Osmania. I had all her letters (thanks to the library at RECM that facilitated our letters) saved and used to read and re-read after I left RECM. I was eagerly looking for the convocation so that I could go to Mysore and meet Thangi. When I went for the convocation to Mysore, I wanted to find out why she was not replying my letters. I was longing to meet her but it was not possible. As she was busy in classes or did not want to meet me. Finally when I managed to meet her, she promised me that she will write letters and that I should destroy all the letters she wrote to me at RECM.  Our meeting as not happy ending. I believed her but felt that she was trying to get rid of me and did not have any more that sisterly love. Perhaps that is how the girls are. They need someone to protect them and when the need is over and the person is not there someone else is needed. But for me she is someone whom I loved and I can only say that I never had any other thoughts, though one of my professors at RECM told me that quite a few love stories begin with brotherly love and lead to marriage.     

On return to Osmania first thing I did was to burn all the letters to keep my promise. Perhaps this is the mistake I made as the only memories I had were destroyed. I wish I  saved these childhood memories.

Every time I attempted to meet her I got only scolding or rebuffs from her or her husband.

I am now sixty three years old. Have lived full life established myself. I have a loving family, two daughters, a son, a grandson, enough money for decent life; three institutions started by me, author of 50 books, respect in the society and called as Father of HRD and all a big name. With all of this even today I feel something is missing and that is my Thangi how loved me so much as Anna and whom I loved so much in that one year of our co-existence.

Even today after so many years I get peculiar dreams. I dream that I am trying to meet her in her hostel, I reach near her hostel and something happens. She just left the hostel. Or I dream that I got her address and I almost reached her and she left just then. Sometimes she comes in my dream, introduces her husband, and promises to be in touch and latter nothing happens. Forty five years later even today I get dreams of trying to reach her. I don’t understand why? Is my attachment so deep that after so many years it remains intact. How can any person keep distance from someone whom you call as Anna for one full year and not only forget but not even be responsive?

I was not invited for her marriage. I would have loved to go and meet Mr.  Shenoy about whom I heard from REC students.  Latter I heard that they went to USA.

My first trip to USA, I was working at Harvard. It was 1975. I tried for several sources to know where Thangi and Mr.  Shenoy were. In those days you had to ask for city based directory. I called city by city. Finally I got someone who gave me the correct address. It was my first trip to US. I did not know that I am calling someone in different time zone. The moment I called Mr. Shenoy, I got a bag full of scolding from Mr. Shenoy that I am disturbing every one and I had no business to call people like that. I did not even get a chance to talk to Thangy.

A couple of years later I went on another trip to USA and wanted to meet them. I even routed myself through Chicago. I called again and again I got the same scolding from Mr.  Shenoy.

About ten years ago I got an opportunity to travel to Udipi. I made it a point to visit Mulki her village and see the house where she lived. I got her Brother Ramesh Kamath’s address and met him in Mangalore. He wanted his brother to be transferred from north to Mangalore. I spoke to the Chairman of the Bank but could not succeed in helping him. Ramesh also has not forgive me for that. It was my bad luck that I could not get this done in spite of my closeness to the CMD of the Bank. They told me that they are trying to do but they did nothing.  Next time I called Ramesh he did not sound welcoming at all. He responded on phone “What do you want?”

It was so disappointing.

Even today once a while I get dreams of trying to reach Thangi. I am aware if I meet her once and get to know what made her become so averse to her Anna the dreams will stop.

The memories are very strong. I met her friends Sandhya and Shubha a few times latter. About ten years ago I met Sandhya with my wife and daughter. When I met Shobha recently she mentioned that the students said certain things to Thangi after I left the campus and that may have changed her attitude. Perhaps someone even tried to take advantage of our closeness. I do not know the truth. All that I know is I got a loving Thangi for sometime and lost her.

Some people believe that you get back what you have done in the previous Janam. Many Masters and Many Lives by Dr Brian Weiss makes me believe that we are perhaps related in the previous Janam and perhaps we are destined to meet in the next janam.  

This attempt is the last perhaps to see if we depart to meet again as she wrote in one September 1965!

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14-04-2012

This may be interest to readers how significant events from childhood leave lasting impressions in your mind and shape many things yo do. I consider my life to be rich filled with hard work, writing books sharing my knowledge with others, starting new institutions etc. I have many accomplishments to my credit as the other blogs may indicate. With all the richness in life I had including a caring and all the time supportive wife, loving children, great students and warm and appreciative colleagues wherever I worked - I still long to meet up with my Thangi with whom I lost touch 46 years ago. I sill get strange dream once in a while. One of the most common dreams I get is RECM. I am visiting RECM and trying to meet Thangi. Thangi is just there but does not want to see me. Some times I dream that  I met her and her husband. She wanted me to visit her and gave me her address. But I can't go there as the address she gave is not right etc. etc.  I know where she lives. It is not difficult for me to go and meet her in the USA or during one of her trips to meet her brother in Mangalore. But I won't. If I do the story might end there. That is the psychology of life.     

Childhood Memories

What Do I Remember from My Childhood

Living in thatched hut. In front of the hut used to a good garden where a lot of corn used to be grown. We used to have a few cows in the beginning. My Grandfather used to have some cows and buffalos. I do not remember how many but some vague recollections of two to three. Specially playing with the calves. Beautiful calves. The day when the cow gave birth used to be a festive day as we used to get a lot of Junnu (thick milk) from the cows. I remember being fond of it and how it used to be distributed. It now looks like small hut but in those days the recollection of having a big house and filled: all amounting to 500 square yards. The house was of thatched hut and my mother used to have small ht by the side of the big hut where my grandfather lived. I also recollect my grandfather touching my feet early morning before I Got up and taking my name and calling “Edukondalawada Venkataramaan Govinda,  Govinda, ... and proceed to his work” perhaps that is why he named me as Venkateswara Rao. He used to take my name in the morning and used to think that he will have a great day. I also remember my grand father carrying me on his shoulders to work. I also remember watching him cut the palm tress and take our honey and bring loads of it home. I also remember how we used to lick the palm leaves for honey once the beehive from the leave was cut.

I remember my grand father feeding me “mungikayalu” from the palm tree. There used to be loads of them in my house and I used to enjoy them.

My first feelings:

We were poor. Our meal used to be rice with butter milk and occasionally a curry. Every day I used to go to the near by Rich farmer’s house and fetch butter milk for us. I do not remember if we used to get it free or my mother paid any money. My recollection was that we used to get it free. May be two letters or so and every day early morning I used to walk a mile and fetch the same. The incident I remember is when I was fetching the buttermilk one day and I was crossing the school play ground between my house and the place where I was to fetch the butter milk. Some on teased me by calling me as son of Krishnayya (his real name was Velagapudi Venkata Krihsna Rao also known Velagapudi Krishna Murthy). I do not know for what reason it angered me. This is because my father was not living with us. My mother was raising me all by her self and I had no father. He deserted my mother and married some one else in the village from his own community. My mother was left to take care of me and her. So this comment of some one pointing out about my father angered me and I hit the pot full of buttermilk to the ground and broke the pot. I remember going home crying and telling my mother some one ahs called me as Krishnayya’s son. That is the truth perhaps I was not prepared to hear. Even today whenever I get angry I tend to hit myself or the objects around me. Perhaps our response patterns are set from our child hood.

My first day in school:

I have very vague recollection of the celebration of sending me to school. They bought me slate and also distributed palaharam in the school. I do not remember much after that but have a vague recollection of one of my classmates in the school Natal Riprap. I do not know how long I went to school and when I was taken out. I do not remember anything of going to a primary school. I remember going for tuitions.

Skipping Primary

I did not go to regular school up to fifth standard. I skipped fifth standard apparently.

In the tuitions I have a clear recollection of another college of mine from a neighboring village. I have vague recollections of nothing getting into his head and the teacher asking me to teach him. That was perhaps third standard or fourth standard equivalent. I remember his not learning whatever I was teaching and I remember giving him a big pinch and he was crying all the way from tuition teachers house to his house more than a mile away. The pinch was so hard he started bleeding slightly (gillatam valana).

I have a reasonably good recollection of my first day in the sixth standard. I along with Sudhakar and Perepi my neighbors went to school. We ate raw mangoes. I was in the school and one of use vomited on the bench. I also remember our hands becoming dirty with ink and other students teasing us. I think Perepi was known for dirtying himself all the time with ink.

Panganamalu:

I then have a good recollection of how people used to call me 111. Every year grandfather used to go to Tirupathi. I used to go and give my hair. The custom in the village was whenever you went to Tiruapti Balaji you go round the village collecting all the offering of other people to Lord Balaji and then offer to him on their behalf. This was called Jogi. I remember accompanying my grandfather for jog one or twice. I also remember walking with him all the way to Balaji. I don’t remember Lords’ darshan but I remember carrying his cheppals and also remember the monkeys taking away some thing I was eating on way from Balaji mandhir in Tirupathi.

Then as I returned I used to have on my face the symbol of Balaji and the other students use to call me No 111. I was the only one in school with big panganamalu. Other students also used to call me Tirupathi. In fact my name was often called as Tirupathi Venkateswara Rao. It is only in latter years it became Talam. Until my 10^th standard or so I was Tirupathi and not as talam.

1-6-08

As I started writing this I started remembering many things:

I have vague recollections of my mother cleaning Prasad at home. He was small came to our thatched but and did big business. I do not know why he was coming to our house after all that ahs happened to my mother from my biological father. Talam is not my original surname. My mother who belonged to gowda community and my father who belonged to kamma community went away from the village and got married secretly. When I was in her womb my father was forcible brought back to the village and was married to another woman from her community. My father came from a very rich family in the village. Perhaps his was the richest. He had many brothers and in the division every one of them became less rich and all sold their lands and went way to different cities, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Karnataka etc. latter.

My mother apparently returned with me in her womb and to save the family prestige she was married to her maternal uncle who was much older than her. His sir name was Talam and that is how I got the surname. O it is not from my biological father’s side. My father’s surname was Velagapudi.  MY foster father never lived with my mother as she never allowed him to come near him. I have vague recollections of my going to his village about fifteen miles away from my village Akunuru and playing with neighbors. I have vague recollections of the house another thatched hut with a number of trees etc. The village itself (Gaddipadu) may have had a lot of changes.

My mother stayed on with her Father Rajulapti Pothuraju. His main occupation was to cut palm leaves from the trees. Each farmer in the village had number of farm trees in their farms. They leaves grew every year. They had to b cut every year and given to the farmer. The farmer sold them or used them to repair their huts or houses or used for firewood. Most of the farmers in my village were rich. We did not have any land but ahs a lot of palm trees. My grandfather used to leave every morning by about 4.00 am or 5.00 am to cut the palm leaves. Some times he took me along with him. The reason why I went was either to get honey or to eat palm fruit (munjikayalu). He used to take me when I did not have school.  For doing this work he either got some money or he got a lot of paddy from the farmers at the time of harvest. In harvesting days I still remember accompanying my Grandfather to visit the fields and get from the farmers the paddy due to him. My grand father would collect paddy like that and store it in his own  house (in the ground by “pathara” or on the surface by creating a special storage room made with grass (endu gaddi). Some of it he sold.

 I also remember my grand father getting up every day and touching my feet. He used to take my name and touch my feet by saying “Edukondala wada venkatramana govinda govinda”. He used to say that f he saw my face and went for work he got a lot of luck. He loved me so much that he did not sleep without taking my name. Every festival he celebrated. Knowing fully well that his daughter went way and bought with her back a child who did not belong entirely his community, naming me after Lord Venkateswara and calling me by that name gave his a lot of satisfaction.

I cannot forget how I have not been able to see him during his last days and the kind of end he met. I was going to Indonesia at that time my dates were fixed from XLRI. I went home, he was in sick bed without food and an enough care. My mother was there but was not so kind to him. They never got along well through out their life. May be because she did not follow his instructions or did not fit into his thinking and value system. For her as a woman it was difficult to live and bring me up. He had to be aggressive in life and became popular either as Ayurvedic treatments or as paddy business woman or as muta mastry. My Grand Father did not like it at all. There used to be fights all the time. My mother was given  a separate thatched hut to live by the side of my Grand father’s house. Some times the fights use dot is very violent. My grand father seemed to have hated her with the same intensity as he loved me and from my mother’s side it was reciprocal. My mother’s ambition was to educate me.

Many people in the village apparently told her to go to court and get some property from my father. My mother chose not to do that. Either she loved him so much or that she was too stubborn to do it. She preferred to raise me by working hard than by getting my father’s money.

Apparently my Father was afraid that she will some day co to court to get her share. He sold all his property from the village and went way to other city ( Eluru first, Vijayawada and then to Karnataka I am told) to run some hotel business. When I met him finally s several years latter he was an insurance agent.

My date of Birth and early education:

My official date of birth is 14^th march 1946. This is not correct. But to prove that this is not correct is difficult. In those days most of my classmate’s date of births were wrongly stated. The parents were told to give a higher age as they do not allow us to sit for the exams unless we are of right age. For example unless you are fifteen years of age you are not allowed to sit for the exam of school final 11^th standard. I  was appearing for my school final in 1961 April. In spite of my age being put as one as and half higher than the real date of birth, I had to get a medical certificate stating that I am healthy and fit to sit in the examinations. I was perhaps shorter by a few weeks as per my record. But really when I appeared for the 11^th standard examinations I was 13 years and six months, nearly one and half years shorter than what was needed. My classmate GK PCh Gandhi also had to get a medical certificate as he was under aged. He was put as born in January of 1948 four months after I was born. His mother and my mother were good friends. My father’s house used to be next Gandhi’s house. Whenever I went to Gandhi’s house there used to be some conversation of their neighbors. I had strict t instructions not to go into their (my Father’s compound) as I may be poisoned. I was not to drink anything given to me from there. Of course there was no scope of any one giving anything from there as I did not see any one from there. I have no recollection of seeing my father until I was in the second year of B. Sc. When he got my brother Prasad for an admission into Loyola College. Some one told my father that I am very close to the principal Fr. Gordon. I do not know why he came he came along with my brother to meet me and see if I can put in a word to the priests. Looking back I cannot believe that he came with the same purpose. Is it out of love for me? Not likely. Out o a hope that my brother will get admitted as the Principal was fond of me and they all know my story.

Coming back to my date of birth, the only birth day’s I celebrated were my friend Gandhi birth days. On his birth day I used to go to his house and his mother (Rnganaykamma Garu) gave me luddus and kheer and I used to love them. Gandhi would be dressed well on that day there are poojas etc.

My grandfather used to tell me that I was born in the year we got Independence and one week before dussera day and on a Friday. When I was in the second year of B. Sc. At Loyola college, Vijayawada I told this to my friend Govindu Balaswamy ( he is now a big property dealer in Hyderabad, after he retired from service IDPL at Hyderabad). He went to his village and consulted his village purohits who took out the dates and gave it as 17^th October 1947. This was a Friday. One week before Dussera that year. My mother went to see the last show movie in Vuyyuru Theater. She had to walk back. She left half way through as she was seeing the movie as she had pains. I was born that morning may be around four or 5 am. No one gave me the exact time (tellavrujahmu is all that they could say). Apparently I did not cry when I came to this world. Every one thought that  a dead boy was born until our neighbor old person by name Chenchamma put water on me and I cried loud and they all knew that I am born alive.

So I was born in 1947 a few days after independence. I was born into independent India. I was born when Mahatma Gandhi was alive. Apparently I learnt latter that Mahatma Gandhi came to our village and camped for a night in the village. Of course he went without seeing me or even my friend K P CH Gandhi who was named after him - as we were not born.

Looking back to think I got into 6^th standard when I was eight years old, passed SSLC my thirteenth year and B.Sc in my seventeenth year and B. Ed. In my eighteenth year is some times very strange. I never felt under aged but definitely challenged at every point of time. I was not of course a ranker in studies until I got into B. Ed. Where I began to top in  mot subjects of psychology and education in spite of all my  classmates being at least three to four years elder to me and completed as well as topped M. A. Psychology in my 20^th year of life  sounds strange. I never felt proud of doing so many things at a young age. I could have done a lot more perhaps.

My Pre University onwards was all filled with good memories. May be because I remember most of them.

School Days

I have value recollection of visiting Tirupathi. Also vague recollections of my returning from selling laces made by mother in the neighboring village. Eating in my classmate’s house though I was told not to eat as they are a community living outside the village and are untouchables.  After I returned I have vague recollections of some sick people being treated in my neighbor’s house for illness by some Christian missionaries. Then these people recovering and my mother and a whole team of them inviting the catholic priests to teach them Christianity. I also have vague recollection of mass conversion of a group of them from all caste groups and communities led by my mother and some others to be Roman Catholics, a big celebration.

I also remember being teased by my college friends even after that as no 111 or Panganamalu. My grand father being an ardent Hindu and believer in Hinduism still will take me to Tirupathi as he perhaps never accepted the conversion. He in fact used to say all are gods who eve it is but never gave up his devotion to Lord Venkateswara.

I also remember my playing badminton in the school grounds several days. Trying volley ball but not succeeding as I was perhaps too short for the game. I used to be good in kabadi and kho kho and have some certificates also.

I also remember my not getting an opportunity to play in school grounds and complaining to my mother. A few days latter my mother and grand father got a kabadi court made in front of my house that court lasted fro a long time and many people in the village used to come and play in theta court. Especially my friends. In fact this is perhaps an indication of my achievement motivation or power I do not know. I do not remember any feelings but I do remember the courts and the joy of playing there. Gandhi and I used to of course play badminton in the school court.

The Ugly Days

The Other most significant part that I remember is the series of events that have happened in the tenth standard and school final. This is the Bhanu Akkay affair. Every event that is associated with it is a story to remember as it left many marks in my young mind. It may have also destroyed the life of Bhanu Akkay. It deserves a write up. I will write in details what could happen in a school at young age. 

Places I used to visit:

My grand mother’s place Kondiparru and Pamarru where my other’s younger sister lived.

Festivals:

Festivals was a great time. I still remember how we celebrated all festivals. The master festival was of curse deepavali. Preparations for it used to begin almost a month or more in advance. Our work was to collect male palm tree branches which gave a kind of powder that went to make Poola Pattalu. We dry the powder 9coarse powder made in a special way) and collect cow dung and wet the clothes in the cow dung. After the cloth coated with cow dung is dried it used to be filled with the plan tree powder and then we make it into a cylindrical shape. It is then dried and kept for deepavali. It gave a large member of sparklers in the bight on the day and the days before deepavali. I used to accumulate money for purchasing crackers for deepavali. We (our team  of children used to make nela-tapakayalu. My mother used to be an expert on them. We used to buy sulphur and some thing else and make powder and make the crackers for bursting. I also used to sell seethaphal and accumulate some money for deepavali. I can still recollect the days I used to put up seethaphal in front of my house for sale. We used to have a few seethaphal trees and I used to pluck them and sell for accumulating money for deepavali.

The next festival is Vinayakchavati. We collect pallerukayalu and store them.  We used to put them in front of other’s houses and they are not supposed scold even if they get hurt. The hurt used to be mild and irritating. In the morning of vinayakchavathi I used to go along with other friends to collect the leaves for worshipping Lord Ganeshs. The poem used to go like” neredi, maredi, Chenglva… etc. leaves”. We would collect all the leaves and make a kind of a pandiri for Lord Ganesha’s idol and worship him with a lot of slokas. My classmate Munnangi venkateswara Reddy ( he retired I heard  a High Court Judge in Hyderabad)  from peda vogirala taught me a number of slokas to workshop Ganesha. I learnt from him Shuklambradharam vishnum, shashi varnam chatur bhujam etc… Ekadtanta  na bhakatanam Aneka dantam upasmahe etc. “

My grandmother used to make kheer and we would fist offer the Kheer naivedhyam to the God, close the doors and wait for us to think that God ahs eaten them and blessed them and then each  afterworlds. The pooja, the wait, the eating after that are all great fun. The team going to each other's house to eat laddus. And in the night wait for sounds of the luddus being thrown at each other’s house.

The next one is dussera time when we used to organize ourselves into teams and go round collecting money for celebrating dussera. We become like hanumanji buy bows and arrows and play with bows and arrows. Dussera time is the time for bows and arrows.

Sankranti or Pongal is the time for cock fights. We used to make it a point to go for the nearby tirnala or festival. There used to be regularly santha organized. It is big mela. In which there are cock fights. We used to go and spend the whole day witnessing the cock fights and buying things. The next thing I remember is going to vuyyuru Eeramma tirnala. It also used to be a great event.

The final festival used to be in April may when the Srirama navami comes. That is the day where panakam (sweetened sugar water made from Brown sugar bellam mixed with pepper) used to be served in big posts at several places in the village. All of us would go from place to place drinking this panakam. It was great fun. As I write I ask my self this question, are these traditions still alive? I feel like going back and checking.

Perhaps whatever we have become latter in our adult life we owe a part of it to the culture and opportunities we got in the village to do number of things.

Ugadhi or the new year day is not normally great affair. We used to go out and get vepa chiguru or neem flowers and mango s and our parents used to make a chutney out of them by missing them with bellam (jagri or gud) and chintapandu (tamarind).

In my village there were two temples: Ram and Shiva. The Ramalayam was more popular and sued to serve every day morning palaharm. I remember waiting to go every morning stand along with other children and get palaharm or prasadam. We used to enjoy the same. It used to be given during some months of the year.