The Raman I knew

Political leaders, civil servants, businessmen and prominent members of the public alike were dismayed by the sudden passing away of Bindignavale Narayan Raman. People from different walks of society had known Raman in different capacities during his career, which included such important assignments as the Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Director General of Tourism in the Government of India, Chairman of the Singareni Collieries, and Principal Secretary (Social Welfare), Government of Andhra Pradesh, among others.

Raman's demise is particularly shocking, as he had generally been keeping very good health, and been seen attending functions in recent times.

Bindignavale Narayan Raman was a phenomenon, not an individual. I was a teenager when I first met him to seek financial support for a variety entertainment show got up by 'SaazAurAwaaz', a group some of my friends and I had formed. I was actually looking for an advertisement from the Department of Information and Public Relations, which he was then heading, to cover the expenses of a brochure we were bringing out on that occasion. He received me warmly and with a wide smile, listened to me patiently, pulled a five rupee note from his wallet, and bought one ticket. The subject of the advertisement did not come up at all. Thereafter, after joining the Service, I served under him in several departments. He was an extraordinarily dynamic and extremely decisive person, daring to the point of being almost reckless.

Once a cousin of mine, wanting a shift from his job, as an Assistant Engineer in the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, was looking for a shift to Singareni Collieries, which Raman was then heading as Chairman. As a very junior officer, who had hardly known him earlier, I took courage in my hands and called on him. He not only responded effusively, but also, with characteristic spontaneity and speed, promptly appointed my cousin as an Assistant Engineer in the Collieries!

It was Raman who was to carry out the desire of N T Rama Rao, who had just been sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh a few days earlier, to have me recalled from the Government of India where I was working as Secretary to Vice President Hidayatullah at that time. He spoke to me on the phone. Knowing, as he did, my childhood association with N T Rama Rao as an actor, he began the conversation with the words, "apparently the acting connection is to be resumed!"

Raman was exceedingly well informed and versatile, capable of regaining any audience with spontaneous and erudite lectures on any subject from philosophy person, and religion and from to economics and space travel. He also had on amazing command over several languages including Urdu, Kannada and Tamil.

It was a great pleasure to have attended his ninetieth birthday celebrations a few years ago, to which he had the courtesy to invite me personally, with his ever charming wife Leela, also asking me to join.

Once when my wife, children and I were returning from Warangal, after a visit to the famous Thousand Pillar Temple there, we stopped at the Nizam Club for lunch on the way home. Raman was there sitting at a table, and we joined him. For the next half an hour, he enthralled us with his incredibly detailed knowledge of the history of the temple. What is more, the discourse strayed into the origin of rituals and I learned things I had never known before!

All in all, he was a towering personality, who was looked up to by several members of the three All India Services. His presence will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. With Raman's passing away, another doyen of the Civil Services has departed, and a void has been left which will be difficult to fill.