Vegetable vendor’s son, a software engineer in Malaysia

Jandhyam Hari Prasad Rao has been a vegetable hawker for over 15 years. With what he earns by selling vegetables, he managed to make his son and daughter, engineers. A brief chat with him suggests that he is a very optimistic man. His son, K Durga Nageswara Rao, is now a software engineer who works in Malaysia. His eyes, gleam with pride, when he talks about his son. Nageswara Rao works in a Malaysian software firm and earns Rs 50,000 per month.

Hari Prasada Rao is no ordinary man bound by the usual gender prejudices and stereotypes. He gave equal education opportunities to his son as well as his daughter, who are both engineers now. Ask him what is more important for a girl, education or marriage, he would say education without any qualms. His daughter, Keerti, graduated from a local engineering college recently. Now, Keerti is on the look-out for a job.

At a time when education has become highly expensive, he managed to educate both his children. He gives credit to the fee reimbursement scheme. He said, “Making both of them engineers would not have been possible without fee reimbursement by the Government.”

However, he admits he was caught in a vicious cycle of debt in the process of giving education to his children. But, hardships and budget constraints failed to crush his positive spirit. He recalled how many generous people helped him when he was bankrupt. He reminisced, “Raju from Tadigadapa gave my son Rs 10,000 for his higher education. My son repaid the money but we will always be grateful to him. Like Raju garu, many people helped us.”

Hari Prasad Rao asserts that he knows the value of education, since he does not have it. He is a ninth class drop out, who always dreamt of giving a secure future to his children. ‘Education liberates individuals from the clutches of poverty, caste and other such barriers. I did not want my children to end up like me.”

Prasad Rao’s day begins at the crack of dawn at 4 in the morning and ends at 10 in the night. He goes to the wholesale vegetable market, along with his wife, at 4 to buy vegetables for his stall. Come rain or shine, he comes to his spot in Gunadala at 6 am. Prasad Rao sells vegetables at his spot till 9 am. Then, he packs the left-over vegetables and cycles around till noon selling vegetables door-to-door.

Later, he dons the avatar of a delivery man, and delivers groceries and other items to customers’ doorsteps. He gets to rest only at 10 in the night. His toil for over 16 hours every day fetches him a monthly income of Rs 8000. After factoring in the house rent of Rs 3000, he is left with only Rs 5000. When asked if he would quit selling vegetables as his son started earning, he replied with a terse “no.” He added, “I think of this as my duty. I will continue being a vegetable vendor.’