ALUMNI MEET 9TH JANUARY 2011

ALUMNI MEET AT VISAKHAPATNAM ON 9TH January,2011

When a proposal came from some of our class mates to hold an alumni meet for the 1959-64 batch at Visakhapatnam, everyone was greatly thrilled and supported the move immediately. The group of class mates at Visakhapatnam led by RamaRao, Gurunatha Rao, Hume Sastry and Haranatha Babu Rao(Goli) immediately swung into action.

Everyone started contacting those who were not in the Yahoo loop. A consensus was reached to hold the meet on 9th Jan, 2011. Gurunatha Rao opened a separate account for all to send their contributions. Efforts were made by him to collect the latest address, date of birth, photo with spouse and a brief write up about their careers. It was decided to print out a souvenir and include in it photos taken out of our souvenir published in 1964 and a current photo with spouse (then and now).There was a continuous flow of mails from Rama Rao and Gurunatha Rao to get the all the information.
Vizag friends meanwhile met frequently to decide on the agenda. Palm Beach hotel was booked for the venue. Arrangements were made for buses to take us around the college, hostels and interesting points in Vizag. The souvenir was getting into shape. Our teachers, who were available at Vizag, were contacted and invited to attend the meet.

As soon as the date of the event was decided as 9th of Jan, I booked my flight tickets and awaited the visit to Vizag with great anticipation. My heart sank when a proposal came to shift the date to March as I had some other programme in March. It was a great relief when we stuck to the same old date. I was so excited that my grand daughter Rhea told me that I am behaving like a child before a school picnic. I explained to her that I am going to meet my class mates after 47 years. She could not comprehend the 47 year period. So I explained to her that it was when I was a 21 year old student, long before her dad was born, even before I met her Grand Mother. She seemed to understand. We then went through our old souvenir.She enjoyed going through it as I explained about our teachers, some of our friends who were close to me in the college. She was fascinated by the name of MKVSHV Suryanarayana. She repeated the full name after me and got the whole thing to memory.
Meanwhile Rama Rao requested my wife Radhika to give a veena recital during the meet and she agreed.

We landed at 08.45 at Vizag on 9th Jan and straight went to Palm Beach hotel where a room was booked for us. While Radhika was getting ready I walked to the venue hall. I found a few of our friends already there. It was possible to recognize a few whose photos were already in the group. There was a lot of hugging and laughter at each others appearance. Pot bellies, moustaches, bald heads etc.

I was wearing a Capri, a T-shirt and floaters and some one remarked that I looked as though I am going on a safari.
I went back to the room freshened up and joined the group in a few minutes. Mean while the crowd had grown and were having breakfast. Further introductions continued. Some were nostalgic remembering the good old days. The souvenirs were also distributed .It was great job by the Vizag group.

Rama Rao called for starting the meet and requested all to observe silence in memory of our departed class mates. Their names were read out. It was sad that nearly 28 of them left us. After this he requested all to introduce himself, his spouse and say a few words about his career. As Bapuji called out the names one by one, the introductions started. There were a lot of hilarious comments. J.P.Mishra and I had lost touch with Telugu and were coaxed to talk in Telugu. We some how managed with 50% Telugu. MKVSHV introduced himself and his wife whose name was also as long his. The hall reverberated with laughter. Those who recognized me talked about my white dress and constant talk about cricket during the college days. I informed that I had to change over to coloured clothing after I shifted to Mumbai. I also said that I am still cricket crazy and would watch even a Zimbabwe versus Bangladesh match. It was interesting to know the achievements of our friends who had reached great heights.
K. Narasimham was a Telugu film producer and all wanted to know the names of his pictures. We also regretted that some could not make it to the event due to preoccupation. Only 48 could attend the meet. Unfortunately some of those staying at Vizag could not attend.

After the introductions we left in two buses and went around the main University campus. We saw JVD College, the place where our non technical classes were held, our carpentry workshops, the hostels with exotic names like Sidhartha, Ashoka Vardhana, Harsha Vardhana, Vinaya Vihara and Viveka Vinyasa. We passed along the good old canteen and Principal’s residence.


We then went to the North Campus, our old round shaped hostels. I found some young boys playing cricket in the same old place where we used to play,(opposite hostel no.1 and 2). I went to them and told them about how we used to play there 50 years back. I took a bat and took my stance, one of the boys bowled. Since I still play some games, I could connect. Rama Raju bowled a few balls while myself and Bapuji tried our hand at batting. Unfortunately we could not go to our college as the bus we were traveling was very tall and was touching the over head lines.

When we came out of the OUT Gate I remembered the bunk shop where we used to collect and hear cricket commentary. It was still there, now slightly larger.

We then returned to the hotel, had lunch and relaxed. People collected in small groups and were talking good old college day stories.

Photographs of the entire group and three more of individual branches were taken.

Later we left on a trip along the beach road to Kailash giri.(See Photos). From there we came to Ramakrishna mission Beach and the Scandal Point where quite a few of us had spent great evenings during our stay in the Pithaapuram hostels. Some bought Pidatha Kinda pappu while some had butta (Corn).
We then returned to the hotel and after freshening up collected in the garden for the evening programme. I was surprised when copies of the group and departmental photographs were handed over. So prompt. By the way, photographers from THE HINDU were appointed to cover the event. Great photographs.

The event started with some of us talking about our stay in the college, friendships forged and some anecdotes. Radhika gave a recital on veena for 15 minutes. J. Rambabu and his wife joined us now. Around 8.30 pm some of our teachers joined us in the celebrations. I could recognize Mr. Janaki Rao(Survey), Mr. Janardhana Rao ( applied Mechanics), Mr. Bangareswara Sharma(survey) and Mr. LBK Sastry (electrical). Some were so old it was impossible to identify them. They were very happy that after such a long time their students appreciated their role and invited them to the meet. They were presented with shawls and a gift pack.

Shawls and gifts were also presented to the Vizag organizers who took lot of trouble, efforts in making the event a great success.

Over dinner there was further exchange of information and some decided to have another meet in February in Hyderabad. Every one wanted the next meet on completion of 50 years.

A great day was coming to an end. People started leaving. Rama Rao who was interested in hearing the veena recital missed it as he had gone to pick up the teachers. We were invited by them for lunch next day.

Next morning my self and Radhika took along walk a long the beach. On the way we saw the Pithaapuram hostels which were in ruins. We visited the Kali temple at the RK.Mission point. This was not there during our time. We had lunch with Ramraos. His wife Uma speaks Tamil and was a good company for Radhika. While we were there we saw a write up about our meet in a local newspaper “SAKSHI”. We also learnt that a good coverage will be published in THE HINDU the next day.
After lunch we bid good bye to Rama Raos hired a taxi and visited Simhachalam temple. There were hardly any one at the temple and we had a good darshan and performed archana.

We reached the airport and left Vizag at 7.30pm after enjoying two great days.

We should once again thank our friends at Vizag for all the efforts they took and making this event a great success.

Hume Sastry presented a Ganesh idol to all during the meet.

Incidentally DGR sent two CDs one with still photographs and another of videos and the souvenir to all those whose addresses were available with him.

FLAM RAILWAY, NORWAY

After our visit to Denmark, we took an overnight cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo in Norway. (JUNE 2010)
From Oslo we had a bus journey to Bergen on the West coast of Norway through beautiful country side full of green hills and waterfalls. At Bergen a funicular train takes us to the top of a hill from where we get a panoramic view of the city.
From Bergen we took a bus to Gudvangen and from there by cruiser to Flam. The cruise is in the FJORDS of Norway. Fjords are back waters. Unlike the back waters in Kerala these are very wide. There are a quite a large number of small and big islands. There are small jetties for boats and beautiful buildings in these islands. During the cruise sea gulls come to feed on bread crumbs and fruits from passengers hands.
Flam is known for its mountain railway, Flambano, one of the steepest in the world and for its numerous tunnels, probably the only one with a 180 degree curve inside a tunnel. The gradient is 55/1000, almost 1 in 18 along 80% of the length. The railway is 20 kms long and has 6 tunnels. The journey takes about an hour. It is a great engineering marvel.It raises from Flam valley to Myrdal 1320 M high. The train has a photo stop on the way at Kjosfossen, a magnificient waterfall. Probably this is the only place in the world where a train stops and waits while passengers get down to take photographs. After an hour’s thrilling train journey we reach Myrdal from where we took another train to Geilo.
Geilo is a sleepy little village where we took a halt after all the excitement before boarding the bus next day for Karlstad in Sweden. The bus journey from Geilo to Karlstad is absolutely scary as the bus climbs down the Myrdalsberget mountain on which there are 21 hair pin bends continuously. It is really wonderful to see the control exercised by the driver when he manoeuvres the bus on these bends. A river is seen down below like a silver ribbon.
I have attached a separate write up about Flam railway and photos of this journey. Hope you enjoy reading and looking at them.

FLÅM RAILWAY – NORWAY
ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RAILWAY LINES IN THE WORLD
It is an incredible 20 kilometer long train journey from the mountain station at Myrdal on the Bergen Railway, down to Flåm station nestled in the innermost corner of the Aurlandfjord.
The Flåm Railway, which passes through the beautiful, narrow Flåm valley, is regarded as a masterpiece of Norwegian engineering. The Flåm Railway is one of the world’s steepest railway lines on normal gauge. The gradient is 55/1000 on almost 80% of the line, i.e. a gradient of one in eighteen. Part of the track is so steep that the train will use 5 different braking systems. The twisting tunnels that spiral in and out of the mountain are manifestations of the most daring and skilful engineering in Norwegian railway history. Work was begun on the Flåm Railway in 1923. It took 20 years to complete. The Flåm Railway was opened temporarily for steam engines on 1 August 1940
The train leaves the green fields and orchards of the valley floor before continuing alongside the river and through tunnels. As the train exits Nåli, the Flåm Railway's longest tunnel (1320 metres), you will catch a glimpse of the most spectacular and interesting view on the railway's ascent to Myrdal - the railway track on four different levels in the mountain side and a part of Myrdal station. At the same time, you will see the old road winding its way via 21 hairpin bends up the steep Myrdalsberget mountain. The steep mountainsides were a major challenge, the solution being to build hairpin tunnels in order to equalise the big differences in altitude on the steep mountain. The train passes through a hairpin tunnel that turns 180°, an opening in the tunnel affording a panoramic view of the wild landscape. Several hundred metres straight down from the carriage window the river resembles a silver ribbon lying on the valley floor, while you see the steep mountainside with the rail track cut into a narrow ledge.

The Flåm Railway crosses the valley and river three times, but there are no bridges over the river. Instead of bridges, the river is led through the mountain in tunnels underneath the railway line.
The most time-consuming work was on the tunnels. These were excavated manually. Only two of the twenty tunnels, which have a total length of 6 km, were excavated using machines. Every metre of tunnel cost the labour force, the navvies, up to a month's hard work. The labour force, 120 strong at the outset, rapidly increased to 220 at the peak.
The train has a photo stop at Kjosfossen. There is no other place on earth where rail travellers can get down from the train and have the chance to see such an impressive waterfall as from the platform at Kjosfossen, while the train waits for them. High up on the horizon you see the white water cascading off the steep mountain side. The rushing river of water dissolves into foam with a thunderous roar as it hits the mountain on its way down. According to a Norwegian legend, a temptress lives behind these falls and tries to lure men to the rocks by her singing. The train passes Reinungvatnet, a truly beautiful mountain lake before you get your last magnificent view of the mountains and moorland at Vatnahalsen. An unforgettable train journey comes to an end at Myrdal.

VIGELAND SCULPTURE PARK OSLO, NORWAY

Our visit to Norway on 1st June 2010

THE VIGELAND PARK, OSLO,NORWAY

The Vigeland Park in Norway is the largest sculpture park made by one single artist in the world. The unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland's lifework with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron and was mainly completed between 1939 and 1949. Clay was Vigeland’s chosen material. In soft clay he could work quickly. He would free-hand model the full-scale sculptures based on small three-dimensional sketches. He occasionally used a grid to guide him. Then professional craftsmen did the carving in granite and casting in bronze.
Most of the sculptures are placed in five units along an 850 meter long axis: The Main gate, the Bridge with the Children's playground, the Fountain, the Monolith plateau and the Wheel of Life.

1.THE MAIN GATE

The Main Gate in granite and wrought iron marks the beginning of the long axis. The Main Gate consists of five large gates and two small pedestrian gates in wrought iron. Railings curve outwards on each side and end in two copper-roofed gate houses, topped by guilded weather vanes.

2.THE BRIDGE

The 100 m long and 15 m wide bridge, lined with lanterns and sculptures on the granite parapets, is built on top of an old bridge. There are 58 sculptures in bronze. These include a rich variety of children, women and men in different ages, some alone, others in groups. Dominant motifs are the relationships between man and woman, adults and children. Stationary figures that flank the cube formed lanterns alternate with dynamic groups. By the run of the waterfall the bridge widens to each side and is marked with figures surrounded by massive bronze wheels. Here you will also find Sinnataggen, the little Angry Boy.In spite of his size, the little angry boy is one of the most popular figures in the park.
There are four tall granite columns portraying humans fighting lizards. These show demons in absolute control of their victims.

Below the bridge is a circular playground with eight bronze sculptures of small children. In the centre, mounted on a small granite column, is the figure of an unborn child.

3.THE FOUNTAIN

In the Fountain, the principal theme is the cycle of life, in which Man is depicted in a variety of typical human situations and relationships.
The fountain is surrounded by 20 tree groups. Beneath the crown of the trees the life of man, from cradle to grave, unfolds. After the tree group, the skeleton which is about to decay in nature, and a tree full of children follows.On the outer circle around tthe pool,there are about 60 bronze reliefs.

3. THE MONOLITH

On the highest point of the park, on the Monolith Plateau, rise circular stairs towards the Monolith. The Monolith with 121 figures is 14.12 m and the total height, including the plinth, is 17.3 m high. The Monolith was carved from one single granite block, hence the name (mono: one, litho: stone).
Vigeland modelled it in full size in clay . It only took him ten months. Thereafter it was cast in plaster. The autumn of 1926 a granite block weighing hundreds of tons was transported by sea up the Oslofjord from a stone quarry near Halden. The block arrived its destination in the early 1927 and was erected the following year. It took three stone carvers 14 years to finish the work.
Monolith is supposed to represent man's longing and yearning for the spiritual and divine. People are drawn towards heaven, not only characterised by sadness and controlled despair, but also delight and hope, next to a feeling of togetherness, carefully holding one another tight in this strange sense of salvation.
There are sculptures of 36 figure groups on the Monolith Plateau.

4. THE WHEEL OF LIFE

The Wheel of Life was modelled in clay and then a master copy was cast in plaster. Then smiths made an iron armature in full scale of three metres in diameter. The large bronze "Wheel of Life," is composed of figures swirling in an eternal circle.