ROLLER COASTER

My Story of Seven Decades : Dr Chowdari Prasad, Bangalore, India

I completed my seventy years of age on October 19, 2022, while I was on a long vacation with my family in Melbourne, Australia spending my leisure time with my wife Smt Kondavalasa Ganga Prasad (nee Patnaik), daughter Smt Sravanthi Chowdari, Son-in-Law Sri Krishna Kumar Rao and Grandson Master Amay Rao (5 Years plus).  During the time, I decided to pen down my memories as also document certain stages of my life, at least for the benefit of my grandson.  Our daughter is now settled in Melbourne and Amay is born there, so he should know all about me. Not only family members, but I would like to share my personal and career indulgences with a large number of friends, colleagues and professional associates.

In the year 1978, I read with keen interest the 1976 USA’s Best Seller Book, ROOTS authored by Alex Haley, when my friends used to read Arthur Haley novels. Alex Haley - His Search For Roots (1977) - YouTube This book is not a Fiction, but research work by the author about his own ancestors (12 Generations of Blacks from Africa) taken to America as Slaves. Roots: The Saga of an American Family - Wikipedia.  A Television Serial Roots 1977 Cast: THEN AND NOW [45 Years After] - YouTube  was also aired in US in 1978 with the story of ROOTS: Roots (1977 miniseries) - Wikipedia.  Of course, there were some controversies too. Generally, my reading of books is limited to Biographies and real-life stories of individuals or corporates of success, rather than novels or fiction stories, from which we can take inspiration to learn and progress in life.  

I read books written by Lee Iacocca, Steve Jobs, Akio Morita, Chetan Bhagat, Ravi Subramanian, Pearl S Buck, Capt GR Gopinath, Dhirubhai Ambani, Bill Gates, MK Gandhi, Richard Branson, NR Narayana Murthy, Subroto Bagchi, Verghese Kurien, Robert Schuler, Sucheta Dalal, Jack Welch, Nandan Nilekani, Muhammad Yunus, Rashmi Sehgal, Rajesh Chakrabarti, Kishore Biyani, B Yerram Raju and on SBI, AMUL, MARUTI, GE, McKensey, etc.  There is a lot of learning in all these books. 

Last year, I associated with my senior ex-colleague of SBI, an Economist, Researcher, Risk Manager, Academician and Author of large number of research articles, columns and 15 books on SMEs, Agriculture, Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, Risk Management, Development Banking, Rural Development, etc who captured his 80 years of life having spent more than five decades in Development Banking.  He is Dr B Yerram Raju of Hyderabad, and the book was titled ROOTS TO FRUITS: THE JOURNEY OF DEVELOPMENT BANKER.  Yerram Raju (yerramraju1.com) DEVELOPMENT BANKER IN HIS LONG JOURNEY | AN INTERVIEW BY M.SOMASEKHAR - YouTube 

I felt the need to document my own roots and different stages of my life and career, if not of the above levels or high standards, but in my own blog called Progressive Banker with a fond hope that my next generation viz., my daughter, son-in-law, grandson, nephews, nieces or grandchildren would someday lay their hands to know our roots viz., Relatives, Family Tree or Ancestors, Hometown, Community, Language, Culture, Festivals, Food, Education, Employment, Migration to different places, etc.  Today, Life for the young / new generation may be a cake walk with all possible amenities and modern facilities, but their ancestors' travelled miles and miles to reach where we are now.

I chose to give the title of ROLLER COASTER to this story, with a view to requesting the reader to go through patiently the chronological events in my life and appreciate the UPs and DOWNs I went through in the seventy years. Some of these may be self-inflicted (like Aa Bail, Muzhe Maar) for which I own the full responsibility. Same time, I was also a victim of circumstances beyond my control, and I believed blindly in some fake friends. Those whom I thought were my Mentors, turned out to be Tormenters too.

Please click here to view a Video Clipping of April 2021 on my life titled ZINDAGI KA SAFAR, Episode No. 2 in YouTube by Dr Tuhin Bannerjee, an ex-colleague at TAPMI, Manipal: Zindagi Ka Safar : Dr Choudhary Prasad - E2 - YouTube.  Please click and view / read: Dr. Chowdari Prasad - Sistakaranam Ikyavedika (skiv.online).  Also read a brief profile on Page No. 20 of the Monthly Issue LEKHA: Lekha_Feb_2021_.pdf.

I love friends, relatives, colleagues and friendship since my childhood and at School / College / Office / Society and maintain good contacts. Since 2009, I have been indulging in or using some Social Media Platforms like 

1.Google Scholar ‪Prof Dr Chowdari Prasad‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬,  

2.Facebook (4) Chowdari Prasad | Facebook,  

3.LinkedIn (33) Dr Chowdari Prasad | LinkedIn, 

4.SlideShare Chowdari Prasad, Professor at T a pai management institute (tapmi) (slideshare.net), 

5.YouTube Prof Dr Chowdari Prasad - YouTube,  

6.Instagram Chowdari Prasad (@chowdariprasad) • Instagram photos and videos, 

7.WhatsApp, 

8.AuthorStream.com, 

9.Twitter Dr Chowdari Prasad (@ChowdariProf) / Twitter 

10.Wiziq Prof Chowdari Prasad: Commercial Banking Teacher, Manipal - India (wiziq.com), 

11.Scribd.com Chowdari Prasad CV | PDF | Master Of Business Administration | Banks (scribd.com) etc., 

12. (2) Bengaluru Karanalu (Patnaiks) | Facebook

13. (2) AIPSKA Patnaiks Raipur | Facebook (All India Pravasandhra Sista Karanam Association)

14. (2) GHS Malakpet Hyderabad 1967 | Facebook

15. (2) TAPMI Alumni Faculty | Facebook

16. Founding Member of IAABS 2015-19: about IAABS | iaabs

besides my own Blog in the name of "Progressive Banker" since 2009 and StarMaker a Karaoke App for my hobby of Singing in Hindi and Telugu since 2019.  Introduction of Prof Chowdaari Prasad 

Albert Einstein advised not to share five things with anyone. I sincerely followed him. 

Albert Einstein (11879-1955), well known German born Physicist advised not to share: 

01. The Secret of your success

02. Your problems with anyone

03. Your dreams with anyone

04. About your Earnings and 

05. Your family problems with anyone. 

My attempt would be to recap the chronology of events in my life and career, with some supporting data, links, photographs, etc to narrate the story in the following order:

01. Hometown and Roots

02. Grand Parents and Families (1952)

03. Migration to Hyderabad & Studies (1959)

04. First Job in AB and switch to SBI (1971)

05. Training, Posting and Marriage (1977)

06. Work and Life in Mumbai (1984)

07. VRS and Goodbye to SBI (1993)

08. Private Sector Jobs & Entrepreneurship (1993)

09. Switch to Academics at TAPMI (1999)

10. Back in Bangalore to ABS (2006)

11. Second Stint at TAPMI (2009)

12. Final shifting from Manipal (2014)

13. Freelancing in 2016-17

14. MSRF/ RIMS Assignment (2018)

15. Shantha Group (2019)

16. Vidya Gateway Foundation (2020)

17. Music and Karaoke Singing (2018)

18. Research & Publications (2000-2018)

19. Me and My Family

20. Lions Club, Manipal (2000-2014)

21. Savings, Borrowings and Investments

22. Social and Organisational Work

23. Friends, Movies and Books 

24. Travel and Tourism

25. Trip to Melbourne, 2022

26. Social Media and Networking

27. Summing up 

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1. Hometown and Roots (1952)

Topography of AP/Odisha Borders

Geographical neighbours : AP and Odisha 

Connection between Srikakulam and Odisha 

1. My Hometown, Place of Birth and Topography

My Native Place Kotabommali, Srikakulam Dist., AP 

1.1 My native place is Kotabommali, in Srikakulam Dist., in North of Andhra Pradesh State. My grandmother late Smt Chowdari Sundaramma used to tell us that our great grandfather Sri Venkanna Patnaik and grandfather Sri Malleswara Rao Patnaik lived in Kotabommali. It is mentioned only in my School / College records and Passport but I hardly lived or known in that place, ever since my father late Sri Ch Shanmukha Rao Patnaik (1929-1990); I am his second son) moved out for his employment in erstwhile combined State Government of Madras, and later Kurnool, Guntur and Hyderabad (AP) during 1950s. I was born in Salur village https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salur on 19th October 1952 and started my early schooling and further career in Hyderabad (from 1959) and elsewhere in last seven decades. I am now settled in Bangalore, Karnataka since April 1996.

1.2 Polaki village is the hometown of my mother, late Smt Ch. Sugunavathi (1934-2016). Kotabommali RS (Railway Station) is a small Village / hamlet in Santhabommali Mandal in Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh State, India. It comes under Govindapuram Panchayath. It belongs to Andhra region. It is located 42 KM towards East from District headquarters Srikakulam, 9 KM from Santhabommali and 716 KM from Hyderabad. I post here a few photos from the Internet.

1.3 Kotabommali RS Pin code is 532195 and postal head office is Kotabommali. Akkayyavalasa (2 KM ) , Jagannadhapuram ( 2 KM ) , Kurudu ( 2 KM ) , Jarjangi ( 3 KM ) , Sariyaboddapadu ( 3 KM ) are the nearby Villages to Kotabommali RS. It is surrounded by Santhabommali Mandal towards East, Tekkali Mandal towards North, Saravakota Mandal towards west, Jalumuru Mandal towards west. Palasa, Kasibugga , Amadalavalasa , Parlakhemundi , Srikakulam are the nearby towns to Kotabommali RS. It is near to Bay of Bengal. There is a chance of humidity in the weather. Telugu is the Local Language here. Total population of Kotabommali RS is 3377. Males are 1668 and Females are 1,709 living in 776 Houses. Total area of Kotabommali RS is 498 hectares.

1.4 Kotabommali in Srikakulam, (neighboring Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam Districts in North Andhra) is the focal point of Sistakaranams who have traditionally been holding the responsibility of maintaining village land records etc. Teaching is said to be the other profession the Community members are largely engaged in. In fact, there is a Karanam Bhasha, spoken language (hybrid between Telugu and Odiya) which our older members / natives speak at home. Over a period, due to political and administrative reasons, the position of Village Karanams got abolished and Govt Officials from Revenue Department manage the job now. The origin of Sistakaranams community is not totally clear but we have some literature connecting the community to Bengal, Odisha and North Andhra. Today, Sistakaranams are distributed all over..... in Telangana, Karnataka, TN, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, MP, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, North Eastern States and also abroad like in USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Gulf, Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and many other countries where they migrated in search of greener pastures.

1.5 Some basic information can be had from: http://www.onefivenine.com/.../Santhabommali/Kotabommali-RS. More from the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotabommali.

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