20.2 Lions are a global service network of volunteers that make a difference in their local communities. Lions Clubs is the world's largest service club organization with more than 1.35 million members across 46,000 clubs in 209 countries. Whenever a Lions Club gets together, problems get smaller, and communities get better. That is because Lions help where help is needed. Lions Clubs in India are the second largest group of volunteers in the world after USA, with 6,335 Clubs and 2,35,000 members. Lions can reach out to help anywhere across the country, even in the remotest locations. Lions Clubs was established in India, in Bombay, in February 1956.
20.3 Lion Noshir Khan had gathered 20 prospective members in Bombay, with whom the first Lions Club in India was formed in Bombay on February 3, 1956. Lion Noshir Pundole became the first President. To know more, please click here: Lions Clubs International (India): Overview | LinkedIn. Lions Club, Manipal is operating under Lions Dist 317C LIONS DISTRICT 317 C | Facebook
20.4 Lions Club Manipal was inaugurated on 29th May 1992 sponsored by by L C Udupi when Ln Dr Koteshwara Rao was its President. More about LC Manipal: Manipal Lions Club - Lions e-Clubhouse I was a member of Lions Club, Manipal between 2000 and 2014. LIONS CLUB MANIPAL | Facebook. I joined the Club when Dr Rajagopal Shenoy was the President and at the instance / introduction by Dr Ganesh H Pai of Manipal when I was working in T A Pai Management Institute. In 2005, myself and wife Ganga travelled to Hong Kong to attend the 90th Anniversary of the LC international and as tourists. Fortunately, we had a host in Hong Kong, Mr M Lakshman Kumar, my old friend from Hyderabad. We spent a week with him and had a gala time.
20.5 Members of LC Manipal are elite of the town, and are Doctors, Lawyers, Professors, Businessmen etc. All members participate in the Club activities along with spouses and children in almost all community service activities like medical camps (eye checkups, hearing aids, artificial limbs, etc), Blood Donation, Plantation, Educational support to poor and needy, etc. Periodic visits were made to nearby Orphanages, Old Age Homes, or Medical Camps were part of the club activities. Beginning as an ordinary member, I graduated to Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President and President by the year 2013-14. I was also a Director and Chairman of Training wing in the Club. It was a highly engaging Social Work to the Community as also keep socialising in the vicinity of Udupi District.
Swearing in as President of LC Manipal for 2013-14
Attended a Zonal Program in Udupi along with spouse Ganga Prasad
Inauguration of Chess Competitions for Children in Udupi
Governor's visit to LC Manipal
Celebrating my 60th Birthday in 2012 with Club Members
Visit to an Old Age Home SPANDANA for Service Activity
Service Activity in Kasturba Hospital, Manipal with Doctors
20.6 I fondly recall the long years I was associated with the elite group of Manipal and Udupi Lions between 2000 and 2014. I was very regularly attending the Club meetings in Manipal and Zonal and District events. Mainly, the Club was pooling funds to carry out its activities like helping inmates of Old Age Homes, Orphanages, Hostels, Schools, Hospitals in Manipal. Blood Donation campaigns and Sapling Planting was regularly carried out. Besides, the Club was also celebrating Birthdays of all Members and Cubs, Wedding Anniversaries and host dinners / get-togethers. Picnics were organised too. My singing performance at Madhu Shobhe 2012 at Lions Club, Manipal Madhu Shobhe 2012
Many more pleasant incidents, events, picnics at Lions Club, Manipal:
Members of LCM on a 2-day Picnic on 8th Dec 2013 at Wild Woods Resort
Continued ......... 21
19. Me and My Family
With my parents and siblings in Hyderabad in 1970
In the arms of my mother Smt Sugunavathi as a Toddler
19.1 Earlier, I introduced my parents, grand-parents and families, my hometown and childhood. I had an idea to draw a well-structured Family Tree showing the entire family network but am unable to. Also, I am not in a position to immediately collect and compile details of my family tree, as most of them are scattered and I am on a long trip to Melbourne, Australia for at least two more months (till February 2023)
19.2 My elder brother, late Ch Nageswara Rao (1950-2015) is older to me by two years. We studied in the same School till 1966 when he passed out of High School. He too started his work life early after his Pre-University Course in Hyderabad. He joined B.Com. (3 YDC) in the New Science College in Evening Session and simultaneously took up the course of Cost Accounting in 1967-68. He contested for General Secretary of the Students Union in 1969 in his Final Year. After acquiring degree, he appeared for selection in Defence Services by attending tests / interviews at Indian Military Academy.
With families of my two brothers in 2015 in Bangalore for our daughter's wedding
19.3 In the year 1972, my brother was selected as Accountant by M/s Zuari Agrochemicals Ltd., Goa and was posted in their Secunderabad Office. He also took up M.Com studies privately with Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. My friend Mr N Hanumantha Rao also pursued the same and they both passed the same by 1974. Then, he joined Andhra Bank Ltd., Secunderabad and worked till his retirement in 2010 as Manager. He was married in 1979 to Smt Lakshmi and had three daughters - Preethi, Mythri and Sanjukta. Eldest daughter is a post-Graduate, married to Mr Bharani and has two children. She is living in Pune. Second one studied Engineering, went to USA for MS, worked there for a decade and returned to India in 2019. She is now married and shifted to Melbourne, Australia. The youngest is Sanju, who also went to USA after her Engineering, pursued MS and settled there after marriage. My brother died due to ill health in Hyderabad in 2015. My Bhabhi Smt Lakshmi is living in Saket, Hyderabad.
My elder brother late Sri Ch Nageswara Rao (1950-2015)
My bhabhi and niece Mythri visited us in Bangalore in 2019
My sister Mrs Jyothi Ippili visited us in Bangalore
19.4 My younger and only sister, Smt Ippili Jyothi is an Arts Graduate from Osmania University, Hyderabad. She was married in 1982 to late Dr Ippili Sankara Rao (1958-2021), who was a Research Scholar then, in the area of Nuclear Chemistry in Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, AP. He chose to work in Academics in AP and retired as a Principal of Junior College in 2018. Besides being in service, he partnered with two of his colleagues and established Sri Venkateswara Group of Colleges in Etcherla, Srikakulam, AP. The group grew from strength to strength over the years, and now comprises of eleven residential colleges offering Agriculture, Pharmacy, Engineering, Education, Management, Polytechnic and Physical Education and allied colleges. It's now well established and popular across the border States too attracting students. SV Group of Colleges, Etcherla
I delivered a Guest Lecture at SV Group of Colleges in 2017
Family dinner with daughter Sravanthi in Bangalore in 2014
Attended an Educational Conference along with Mrs Ganga Prasad in 2019
With families of self, Arun, RK, Sukumar and KRRM Rao at
the Gruha Pravesam of Rama Krishna Patnaik (brother-in-law) in Hyderabad
In Srikakulam, visit to SV Group of Colleges in 2017
In Bangalore, with grandson Master Amay Rao in 2017
19.5 Dr Sankara Rao Ippili was one of the co-promoters of the Group. Mrs Ippili Jyothi, my sister is part of the Management Team since beginning. Their son, Mr Ippili Kishore is an Engineering Graduate and turned Entrepreneur after working for a few years in IT industry. He is married to his classmate Ms Sravanthi of Hyderabad who works for M/s Dell. He is also associated with the SV Group of Colleges, Etcherla. Dr Sankara Rao died prematurely in May 2021 in Visakhapatnam, AP. Their only daughter is Mrs Deepti, an M Tech and was working in Bangalore. She is married to Pakki Kiran s/o Pakki Appaladas of Rajam and now residing in Denmark. The couple is blessed with a boy.
19.6 My younger brother Mr Venkateswara Rao (Babu) lives in our own home in Saidabad Colony, Hyderabad. He is married and has three children Sai, Pavani and Rithik. Daughter is married and lives in Bangalore and two the sons are working in the Pharmacy field.
19.7 My spouse Mrs Ganga Prasad (formerly Ganga Patnaik) is from Kondavalasa family. We were married in March 1983 in Bhubaneswar, Odisa where my late father-in-law Shri K N Patnaik lived. My mother-in-law Smt Lalithamba was not keeping good health then. Ganga is the youngest of the five children in their family. She is a Science Graduate from Utkal and pursued B.Ed from Annamalai University. She was born in Kolkata and later lived in North-eastern States, Ujjain in MP prior to settling in Bhubaneswar. She had two elder brothers and two elder sisters. We continued the journey in TS, Maharashtra and Karnataka States. She took up the teaching profession for about two decades in different Schools and retired as a Group Principal of St Meera's High School, Bangalore.
19.7.1 Our only daughter Mrs Sravanthi Chowdari was born in Vizag, AP and grew up in Mumbai. As a toddler, she was taken care by our friends and Telugu families in SBI Apartments in Malad, Mrs Appa Rao, Mrs Mani Sreedhar, Mrs Vijaya Murthy and Mrs Radha Chary. After our shifting to Hyderabad (1993), Bangalore (1996) and Manipal (1999), she completed her schooling up to 12th Standard (2003) in Little Rock Indian School, Brahmawar and BE in Bio-medical Engineering (2007) from MIT, MAHE, Manipal. She pursued MBA in Marketing (2009) in Bangalore and commenced her career for next five years in two Organisations, M/s RAMCO and M/s Manipal Informatics. She was engaged in October 2014 to Mr Krishna Kumar Rao of Melbourne, Australia and married in April 2015. She joined her husband and inlaws in May 2015 and is now settled. She is blessed with a son Amay Rao in Jan 2017. She now works with M/s Medibank, a leading Insurance Company in Melbourne.
19.8 My Eldest brother-in-law is Wg Cdr KA Patnaik was an Electrical Engineer and worked in The Indian Air Force (IAF). He was married to Chowdari Vasantha Lakshmi d/o late Sri CVR Murthy of Hyderabad and has two sons, Sai and Tunnu. On retirement in 1993, he moved to Hyderabad and settled down. Both sons completed their studies and are working in New Delhi and Hyderabad respectively. Sai is married to Sarada Menon. Arun died in October 2020 in Hyderabad.
19.9 Smt Uma Rao is the elder sister, married to Shri Kuppili Raja Rammohana Rao of Vizag. He worked in ONGC and retired as General Manager. They have four children, three daughters and a son. Vanaja Rao is in Pune, Vandana Adivishnu is in Chennai, Vathsala Rao is in Mumbai and the youngest Sai Giridhar is in USA.
19.10 Mr RK Patnaik is also an Electrical Engineering Graduate from REC / NIT, Raipur (MP). He retired as a Director of DRDO in Hyderabad in 2016. Earlier, he was in Odisha and worked in ITR in Balasore / Chandipur for close to two decades. He is married to Mrs Sadasivuni Padma (d/o Mrs Kamala and Mr S Prasada Rao of Hyderabad) in 1984. They have two sons, Sai Abhishek (Babla) and Sai Abhilash (Kankan). Both studied Engineering Degrees. Babla added an MBA from IPE, Hyderabad a leading Institute and started working. Kankan went to Canada in 2017 for pursuing MS and later started working and settled down there. Babla also went to Canada for his second MBA in Entrepreneurship in 2019 and after completing the same, took up employment. Kankan is married in 2022 to his college-mate of Engineering, Ms Kriti Bagga who also pursued her MS in Canada.
19.11 Mrs Rama Vidya Sagar is also a Science Graduate. She is married to Mr Pakki ES Vidyasagar (Sukumar) of Vizag, AP. Sukumar is an MA in Economics from Andhra University. He started his career as a Lecturer in Bullayya College in Vizag and switched to corporate job in IDBI, Mumbai in 1984. He shifted to SIDBI in Mumbai and was posted on promotions to Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Cochin, Mumbai and Kolkata. He retired voluntarily as Chief General Manager and settled down at hometown, Vizag. They have two daughters, Suma and Deepthi. Suma is an Architect from Mumbai, married to Suresh and is located in USA. They have two sons. Deepthi completed her Degree in Physiotherapy from Mangalore/Manipal and shifted to USA after her marriage with Dr Urlam Murali. They have 3 daughters.
Continued ......... 20
Monday, November 21, 2022
18. Research & Publications
18.1 My education and career were primarily in Commerce, Management and Banking. However, I had always had the habit of going in-depth in any activity or work I did. In fact, when I was working in the Agricultural Banking Branches / Department of SBI (Anantapur, Parkal, Jangaon, Wardhannapet and Sangareddy) and at the Corporate Office, Mumbai, I took keen interest to understand the farming and rural sociology to give my best. I also had the first opportunity of conducting surveys on two occasions partnering with Mr Bandopadhyaya, Specialist Officer in Economic Research Department and submit reports to Top Management and RBI. I conducted studies on "Comparison between Lead Bank Scheme and Service Area Approach" and "Effectiveness of Non-Banking Working Day at SBI Branches" during 1990-91. I never thought that I will land in Academics on a later date to pursue research in my work.
18.2 Having started my banking career in April 1971 as an under-graduate, I added as many academic and professional qualifications during my service. These are B.Com in 1975, M.Com in 1977, Certificate in Industrial Finance in 1984, CAIIB in 1985, GOI-MHRD Hindi Praveena in 1987 and Pragya in 1989, Part-1 of PG Diploma in Computer Programming (Govt of Maharashtra Board) in 1987, Diploma in Training & Development in 1991, Diploma in Merchant Banking in 1997 and Diploma in Industrial Relations in 1992.
18.3 On joining TAPMI, Manipal in 1999 based on my flair for Training & Development, I was into Academics and Administration. Our Director was prescribing Research, Training and Consulting also for one to become a full-fledged Academic. I began well in teaching banking courses in 1999 and started writing papers jointly with my colleagues on "Convergence of Financial Sector with Insurance" with Prof Meghdoot and on "Benchmarking in Training & Development" with Prof Vidhu S Jha in 2000-2002. Next, I published an article on "Impact of Economic Reforms on Indian Banking" in a Special Banking Issue of Indian Economic Panaroma, New Delhi in its Quarterly Journal of January 2002.
18.5 During my long career in teaching at TAPMI-Manipal, Alliance-Bangalore, IFIM-Bangalore and other places, I handled a variety of courses to First- and Second-Year MBA Students: These are:-
@TAPMI, Manipal (1999-2006 & 2009-2014)
(1) BookKeeping & Accounts (2) Managerial Communication (3) Management of Banks & Financial Institutions (4) Financial Services (5) Retail Banking (6) Business Laws (7) Entrepreneurial Finance and (8) Management in Practice (MIP) in PGDM, PGDM-Family Business, Exec-PGDM and PGDM-BKFS
TAPMI-Atharva 2009 - Polemic on "Banking Sector Reforms" Moderated by me
@Alliance Business School, Bangalore (2006-2009)
(1) Principles of Management (2) Corporate Finance (3) Commercial Banking (4) Marketing of Financial Services (5) Entrepreneurship & New Venture Creation (6) Industrial Relations & Laws and (7) Faculty Guide for SIP and Dissertation to PGDM, Exec-PGDM and PGDM for Defence Personnel
@IFIM, Bangalore (2014-2016)
(1) Commercial Banking (2) Financial Services (3) Business Laws (4) Investment Banking & Wealth Management (5) Principles and Practices of Banking (6) IIP and (7) SIP courses to PGDM, PGDM-Finance and PGDM for Weekend / Executives.
18.6 The above papers were presented / published at National / International Conferences or Seminars organised by ICFAI, AIMA, MAHE, AIMS, IIMK, TAPMI, CII, UGC, AIMS-International, JKSHIM-Nitte, Mangalore and other Institutes / Universities / Professional Bodies. A few articles got Best Paper Awards and were showcased as Model Research Papers. Papers on Banking and Private Equity were also included as Book Chapters. I also acted as Track Chair at some of the Conferences. I partnered with Dr A Siva Kumar in two activities for Corporation Bank, HO, Mangalore on Cross Selling / Retail Banking and a Consulting Assignment on Priority Sector Lending by their branches during May-August 2006.
18.7 In my banking career and later in academics, I handled Guest Lecture Sessions on various banking and management topics at various institutes viz.,
(1) SBI Staff Training Centre, Mumbai (2) State Bank Institute of Rural Development (SBIRD), Hyderabad (3) Bankers Training College (BTC), RBI, Mumbai (4) Vysya Bank Staff Training Centre, Bangalore (5) Syndicate Institute of Bank Management, Manipal (6) Administrative Staff College of UGC, Bangalore University, (7) Power Grid Corporation, Bangalore, (8) KLS Institute of Management and Research, Belgaum, (9) Corporation Bank, Head Office, Mangalore, (10) SAP India Ltd., Bangalore (11) HAL Management Academy, Bangalore (12) Manipal Institute of Management, Manipal (Incubation Centre) (13) Department of European Studies, Manipal University (14) Rajalakshmi School of Business, Chennai (15) Sahyadri Educational Institutions, Bhandari
Foundation, Mangalore
18.7.1Topics covered in the
above sessions were (a) General Banking (b) Rural Finance (c) Lease
Finance (d) Asset Liability Management,
(e) Corporate Governance in Banks, (f) Challenges in Bank Marketing, (g) Online
Banking (h) Customer Relationship Management (i) Role of Branch Managers in
Changed Scenario, (j) Knowledge Management in Banks, (k) New areas of Banking
and Training Needs, and (l) Converting Branches into Profit Centres, (m)
Management Education, etc
18.8 All the above works of research, presentations, publishing or consulting definitely added value in my teaching at the four MBA Institutes (TAPMI, Alliance, IFIM and MSRF) I worked for two decades. Being deeply engaged in Admissions, Branding, Ranking, Administration besides Academics at all the above Institutes, I was unable to focus on Research to obtain a PhD from MAHE, Mangalore University or AIMA New Delhi due to constraint of time or fitting to the procedural formalities. However, I was very regular at the Weekly Faculty Research Seminars at TAPMI and introduced same at MSRF too.
18.9 I was a Research Guide for two MBA Students, Prof J Venkata Rao of MCOPS, MAHE, Manipal and Shri Shreyan, Legal Officer at Syndicate Bank, HO, Manipal.
I worked as Examiner for three Institutes viz., Sri Satya Sai University-Puttaparthi, AP, IIBF-Mumbai and PSG Institute of Management, Coimbatore.
I also helped three PhD candidates - Dr A Vittaleswar, Dr A Varalakshmi and Dr Shareef in writing their respective research theses.
Member of Board of Management Studies of MIM and MESM, Manipal University (2010-13)
Member of Board of Management Studies of Commerce Department, Manipal
University (BBM e-Banking) 2011-14
Also member of Board of Studies of Institute of Management, Christ
University, Bangalore.
18.10 I was a Member of Board of Studies at IFIM-Bangalore, and presently of Siva Sivani Institute of Management-Hyderabad. Board Of Studies - SSIM
I am also a Member of Institute Development Council of Vishwa Vishwani Institute of Management-Hyderabad IDC of VVIM, Hyderabad .
I was a Member of the Research Journals of IFIM-Bangalore, KJ Somaiah Institute of Management-Mumbai and MSRF-Bangalore MSRF Research Journal 2018.
Taught PGDM 2016-18 Students
/ 3rd Trimester, a 3 credit course “Bank Management” at
Rajalakshmi School of Business, Chennai during July – Sept, 2017
Reviewed a book titled “Merchant Banking and Financial Services” 2nd
Edition, 2017 authored by Madhu Vij and Swathi Dhawan of University of Delhi,
published by McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited, Chennai / NOIDA,
India, during Feb-March 2017.
I Chaired Two Research Track
Presentations at AIMS Conclave on 30th and 31st
August, 2018
I am a Life Member of AIMA-New Delhi, IIBF-Mumbai and ISTD-New Delhi
18.11 All the above academic and research credentials got me eligibility to apply for an Honorary Doctorate conferred by University of Swahili, Panama, Central America in September 2018. The proposal was processed / handled by APJ Abdul Kalam Research Centre, Coimbatore, TN and I was awarded an honorary PhD in Commerce with Specialisation in Banking, and conferred in Bangkok, Thailand in December 2018. This has the due recognition of Govt of India. Honorary Doctorate Dec 2018
Continued ......... 19
Thursday, November 17, 2022
17. Music and Karaoke Singing
17.1 My liking to music and singing began in my childhood. For long years, we were allowed to seeing movies only once a year; particularly after our annual exams are over. Television came in mid-1980s. My mother told me that my first song was in the year 1956, as four years old, when my father was away and posted in Madras (Chennai). The song was "Amma Choodalani Vundi... from the Telugu Black & White movie MUDDU BIDDA" MUDDUBIDDA-AMMA CHOODALANI VUNDI-MUDDU BIDDA- OLD TELUGU SONGS - YouTube.
17.2 I used to hear my father sing old melodious Telugu classical filmy songs at home during his free time from Devadasu, Bava Maradallu, Malleeswari, Vipranarayana, Batasari, Mooga Manasulu, Doctor Chakravarthi, Bharya Bharthalu, etc. Those melodies were rendered by top singers like Ghantasala, Bhanumathi, Susheela and others. That definitely had an effect on my picking up singing. But I never went for any training or classes. In 1965, as a 12-year-old boy, I was asked to participate in a cultural program in our Saidabad Colony, Hyderabad. I sang a popular song from Telugu movie MOOGA MANASULU and surprisingly got the first prize. It was Mooga Manasulu Songs - Mudda Banthi Puvvulo - Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Jamuna, Savitri, Ghantasala - YouTube.
17.3 Subsequently, myself and my classmate in School, MV Ramakrishna used to sing latest movie songs in leisure time. We were caught red-handed one day by our Headmaster and got scolded. But we were never poor in our studies and passed all the exams with high scores. I continued my literary and cultural activities during my B.Sc. college days but got aborted then. I continued to pursue my hobby only in private for next 30 years due to my focus on studies, career, etc. My watching movies regularly was after I started working in bank in 1971, particularly on Saturday afternoons after the working hours. My father died in 1990 due to ill-health, at the age of 60 years. He last recorded a tragic Telugu song on audio tape..... Avuna Nijamena from the film Malleeswari (NTR and Bhanumathi). Ouna Nizamamena Song - Malleswari Movie Songs - NTR, Bhanumathi - YouTube.
17.4 Music has its own special features. It conveys feelings and soothes our mind. It has no language barriers. Way back in 1973-74, I heard a friend singing Re-Mix of an old song SUNU MERE BANDHU RE (SD Burman) style adopted for the hot and popular number DUMMARO DUMMU RE, MITH JAYE GHAMMU RE from the Dev Anand-Zeenat Film, HARE RAMA HARE KRISHNA (RD BURMAN). It's a very powerful tool or instrument in connecting people, incidents, and what not in a thematic way. In 1974, I was organising a farewell meeting to our Chief Manager of SBI Hyderabad Branch, Shri KST Pani. On that day, I ventured to sing a classical song from Telugu movie Uyyala Jampala of Shri Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna..... Yeti loni keratalu, yeru vidachi povu... Uyyala Jampala movie song, Etilona keratalu eruvidichi povu yeda lopala mamakaram..... - YouTube
17.5 Only after I joined TAPMI, Manipal (a leading MBA Institute) in 1999, I revived my hobby while being amidst young and bright Management students, during various cultural programs on campus. PGDM Inaugural 2012
17.6 My successful career in Academics in four MBA Institutes for about two decades came to an end by 2018. Being active in social media, I came across in Facebook, posting of videos of old Hindi songs by an ex-colleague of SBI, Mr Kerala Verma. I got prompted and motivated to revive my forgotten hobby. I used my Apple 6 iPhone as Camera-cum-mic and started recording Karaoke Songs, solos and duets, in Hindi and Telugu and uploaded in my own existing YouTube page. Hitherto, I was using this page for my recordings with a Sony Handi-cam since the year 2009 on all programs / events in TAPMI. Now, I uploaded 218 Videos in all covering a variety of Karaoke songs by me at home. Prof Dr Chowdari Prasad - YouTube. I used to post these also in my Facebook page and share with my friends in WhatsApp. Many of my friends were surprised at my hidden talent and appreciated / encouraged me. Please click here to know all about Karaoke, which is in vogue since 1960s. Karaoke - Wikipedia.
17.7 Encouraged by the pleasant success of my karaoke singing and YouTube postings appreciated by many at my revived hobby, post retirement, my wife Ganga Prasad gifted me a Keyboard on my 66th Birthday in 2018. I looked around for a Tutor / Institute to learn to play the Keyboard in Jayanagar, Bangalore and attended a few classes on Sundays. I used to be an odd man out amidst young children present in the class. After about three months, I shifted to another Tutor in BTM-1, nearer to my home and attended early morning classes on Mondays and Wednesdays when children are not around. But my work pressure was coming in my way to learn seriously, and I was irregular at classes or practicing at home. Then came the Covid19 virus, affecting our movements due to Lockdowns in 2020-2022. However, my Tutor came back offering classes online using WhatsApp Video sessions. I could pick up around 35 Hindi and Telugu songs / bhajans on Keyboard. Simultaneously, my karaoke singing in YouTube and StarMaker App continued to keep me engaged and spend my panic-driven times happily.
17.8 My nephew Mr Rabi Patnaik initiated me to the StarMaker App for Karaoke singers in 2019. This is a high-tech platform developed by Star TV Channel group being used by 60 million members worldwide. StarMaker⭐ | Sing along with 60M+ music enthusiasts worldwide🌎 - YouTube. This App has a variety of features and is so user-friendly that we have choice of picking any song and sing along. It contains the lyrics, track music, details of movie / singer / actors, time and scrolling facility, etc. We can also select partners for duets already posted for public use. The songs could be short versions, remixes, medleys, or specific to festivals or national events. While singing / recording itself, the App indicates the level of performance with running score points and gives running feedback. At the end, we have choice of saving as a draft, re-start or save in your page. You can also share to friends also.
17.9 Every participant has his or her own page with profile information, photographs and album, showing the songs in chronological order. When a song is completed, based on the performance / scores obtained, it will also indicate the letter grading like A++ (highest and above 99% of the members), A+ (above 85% of members), A (above 60% of members), B, C or D (lowest) so that you can make up your mind to re-perform and improve the quality / performance. We do also have Followers and those whom we follow. Each song we save / post, can be viewed / heard by any Member, with a facility to Like, Comment, Re-post and Share. There is a provision for listeners to offer Gifts in appreciation (in points, of course). At the end, every song is allotted a DAILY RANKING and later a REGIONAL / TOTAL RANKING. Overall, it's very interactive and members-friendly.
17.10 I downloaded the App in my Apple6 mobile phone and started using for continuing my karaoke singing. My phone works as a mike cum camera to record both audio and video songs. I enjoy using it which supports me with lyrics and track music, to sing solos and duets, in Telugu, Hindi and English. In the last over three years since 2019, I collaborated virtually with over 100 Female Members and a few Male Members too to sing Hindi and Telugu duets. I recorded all my favourite melodies of great singers. These include Telugu film singers: 1. Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao 2. PB Srinivas 3. SP Balasubramaniam 4. Madhava Peddi & Pithapuram Nageswara Rao 5. M. Balamuralikrishna 6. KBK Mohan Raj 7. KJ Yesudas 8. Ramakrishna 9. Udit Narayan 10. Mohd Rafi 11. Raghunath Panigrahi 12. AM Raja 13. Sriram Prabhu and 14. Chittaranjan (AIR).
17.11 Similarly, my Hindi melodies include that of 1.Mohd Rafi 2.Kishore Kumar 3.Manna Dey 4.Mahendra Kapur 5.Hemanth Kumar 6.Talat Mahamood 7.KL Saigal 8.SD Barman 9.Shailendra Singh 10.SP Balasubramaniam 11.Bhupender Singh 12.Jagjit Singh 13.Udit Narayan 14.Sonu Nigam 15.Sudesh Bhonsle 16.Mukhesh 17.Kumar Sanu 18.KJ Yesudas 19.Amitabh Bachchan 20. Nitin Mukhesh 21. AR Rehman 22. Amit Kumar and 23.Ghulam Ali. These songs go back to the mid 1930s till the recent times.
17.12 I have two pages in StarMaker App in my name. I record on an average 4-5 songs every day. I have recorded a highest number of 28 songs on a single day. As on date, I posted in all 4,389 karaoke songs (2,628 + 1,761), solos and duets, in Telugu and Hindi, Audio and Videos, besides 218 videos in YouTube page, thus aggregating 4,607 songs. More than 35% of them are graded as A++. There are Bhajans, Devotionals, Ghazals, Patriotic, Romantic, Comic, Group, Remix, Regional, Radio and Tragic Songs as also some English numbers from my choice of BoneyM and ABBA popular pop-groups.
17.12.1 The seven favourite English popular numbers are: One way Ticket (2 times), Rivers of Bobylon (2 times), Money Money Money, Fernando, S.O.S., Mamma Mia, Brown Girl in the Ring (2 times).
17.12.2 I also posted some Private Telugu Songs of Ghantasala garu like Pushpa Vilapam, Tala Ninda Poodanda Dalichina Rani, Padake Naa Rani,Bahudurapu Batasari, etc. I also rendered some popular cine / private songs of late Shri Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna. These are Yetilone Keratalu, Ye theeruga nanu daya choosedavo, Padamule Chaalu Rama, Pibare Ramarasam and Yemi chethura linga. I also rendered Official Song of Andhra Pradesh ....... Maa Telugu Talliki, Malle Poodanda. The App also has a provision of not only sharing with other friendly members and in other social media like Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram.
17.13 My level of achievement in the two pages is at 45 and 41. My songs are all typical melodies of duration of 1.20 to over 10.0 minutes duration. There are some popular songs repeated more than once. Similarly, the duets were performed many times with different partners. So, there is some double counting. In the first page, I have 6,900 followers while I follow 1,100. About 2,600 songs were ranked. I received 50,387 gift points worth 1,07,063 in as many as 27 types of gifts. Of the 2,600 songs, I received highest daily ranking of No.1 for 346, No. 1 to 5 for 900 and No. 1 to 10 for 1,251 songs.
17.14 In the second page, I have 5,100 followers while I follow 350. About 1,478 songs were ranked. I received 32,253 gift points worth 64,584 in as many as 7 types of gifts. Of the 1,500 songs, I received highest daily ranking of No.1 for 514, No. 1 to 5 for 882 and No. 1 to 10 for 1,032 songs. I give below, some posts in my Facebook page recently:
17.15 Overall, this hobby of my karaoake singing, keeps me cheerful and engaged instead of idling my time in my times post retirement. Incidentally, I am grateful to God that Karaoke singing has become a testing mechanism for my vision for reading lyrics in English / Hindi / Telugu, throat to render the songs with modulation and lung power (breathing too) at a time we were passing through the Covid19 times.
17.16 In December 2022 while staying in Melbourne on a long holiday with family, I ventured to sing and post in my StarMaker Karaoke page, ten favourite / popular songs of the maestro late Sri Kundan Lal Saigal. These are 1. Jab Dil hi toot gaya (Shahjehan, 1946) 2. Soja Raaj Kumari (Zindagi, 1940) 3. Jo Beet Chuki (Pujarin, 1936) 4. Karoon Kya aas niras (Dushman, 1939) 5. Do naina matware (My Sister / Meri Didi, 1944) 6. Gam diye mustakil (Shahjehan, 1946) 7. Ek Bangla bane nyara (President, 1937) 8. Babul Mora (Street Singer, 1937) 9. Diya Jalao, Jag mag (Tansen, 1943) and 10. Main kya janu (Zindagi, 1940). His profile in Wikipedia says he is an actor / singer and first Super Star of Hindi Cinema (both in Kolkata and Mumbai):
17.17 In November 2022, while in Melbourne, I posted ten of my Karaoke songs of late Shri Jagjit Singh ji in my StarMaker page. I attended his live performances in Mumbai in 1985 and 1998 and was influenced. His profile from Wikipedia is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagjit_Singh
The songs / ghazals are 1. Chitthi na koi sandesh, 2. Kal Chaudhvi ki raat 3. Ye Daulat bhi lelo 4. Hothon se chulo thum 5. Tum Itna Kyun Muskurarahi ho 6. Hosh Walon ko kya 7. Jane woh kaise, log the jinke 8. Tum ko dekha tho 9. Jhuki jhuki thee nazar and 10. Yeh thera ghar, ye mera ghar. Each one is a master piece.
17.18 In the last week of December 2022, I made another valiant effort to karaoke sing 10 popular numbers, both solo and duets of late Shri Talat Mahmood (1924-1998), Padmabhushan Awardee. Late Talat Mahmood (1924-1998) These songs were from various films released between 1951 and 1964. These are 1. Jalte hain Jiske Liye (Sujata, 1959) 2. Tasweer Banata hun (Baradari, 1955) 3. Itnana muzhse thu pyar badha (Chaya, 1961) 4. Zindagi Dene wale (Dil E Nadan, 1953) 5. Jayen tho jayen kaha (Taxi Driver, 1954) 6. Meri Yaad mein thum na (Madhhosh, 1951) 7. Phir wohi sham, wohi gham (Jahan ara, 1964) 8. Seene mein Sulagta (Tarana, 1951) 9. Rahi Math wale (Waris) and 10. Thu phulonki rani (Chitrapat, 1961).
17.19 Finally, let me submit that Karaoke Singing is an art and for entertainment. It's not copying, mimicry or plagiarism but a sort of imitation. LEKHA NEWSLETTER Jan, 2023 (Page 19) A write up on my Karaoke hobby was covered on page 19 of Sistakaranam Ikya Vedika Monthly Newsletter.
Continued ......... 18
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
16. Vidya Gateway Foundation
16.1 As they say, all good things come to an end, at the age of 67 I almost decided to call it a day after quitting Shantha Group in September 2019. Dr K Sankaran, my ex-colleague in TAPMI, Manipal about 15 years ago and now working as Director of Justice KS Hegde Institute of Management, under Nitte University near Mangalore invited me for discussions. Dr Sankaran obtained his PhD from USA and also taught at SP Jain Institute of Management, Mumbai, IMI New Delhi and Sharjah University.
16.2 Dr Ananth Rao, Dr Sudheer Sharan, Dr Pattanayak were also included in the proposed project by him. I added Dr Varun Murthy of Bangalore whom I knew as a Medical Graduate, engaged in Social Work and Educational Entrepreneurial Ventures. Dr Rao is an ex-SBI Officer turned Academician with high credentials having his PhD from USA and worked in Senior positions in University of Dubai. Besides being a Professor and Academic Administrator, he is an expert in global AACSB Accreditation. Dr Sudheer Sharan is an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and obtained his PhD. He worked as a Dean at MSRF Bangalore and was my predecessor. Dr SK Pattanayak is a retired top executive of Indian Railways and located in Bangalore as a Consultant. Mr Pratap Hegde of M/s Rane P Ltd., Bangalore joined us as seventh member in the proposed venture. He is an IT expert and engaged in Social Work too. Ms Sharvari Kulkarni, a PhD Scholar joined us as a Research Associate and worked for 4 months.
16.3 All seven of us met in a few rounds of meetings during Sept to December 2019 in Bangalore, Nitte and Udupi preparing to form an outfit for engaging in Educational Consulting to Universities and Higher Educational Institutes like Engineering Colleges and MBA Colleges all over India. Primarily we planned to propagate the New National Educational Policy 2019 of GOI. We called our organisation as Vidya Gateway Foundation. We recruited a Research Assistant and proposed to organise a National Conference to train Faculty Members and guide the Managements of Higher Educational Institutes. (33) Vidya Gateway Foundation - (VGF): Overview | LinkedIn
Visit to Jain University, Bangalore during our campaign for the Conference
16.4 We were making preparations for forming a Pvt Ltd Company and embark on our operations. All arrangements were made to launch our first program. Canvassing to several Bangalore based Institutes / Universities were commenced. Simultaneously, we did necessary research on the NEP 2020 (changed from NEP 2019 by GOI). The Conference was scheduled for April 2020, but unfortunately Covid19 took ugly turn in March 2020 aborting our progress. The prolonged lockdowns and uncertain conditions in all fields including Colleges and Schools affected the entire environment. After waiting for over an year, in view of changed conditions in Education field, we shelved the idea, while each of the Members engaged in their respective areas of interest. I almost took FULL RETIREMENT from work.
