Andhra Pradesh   

Reunion that was never to be

RAJAHMUNDRY: “Nana, I am coming home in August to take you to New Delhi. We will live together happily,” were the words that Vadapalli Venkateswara Rao used over the phone while speaking to his father Appalacharyulu, a few days ago.

The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer was killed in a major blast in Kabul on Monday. Mr. Appalacharyulu has retired from the Health Department and is living in Lalacheruvu for the last 11 years. He and his wife Subhadra are living a lonely life in Lalacheruvu housing board colony and were shocked to hear about their son’s death.

A pall of gloom descended on Mr. Appalacharyulu’s house. A steady stream of visitors, including mediapersons, called on him to comfort him with a few words about his brave son of the 1990 batch who joined as third secretary. A batch-mate of IAS officer K.S. Jawahar Reddy and IPS officer A.B. Venkateswara Rao, he worked in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Washington D.C. and New Delhi. Only two years ago he went to Afghanistan. “Most of my colleagues are not ready to go to Afghanistan. But we should not fear death. It will come any day, as we serve the motherland,” Rao told his father before leaving for Afghanistan.

Venkateswara Rao was born in Narsipudi village of Alamuru Mandal in East Godavari and studied till SSLC here. He completed Intermediate in Guntur and graduation in Kurnool. He did his post-graduation in the University of Hyderabad and was pursuing his Ph.D. in “India’s Relations with Asian Countries.” He married Malathi in 1993 and they have two children, Ankit (12) and Amulya (10).

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Reunion that was never to be
Laknavaram lake beckons tourists
Single-window for grievances launched
Rare surgery performed at Apollo Hospital
Pension for physically challenged to be hiked
Roadshow as party affair
Plastic bags popular despite ban
Harish evasive on TRS-TDP alliance
TRS leader vague on tie-up with TDP
Cloud-seeding to be launched in 10 days
East meets west
At the receiving end
FACA plea on building regularisation
Power shutdown
Trains diverted
Office-bearers elected
Workshop for teachers
HZL gesture
‘Studies get affected due to power cuts’
Protest planned
Focus
Playing it cool
First couple celebrates wedding anniversary in Tirumala
Ryots complain against loan-waiver scheme
Medak IIT: delay in land acquisition likely
Peddi Reddy vows to strengthen Telangana movement
Bhuma launches attack against TDP

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu