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BYGONES

Nehru administered perfection pill

G.S.Raju fondly recalls the dinner he hosted to Pandit Nehru on the premises of SIRIS factory

UNFORGETTABLE DAYS G S Raju (extreme right) with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during the latter's visit to Vijayawada in 1959. Raju's business partner T G Shanbagh is at the extreme left.

I established South India Research Institute Private Limited, now popularly known as SIRIS near Vijaya Talkies, in 1950, along with my business partner T.G. Shanbagh. As I have always been inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, I became an active member of the Congress in 1950.

I was appointed member of the Legislative Council in 1958. I was surprised to hear the news when I was going in a car and turned on the radio casually. Chief Minister Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy made me the deputy chairman of the Legislative Council, in which position I stayed on till 1964.

It was during this period that I interacted with several national leaders during their visits to Vijayawada and other places in the district.

One such memorable visit was that of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the city in 1959 for an occasion that I do not remember.

Sanjeeva Reddy's pet

As Chief Minister, Sanjeeva Reddy asked me to host Panditji on the premises of my industry, which was already moved to the new premises where it stands now (Kanuru). But the decision sparked off a strong reaction from freedom fighter Mantena Venkata Raju and then MLA Marupilla Chitti.

"How can you allow an industrialist to host the Prime Minister when so many of us are around?" they questioned Sanjeeva Reddy when all the four of us sat in a room.

But Sanjeeva Reddy, being a person who always did what he wanted to, made clear to them in no uncertain terms: "I will decide on the basis of what the officials and police say from the point of view of security."

And he quietly called in the district magistrate and police chief and asked them to announce that my factory premises was the best place from the security point of view for the Prime Minister to have dinner.

Being specific

I played host to about 100 people along with Panditji, who spent two hours in the factory by going round the premises. During dinner, Panditji asked me: "What do you manufacture here?" I casually replied: "Some vitamin preparations."

My answer evoked an angry reaction from Panditji. "Can't you be specific?" he shot back at me. Then I explained what drugs are manufactured at my factory.

Since then I always spoke in specific terms without beating around bush in any of my conversations, while I expect every one to be specific too. That was my only interaction with Panditji, as I could never meet him again before his death in 1964. But I still cherish the memory.

(As told to K. Srimali. G.S, Raju is a noted city-based industrialist.)

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