Page 173 - Demo

also had free will and agency to determine how he would lead his life henceforth. He had always had an affinity for philosophy and during this period he became much more spiritual in his outlook. He had ample time for reflection and self-contemplation which led him towards a stoical bent of mind. He'd jokingly say, %u201cIt's my karma, in my last birth I must have been a very big crook because I have to go through all this in my present life!%u201d As PVG Raju recovered, he began to take an interest in the affairs of MANSAS Trust and chair meetings of the officers of the Trust. Occasionally, there would be a public engagement in one of the educational institutes and he would take the stage and speak. His articulation was not clear and the cadence of his speech was much slower. He needed to explain himself to be coherent and this took time. The audience in Vizianagaram did not mind as they deferred to him and were willing to patiently wait to hear what he had to say.As his energy returned and his abilities improved his thoughts turned back to public life and politics. It was the monsoon of 1966; the general elections were looming and it seemed to him that it was time to get back into the fray.Before the accident, PVG Raju was a man in the prime of his life, brimming with ideas and vigour, already on the path of a meteoric rise in politics. He was no longer the same person now %u2013 his faculties had been blunted by the cruel hand of fate. But PVG Raju was still venerated in his constituency and the areas around and he was sanguine about his chances if he were to contest. 159