Page 182 - Demo

PVG Raju was spiritual, but not ritualistic by religion. The man who read abstruse texts and exercised his mind about comparative religion, also enjoyed discussing other people's views on the same. He was very open minded and his curious bent of mind kept him engaged and informed. He remained through his life a stickler for time and was known for his kindness and courtesy to everyone around him. He taught all his children to be courteous as well. His daughter recalls, %u201cWe were very small and were in Vizianagaram. It must have been late at night and Ashok had a cold. We had an ayah and Ashok called to her, saying he wanted a handkerchief. My father was passing that way, and he said, `no, you can't talk to anybody like that. You have to say please.%u2019 My brother dug his heels in. Ashok took a long time to say 'please give me the hanky.' But the hanky was not given to him until he said, please. My father took courtesy to that kind of level.%u201dNot unsurprisingly for a man of such restrained behaviour, PVG Raju had flashes of temper and those around him knew he was angry when he would take off his spectacles and fling them. This was always with those who were closest to him, he did not normally lose his temper with others.In retrospect, what are we to make of his life? It had extremes of experiences that are given to very few people. Here was a boy born in the lap of luxury in one of the most important families of south India, destined to be a ruler of vast territories, but at the age of thirteen having to see the ignominy of his father being stripped of power for opposing the British crown. The boy had to go through the trauma of his father's mysterious death very soon after, and then to have to live under the care of strangers. 168