Page 77 - Demo

With them were the INA and their leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who had captured the imagination of the people. The feudal order of Princes and Zamindars were aware that the British had weakened enormously. A lot of them were anxious as to what the future would hold for them in this post-colonial circumstances. The Empire which had seemed eternal and permanent was now tottering and circumstances were hastening its end.The young PVG Raju's annual income at that point yielded by his estate was about 22 lakhs, the highest in the Madras Presidency and the peshcush (revenue collected by the Crown from zamindars) amount came to nearly 6 lakhs.. This was a staggering amount, and regardless of the British staying in India or not, the future was secure. The family also had countless properties in some of the prime locations in Vizianagaram, Vizag and Madras. The life of a rentier beckoned, one not of toil but ease and comfort.Yet, as we have seen when he said, in his teens, that he %u201cidealised the philosopher%u201d, he did not intend to fall into the trap of hedonistic existence. Neither did he lack an acute sense of the national mood. Writing much later, in his call to the younger generation, looking back to those years, he would say %u201cFreedom from British rule was a must, and everything else in life was secondary.%u201d There was also an important turning point in PVG Raju's life. He had turned 21 in May 1945. The countdown to his coronation had started. In the days leading up to that, he came back to Vizianagaram after finishing college and had joined the Freemasons frequenting the Masonic temple.67