Kurnool, March 25: It’s great for a long-cherished dream to come true.
But, it is rare indeed for two such dreams to converge.
When they do, it is a happy coincidence. And basking in it are Ravindra Naik and Ram Shankar Naik, the cousins from Anantapur.
‘‘Oh yes! we are very happy,’’ says Ravindra Naik as he settles himself comfortably in a chair beside a beaming Ram Shankar Naik. The duo hail from the same family and had shared the hard life that comes from being a tribal in a remote hamlet like Naginayani Cheruvu in Anantapur district.
But it is not the hard life that is their story.
It’s their success.
Ravindra is now Additional Superintendent of Police while his cousin Ram is the District Collector. Both are posted in Kurnool. Grandsons of a social activist Champla Naik, the only advantage they had was their family. ‘‘My mother used to tell me that if I became a top official, I would be useful to the people.
Once, when I was undergoing a teacher’s training course in Tirupati, she came to visit Tirumala but I was able to meet her only at the railway station, that too when she had already boarded the train back home.
On seeing me, she said that she had vowed to tonsure her head, if I became a Collector,’’ recalls Ram Shankar Naik.
‘‘That incident made me more determined and helped me reach my goal and here I am,’’ he says with moist eyes.
His cousin nods in agreement. He draws inspiration from his grandfather. ‘‘My grandfather was a social activist. He had set up a school in our hamlet much before independence to eradicate illiteracy among the locals. He was and is my role model,’’ explains Ravindra Naik.
Interestingly, both have an affinity to Kurnool district. While Ram had worked as Project Director, DRDA, CEO Zilla Parishad and Joint Collector before finally becoming the collector in the district, Ravindra had been an SI in Nandikotkur, CI in Kurnool town and DSP in Allagadda.
Turning nostalgic, they reminisce their childhood days. ‘‘Both of us had our schooling up to fifth standard in our hamlet itself and completed Intermediate in Pinukonda,’’ they recall, adding that they had graduated from a college in Anantapur.
What are their future plans? ‘‘Well, we will be going to Maremma jatara in our village in May.
We are looking forward to meeting our friends and family members,’’ replies Ravindra Naik as they sign off.
–Agencies