The Barpali Days

This blog is the Facebook of Barpali which picturise its "life" and "culture". It was a "palli" or a village a century back where the all time great Oriya poet swabhaba kabi Gangadhar Meher had taken birth. Now this bustling little town is renowned world-over for the weaving of Sambalpuri ikat handloom fabrics. Agriculture is its prime economy. And when you happen to visit this little town don't miss to taste Chaul bara.

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Dec 29, 2019

11:48 AM

VTK Raju: No shortcut to Pinnacle

VTK Raju, best known as Raju, was born and brought up at Parlakhemundi in Gajapati  District (erstwhile Ganjam District). During the reign of Maharaj Shri Krishna Chandra Gajapati, Raju’s grandfather Shri V Appala Narasimham Raju was the Dewaan of erstwhile Parlakhemundi princely state. Krishna Chandra was the same noble king of Odisha who has accomplished so many social projects during his life time notably construction of the Girls High School, Boys High School and Degree College at Parlakhemundi. MKCG Medical College of Berhampur is a true acknowledgement to his legacy. The king  built two large ponds, Ram Sagar and Sita Sagar, to harvest the rainwater for using the same by farmers for farming throughout the year.  
Raju had a good upbringing by his father, Shri V Subramanyam Raju, who is an authoritative and disciplined person. His father was a landlord and was looking after the estates that he had inherited from his father. From childhood days, Raju was good at studies and extracurricular activities like sports, debates, essay writing, painting etc. 
Raju started his primary education from Gandhi Memorial School, a School which is run by Parlakhemundi Municipality, later upgraded to Upper Primary School. While in 6th and 7th Class, Raju used to sneak on the playground while his senior school mates doing parade wearing Khaki uniform. 
On entering Maharaja Boys’ High (MRBH) School, Raju as well joined National Cadet Corps (NCC) as a Junior Division. The motive was to  get the free share of breakfast i.e. Allo Bondas and Vadas that were distributed at the end of the drill session. 
But on attending the physical calisthenics Raju realised NCC is not a place to do any merrymaking. He learnt how to lead life under strict discipline. Every day, after school, he used to play hard in the college grounds of Parlakhemundi and excelled himself in Athletics. While in High School, he participated in state level sports events and got many prizes to his credit.


Every morning as early as at 5:00 A.M. his father used to wake up Raju and his elder brother and was taking both the kids on his scooter to college ground. He himself was imparting physical training to both the kids. As on this date Raju bequeaths all the achievements of his life to his father, who groomed him by paying utmost attention to his personal and career growth right from the beginning.

In 1983, Raju  passed High School Certificate (HSC) Examination with First Division. He enrolled his name in Intermediate Science (I.Sc) at Shri Krishna Chandra Gajapati(SKCG) College at Parlakhemundi. In college he joined NCC as a Senior Division Cadet. During 1984 summer vacation Raju attended an Annual Training Camp of NCC at Parlakhemundi. In that camp, he was mesmerized while looking at the persona of   their Group Commander Colonel R C Patra. Raju observed very keenly every movement of Colonel R C Patra, the way he was standing, his style of walking and the way he was commanding the cadets. There, in that camp itself, Raju set the clear goal of his life to become an Army Officer and serve his nation India. 
On returning from that NCC camp Raju never looked back. In 1985, he had an opportunity to attend Military Attachment Camp at Meerut, where he was taught how to live life as a Soldier. In the same year, he represented Odisha State in Republic Day Banner Championship (All India Level NCC Competition). In that Championship, Raju and his colleague won silver medal in Bayonet Fighting. When a Soldier runs out of ammunition all he has to do is Dog Fight with his enemy. The soldier fights just with his Bayonet which is fixed at the tip of the Rifle. More so a Rifle is of no use when the enemy is at the arm’s distance. 

On returning to Odisha, Raju met Colonel RC Patra at Berhampur. It was he who motivated VTK Raju to compete for Republic Day Camp (RDC). A chosen few out of lakhs of cadets from across India could only get such honour to participate in RDC. Colonel  Patra deputed a special trainer for Raju for preparing him for RDC. Raju had to undergo a rigorous training of three long months followed by a series of selections at Bhubaneswar. In January 1986 Raju reached New Delhi. He was one out of approximately 1,700 NCC cadets who have been recruited from different states across India. In the NCC Camp at New Delhi Raju was further shortlisted. He was one out of 75 NCC Cadetd among 1,700 cadets who were selected for Republic Day parade at the Raj Path at New Delhi.
Finally, on 26th January of 1986 Raju marched on the Rajpath or the Grand Road of New Delhi which was live telecast by Door Darshan the national television of India. Then, in India, the television broadcast was at a nascent stage. Until the year 1986, in the history of hundred years of SKCG College, Parliakhemundi none had the privilege of participating in the RDC. But while marching on Rajpath that young man Raju was recollecting his childhood, the day he had worn NCC uniform for the first time(just for fun) and the efforts to reach the very Rajpath. 

After the Republic Day event, Raju was further shortlisted to participate in Guard of Honour for the President, Prime Minister and the Defence Minister of India. Raju returned to his hometown Parlakhemundi after achieving such a feat which none of his family members, school, college, town or the entire district has ever accomplished. On returning to Odisha his State Government felicitated him with Defence Minister Gold Medal for the overall performance in NCC.
More to it Raju was recruited to participate in an International Youth Exchange Programme, but due to some unforeseen event, he could not go.  Unlike today there were no smartphones to click the images of him reaching New Delhi doing march past at the Rajpath nor he had the privilege to share the news with his well-wishers and the distance relatives living in different states of India. 
But on returning to his SKCG College instead of getting any accolades he had to face all the agonies. Due to shortage of attendance for just by few periods he was not permitted to sit in B.Sc examinations. He ran from pillar to post to get justice. Raju even went to the Chief Minister's Office at Bhubaneswar with Deputy Director General of NCC. Shri Janaki Balabha Pattnaik was holding the office of CM, then, who directed Raju to meet the Education Minister of Odisha. Raju tried defending his position by saying that he did not go to the Republic Day Camp for acquiring any personal glory, but to represent Odisha state for the grand celebration of the country. Somehow, he was given a special permission letter from the office of the Education Minister to sit in examination, but on reaching college he was told that Odisha State Govt. has no authority to accord permission since Berhampur University governed by the rules and regulations of  University Grant Commission(UGC). It would be improper to say the heart of Raju was broken, since he was chasing the dream of being an Army Officer. His conscience told educational qualification is merely an addendum to his name whereas the ambition of his life is to be an Army Officer. 

In January 1988 out of agony Raju packed his bags and bid goodbye to his home state Odisha and the Berhampur University which had shown him a step motherly attitude. With a renewed vigour Tirumal boarded Howrah-Madras Mail from Palasa for Chennai. He joined Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Institution of Engineers (India). That youngman was managing his own self with a budgeted expenses of 700 INR a month. You could work out he was surviving with as little as 23 INR a day without any extravaganza. He was knowing his father was just a bank employee and he is rearing his family with a marginal income. In the year 1992 on acquiring the engineering degree, he appeared for Service Selection Board(SSB) examination and qualified in it too.



In January 1993 he joined prestigious Indian Military Academy(IMA) at Dehradun. After going through rigorous military training for one year in a high disciplined environment, he passed out as a Commissioned Officer. In a grand ceremony, along with his colleagues, he took an oath to protect the safety and honour of his motherland and stepped in to the final plaque called "Antim Pag" which literally means the final step. 


kiranbima@gmail.com
WhatsApp# +918249314972
E.Kiran Mohan(The Writer)
S/o.Dr.E.R.Rao(M.D)
Main Road, Near SBI,
At/PO : Barpali-768029
Dist.Bargarh, Odisha, India
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Dec 26, 2019

7:20 PM

FM Mahanadi Sakshatkar


All India Radio (AIR) or Akashvani which literally means "Voice from the Sky" is the national public radio broadcaster of India and is a division of Prasar Bharati. FM Mahanadi is a wing of All India Radio, Sambalpur. They broadcasted a conversation titled "Sakshatkar" with the writer and developer of this blog E Kiran Mohan. Listen here the audio of 29 minutes:

This blog acknowledge thanks to its Station Director Prafulla Majhi and Randeep Padhan

Get your profile published for world wide readership. Contact:
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WhatsApp# +918249314972
E.Kiran Mohan(The Writer)
S/o.Dr.E.R.Rao(M.D)
Main Road, Near SBI,
At/PO : Barpali-768029
Dist.Bargarh,Odisha, India
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Barpali, Orissa, India Barapali Town, Odisha 768029, India

Dec 20, 2019

7:40 PM

Jema Meher: Even deaf and dumb can speak out loudly through their work

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Jema Meher is a 16 years old girl of Kusanpuri village. She is the youngest daughter of Saptama Meher. She along with her other two elder sisters all are deaf and dumb since their birth. It's a genetic disorder. As Saptama he himself is an illiterate he never took her children to any hospitals for medical treatment.

They belong to cooli Meher community. But Saptama and all the family members have undertaken the job of weaving handloom textiles. His son Sushanta collects the tie and dye yarn from the Bhulia community. They got two handloom machines at home. Saptama along with his son and three daughters weave the handloom fabrics at their home.



The eldest sister is Namita who is 25 years, whereas the second sister Nilendri is 23 years. While Jema is a 16 years old girl. None of the three siblings can either speak or hear. None of them attended any school as there are no schools for differently abled children. Jema is willing to study further, but her father Saptama neither have got the knowledge, nor the resources to impart education. Instead Jema is attending Kushanpuri High School. She is a student of Class 9th of Odia medium. It's a co-educational School. She is supposed to attend a disability School, but since her parents are poor and illiterate they never able to make any provisions to send her to such School. Jema is sincere in her studies and willing to study further. In school a few boys boys mocks her, whereas most of the girls pay due regards. 

Saptama inherited the knowledge and the technique of ikat handloom weaving from his father instead of attending any training or workshops organised by the department of textiles. Likewise he descended this knowledge to his four children. The master weavers of the tie and dye handloom clinch the State and National Awards but the weavers of this community never got the due recognitions.


The eldest and the youngest daughters get the handicap pension of 700 INR a month whereas the second daughter gets 500 INR a month that is all. The old father worries thinking who will look after his three spinster daughters when he will no more here on the surface of the earth. Those who are willing to help her may speak with her brother Sushanta Meher at:           
                       WhatsApp# +918917691670
Jema Meher 
D/o. Saptama Meher

Kusanpuri-768029,

Dist. Bargarh, Odisha, India


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Get your profile published for getting the readership across the world. Contact:
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E.Kiran Mohan(The Writer)
S/o.Dr.E.R.Rao(M.D)
Main Road, Near SBI,
At/PO : Barpali-768029
Dist.Bargarh,Odisha, India


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Barpali, Orissa, India Barapali Town, Odisha 768029, India

Dec 2, 2019

5:38 PM

Dasari Murali Krishna: Carrying the beacon of Education and Health for the Society


Most of those who are carrying the beacons in metropolis were either brought up or got antecedent to the grassroots of this vast subcontinent called India. In Bargarh we also have a few entrepreneurs who built successful businesses from the scratch. But often the motive behind building such mega businesses is not only to make profits or build the capital, but to return a pie of the share to the society to which they are bequeathed.  

D.Murali Krishna is a prominent figure not only in Bargarh, but is in entire Western parts of Odisha. He is the one who is trying to answer to the apathy of the much neglected education and health care of Odisha. In the entire Western Odisha none other than him were able to visualise or even materialize the project of this magnitude in a span of just two decades. 

Murali Krishna was born and brought
up in a humble Telugu family of Khandhata village of Bargarh block. Somewhere in the year 1963 in search of greener pasture his father D Veer Raju migrated from Kesavaram of East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. His father was working hard as a labourer in the agricultural field owned by Mr G. Anand Rao. Though his father was illiterate, yet he was aware that education was the key to success and he made sure to impart his children with the best education available at that time, when neither the Govt. of India nor any of its provinces had formulated elaborate plans to eradicate illiteracy. Veer Raju has realised it is not money, but education that could only liberate any individual and in turn the society as a whole.


In the year 1979, one day while Murali was playing on the streets of his village, the landlord Sri G. Anand Rao asked Murali if he wants to study in the boarding school of their community. The eyes of Murali glittered, but he was knowing his parents can never afford to pay the hefty fee of a boarding school. Murali nodded his head innocently. Sri Anand Rao told Murali’s mother that he will rear her kid.  He asked Murali to sit in the car and  took him to Kosala  School located at village Nua Khairpali. It’s a CBSE affiliated English medium Residential which was started by their community people. Anand Rao was a very rich man, yet he was a philanthropist on his own accord.  Murali babu passed 10th with as much as 53 percent of marks from that school. On passing out 10th Murali wanted to pursue engineering. His father tried hard to enrol his name in Diploma Engineering, but luck does not favour the poor and he has to give up his dream to be an engineer. Instead Murali joined at Panchayat College of Bargarh to pursue Science.

The father of Murali was rearing around 32 cows and buffalos. His main source of livelihood was selling milk.  At the tender age of four or five, Murali used to fearlessly enter the cowsheds, while her mother would be busy with her household chores. He was keep on playing with the cows that were double of his height. Many times his mother used to search for him in hither and thither. But she was taking a long breath of solace on locating Krishna sleeping along with calves in the cow shed itself. She used to lift Murali from there and place him on the cot. That kid stood as a testimony to his name. He was playing around with the cows and calves the way Lord Krishna was playing during the Dwaparayug at Mathura. As Murali grew up he started spending most of his time while cleaning the cowshed, collecting the dung, preparing fuel supplements with the dung, milking the cows and even delivering milk in canes loaded in a bicycle to different homes at Bargarh.

At a tender age that kid had the ability to trace out the socio needs of his village. There used to be an irrigation canal crossing the road and over a period of time as the water was flowing throughout the year, a long stretch on either sides of the road was completely damaged, the villagers were facing hindrance as the bullock carts were unable to cross through the stream of water. As a result they had to unload the stuff from the carts and lift them manually to the other side and to reload the stuff once again on the other edge of the stream of water. In those decades there was no public administration to answer the local needs of such a remote village. Nor the elderly people of the village  had the wisdom how to resolve such an issue. During vacations Murali used to observe very closely problems that were faced by the villagers.

When Murali was a student of Class 7th,  during summer vacations he took the initiative to answer to such an issue. That kid along with his friends approached all the elders of his village and raised a lump sum 7,000 INR. During 80’s of the last Century it happened to be a huge sum on the part of children to mobilise that much money. They bought a culvert(cement pipe) admeasuring 20 feet’s and laid it underneath the road. The initiative which was taken by Krishna at such a tender age solved a major hindrance which his villagers were encountering. But none of his villagers would have ever imagined in decades to follow the same kid would take the huge responsibility of providing qualitative Education to the children and health care to the mass of this underdeveloped, yet a major geographical area of Odisha. 

Murali recalls when he was a kid he too had done his share of mischiefs. While he was a hosteller at Koshal School, Nua Khairpali he too did couple of mischiefs. As on this date while occupying the responsible position as the Chairman of Vikash Group of Educational Institutions he smiles at his own self for carrying all such mischievous activities.  

Pranks and truancy are common with children of school age. None of us were exempted, neither Murali was. He recalls his own experience. When he was a student, how he had done his own bit and share of mischiefs. And he shares this despite occupying the dignified position of Chairman of Vikash Group of Educational Institutions.

While smiling at his own self he narrates one of his abnormal behaviour of his school days. It was the year 1983 then when Murali was a student of Class 7th. He was a hosteller in the Koshal School, Nua Khairpali. Even then this school used to have a very strict administration. Students were groomed in the hostel under an eagle’s eye. In those days except outdoor games,  there used to be no electronic gadgets for the entertainment of children. Once during the time of Shiv Ratri friends told Murali about a VCR show of the movie “Challenge” that will be conducted on the neighbourhood. Then it was newly released Telugu cinema of the Super Star Chiranjeevi. His friend told Murali about lot of fighting that movie casts and couple of melodious songs to whose tune the heroine Vijayashanti dances.   It was an open air theatre free show at the temple premises for the general public to watch. Murali too had the urge to view the movie. 
At night after taking dinner when all the hostellers slept, Murali and his friends got up and went to the back side of his hostel and jumped out of compound wall of the hostel. When they landed on the other side of the wall, his mind started fluttering as if a butterfly. On reaching the venue all placed their footwear and sat on it. During the show, someone bashed on Murali’s back. With a shock Murali turned back. It was none other than his day scholar mate G. Ammana Choudhary. His friend asked how did they escape from the hostel of the school at night hour? Fear started hovering in his mind as a consequence he unable to relish the joy of watching the movie and at interval returned to his hostel on the same path. He along with his other friends jumped back across the hostel compound wall. In the pitch dark he went to his bed and slept while wrapping his body with a bedsheet to get rid of the mosquitoes. But Murali unable to catch the sleep, thinking what would be consequences if Ammana reports to their class teacher next morning.

Next morning in the first period his friend Ammana mischievously asked Murali why your eyes are red? Did you not sleep last night? Were you studying all the night? When the class teacher came Ammana reported about serious offence that Murali had done. When class teacher asked Murali he lowered his head to confess the crime that he did. The teacher asked Murali to lift his hands. With a stick he started bashing ruthlessly on his hands, back and thighs. Murali started crying with remorse as he unable to bear the pain. His teacher asked Murali to stand on the bench. When Murali took the elevated position all his friends looked at him ridiculously. While recalling that event, even as on this date Murali laughs at his own self.

In the year 1988 when Murali was in the second year of +2(i.e. 12th) Science one evening while his father was cutting the grass in the paddy field with an axe a cobra bite his thumb finger. Struck with fear he rode his bicycle for two kilometres to return home. Because of cycling the venom spread even rapidly in his body. When his father reached the street where they were residing, one snake charmer volunteered to cure his father by uttering few mantras and blowing air with his mouth on the thumb of his father. He uttered some mantras but nothing yield any result. Murali rushed in a Scooty to the clinic of Dr Bhimsen Piplani and brought him home. The doctor checked the pulse of his father and said “Sorry”. This is why India has got the ill reputation of being a country of snake charmers.

Entire family was in a state of grief, because of that unforeseen jolt. One night the mother and her four sons set to chart the plan how to repay the family debts which his father had borrowed to do farming. His eldest brother stepped into the shoes of his father carrying the paddy cultivation, while Murali and his elder brother Nagesh assisted. They asked their younger brother Pratap to continue his studies who was attending school. After his father demise everyday twice Murali was carrying milk in his bicycle to Bargarh. In the day hours Murali was hesitant to carry milk in his bicycle through the main road of Panchayat College of Bargarh, because he did not want to be a subject matter of mockery by the girls of his batch. He is hesitant to tell how he was bifurcating from the main road to the lanes when he used to spot any of his female batch mates coming from the opposite side.

Every day Murali worked vehemently
in their dairy farm and paddy fields from the wee hours till the sunset. Murali also wanted to try something on his own. Independently in a plot of 30 decimals he cultivated a small variant of white brinjals. In the summer it yielded a good crop. He carried the vegetables in his bicycle and sold them in the weekly vegetables market of neighbouring village Tora. He recalls he was selling them for as little as Rs.2/- a kilogram. The entire family members slogged tirelessly for five years. That apart they lead a marginal life while curtailing the little luxuries of life. And finally they paid back all the debts of his father and got free from the uncertainties of life. 
  
At that time life was very tough and Murali  unable to concentrate on his studies as a result that young man failed miserably in +2 exams by getting abysmal marks. In the year 1992 Murali applied for engineering at ITI at National Council for Vocational Training(NCVT), Burla. But instead of his preferred subject of mechanical engineering he was allotted with a seat in stenography. That fellow took admission without knowing what would be the career options of stenography. There was no one at his home to give him any career guidance. Proudly Krishna enrolled his name and procured a certificate of diploma in stenography.

After completion of his course in ITI every morning Krishna used to take a bath and was wearing a pair of tidy pant and shirt and was heading for either Sambalpur or Burla in search of a job. But this is not a commercial area, seldom there were any office complexes where Murali could have got the job of a stenographer. The thick certificate was getting mutilated in his file. His friends suggested him to get his diploma certificate framed with a mirror and to hang it at home. But Krishna thought he has not earned a Rupee carrying that certificate until then and why should he at all invest another Rs.50/- to frame that. Finally in the year 1993 he got a breakthrough. He was recruited as a Personal Secretary to the Manging Director of Shri Ganesh Rice Mill, Bargarh. Readers please don’t ask at how much salary. Because in this area where a majority of the population are unemployed remuneration could never be negotiated by the job seeker. It is the employer who always decides how much he is going to pay. There was no Letter of Appointment, may be because until then that rice mill did not had a stenographer to prepare a letter in a typewriter. That flourishing rice mill had as many as two Zenith type writers on their office desk. Then desktop computers were yet alien to this land. Krishna was told that he will be paid Rs.700/-(yes it was only seven hundred and not seven thousand). Krishna was in a state of ecstasy to get the first ever job of his life. That fellow counted in an average he will earn a little over Rs.20/- every day. He thought at least he will able to take a belly full of one breakfast everyday by paying Three Rupees. Krishna had the opinion he need not worry for the lunch because rice would be available free of cost, as he will be working in the rice mill itself. Krishna borrowed a red tie from his friend and wore it on a white shirt and went to report in the rice mill.

After working in the rice mill for one and half years that young man went to Bhawanipatna to try his luck in to sales. He joined as a salesman with a dealer of Swaraj Tractors. The irony was that he went to sell shoes to those who did not had the limbs. Kalahandi district is a famine tormented area. There are no irrigation projects in that region. Cultivation of paddy was solely depends upon the grace of monsoon rains.

Murali paid Rs.21 to the conductor and boarded the bus with a renewed vigour. After travelling for eight hours he landed in a region where yet aboriginals were living. Farmers were using bullocks to do the basic farming activities. Only the mighty rich chosen few were possessing tractors, which they were using for transporting the construction materials. It was a big challenge for that young salesman Murali to endorse people to buy tractors by investing couple of lakhs of Rupees. In fact the same work could have done by employing cheap labour. Krishna made people aware that they have to invest money, but at the same time their job would be accomplished speedily as compared to the manual work.


Though Murali sold many tractors across different town and villages of Kalhandi and Balangir district, but the bottleneck was in the after sales service. In less than six months most of the buyers returned with different complaints. In the entire Odisha and Chatisgarh there was neither a single after sales service point of Swaraj tractors, nor the spare parts were available. Because of it the customers were forced to wait for days together for the repairing of vehicles in the garage/fields.  So to keep the customers happy thrice Krishna went to Chandigarh while boarding in the general boggy of the train for exchanging axle of the tractors. It used to be a herculean task for travelling two and half days one way in the hot weather. Finally after lobbying for couple of years it was in 1995 Murali thought of quitting the job and start a retail spare parts shop so that he can provide after sales service to those customers who purchased Swaraj Tractors by believing him. It was his first business start-up as well.  He set up a spare parts shop of Swaraj Tractors at Bargarh by the name of M/s Vijay Enterprises. In the following year he started selling the spare parts of Mahindra Tractors as well. Over the years seeing his commitment and dedication, Swaraj itself offered him the authorised Distributorship of original spare parts. Now it’s an final destination for all the customers of Swaraj Tractors in the state of Odisha. That business is now being looked after by his younger brother Pratap. 

Starting as a sales man and then taking care of interest of customers impressed the management of both Swaraj and Mahindra dealers. The company officials  offered him C&F agency to sell their vehicles. Their business outfit supplied vehicles of the companies in the entire length and breadth of Odisha. 

In the year 2002 his son Vivek joined one English medium school at Bargarh. Even after attending the school in LKG for one year his son could not learn the basic alphabets of English. One day Murali shared his deep remorse with one of his school friend Bhaskar. In return his friend suggested why not start an English medium school by providing quality infrastructure and appointing quality teachers.


Murali along with his management team of Bhaskar, Nagesh and Srinivas called the very first press meet at Swastik Hotel, Bargarh to brief about setting up of a private school. In the press meet most of the reporters of Bargarh attended. When the meeting was over while having the refreshments one of the outspoken journalist of an English newspaper taunted Murali while saying “How could a dibawala of milk could ever run a school?” It deeply hurt Murali. But instead of retaliating Murali kept quiet. He wanted to prove his worth instead of arguing with that journo. That remark keep on haunting Murali as he was not having either the education nor the working experience to manage an educational institution. 

Two of those friends travelled extensively to Andhra Pradesh where lot many public schools are flourishing. They interacted with the management of a school at Vishakapatnam. They worked out the arithmetic and the modality on how to setup a residential school and to run it. They initially started running in a rented complex in Shakti Nagar. Afterwards they purchased a plot of land admeasuring 2 acres 18 decimal at  Barahaguda. But with the purchase of the land the treasury of the school became empty.

Murali and Bhaskar ran from pillar to post of different banks at Bargarh and Sambalpur. But none of the banks listen to their appeal. They even approached State Bank Of India(SBI) the largest money lending public sector bank of India, but their project was not approved. But both Murali and Bhaskar are such stoic persons who are not someone to give up their dreams. Instead they approached the Head Office of Balangir Anchalik Gramya Bank(now Utkala Bank) for a working capital of One Crore Rupees. But the bank approved a term loan of thirty lakhs. With this they built the building. It was a solace as they started operating with the minimum needed capital.
Today let whatever success he has achieved Murali bestows it to every teacher, school staff and even the attenders. During the initial period of inception of the school at Barahaguda when the total hostel strength was a meagre 200 students it was his maternal grandmother of 70 years old who had taken the sole responsibility to cook the food in the kitchen with her own hands in the kitchen of the hostel. Even at such grand old age she was taking the physical and mental strain to feed healthy and hygienic food to the wards. Before going to sleep it was a habit of Murali to invigilate the entire school premises. When Murali was entering the kitchen he was finding his granny yet engrossed in the work. Couple of times Murali shouted at her why at all she is working so late. One night she made Murali sit near her and served rice, sambar and curry. While embracing the back of her grandson as if he was a kid she politely told no great cause can ever be accomplished unless and until many people or the community as a whole itself is involved in it. She made her grandson believe it is not he himself who is building an institution, unless and until a family and the entire society is involved no great cause could ever be accomplished. She taught him to give due weightage not only to the parents who are paying the fee of the students, but to give equal respect to the drivers who are not only bringing students to school, but dropping them back safely at their homes every day. During the early years of initial ten years the entire need of rice and milk of the school was fulfilled from the farmhouse of Bhaskar and Murali. 
      
All those ornaments that are now glittering in any gold shop were once burned in the furnace and were ruthlessly   hammered time and again by the goldsmith. Likewise the hardships of his life made Dasari Murali Krishna a  gentle and humble person for which he is now recognised in the society.

In the very first year the student strength was 216. But in these 17 years the figure has outgrown to 6,500 students out of which 3,300 students are boarders housed in a lush green campus spread across 55 acres. So it won’t be wrong to term Barahaguda, Bargarh as a mini township in itself, which could be equivalent to the population of a Notified Area Council(NAC) with its own independent public administration. 

On 25th August 2007 Murali and Bhasker formed a trust in memory of their respective fathers. Its name is “DASARI VEERAJU & GUNNAM RAM CHANDRA RAO MEMORIAL TRUST”. It happens to be the death anniversary of his father Late Veeraju. This Trust started its first undergraduate course B.Tech in the year 2009, and now it is having B.Sc, B.Com, BA, BBA, BCA, BALLB, Diploma courses. The total strength is  more than 1,200 in all these courses. Under the same trust a CBSE School and CHSE College was started in the year 2010 and now it’s having a strength of more than 2,500 in two different  campuses housed in an area of 20 acres.

In the year 2009 they started a School at Bhubaneswar in a rented premises with a strength of around 150. But as on this date the school is running in two campuses with a student strength of 2,500 out of which around 1,300 students are in the boarding. Srinivas is looking after the day to day operations of this campus.

Looking at the efficacy of Team Vikash on managing the educational institutions, way back in the year 2006 ACC Cement expressed their wish to handover the operations of their Cement Nagar English Medium School, Bardol to the management of Vikash Group of Institutions. It is that school where the children of their plant workers are attending. For these past 14 years Murali along with his committed management team are overseeing the academic, faculty and the day to day operations of that school which is having a strength of around 1,000 day scholars. 

In the year 2018 they have taken over a group of Institutions at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi District which was having a strength of around 800 students from schooling to under graduate courses. After taking over the total set up has been given a new face by acquiring 20 acres of land and at present the group of Institutions is having strength of 1,600 in all the courses. 

In 2016 they set up Vikash Institute of Social Welfare for the underprivileged children from the poorest of the poor families who cannot afford even the basic education. They are teaching the courses under   Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE)  pattern. That apart they are providing vocational courses i.e. ITI in Electrical and Fitter for 10th pass students.  Every year they are enrolling 75 students in Standard 1 (CBSE Circular) and around 75 in Vocational courses.  Until now in these four years as many as five hundred children have taken admission. The school provides free admission, free boarding, free food, free books and free uniforms as well.  In the following years they ought to get the affiliation of CBSE. These kids will reach up to Class 12th without paying a single Paisa all free of cost. 

In India observing Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) is not an obligation for any Educational Institution. Yet the philanthropic mind of Vikash Educational Institutions have got the vision to provide free education to 2,000 unprivileged children in next five years. For self-sustaining of this project the management of Vikash Educational Institutions has planned to donate     2 percent of its revenue for this project. They are even shouting help the vendors and stake holders of Vikash to come forward and support this noble cause. 


In order to be self-sustained, on their
own accord Vikash campus has installed solar panels to generate electricity. Apart from consuming the self-generated solar energy they are selling the surplus to WESCO. They are generating biogas from the food waste of the hostel canteen. Every day as much as 50 kgs of biogas is generated by recycling food waste. This is equivalent to as many as four cylinders of LPG gas.

They have installed one sewage water treatment plant. Every day they are recycling as much as 5 lakh litres of sewage water. The recycled water is used solely to water the plants that are being beautifully groomed in their campus. The filtered water is even used in the flushes of all the toilets in their campus. 

Vikash Multispecialty Hospital


All the man made tangible things that you are seeing either on the surface of the earth, or hidden in the depths of the oceans or in the space technology are the mere result of a thought of few visionaries. Likewise two decades back Murali had foreseen the lacuna in the education system in this eastern state of Odisha and he attempted to answer it by building mega educational Insitutions  spread across the four corners of Odisha. Likewise for nearly thirty years he was observing the poor infrastructure in public health system of Odisha. In the rural and tribal belt of Odisha people are basically dependent upon the dilapidated health care that is provided by the State Government. In Odisha people just rush to the Primary Health Centres(PHC), Community Health Centres(CHC) or the District Head Quarter Hospitals to get the cure for any ailments. But only those complicated cases which could not be cured in the local hospitals are being referred to Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Science(VIMSAR) which is located at Burla. Like any other PHC or CHC across western parts of Odisha the lone medical college of this area i.e. VIMSAR is also a mere referral hospital. But only the wealthy class of the society able to  get advanced health care from the private hospitals that are operating either at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Raipur or Vishakapatnam. Murali and his team of professionals attempted to answer to that burning issue that was prevalent at that hour.  

They made intensive survey of Western Odisha. They prepared the elaborate project report to setup a multispecialty hospital at Bargarh itself. They mediated with couple of banks to get the requisite working capital. Their proposal was approved by non-other than the  State Bank of India(SBI) itself as they had a good track record of paying back all the loan amounts that they had borrowed to fund  different schools and colleges that they have built. In the summer of 2016 they started construction of the five floor hospital building at Barahaguda. But the project completed six months ahead of the gestation period, solely because of the enthusiasm with which they slugged. The OPD of Vikash Multi Speciality Hospital started functioning on 22nd October 2017. As on this date Vikash Hospitals ranked among one of the five best private hospitals of Odisha.

The total bed capacity of Vikash Multi Speciality Hospital is 150 units, out of which as many as 57 beds are in ICU. This hospital has got 32 super speciality consulting doctors be it cardiac, neuro, nephrology, urology or neonatology. In last one year this hospital did 180 angiograms and 170 angioplasty surgeries. It is worth an accreditation since in the last one year 800 patients have been admitted in ICU with a health restoration rate of 86%. Whereas the success rate in NICU is 98% and the success rate in cardiac angioplasty is cent percent.  As per the JCI benchmarks this success rate is very high. This hospital has got the unique feat of conducting the first ever open heart bypass surgery in western part of Odisha. Murali Krishna able to brake the orthodox mind-set to be a visionary to accomplish such mega projects.

While looking at his success and the magnetism most people  address him  as  Dr. Murali for the  prefix “D” which he carries in his name. Whereas the letter “D” stands for Dasari which in fact is the surname of his family. As per the norms the South Indians use the title of their family at the beginning, where as in the rest of India family title follows the name of the person.  His close friends at times lovingly tease him while calling him as “Munna Bhai MBBS”, which is a famous character from a Bollywood movie casted by hero Sanjay Dutt. 

In the present scenario illiteracy is the root cause of all the social evils let it be unemployment, poverty, hunger deaths or juvenile crimes. But 50 years back D Veer Raju the father of Murali Krishna who himself was a labourer able to realise it is only the education which could liberate an individual. If an individual would be self-sufficient then he would be able to raise his family properly. Neither the society, nor the state or the nation would prosper unless and until every family comes out of the shadow of illiteracy. Because of the wisdom of that marginalised farmer today such an advanced educational and health institution able to groom in this forbidden area, which is always at the apathy of State as well as Centre. DasariMurali Krishna despite being son of an illiterate father was able to build such a successful health and educational institutions. So it is obvious his upspring would gallop a long way in life. His son Dasari Vivek went to Pennsylvania State University, in the United States to do his BSc in management and marketing. Whereas  his younger son is pursuing his MBBS at Sri Ram Chandra Medical College, Chennai.

Even if you are managing a micro family with just one kid at home every day you would be confronting different short of troubles to manage your home. Either as a father or mother you know how difficult it is to rear your very own kids. So just imagine what would be the plight of the management of Vikash when they have undertaken the responsibility to up bring 14,000 students out of which 7,000 students are hostellers.

His elder brother, Dasari Nageswar Rao, Director of Vikash Group is a very strict administrator. He is always vigilant to address different issues of the school and colleges they are running. In his presence, the kids and the staff become alert to be disciplined. Whereas Murali Krishna seldom interfere with the play around activities of the kids. He is of the view, every kid should be brought up in a blissful environment. When the school is over the day scholars return to their home. They got every freedom to play with their friends on the street. So at their hostel campus the kids are given the freedom to have a friend and frolic life but within the norms. This is so as to ensure the safety and security of the children. 

Vikash Group of Institutions is completely a self-sustained model and has not got any monetary help nor land from government the way other educational groups have capitalised on the prelude of public welfare. 

It is worth appraising how a school dropout, has now became the most successful entrepreneur in western part of Odisha. He says he never take himself for granted. Apart from imparting education through his teachers to thousands of students Murali is on a constant drive to update his own self with the vast changing business environment. He focused himself to develop the leadership skills so as he could manage the vast number of professionals in the years that followed. He thinks there is no end to the learning process. Now that school dropout he himself sits in the academic review meetings of his schools and colleges where teachers, lecturers, principals and deans of his different institutions attend. 

During the past two decades he gradually keeps on learning. To command the qualified professionals be it the academicians or the teachers he need to update his own self in the ever changing times. In these long 17 years of his enterprising life as many as 35,000 students have enrolled in his different educational institutions that he is running. As on this date his educational institutions is giving livelihood to 1,000+ faculty members who are being led by  18 principals.

On the other hand his hospital is employing 32 specialised doctors. He is also a national trainer and a motivational speaker for various organizations and NGO’s be it Junior Chamber of International (JCI) and Lions Club. Every year he conducts three day workshops for the employees of his Group of Institutions so as to impart the soft skills that are needed to run the business smoothly and successfully in an unorganised market like that of Bargarh. 


Initially Murali started his business ventures with a motive to build capital, but over the time on reaching the pinnacles in his chosen field his material ambitions took a back stage. He thinks he is earning more than the minimum that is needed to feed and raise his two sons. His eldest son Vivek returned India after studying B.Sc in Business Management from Pennsylvania State University, USA. Now he is overseeing the operations of the Vikash Hospitals, Bargarh under the strict vigil of his father. His Younger son Lokesh is pursuing is MBBS in SRMC, Chennai.

Despite achieving more than his share of success he is always very humble with every human being whoever comes his way. He always tried to put his legs in the shoes of others so as to understand under what difficulty his employees are working. He got a countable few turncoats as well who get envy for all the achievements that Murali has accomplished in his lifetime.

 
Murali is an active person in the society. He always came forward for any cause of the society. He is an active member and President  of Andhra Cultural Association, Attabira. They have built a Kalyan Mandap  by spending 2.5 Crores INR. Murali rejuvenated Lions Eye Hospital, Bargarh. Every year they are conducting eye camps in different villages of Bargarh District. The doctors go to different villages and conducts eye check-ups of persons afflicted with cataract. On scheduled dates they pick the persons from their homes in ambulances and takes them to Lions Hospital at Bargarh. On doing the surgery they drop back each patient at their respective homes. In an average they are doing 600 cataract operations every year.

His contributions has been recognised at different times by many organisations and hope many more still to follow:
  • He has been awarded with Rashtra Bhasha Sevak Samman by Chattisgarh Govt. in the year 2006.
  • He was awarded with Outstanding Young Indian Award by JCI for his successful entrepreneur abilities at such an young age.  
  • A case study on him was presented in a International Management Conference titled “D. Murali Krishna: A case Study of Social Entrepreneurship” at IIM Ghaziabad on 3rd of December, 2008. 
  • He was adjudged as the Outstanding JCI of zone-IX for the year 2008.
  • He has been awarded with “PAKURTI MITRA” by Govt. of Odisha on the occasion of Environment Day for maintaining such environment friendly campuses.
  • He has been Awarded with ‘RAJATA FALAKA SAMMANAM 2018’  for his committed contribution to the Social Momentum by KACA, Attabira.

Entire life Murali has taken a leadership position in everything that he did. Since his college days he was a great admirer of the iron man of Odisha i.e. Late Biju Pattnaik and Atal Bihari Vajpayee as well. He was inspired by Late Dr. Abdul Kalam who used to say that good people should enter politics.   Six years back when Narendra Modi took the nation on a storm Murali was immensely influenced by his leadership quality. Murali found our Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a new hope for India. As a consequence he joined Bharatiya Janata Party. He thought while without taking support of Government machinery if he can build a Institute of this magnitude, definitely he would able to serve the society even better by actively participating in politics and be the representative of people. During this period party recognised his organisational and the leadership qualities. He has been delegated with the responsibility of all the programmes when our Honb’le Prime Ministers Narendra Modi visited to Bargarh in 2017. He also played a key role in the Panchayat elections and was instrumental in BJP forming the zilla parishad of Bargarh. People of the Bargarh were expecting him to be their MP candidate for 2019 Lok Sabha General elections. But it was the misfortune of Bargarh District as his party did not allot a ticket to him. He is least bothered even while looking at the delicate political situation of Bargarh. He says his job is to serve the society and he will continue to do with the same zeal and the conviction. 


This man called Dasari Murali Krishna who has got the passion to achieve, attain any height is a diehard believer of anything is possible. His hobbies include getting involved in social work especially in his immediate environment. He also likes reading books and watching local news in television so as to know and understand the challenges that his people are facing.

He calls on the youth to be hard working. They should crave to be job givers instead of job seekers.  He also advises them to dream and strive to achieve the seemingly impossible. ’’Yes everything is possible’’ he enthuses. 
This enigma called Dasari Murali Krishna wants to be remembered for decades to follow as a humble and down to earth person of the society. Murali is a great achiever of dreams. Be it you or me, all of us has got one or two regrets in life. This astute colossal, gigantic and staunch business man, Murali the enigma, Murali the dreamer, Murali the achiever, Murali the trailblazer has one regret as well. Ironically its lack of holding an educational degree from a University.

 This blogger E Kiran Mohan could be seen along with Murali Krishna

Post Script: watch the video releasing of this post

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