In Memory of Raju

As an intermediate student, I was the leader in the recitation of Vedantadesikar shlokas. I was part of a class of young kids who met regularly to learn shloka recitation. Perhaps Devu would also have come with me to this class, I know that Ambu refused to go. It was taught by one Mr. Parthasarathy, who was the son-in-law of the chief temple priest. While I had committed all the shlokas to memory at that time, I barely remember any of them today. All the boys in the shloka class would stand outside the temple and recite the shlokas on some important occasions. I was also a scout leader at that time, but not many in the shloka class were aware of this. One day, my photo in scout uniform appeared in the Madras Mail newspaper (perhaps because I was a top medal holder). It was only at that time that members of my scout class became aware of my shloka class, and vice versa. It was a bit of a peculiar situation – mostly scout-type people had very little respect/understanding of shlokas and shloka-type people were equally insular. I was one of the few that was a leader in both.