Looking At Life

Schooling These Days

Prem Rao — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:58:17 +0000

When I was a kid, public schools were supposed to be the top of the pile. If you went to one, it meant a lot to the child and to his/her parents. Having studied in one for virtually my entire childhood, I can vouch that it gives you a terrific grounding to prepare you to face the challenges of life ahead.At the Lawrence School, Lovedale where I studied, we had a wonderful blend of academics and extra-curricular activities be they sports or pursuing hobbies. For many like me, I fear the latter was more interesting than academics.We didn’t have to study all that much considering we had classes only from ( if I recall correctly after all these years) something like 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 pm. We certainly didn’t go around like beasts of burden like the unfortunate children do today with back packs big and heavy enough to make one think they are off on a mountaineering expedition.

In recent years, perhaps over the last decade or so, it’s become fashionable to send kids to “international schools”. I haven’t been anywhere near one so I wouldn’t know what they are all about or how good or bad they are. Some people speak highly of them and say they are very current in their outlook. I wonder if the stock of the good old public schools have fallen somewhat. I hope that’s not true though!

I was amused to see the other day a school bus belonging to Venkat International Public School. This was a new one on me!

Memoirs or what?

Prem Rao — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 01:58:09 +0000

As you can see I have been fairly lazy in updating this blog! It started off as a blog for me to express views and thoughts about life in general as it passed by me. With time, like a river finding it’s own course, this blog took on an autobiographical air and became something of a memoir. Another thing that happened was that it became somewhat centered around the school I went to, The Lawrence School at Lovedale. An interesting by-product resulted from my posts about the old Lawrence Schools. It brought together a bunch of OLs from other Lawrence Schools like the one at Mount Abu ( which is defunct now and sadly many people don’t even know about it). I am delighted that it helped in some small way to connect old friends and long lost cronies!

So the question before me now is: is this a blog for my memoirs? is it a general blog about what I see and observe of events that interest me or is a blog about my school and my schooldays? Each has it advantages and disadvantages. The stuff about school might interest those who went there but might not be of any interest whatsoever to those who didn’t. A blog about myself is scarcely likely to interest people at large! So we are back to where we originally started. This is a “space for me to share thoughts and observations about….life”!

New Initiative of the OLA

Prem Rao — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:29:26 +0000

This blog has gone into a slumber for various reasons. I was totally engrossed in writing my debut novel It Can’t Be You which was published in November 2010. I started a writing blog called Writing to Be read and I was busy with many other things including attending a few OL get togethers in Bangalore where I live.

In one of these meetings, I ran into Mathew Antony, my friend and senior at the good old Nilagiri House at the Lawrence School, Lovedale. Matt wrote to me recently about the new initiatives of the Old Lawrencians Association. A re-vamped website is being created where OLs have the opportunity to share their memories of school, indulge in nostalgia and contribute in whatever way they can for the betterment of the School through the OLA.

If you are an OL, do drop in at this site and check in so that you can keep in touch with your old pals. It looks very promising and I hope to contribute to this as the days go along and the new website flourishes.

Book Launch

Prem Rao — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 05:57:36 +0000

Can’t believe that I haven’t posted here since September. How time flies! Must explain the reasons for the gap of two months or more. I have been busy with my debut novel It Can’t Be You. This was published recently by Cedar Books, imprint of Pustak Mahal. The book was launched on November 29 by an old colleague and dear friend, Subroto Bagchi, Vice Chairman and Gardener of MindTree Ltd.

Catch the pictures of the launch at the Facebook Page for the book. I hope you will like the short video on YouTube which gives you a small glimpse of the function and the book.

Since the book has been published with some modesty I have categorized this post under “Books & Authors”, ahemmmm….

Facebook

Prem Rao — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:23:47 +0000

Many of you use Facebook very often. Let’s connect there. It’s amazing how easily one can connect with friends, old and new, irrespective of which part of the world they are in. I would also invite you to follow my soon to be published debut novel- It Can’t Be You on Facebook. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Publishing Contract with Cedar Books

Prem Rao — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 01:01:24 +0000

Writers dream of having their work published. Bingo!! The book deal has been struck. I am delighted to say that It Can’t Be You will be published by Cedar Books, imprint of Pustak Mahal, New Delhi, one of India’s largest publishers.

When I took part in NaNoWriMo last November, I heard that a few participants went on to have their novels published. Ever since I wrote the first part of this novel in NaNoWriMo 2009, I often wondered when ( and sometimes, I must confess-if ) this would be published at all.

I guess my debut novel should be in market by December 2010. There is a lot of work ahead but the excitement is palpable.

It Can’t Be You

Prem Rao — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:07:51 +0000

Let me invite you to my new blog dedicated to my first novel called IT CAN”T BE YOU.

I am thrilled that my first novel is complete. It’s roots go back to November 2009 when I wrote the first 50,000 words for theNational Novel Writing Month popularly called NaNoWriMo.

It’s a psychological thriller and I hope you will enjoy reading it- in due course of time- just as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Playing for India

Prem Rao — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 07:06:50 +0000

I am glad my post on oldest athletic records unleashed a flurry of mails from
OLs across many decades in our OLs Yahoo Group. It brought back many memories of those days at School
and stars like the legendary Jairam,

Ranjit Batra & Ram Adige, Jani Uthup, Suku
and Prem Jha etc etc.

I have often wondered how come so many extremely promising boys and girls at School did not go on to represent the country in athletics/sports. There would be many reasons for this I am sure. I am not aware of
more recent feats but I seem to recall- from roughly my times- that Govind “Dimmy”
Swaminadhan and Adrian Kennedy represented India. Dimmy for the Indian
Schoolboys vs the visiting Australian Schoolboys at cricket and Adrian for the
relays in one of the Asian Games- possibly Manila.

Recovering after CABG Surgery

Prem Rao — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 07:13:27 +0000

The reason I have been off air for the last few months is because I am recovering from a CABG or Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery. This was expertly carried out by Dr. Vivek Jawali and his team at Bangalore’s Fortis Hospital on Bannerghatta Road on July 1, 2010. Dr. Jawali is a renowned expert in the field who has done more than 18,000 such operations.

I am glad to say that the medical and nursing facilities at Fortis were excellent.

I had written in February sometime that the specialists had diagnosed that I needed a coronary artery bypass graft surgery. A second opinion at that time showed I could afford to wait for some more time.

A slump in May-June with symptoms of gasping and breathlessness made me hasten to the specialists once again. They advocated a CABG without further delay as I was at risk in the event of another heart attack. I am so glad that I went through with the surgery.

I am on my way to a complete recovery. I have been advised that I can resume my full activities in October 2010. My thanks to many friends and professional contacts who wished me a safe and speedy recovery.

Great work, Nick!

Prem Rao — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:40:53 +0000

Delighted to hear from Nicholas Horsburgh about his new website. Nicky is a very old friend- we were together in the good old Nilagiri House of the Lawrence School, Lovedale and he passed out a year after I did. If nothing else, this has clarified how he spells his name! In the old days, spellings of his name- not by him I admit but by others- ranged from”Horseborough”, through “Horsbugg” to ” Horsbra”. This puts one mystery to rest!

He has written many books over the years mainly text books for students in India and Pakistan.

His Mom, Doreen Horsburgh has written a book called ” So You Can Sleep In Peace” which looks very promising.

Great work, Nick and all the very best to you!