Prakasam and Nehru

Dasu Kesava Rao When the NDA Government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution and facilitated Jammu and Kashmir to become an integral part of the country, the step was widely welcomed by the people, though Congress raised a political storm over it. It is interesting to see how Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru reacted to a…

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How they killed ‘Swarajya’

Dasu Kesava Rao This is the story of the sad end of a newspaper, representing the darkest phase of the life of its founder, Andhra Kesari Tanguturi Prakasam, whose 152nd birth anniversary falls today (August 23). Prakasam started ‘Swarajya’ to kindle and sustain patriotic spirit among the masses and to aggressively promote the cause of…

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BREAKING NEWS!

Breaking News, literally: Sensational and shocking. These are words by which some channels and web magazines swear.  There is nothing sensational or shocking about what they report. However the other day I watched news actually breaking. Yes, spokesmen of two rival parties during a live TV debate found hot words not getting them anywhere. Logic…

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DIVINE HYPNOSIS 

This happened a few years ago on a March afternoon. It being a holiday, we considered a short drive. ‘No temples, no relatives. Only a long drive’, insisted Gen. Next of the family knowing well our preferences. ‘OK’, we said but read on what happened. Having started late and not knowing where to go, we…

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BEWARE THE GHOST

Do ghosts and spirits exist? Dayyams and bhoothams, that is? Some say yes, others don’t. Sometime in the late 80s, I and our photographer traveled to Rollapadu in the Kurnool district to do a story on the Great Indian Bustard, an endangered species which was in a revival mode at the time. On the way…

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KACHEGUDA, MY LOVE 

Yes, my bond with Kacheguda railway station and the area has been strong and timeless. I was born in what is today Badruka College, a stone’s throw from the station, and had spent all my childhood at the nearby Barkatpura Chaman. When my parents and siblings arrived from Bezawada to settle down for good, their…

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ON A PLATTER

Two wonderful stories, both on page one stuff,  came my way without a sweat. The first one in the mid-70s and the second in the mid-80s…. Read on… In the evening I was joined in the Secretariat by T. Sirish Kumar, my colleague and circulation executive in The Indian Express. As we passed the chambers…

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