By
Notes:
1. This is based on my conversations with Pracharya during my recent visits to
2. I have taken the liberty to use his first name in the narration below, to make the story a bit more personal, and not to mean any disrespect. I hope that does not offend anybody!
Sam worked in the
At this time, Tatyasaheb Kore and Dr. Shingte were actively looking for a principal for the school
in Warananagar. They visited a number of reputed schools and traveled great
distances looking for a suitable candidate. They even visited
The watchman at the door asked them to wait, and sent a message to Sam that two gentlemen named Tatyasaheb Kore and Dr. Shingte wanted to meet him. When Sam learnt that they were looking for a school principal, he said, "I know of a retired colonel who has run schools." He called the colonel to meet with Kore and Shingte and went off for his morning round of the school. As usual, the round got prolonged and he forgot all about his visitors. After a couple of hours someone called him and reminded him that the visitors were still waiting for him! Tatyasaheb Kore had met the colonel in the mean time, but he still wanted Sam to come to Warananagar. When Sam declined, Tatyasaheb Kore finally rose to leave and said, “Can you at least visit Warananagar?” Sam said, “You know, it is easy for me to say 'yes, I will visit', but I know I won’t be able to visit, so what is the point of promising?” Tatyasaheb Kore remembered this reply and quoted it later to others many times.
After a few days, Sam received a long telegram inviting him
to participate in interviewing candidates for the post of high school principal
at Warananagar. Sam was on his way to
And that is what happened! Sam got a ticket to go to Miraj.
After arriving at Miraj he inquired about Warananagar and discovered that there
was no bus until the next day. So he went to
(Sam jokingly said to us, “After this episode, people learned to ensure they had eaten before joining me for any project”.)
The interviews were over in two days and Sam prepared to
leave. Mr. Samudre and Mr. Kodag were hired at this
time. At this point, a factory official approached Sam and said, “Please sign
here for your travel allowance.” Sam said, “What allowance? I don’t need
allowance. Just pay for the ticket.” The official was surprised but learnt a
lesson about Sam! Before leaving, Tatyasaheb Kore persuaded Sam to make a
monthly visit to Warananagar to coach and mentor the teachers. Sam agreed. So
for the next whole year, he visited every month. At this time, Sam’s contract
with the
A few months later, the replacement person joined and Sam was able to leave Satara finally. Tatyasaheb Kore was just waiting for such opportunity, and immediately asked Sam to join Warananagar. Sam said, “But you already have a principal. You don’t need me.” Kore said, “Don’t worry. We are promoting Mr. Dani to the post of CEO of the education department and hence the post of Principal is vacant.”
So after so much time and effort (on the part of Tatyasaheb
Kore), Sam finally landed in Warananagar with his bags and baggage.