This is about Ravi Chandra (the Second of the Seven Kins)By Mr.Trinadh....

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Ravi Chandra ..... The Second

The most celebrated person and the one who is bestowed with a boon of Immense Personnel Support and Popularity among them is this lad. A person who likes to enjoy life to the core and who is always associated with the tag of a Happy-go-Lucky guy, Ravi Chandra alias Agni-The Fire( That is a famous proclamation by this guy for reasons known exclusively to him but accepted by all), comes second in the list of the seven kins, the eldest tag being borne by me for fortunate reasons of  mine. Born to Shree Venkata Ramana Jagupilla and Shree Malleswari Jagupilla on October the 8th, 1983 Ravi Chandra( hitherto referred to as Ravi by me) is one person who perhaps defies the gravity of sorrow at all times. Imbibing in him the fairness of his father and the valor of his mother, Ravi’s life is an inspiration not only to his siblings namely Hemanth Kumar and Anand Kumar but also to all our cousins because one can assimilate the art of Man management and Happy living from him just by associating with him.

Actually Ravi’s mother loved Shree Venkata Ramana garu and married him on December 19th,1982 with parents consent and I should say that he has stayed a loving husband and a caring father all through his life and is so even now. Venkata Ramana garu came from a below middle class family and he is not even employed to earn his livelihood when he married Malleswari garu. But this marriage brought a sense or responsibility to him and soon he found a job as a crane operator in a private firm in the Visakhapatnam Port Trust, which he had lost later as the company closed its unit in Visakhapatnam. Ravi was the most cherished son in the family and also the dream gift from God for the couple. For Malleswari garu with whom I have close association right from my childhood, this guy is looked upon by her as her head  . Gifted with the knack of Situation management imbibed from her  father, Malleswari garu gave Ravi and her two other kids Hemanth and Anand one thing in common right from their birth-to never give up the determination and smiling face under any circumstances and I will explain in times to come shortly how this lesson went a long way in shaping the future of Ravi against testing and trying circumstances.

Ravi got admitted in Nagendra talent School, a small school in Sreeharipuram in Visakhapatnam. At that time Ravi used to stay in his ancestral house in Malkapuram which is approximately one kilometer away from his school. Ravi is always among the top 5 in the class and is the cynosure of all eyes right from his schooling because this guy has enigmatic charm that for some reason or the other is like a trademark feature associated only with him. He is mischievous, athletic, sharp, jovial and more than that he has a great knack of turning upside down a dull atmosphere into a lively one within minutes with his talk. He is the heartthrob for many girls in the school too.I remember one incidence when he was in eighth I think. A girl from sixth class who was a relative to Ravi’s classmate used to love this guy and used to send him gifts through that ambassador of love. An open hearted fellow as he is, Ravi used to accept everything she gave except her love as he knows his responsibility. He knew he was there to study and so he was minding that job with determination. But accepting only the gifts from that girl shows how crazy this guy is. He passed his tenth with 80% marks and then took the Common Entrance Examination for Polytechnic and secured admission in Government Polytechnic Institute, Narsipatnam in Electronics and Communication branch in 1999.Narsipatnam is in Viskhapatnam district but is almost 100 kilometers away from Ravi’s home place. By the way Ravi’s Mother Shree malleswari garu shifted to another house because a nice person like her couldn’t be amongst the all quarrelling atmosphere  of her in-laws and so keeping in view the long term career prospects of her children she shifted home to a nearby location with her Husband and children .

This was the start of the career for Ravi and also the starting point of economic hardships for his parents. Ravi’s parents found it difficult to meet both ends in terms of educating their three children, feeding them and also maintaining the family. Ravi’s father used to work in a private company for a meager salary of two thousand rupees as an electrician during that time. His determination to get his children educated so that they could lead a happy life in their future stemmed from the fact that he lost many jobs and there by his livelihood just because he has not received formal education in his childhood. But he is a skilled person and a tough customer. Ravi used to live in a rented house nearby his college and he requires money for his survival there. Ravi’s parents worked hard to gather some income apart from his father’s job. I still remember the days when Malleswari garu used to go to Vijayawada( her mothers place) and buy loose Paste, prepare some pickles and bring them to Visakhapatnam and sell them. She used to travel in passenger trains just to save money so that the 50 rupees that she could save thus would be useful for her kids. It was during this time that Ravi also went through some  trying circumstances. He used to drink rice soup in the morning , skipped some meals some times and also used to teach tuitions to earn some money that would let him meet his expenses. I remember one instance when I visited Narsipatnam along with Ravi. He took me to two movies, fed me with the finest cuisines and also gave me some money for my travel expenses. Yes I remember that day still, even the date, it was on September 11th 2001, the day on which the World trade centers were brought down. Facts apart, I knew that my brother gave me a warm reception in Narsipatnam but I also knew he spend his half month expenses on me. I warned him for this but he smilingly said “Iam used to it and I want to see you happy with me”. Tears rolled down my eyes when I was traveling back home in that journey, which I felt was the longest in my life until now. Yes it was the longest journey in my life, for my heart was lingering with deepest emotions that I was blessed with such wonderful cousins around me.

Ravi completed his diploma in Electronics and communication in 2002 with distinction along with two other candidates from that department. He used to say that this was the happiest times in his life until now and that he has some of his best friends from this diploma batch. I saw many greeting cards sent to him during his birthday and on new year occasion and Ravi maintains a library of them and you can thus imagine how many greetings and wishes he used to get and this also shows how popular this guy is among his peers. He is an amazing kid, he is  cherished and loved by all for just one reason-he is lovable, and he is lively.

After completing Diploma Ravi took the Engineering Common Entrance Test for Diploma holders but unfortunately given the poor training he received in the mathematics and physics subjects (these two subjects almost carried half of the weightage in the exam), he could not clear that exam with a good rank and he took a one year long term coaching in Vijayawada from 2002-2003 in our Uncle’s house. This time he secured a State rank of 240 and secured direct admission in second year course work (diploma holders gain direct admission into the second year course work because unlike 10+2 students who study for two years they do a three year course work) in Anil Neerukonda Institute of Technology and Sciences in Visakhapatnam in 2003 in the Electronics and Engineering branch.

This College was Studded with students with rich background but this boy was not one who would give a chance to anyone to dominate the stage. He used to create mischief in the class, comment on girls and comment on lecturers and also used to attract his peers towards him with his majestic charisma which was a trade secret known only to him. Soon everyone forecasted that he is definitely the Buzzword in the class for their remaining term in the college. He failed in two courses in his second year first semester, the reason once again being his poor training in the mathematics subject. This guy then realized that he needs to do some thing else than teasing girls and making mischief. He then concentrated on his studies and the fact that he never failed in any course again stands fact on how seriously he took his job and completed it with perfection. I would like to mention some incidents that would be noteworthy to mention here. There were two sections in the ECE branch in ANITS college and this guy was a ‘B’ section student but he always used to tease the Class Representative of Section ‘A’. She labeled Ravi as ‘The Villain of the college’ but within one semester time she realized that this guy deserves a better standing than what she had in her heart  initially. There were some instances where she saw Ravi’s kind heart, his genius in the core Electronics subjects and also his ever smiling attitude despite all odds and she became his best friend and they remained such tight friends till date. This shows what an Idiotic impression this guy gives to all at first despite being an Individual with great heart. He never changed all his life but there is change in only one thing- the initial bad opinion that people used to form on him. Ravi used to travel almost 100 kilometers to and fro for his education everyday and I should say there were days when he was  not even given 3 rupees by his mother to board the ‘ Vegam’ Bus services ( this bus service was a special service in APSRTC in Visakhapatnam which has limited stops but people who carry Bus passes have to take a ticket of 3 to board this Bus). Yes there were days in his life on which his mother couldn’t afford that meager amount too but Ravi never complained. He used to travel hanging on the footsteps of those fully crowded buses in which not even an ant can crawl safely. He used to tell this only to me but to none because for him Iam his other soul; he used to feel. These two incidents show what an amazing person he is and how he deftly handled things with his discretion and determination that I would say I had seen only in few. Ravi passed the BE in ECE from ANITS with 70%+ score and in first class. He couldn’t get selected in any of the campus interviews and he was the only jobless pass out among his batch mates. Despite his repeated failures in campus interviews, Ravi’s parents were confident on him. I used to counsel him some times and give him words of courage but I know he accepted them with good heart though he never required them, because he knows what he is and he knows he will succeed soon. This guy has maintained that amazing confidence levels always in him. He went to Hyderabad in 2006 June and secured a job in Satyam Computers in 2006 December competing among 5000 candidates, a fact that stands testimony of his caliber. And there you go two years into Satyam Computers by this month (December 2008) and he still stands strong .

He is an uncompromised inspiration to his brothers-Hemanth and Anand who are two other amazingly talented kids in their own style and substance. Hemanth gleefully terms his brother as the Engine following which he and little Anand would follow suite. He is true in every sense; Ravi has been the source of inspiration for them always and he is their role model. Recently there was an argument in his family that Ravi should marry his Uncle’s daughter. Ravi initially did not agree but at last he abided by the words of his mother and agreed to marry his Uncle’s daughter. This shows the great respect he has towards his parents especially his mother. Yes; she is his inspiration , she is his role model, she is his best friend and she is Ravi Chandra’s pride. Right  now Ravi’s family if financially well settled as all the three brothers along with Ravi are in good positions and earning handsome money. Hemanth completed his BE in Mechanical and production Engineering and is now working as a site Engineer in GoodEarth Maritime limited in Visakhapatnam Shipyard. Anand secured a job in Electronics trade in the Indian Air Force after his 10+2. Their family is a happy lot now but it hasn’t come without all hardships.

Perhaps For the first time in my life I could say without any argument that I had seen a Personality that defies laws of sorrow and happiness. Anytime and everywhere when Ravi is there in the center there is only one thing that prevails- A Big smile on all faces around.

This guy faced a lot of troubles in his life but he simply admits when I ask him how could he be happy amongst all ruins at times in his life and happy always-“ I don’t know any other way of living life”. Kudos to his parents and Kudos to Ravi Chandra alias ‘Agni-The Fire’, as he famously and smilingly proclaims himself. He is indeed a man with fire and substance and big heart. All I can say about this guy is – He is a Gem among us and we all are proud of him always.