Penchant for Enchanting Words

(ಸಹಪಾಠಿ ಮಿತ್ರರು ಕಂಡ ಬಾಗಲೋಡಿ ೬)

(ಬಾಗಲೋಡಿ ದೇವರಾಯರ ಸ್ಮರಣ ಸಂಪುಟ - ‘ದೇವಸ್ಮರಣೆ’ ೨೦೦೩ರಲ್ಲಿ ಅತ್ರಿ ಬುಕ್ ಸೆಂಟರ್ ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಯಥಾ ವಿದ್ಯುನ್ಮಾನ ಪ್ರತಿ ೨೦೧೭. ಸಂಪಾದಕ - ಜಿ.ಟಿ. ನಾರಾಯಣ ರಾವ್)

 (ಭಾಗ ೧೧)

- V. Gurumurti

Bagalodi Deva Rao was a genius. In his writings, words fell in place with effortless ease, conveying profound thoughts often laced with humour in pithy phrases. He was a mighty intellect with a wide spectrum of intersts. His heart was equally expansive and he had only good words of appreciation and encouragement to all.

As an admiring classmate of Bagalodi in the first honours I would like to recall one event of his college days.

One `Hervy' whom the English poet Alexander Pope did not particularly like, used to take asses' milk every day, for its medicinal value. Pope ridiculed him for this habit in one of his satirical pieces - I forget the actual lines. In answer to an examination question in English literature, annotation, Deva Rao quipped towards the end of his answer "POOR HERV'S VALETUDINARIAN DIET TOO IS MADE A DEBIT." The additional relevant point to remeber is, he took this examination, rushing to the hall, a couple of minutes late, straight from his French diploma classes at the University (of Madras) building some 18 miles away (from Tambaram.)