I wrote this review  in a letter to my brother Ramesh about 12 years ago. Understand that Mr P.V.R.K Prasad passed away today and as respect to him I am posting this in my blog.

                                                                                         25th Sep,2005

Dear Ramesh                                                                 

                              Thanks for suggesting me the book “Naa Ham Kartha-Harihi Kartha.”. I read it from cover to cover, in one sitting. The author, Mr.P.V.R.K.Prasad, is an I.A.S officer and the book is about his experiences as an E.O. (Executive Officer) of T.T.D (Tirumala Thirupathi Devasthanam). E.O is an administrative head of T.T.D, appointed by the Government of Andhra.

                                      One can look at it as a management book as he describes his administrative achievements in reaching out to all the devotees of Lord Venkateswara in making their pilgrimage to Tirumala, a pleasurable event besides, a devotional experience. But, it (the book) turns out to be a philosophical one as he accredits his entire success and the inspiration behind, to Lord Venkateswara (Hari). And hence the title.   

                                      It is not uncommon for any successful administrator to look back and analyze various components that contributed to his success. The magnitude of success, given the multidimensional influences including devotional, traditional and major one being political, the author finds, with full conviction, the role of inexplicable constituents in the end result. He quotes innumerable incidents rather miracles in his personal life after assuming the role of E.O of TTD and that led him to believe the existence of His unseen yet tangible guidance.  It is said, God helps those who help themselves, more so when the intent is for the welfare of a community.

                                      For me, one interesting   learning from the book is about “DASA” sampradaya or tradition. This monumental tradition started in Karnataka about 500 years ago - the intent was to bring down the knowledge of God espoused in Vedas and Upanishads, to common man thru folklore songs and story-telling form in vernacular, Kannada. A grand movement to spread the knowledge of God in a simple but effective way, protecting the tradition of Bhakti or theism in society. And, that Dasa moment stood as a bridge between esoteric Vedas and common man. A person gets initiated as DASA, takes a vow to spread the gospel, yet remain as a house holder, but lead the rest of his life as a DASA, the servant of Lord.  When two DASAs meet they say -”Hare Srinivasa”, typical like saying hello. The DASAs, after initiation, assume a different name as per sampradaya or tradition which ends with the word DASA- Purandara Dasa, Kanaka dasa were of this creed.

                                The author, immensely impressed by the kernel concept of the tradition, had undertaken a “DASA Project under the auspices of T.T.D and helped it spreading further by releasing various audio cassettes and LP records, by evincing interest in common populace.

With his excellent writing skills, the author makes you to pause and ponder on various occasions during the course of reading.

Ramesh, when you get a chance read it…incidentally, immediately after reading the book, a colleague of mine, a Muslim, came to say that he had gone to Thirupathi for meeting some clients and had a chance a to visit the temple of Lord Venkateswara. He duly handed over me the Prasad, the famous Thurupathi Laddu….wow….Naa Ham Kartha - Hari hi Karta…

Hope my review and feelings make you run for the book. This EMESCO book costed me 90 rupees.

Regards

Sudhakar