U.Subbaraju RIP

"U Subbaraju, a long time member of the Timbaktu Collective is worth more than a mere mention. His life is a rare Indian cameo. He was born in Tirupati. His father could not feed his family by farming his unproductive land. He became an itinerant coolie in various towns, sending small sums of money home. He died when Subbaraju was five. His mother sent him to the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam [TTD] schools. He stood out in academics. He entered the prestigious IIT and then went on to do his Masters in Energy Systems. In 1990, Subbaraju,son of a coolie, earned his PhD. Such stories are infrequent in India. In 1995, Dr Subbaraju joined the Timbaktu Collective to educate children of the countryside. Such personal choices, alas, are even more infrequent."
From No stops anywhere, after Gandhi
 Another travelogue by Joy Merwin Moneiro describes some of Subbaraju's work.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=413776235674144&set=a.128067684245002.1073741827.100011253133754&type=3
IITian takes a different path from The Hindu 2008
There s not much noise on Facebook walls. Reminded of these lines of Auden:

"But in the importance and noise of tomorrow,

When the brokers are roaring like beasts on the floor of the Bourse,

And the poor have the sufferings to which they are fairly accustomed,

And each in the cell of himself is almost convinced of his freedom,

A few thousand will think of this day,

As one thinks of a day when one did something slightly unusual."
Check also https://www.facebook.com/TimbaktuCollective/?pnref=story