Tukaram Kumbar:

I had my primary education in NTMS Kheni Ranjol, and my secondary education in TDB High School Kheni Ranjol. Passed the seventh board exam with 90% marks in mathematics. Passed SSLC in first class with 67% marks in 1969. I was a topper in my class. Lost my father when I was a ninth class student. my child marriage was held after my matriculation exam. Then I joined BVB College Bidar for one one-year PUC Science course. And continued my education for a three-year Science degree. Earned my B.Sc. degree with Mathematics and Physics as optional subjects, in 1973 summer.

My first learning in Ranjol:

I was born in 1951, on the Dasara Mahanavami day, in Hochaknalli village.  My father Gundappa was a potter. He was a very active personality and a hard worker.  He loved me, his only son too much, and he was dreaming of sending his son Tukaram, to school, so that his son would learn reading and writing skills. Olden days did not have schools in the villages of this region.

In 1960, my uncle Vithal who was a fifth-class student, asked me to come to School with him to Ranjol. I accompanied my uncle to NTMS Ranjol-Kheni. It was the first week of June and it rained during night hours. There was fresh rainwater in the open grounds of the school. The monsoon rains filled the air with delighting breath. I was admitted to the first standard and asked to sit with students in the last room. I attended this school for about our months. I learned basic alphabets and mathematical tables.

After this,  A new school was opened in my village with a single teacher. There was no school building, and I was asked to attend this new school. The school was run from a private building and the classes were arranged in a Patel's house. The school strength was about eight boys including me. The age group of boys was about seven to nine years. There was a single textbook for the first standard. I mastered reading the book within the first half of the year. During the second half, I completed reading the second standard book. Mathematics was taught on a slate. By the end of the year, It was declared that I passed the second standard.  

Kheni Ranjol was a neighboring big village, with a government New Type Middle School (NTMS). It was the only school in the neighborhood and boys from many nearby villages used to study there. Next year I was admitted to third standard at NTMS Ranjol Kheni.

For my admission at Ranjol, one Mr. Basavanthrao Police Patil accompanied my father to the school. While admitting me, the school authorities insisted that I should join for the second standard. But the Patel wanted me to be admitted to the third standard. They tested my maths skills by giving me an assignment, a subtraction problem. I solved it wrongly. So after much discussion, they concluded that they would allow me in the third standard for the first three months. If I failed the quarterly exam, I had to go back to the second standard. If I cleared the quarterly examination, I may continue to the third standard. I cleared the quarterly exam. Not only that, I emerged first to the class, in the annual examination. 

The school was about 1.25 km away from my village and I walked up and down on school days. But the school days were too difficult for four months of the rainy season, and I used to carry a plastic cover to protect myself from rain. After 4-30 pm when we were released to go to our homes, I used to walk barefoot, and on several occasions, rain chased me and I was fully wet, except my books and notebooks.

Mr. Basavanappa S was our headmaster. He was a very disciplined personality and a good timekeeper. One Mr. Gurubasappa was my mathematics teacher. I was very much impressed by his way of explaining mathematics principles. Mr. Gurubasappa was the main person to shape my character. Right from third to seventh standard, he taught me in the classrooms. Any topic he taught was impressive and was fully crystal clear; whether it be poetry, prose, or mathematics; it would be fascinating. 

I was very lucky to have such a dedicated teachers’ team and a well-built school with plenty of space for a playground. Football and valley ball were my favorite sports. From third standard to seventh standard, I was the topper in my class and always stood first among my classmates.  

During the academic year 1965-66, I passed the 7th board exam with 90% marks in mathematics. This was the subject that I loved a lot and used to spend time, solving problems of simple interest, and problems related to ratios and proportions. In 1969, I passed the 10th board, the SSLC exam, in first class, with 67% marks.

I lost my dear father in 1967 October. It was a suicide. He was cheated in a land acquisition case.  My mother was my guardian. She was sick and there was no one to support us financially. My mother was thinking about my future and she decided to conduct my marriage, though I was still a boy. In the first week of June 1969, my marriage was conducted at Srimandal village, near Janawada. The In-laws gave me a10 gram gold ring. The Srimandal village was on the banks of the Manjara River, which separated Telangana from Karnataka state.

My college education:

Though I had no money, I was dreaming of going to college for higher education. I sold 10g gold that was offered in my marriage and secured admission to the BVB College Bidar as a PUC Science student in June 1969. It was the only college in Bidar city. To start with, I became a roommate of my brother-in-law, Shri Gundappa Srimandal who was a BA final-year student. We used to cook our daily food. I had no money to get textbooks. Things were not that much easy. Spent six months of PUC Science without reference books on basic physics. Yet I stood second to my college in the final PUC exam.

Passed the one-year PUC Science, with 58% marks, in 1970 summer. I was the second topper in my PUC batch. Out of 300 students, only 90 students got through the one-year pre-university course.

I was awarded free-ship, after my PUC Science results, and the money that I paid to the college as a tuition fee was refunded. This same money, I used for next year's admission fee for B.Sc. part-one course.  Then I applied for the National loan scholarship and was selected for this. I was awarded the National loan scholarship for my entire graduation period with a 4% simple interest. I used to get 720 rupees per year. I could purchase relevant textbooks and medicine for my ailing mother. She was infected by TB.

In 1972 there was a drought, and surviving was a problem. I was in my degree final year. I also did not receive the scholarship installment amount for the 1972-73 year. I borrowed 200 rupees from a relative called Mukund Sultanpur to pay the college tuition fee. For my daily food needs at Bidar, my Grandmother Narasamma gave her (a 4-gram) nose ring. I sold it to live in Bidar, till the final year degree exam was conducted in the summer.

Passed B.Sc. in the second division with 56% marks in the 1973 summer. Thus I completed my science degree from Karnataka University. Mathematics and Physics were my optional subjects. 

Just after my degree exam, I was asked to take "summer coaching" to the children of Mali-Patel, Mr. Shamrao of Rekulagi Village. I worked as a tutor for a month in his home. Patil Shamarao gave me some food grains that I needed to survive the famine. Survival was a challenge due to famine in this region.

Then, I worked as a literate mazdoor in the PWD division office Bidar, in a famine relief fund. We (my mother and wife) survived on this little pay of Rs 100/- per month, for almost five months in 1973.

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Tukaram Kumbar:

(A summary of my education)

I was born in 1951, on the Dasara Mahanavami day, in Hochaknalli village. Olden days did not have schools in villages. In 1960, my uncle Vithal asked me to come to School with him to Ranjol. He was a student of the fifth standard. I was admitted to the first standard in Kheni Ranjol. After about four months, a new school was opened in my village with a single teacher. I was asked to attend this new school. There was a single book for the first standard. I mastered reading the book within the first half of the year. During the second half, I completed reading the second standard book. It was declared that I passed the second standard. 

Next year I was admitted to third standard at NTMS Ranjol Kheni. The school was about 1.25 km away from my village and I walked up and down on school days. From third standard to seventh standard, I was the topper in my class and always stood first in merit among my classmates. During the academic year 1965-66, I passed the 7th board exam with 90% marks in mathematics. Both my parents Gundappa andTippamma were illiterate.

I joined TDB High School in Kheni-Ranjol itself. I was awarded a fifty rupee merit scholarship. But I lost my dear father in October 1967, when I was a ninth-class student. It was a suicide. He was cheated in a land acquisition process. In 1969, I passed the 10th board, the SSLC exam, in first class, with 67% marks. My child marriage was conducted at Srimandal village with Sharanamma, in the first week of June 1969.

I was dreaming of going to college for higher education. I sold 10g gold that was offered in my marriage and secured admission to the BVB College Bidar as a PUC Science student in June 1969. I Passed the one-year PUC Science, with 58% marks in 1970 summer. I was the second topper in my PUC batch. Out of 300 students, only 90 students got through the annual board exam, the one-year pre-university course.

On my merit and poor financial conditions, I was awarded the National loan scholarship for my entire graduation period with a 4% simple interest. I used to get 720 rupees per year. I Passed my B.Sc. in the second division with 56% marks from Karnataka University in the 1973 summer. Mathematics and Physics were my optional subjects in the degree. 

My appointment in the P and T Department:

I applied for a telephone operator’s job in the Posts and Telegraphs department, in response to a paper advertisement. The Posts and Telegraphs department recruited me as a telephone operator on a merit basis. After two months of induction training at Gulbarga, they posted me at Bhalki telephone exchange as a telephone operator. And this was the turning point in my life, as I could live independently on my earnings. My first salary was Rs 317 per month.

 After completing four years of service, as a telephone operator, I applied for a departmental competitive examination, for the post of Phone Inspector. My degree subjects were mathematics and physics, and these helped me in my competitive examination. I cleared the "Phone Inspector" exam just by reading for a few days. After six months of training at RTTC Hyderabad, I was posted as a Phone Inspector at Sandur telephone exchange, in the Hospet Sub Division. It was 1980 when I was living in Sandur with my family. By then, I had two kids. I was the in-charge officer of the Sandur telephone exchange. It was a manual telephone exchange with a CBNM switchboard. Donimalai Auto Exchange was parented to this Sandur telephone exchange.

while at Sandur, I started preparations for the competitive exam for the post of ‘Junior Engineer’. This time studied well in advance, and I was ready to face the examination. Applied for the post, when called for; appeared for this examination at Bellary Centre, and I was selected for the ‘Junior Engineers’ post, this time, from the Bellary division. I did not believe the news of my selection to a higher level. I was the happiest man on that day. then, I underwent a fourteen-month training course at RTTC Trivandrum, in Kerala, during 1982-1983.

I served almost twelve years at Raichur and most of the service was on the external plant, the cable network.

In 1996 I was transferred to the Bidar district when the C-DOT XL digital exchange switch was installed recently at Bidar. A lot of external work was pending and I planned and implemented the plan with the cooperation of controlling officers. I too was promoted to TES Group B Officer's post in 1999 on seniority. I worked as a commercial officer in the TDM office in Bidar for one year. Then on regular absorption, I was posted as S.D.O. Phones Bidar.