Saying good bye to my office staff

 As I  retired and was rready to leave on the last working day on 30th June, 2020, the most difficult moment to say good bye was to my office staff. I owe so much to Prasad, Dharavath Yugandhar  and Kotiah. What ever little I could achieve,a major share if the credit goes to these three. Prasad has been with me in this Journey for Women's Studies right from its inception. Prasad had joined my Centre for Women's Studies in the office in 2007 and I was not even having a room for the Centre. My history office worked as an office for the Centre too. Slowly, I could get a small room and Prasad, put a table and chair and we could get a desktop. Slowly we started admitting students into the Ph. D program and I could see how students flocked to him for all their work.What ever seminars and Conferences we organised he was central to the organisation of logistics from booking the Conference hall, making arrangements for tea, lunch etc. Then we moved to a bigger space and Prasad continued to be an asset for he did not shirk work and did what ever was told with a lot if sincerity. He had no hickups of even bringing tea cups inside and serving and I had to tell him not to do this for that is not his job and the canteen person can serve it. Prasad was in the journey when we got money to have our own building and finally have a separate Centre , the Malladi Subamna Centre for Women's Studies. In my forty years of experience in three Universities, Allahabad University, Maulana Azad National Urdu University and Hyderabad University, I have found him to be the best office staff one can dream of. Slowly in 2013 Yugandhar and Kotiah joined and even today most of my history students come to the Women's Studies office to get clarity. In the pandemic many call them too when they have an administrative roadblock and yesterday a history student called me from Jammu on some issue and said, Mam, I have spoken to Prasad Bhaiya and this is what he said.....Yesterday, they refused to leave me, they were so emotional, followed me to the Deans office and while I sat inside for more than half an hour taking to him, they waited outside. They were in tears and came to see me off near my car. I was very normal but you three moved me to tears and I finally realised that this inning has come to an end. They gifted me a beautiful Ganesh statue, knowing my fondness for Ganesh. I owe a lot to you three in all the administrative work that you carried out so efficiently and especially Prasad, words fail me. We as Heads and in other high positions get all the laurels and we hardly give credit to the people who help us from behind. You all are the silent workers and we cannot achieve much with out the force and support that you provide silently.Prasad, I will always remember with fondness your contribution to the Centre for Women's Studies in the University of Hyderabad. Yugandhar was posted to the main administrative building to work and Prasad,you were alone out here. You were my one man army.