Our father S. Krishna Rao was born to S.S. Moorthy Rao and Rangamma in 1932. After completing his B.Sc Physics from Loyola College, Madras, he moved to Switzerland studying at ETH Zurich (where Albert Einstein taught) to complete his Diplomat Ingg (Masters Degree) in Electronics and then joined Brown Boveri in Zurich.
Krishna Rao had brilliant talent in Music and was a connoisseur of Carnatic Music and also Western Classical Music. He used to play the Mridangam and sing himself at the level of teaching others at and advanced level on Tala, Raga, Swara kalpana. He was also an expert Badminton player having won the Silver Medal in the Swiss Collegiate Championships.
Krishna Rao returned to India in 1959 to serve the country. He joined BEL as a Sr. Engineer and rose to the position of Director R&D. At BEL, he was instrumental for creating a strong R&D and indigenizing several crucial products for the India defence including Fire Control radars, Troposcatter Communication and Field Artillery radars. He was also the man behind the “Project Hurry” when a new TV transmitter and Satellite receiver was to be deployed every day across the country – which he did successfully. He was also instrumental in the 100KW MW transmitters that employed Class D amplifiers for the 1st time. He was the Chairman and Managing Director of Keltron as well as Secretary of Electronics to the Kerala Government, till his retirement in 1989.
He was a man of truth and used to be called “Satya Harishchandra” in the family. He was a very strict disciplinarian and perfectionist. He decided to stay back in India and look after his aging parents even though he had opportunities in the late 60’s itself to work abroad and even become a Swiss citizen.
After his retirement he was completely devoted to Adhyaatmic activities. He studied various Shastras under several illustrious gurus going for “Paatha” everyday. He also honored Peetadhipati’s of various Mathas including Vyasaraja Matha, Palimar Matha, Adamaru Matha Pejavara Matha, Puttige Matha who were invited and honored at our family home 341 Sadashiva Nagar Bangalore.
He also started Sarvamoola Paatha at 341 Sadashiva Nagar in the name of his parents where he hosted scholars like his Guru Prabhanjana Acharya, Haridas Bhatt, Guttalachar, D. Prahladachar (current Vyasaraja Swamiji), Naga Sampige Achar and others, with participants from all over Bangalore. This mission was eventually taken over by HH Visvesha Tirtha Swamiji and continues to this day in Pejavara Vidyapeetha.
S. Krishna Rao passed away on July 7th 2017, leaving behind his wife Bhagirathi, two sons Jagannath and Raghunath, and daughter Bhanumati.
Jagannath Rao & Raghunath Rao
