Ga for Gayatri

The discussions that were held in his mansion house marked the beginning of his education. The traditional ceremony of vidyarambh tool place after his fourth years. If Panditji wished, he could have himself taught Vedas and scriptures to his son. But he believed that a person should definitely obtain knowledge under guidance of a teacher. There was a teacher by name Pandit Roopram in that tiny village that used to run a school at his residence. Panditji handed over his son to the teacher. Taili used to tell that after a small worship the teacher handed over a Patti (wooden board). It was painted white. There were no slates and slate-pencils during those days. There were different ways of teaching alphabets in different regions. Pandit Roopram used greu (red clay soil) dissolved in water as ink and a pen reed for teaching alphabets to the students. On the day of initiation, Roopramji dipped the pen in greu solution and gave it to Sriram and holding his hand, wrote 'ga' in Hindi on the Patti and spelt it. Sriram immediately imitated his teacher and before he could utter any words to introduce the alphabet, Shriram said "Ga for Gayatri". The teacher was dumbfounded because he never imagined that a child of three years of age could identify and define an alphabet and that too, in his own way.

He typically introduced the letter 'Ga' with word 'Ganesh'. He believed that by introducing 'Ga' for Ganesh, it would lead to intellectual blossoming of the child. Ganesh is the presiding deity of intellect and hence was considered as a good beginning to the learning process. When Shriram uttered 'Gayatri' without being taught about it, the teacher and all those present there were astounded. Later the teacher asked Shriram about who taught him that 'Ga' stands for Gayatri. The child replied that nobody had taught him this and said that his father spoke about Gayatri in the Bhagavat Katha. Teacher Roopram and father Roop kishore were extremely impressed. Both of them caressed the child as a token of their blessings and affection.

In those days, parents felt that it was good to let the child stay with his teacher. More the student stayed with the Guru, more he learnt form him. 15-20 students stayed in Pandit Roopram's school. There were students who came from neighboring villages also. The number of students who came to learn from him was two times more than the number of residential students. At times, every day scholars world end up sleeping at the school instead of going home. Guruji used to treat all the students with loving care. One could easily see the discipline exhibited by students in studying, eating, sleeping and sitting. But this was not enforced on them. This was evoked in the hearts of students with love and affection. For example, guruji would personally wake up the students who slept in his house. It is normal for children to sleep till late hours in the morning even though they may not be tired. It gives them lot of pleasure to laze in the bed. In such situations, the teacher himself world cajole them out of the bed and offer them morning refreshments and make them sit for study after giving them a bath.