I joined BEM High School, Palakkad, for the 1942-43 academic year in the 2nd form. TN Seshan was studying in the same school right from Class I and he stood top in the class in academic proficiency. From 2nd form till 5th form, I used to bag the first place in general proficiency and Seshan used to come second. The competition between us in studies was fierce but we were good friends.
Being small in size in those days, he used to sit in the front bench and I was always in the last row. In the SSLC examination in 1947, he came first with an aggregate of 452 marks and I was second with 451 marks. In BEM High School, I excelled in academic proficiency as well as in sports and football, while Seshan was always bookbound.
But he had a rare flair in the English language. Both of us were again together in the Government Victoria College, Palakkad, for Intermediate from 1947 to 1949 and we were the only two students automatically selected for Engineering in Madras Presidency for that year. I joined the Government College, Kakinada, for my engineering and Seshan wanted to follow his elder brother TN Lakshminarayan in IAS and for preparing for the UPSC exam, he joined Madras Christian College for BA Hons.
As probationers, both of us had trained together for two months in the Indian Forest College, Dehradun. He pursued his IAS career and retired as Cabinet Secretary. I pursued my railway service and retired as Member, Engineering, Railway Board.