‘O duniya ke rakhwale, sun dard bhare mere naale..’ The famous song from Baiju Bawra was the all-time favourite of Radha Vinod Raju, the former NIA chief, who passed away the other day. “When we were doing our post graduation from Maharaja’s College, he sung the same song for the Arts Festival held there. I met him for the first time in Maharaja’s College. Raju was studying physics while I opted for botany,” remembers former Kerala Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor K R Viswambharan, who was a close friend of Raju.
Remembering the same Arts Festival, Viswambharan said that even he had participated in the event. ”Raju received applause from the audience for his performance. Next was my turn. I heard the announcer calling my name. I noticed the clarity in the announcer’s voice. (Mohammed Kutty, who later became popular as Mammootty was the announcer. Also, Mammootty was a close friend of Viswambharan). After the introduction, I sang the song ‘Chitrashila paalikal kondoru sree kovilakam’. Raju got the first prize while I got the second. And that was the beginning of our friendship,” recollects Viswambharan.
Later, Raju joined the police force, but still, the chord of friendship between us remained strong, says Viswambharan. “When I was the RDO at Fort Kochi, I use to visit his father who was residing there and used to spend time with him. Raju was in Delhi at that time and later, he moved to Kashmir,” says Viswambharan.
The death of his brother was a big shock to Raju. “Though, he recovered from that personal loss, every time, when I meet him, he used to talk about his brother. Likewise, the demise of his father too was soul shattering for him,” he said.
However, personal losses did not affect Raju as an upright officer. “He will forever be remembered as a popular, reasonable and non-corrupt officer. His dedication and commitment make him a role model for the bureaucracy,” he says.
