What do A.P. Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) Chairman V. Jayarami Reddy, litterateur ‘Sahasravadhani’ Medasani Mohan, former Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Progressive Writers Association president Sakam Nagaraja and bureaucrat K. Dhananjaya Reddy have in common? They graduated from the Sri Govindaraja Swamy (SGS) Arts College here.

As the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)-run institute entered its golden jubilee year on Wednesday, its old students went down the memory lane by recalling the “golden moments” of their lives.

After opening arts colleges for men and women in the name of Sri Venkateswara and Sri Padmavathi respectively, the TTD opened another arts college to cater to a growing demand for higher education in Tirupati. Besides students from the Rayalaseema districts, many from Nellore, Prakasam and Guntur districts have studied at the college, known for its value-based education.

Many alumni at the golden jubilee event took selfies with their old classmates, related anecdotes to one another and walked with a heavy air of nostalgia through the institution’s corridors and rooms.

“The values ingrained in the curriculum made us what we are today,” says Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State general secretary G. Bhanuprakash Reddy, an alumnus. “Compared to corporate colleges, TTD institutions have better infrastructure, faculty members and foster spaces to encourage creativity among students,” says TTD Public Relations Officer T. Ravi, an alumnus.

Meanwhile, the alumni association of the institution has begun collecting details of its alumni through WhatsApp groups and Facebook profiles to come out with a database at the end of the year-long celebrations.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Tirupati – February 28th, 2019