Bhubaneswar: ‘A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops’ – the quote by Henry Adams is apt for Prof Vepa Rao, whose students from Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC,Dhenkanal), gathered in Bhubaneswar to cherish his absence as much as they valued his presence.
Fondly referred to as Rao Sir, he is best known for his out of the box teaching methods. He had mentored hundreds of students during his teaching career in HPU and IIMC. He is credited to not only give an initial thrust to the journalistic aspirations of his students, but also kept a track of them to avoid hiccups in their careers.
On this occasion, Prof Umakant Mishra, Ex-Director (IIMC) said,“Prof. Vepa Rao is known to me since 1973. He was a person whom I used to emulate many a times for his treatment to life and death. He taught not only to live and celebrate life but also death.”
After the ritualistic lighting of the lamp and offering flowers to the departed soul, anecdotes related to Prof Vepa Rao were related over tea-samosa amid bouts of laughter (as per one of his wishes). Reminiscences left some teary eyed too.
Dr Bibhudatta Mahapara (VP, Corporate Communications, Aditya Birla Group), Pradyumna Mahakud, Jt Secy Planning Convergence, Sanjay Sahoo Dy General Manager, Jajati Karan (editor-in-chief, Ommcom News), Punya Prava Rath (Odisha Bytes), Arunika Mohapatra(Times of India), Akshay Sahoo, Sonali Mahapatra, Ashok Pradhan(ToI), Manaswini Mishra, Byomakesh Biswal, Pradeepta Tripathy, Sangita Agarwal, Debi Prasanna Nayak were some of the dignitaries present on the occasion.
Renowned journalist and educationist, Prof Vepa Rao, 76, had passed away on October 31st after a prolonged illness at a hospital in Hyderabad.
He worked with renowned newspapers like The Tribune, The Statesman, HT and is best known for his contribution to education in journalism from 1990 to 2006 at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication in Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla, along with his stint at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.
