Reviews by Professional Associates

I joined the ITCPSPD Paperboard unit at Bhadrachalam in 1986, retired in 1998, and continued as an adviser for two years. Left the company at the end of 2002 and migrated to the USA. The ex-managers and supervisors of the company have a WhatsApp group called 'Bhadrachalam Silvers Family'. A picture of me and my wife Jaya was posted as one of the many 'legendary couples' by the admin of the group.  In response, the following public comments were posted by members of the group who either worked with me or knew about my work.  We are happy that our associates remembered many of the happy memories even after 17 years, and also spared their time to post their comments.  My grateful acknowledgement is posted on this page. My short name in India was 'C.S.Rao'.

Reviews by professional associates

"Sir, great to see you after a long long time. You are my first Guru in professional life. I still remember the quiz you used to conduct to refresh Engineering knowledge among maintenance engineers. You liked to spend ample time with young engineers like me and emphasized the importance of inspection, lubrication, etc. You said to me, "Most successful people do not take shortcuts". I would like to thank you for your time and patience for mentoring me. I pray God for your good health and long life" Bapu Prakash Kolli's message on Linkedin Aug 2021

“Very happy to see Smt and Sri C.S.Rao, legendary couple, after a long time. Namaskarams (greetings). Sri C.S.Rao garu is my teacher, adviser, guide, and good supporter in professional and personal life. When he was in the paper machine, he promoted me to planning which was new to me. But he supported me like a father. He is an excellent learner in engineering and maintenance management. He is a good problem shooter. He has implemented root cause analysis. I have his deep impact on my personal life and professional life, to learn and implement in day-to-day work. When I was in the workshop, he promoted me as '5S' champion. He gave me humble support during the implementation of 5S. He also changed the women’s attitudes in the staff and employee colony. We successfully arranged a 5S exhibition in the community hall with his guidelines. 5S is a strong pillar of TPM to keep ITC, global the leader in the paper and board industry. He is my Yoga Guruvulu. Mrs. Rao always had a smiling face. She gave a flower vase as a gift to my wife. It is still with us. Every day, we remember them. God bless Mrs. and Mr. C.S.Rao with good health and long life. 

...V. S. Satyanarayana (Rajamandry), (Paper machine maintenance department).

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“Mr C.S.Rao worked throughout in Engineering, Mechanical  maintenance in which he had past experience. Later, he joined PM-4 projects. In fact, it was he who gave me the motto “IMPROVE”. Now he has an American look, and that is why you may not be able to recall his face. He is with his daughter in the US. 

… .B.G. Shetty, My boss at ITCPSPD Bhadrachalam and my senior at HEC (Ranchi). He was our Engineering 'mentor'. 

“Mr. C.S.Rao used to always encourage new developments. His contributions to 5S & TPM were immense. He had a passion to teach the breathing technique which helped many people. Mr and Mrs C.S.Rao were both very helpful people. Wish them a very long & healthy life.” 

… Sankar Lal Khawas, (Paper machine and Pulp mill mechanical maintenance department)     

“My interaction in the last two years with CSR sab has been great when I talked with him and Padma on Whatsapp calls. Very compassionate people. Pranams to the legends. God bless.” 

...Dr V. Barla, New to me, Admin for the Bhadrachalam Silvers Whatsapp group

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“I would like to add a few more words. His approach to root cause analysis on maintenance problems thorough discussion with his team members, reduced the repetitive problems and resulted in cost reduction of maintenance and end product cost. He encouraged the many young talents, and he is the engineering guru to many young engineers. I am one of the beneficiaries of his teaching the breathing exercises. He appears to be a very soft and cool person, but in action, he was a very tough task master. Whenever we approached him on any cost account related issues, his response was very quick and positive. My sincere pranams to the legendary couple. We pray to Lord Rama to give him & family good health and happy long life.

...Dharma Reddy, (Accounts department) 

“Few more lines about the legendary Sri C.S.Rao garu. He was soft spoken but a very tough task master. His approach to problem solving was a true learning opportunity and has long lasting influence on many plant engineers like me. His dictum “no recurring problems’ kindled us to look for the root causes closely and proactively implement the solutions laterally. This, in fact, paved the way for our preparedness to actively involve in 5S and TPM started later. I had great learning moments with Sir during my interaction in the brainstorming sessions about TG trippigs. Very open and meaningful discussions with attention to details and involvement of the shop floor employees as well, to bring out facts, with no blame attached. A great teacher, mentor, and a wonderful human being. Prayers to God to give sir and madam strength, health, happiness, and a long life. 

...Madan Mohan,(Power plant operation)

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“Dear Mr C.S.Rao and Mrs C.S.Rao - I too fall short of words to express what a wonderful humble and soft spoken, generous  and amazing couple you both are. And more amazing is that both of you possess the same characteristics that I mentioned. So self-giving, so benevolent, so consciously responsible to the society at large. As I said, words fail me. I can go on and on writing good things about this awesome couple. I have been  a beneficiary of their love, care, and concern when I was down health wise. Sir took me to his home, and madam taught me some yoga to overcome my illness. I will never forget your goodness all my life. They both go out of their way to help anyone. Leon, my husband and myself are very fond of you and madam. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you have done for us. So happy to connect with you after ages. God bless you and mam with good health and abundance all your lives. Sir, you have helped so many in this world with your teaching the breathing techniques which will improve the health of one and make them better, and healthier lives. This is indeed commendable. The passion with which you propagate this exercise is contagious. Blessings on both of you.

… Christina Roberts, Long career of being the secretary to many Managing Directors over many years. 

“C.S.Rao garu was my first boss and lifetime guru. I am sure accolades of his professional achievements would be plenty, but his passion for a myriad of life-centric topics and the way he positively persuades such key aspects to needy sets him apart. Breath counting widely known as his pet project is actually the tool for various deeper subjects that he is passionate about and actively concerned about (Nonviolent communication, Domestic violence, etc.) Having dealt with many challenging situations, he has demonstrated that a figure need not always be aggressive. Blessed to be in active touch sir and best wishes to you and aunty.

...Shiva Narayana, Mechanical Engineer who worked with me in projects department.

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‘Could not resist sharing about this gentleman. Mr C.S.Rao, who was my direct boss (Dy GM Engg Services) at the fag end of his service he brought name and fame to the CIVIL department just by making me champion for 5S, and that was a big success. Management recognized not only me but the entire civil department as 5S was implemented throughout the mill. A good guide, mentor for me in every aspect. God bless Ms and Mr C.S.Rao.

… K Chandrasekhar, In-Charge Civil Maintenance Department

“It is difficult for me to praise such a model leader like C.S.Rao garu, who had fought to change the attitude of staff and workers from home to office, during the 5S movement, which is a strong pillar to TPM, and to keep ITC a global leader in the paper industry. Such a visionary leader in changing systems for the long-term benefit of the organization. Kudos for his deep insights for root cause analysis of all issues and his social service through counting breaths. Though I served in the lab, I have his deep impact on my personal and professional life to learn and implement in day-to-day life. Our family wishes Mr C.S.Rao a healthy and happy life. He is the one to lead an exemplary life on how happily we live, rather than how long we live, like VV Iyer garu quoted. 

...Satyanarayana Chirala, Central Lab

“Very kind-hearted man. I worked with him in 5S movement in the mill. He taught me breathing exercise. His learning urge is highly appreciated by all. He elaborated the subject very well. He was a very good translator from English to Telugu. His brainstorming skills were remarkable. May God bless this couple with good health and long life.

V Lakshman Rao Quality Information Systems Department

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“I am Suresh Kumar, who worked in BPL from 1992 to 1998 in Quality Information Systems Department and stock preparation under Namassivaya sir and A. Das sir. I had a good relationship with Mr and Mrs C.S.Rao. When I left Bhadrachalam to Seshasayee at Erode in Tamilnadu, they gave me a good dinner which I still remember.”

...Suresh Kumar

“Very happy to see Sri C.S.Rao garu after a long time. He was calm and smiley always. Very good troubleshooter. Always supportive. Congratulations and best wishes.”

… V Ramachandra Reddy, Instrumentation department

“Sri C.S.Rao is really humble and calm by nature. Once, I remember a small fire took place in the chip conveying system. Sir came to the site and asked for the extent of damage, and later I saw him extending all support to restore the things calmly. Great. Best wishes and healthy life”.

...B N Tiwari, Process department

“Smt and Sri C.S.Rao sir - Humble pranams. Sir was a soft-spoken and calm personality. He used to advise to all the importance of meditation through breathing exercise in those days. (“Dhyanam ante swasa meada dhyasa” This is a Telugu text meaning “Meditation means focusing on breathing”). He is one of the highly respected gentlemen. Pray God for the good health and peace of mind to the legendary couple. 

… Krishnamacharyulu, Accounts department  

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“My guru in industrial career. He is an excellent developer. At the same time very enthusiastic learner. At the age of 52, he used to spend late evenings developing various maintenance strategies. Various study materials that he used to circulate for maintenance management, I am still using them to train the young generations. He used to encourage us in the breath counting technique. Exactly the same technique is being taught by XLRI for improving concentration. Great couple. Madam used to see us, like their children. 

… C Ramachandra Rao. Paper machine mechanical maintenance  

"While I was purchasing some furniture items from him while he was winding up from Panchali (Name of the housing complex for the top team at ITC PSPD), I asked C S Rao sir "Sir, how much do I have to pay?" He famously said, "You should not cry for purchasing, and I should not cry for selling". This I remember at every sale and purchase.  

... S. Boddapati

"Many Engineering practices, analyses, and planning, which are part of day-to-day practices in BCM and other PSPD units today, were sowed by him. And I know many Engineers have carried the concepts to other PSPD industries".   

... Basab Ghosh

"C S Rao garu advised all the Engineers to put "Why" poster in front of the computers to interact and question why  we should do a job. He also actively encouraged '5S' program. 

...Kanchan Rao 

My public response in the forum 

I am happy to hear the recollections of our association and kind words from M/S Shetty, our engineering guru, Khawas, Madan mohan, Christina, Satya Rajamandry, Satya Chirala, Dharma Reddy, Dr Barla, Shiva Narayana, Chandrasekhar, Lakshmana Rao, Sureshkumar, Ramachandra Reddy, Ramachandra Rao and Krishnamacharyulu. It is said that “The beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. It looks like they felt happy seeing that the things were done better. I am grateful to dear colleagues for putting up with endless “WHY’s” until we arrived at the root causes for our pest #1 ‘RECURRING PROBLEMS’ which eats the precious resources and tirelessly eliminating them, WITHOUT blaming anyone, as Madan Mohan aptly put it. Didn’t we  feel relieved in mind/body and proud of the results? We could do this only because of the freedom and support given by (late) Mr. Malliwal, Mr Sanjay and Mr Pradeep and Mr Tulasi. I have learned that this philosophy of fixing recurring problems applies to other areas of life as well - family, relatives, friends, community and environment. 

I wish to highlight what I think were the important developments of that period (1) creating an image of the top notch engineers whom we meticulously selected as valued contributors to improving the reliability, quality and productivity of the equipment (2) the realization that the process change shutdowns were not enough to remove the accumulated defects in the continuous running paper machines, in the absence of annual shutdowns which resulted in breakdowns (3) the first time allotment of downtime for planned maintenance of paper machines and (4) Focus on making ongoing improvements and innovations as Mr Shetty and Mr Khawas mentioned. I was the (sole) founder editor of a house journal called “improve” of  the Ranchi chapter of the Indian Institute of Industrial Engineers when I worked at the HEC Ranchi before joining ITPSPD. I dream of recording the new techniques, practices, insights and remarkable lessons learned in my professional life which may be of interest to the younger generation. 

Lastly my immense gratitude to my bosses, colleagues and employees for allowing me/helping me develop, test and teach ‘Counting breaths meditation’ taught 2500 years ago by Gautham Buddha with a rigorous protocol. I tailored it to suit the ‘meditation dreamers’ and ‘meditation drop-outs’ who don’t have the time to sit down and practice it. I have been practicing and teaching it to children and adults of all ages from 2000, and it continues even now. Here is an introduction to it "Who Said Meditating Every Day is Difficult" PDF format 1 page

I expanded the scope of my teaching to counseling people stressed by a variety of life situations based on my crazy reading of a wide variety of resources and understanding their common principles. Everything remaining the same, the angle from which we see, think, and feel about a situation or person can increase or decrease our stress. 

I will be happy to teach 'Counting breaths meditation' to any group of people on Google Meet. My email is ‘csrao1003@gmail.com’ and my WhatsApp # is +1518-956-3433 (US#). God bless all the Bhadrachalam Silvers with a Healthy, Happy and Fulfilling New Year.

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