Seshu Babu

I joined HPS in 1966 as a day-scholar but turned a boarder in 1967 upon securing a GOI Scholarship. I overcame myriad challenges in transiting from a rural Telugu medium school in West Godavari to one of India’s premier schools. Sharing an 18-bed dormitory with a multi-lingual group of students whose parents’ professions ranged from farmers, businessmen, military and IAS officers to actors and politicians; was an experience to cherish forever.

HPS conjures up memories galore- elegant iconic buildings, spacious class-rooms, majestic playgrounds and courts, top-notch swimming pool, highly equipped laboratories, a huge assembly hall, an inviting dining hall, an overcrowded recreation hall, a compact dispensary and well-furnished hostels! What did I like about school? Joyful learning; outstanding teachers who constantly encouraged us to ask questions and nurtured our critical thinking skills. Great and tasty food, comfortable beds, learning and playing a variety of games and sports including some like paddle tennis unique to HPS, watching and cheering school mates during inter-school tournaments, participating in school plays, debates and essay writing competitions, borrowing and reading novels (Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Wodehouse, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming, Chase, Leon Uris, Ayn Rand, etc.); visits to local factories and museums, having fun in Scouts and NCC camps, buying Chips and Cadbury bars from school tuck-shop on weekends, weekend outings to city theatres and restaurants and the list goes on. Big bonuses included catching glimpses of legendary cricketers like Pataudi, Jaisimha, etc., movies shot in the campus, and listening to famous personalities like Shakuntala Devi, Swami Chinmayananda, etc. School life was really fun; not a day passed without someone playing a prank, nicknames were unflinchingly given to teachers and peers, teachers with particular mannerisms or accents were mimicked, and jokes were shared in gay abandon. I lived in the campus for a few years after school and used the opportunity to mentor and help some juniors with their studies in the evenings.

I studied MBBS in Gandhi Medical College, and realized how the great foundation laid in school helped me to not only become a popular student but enabled me to represent the college in Basketball, Debates, Elocutions, Essay-writing, Cultural events and thus earn friends across the country. I did MD Community Medicine in Osmania Medical College and became a Professor at the age of 32 in Telangana medical colleges and subsequently the Director of School Health. Simultaneously I completed DNB (Hospital Administration), MBA and Masters in Health Management from UK’s University of Birmingham. In 1998, I shifted to Delhi to work for the British DFID. In 2000, I left for Cambodia to advise on a World Bank project. In 2005, I became an Advisor to Malawi’s Ministry of Health. I am currently an Advisor to Cambodia’s Government. My international career has enabled me to work for a wide range of agencies such as the WHO, World Bank, ADB, USAID, DFID, GIZ, UN & national governments, win a number of awards including the “Royal Order of Sahakmetrei”, the highest medal for distinguished service tp Cambodia from the Honourable Prime Minister of Cambodia in July 2005, and travel to over two dozen countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Passions: World travel (long bucket list), sports, hiking, music, movies and cultural events