India’s expert on Coral & Coral reefs

India’s expert on Coral & Coral reefs
My Father Dr. Reddiah Kosaraju. Andamans & Nicobar Islands. 1977

My Father Dr. Reddiah Kosaraju. Andamans & Nicobar Islands. 1977 Image and Narrative contributed by Raju Kosraju, India My father Dr. Reddiah Kosaraju was a Scientist with a PhD degree in Marine Biology from University of Liverpool (1950s). He was a happy go lucky man, a wonderful person to know, and generous to the core. Over the years he helped quite a number of Indian students who had no monetary support, by sponsoring their education. He was a good swimmer as well as an outstanding chess player and won the Open All England Chess Championship in 1958. After a MSc degree from Agra University (standing second) in 1955 with 'Fish and Fisheries' as a special subject, he became a Research Assistant in SERI in Dehradun, and then worked as a lecturer teaching Zoology in Andhra Christian College, Guntur. Thereafter he went to study in Liverpool, England on his own, and completed a PhD degree in record time of only a year and half. He discovered new breeding grounds of edible bivalves (marine mollusks) in U.K and his works on ‘Parasitic cope pods of Bivalves’ were featured in several reputed foreign journals. He then returned to India and joined as a Pool Officer in Annamalai University. In 1960, after a posting as Zoologist in Shillong, he was transferred to Southern Regional Station, ZSI (Zoological Survery of India), Madras (now Chennai), as officer-in-charge. During this tenure, he added several specimens of birds and mammals, and laid the foundation for a scientific museum at the Station. In view of his expertise on corals and coral reefs of India, he also fulfilled a special task of locating corals of medicinal importance around the Andaman &…

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He always said that he lost his hair due to the heat in India

He always said that he lost his hair due to the heat in India
My father Sydney with his collegue in India or Pakistan. Circa 1944

My father Sydney with his colleague in India or Pakistan. Circa 1944 Image and Narrative contributed by Dave, Bristol, England This is a picture of my father Sydney (Sid) and a colleague having a drink at a hotel or club somewhere in India or Pakistan during World War 2. He was was as an airplane mechanic with the RAF (Royal Air Force). He is the one with a cigarette and he would have been about 27 years old at the time. He was also in the RAF football team and used to say that they sometimes flew 1000 miles just for a football game, this was during wartime and there must have been rationing, but it serves as an example perhaps of the british attitude at the time, towards sport. My father Sydney was born in Liverpool, England around 1916 and had two older brothers and two older sisters. His father died when he was a child and he was brought up by his older brothers Joe and John. He volunteered  for armed service when the war (WWII)  broke out in 1939 and was able to choose  which service  he wanted, which was the RAF. He failed his medical exam to be a pilot due to problems with his ears and became an aircraft mechanic dealing, I'd presume with air engines. He was posted to Detling Airdrome in East Anglia, it was a coastal command airfield, but they were attacked in summer 1940 by the German airforce and about 67 RAF personel were killed. His squadron was then posted to India and I believe they went there by ship in either 1940 or 1941. When in India, they were 'posted' or stationed in many different…

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