Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has made no attempts to conceal his obsession with vaastu, the ancient Indian principles of architecture, even telling the assembly, "Why shouldn't someone who works for the state and takes decisions use vaastu and create comfort? Vaastu is nothing but ventilation and air. That is what makes miracles happen." This last was in response to Opposition-led protests over the government's decision to shift the state secretariat at an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore, prompted partly by "badvaastu" of the current building.
Assisting him in this mission to make Telangana's buildings "vaastu-compliant" will be Suddala Sudhakar Teja, recently appointed as advisor to the government's architecture, building and planning department at a salary of Rs 75,000 a month, according to an order issued last month. Teja, by his own admission, is a self-taught vaastu consultant, not a trained architect.
"I have been doing this for 24 years," says Teja. He echoes Rao's words and says right ventilation and coexisting with nature are paramount in vaastu. "Nowadays, we are losing touch with nature by constructing concrete buildings. That's why we are not getting peace and happiness," he says.
Teja's father, Suddala Hanumanthu, was a well-known revolutionary poet, while one of his three siblings, Ashok, is a lyricist in the Telugu film industry. Teja has a master's degree in theatre arts but turned to vaastu in 1991. He traces his interest in vaastu to his childhood, when he observed how some birds constructed their nests. "Birds are happy, but man has so many problems because his thinking is different. It's because of the placement of their houses," he reasons.
In his new role, Teja says he will begin by advising the government in the construction of houses for the weaker sections, and in whatever else the department consults him on. "Those who rule should be sitting in comfortable places, so we get the best rules and regulations. If the state leader is sitting in the perfect place, it is the poor people who will benefit," he says when asked about the changes Rao was proposing, though he adds that there has been no further consultation about the secretariat.
Sunil Sharma, chief engineer in the roads and building department, says Teja was appointed because the department so far had only engineers. “We have to do a lot of architectural planning. We're constructing many buildings and we need to optimise policy, that's why he has been appointed." When told that Teja had no formal training in architecture, Sharma adds that he is both trained and experienced. The chief minister's public relations officer declined to comment on the appointment.
Teja, however, denies reports that he will be advising Rao on the timings of his meetings or seating arrangement, as some reports allege. "He is a very intelligent man who goes into everything in depth, he does not need my advice on other matters," says Teja.
"Beliefs like vaastu and yajnas or patronage to temples can at best be individual beliefs one can practise in one's own life, but they have no place in governance of the society. There is too much of messing up of the personal and political. In a way it smacks of lack of belief in the people who elected them. The belief that they are in power because of certain unknown factors is the fundamental flaw in our so-called democratic structure," says G Haragopal, professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences-Hyderabad and National Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research.
But Rao is not alone in thinking there is no contradiction in using public money to prop up personal beliefs. Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N T Rama Rao is also said to have constructed a wall in the secretariat to combat the ill-effects of "negative" energy.
Teja says various people in the government and others have consulted him on vaastu over the years, from all over the country. "But now I can't, I'm a servant of the government," he says. Even then, he seems to have been at the right place at the right time.
