From chai & maggi to lifelong bonds: BITS Pilani VC shares touching story of campus legend Pappuji

A simple question about five decades of campus life sparked a moment of deep reflection for BITS Pilani Vice-Chancellor V Ramgopal Rao. Meeting with "Pappuji," a beloved figure on campus, Rao expected the veteran vendor might have a request. Instead, their conversation yielded an unexpected masterclass in contentment, connection, and the true meaning of legacy.

Rao opened the meeting by asking whether BITS students had changed over his half-century on campus. The answer was instantaneous: "Sir, nothing has changed. They are still very yemandar (honest). They are respectful. They are good students."

While he noted that modern students spend more time immersed in laptops and phones inside their rooms compared to the earlier days of long conversations over chai, samosa, and Maggi, he observed that they still gather over food during holidays.

Yet, as Rao highlighted, the connection was never merely about food. Students would order food from home and ask Pappuji to hold it until their return. Decades later, those same alumni regularly invite him to BITS Alumni Association gatherings in Dubai, Hyderabad, Goa, and beyond.

From chai and Maggi to a lifelong bond 

The depth of this bond became especially clear during the Covid-19 lockdown, when alumni worldwide reached out to offer financial support. "I don’t need anything," Pappuji told them. He even turned down funds he urgently needed, remarking that he had enough to support a few more students. "When the first students come and hug me, that is enough. I don’t need your money," Rao remembered him saying.

When asked if current students face higher stress levels, Pappuji seemed genuinely surprised: "What stress, Sir? They are all happy. They are all nice students." Repeated inquiries about whether the institute could do anything for him met the same humble response: "Nothing, Sir. I am very happy. BITS has given me everything."

A lesson about happiness 

For Rao, the encounter served as a powerful reminder of what truly endures beyond the pursuit of positions, money, and recognition. Pappuji found total fulfillment in five decades of built relationships, returning alumni, and a community that remembers him after 30 or 40 years.

Rao concluded, Pappuji’s story captures the core identity of the institute: "An ever-growing family."