From dawn, I would review each paper, note down key news items—especially those requiring the CM's action—and prepare a summary. By 6:30 a.m., I would reach the CM's house; by 8 or 9 am.

I took charge as Chief Public Relations Officer on September 1, 1995—the same day Nara Chandrababu Naidu assumed office as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. From the very first day as CM, Chandrababu Naidu was determined to place the state on a high pedestal and implement the best development models he had observed from countries around the world. This vision drove his numerous foreign tours in the early years. He had a strong passion for sharing details of the progress he witnessed abroad with the people of the state through newspapers.

Having accompanied him on many of those international trips, I believe I succeeded 100% in delivering that information to the public. Back then, technology was nowhere near what we have today. There were no cell phones, and far fewer TV channels. In such an era, the challenges I faced in managing information were immense and countless. Between 1995 and 2004, during Chandrababu Naidu's tenure as Chief Minister, he toured countries including Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Italy, and London. My job was to send reports of these visits to newspapers on the very same day to generate publicity. The U.S. trips, in particular, put me through tremendous hardship.

Chandrababu Naidu would rise early and dive into meetings and sessions with industrialists, sometimes lasting until 10 p.m. I attended every meeting, took notes, and captured photographs. Late at night—often by 8 p.m.—I would head to the hotel's business center with heaps of material, write the news on white paper, and fax it in sequence to our office in Hyderabad. This routine sometimes stretched until 1 a.m., or even 4 a.m. Our PR officers in the office—Nageshwar Rao, Chandramohan, and Gopinath—would arrive at dawn to receive the faxes, get them typed, and distribute them to all newspaper offices. When it was daytime here, it was nighttime there. After finishing at midnight, I would return to my room for just three or four hours of sleep before rushing to prepare again and board the plane with Babu garu to the next destination.

During those two-week tours, I barely ate dinner most nights. By the end, I was completely exhausted, lost weight drastically due to lack of proper sleep and food, and my sugar levels shot up. All we saw in America were big buildings, hotels, and airports—nothing else. I secretly wished to stay longer and actually explore the country. Fortunately, veteran journalists Radhakrishna and Sudhakar Reddy, who had accompanied me, approached Chandrababu Naidu and requested to stay on for another two weeks before returning to India. He agreed, even handing over his remaining dollars to us before leaving. Thanks to their initiative and the courtesy of CM Ramesh, we got to tour America for two more weeks!

In that pre-cell-phone era, everything relied on landlines. The Chief Minister's next-day program schedule would often arrive only at 10 p.m.—or sometimes midnight—via a messenger who would drop it at the door and leave. Meanwhile, top newspaper reporters would keep calling nonstop to learn about the CM's plans for the following day. I would answer them all, finally hitting the bed in the middle of the night, only to wake up at 4 a.m. Information department staff would collect major newspapers early morning via vehicle, deliver one set to me, then to the CM's residence, and later to the Information Commissioner's home. 

From dawn, I would review each paper, note down key news items—especially those requiring the CM's action—and prepare a summary. By 6:30 a.m., I would reach the CM's house; by 8 or 9 a.m., the Commissioner and I would brief Chandrababu Naidu together on all the important developments. Sometimes, he  himself would flip through the newspapers at home and immediately issue instructions related to the stories. (The article appears to continue with additional anecdotes, such as facilitating media coverage for Bill Clinton's visit to Hyderabad following positive international publicity, and contrasting the manual, exhaustive efforts of that time with today's digital tools like the internet and live streaming.)

Those eight (or nine) years were a testament to sheer dedication and perseverance. Without modern conveniences, we still managed to light up the state with information, successfully publicize the Chief Minister's initiatives, and even attract global leaders like U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russia's Vladimir Putin to Hyderabad. It fills me with pride to have been part of that era's behind-the-scenes hard work.

- Dr. S. Vijaykumar Former Chief PR Officer to AP Chief Minister  N. Chandrababu Naidu