Obituary of Narasimha Rao Tadikonda

Narasimha Rao Tadikonda  

April 9, 1934 - September 7, 2024

Narasimha Rao Tadikonda passed away peacefully at his home on September 7, 2024 surrounded by loving family.  He was born in Pentapadu, India, in 1934, to Atchuta and Lakshmi Tadikonda.  Rao was among the first electrical engineering graduates from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.  Equipped with just his slide-rule and pocket money, Rao embarked on a pioneering voyage to California by ship in 1959.  Rao completed graduate studies at UC Berkeley and earned his PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University.  At that time, there were only a few thousand Indians in the US, but Rao would later help many who followed his inspirational example.

  Rao married Vasundhara (Vasu) Sanka in 1967 and the young couple settled in New Jersey, where they raised their two children, instilling a strong belief in the importance of family, education, and laughter.  Rao worked for four decades at Bell Labs, the company celebrated for many of the groundbreaking technologies of the 20th century.  Rao himself was responsible for dozens of breakthrough patents in signal processing, integrated circuits and fiber optics, which shaped modern telecommunications.  Among these, he invented the technology underpinning modern touch-tone dialing. 

In the five decades Rao and Vasu lived in Morristown NJ, they were known for their warm hospitality and seemingly effortless entertaining.  They hosted countless birthdays, open-house parties, and holiday meals for family and friends.  Guests were equally welcomed, from quick drop-ins to extended stays.  Rao and Vasu also made their home a landing point for many new arrivals from India, helping them get settled in an unfamiliar country.  

Rao’s residence was also known as a workshop where anything could be fixed, and a classroom on a wide range of topics, from physics to comparative religion to blackjack strategy.  No matter the subject, Rao taught with gentle questioning and an insistence on understanding first principles.  At the same time, Rao always remained a student, over the past few weeks becoming an expert on the optimal design of kitchen stoves while personally refurbishing his own with hand-tooled parts.  His favorite advice for young people – especially his beloved grandchildren – was to “be curious.” 

Rao was a lifelong spiritual seeker and student of Advaita, especially interested in the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. His life of mindfulness, humility, and wisdom led many to see him as a spiritual guide in his own right.

Rao is survived by his wife of 57 years, Vasu Tadikonda, who was his devoted partner in all things.  He is also survived by his younger brother, Kantha Rao; his children Lata Tadikonda Stavropoulos and Madhu Tadikonda, and their spouses Bill and Rebecca; his grandchildren, Nina, Lily, William, Leo and Sylvie; and extended family around the world, many of whom came to visit Rao in his last few months. Rao's legacy will endure in the hearts of all who knew him.