In 1955, Kenya was still reeling under the state of emergency when a lanky man, Titus Kitili Mbathi returned home after five years studying in India.
At the turn of 1950, he had quit his teaching job at Machakos School for a scholarship in India, first at Loyola College for an intermediate certificate course, and later at Madras Christian College to study BA (honours) degree course in economics (major) and political science (minor).