Abhinava and Devagitam Charitable Trust hosted the book release of 'Halavu Makkala Taayi' edited by Prof. H.Y.Mohan Ram, H.Y. Rajgopal, Neeraja Achyuta Rao on April 10 at Udayabhanu Kalasangha Samskrutika Bhavana, Kempegowda Nagara, Bangalore. The event had H.S. Doreswamy as the chief guest, Dr. R. Indira, a retired professor of Sociology, University of Mysore as the special guest, Dr. B.N.Sumitra Bai, a scholar and critic, as the guest speaker. An excerpt from the chapter by H.Y. Mohan Ram follows:
My Mother, My Mentor
H. Y. Mohan Ram
A mother gives life, love, security and comfort to her children. She teaches, sacrifices and forgives. Her children are always on her mind. She prays for their health, happiness and good future. This is almost a universal belief, maybe a definition of motherhood itself. Why write about our mother, as if she were something above the norm? Or was she?
Long after I agreed to join my siblings, a few relatives and friends to write about my mother, I had three questions: What was unique about her? Who would be interested in knowing about her life in the context of her times? My memory is not as good as that of Shouri, Papu, Nani, Raju and Mukunda who have inherited the power to recall from my paternal grandmother (Lakshmidevamma more familiarly known as Ammannamma). I have inherited her genes for the love of music, strong teeth and slow working habits. One advantage of growing up with several siblings with short age differences is frequent sharing of events and periodic recollection through conversations or correspondence. Except for Papu, Kasturi, and Mukunda, other siblings have been in close touch with Amma for only a certain number of years. Then there is also the problem of changing perceptions. Had I written about my mother - Amma as I shall refer to her hereafter – when I was 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years, the major emphasis would have been on fear, enthusiasm, compassion, respect, admiration, pride and concern, respectively.
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Amma was born on the day of Ugadi (New Year’s day in Hindu lunar calendar observed in Karnataka) on April 6, 1906. She lost her 15-year old mother Chellamma when she was only eight or ten days old. Her father, Vajapeyam Venkatasubbaiya (Pedda Subba as he was known, to distinguish him from his cousin, Pinna Subba, who also had the same formal name Venkatasubbaiya) was a young man of 19. Chellamma’s family handed over the child to him and he did not know how to deal with the situation. He rushed to his uncle (father’s elder brother) Vajapeyam Krishnaiya’s house and put the baby in the lap of his wife (Subbamma, more intimately called Subbattha) and pleaded with her: “please take care of this baby”. In those days, there were not only joint families but also a congenial relationship and a sense of shared responsibilities among relatives. To my grandfather’s great relief, Subbattha readily agreed to bring up the baby.
Amma’s mother tongue was Telugu and the Mysore State language was Kannada. As a child going to Madras meant learning Tamil. She was admitted to a school run by missionaries. It is during her stay in Madras that her entire mindset changed tremendously because the persons who our grandfather associated with and who came to visit the Society were leaders of social reform and freedom movement. They were determined to eliminate colonial rule, poverty, ill-health and promote communal harmony. Many guests visited the Society’s Royapettha building, which also had grandfather’s residence. It was a galaxy of luminaries: Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru (who later became an MP and turned down the country’s highest honour “ Bharat Ratna”), Thakkar Bapa ( Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar, who worked for the uplift of tribals in Gujarat), V V Giri [labour leader who participated in freedom and workers’ movement of Ireland and later joined the freedom struggle in India; was President of India (1969-1974) and recipient of Bharat Ratna in 1975], Sarojini Naidu (a prominent national leader and poet known by the sobriquet “nightingale of India”) , Rt. Hon. V.S. Srinivasa Shastri (a senior member of the Society and one of the country’s foremost intellectuals and orators) and of all the great people, Mahatma Gandhi himself. Having grown up in this environment, Amma’s goals turned to serving the country, being honest, leading a simple life and training children to become self-reliant.
As Amma became a teenager, her paternal uncle Govindaiah took her to Bangalore to find a suitable boy to marry her. My father was a good-looking young man, gold medalist in B.A from Mysore University, a student of the famous Professor M. Hiriyanna and S. Radhakrishnan, had been invited to come and see the girl. My mother being a tomboy had climbed a tree (almost like a scene from Satyajit Ray’s film). Attracted by the slim, fair and naughty girl, my father gave his consent to marry her.
The marriage ceremony took place in 1919. After completing M.A. degree in 1921, my father joined the Mysore Education Service. He was posted as Inspector of Sanskrit Schools in 1924. Subsequently he was appointed as Principal of Maharaja’s Sanskrit College in Mysore and later in Bangalore. Life in Mysore was most productive academically and professionally in building up the Sanskrit College. Our parents raised their first five children in that beautiful city. In 1937, Appa was transferred to Bangalore first as an inspector of schools and later as Principal of the Maharaja’s Sanskrit College, adjacent to the Fort High School. We lived in a rented house in Visveswarapuram, which was memorable in several ways. Appa resumed his Saturday evening bhajan programmes and many well-known musicians and music lovers including Professor B. R. Seshachar the eminent zoologist, who was our next-door neighbour, came to listen to his vocal music concert. The most exciting memory I have cherished was the acquisition of a radio set by the family, which enabled us to hear the news as well as listen to great masters such as Abdul Karim Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Begum Akhtar and also K. L. Saigal and Pankaj Mullick. Shouri shot to fame as a child prodigy. He was invited to preside over the first conference of Akhila Karnataka Makkala Koota. We had two occasions to visit Lalbagh along with our grandfather, Madras Tata. During our walks, he told us many interesting things about rocks, clouds, trees and birds.
Sundaramma, my mother’s cousin (daughter of Pinna Subba) who had lost two boys in infancy, brought her newborn daughter Chitra to our house and stayed with us for a few days. We consider Chitra as our own sister even now and she has retained a very close link with all of us. Amma and Appa persuaded Sundaramma to start a school for children in memory of their first-born whom they lost when he was yet a toddler that has now blossomed into Hymamshu Jyoti Kala Peetha and includes a Montessori school as well as a training centre for teachers and numerous other educational facilities.
