FATHER, GUIDE AND MENTOR

M. PATTABHIRAM

Asst. Editor, The Hindu

“That is the spirit of the young Andhra, idealistic, emotional, impulsive, lost in devotion whether it be to art or country, lost to worldliness but a gain to heaven”. That was how C. R. Reddi described Venkatarangaiya 60 years ago, writing a foreword to his study entitled “Beginnings of Local Taxation in the Madras Presidency” which quite appropriately was the first publication of the Andhra University. The university is just now celebrating its diamond jubilee but there does not seem to be any mention of Venkatarangaiya although he served the university during its formative period with great distinction. That is not very surprising, considering that in an article written in one of the Telugu papers in connection with the jubilee, C. R. Reddi and Radhakrishnan too find a peripteral place. That apart Venkatarangaiya served the Andhra University as the first Professor of Politic’s – a department which he founded and chaired for several years. Politics as a discipline worthy of specialisation was conceived by him and the next 50 years were devoted by him to enrich politics as a subject of study going deep into certain aspects which were never touched by scholars before.

Whether it was federalism or local government, he formulated theories that were taken up by others for detailed investigation and if today they constitute the core of political science, it is not a little due to the untiring efforts of Venkatarangaiya. Precisely why Dr. G. N. Sharma said that Venkatarangaiya may be looked upon as representing the growth of political science in our country during a period of about half a century. And he added: Among the senior-most teachers of the subject he can be regarded as summarising the history of political science in India.

Venkatarangaiya was a nationalist to the core. Although he did not go to jail during the first and the second civil disobedience movements, he did lend great support to the participants of the struggle. The asylum he gave to some of them clearly showed where his mind was. With a large family to support, he thought it would be unwise to desert the members. Bulusu Sambamoorthy, it appears, camped in Vizianagaram for a whole week to persuade him to come out of the college and join the non-cooperation movement. He had really a hard decision to take. He was barely 31 years of age with six children by then. Finally he persuaded himself to stay back although it caused tremendous disappointment to Sambamoorthy. His deep attachment to the freedom movement manifested itself in many other ways. And during the second world war, when C. R. Reddy insisted that the university teaching staff should do war propaganda, he was the first to resist it. But then a few years later he paid the price for it, when he was summarily retired. He had no regrets and in retrospect it was obvious that it was the university that suffered.

Of course he had no illusions about his own position in the university. He was, from all accounts, the most popular man with a big following and for this reason the powers that be viewed him with some jealousy. Therefore when the time came for me and my brother (Venkateswarlu) to take up the honours course in his department, he thought the best thing would be to ask us to seek admission elsewhere for fear our careers might be ruined. We migrated to Madras and have never been the worse for it. Venkatarangaiya had a special regard for the Madras University. It was here he took a triple first class in his B. A. degree examination – a distinction that was as unique as it was rare. He was a fighter, a sort of a rebel in the Andhra University, since he always championed the cause of the students much to the discomfiture of the authorities. If the B. Com. degree which was an integral part of the curriculum was finally accorded recognition by the then Government, it was not a little due to his initiative. It must be remembered that the Andhra University was the first to start the course in South India and it attracted students from all over the area. It was this course that give a cosmopolitan touch to the university and yet the authorities took their own time to get its recognition. Viewed in this context Venkatarangaiya’s contribution can hardly be exaggerated.

Venkatarangaiya was one of the earliest serious thinkers to warn that democracy in the country was fast giving place to what he called mobooracy. He wrote with some concern as early as in 1969 that politics has become the profession of thousands of people. In his view the class of professional politicians did not exist in the country before Independence. “It emerged after we got freedom. Most politicians earn their livelihood by keeping up some kind of agitation or the other. Politicians have become demagogues. Which politician cares for constructive work today? It is not so exciting as rabble rousing and it is not paying at all from the personal standpoint.” These words were uttered more in desperation than in anger but that was what he found to his dismay.

We the members of his family had a deep admiration for his simple and austere habits. Be never interfered with our decisions, although he was keeping a strict vigil over our activities. When we completed the honours course there was some discussion on the question of our taking the IAS examination but we were not much enthusiastic about it, since we did not like to take up Government service. He respected our views on the matter and never tried to say which career we must take up. We have no regrets either for what we did.

We of course did not hit the ceiling but I am pretty sure that each one of us did something to enrich national life in our own way. If Narasimham became a recognised teacher at the college and university level and Seetharam an innovator. Anandam entered public life with reasonable success besides taking a leading part ill his profession. Venkateswarlu distinguished himself as an archaeologist – he, was the curator of the Nagarjunakonda and Hampi museums and his thesis on Velanadu chiefs continues to be the only authoritative work on the subject. Krishnamurthy is well known in Defence science circles and has held almost the top post in the Government of India. Simhachalam has been working behind the scenes to give practical shape to constructive projects in Telangana. What did the women members do? Videhi retired as Professor of History in the Osmania University and the monumental work done by the eldest – Alladi Annapurnamma – for, Harijan and social welfare in Nellore district is part of a legend. The only exception is number two in the family – Godavari – who was busy with her large family.

This is a personal digression and is written to show that everyone of us was literally influenced by the guiding spirit. What surprises me is, he never even queried how we fared in the class. He never insisted we should top the list. Nor did he chide us when we did not fare well. And, to be frank, the mother was more exacting than the father. In the end it was a totally satisfying experience. Venkatarangaiya had a very alert mind and at 90 he was as active as ever. He wrote a paper for the annual conference of the Indian Political Association at Mysore and it fell to my lot to read it out, since he was not in a position to make a journey. But his mind was in Mysore and he had instructed me to send him a telegram after I read out his speech. This I did and a few days later he suddenly took ill and passed away on 13-1-1981, barely 15 days after the Mysore conference.

The theme of his address was Local Government. Only a few years earlier in a letter he lamented that he was not getting the kind of material he needed. He wrote: “No one here is anxious to do work of this sort. There is no research or study in the university. Teachers and students are wasting time on strikes and academic discussions on university autonomy. The future is dark.” Prophetic words indeed! What impressed me most was his total dedication to work in the pursuit of which he sought the help of everyone. The proverbial generation gap did not bother him, and this was precisely why he could carry on in a house which had 35 to 40 members under one roof. The regular stream of visitors kept him busy and none was too small converse with. A giant indeed.

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