A SILENT MAN OF ACTION
K. CHANDRASEKHARAN
Busy
lawyers seldom find time for other activities after the day’s work in the court
except to engage in a game of cards or a friendly chat at the club. Still it
will not be altogether untrue to say that the busiest alone finds time for
anything worth while doing. In
In
recent years, at any rate,
If
he was a lawyer of repute and a leader in the profession, his record of work as
one aiding the dispensation of justice was exceeded perhaps in an abundant
measure by his enormous labours in other fields
devoted to the furthering of human welfare. From the start, while he was a
junior working in the chambers of Dr C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, his prodigious turn-out of work in the office, as
well as his competence in the preparation of cases for trial on the Original Side of the High Court
of Madras brought him into notice in quite a short interval after his joining
the Bar. Income-Tax law was not, in the days of his entry into the profession a
subject of common application by practitioners in the court. Few delved into
that branch of the law and fewer still could make headway in it. Industry of a
peculiar type, for example, examination of accounts and ledgers, was required
for it, as also a capacity for patient attention to details of business
problems and the financial implications thereof. So, with a special aptitude
for such things, he soon found quite a useful field of legal service to many
who were often in the clutches of tax levies and difficulties arising out of
demands of a heavy nature upon their resources. If he was not vehement or
demonstrative in arguments, he was never indifferent to the best presentation
of his case, or unready to meet the hardest situation for his client. In short,
his reputation became so much established after some time, that even renowned
practitioners in other branches of work in the High Court depended solely on
his services whenever any serious trouble, pertaining to the incidence of tax,
arose for them to tackle.
Though he was ever active in his chambers and was
found ever moving from court to court in connection with Tax Appeals as well as
to Tribunals lodged elsewhere in the City, he never neglected his other duties,
once he undertook to associate himself with any work of a public type. If the
The Madras Institute of Technology was, no doubt, a child of the fond dreams and munificence of a single person, the late Sri C. Rajam. Still without the constant co-operation of a substantial kind from Sri Subbaraya Aiyar, who then considered no labour or available time as wasted, if it was utilised for getting more finances and greater recognition for such an institution, the first of its kind in the South, it would not have attracted students from all parts of the country, as it did.
Again
the Vidya Mandir–a school
for children, with modern methods of teaching in an enviable situation in the
most congested part of the city–owes its phenomenal rise and quick equipment
with buildings and playground to the imagination and unstinting work of Sri Subbaraya Aiyar. What was a
gradually declining and inane club premises, was turned into a beehive of
activity, with laughter and merry shouts of children, as if by the swaying of
the magician’s wand. He did not live to see his dreams of a High School
developing out of it, though the consummation may not be long delayed for want
of either the money or the willing co-operation of those in charge of
its affairs.
The
Sri Ramakrishna Home for poor boys, once started by that noble soul, Sri C. Ramaswami Aiyengar of
unforgettable memory, and ably carried on by his no less public-spirited
cousin, Sri C. Ramanujachariar, derived no little
help in all possible ways from Sri Subbaraya Aiyar, whose emotions never failed to be stirred to their
quickest at the mention of Ramu’s name. To
found a hostel named after his dear Ramu,
adjoining the buildings already existing in the names of the great saints of
the Sri Ramakrishna Order, was one of his last acts
before he actually fell ill.
If
it was the eighty-first birthday, in 1959, for his master, Dr C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, his own
contribution to the celebrations was no less than a feverish pursuit of a fine
publication of tributes to that invigorating personality, to be presented on
that occasion. If it was a grand banquet, in 1936, in honour
of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, his own college-mate and
close friend, on the conferment of the Spalding Lecturership
on him, the entire arrangement and other preparations for that singular
function fell to Sri Subbaraya Aiyar’s
share which he, with cheer and readiness, undertook to a finish and success
achieved within as unbelievably short time after the decision to do it. If Dr Alladi Krishnaswami Aiyar’s sixty-first birthday had to be observed by the
public of Madras, in 1943, in a fitting manner, and a substantial amount had to be collected for
endowing a university lecturership in his name,
it was Sri Subbaraya Aiyar’s
enthusiasm and co-operation with the Committee set up for it, in all ways known
to him, that made it a success worth the labours of
the friends associated with it.
More
than his public spirit and edifying role in many of the movements, which, but
for his timely co-operation and help, would have famished for want of men more
than money even, his way of rendering help in an unobtrusive manner will remain
a model for men in public life to follow. Never boastful of anything he had
achieved or done for others, he showed what a perfect blending of competence
and coolness, in a person determined to work for higher aims, would be able to
accomplish. Always methodical in work, whether private or public, he spared no
moment for wasteful talk or woeful complaints. His right royal road to success
was to be never slow but ever to be alert and moving. His was the genuine
melting of a heart for the poor and distressed, and instances in legion are
coming to light, once his fire has been quenched, of the many acts of timely
charity and sympathetic aid that he had rendered, in his fairly long career.
His
eyes would be lit up with a strange delight at the mention of bold spirits and
deserving talents in their formative years, who could be guided into fruitful
walks of life. His infectious satisfaction at enterprising boys seeking the
solution of their lives’ problems by undertaking distant voyages to other
countries even, showed his infinite capacity to provide psychological support
their stamina and power of endurance, apart from his personal contribution to
their needs.
He
was a loving husband and a good father at home, and to his wife particularly,
an understanding friend and admirer of intrinsic qualities. His wife–the
gracious woman of gentle speech and healthy outlook–never tried even to wean
him away his terrible enthusiasm for others. Nay, she never even tried to
persuade him, on the score of his health, to desist from too much labour for public weal. Ever resigned to the working of a
Higher Power, she watched him with pride and nursed him with affection. So, he
was fortunate in a great measure in a home which really radiated light and
adjustability to claims of every type of social demand and family importunity.
To
those around him, whether it be a menial massaging his legs or whether it be a
driver of his car, ready and attentive to his impatient needs of movement from
place to place, he was kindness personified, and exhibited the best sympathy
and familiarity that could be expected of one, on terms of equality with the
entire world. Everything that he performed was done with such celerity and lack
of fuss, that even his presenting of a cheque to
anyone seeking of him a substantial subscription for a worthy cause, was done
in a manner, which was calculated to inspire in the other the confidence that
he was not unduly exacting anything from him. Rather, he would extend the cheque unnoticed by persons around, lest the act should
leave an ugly sense of patronage from him in the eyes of the
others.
One
hardly found Sri Subbaraya Aiyar
in an indignant mood or righteously irritated towards others for anything. If
at all he was feeling thwarted in his attempts to do something useful to
others, it was when he met with slowness from the very persons coming to him. A
man of action, he never minded inconsiderate language flung at him or weighed
the pros and cons of them in after moments at the expense of his own
equanimity. His friends allowed him his own ways; his coadjutors in work
permitted him his unusual speed; his juniors in the office remained active
shares in the benefits of the transactions.
Practicality
and wisdom lifted him above the normal exhaustions of life. Loyalty to his
compeers like Dr Alladi Krishnaswami
Aiyar, Dr S. Radhakrishnan,
Sri N. Chandrasekhara Aiyar
and Dr C. P. Ramaswami, invigorated his outlook, of
comprehension of fulfilment in life. His old pals
never once suspected his fidelity; never once ignored his deserts in life;
never once breathed a word of doubt or disrespect concerning his sense of
self-effacement in dealing with them.
To
the last he maintained an alacrity of mind rarely
perceivable in a man of his standing in life. His habits were not marred by
irregularities of disposition and mood, often visiting elders his age,
especially when they get out of sorts during a protracted illness, as the one
he suffered from, before his death. Indeed death came to him quite
unnoticeably, even as fortune and friends came to him. He slipped out of life
with no more ado than was his wont from gatherings when urgent pressure of work
called him away.