By
K. SAMPATHGIRI RAO, M.A.
When
‘Rao Sahib’ passed away on 14th August 1952, the eve of the last Independence
Day, ‘Triveni’ lost one of its warmest supporters,–one who helped it along at
one of its most critical periods. When ‘Triveni’ moved to Bangalore in April
1942, and the Editor was soon after kept in detention for two
years in the course of the August movement, a few friends of the Editor had
to save ‘Triveni’ from extinction. Among these few was ‘Rao Sahib’ who was its de
facto Manager. He did not have much faith in printed circulars and
appeals. Instead, be resorted to writing personal letters to his numerous
relations and friends spread all over the country. And be could write with
great effect, because he just spoke through his letters in an artless way. It
meant writing a few hundreds of letters in a few weeks and he performed the
task cheerfully. The technique worked: subscriptions, trickled in steadily. The
crisis passed, and ‘Triveni’ survived.
‘Rao
Sahib’–C. R. Ragnunathaswami Rao Sahib to call him by his full and sonorous
name–was blessed by the gods with a great gift for friendship–one of the most
precious gifts any one may wish for in a World which seems to be getting
increasingly sordid and loveless. He was the scion of a noble family. On his
father’s side he was closely related to the Jagirdars of Arni, feudatory
noblemen who rendered meritorious military service in the good old days and
lived in pomp and circumstance till the other day; and on his mother’s side he
claimed descent from Dewan Purnaiya. With such blue blood in his veins, nothing
was easier
for him than to have
become a snob. But he grew up the very reverse of a snob–cultivating as he grew
up a bonhomie, a capacity for making friends and retaining them that is
by no means so common among those who are fortunate to be born in Aristocratic
families. He had, withal, the unique gift of having occasionally a hearty laugh
at his own expense–to see himself as others saw him–and this came naturally to
him as he had a natural modesty, and was altogether free from ‘pose’ or
‘affection’ of any kind. He inclined to corpulence, and this gave no end of
jokes at his expense–the best being what he made himself!
The
passing away of his uncle (and father-in-law) Dewan Bahadur R. Ramachandra Rao,
the distinguished civilian and Mathematician of Madras, led him to the
study and practice of Spiritualism and seeking to establish contact with
departed souls. This became an absorbing hobby in his life, and he conducted
‘sittings’ and discovered that he had ‘mediumistic’ powers. It may be
mentioned, by the way, that R. K Narayan in his novel ‘The English Teacher’ has
given a brief sketch of a portly figure based on ‘Rao Sahib’.
He
became a Law graduate and was for a brief while a legal practitioner at Madras.
But he could not long remain away from home. His mother and brothers were in
Bangalore. His home sickness, aggravated by his failing health, brought him
back to Bangalore. He fell seriously ill, and was confined to bed for over a year
with nervous prostration. It was God’s grace that he pulled through. But his
spirit never weakened but. radiated cheer as ever, and those who came to
condole remained to laugh. About this time he started a business of his own as
a dealer in motor-car parts to keep himself fully engaged rather than to make
money thereby. He proved an excellent salesman, seemed to have been born to it,
though he had no previous training and was innocent of the arts of trade and
book-keeping and accounting. The business kept him well occupied and his shop
counter was a resort of many friends who went to see ‘Rao Sahib’, for an
occasional chat and washing away their blues. He had always a fund of stories,
and anecdotes of men known, unknown and often imaginary, and had a rare gift
for conversation and story-telling.
‘Rao
Sahib’ for all his breeziness, and occasional irreverence, was something of a
religious mystic. He enshrined the memories of a few holy ones,–and
did his pilgrimages and his fasts and observances, most unobtrusively. But,
with all his deep devotion he never allowed a sense of self-righteousness or
touch of fanaticism to affect him. Indeed none of his friends can remember an
occasion when his equanimity was seriously shaken or his temper was lost, and
that is saying a great deal about any person.
No
obituary notes on his premature demise appeared in any newspaper. Of course he
was not a busybody whose words and deeds could provide a ‘copy’ for the
professional journalist. And yet how truly was he engaged in doing ‘public’
good! What greater good can a man do to the world than to spread comfort and
cheer. And ‘Rao Sahib’ rendered this service to the end of his life and was one
of God’s own good men. With his passing a sunbeam has gone away from the lives
of all who were near and dear to him.
May
his soul rest in peace.