RAMAKOTISWARA RAU–A REMINSCENT TRIBUTE

D. V. RAMA RAO

Berhampur, Orissa

The passing away in May last of Ramakotiswara Rau, the distinguished founder-editor of ‘Triveni’, is a sad loss to the Indian cultural fraternity, and even to the world cultural fraternity. He belonged to the cultural elite and his general bent was, in several respects, similar to that of Ananda Coomaraswami, E. B. Havell and Dr. James H. Cousins. His one great love and dedicated interest in life was the Triveni which he started in about 1927 and nursed carefully till he met his end but which, alas, he could not make a commercial success.

Ramakotiswara Rau was born in 1893 at Narasaraopet in Guntur District, where his father, Viyyanna Pantulu was a flourishing lawyer. Though he qualified for Law, Ramakotiswara Rau was not attracted to the legal profession. He had a brilliant academic career both at Masulipatam and Madras, but chose a life of dedicated purpose in preference to that of remunerative, glamorous career. As an ardent Gandhian nationalist, he courted imprisonment during the Satyagraha campaigns; however, he was not a politician although he was a member of the Madras Legislature for some time, and remained a journalist and publicist setting, and striving for, high principles and standards.

He was a pioneer of the Andhra Rural Library Movement along with Iyyenki Venkata Ramanayya in the early nineteenn twenties. His association with Masulipatam was long and intimate, especially during the nineteen-twenties and thirties when Andhra, especially, seemed to be greatly swayed by Gandhian-inspired nationalist enthusiasm with dreams and vision of a new dawn of the Gandhian concept of Rama Rajya. A brief background-outline of the nationalist trends in Andhra of those times may not be out of place: Charkha-plying, Khadi attire, a sort of rugged simplicity based on ancient Dharmic virtues or principles became popular, and innumerable stirring songs with a spontaneous patriotic appeal and reflecting sentiments of nationalist renaissance used to be sung all over the region as was the case in several parts of the country. Many of those once-popular songs, which are not available in print, as also brief record sketches of several stirring personalities with intense nationalist fervour of those decades deserve to be preserved, which is by the way. Although no district could be said to be lacking in enthusiasm and response to the new spirit and urges of nationalist and reformist renaissance, such activities tended to emanate and centre round Rajahmundry-Kakinada-Pithapur-Kovvur, i.e., the Godavari belt; or Masulipatam-Guntur-Tenali-Vijayawada, i.e., the Krishna belt. While the Godavari belt was associated with such public-spirited figures as, among others, Veeresalingam, Chilakamarti, Panuganti, Nyapati Subba Rau, Prakasam, Sambamurty, Kala Venkata Rau, M. Bapineedu, Durga Bai, D. Narayan Raju and Dr. B. Subrahmanyam, founder of the Seethanagaram Satyagrahashram, where since the last more than two decades the Kasturba Welfare Centre has been functioning, the Krishna belt could boast of, among others, such as K. Venkatappayya, Dr. Pattabhi, Kopalle Hanumantha Rao, Mutnuri Krishna Rao, Cherukuvada Narasimham.. A. Kaleswara Rao, Vunnava Lakshminarayana ( author of the well-known novel “Malapalli”) Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya, Gollapudi Sitarama Sastri, and Acharya Ranga, not to speak of K. Nageswara Rao Pantulu, who though hailed from Krishna, was respected as an all-Andhra patron-benefactor and for his services both as a serene leader and founder of the Andhra Patrika group of journals.

Although the bordering districts on the South, North and West in Andhra, distant from the mid-Godavari and Krishna belts, produced some of the finest scholars and savants such as S. Pratapa Reddi, R. Anantakrishna Sarma, V. Venkataraya Sastri, C. Ramalinga Reddi, K. Ramakrishnayya and the great language reformer and scholar, G. Ramamurty Pantulu, besides musicians like Veena Gurachari and Ramanayya, Adibhatla Narayanadas and Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu and fine writers like Gurazada Appa Rao and Viswanatha Kaviraju, and although Vizianagaram and Bobbili in the North of Andhra, as also Pithapur to an extent, with the patronage of the respective Rajas, were for long premier centres of traditional arts and learning, nevertheless, the Godavari and, more so, Krishna belts continue to be the main centres in the realm of popular arts like dance, drama and music. Kuchipudi where the well-known dance pattern of the name originated and traditionally preserved is in the Krishna district not far from Masulipatam. Most of the romantic school of Sahiti Samiti writers too of those decades such as D. V. Krishna Sastri, Chinta Dikshitulu, T. Sivasankara Sastri, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Mokkapati Narasimha Sastri, B. Appa Rao, Murnmamkyam, N. Subba Rao, V. Satyanarayana Sastri, N. Narasimha Sastri as also Chalam, among others, besides fine artists like Damerla Rama Rao and Kowtha brothers, to mention but some, hailed from the Godavari or Krishna belts. That Dr. A. Lakshmipati, a successful allopathic doctor, of the Krishna belt, who became an eminent and renowned Ayurvedic physician was, perhaps, indicative of the spirit of the times. A certain subdued but healthy rivalry seemed to exist between the Godavari and Krishna belts. While in the first two decades of this century the Godavari area seemed to lead, from thereafter, the Krishna area seemed to have stolen the march. However, it is sometimes said that while the Krishna delta excels in traditional arts and crafts, the Godavari delta excels in Vedic and Sanskrit learning.

The first and perhaps only full-fledged National College in Andhra was founded at Masulipatam in the nineteen twenties largely through the selfless efforts of Kopalle Hanumantha Rao with the assistance of Dr. Pattabhi, Mutnuri Krishna Rao, a cultural aristocrat and editor of “Krishna Patrika” and such others. In those days Dr. Pattabhi, K. Hanumantha Rao and M. Krishna Rao used to be referred to as the famous trio of Masulipatam. Both the excellent weekly, ‘Krishna Patrika’ as also the so far unexcelled monthly in Andhra, ‘Sarada’ edited by K. Srirama Sastri, father of the Kowtha artist-brothers, were published from Masulipatam. Besides, Tirupati Venkata poets, Pingail and Katuri, and enthusiastic younger literateurs like J. Rukmininatha Sastri, V. N. Bhushan, T. Suri, as also Somnath Vellatur either hailed from or were intimately associated with Masulipatam. Also, among the few successful public enterprises in the corporate sector in Andhra of those decades, Masulipatam held the pride of place with Andhra Insurance, Andhra Bank and Andhra Scientific Company, besides its traditional Kalamkari, i.e., cloth printing craft.

Ramakotiswara Rau seemed to have found the company and atmosphere of Masulipatam homely and invigorating. He, as also his intimate friends, the well-known writer-artist, A. Bapiraju and the poet, Katuri Venkateswara Rao served as Principal of the Masulipatam National College, where too the artist, Promod Kumar Chatterji, and for a time Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya, worked. It may be mentioned, by the way, that my uncle, D. V. Ramaswami too worked as Principal of that college for a time.

Before he started Triveni at Madras, Ramakotiswara Rau worked for some time in the Swarajya of Prakasam where Khasa Subba Rau, Kotamraju Rama Rao, K. Iswara Dutt, Pothan Joseph and Krupanidhi, who all had subsequent illustrious journalistic careers, were his colleagues. During those times, Ramananda Chatterji’s Modem Review, Natesan’s Indian Review, Triveni and Twentieth Century (although it did not survive long), edited by Iswara Dutt, used to be considered select periodicals. Ramakotiswara Rau as a journalist and publicist tended to be catholic and serene rather than purposeful in a crusading manner or versatile. The language, style and idiom, whether in his writings or speeches, had always a strikingly dignified and chaste quality; so also was his remarkably beautiful hand-writing reminding one of the past calligraphic art. Through Triveni he earnestly strived and aspired both to bring to light literary and cultural talent and to promote healthy, regional cultural contacts among the several linguistic groups in the country. He had wide friendly contacts among the cultural elite especially of the South including K. S. Venkataramani, Masti Venkatesa Iyengar, Manjeri Isvaran, K. S. Venkatarama Sastri, S. Srinivasa Iyengar, S. Radhakrishnan, M. Venkatarangaiya, K. Chandrasekharan, K. Sampathgiri Rao, C. L. R. Sastri, M. Seshachelapati and the art-critic, G. Venkatachalam, to mention some, and nearly all of whom were also contributors to Triveni.

Ramakotiswara Rau was a simple person clad in homely Khadi attire; if at all, he was, perhaps, fastidious about two things. He seemed to be averse to handle a book or magazine not neatly printed or got up; and he was particular about a pot of coffee to be really well prepared with the right flavour. It used to be said, during his stays at Madras, that during coffee time in the mornings or afternoons he could be met at the Y. M. I. A. restaurant, where the best coffee was said to be served.

He used to visit Berhampur (Ganjam), his wife’s home town, quite often to which place also belongs Nabhi Ramakrishna Rao, his boyhood friend. During such visits Ramakotiswara Rau and Ramakrishna Rao used to spend some evenings at our house too. I am much his junior and he used to be kind and indulgent towards me and would invariably insist on my getting ready an article to Triveni before he left Berhampur. He maintained friendly contacts with the younger generation of writers, artists and the like and used to be liberal and large-hearted in giving them encouragement. I may mention that it was primarily due to his encouragement that two of my story books in Telugu were published, to one of which he wrote a very generous foreword.

He was almost always troubled and anxious about the future of Triveni. It went through several vicissitudes, despite his spending un-sparingly all he had and despite the help of several friends and well-wishers, changing venues from Madras to Bangalore and Hyderabad for a time. Since some years it is published from Masulipatam where Bhavaraju Narasimha Rao has assumed responsibility of running it much to the relief and satisfaction of Ramakotiswara Rau during his last years.

He had high but few aspirations, and his fond desire to establish a school of art and sculpture, with the assistance of the artist, G. Mallayya, near his native place, close to Nagarjunasagar, famous for its ancient university, remains unfulfilled although a good part of the scheme and the building were got ready by him.

He preferred a life of dedication and fulfilment to that of mere successful career or glamorous or influential position. Many would feel that with his passing away a pivotal figure in the cause of cultural values and promotion of healthy, regional cultural contacts, so necessary for real cultural and national integration, has been lost.

“I am greatly attracted by your magazine, both by its get-up and the matter it contains. I congratulate you on it.”

–Jawaharlal Nehru

in a letter to Sri Ramakotiswara Rau in 1929

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