This book got written and published owing to the persistence of my son, Shekar, who, for years, had wanted me to translate into English the Tamil book "Arasiyal Gyani Rangaswami Iyengar" written in 1935 by the then Assistant Editor of "Swadesamitram", Sri R. Krishnamachari. I was rather hesitant about this and procrastinated. Then, in a conversation with Sri M. S. Parthasarathi some time ago, he readily came forward to write this book on my father and the inter-connections were startling! He had heard a lot about my father from his father who had worked for my father in "The Hindu"; and he had also himself served on the staff of "The Hindu" soon after he passed out of Loyola College, Madras, with an Economics Honours degree. My sincere thanks to Sri Parthasarathi for his diligence and the effort and hard work he has put in to make my son's dream come true!
My recollections of my father are rather dim, as he passed away when I was only eight years old. However, some aspects and incidents are still vivid in my memory as my mother used to talk about them.
My father was a very large-hearted man. Our house on Mowbrays Road (now TTK Road) was always full of people-politicians, musicians and friends who came just to talk to my father, or for advice, or for some other kind of help. No one who came to our house for help would leave empty-handed. My father was also a connoisseur of music, and the musicians of those days were in and out of our house constantly. The house was always full of people and the kitchen always busy serving visitors and, of course, family members.
I believe he was very happy when I was born as his first two children were both boys. News of my arrival was conveyed to him at Vijayawada railway station while he was on his way to Delhi to attend the Central Legislative Assembly session. His ambition (which I was able to fulfill) was that I should get a college education and obtain a degree (which my mother could not, because of the way things were in those days). He was very fond of me and arranged for me to begin veena lessons when I was just six years old. A veena was bought for me from Tanjore and was made specially to suit my (then small) size. Incidentally, my younger sister Indira also fulfilled my father's desire that his daughters should, like his sons, get a college education.
I still remember the beautiful toy car he sent me from England when he was attending the Round Table Conference. This cherished gift from him was later passed on to our daughter Chitra and from her to our son Shekar.
Not many members of the present generation in India or even the previous one would have heard of the important role played by a journalist named A. Rangaswami Iyengar in India's struggle for freedom from British rule and the yeoman efforts he made to persuade the British Government to adopt a more humane and progressive policy (eventually leading to self-government) in many matters in the governance of the sub-continent. This is an attempt to remedy the people's loss of memory (or lack of knowledge) and to place on record his role in the heroic, nonviolent war against British imperialism in the early part of the last century - as a newspaperman, as a politician and as an elected member of the Central Legislative Assembly, an early and pale predecessor of Parliament that was part of the first half-hearted measures conceded by the British to give some sort of voice to the people of India in the government of their country.
Early Years Rangaswami Iyengar was born as the first son of Narasimha Iyengar (or Azhagiasingam Iyengar as he was popularly known in the village), a small landowner in the old Thanjavur district, in July 1877 in the village of Erukattur (spelled Aercot in English in those days) near Thiruvarur. The astrologer who cast his horoscope told the happy parents that their son would be a learned person who would be helpful to many others and that he would achieve a highly respected position in life. Among Rangaswami Iyengar's younger siblings, mention must be made of N. Gopalaswamy Iyengar, who also rose to high positions: he was Dewan of Kashmir for a while and, in independent India, he served as the Minister of Defence, a very important portfolio, under Jawaharlal Nehru. (While Rangaswami Iyengar used his village name as his first name, his younger brother used his father's name as the first name.)
Those were days when transport facilities were rather rudimentary and such roads as existed were dirt roads that became impassable during the rainy season. Modern educational facilities were also very scarce. People in the rural areas had to be satisfied with the schooling they could get in poorly equipped and poorly staffed village schools. But Rangaswami was fortunate in this matter: his mother hailed from a large family and several of her relatives were lawyers or government officials in many towns and cities in the province. After initial education in the village school, Rangaswami's father sent him for further studies to nearby Nagapattinam where his uncle, Sorakkudi Srinivasaraghava Iyengar, was practising law. This gentleman, who was married to a sister of Azhagiasingam Iyengar's wife, took great interest in making sure his nephew got a proper education and arranged for him to attend the Mission school in that town.
Hindu (947)
Agriculture (125)
Ancient (1107)
Archaeology (816)
Architecture (568)
Art & Culture (932)
Biography (732)
Buddhist (550)
Cookery (166)
Emperor & Queen (590)
Islam (245)
Jainism (325)
Literary (889)
Mahatma Gandhi (394)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Visual Search
Manage Wishlist