Profiles

Attire

Rungacharlu was extremely careless about his clothing. He was always hasty. He wore baggy coats. Seeing him wrongly buttoned was not a rare sight. He used to roll his turban in whatever way his hand fancied. Unable to bear seeing his clumsiness any further, his wife Alamelamma once asked him, “Can’t you dress properly?”

Rungacharlu replied, “Am I Madhava Rao? At least he has to go about following English women and talk to them. I am not a Sogasugāra Puṭṭasvāmī (‘a man-about-town’).

The First Proponent of Democracy in India

I have never seen Chettipunyam Rungacharlu [alternatively, Rangacharlu or Rangacharya.] I was born five or six years after his demise.

I wrote a fairly exhaustive treatise about Rungacharlu’s administration in both English and Kannada. That was fifty-seven or fifty-eight years ago. The aspect of his history that caught my mind and firmly fixed itself in my psyche was his understanding of the democratic system such a long time ago.

During the early days when Krishna Rao became the Dewan, the British Resident wrote him a letter informing about his visit to see the Dewan and sought a suitable time. 
Krishna Rao, in response, wrote “I am happy that you desire to see me. Salutations. I am at my office every day from eleven to five.” His conduct with people was appropriate; an apt response, behaving in a manner that was natural and never crossing bounds. That was Krishna Rao’s way.

Seetharamiah’s Hospitality

In the next week or ten days, I reached Delhi. Seetharamiah was waiting at the train station by the time the train reached. I asked him, “How did you know of my arrival?”
He said, “I got it somehow. You have arrived now, have you not?”
“Why did you come?”
He answered, “To escort you.”
I said, “I was thinking of some other arrangement.”
“Let the other arrangement be kept aside. Please accept this arrangement now.”

APPENDIX

‘Deśābhimāni’

 Virūpākṣa-śāstrī

Everyone agreed to that [conditions laid down by Seshadri Iyer’s wife]. Seshadri Iyer himself, very cheerfully, agreed to all of it. According to the agreement, to deliver discourses on the Purāṇas, they appointed Hānagal Virūpākṣa-śāstrī. He had been a student of the Saṃskṛta Pāṭhaśālā during his early days and with the passage of time, rose to prominence as ‘Vidyānidhi’ and ‘Mahāmahopādhyāya.’

According to one set of friends, the letters “M N” in M N Krishna Rao’s name stand for Maḍi [orthodoxy, purity, conservatism, discipline, ritualism] and Niyama [rule, principle, order, justice]. It hints at Krishna Rao’s nature. In all dealings and in all aspects – rules, estimation, conviction, and principle – this was Krishna Rao’s specialty.

The Two Parties

This controversy raged on quite intensely. Several public meetings were held by the prominent citizens of the State, countless petitions were filed, and innumerable newspaper articles were published. People believed that M Venkatakrishnayya was the leader of the party that wanted the Mahārāṇī—and no one else—to be the regent. Rumours were rife that Ambale Annayya Pandita, who was Seshadri Iyer’s wife’s relative, was the leader of the other faction.

Business Acumen

Freedom or Anarchy^[1]

Tipu Sultan complained to the then maṭhādipati of Śrṅgeri about the attacks of Marāṭhas on his kingdom. Svāmīji replied –

हसद्भिः क्रियते कर्म रुदद्भिरनुभूयते
“The fruits of deeds that we committed in joy
will have to be experienced in sorrow.”