Meeting Venkatakrishnayya
Each time Sastri was in Mysore, he first visited M. Venkatakrishnayya at his house. He always informed Venkatakrishnayya well in advance about his visit to the town. I was with Sastri a couple of times when he visited Venkatakrishnayya at his house in Lakshmipuram. Venkatakrishnayya was always very thrilled and had great respect for Srinivasa Sastri. Once, during our visit, he placed a huge plate full of fruits and coconut before us. It was about four in the afternoon and Sastri said he would refrain from consuming any of those items at that time of the day. He asked for his host’s excuse. Venkatakrishnayya said “Looks like I am not capable of serving you with anything at all! All my errands are done by these boys (students) and I am completely dependent on them. I will just need to offer whatever they bring home. If you do not accept anything….” his voice trailed off while his eyes brimmed with tears.
Sastri saw that, put in a piece of banana in his mouth and took in a few sips of coffee. There was a slight sense of gladness on Venkatakrishnayya’s face now. The two then had a casual conversation. They spoke about the education system and also about the discipline of students.
The Magnanimity of the Parsi
When Srinivasa Sastri visited Bangalore for the first time to recover from his illness, he narrated an incident to us, which roughly goes this way:
“Once, when I was standing on the platform in Poona, waiting to catch a train to Bangalore, an important person came to me and spoke. I did not know who the person was. He told me as follows: ‘I read in the papers that you were not keeping well. The doctor has advised you to take rest in Bangalore, I hear. In fact, it is your duty from a national perspective to go to Bangalore and spend some stress-free days there. It is the duty of those who are well to do to make sure that you get the comforts you need. I am looking forward for your approval for the five thousand rupees that I have deposited in your name at the bank. I request you to accept the money and spend it the way you want. I have also instructed my bank to inform me when the amount gets spent. Once I get some information from them, I will make sure that I refill the amount. My only wish is that you regain your health and are back to normalcy. You don’t have to sign any documents for me.”
With these words, the seemingly important person left in a hurry. When I called after him and asked for his name, he said he was called ….. …., ‘What great deed is this, after all!’ he said”
Sastri told me that the person was a Parsi and a merchant. I don’t know any other details.
Sastri’s health expenses were very high. The cost of the medicines, travel expenses, the cost of buying fruits and other prescribed food items – all these were quite heavy on his pocket. When a passing remark was made regarding these expenses, Sastri narrated the above incident.
Thrifty
I will need to add a word here, nevertheless. I can’t say that Srinivasa Sastri used up all the money donated by the generous Parsi. It is my calculated guess that he donated the entire amount or probably large parts of it to the treasury of the Servants of India Society. It was his nature to do so. He hardly used the income that he earned as an agent of the Indian Government and gave away large portions of it for his society (it was probably about 35,000 Rs).
I know a few other similar incidents. Once, Sastri visited Canada, Australia and other countries to evaluate the state of the Indians who reside there. Sir Girijashankar, an IPS officer served him as his Private Secretary during his visit to these foreign countries. He was a very smart person. His father was the Chief Justice in a certain province of Rajasthan. Girijashankar’s brothers too occupied several important positions in the government offices. One of his younger brothers was an IPS officer. In the course of his career, Girijashankar rose up to be the Governor of the Bombay Presidency.
During his visit to Canada with Srinivasa Sastri, Girijashankar went on his own accord to the market and bought three important things, namely
- A pocket clock with a chain
- A walking Stick – a nicely ornamented one
- A pocket-box to put in visiting cards.
Sastri was a bit upset looking at these three things Girijashankar had bought for him. He, however, did not speak of his disapproval but said that he would keep only one of the three items and the other two were to be returned to the store. The item he kept for himself was the box meant for putting in visiting cards. I have seen it being used by Sastri. The pocket clock and the stylish walking stick together cost about 300-400 dollars. “Why do I need these? The money can be put to some other use. Moreover, the money belongs to India and let us use it for some national purpose”, he is supposed to have said.
This is an example of his nature.
A Miser?
People who saw Sastri’s nature, could, at times, think of him as a miser. Was he really stingy? Let us examine one such incident here.
Once during his residence in Bangalore, a certain person visited him. The visitor was supposedly a Sanskrit teacher in some college. During the course of his conversation with Sastri, the person mentioned that he also performed the harikathā. Sastri expressed his eagerness to listen to his harikathā someday. The visitor also wanted to hear this very thing.
The scholar was a Sri-vaishnava. His dressing was not exuberant at all. Sastri told me of his plan and I checked the availability of the scholar and arranged for a session of harikathā. The venue was the National High School (in Basavanagudi). Several friends and fans of Sastri gathered at the spot. The harikathā was rendered in Sanskrit. There were no instruments such as tambura or mridangam that accompanied the harikathā performance. The scholar presented the Kucelopākhyāna in Sanskrit for about one and a half hours – between 4 and 6 PM. As the presentation was nearing its end, Sastri called me aside and about three of his friends joined us too. S.G. Shastry and Dr. B.K. Narayana Rao were among them as well, if my memory serves me right. Srinivasa Sastri told me:
Sastri: What is the honorarium you have arranged for him?
Me: It is all ready – flowers, fruits and a coconut.
S: That’s alright, but what is the cash you plan to pay him?
Me: Either 20 or 25 rupees
S: (Looking at the others) – Ah! Look how generous he is! He has raised the amount from 20 to 25 rupees!
He gently ridiculed me! I understood his intention and said
Me: “Let us make it 30 then?”
S: (Displaying some anger) “What is this? You seem to bargain with a scholar!”
Me: “Look at the number of mistakes he made during his presentation!”
S: “He has talked for about two hours! Poor chap. He might have slipped a couple of times. Should we take that into account?”
The argument between us gained a little more heat. Finally, our friends interfered and suggested that the honorarium should not fall below 50 rupees. I agreed. Sastri seemed to groan below his breath that even that amount was not sufficient.
Who was the miser here? Sastri or I? The honorarium was paid from Sastri’s poor pocket!
To be continued...
This is the tirteenth part of the English translation of the Second essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 6) – Halavaru Saarvajanikaru.
