KRISHNA MENON'S LOST LOVE

It is a story of two women, one drug and political intrigues

V K Krishna Menon had a nervous break down in 1935 and was hospitalised in London.According to the letter of 1,January 1952,sent by Under Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations,Sir Percivale Liesching to Sir Archibald Nye,British High Commissioner to India,there were two reasons for the breakdown:death of his father Advocate Komath Krishna Kurup and the collapse of a long term relationship with a woman.I had read the biographies of Sergei Eisenstein and Satyajit Ray written by Marie Seton.But I never knew then that Marie was the woman in Krishna Menon's life.

Marie,who later became a friend of Indira Gandhi and lived in India for two decades,has also written a biography of Nehru,Panditji:A Portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru.In it Marie says her first meeting with Menon was in 1932.Menon told her:"The only man to lead India into the modern world is Jawahar Lal Nehru.Gandhi can't do this.Nehru has a modern scientific mind".

Marie Seton

Based on Menon's correspondence with his sister Janaki Amma,his grand niece Janaki Ram has written a book,V K Krishna Menon,a Personal Memoir.In it Janaki Ram(Janaki Ram is related to Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer too;she is the daughter of Menon's sister Janaki's elder daughter VA Madhavi Shastri) says that Menon was a believer in Astrology and after a failed love affair he remained a bachelor.The author,however suggests that in spite of his haughty temperament,many women were attracted to him.
The failed love affair,of course was the one with Marie Seton.As Janaki said,he had flings,but the only serious affair he had was with Marie.
Britain declassified a bunch of their Security Service MI5 files in 2007,in an effort to denigrate him.While he was Secretary of the India League during 1928-1947,they intercepted his phone calls at home,office and his letters.He was under surveillance.The MI5 dossier on him is of the view that Menon was a Communist agent and hence a threat to Britain.When I tried to corroborate the information in the files with other documents,I got the feeling that Menon was a single man army fighting the British and a true revolutionary.He agitated both Britain and the US.MI5 had even suspected African leaders Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah when they were in London.Britain considered Menon a weak link in the Commonwealth security chain.

The files are silent on Marie Seton,but refers to Menon's relationship with a woman,Bridget Tunnard-about that later.
In the 1930s,a period when both Menon and Marie met,Britain was under severe domestic pressure to grant India autonomy.Intellectuals such as Bertrand Russel, Harold Laski and Labour Party politicians such as Stafford Cripps,Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot batted for India.Laski was professor of Menon in the London School of Economics.According to Paul M McGarr of the University of Nottingham,Menon,above all others "transformed the British based campaign into a cohesive and dynamic political force".The  India League under his leadership became a force to reckon with.He made an intelligent move to be associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain,CPGB.At that time the attendance for India League meetings was meagre.He met Nehru for the first time in 1935(the year of break down).He became Nehru's literary agent,acted as political chaperon to Indira Gandhi when she studied at Somerville College,Oxford.CPGB had 15000 members and had a newspaper with a circulation of 40,000.So Menon got enough people for his meetings and propaganda.Menon became friendly with Rajani Palme-Dutt,Marxist theoretician and Harry Pollitt,General Secretary of CPGB.Pollitt,years later rescued the Indian Communist Party from a split in the Madurai Party Congress.Menon co-opted leading British Communists to Executive Committee of India League.

Marie with Satyajit Ray,London

In 1934 he became Labour Councillor from the North London borough of St Pancras.And then,four more terms.Though the MI5 files say that Menon was an opportunist,facts are otherwise.He would have been an MP from the constituency of Dundee which had connections with India's jute industry.But the ticket for him in 1939 was cancelled because he refused to condemn the Soviet invasion of Finland.This shows the strength of his association with CPGB.The invasion had its repercussions in the Indian Party,especially in the Kerala unit.Democratically speaking,the invasion was immoral.Though Menon tolerated it for the sake of CPGB,his relationship with the party soured  after the Nazi invasion of USSR on 23 June 1941.The CPGB stopped attacking British colonialism because by then the Soviets had allied with the British.

Marie's book on Ray

British Viceroy Linlithgow had written to British Secretary of State for India Leo Amery in November 1942 to put Menon in jail:"...that it has been found possible to accept the suggestion which I have I think made once or twice that we should take pains to break up Menon and break up the India League with him.I am certain that so long as he is there he will be a focus of discontent and difficulty and I should myself have thought that he was really worth taking a little of chance."
This suggestion was not accepted;Britain feared the backlash.
I think this is enough to destroy the MI5 files and fix Menon's prominence before independence.Suffice to say that Menon was a man of character when he met Marie Seton.
Marie Seton(1910-1985)was an actress and an accomplished art,theatre,film critic,who remained a socialist throughout her life.She was the daughter of Captain Seton who served in India and got wounded in one of the uprisings.Mother,also a Marie,remarried Sir Charles Walpole after Seton's death.

Krishna Menon

When she was just 19,Marie Seton organised lectures for the Soviet film Director of the landmark film, Battleship Potemkin,and father of the technique,Dialectical Montage,Sergei Eisenstein when he toured Western Europe in 1929(I have seen two more films of him:Strike and Ivan the terrible).After two years,she went to Russia as an associate to Eisenstein,to study film making.After return she took keen interest in the formation of the British Film Institute.It was then,as Art Correspondent of Manchester Guardian,while moving in socialist circles,she heard about Menon and met him.She had once barged into Gandhi's room to meet him.
They fell in love.Marie described Menon thus:"He was strikingly unlike any Indian,thinner by far and extra ordinarly angular.It was hard to decide if he was a very handsome man in a hacked out sculptural manner,or if he was distinctly devilish to look at...when focused,his almond-shaped eyes resembled those of a hawk".
Menon's Social Secretary in the High Commission,Pamela Cullen remembered Marie thus:"Seton had a fascination for India and as a young woman she had been introduced to India's fight for independence by Menon,who was a struggling lawyer in London".
It is a fact that Menon was struggling and had been financed by Bob Cleminson,son of a Methodist preacher,especially during the war.

Eisenstein

Marie was busy in the Cultural circle when she was going strong with Menon.In 1935,she helped in establishing the reputation of the Jamaican sculptor,Ronald Moody.She also became part of the circle of PD Ousepensky,the Russian esotericist.After his move to Newyork,she worked for him.She slowly drifted away from the struggling Menon.The broken Menon,during the course of his rehabilitation,became dependent on Luminal,a barbiturate-based sedative,the side effects of which included confusion,loss of consciousness and paranoia.Luminal was a brand name of phenobarbital marketed by Bayer in 1912.It had sedative/hypnotic properties.It was a first-line drug for partial and general epileptic seizures;was a sedative for anxious or agitated patients.It remained a commonly prescribed sedative until the introduction of Benzodiazepines in 1960s.
Marie went on with her work.She helped her friend,CLR James,the Trinidadian writer to stage his play,Toussaint Louverture,based on Haitian revolution,which had Paul Robeson in the lead role.Her first book was the biography of Robeson.She garnered public opinion when Robeson was victimized in the US.She published five seminal essays on British Cinema in Sight and Sound during 1937-1938.She married Donald Hesson,Chicago based lawyer and writer in 1938.They got separated in 1942.

Guy Liddell

When Menon was High Commissioner,Nehru asked Menon to find an expert of British origin to evangelise on the educational quality of films.Menon in turn asked his Social Secretary,Pamela Cullen.Pamela looked for Marie.It is said that Marie was suggested by S G Tendulkar,who was studying Cinema with Eisenstein in Moscow.Marie arrived in India in 1955 to help in establishing the film society movement in India.University Film Society and Childrens'Film Society were set up.In the 1960s she was a guest of Indira in the Tin Murti Bhavan.The Federation of Film Societies came into being with Ray as its President.Indira was its Vice President and Marie,Adviser.She was awarded the Padmabhushan in 1984 and was cremated on her death according to her wish.

Now the Second phase of Menon.

He was made the High Commissioner in London in 1947.His eccentric character encouraged both Indian and UK officials to question his psychological stability.But Nehru stood behind him like the rock of Gibraltar.
MI5 continued to suspect him a person with Communist leanings and blocked all Top Secret files from going to him.In 1949, Guy Liddell,Deputy Director General of MI5,observed:"As long as Menon and his associates remained in his office,there could be no reasonable guarantee of (Commonwealth)security as far as India is concerned".In May that year reviewing the Menon dossier,he concluded that Menon's long term affair with Bridget Tunnard,an India League Secretary (she was Administrative Secretary till 1971)connected to the CPGB is of more concern to MI5.Liddell wrote,Menon's relationship with Tunnard suggested 'that anything of interest that Menon hears about will reach the Communist Party through her".
There were more threats.Menon had appointed PN Haksar ,another leftist to head External affairs(Haksar was Principal Secretary to Indira Gandhi later,1967-1973).Then came Patsy Pillai-she and her husband were members of the Communist Party of South Africa and joined the Brondsbury branch of the party on their arrival in London.Menon appointed her immediately in his private office.Sanjeevi Pillai,Director of IB was briefed by MI5 in 1948 and 1949 while he was in London.IB posted LL  Nan in India office to spy on Menon and regular reports were sent to Nehru.
Menon appeared incoherent in public in several occasions in 1951.Rumours of TB,heart disease or addiction to drugs began to spread.A second nervous breakdown was suspected.Nehru described an encounter with Menon in Paris in 1951:"He staggered into the room,obviously very far from well...his appearance and general behavior was so odd that he attracted the attention of others...Malik,our Ambassador here,asked Nan if Krishna Menon was drunk.Nan was herself alarmed and came to me to say that Krishna was very ill and something should be done about him.He had the appearance of a person on the verge of going off his head..".

NR Pillai with Ambassador Richter,1957

We do not know whether Menon began taking Luminal again.But his abuse of Luminal was well known to the British(see,Gordon Walker,Political Diaries,page 241).
Nehru dispatched his Secretary M O Mathai to London in September 1951 to inquire about Menon.Mathai's report mentions Menon's special bonding with Bob Cleminson.He saw Menon at least once daily.Menon took his girl friend from the High Commission to Cleminson's London apartment."On one occasion,she danced naked",Mathai informed Nehru.Foreign Secretary,N R Pillai informed Nehru on Menon's special interest in SCK Agencies,involved in defence deals.India ,it was reported then had overpaid them 1,40,000 pounds for ammunition contracts.Its Chief Associate was the murky Bob Cleminson.The money was going to India League and Menon's publishing venture,Meridian Books,which published Nehru's Discovery of India in 1951(The famous Penguin books was founded by Menon with Sir Allen Lane).
It has to be assumed that Mathai was sent after a private letter Nehru got from Mountbatten in September,1951 requesting him to remove Menon.Mountbatten cited only the ill health of Menon.Head of MI5,Sir Percy Sillitoe briefed the Prime Minister Clement Attlee.Later that year,Attlee told Rajkumari Amrith Kaur that "Menon too ill and incoherent to meet or talk with".
Menon had been pushed to the wall.He was offered a Cabinet Minister post or the post of Ambassador in Moscow or the Vice Chancellorship of the Delhi University by Nehru.Menon had sent Nehru medical certificates to prove that he was sober and normal and threatened to commit suicide if removed from London.Finally Menon was cajoled to be in the UN delegation.
Thus,in the downfall of Menon,a woman character,Bridget Tunnard played a part.His infatuation for her was not fiction-I have read in the reminiscences of Winnie Dadoo,wife of the South African Communist leader Dr Yusuf Dadoo (he had studied in Aligarh Muslim University,before doing Medicine in London)that when they met Menon in 1949,Ms Tunnard was with him.Inder Malhotra,well known journalist has written that the Menon-Tunnard relationship was known to everyone connected with India League office.
None except Menon could have survived such an international onslaught;Nehru would not have protected anyone else in a vulnerable position.Hence people said,Menon was the alter ego to Nehru,like Ezra Pound was to T S Elliot.
Reference:
1.'A Serious Menace to Society':British Intelligence,VK Krishna Menon and the Indian High Commission in London,1947-52/Paul M McGarr/The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History,August,2010
2.Portrait of a Director/Marie Seton
3.For,Menon's nervous breakdown/British Archives file KV/2/2513-10
4.For,Menon's suicide threat/Note by Spooner,24 January 1951,British Archives file KV/2/2512-16,Brown,Nehru248
5.Panditji:A Portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru/Marie Seton
6.V K Krishna Menon,A Personal Memoir/Janaki Ram
7.Nehru:A Political Life/Judith M Brown 
8.Left out in history/Inder Malhotra/Indian Express,March6,2007

See my post,KRISHNA MENON AS A HEADLOAD WORKER







 
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NAMBIAR,NEHRU AND INDIRA GANDHI

Split in party;split in life,life in Europe

Two people whom Jawahar Lal Nehru loved apart from his father Motilal and Gandhi were Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and ACN Nambiar.I do not know whether we can say Nehru and Nambiar were relatives;they were related to the same family at least-Nambiar had married Suhasini,the sister of Sarojini Naidu.Nehru was in love with Padmaja Naidu,daughter of Sarojini Naidu.Nehru made Padmaja the Governor of West Bengal(1956-1967; Mother was Governor of UP,1947-1949).Nehru used to keep a portrait of Padmaja in his bedroom,which Indira would often remove.Suhasini was the first woman member of the Communist Party of India.She was instrumental in making Captain Lakshmi a politician.

Commander Bertling with Nambiar(second from right) and Krappe,Berlin,1944

Arathil Candeth(Kandoth) Narayanan Nambiar(1896-1986) was born in Tellicherry to Kesari Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar,who wrote Vasanavikrithi,the first short story in Malayalam.Vengayil family had 200,000 acres of land while Chirakkal Raja had only 30,000.Major General K P Candeth,who led the liberation of Goa,was Nayanar's grand son.Sir C Sankaran Nair,former Congress President was the maternal grandfather of Candeth.Nambiar had gone to London to pursue studies.He became influenced by the famous revolutionary Chatto or Virendranath Chatopadhyay, brother of Sarojini Naidu.Afterwards Nambiar became a reluctant recruit of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,to be on the side of the Nazis.
Somerset Maugham wrote the story,Giulia Lazzari,based on the British attempt to murder Chatto in 1915,on the Swiss border with France or Italy.Maugham was in British secret service then.The main character in the story,John Ashendon was based on Maugham himself and Chandra Lal  on Chatto.It is said that Maugham wrote 21 stories on his secret service experience.Only seven saw light of the day.Winston Churchill asked him to burn the other 14.

Chatto

Chatto was born in Hyderabad in 1880 and at Twenty Two, he sailed to London for studies.He came under the influence of Bipin Chandra Pal and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.Bose asked him to move to Berlin.It is there the British secret service agent Donald Gullick tried to lure him to the Swiss border.He was arrested by the Swiss police in Zurich.He felt both Nehru and Bose let him down and he escaped to Moscow.He wished to be part of the Comintern,but his rival,M N Roy made it there.He changed his name to Virendranat Agornatovich Chatopadhyay to escape from enemies.His father was the first Indian to get a Dsc, Aghoranath Chatopadhyay,Physicist from Edinburgh University and the first Principal of Nizam's College,Hyderabad.In Moscow,Chatto was very close to M N Kirov,Stalin's no.2.Kirov fell out with Stalin during the Great Purge and Chatto was executed by Stalin in 1937.The romantic Chatto had at least lived with three women;he lived with the American journalist Agnes Smedley for seven years(1921-1928) which was ruinous for both.She moved to Shanghai,where she was lover of Soviet super spy,Richard Sorge.She is well known for her novel,Daughter of Earth.

Agnes

Chatto and Nambiar had shared their love for the Ghadar Party,the revolutionary party formed by Punjabi Indians in the US and Canada.Nambiar as a roving journalist had written an article,The Elephant and the Porcelaine Shop in the June 1927 issue of The United States of India published by the party.The same issue contains an article,China,India and English Imperialism by Rabindra Nath Tagore!The party which was formed in 1913 got split into Communist anti Communist factions after the first World War.
Nambiar was introduced to Suhasini in Chennai,by his brother,Madhavan,who was in the Indian Education Service.He had known Nehru while at Cambridge.Madhavan had befriended Suhasini's sister Mrinalini,while studying in London.Mrinalin had her home in Chennai .Nambiar's relationship with Suhasini was detested by Madhavan and Nambiar had to leave the home.An Industrialist by the name, Sankara Iyer helped him to pursue studies in London.Suhasini had gone to London early,to join Oxford.Together they shifted  in 1922 to Berlin,at the invitation of Jayasurya Naidu,Sarojini's son.. Nambiar set up the first Information Bureau of the Indian National Congress in Berlin in October,1922,at the request of Jawahar Lal Nehru,whom he had met at Brussels..It was called The Indian News Service and Information Bureau.Suhasini joined the Communists and left for Moscow,to study in the Eastern Universitry,and Nambiar made his Secretary at the Bureau,Eva Geissler,his mistress.Eva's sister Louise became M N Roy's mistress.Suhasini returned to India with Lester Hutchinson,who guided the Communist Party of India,and got accused in the Meerut conspiracy case.Suhasini's letters to Nambiar found no solace and they got separated ;Sarojini Naidu stood by Nambiar when it happened. Nambiar had fallen out with Chatto too .There is reason:Sarojini Naidu,at the instance of Gandhi,published a statement condemning Chatto's activities as 'terrorism'.After this,her father refused to see her and didn't allow her to see even in his last days.All the available evidence shows Ms Naidu was not on speaking terms with her family members.

Sarojini Naidu with Padmaja

Motilal and Nehru visited Berlin in November,1927 at Chatto's invitation;before that Chatto and Nambiar had met Nehru at the Anti Colonial Congress in Brussels,in February.Nambiar  worked as a left wing journalist when the Second World War broke out.It was in Germany Bose met Nambiar.When finally Bose got the interview with Hitler,he took Nambiar as interpreter.Hitler didn't support the ideas of Bose and he sent Bose in a submarine to Japan.When Bose left Germany,the reluctant Nambiar was given the charge of Free India Centre.Germany gave the Berlin Centre the status of a Mission.He also became Chief of the Radio station,Radio Free India and Indian Legion,the 3000 strong army of former Indian prisoners of war which was formed by Bose to fight the British in India.Commander of the Legion was first Lt Col Kurt Krappe and then Heinz Bertling.Against the wishes of the members,they were sent to defend the French coast.In April 1943,there was mutiny in the Legion itself.They refused to move to Holland.9th Company of the Legion was sent to Italy on a failed mission.In the August Allied bombing,Nambiar's own house was  destroyed.Nambiar was a Minister of State in the Provincial Government formed by Bose in March,1944.Eventually Nambiar was beaten up by Nazi Storm Troopers,imprisoned and deported to Prague and then to Paris.Nehru's interim government gave him an Indian passport,against the wishes of Britain.By then the entire Nehru family had become his second family.In several articles and books,it is mentioned he was the first Indian Ambassador to (West)Germany in 1947.It is not so.First Ambassador was Subimal Dutt(1952-1954).Nambiar was appointed Ambassador to Sweden in 1953 December(See picture of him after presenting credentials to the King)and to (West)Germany or FDR in 1955.He served for three years1955-1958.

ACN Nambiar

For the love life of Bose,his great grand nephew(Netaji's elder brother Saratchandra's grandson)and Harvard History professor,Sugata Roy in his book,His Majesty's Opponent,quotes Nambiar.Nambiar remembers Bose's love affair with the Australian,Emilie Schenkl:"He was deeply in love with her.In fact,it was an enormous intense one.The love blossomed during 1935 in Vienna and in the mountain retreats of Austria and Czechoslovakia.The hills and valleys of Kurlsbad,Hofgastein and Badgastein were the only witnesses to this romantic side of Subhas's life-a side that remained hidden from public view".
In December 1935,Nambiar was with Nehru,Kamala and Indira in Vienna and the Badenweiler health resort in Germany.Her death was just two months away.Kamala was worried about the future of Indira.Kamala shared her anxiety with Nehru in the presence of Nambiar.She expressed her disapproval of Indira marrying Feroze.He was a Parsi,the son of Jehangir Faredoon,a Marine Engineer.After his father's death,he and mother Rattimmai arrived in Allahabad to live with aunt,Dr Shirin Commisariat of Lady Dufferin Hospital.He didn't complete degree in Ewing Christian College.He had attached himself as a Congress volunteer and helper to Kamala.He was with her in the Bhawali TB Sanatorium in 1934.Feroze is not stable,not qualified,Kamala said.She spoke with emotion and became tired."You leave the matter to me",Nehru said and went out.The Nehru family used to call Nambiar,Nanu.Kamala turned to Nambiar and said:"You know what he said.Indu will listen to none except me.I could have guided Indu gently away from Feroze.But my end is near.Jawahar will give no guidance to Indu.She will be ultimately allowed to count the mistake of her life".

Hutchinson,Suhasini(middle)Mrinalini

Kamala died on 28 February 1936,at Lausanne,Switzerland.Afterwards Feroze fell in love with the daughter of Vijayalakshmi Pandit,who was an editorial trainee at National Herald,of which Feroze was MD.Pandit airdashed from Moscow and rescued her.He then began a relationship with the daughter of a Muslim Minister in UP who was in the AIR.Several others-Tarakeswari Sinha admitted she was in the list.
After a visit to Spain with V K Krishna Menon in 1938,Nambiar met Nehru in Europe.Nambiar asked Nehru what would be the outcome of the civil war in Spain.Nehru replied Republicans would win.He wanted Nambiar's comments.Nambiar was blunt:"Like all the Liberals in England,Europe,US and Krishna Menon,you are indulging in wishful thinking.My assessment is that much to my dislike,the Republicans have not got the ghost of chance.More blood will flow and Franco will emerge as the ruler of Spain".Nehru was angry.

Nambiar's article,1927

During  Nehru's first visit to Germany as PM in July,1956,he had to give a return banquet to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer(1949-1963) and his colleagues.Ambassador Nambiar wanted to serve drinks.He spoke to Foreign Secretary N R Pillai and Pillai to M O Mathai,Nehru's Secretary.Nehru said:"Tell Nanu he can serve Sherry to begin with and Moselle wine(white)and Rhine wine(red)and nothing else.He and Pillai should not drink".
When Maulana Abul Kalam Azad visited Germany as Congress President,he stayed at the Embassy in Cologne with Nambiar.Nambiar was a meticulous host,who knew the habits and tastes of his guests.He set up a small bar in Maulana's room with plenty of whisky,brandy,white and red wines and French Champagne.Maulana liked Champagne.Nambiar discovered that Maulana was happy to be left alone.Nambiar had invited German guests for a dinner in honor of Maulana.Maulana sneaked out immediately after the dinner was over and remained in his room alone,sipping Champagne.On return to Delhi he praised Nambiar as the best Indian Ambassador.

Nambiar in Sweden,outside palace1954

It was M N Roy who got Suhasin admitted to the University in Moscow,at the instance of Chatto..Once Sarojini Naidu  introduced Suhasini to Edgar Snow ,who wrote Red Star over China,in Mumbai.He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met.T T Krishnamachari who was Finance Minister saw Nambiar was alone in Germany.On return,he said he will sanction a social secretary to Nanu if Ministry of External Affairs demanded it.It was done.
Suhasini  in the late 1920s joined the under ground Communist Party.She with brother and writer Harindranath Chatopadhyay went to Lahore from time to time,where their sister Mrinalini was Principal of Gangaram School.It was in Lahore Suhasini found a good cadre in Vimla Bakaya. Suhasini married  RM Jambhekar,who joined the party in 1929 along with cousin,S G Sardesai.He was an artist and singer as well and belonged to the industrial family of Jambhekars and Kirloskars.The Communist Manifesto was translated into Marathi by Gangadhar Moreshwar Adhikari when he was in Meerut jail(1930-1931).It was edited by Jagannath Adhikari and Jambhekar.Jambhekar was arrested following the Girni Kamgar Union strike of March,1940.He was elected Generel Secretary of All India Friends of Soviet Union(AIFSU) in its first Congress on June3-4,1944.Sarojini Naidu was President.Famous poet of Kerala,Vallathol was Vice President.The Congress was dominated by B T Ranadive,Hiren Mukerjee and Jambhekar.There is a sad story on Suhasini and Jambhekar in A Traveller and the Road by Mohit Sen.In June 1950,Mohit Sen and wife Vanaja Iyengar traveled to Prague to attend the world Congress of the International Union of students.It was the period of Calcutta Thesis propounded by B T Ranadive.Suhasini,Jambhekar and Vimla Bakaya(who later married Satyapal Dang)had been aggressive exponents of the thesis,which advocated armed killings.They had used their position to damage those who
disagreed.

Vimla Bakaya

 Masood Khan from Bhopal dropped a bombshell in the conference.Khan had married Katya,daughter of Russian intellectuals who had run away to Czechoslovakia after the 1917 revolution.Masood in his speech said the Jambhekars and Vimla  had reported on the so called revisionist views of Masood and Pradyot Mukerjee(historian who died young in Mexico) to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.Hence Masood was jailed for some time,Katya was under house arrest and Pradyot was expelled from the country.He hit out at Suhasini,Jambhekar and Vimla.It stunned everyone.Vimla wept.Suhasini and Jambhekar were suspended from the Party;Vimla was recalled to India.
Captain Lakshmi remembers Suhasini had stayed at her home in Gilchrist Gardens,Madras as a political fugitive at the time of the Meerut conspiracy case of 1929-1933.She used to sing excellently.She taught Lakshmi the Communist Internationale.Suhasini knew Madras well;she had studied in Queen Mary's College where Kamaladevi Chatopadhyay,Harindranath's future wife,was her friend.Suhasini died in 1973 and Jhambekar in 2003.It is said Suhasini first met him at the Moscow University.

Journal of 1927

When Indira's marriage with Feroze was in doldrums,she wrote to Nanu uncle,seeking his views.Nambiar replied that under certain circumstances,it was preferable to have a clear break to living in make-believe.
Nambiar used to go to BITS,Pilani to see his niece who was Dean of Humanities there,whenever he was in India.He stayed with Nehru while in India.Nehru always fought with him on political matters.In early 1964 Nambiar saw an exhausted Nehru at the break fast table.Nambiar told him:"I feel sad about one thing-you have not got angry with with me this time."Nehru tried to smile.Nambiar got the feeling that Nehru will not live long and he will not see him again.He wept.
Indira Gandhi before her death in October 1984,brought Nanu Uncle from Germany. He stayed at Uday Park,South Extention II,Newdelhi till his death two years later.He died unsung.His relatives didn't care for him.

Reference:
1.Edgar Snow:A Biography/John Maxwell/Hamilton
2.Chatto:The Life and Times of an Indian Anti Imperialist in Europe/Nirode Barooah/Oxford
3.Reminiscences of Nehru Age/M O Mathai
4.Two Alone Together/Sonia Gandhi/Penguin,2004
5.His Majesty's Opponent/Sugata Roy,Cambridge,2011
6.Bose in Nazi Germany/Romain Hayel/Random House
7.Transcultural Encounters between Germany and India/Routledge,2013
8.A Traveller and the Road/Mohit Sen/Rupa,2003
Please read, Nambiar,Bose and Germany in blog,Maddy's Ramblings.
See my posts,KRISHNA MENON AS HEAD LOAD WORKER,THREE ENGLISH MADMEN

THE TIGER THAT ROARED LIKE A LION

He was drinking toddy and singing Thodi

For Tiger Varadachari,the music maestro, it was a journey from one Kutcheri to another Kutcheri.He was,at 23, a clerk in the survey department at Calicut Mananchira Huzur Kutcheri.
Tiger had come from Madras to Calicut because of financial constraints and worked in the office at a salary of Rs 12/- a month.Out of office,he began to sing in marriage and other ceremonies.His name spread and an invitation came from Mysore Palace to sing in Dussehra celebrations.Maybe,Mysore Varadachar,his close friend interfered on his behalf.It changed his life.He became Tiger there.

Tiger Varadachari

Tiger Varadachari(1876-1950) was born in Kolathur, Chengalpet.He was the son of Tamil,Telugu and Sanskrit scholar Sriman Kandadai Ramanujachari.He had two younger brothers.Veena Krishnamachari and Musicologist K V Srinivasa Iyengar.But Tiger has said he learnt much from his sister.All the three who were musically mad were disciples of Patnam Subramanya Iyer(1845-1902).Iyer was resident of Tiruvaiyar when they began studies and moved with him to Madras.Tiger was with Iyer for three years from age 14.They learnt from Thatchur Singaracharya Brothers too.In Madras they stayed in Kaladipet and were called Three Musketeers of Kaladipet.Tiger drew inspiration from street dramas,bhajans and stray contacts like Fiddle Ramachandrayyar.Photo Masilamani and Pedda Singaracharyalu encouraged Tiger in musical pursuits.Krishnamachari was taught veena by Kalahasthayya.
At Patnam Subramanya Iyer's house,Mysore Vasudevachar was also a disciple.When the invitation came from Mysore King Krishna Raja Wodeyar to sing on Mahanavami day,Tiger took leave from the Calicut office for the whole week,reached a day early and stayed with Vasudevachar.He composed an intricate pallavi in praise of the King in Raga Poornachandrika.On the morning,he found his throat  filled with phlegm and drank boiled water.His voice became trim and he sang the pallavi for four hours,was conferred the title,Tiger.He was invited to the Court of Mysore; he resigned his job in Calicut.
He had gone a day early to Mysore to know what to wear at the durbar. He was seen always wearing a monkey cap after that.He used to admire himself wearing it,in front of the mirror,greeting himself,Anjaneya Namaha.His obsession with the cap made him a laughing stock and his friends requested Vasudevachar to interfere.One day when he went to Vasudevachar's house,he was singing Kamboji.He suddenly paused but resumed at Tiger's request.After two hours of singing,Tiger offered whatever he has.Vasudevachar asked for the monkey cap!

Tiger playing Kabaddi

Not the cap alone;Tiger was seen with the caste mark on forehead,a coat and upper cloth,an umbrella in hand and betel case made of coconut leaves.Vasudevachar in his memoirs,Na kanda Kalavidharu has called Tiger an unparallelled genius.Tiger left for Madras after a decade.There he became Principal of the Teachers College of Music started by the Madras Music Academy.After five years,he became Head,Department of Music,Madras University;Principal,Music College,Annamalai University and finally Principal,Music section,Kalakshetra.It was there MDR became his disciple.Tiger used to drink-MDR once commented it was not liquor,it was his Raga,Toddy!

Tiger

Of course,he was fond of Raga,Todi.Endless talks had bored people in Ranade Hall in Mylapore during Shyama Sastri's anniversary conducted by Music Academy.Tiger,when his turn came contemplated a moment on whether to talk.Then he began singing:kannatalli gada biddayani kanikaramintaina Ieada,Amba?".Anupallavi of Keerthanam in Todi,Ninne Namminanu...
Tiger was in Mylapore during his teaching days.It was a practice to have concerts on friday evenings at Tiger's place or Veena Dhanammal's place.On a Friday at 7PM,Flutist Virinjamuri Sreenivasachari went to Tiger's house and Tiger sent him back saying he is not in a mood.Virinjamuri went back to his sister's home which was close by.He began sleeping in the yard in front of the house since it was a summer night.At around 10 PM,Tiger came,woke him up and asked whether he was ready to listen to him.At his home,he sang one keerthanam for eight hours,till 6.30 AM,when his wife came around with coffee and asked him to stop.
His voice was gruff.If he had trouble with his voice,he used to become more animated with exaggerated actions and gestures.
And he used to snore.Raga Begada was his forte. He sang Begada in Tiruvaiyar Thyagaraja festival in 1940 when he was in Chidambaram,Annamalai University.He stayed in Kalyana Mahal.There was no electric power.So he slept at night on the pathway between two rooms.Restless by Tiger's loud snoring,a Parsi engineer asked:"Is this fellow a tiger?he is making all sorts of funny noises!".
"Yes,yes",Tiger replied,"this fellow is Tiger,he is set to make  wider varieties of sounds shortly".It was the first time the engineer was encountering a bhagavatar speaking in English.Tiger sat up and began to sang Begada once again.

Tiger with class of 1935;Parur Sundaram Iyer,left

He had sung Begada at a concert in 1937 during a marriage ceremony in Veena Dhanammal's house.She was a harsh critic known for her knowledge and intolerance of mediocrity.Though he had to catch up a train to reach Chidambaram,he went on at the encouragement of Dhanammal who was in the audience.Not only that,a solid foundation for ragaprasthara had been laid after ragam,thanam and niraval.After the kutcheri he told Dhanammal:"Dhanamma! I have been singing myself hoarse.Did you really have to ask me to sing before you?".Dhanammal presented him a silver trophy filled with sugar candy.
Tiger knew his sore points.He had replaced another vocalist who could not make it on time for a radio programme.Accompanists were Chowdiah and Palakkad Mani Iyer.The Tambura player asked Tiger for Shruthi."My Shruthi"?,Tiger told him,"it is low,very low,reaching almost the bottom of the well".
Like his voice,he had a rough exterior.He was benign inside.

MDR by R K Laxman

According to S Y Krishna Swamy,Tiger felt it is "pure music which is important  in a Pallavi,it depended very little on words".T K Sethuraman remembers a Kamboji in the village of Seerkazhi.After a concert in which he elaborated a Pallavi in Kamboji,Tiger returned to his resting place with Sabesayyar, Inchimudi Varadaraja Iyengar,Mysore Varadacharar and MDR.A challenge was put before Tiger to recite a Pallavi not heard sofar.Suddenly a street vegetable vendor,a woman, shouted:kathirikkai,kathirikkai(Brinjal for sale).Tiger began the Pallavi:Kathirikka Vangavayendi,adi Thozhi(come with me to buy brinjal,lass!).Another Pallavi of him was:Uppuma Kindadi Penne,nanna(Hey lass,stir the uppuma well).He composed the keerthanam,Eediname Sudinamu when Sir C Rajagoplachari as Governor General visited Kalakshetra.
Tiger is responsible for the position Raga Kharaharapriya adorns in concerts today.Before him,it was treated only a minor Raga.The devadasi nautch was renamed Bharatanatyam after he presented a resolution in 1935,in the midst of a clamour to ban it.
Once Tiger sang in a Music Academy festival in a ground close to the Madras Zoo.Veena Seshanna said the Tiger became a lion!

Patnam

MDR,in honor of his guru,adopted Varadadasa as signature in his compositions.They were very close.Once when Tiger shook his left hand several times and showed unfamiliar gestures with it to exhibit his new wrist watch, MDR publicly told him in the class:"you are not only a guru,a watchman too!".
MDR was by Tiger's side when he breathed his last;MDR was asked to sing,Entharane of Tyagaraja during those last moments.He did it with tears in his eyes,in a choked voice. 
You may have heard MDR singing Entharo Mahanubhavulu.He repeats mahanubhavulu several times before he enters the Pallavi.It is MDR's pranams to his guru.Hence rasikas said,Tiger was a Janaka Raga;MDR was its Janya Raga.
Reference:
1.Isai Maethigal/T Sankaran/VOC Noolagam,2004
2.Kedaram/Krishna Murthy/Current Books,2006
See my posts,VIOLIN COMES TO CHENNAI,A SPRING IN MEMORY

THE LADY BEHIND THE COCHIN PORT

A FREEMAN WHO WAS A SLAVE

When Robert Bristow,the harbour engineer, met Marie Adelaide Brassey in Madras in 1920,he found a mysterious glow in her eyes.Her eyes 'massaged' him from top to bottom.The special bonding that began from the very first sight resulted in making Cochin a big port.She supported him in every crisis.She was Lady Willingdon,wife of Governor Thomas Freeman Willingdon. Bristow,the architect and builder of the port has recorded this much;it is not known whether it developed into a full blown relationship.It is known that the 'pushy' Lady Willingdon dominated the Governor.

Lady Willingdon

She was the daughter of Willingdon's one time boss,Lord Brassey who was Governor of Victoria,Australia.
Marie(1875-1960)was the youngest daughter of him by his first marriage.Much popular as a political hostess, at 15,she began helping her father to receive guests in Park Lane,before the arrival of her stepmother.She married Thomas Freeman,who was aide-De-camp to her father on July 20,1892.She was 17.

Lord and Lady Willingdon

Major Thomas Freeman,later Lord Willingdon(1866-1941)was the son of Frederick Freeman Thomas by Mabel Brand,daughter of the First Viscount of Hampden.He had his education in Eton and Cambridge.He was in Sussex Artillery for 15 years,after which he became aide-De- camp to Lord Thomas Brassey,First Earl of Brassey in 1895.He accompanied Lord Brassey to Australia.In 1900 he was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal Party candidate.
He was raised to peerage.He became Baron Willingdon of Ratton,thereafter Viscount,Earl and finally the first Marquess of Willingdon.Marie became Marchioness.He was Junior Lord of Treasury during 1905-1912.He began as Lord-in waiting to King GeorgeV,in 1913.From then on he was in
the Raj service for 23 years.He became Governor of Bombay,Madras,Governor General of Canada and finally Viceroy of India.It was a rise unequaled.He would have remained a parliamentary backbencher,had it not been for two things: tennis partner to the King and his wife,Marie.
The Willingdons' tenure in Bombay was marred by Marie's tiff with Muhammad Ali Jinnah.At 41,Jinnah had married the 18 year old Parsi girl,Ruttie,daughter of textile magnet,Sir Dinshaw Manockjee Petit Bart,against the wishes of her parents.Jinnah had accompanied Dinshaw who was his close friend and his family in the summer of 1916 to Darjeeling on a two month holiday.Jinnah was smitten by the vivacious Ruttie who was 16 then. When Jinnah made the proposal,Dinshaw was furious.Ruttie left her home and married Jinnah on April 19,1918.It was his second marriage.

Ruttie Jinnah

Both Jinnah and Ruttie were invited by Lord Willingdon for supper.Ruttie wore a low-cut evening gown for the occasion.Seeing it,Marie asked an ADC to bring Ruttie a wrap.The angry Jinnah retorted that if Ruttie needed a wrap,she would ask for it;he instantly walked out of the Government House with Ruttie.Later when Marie was accorded a civic farewell to Madras,Jinnah agitated against it;the happy citizens built the Jinnah Memorial Hall in the Congress compound in honor of him.
The Willingdons arrived in Madras in 1918.Marie befriended the influential people and two among them,Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer and Raja Annamalai Chettiar became her favorites.Bristow came in 1920 at the orders of her husband to Madras service and was sent to build the Cochin port.
Willingdon is known in Kerala for the deft handling of the situation after the Moplah rebellion of 1921 and the Wagon Tragedy of 19,November 1921.About a hundred Moplahs convicted for rebellion were put in a goods train from Tirur to Coimbatore.46 died of asphyxiation when the train reached Podannur;Six died when they were taken out and two died in hospital.The incident sent a shudder of horror.Willingdon formed a committee and it submitted the enquiry report on 30 August,1922.Based on it he took stern action.He  became popular in England for getting Gandhi for the Second Round Table conference.He became unpopular in Cochin after he tried to remove the King Rama Varma(1914-1932)saying he was mentally unstable.
Marie presided over the opening of the Catherine Booth Hospital for Women in Vadassery in Nagercoil in October,1921. She helped the Ladies Recreation Club in Chennai to acquire 150 grounds in Egmore;it was named Willingdon Estate.She supported Sister Subbulakshmi's efforts to rehabilitate widows; Lady Willingdon School and Lady Willingdon Institute of Advanced Study in Education came up.Marie formed the South Indian Nursing Association in 1920;it merged with the Lady Ampthill Nursing Service to become Lady Willingdon Nursing Home.Started in Mount Road, it shifted in 1951 to Pyncrofts Garden Road which Sankara Netralaya bought in 1998 and demolished.When they returned to London,they left behind other memorials too:Lady Willingdon Higher Secondary School,Triplicane,Lady Willingdon College,Chennai,Lady Willingdon Hospitals in Manali and Lahore,Willingdon Island in Cochin,Willingdon Club and Lady Willingdon Hostel,YWCA,Mumbai,Lady Willingdon Hall in Ludhiana,Willingdon Crescent ,Willingdon Airfield,Lady Wllingdon Park in Delhi,They renamed Lodhi Gardens in Delhi, Willingdon Gardens and Bristow was asked even to name the newly built dredger,Willingdon!

Marie had an obsession for mauve color.From her husband's Coaches to toilet papers,everything was mauve.The Khaki cows she maintained in her farm and the Khaki dogs she bred in England were of a sombre brown hue.
She harassed her aide-De-camps;we don't know whether it was because she met her husband as one!When an aide-De -camp complained,Lord Willingdon pacified him saying he suffered her all these years,why can't the aid for at least 5 years!

Lady Willingdon:Early years

Marie used to ask for any object she desired as gift-the Baroda royal family buried state jewels at the time of her visit.Her aids used to carry a bag with a wide mouth wherever she went.The bag used to be filled with pearl necklaces.She asked for even Mahogany toilet seats.An incident comes to memory:Saraswathi Giri,wife of former President V V Giri had this habit;she asked the employees of the Ernakulam Guest House once to pack the carpet she saw on the floor!The Willingdons had furnished Rideau Hall,official residence in Canada with rare carpets,screens and objects of art they had collected from India and China.
Willingdon,though Viceroy was denied entry to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club since he was accompanied by Indian friends.So he formed the Willingdon Sports Club.I had recounted a story of the formation of the Lotus Club of Cochin by Gertrude Bristow when she was denied entry to the elite Cochin Club,in my post,Three English Madmen.

Willingdons with staff,employees and contractors

The Willingdons had two sons:Lieutenant Gerard Frederick Freeman Thomas(1893-1914)died in First World War.Inigo Thomas(1899-1979) suceeded Lord Willingdon as Marquess.The Willingdons left India in 1936.They had a delightful Bungalow of Elizabethan period at Ratton,Willingdon,Sussex.Marie was a wonderful gardener there.He suffered her till 1941,when he died.Like all hen pecked husbands he used say:"my wife had been a constant inspiration and encouragement".She died only in 1960.
Reference:
1.Ruttie Jinnah:The Story Told and Untold/Khwaja Razi Haidar/Oxford,2010
2.Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1920-1947,Vol 3,G S Chhabra/Lotus Press,1971

See my Post,THREE ENGLISH MADMEN

THREE ENGLISH MADMEN

Harrison sees the ghost and shoots the horse

 I have no idea how engineering is related to madness.While reading History,I have noted that two great engineers who worked in India became mad towards the end of their life.Another one,a police officer became mad while in action.Policemen tend to be mad at times,but here it was complete madness,he was mentally ill.All the three were British.
Most of the readers will be surprised when they hear the names because they are well known.Sir Robert Bristow,architect of Cochin Port,Sir Gordon Risley Hearn,architect of Khyber Pass Railway and Superintendent of Malabar Special Police(MSP) Harrison.

Bristow

Robert Charles Bristow(1880-1966) stepped out of the train into Ernakulam railway Terminus on the morning in April 13,1920. He was a British harbour engineer who joined the Civil Engineering Service in 1903 after studies in the London Technical Institute.He was the son of Alfred Bristow and Laura Web.He worked for 16 years in various harbors and was involved in the maintenance of Suez Canal.He was absorbed into the Madras service while he was 39.He reached Cochin as directed by Lord Willingdon,Governor of Madras.
Bristow had a mission.The trade at Cochin port had increased.The port was with the British since 1795, but nothing was done to develop it.Ships were still anchored  in deep sea for offloading cargo.Willingdon asked Bristow to construct an approach channel for the ships to enter the inner harbor.This would help the ships from being exposed to the violent sea.

Gertrude

The challenge for Bristow was the obstruction created  by a rock like sand bar that guarded the mouth of the port.He studied the situation and gave a report to Willingdon.We get much of the information on the great flood that hit Kerala and created  the Cochin port in 1341 from a paper presented by Bristow at the Maharaja's College.He reclaimed land by dredging to build the Willingdon Island.The steam ship,Padma from Mumbai entered the new harbor on 26 May 1928.He spent 21 years constructing the port and made it one of the safest harbors in the Peninsula.He had developed a special relationship with Willingdon's wife,Marie Adelaide Brassey.According to his own account,he had seen a glow in her eyes in his first meeting itself.Bristow used to tell his friend,Chief Justice  M S Menon:"I love the reply of the French Minister to a Queen long ago:Madame,if it is only difficult,it is already done;if it is impossible,it shall be done".
His wife Gertrude was denied entry in the elite Cochin Club because she was not English born.So she was instrumental in forming the Lotus Club,the first non-English Club in Kerala which became elite later.She was President of the Club for 10 years from 1931.
Bristow returned to England on 13 April 1941.He served at Manchester University before madness conquered him.He wrote  Cochin saga before that.Bristow didn't have children.His nephew,Timothy John Bristow(Bristow's brother Robert Anthony's son) visited Cochin on April 21,2014.

Gordon Hearn

Sir Gordon Risley Hearn(1871-1953) was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway in the rank of Colonel.He had 30 years of experience constructing railway lines.He was a veteran of Tirah Campaign,Second Afghan war and First World War.He was mentioned four times in dispatches sent by Winston Churchill.
After the third Afghan war  in 1919,the British feared a Russian invasion of India from Khyber.It is a 23 mile pass in the Northwest of Pakistan beginning near the village Qadam tread by Buddha,stretching to Torkham,35 miles Northwest of Peshawar.It is a narrow treacherous cleft in the Sulemea Range of Hindukush Mountains.It is an ancient caravan route.
The British thought that the Russians could be blocked if a railway line was in place in the Khyber Pass.The assignment thus for Hearn was to connect the Pass to Indian railway network or to extend the line from Peshawar-Jamrud to Afghan border at Torkham.The Pass already had a road suitable for motor transport and an aerial rope way was constructed using surplus parts from World War I.Hearn suggested a broadguage line.Victor Bayley,Senior engineer was in charge of the actual construction.The construction of the first phase was completed in record time and opened on November 2,1925.It was the line from Jamrud to Landikotal.The total length of the line would have been 42 Kilometers till the Afghan frontier.But considering the objection of Afghanistan,the section to Landikhana was closed on December 15,1932.So the line didn't cross the Afghan border. 

There are four stations in the line,Jamrud,Shagai,Landikotal and Landikhana.34 tunnels, 92 bridges and culverts.Total length of the tunnels is three kilometers.The cost was 60 lakhs.Ultimately the line didn't boost trade or traffic.The Pakistan Railways ran a free weekly passenger service till 1982 to prove to the fierce tribesmen that they are the bosses.After that it made way to Khyber Steam Safari.
For Hearn,it was a dream not realized.He went back to England to encounter madness.He had written two books:The Seven Cities of Delhi(1906) and Railway Engineer's Field Book with A G Watson.Maybe the second book is useful for E Sreedharan!

Hearn's Book

The Golden Rock railway workshop was the biggest of its kind in South India,five kilometres away from Tiruchirapally.Six workers were suspended without notice in July 1946.The South Indian Railway Labour Union began a fast on 23 July.After a month the Railway declared a lock out.The workers started picketing.
K.Anandan Nambiar(1918-1991)was the General secretary of the Union.After finishing studies in Malabar Christian College,he had joined the Workshop  as a fuel clerk in 1938.Within three years,at 24,he became General Secretary.He was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly from the railway constituency in 1946,defeating the Congress candidate by 20,000 votes.

Bristow's book

On September 5,1946,the Union branch President Ismail Khan and Secretary Parameswaran Nair were arrested by the Malabar Special Police(MSP),while they were reaching the office premises for a public meeting.The MSP was led by SP Harrison.The workers pelted stones when the leaders were arrested.Police attacked the office. R Krishna Murthy who blocked the Force fell down dead in the police firing.The Police raided the quarters of Anandan Nambiar,which was close to the Railway grounds.They attacked the six month old child of Nambiar.Nambiar's mother,who tried to block it was beaten up.Not finding Nambiar in his quarters,the Police returned to the Office.Nambiar was there protected by the workers.
"It is me,Nambiar",Nambiar came out.
The Police pushed him.He fell down.Harrison touched him with the bayonet."Shoot",Harrison screamed.
"Sir",Sergeant Raman Nair intervened,"he is dead sir,we should not fire at a dead body."
Nambiar survived.Police fired at the crowd.Four workers,M Raju,R Ramachandran,M Thyagarajan and C Thankavelu were killed.
Harrison became mad after the firing.Hysterical,he saw the ghost of Nambiar on several nights. On one night he saw a moving shadow outside the home.He fired at the shadow,screaming,"Nambiar,Nambiar!".His white horse fell down dead.
I do not know what happened to Harrison afterwards.His had been a haunting story from my childhood.I am yet to see a picture of him.
The story of Nambiar is well known.He was the first communist MLA in Madras.He defeated the Railway Minister Santhanam in 1952 Parliament elections in Mayiladuthurai.He was elected to the Loksabha again in 1962 and 1967 from Tiruchirapally.He attended the May day celebrations in Beijing in 1952.He became Treasurer of AITUC in 1954.He had been in the Party Central Committee from 1953.He stepped down as DREU President in 1990.

Pak locomotive at Shagai

It is known that the dividing line between genius and madness is wafer thin. In my case,that I am mad at times doesn't mean that I am a genius!Bristow and Hearn went beyond the regular demands of their profession to use their skills for the well being of the entire humanity,often at great personal risk.A mental aberration,so,possible.Dr D Babu Paul,who was Cochin Port Trust Chairman later,has written in his service story,Katha Ithu Vare(The Story Sofar),that he has seen the ghost of former Chairman,K W P Marar ICS in his bath room in a three piece suite.Marar,it is said, was poisoned to death while he was Chairman.Marar was an Assam cadre ICS officer,Superintendent of 1941 census operations there and later Joint Secretary,Agricultural Ministry,Delhi.The Port Trust office which we see on the Island now was his home.Marar's son and cricketer M P Govind was Babu Paul's classmate in the Engineering College,Thiruvananthapuram.
Babu Paul had invited Mrs Leela Marar on a republic day to the Port.I spoke to Babu Paul now-Marar  used to raise from the sea riding a black horse on new moon Fridays after his death and beat the security person with a cane if he was asleep in the old building.Leela had told Babu Paul that Marar was fond of horse race and he wished to buy a black horse.I asked Babu Paul whether it was a hallucination.He was confused.
But Harrison?He was afraid of ghosts.We don't know whether Nambiar believed in ghosts.His gurus,Karl Marx and Engels did,because they had begun The Communist Manifesto thus:A Spectre is haunting Europe;the Spectre of Communism.Two ghosts in a single sentence!
Reference:
1.Communism in India/ Gene D Overstreet &Marshall Windmiller/University of California Press,1959
2.Permanent way Through the Khyber/Victor Bayley/Beacon Library,1939
3.Nothing But:The Long Road to Freedom/Brigadier Samir Bhattacharya
4.Nakshatravum Chuttikayum/Ramachandran
5.Cochin Saga/Bristow/Cassel,1959
6.Katha Ithu Vare/D Babu Paul/DC Books,2008

PARUKUTTY NETHYARAMMA RULED AND LOOTED COCHIN

There was heavy looting in the palace

Travancore had Attingal,Kunnummel Ranis and the Umayamma Rani.In modern times,it was ruled by three women:Gowri Lakshmi Bayi(1810-1815),Gowri Parvathi Bayi (1815-1829) and Sethu Lakshmi Bayi (1924-1931).Among them only one,Ayilyam Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi reigned in her own right for three years, 1810-1813,before becoming Regent during 1813-1815.The Other two were only Regents.It was the adoption of 1788 that brought Gowri Lakshmi and Gowri Parvathi to Travancore.Sethu Lakshmi and Sethu Parvathi,grand daughters of Raja Ravi Varma were adopted from Mavelikara in 1900.

Parukutty

Cochin,people think,never had a Queen.Wrong.It had a very scheming Queen in her 90s who reshaped the State's destiny within two years-Gangadhara Lakshmi(1656-1658). It had a brainy Nair lady ruler Parukutty Nethyaramma who took over the reins during the reign of an absent minded King and an absent Penvazhi Thampuran or Valiamma Thampuran,the Senior Lady of the Royal family.

It is known that when Sonia Gandhi took over as AICC President,the constitution of the Congress Parliamentary Party was amended to incorporate a significant clause:The Congress President will have the right to appoint or disappoint the Prime Minister.It was tradition in Cochin-the senior most female member,Valiamma Thampuran as Head of the royal family will have the authority to appoint or dismiss the King.

So,during the last days of the Portuguese in Cochin,the senior most female member,Gangadhara Lakshmi decided that she will appoint herself.She was 93.Her real name is not known.

It was 1656 . King Rama Varma (1650-1656) died and she found it difficult to find a successor because of disputes in the family.He was adopted from Chazhur.Under Portuguese command,she had adopted five princes from Aroor and Vettath.Both the Mootha thavazhi ,senior branch and Elaya thavazhi,junior branch claimed the throne.The Zamorin,the invading Dutch and small principalities supported the Mootha thavazhi.The Portuguese who supported the rival faction asked Gangadhara Lakshmi to invoke tradition and assume throne.She was Queen for two years during 1656-1658.She raised the Cochin Army of 3500 strong Infantry,120 cannons ,55 Artillery Units and three Naval ships.The Elayathavazhi got monopoly in succession, as princes from Moothathavazhi were arrested and imprisoned.Several princes from Moothathavazhi escaped from the capital of Mattancherry to Ceylon.They met the Dutch in Colombo and the Dutch prepared themselves for the siege of Cochin.

R M Palat

Though Gangadhara Lakshmi made her adopted son Rama Varma the King (1658),she ran the administration.The Dutch built their first Fort Orange in Paravur.Gangadhara Lakshmi discreetly sent Rama Varma to Paravur and worked out a pact with the Dutch.The Dutch Governor Hendrik Van Rheede double crossed and the Dutch in 1660 killed two princes of Moothathavazhi ,who met them in Colombo and brought them to Cochin.At the same time the Queen allied with the Portuguese too.

The Dutch invaded Fort Cochin in 1661 and they fought the great war with the Portuguese in the beach.The Portuguese counted on the Cochin army to pound the Dutch ships at Vypin Fort.The Queen ordered her army to fire balls without gun powder.Fort Cochin fell and King Rama Varma was killed by the Moothathavazhi in the prevailing anarchy.They forged a letter of appointment by Gangadhara Lakshmi and crowned Goda Varma.The Queen was made a hostage in the Calvetty Palace.
The Dutch Governor Van Rheede realized the foul play only when the Cochin Army began to attack the Dutch at the Calvetty Palace.Since it was violation of the friendship treaty,the Dutch soldiers stormed the Palace, arrested the Queen and kept her in custody at Malabar House.She reaffirmed loyalty to the Dutch and blamed Goda Varma for the foul play.At 98,she was again crowned by the Dutch for just two days.Goda Varma arrested and her brother Vira Kerala Varma succeeded her,ending the decade long crisis in 1663.The Palace which was damaged was rebuilt by the Dutch and it became Dutch Palace.

Van Rheede in his autobiography has paid rich tributes to her brilliance,double play and tactics.

Parukutty Nethyaramma was known for her administrative capabilities,but full of intrigues. She was Lady Rama Varma,a product of circumstances.

She was the consort of King Rama Varma(1914-1932) who is popularly known as Madirasiyil Theepetta Thampuran (the king who died in Madras).She was born in Thrissur in1874 to Kurur Nambudiripad.Her mother was from Padinjare Shrambi house of Vadakke Kurupath family. Ramavarma(born 1858) was 16 years elder to her.When they got married in 1888,Rama Varma was a prince and the chance for him to become the king was remote.But Rajarshi Rama Varma(1895-1914) abdicated the throne after a tussle with the British.He had used the Germans to build the Parambikulam Tramway and entertained the German Consul Bueler at Hill palace. The sale of 14 caparisons of the Poornathrayeesa Temple to build the Ernakulam-Shornur railway line and withdrawal of privy purse to the family members had precipitated a crisis in the Royal family;the line was opened in 1902.With all this,the British tried to poison the mind of his wife.Life became hell for him.He stepped out of Hill Palace with just a personal trunk of clothes.Following his abdication,the Valiyamma Thampuran too abdicated after appointing Rama Varma as King.His wife Parukutty filled the gap,took over and virtually became the authority.The majority of the orders during 1914-1932 were signed by Parukutty.

Ramavarma

 A set of palace scholars argue that Rama Varma was an able administrator who attempted reforms based on the Study of Sociology by Herbert Spencer and Political Economy of John Stewart Mill, which doesn't seem to be true.He had other interests:he used to cure snake bites,he tried to comprehend the language of the lizards using Gawlisastra.

According to Sir T. Vijayaraghavachari, the Dewan, “His Highness conveys his commands in a Socratic method. You have to watch his words carefully not to miss the meaning. …..His Highness is a student of Spencer. At times, he would make me suspect he was an agnostic at heart. The act of worshipping in the temple, once H.H remarked to me”- ‘has a tonic effect. The spectacular side of the temples here has to be developed so as to leave a marked impression on those who go to the temples.’

T.K. Krishna Menon recorded this Raja’s period in his book, The Days that were,thus: "The next ruler was a great constitutional Monarch. His generous nature and lofty patriotism and desire to take the country through reasoned progress to the front place among the Indian States were visible in every act of his. He had ‘a dislike for all pomp and ostentatious display’. His knowledge of the Ayurvedic system of medicine and his special aptitude in the treatment of cases of poisoning were always at the disposal of the public. He evinced a parental solicitude in the elevation of the depressed and backward classes. The very first thing that engaged his attention was the financial position of the State……The result was remarkable. The annual income rose from 46 lakhs of rupees in 1914-8-15 to 86 lakhs in 1927-7-28 and a surplus from 12 to about 70 lakhs."

Parukutty handled financial matters.Middle men were driven away from the Palace owned agricultural lands ,collection of taxes was improved; Valiya Thampuran Kovilakam Trust was formed to administer the Palace estate.A stroke made Ramavarma paralytic and he suffered dementia.Rama Varma was in Ollur or Shornur most of the time undergoing Ayurvedic treatment.With improved finance,Parukutty upgraded Maharajas College.Ramavarma was the Chief Guest at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Ernakulam College in 1925 and it was renamed Maharajas college in honour of him.Parukutty improved Trichur zoo,developed the road which later became the M G Road,and renovated the Durbar Hall.She gave 1000 acres from her property  to build the new Central Prison at Viyyur.She was instrumental in opening the royal city gates of Tripunithura to commoners.For her works,King George V honoured her with Kaiser -i-Hind, in 1919,the only Nethyaramma (Nair consort) to get such a recognition.The tradition was that Nethyarammas were untouchables during the day and immensely touchable during the night.Parukutty rewrote the rules and revamped the system.The revenue of the state won a 17 gun salute from the British.When a picture of any Nair consort of the King is not available,we have a rare picture of her supervising a work.

Parukutty Nethyaramma

Her cousin Kurur Neelakantan Nambudiripad was a prominent Congress leader.She met Gandhi in Trichur in 1925 and became an ardent follower.Gandhi was made a state guest and her son V K Aravindaksha Menon was deputed to assist Gandhi.The letters section of The Collected Works of Gandhi has the correspondence between him and Parukutty's daughter V K Vilasini Amma.Her second daughter Ratnamma was married to R M (Ramunni Menon)Palat,son of Sir C Sankaran Nair,who was AICC President.Palat became Minister for Public Health in Madras later.Her son Aravindakshan had married Malathy,daughter of V K Narayana Menon,contractor in Trichur.It was in his house Pandyala, Nehru,Kamala and Indira had taken rest en route to Ceylon.Parukutty began to wear Khadi and started units around Hill palace for Khadi products,to the displeasure of the British.This action of her forced the British to remove the King from his seat,but the attempt failed.The Viceroy Lord Willingdon tried to prove the King insane.

Junior Rani

A bizarre incident full of drama, took place in 1930.When the British were delaying the coronation of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma in Travancore,the Junior Maharani Sethuparvathi Bayi,his mother, met Parukutty Nethyaramma.The Junior Rani was in rivalry with the Senior Rani,Sethulakshmi Bayi,who was the Regent.He was supposed to be crowned in 1930,when he attains the age,18.But the British believed that Chithira Thirunal was mentally unstable and refused to anoint him.They asked the Junior Rani to wait till he is 19 and half.The Junior Rani recounted this to Parukutty and became indignant.All of a sudden, the Rani brandished a revolver and threatened to shoot herself.We are not told how Parukutty saved the situation.The Resident ANL Cater's fortnightly report after this incident speaks of the Junior Maharani's "fondness for intrigue".

There were two disasters during the reign of Ramavarma, when T Raghavachari was the Dewan:plague in Mattancheri and a communal riot at Trichur,Parukutty's native place.The communal riot was in February-March,1921,four months before the Moplah rebellion in Malabar.The Christians in Trichur,loyal to the British,attacked a non co-0peration meet and set fire to the shops and houses of the Hindus,during a loyalty procession.The King wrote to the British Resident and the Dewan was removed.Dr A R Menon was the leader of the Congress,and the Congress leadership invited the Mappilas of Malabar for the protection of the Hindus.The Mappilas arrived in thousands and held a procession.Thereafter,the Resident H H Burkitt and the Dewan called both the parties for a discussion and the issue was settled after a week.

Dewan Vijayaraghavachari replaced Bhore and was at the helm during the events of outbreak of Plague in Mattanchery, scarcity of rice in the State and riots in Trichur. To tackle the rice problem, he fixed maximum selling prices of local paddy and rice, opened a circar depot for sale to the poor and tried to procure Burma rice from Madras. In addition, he opened relief works to give labour to the unemployed and at Trichur opened a trial poor house to give kanji. Dewan’s preemptory order to put down the rioters in Trichur did not win approval of the Highness. As regards to Cochin Harbour, hydroelectric scheme, and paper pulp industry Dewan was non-conclusive for the time being. He co-operated with the start of boy-scouting in a quasi-Governmental mode. He favoured progressivity of the legislative council. In spite of the laudable services of the Dewan there was a falling off and Dewan Narayana Menon replaced Vijayaraghavachari.

The three year tenure of Narayana Menon as Dewan was largely uneventful except for the heated activities in the legislative Council as regards to the Cochin Harbour scheme. Extract from Dewan Narayana Menon’s letter dated November 1924 refers to Parukutty: “Keeping me on for another year does not commend itself to the consort and she wants to let me go at the end of my term and put in Narayana Iyer instead.”…… On account of the condition of H.H’s health the administrative machinery has I fear gone out of order.”

On 6 December 1924, C.W.E. Cotton, the Resident wrote to Ramavarma: “Having regard to the state of your Highness’s health, you may perhaps wish to avail yourself for further term of Mr. Narayana Menon’s experience and the fact that he is so doughty a champion of the Durbar’s interest in the problems connected with the Cochin harbour scheme will make him difficult to replace until they are settled.”

A confidential letter from Hill Palace, Tripunithura, dated 14 December 24 to Mr. Cotton ,said: “I propose to appoint Rao Bahadur Mr. T.S. Narayana Iyer, my present Chief Judge to succeed Mr. Narayana Menon. I am glad to say that I am rapidly improving in my general health and there is less difficulty in walking.”

On 5 February 1925, Resident Cotton wrote to Patterson the officiating Secretary of the Government of India, Political Department: “Mr. Narayana Iyer is not a flyer and has no recent administrative experience. But his reputation is good, and if the selection is restricted to the officials in State Service, he is certainly the best man available. Narayana Menon was too steadfast a guardian of the State finances ‘to be no longer acceptable to the Maharaja’s consort who is the defacto ruler of the State. It is to be presumed that she has hopes that Mr. Narayana Iyer will prove more accommodating. The Maharaja is too old and too feeble to take any real active interest in the administration and the Dewan has to be constantly on his guard to prevent undue interference on the part of the consort whose ruling passion is the acquisition of wealth for her already wealthy family.”

T.K.Krishna Menon adds, “But, as for Narayana Iyer, he had no hint of any extraordinary gifts. His conspicuous gift was negative. It was his silence. Events always played the trump card for him. His luck was a legend, and he was loyal to the last breath of his life.”

Narayana Iyer’s tenure as Dewan continued to be troublesome. Discontentment among the junior male Thampurans progressed to such an extent that a memorandum of no confidence against the administration was submitted to the Resident and the Secretary to the Madras Government. The Dewan had to defend the Raja who was for all purposes seemed to be out of the loop. British also was confronted with the vexing problem of how to deal with a mentally disabled ruler of a feudatory State.

The Junior Thampurans of the Ruling Family, Cochin wrote a letter to Lt, Col. C.G. Crosthwaite, Agent to Governor General, Madras State on 10 October 1928,in which they requested an interview to discuss several troubling issues informally. Such an interview did take place and Dewan Narayana Iyer who was also present tried to rebut all the issues vigorously. Several letters were written by the Dewan, Crosthwaite and Kerala Varma, the leader of the Junior Thampurans.

Ramavarma,Baroda Gaekwad,Wife and Parukutty

Narayana Iyer’s term was to end and frantic effort was made to replace him with the son-in-law of the consort/Raja. A few letters are available to substantiate this.However, at this point the British authorities decided to bring in C.G. Herbert I.C.S. as Dewan.

Lt. Colonel H.R.N. Pritchard  followed Crosthwaite as Agent to the Governor General, Madras State Agency. The interchange of letters that took place between Herbert and Pritchard certainly give a perspective of what happened between 1924 and 1932.

Herbert’s letter to Pritchard dated 24 December 1931 can be summarized as follows:

 1. A note is enclosed in the letter to explain the difficulties experienced in the State of Cochin.

2. Intervention in the administration, might take two forms, one consisting of the transfer of the Sarvadhikariakar through whom the consort is effecting her influence and the second consisting of the appointment of Elaya Raja as Regent. The third possibility is to do nothing until the Raja dies or situation becomes so bad that the Government of India can take over.

The note written by Herbert has been so informal that liberal amount of paraphrasing has been resorted to: “It has been evident to me since I became Dewan rather more than a year ago that His Highness, owing to his age and ill-health, is incapable of taking any personal part in the administration. Under the constitution however many of the affairs of the State can only be transacted under the orders of the Maharaja or with his concurrence, and in spite of the present Maharaja’s incapacity orders continue to issue in his name. Obviously therefore, in fact, these orders are passed on His Highness’s behalf by others who have taken His Highness’s place in the administration.”

Herbert expands on the various courses he could take in such a dicey situation:“A change seemed very desirable, if not absolutely necessary, in the interest of the Thampurans – the members of the Ruling Family – for reasons which will be stated later.”

“For these reasons I discarded the idea of waiting till the situation reached a crisis before taking steps to improve it, and decided to adopt the alternative course of replacing the present Sarvadhikariakar by a man in whose integrity confidence may be reposed.” 

Herbert wanted to appoint the Sarvadhikariakar  Narayana Pisharodi as the Commissioner of Devaswoms with the same pay grade and bring in Subramania Aiyer as the new Sarvadhikariakar. Herbert’s recommendations were questioned or rejected.

One of the principal complaints of the Thampurans was about the large sums of expenditure from the Palliyara Muthalpidi for the benefit of the consort and her children after the Maharaja became ill. One of the Thampurans had information obtained surreptitiously from the Palace Accountant. A copy of the same was included with the note. Irregularities in the management of the Ammaraja’s estate and Sarvadhikariakar managing the same instead the Raja infuriated the Thampurans. They were demanding a thorough audit of the accounts of the Palliyara Muthalpidi for the last few years.

C G Herbert

Herbert continued:" have endeavored in this note to describe the situation created in the State by the present condition of His Highness’s health and the difficulties that arise as a consequence in the transaction of State affairs. I do not think those difficulties are likely to diminish as time goes on: on the contrary as interference from the Palace are increasing there seems every reason to apprehend that administration in future become more and more difficult. Two methods of dealing with this situation now appear to exist. The first is to allow the administration to be carried on, as it was carried on in the past, under the influence of the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar. In that event there is, in my opinion, no possible advantage to be gained by a Dewan appointed from British India at the head of the administration: for his proposals can always be vetoed by the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar, it is evident that his opportunities for improving the administration will be exceedingly limited. The balance of advantage in these circumstances seems to me definitely to lie in the appointment of an indigenous Dewan. For the chances of friction arising on administrative questions between the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar on the one hand and the Dewan on the other would be minimized by such an appointment while the administration itself could in the circumstances lose nothing by it.

"The alternative course would be to check the influence of the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar. It was with this aim in view that I suggested the transfer of the
Sarvadhikariakar from his present post. Whether that would in fact have solved the problem it is of course now impossible to say: there was at least the chance of its doing so. But it is doubtful whether, matters having reached the stage which they have now done, it will be worthwhile to go to the trouble of securing the Sarvadhikariakar’s transfer merely for the sake of making the experiment. Assuming that it is desirable to interfere in the matter at all the better course would be definitely to end the part which His Highness’s consort and the Sarvadhikariakar now take in the administration.

"One thing is thus clear. The time has now come when a definite decision has to be taken whether on the one hand to allow the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar to continue their interference in the affairs of the State: or, on the other to limit if not to terminate that interference altogether. In the former alternative the balance of advantage is against having a Dewan from outside the State at the head of the administration: for this can only result in friction in administrative matters without any corresponding gain."

Ramavarma in his final Years

On 3 January 1932, Col Pritchard wrote to Sir Charles Watson, Political Secretary to the Government of India, New Delhi,on the senile behaviour of the King.I quote just a few lines from the letter:"In order to give a further illustration of His Highness’s condition I will describe briefly his behavior at the Durbar which was held in connexion with the presentation of Kharitas from Lord Irvin and the Viceroy. As I shook hands he broke into a guffaw of inane laughter which I must confess was somewhat disconcerting. I tried to enter into the usual brief conversation, but His Highness remained completely dumb until I asked whether he found the climate cooler in Tripunithurai than in Ernakulam. I must mention that we were then sitting in his Palace in Tripunithurai. His Highness turned to me and said “Where is Tripunithurai?”. During the firing of the Vice regal salute His Highness created some embarrassment by repeatedly calling out “What is the firing for?” and much more when he turned to the heir apparent and asked him whether his wife was present! He didn’t know what to do with my garland and finally his hands had to be raised over my head by the Dewan. When my wife received hers His Highness again emitted a peal of laughter saying in a loud voice “Lady Sahiba'. It was altogether an extremely undignified Darbar.”

He stated further:“In a letter addressed to Cater in December 1929 the Thampurans wrote that, however since their respect and reverence for His Highness’s person was, they felt compelled to complain as they knew that things which were done in His Highness’s name were done by others and that, so far as they knew the Maharaja had practically ceased to function, and that his powers and authority were being usurped by others. Finally they prayed to be freed from a rule by people other than the legitimate Ruler. The Thampurans are undoubtedly convinced ( and so is Herbert) that the Consort and Sarvadhikariakar are looting the Palliyara Muthalpidi properties, and, as they are precluded from filing a suit against the Karanavan or manager because he is the Ruler, they very naturally claim that if Government consider it expedient to permit a mentally defective Ruler to retain his powers then it is for the Government to devise some way of protecting them from being robbed."

Several interesting facets of information regarding the looting by Parukutty Nethyaramma,could be noted after reviewing the communications between Herbert and Pritchard:

1. Palace accounts indicated every year, from 1918 onwards 25,000 to 35,000 rupees withdrawn from the Palliyara Muthalpidi until 1929 for various reasons.

2. Vellikulangara and Mattathur of forest lands was given to the Palliyara Muthalpidi from the Government during the X-Raja’s time. These lands were leased to the Consort for RS 200/- and cutting the trees fetched Rs 17,000, but nothing was put back in the Muthalpidi.

3. Maharaja’s own Palace when he was first Prince was gifted to the Consort. But she sold it to the Palliyara Muthalpidi for Rs 13,000/- but was assigned as pattom tenure for Rs 200/-

4. Few irregularities in dealing with Ammaraja’s estate also has been listed.

5. There was a plan to move the Maharaja’s College from Ernakulam to Ramavarmapuram near Thrissur.

After receiving the letter sent by Pritchard a telegram from Polindia arrived on 29/1/1932: “ H.E. the Viceroy directs that you should arrange to have H.H. the Maharaja of Cochin examined at once by a European mental expert with a view to ascertaining his mental condition and capacity to rule. Agrees that Doctor Somervell should if possible be associated with the mental expert in this examination.”

Dr Somervell agreed to be of help. Major A.C.A. Smith, Superintendent of the mental hospital of Yeravada, Bombay was to examine the Highness in Madras. But on 25 March 1932, Sir Sri Rama Varma, Maharaja of Cochin died at 7.45 A.M. at Cochin House, Madras.

After the death of the King,Parukutty initially shifted to the Ratna Vilas Palace she built near her home in Trichur.Then she went on an extended tour abroad with her grandson Sankaran Palat who was admitted to Le Rosey in Switzerland and later the Charter House,England.She returned to India and divided her time between Coonoor and Trichur.She had tea estates and a tea factory in Conoor.

About her activities,a fortnightly Intelligence Report at the National Archives,Newdelhi states:"The hill palace here is the center of nationalist activity and charkhas have been introduced to assist the weaving of the Khadi."

I doubt whether any Gandhian now knows the story of Parukutty.

C G Herbert was reversed foreign service in Cochin to Madras,and Sir Shanmukham Chetty was appointed Dewan,in 1935.Chetty became the first finance minster of independent India.He was an economist and was chosen by Gandhi against the wishes of Nehru.He resigned in 1949,due to conflict of views with Nehru.

See  my Posts,KRISHNA MENON AS HEADLOAD WORKER,PRINCE RAMAVARMA