Excellent forward sir . I keep it in "sreedharan" folder
Gopalakrishnan
On Friday, 22 March, 2024 at 09:19:00 am IST, 'venkat giri' via KeralaIyers
<[email protected]> wrote:
RespectedSir/s,
My Memories on Facebook 22ndMarch 2015
SUBJECT: SRINIVASA SASTRY
Valangaiman Sankaranarayana Srinivasa Sastri (22/09/1869—17/04/1946) ; born to
a poor temple priest Vaidik Sankaranarayana Sastri in the villageof Valangaiman
near Kumbakonam,was an Indian politician, administrator, educator,orator and
Indian independence activist. He wasacclaimed for his oratory and commandover
the English language.
AN INTERSTINGARTICLEon Silver Tongued Srinivasa Sastry:
The telephone rang in the hotel room ofthe Rt.Hon.
V.S.Srinivasa Sastry in 1921. The voice at the other end was that of
Mr.Bilderbeck – the British principal of the Government Training
College,Kumbakonam, when as a young man Sastry was his student. It was a
pleasant surprise for Mr. Sastry tomeet his former Principal, while it was no
less a pleasant affair for Mr.Bilderbeck that his erstwhile student had been
honoured with the Freedom of theCity of London.
Mr. Bilderbeck got upa little function in honour of
Mr. Sastry. On that occasion Mr. Bilderbeckrecalled a very touching incident
when Mr. Sastry was his student. The only dress he could afford was a
towelwith which he attended the class. On arainy day Sastry’s towel got wet.
Thestrict disciplinarian in Mr. Bilderbeck imposed on Sastry a fine of
EightAnnas. Where upon Sastry withtears in his eyes begged the Principal to
say how he wasto pay the fine of Eight Annas whenhe could not buy a new shirt
which would cost him only sixAnnas.
A few hours later Mrs. Bilderbeck foundher husband in his study praying
to God to forgive him for the imposition offine on poor Sastry. Mrs.
Bilderbeckadvised the disciplinarian to remit the fine himself which he did,
and as thestory goes, gave Sastry a new shirt, too.
After relatingthis incident the Mr. Bilderbeck expressed their
profound joy that thisshirt-less “SRINIVASAN” blossomed into the Rt. Hon. V. S.
Srinivasan Sastry, amember of the British Privy Council and a free man of the
City of London.
Suchwas the grinding poverty and chill penury Sastry suffered
as student. On one occasion Sastry said his mother had todecline a gift of
Mangoes as she had no money enough to purchase salt andpickle it. How
unbelievable it is to a modern student well placed in cosycomfort and
sheltering ease; what it was to suffer poverty.
Great rivers have humble origins,but majesty and selfless
service flow from them. Despitethe fact that Sastry was not born with a
silverspoon in his mouth, he was endowed with asilver tongue and a sterling
character. His father had an explosive temper, but young Sastry’s constant
observation of hisfather’s frequent and violent outbursts made him realise the
evil consequencesof anger and so he endeavoured and succeeded in keeping his
emotions incheck. His mother had a vastpicture gallery of mythological lore,
which satisfied the eager listener in Mr.Sastry, which might have led to his
mastering scriptures and Indian Mythology. Thus, he became akeen student of
the great epic RAMAYANA and delivered 30 scholarly Lectures onRAMAYANA.
He had a very brilliant scholasticcareer. He graduated
with a highfirst class in Sanskrit and English. He stood firstin the entire
Presidency in English. He mastered the English tongue so well thathe could
correct someof the passages in English grammar by J. C. Nesfield even at the
age of fourteen. This created a sensation even among theEnglishmen.
Teachingwas his first and only love. Sastryjoined as a
teacher in the Municipal High School at Mayavaram. Later he taught English in
Salem College withgreat distinction. Before he became theHead Master of Hindu
High School, Triplicane, Madras, in 1899, he worked forsome time in
Pachiyappa’s and distinguished himself as an eminenteducationist. However, the
genius ofMr. Sastry could not remain confined to teaching boys. He sought
wider contacts, followed publicaffairs and made his presence felt in various
spheres of social service.
In 1906 he took a
momentous decision, leftteaching and joined the Servants of India Society
founded by Mr. GopalakrishnaGokhale, as his intellectual and patriotic urges
sought a wider field ofactivity. Gokhale was his master. After Gokhale died,
the disciple wore themaster’s mantle and became the President of Servants of
India Society.
In 1913 he wasnominated to the Legislative Council and won the
admiration of one andall. He eloquently pleaded for theexpansion of elementary
education to cover wider areas. In 1916 he was returned to the
ImperialLegislative Council by the Madras Legislative Council. When the
government ofIndia decided to implement the repressive recommendations of the
Rowlattreport, Sastry made one of his most powerful and eloquent
speechesagainst the proposed Bill. Hiseloquences shone in that august body
where eloquence was not uncommon.
Even as early as 1918, he opposed thereorganisation of provinces on the
basis of language. He feared that this wouldlead to parochial patriotism and
fissiparous tendencies. Prophetic indeed!
Sastry waselected to the Council of State formed under
Montangue-Chelmsford Reforms. Evenon the very first day of its sitting he moved
a resolution urging theappointment of a committee for the repeal of certain
repressive laws. He called the deportation regulations a relicof somewhat
barbarous time. He hopedthat India would be enabled to attain full
constitutional liberty within theBritish Empire by entirely peaceful and
constitutional methods.
He wasappointed as the first Agent-General
of India in South Africa in 1927. He succeeded in establishing
cordialrelations between the Indians and the Whites. In the words of Hofmeyr, a
great orator of South Africa and a greatstatesman Mr. Sastry interpreted India
to the South Africans and revealed tothem the glories of ancient Indian
Civilisation.
Just at a time when he was completing thefirst year of his
stay the Indian community sent urgent telegrams to MahatmaGandhi praying him to
implore Sastry to stay on. On February 26, 1928 Gandhiji wrote to Mr.Sastri to
stay on.
Gandhiji’s word prevailed. Sastry stayed for six more
months.Mr.Sastry’s services at Imperial conferences won him great laurels. He
later became the member of Privy Counciland was also honoured with the freedom
of the City of London. The Government of India chose Sastry as itsdelegate to
the second assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva in1921. He toured New
Zealand, Australiaand Canada as the representative of the Government of India
to plead with thoseGovernments and peoples for equality of citizenship for
domiciled Indians intheir regions. Everywhere a warm welcomeawaited him and
his eloquence was remembered.
Heattended the first Round Table Conference in London in 1930 and second in
1931.
In 1935 he was appointed as the Vice Chancellor
of the AnnamalaiUniversity. Allthrough his life Sastry was a learner as well
as a teacher, for he believed inthe ancient adage “learn in order to teach and
teach in order to learn”.
In so highlighting the achievements of Mr. Sastry in his publiclife we should
not forget his enthralling oratory that made a lastingimpression in India and
abroad. Mr.Sastry did not speak English as an Englishman would do. But he
spoke it as itought to be spoken. He had acquired anextraordinary measure of
phonetic skill and many English speaking people theworld over were carried off
their feet in admiration for the superb grace andpolish of his periods, the
sweep and resonance of his style. Every one of his speeches, marked by
theclassic purity of the language, and stately diction was an oratorical
triumphof unmatched brilliance, a grand symphony of word and voice and of
thought andgesture. Some of the greatest men of hisday paid the highest
tribute to Sastry’s oratory. Lord Balfour placed him as one of the
fivegreatest orators of his time. The masterof Balliol Mr. Smith declared that
he had never before realised the beauty ofEnglish language till he heard Mr.
Sastry, Lady Lytton called him an artist inwords. Sir Thomas Smart dubbed him
forever as “the Empire’s silver tongued orator”.
Rt. HAL Fisher who was at the League of Nations said in 1923that it was “no
flattery or exaggeration to say that the greatest sensation ofthat meeting was
furnished by the eloquence of Mr. Sastry”. Theliterary supplement of the
London Times said that “Mr. Sastri was one of theGreatest Masters of the
written and spoken English of his day.”
ThePretoria News of South Africa said “it is a
curious thing that the two bestEnglish speakers in South Africa are not
Englishmen. One is a Dutch man Mr. Hofmaeyr and the otheris an Indian, Mr.
Sastry. Mr. Sastry hasthe Asquithaian gift of compressionwhich goes along with
the choice of inevitable word.” The Washington
Evening News observed
“Mr. Sastry spoke the purest English”. He was like a blood-brother Mahatma
Gandhi. Gandhiji once wrote to Mr. Sastry “yourcriticism soothes, your silence
makes me nervous”. Sastry agreed to correct the English translation ofMahatma
Gandhi’s Autobiography and insisted that he should be allowed to
remainanonymous. Yet Mr. Sastry could not see eye to eye, on the
politicalplane, with Gandhiji. Mr. Sastry couldnot agree with Gandhiji on the
issue of non-co-operation. His constantopposition to Gandhi’s political
policies was the result of his politicalphilosophy. Like Burke, he loved order
and dreaded anarchy. He preferred reformto revolution. He had an abiding faith
in the efficacy of the constitutionalmethods. He believed in steady progress
rather than a tumultuous change.
Towards the very end ofhis life Mr. Sastry
who was ill had the supreme blessing of being visited bythe Mahatma, in Madras
in January-February 1946.
He was always modest and never aspired for the glamour ofposition. He declined
twice theKnighthood conferred on him, as also the Chairmanship of the Council
of theState. He was born humble, remainedhumble, leaving a rich heritage. He
died a true and devoted servant of Indialeaving a shining example for others on
17th April 1946.Mahatma Gandhi, theFather of the Nation paid this glowing
tribute “Death has removed not only fromus, but from the world, one of India’s
best sons. I am sure he had no thoughtof himself even on his death-bed. His
Sanskrit learning was as great as, if notgreater than, his English. I must
notpermit myself to say more save this that though we differed in politics,
ourhearts were one, and I could neverthink that his patriotism was less than
that of the tallest patriot……”
Rt. Hon’ble Srinivas Sastry’s speeches tookthe English men by storm: They
listened to his speeches in rapt attention. Under hisportrait in Guild Hall of
London, the following lines were written:
‘Here is an Indian who taught English to English men!
__._,_.___
Courtesy: "G.Balasubramanian" [email protected]
Regards
V.Sridharan
Trichy
--
On Facebook, please join https://www.facebook.com/groups/keralaiyerstrust
We are now on Telegram Mobile App also, please join
Pattars/Kerala Iyers Discussions: https://t.me/PattarsGroup
Kerala Iyers Trust Decisions only posts : https://t.me/KeralaIyersTrust
Kerala Iyers Trust Group for Discussions: https://t.me/KeralaIyersTrustGroup
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"KeralaIyers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/keralaiyers/293878738.64015.1711079330955%40mail.yahoo.com.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/452863071.69261.1711080276954%40mail.yahoo.com.
