Dr. D. S. Jayappa Gowda, known as a literary researcher and a prolific writer, has produced 25 books starting from 1978. The last one is Bharath Ratna Sir MV (2007). All his works are in Kannada. This voluminous outpouring of writing is in addition to hundreds of articles for the Kannada encyclopaedia, translations, research articles, seminar papers and more. He has been the recipient of many awards for his labour of love. Naturally from a person, to whom writing has become a second nature, one could expect scholarly works and the latest book is one such literary work from the pen of Dr. Jayappa Gowda.
Sir MV and Dr K Jayappa Gowda
There are any number of books written about Sir MV in Kannada apart from English and other languages. Considered an Engineer - Statesman par excellence, Sir MV got his opportunity of lifetime to show to the world his genius both as an Engineer and an administrator when he was handpicked by the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV as Dewan (Prime Minister) of the Mysore kingdom. He turned out to be an economist, an engineer, statesman, administrator, philosopher and a social reformer, all rolled into one. A disciplinarian, always immaculately dressed in suit and typical Mysore peta, he lived to be a centenarian, carrying the ultimate civilian award of the country Bharath Ratna. As it is, there is a massive work of Sir MV's memoirs in 22 volumes. So this new addition of a book on Sir MV is one more to the already existing number. However, there is a difference.
The book is both a biography and an administrative treatise about good governance with history of the period woven into it. No wonder, Dr. A. V. Narasimhamurthy, retired Professor of History, has a point when he says that this book is certainly different from other books written about Sir MV for the reason the author has written it in a manner of a historian writing about the contemporary history. The book is made more interesting to read because of a number of anecdotes and incidents about Sir MV that one rarely found in other books. It is, therefore, obvious that lot of research has gone into the writing of this very informative and readable book on Sir MV who was a legend in his own time.
Like all great men, Sir MV too had his own idiosyncrasy and eccentricity from what I have read and heard. His family life or more correctly married life with his wife was not as congenial as one would expect just as that of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa. It seems he never ate banana by biting it after peeling. He would peel the banana, break it into a piece and just pop it into his mouth. His famous statement was industrialize or perish. He highly valued merit in all spheres of life. He had to lose his job as Dewan on the issue of reservation of jobs. He is well-known to the people of Karnataka as the builder of the KRS Dam, popularly known in Kannada as the Kannambadi Katte. It seems Sir MV was destined to be in the service of a royal family for the reason his ancestors were also serving the rulers of Chikkaballapur since 15th century.
In his speech and writing, Sir MV would take utmost care and often wrote his speeches and read them in English. However, on occasions like addressing students and farmers, he would speak in Kannada. The book narrates an interesting anecdote he shared with school students to impress upon them how they should use their intelligence. It appears an aero-plane was a great wonder in those days. One day an aero plane, which was flying over a village crash landed on a farmer's field due to some technical problem. The pilots of the plane, finding that it needed some repair, requested the farmer to look after the plane while they went to get the spare parts and the mechanic.
The farmer went to a printing press, immediately got some pamphlets printed saying that there was an aero plane in his field which they could see from close quarters by paying a fee and distributed them. Soon hundreds of villagers came to see this metallic bird paying for the privilege. By the time the pilots came, the farmer had already made hundreds of rupees. The book also recounts Sir MV's correspondence with Gandhiji which inevitably makes good reading as it is between two intellectual giants. However, I would recount one interesting conversation which took place between Sir MV and Gandhiji.
When Sir Mirza Ismail was the Dewan of Mysore, Gandhiji was recuperating at Nandi Betta near Bangalore. The Dewan Sir Mirza along with Sir MV and Mir Hamsa Hussain, who was temporarily Dewan of Mysore, went to Nandi Betta to pay the courtesy call on Gandhiji. In the course of their conversation, Sir MV asked Gandhiji, "You have described Mysore as Rama Rajya for its good administration. But you did not say to which period the description is applicable." Mahatma Gandhi, who immediately grasped the hidden intent of Sir MV in posing this question, responded in his own inimitable manner saying: "Is it your belief that this was Rama Rajya only while you were a Dewan and not thereafter?" and guffawed as was Gandhiji's wont. Probably in the heart of hearts Sir MV was longing for recognition of his administration which prompted him to ask such a question. For once Sir MV was outwitted by a smart Baniya!
It appears once a serious discussion was taking place between Gandhiji and Sir MV. Gandhiji, known to be a very obdurate person, did not budge an inch from his stand. Sir MV, feeling unhappy, told Gandhiji with a benign smile "please remember in age you are younger to me." On such occasions both would take their differences in a lighter vein and enjoy the conversation. Sir MV always had a very good rapport with Gandhiji and interacted with him on a personal level. There was also another interesting episode that speaks eloquently about Sir MV's helping nature and humane face. It appears a widow had to part with her grindstone (Beesuva Kallu) to clear the loan her husband had taken. Sir MV, while on his tour, came to Mandya for overnight stay. The widow met Sir MV the Dewan and told him her tale of woe. Later, after a few days, the widow received a money order for Rs. 10 from Sir MV from which she bought a new grindstone. It seems this grindstone is now in Sir MV Museum at his village Muddenahalli in Chikkaballapur taluk. The book is replete with such interesting and revealing snippets.
Indeed a very readable book both for the young and old for there is so much for all of us to learn from a role model of an Indian like Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The book carries some photographs of historical importance. It is published by Shubodhaya Prakashana, T. K. Layout, Saraswathipuram, Mysore and priced Rs. 200.
The book is beautifully printed and well edited. Incidentally, towards the last decade of 19th century there was a newspaper in Mysore titled "The Mysore Star" which was the voice of the non - Brahmins of those days comprising Lingayats, Vokkaligas and Jain communities and in this century we have the Star of Mysore which is the voice of all the communities, including Brahmins.
