LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF SIR CP RAMASWAMI AIYAR

“There may be many Ramaswamies, but only one C.P”, Chief Justice P.V. Rajamannar of the Madras High Court put it in a nutshall when describing C.P.’s fascinating personality1. In the 1880s, anyone frequenting the less than thirty mile long road that winds through the rice fields which lie between Kumbakonam and Mayuram, two major towns in the district of Tanjore, on the eastern coast of the Presidency of Madras would not have failed to come across a palanquin which often shuttled back and forth between the residence of C.P Ramaswami Aiyar, Tahsidar of Kumbakonam and that of C.VenkatasubbaAiyar, Tahsildar of Mayuram. At each village, the palanquin with its escort of attendants and armed guards would stop to enable its occupant, a mere child, the grandson of both, to receive the homage of the villagers. This child, in whose memory these palauquin trips became etched in lovingly brilliant colours, was to become Dr. Sachivottama Sir. C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar K.C.I.E, KC. SI, Descendant of Appayya Dikshitar, grandson of a Deputy Collector, son of a Judge, the only child of his parents2. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Wandiwash had one more feather added to its cap when Chetpat Pattabhirama Ramaswami Aiyar-affectionately called  “C.P” by his contemporaries-was born to C.R Pattabhirama Aiyar and Rangammal on 13 November 18793. He was actually born in night of Deepavali  (November 12). Since Hindus calculate the  date from sunrise, the birth date is mentioned as November 12th in Indian records4.

            Pattabhirama Aiyar (C.P’s father), was born in 1857. He was proficient in both English and Mathematics, and was greatly influenced by the famed William Porter and Gopala Rao of the Kumbakonam College. Pattabirama Aiyar enrolled as a lawyer in 1877, joined the Bar at Tanjore and then moved to Madras. He had married Seethalakshmi Ammal. He had also server as a professor in the Law College of Madras which in those days conducted evining classes for which the services of the leading members of the Bar were requisitioned. But for his untimely death in 1902, he would

have adorned loftier chairs in the judicial field5

Thatha’s (C.P) Madras home, ‘The Grove’, has a very interesting history. On this vast plot purchased by Pattabhirama Aiyar and his father-in-law in Rangamnal’s name, the enlarged present building was added in 1885-86 and named ‘The Grove’. The Grove was maintained in its original form by Thatha. Mahatma Gandhi, on his first visit to Madras on his return from South Africa, was hosted to a meal at this house. Amongst other guests may be mentioned Dr. Annie Besant, M.A Jinnah, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Mohammed Ali & Shaukat Ali, Dr. Ansari, Sarojini Naidu, Kamaladevi and Harindranath Chatopadhyaya, some of whom stayed in the house on several occasions6.

            Typical of the family’s erudition and interest in ancient history, they chose the Phoenix is a bird in Egyptian mythology which is believed to live in the Arabian desert for 500 to 600 years after which it jumps into the fire. It then rises from the ashes renewed in strength to start another long life. This bird is believe to be a symbol of immortality. The sacred symbol OM (Aum) was placed in front of the Phoenix as part of the emblam, by Thatha’s father7.

            Consummate Pattabhirama Aiyar, looked for ahead and meticulously programmed the destiny, as it were, of his only son. But in doing so, he chose the path of Spartan discipline for his boy. It was the general belief that physical comfort and economic security of an affluent home would smother in its children the habits of industry, initative, perseverance and self-assurance8. His being born with a silver spoon in his mouth was envied  by many. (Some even called it a diamond-studded spoon !). But he was one of a rare breed who never took his birth for granted but, by his bearing, disposition and academic achievements, proved worthy of it, Subbaraya Aiyar said9.

            As a child of five, Thatha was initiated in to learning Sanskrit and Tamil shlokas, but also had an English tutor at home. Thatha’s father, Pattabhirama Aiyar, was so greatly influenced by Western literature at that time that the first languages Thatha learnt to read and

write was English. He joined the Western Mission School at Madras where he was introduced to the Bible by one Rev. Cooling. In  his school years, his return home from school was timed, and if he was more than 15 minutes late, he was locked out of the house10.

            There was another interesting version current in those days relating to the severe life-style imposed on the little boy by his father. It is one of the axioms of Freudian psychology that a man’s personality is completely determined by the first five years of his life. Even those schools of psychology which do not fully subscribe to this axiom hold that a man’s earliest experiences strongly influence the shaping of his character11. While at school, a French Padre taught Thatha French and introduced him to French poetry and prose, as also to painting and sculpture and to all branches of the fine arts. This became a passion with Thatha all through his life, and his taste in literature and the fine arts were so wide and varied that he could enthral listeners and audiences on any of these subjects, as he had acquired great in-depth knowledge by study through the years12.

            After school, C.P joined the Presidency College in 1894 for his intermediate – a two-year pre-degree course known in those days as F.A (First Arts Examination). While doing this, he was married in 1895 at 16 to Seethammal who too belonged to a family of outstanding lawyers. The bride was the daughter of C.V Sundara Sastri and sister of C.V Kumaraswami Sastri, the second and the third in the line of “Calamur” family beginning with C.V. Ranganatha Sastri13.

            He won prizes in English, Sanskrit and Mathematics and was a gold medallist. He was also a University medallist in these subjects. He obtained a double first class in the B.A exams and stood first in English and Sanskrit. Throughout, his academic career was one of extraordinary brilliance14. He secured distinction in Sanskrit and English and bagged the Christian College Medal for English language and the University Medal for Sanskrit.  C.P.’s.

simplicity and humility were transparent when he said that the prize he received for proficiency in Sanskrit should have actually gone to another student15.

            In the heavy and ruthless time table that his father had designed for C.P., games had no place!. But C.P. loved to play Tennis, Foot ball and Cricket although the first was his forte. He won championship in both Singles and Doubles of the South Lown Tennis Association. All through his college years he would not miss a single days tennis, and there is an amusing incident worth recounting16. From a very young age he went house riding every morning and continued to do so until he was 50.

            With the pocket money given by his father, he would spend lavishly on buying books and had a well-stocked library even as a student, which he made available to his friends. This library grew in time to be one of the largest libraries in Madras owned by a single individual; and qualitatively possibly the best17. In order to ensure that his son achieved mastery over the English language, Thatha’s father bought a set of 20 massive volumes of “Chambers Miscellany”  when his son was in the 8th standard.  According to his  cousin, he completed all 20 volumes in less than two years. It revels his reading ability and interest. The attending staff of Presidency College and Law College remembered for decades the shockingly enormous tips they received from C.P, when he studied in those institutions. It reflected the uncontrolled expenditure habit of C.P.

            By the time he was 18, his maternal grandfather, Venkatasubbaiyar, had taught him how to invest in stocks and shares and the intricacies of financial management. This stood him in good stead in his later life18.

            Those were days when great glamour and grandeur were attached to the civil service and success in the competitive examination was considered to be the prize of life. After CP’s graduation, Principal Stuart, who also taught him higher Mathematics, nominated him for

the Indian Audit and Accounts service19. This apart, C.P himself had applied for the post of a Assistant Professor of English. Thatha’s father Pattabhirama Aiyar’s devotion to law and legal profession led to his wanting his only son to follow in his footsteps. The disappointed but dutiful son reconciled himself to doing law. In 1899, C.P joined the law course but reluctautly. Thatha joined the law college and passed, as expected with distinction. However even at this stage he was not keen on a legal career20.

            Curiously enough, after completing the law course in 1901, C.P. did not enrol himself as a lawyer. At the very start of his legal career, CP felt a sudden urge to abandon it and join the Servants of India Society founded by Gopalakrishna Gokhale. He went to Poona where he met Gokhale who agreed to admit him as a member of society. This greatly appealed to Thatha, who became a great admirer of Gokhale, of his political thinking as a Liberal, his high principles, and his devotion to social service21.

            C.P. said, he would “have joined the society…. But my father insisted, with some peremptoriness, that I should join the Bar; and my earlier ambition was frustrated22. C.P turned it down on the advice of his father and took to the law, becoming a junior lawyer in the chambers of V. Krishnaswami Aiyar, lion of the Madras bar. CP’s first year’s income was a measly 108 rupees, and some of his people, prone to superstition, attributed this not very promising start to C.P’s enrolling himself on a Tuesday, which was inauspicious. In 1904, which was the second year of his practice, his income rose quickly to 560 rupees “on account of a windfall” 23. Within the next few years, he built up a file of 300 cases and a clientele of many of the commercial houses and business magnates of Madras city.

            His rise in the Madras bar was breathtakingly meteoric and by 1910 he was, at the age of thirty-one, the undisputed leader of the original side of the Madras High Court. Sir C.P was selected as the President of the First All Indian Lawyers Conference held at Allahabad.

The summer of 1913 saw CP’s name hitting the headlines of the city’s newspapers with his appearance before the High Court of Madras in the sensational Narianiah v Besant case. Narianiah had signed a deed transferring the legal guardianship of his sons J Krishnamurti – who later became an internationally well known philosopher-and his younger brother J Nityananda to Annie Besant. C.P won a splented victory for Nariahiah when the court directed Besant to hand over the custody of the boys to their father. C.P left the Congress in 1920. On 16 December 1920, at the age of 41, C.P was appointed Advocate General to the Madras Government in succession to K.Srinivasa Iyengar who was made a Member of the Governor’s Executive Council24.

            It was an amazing feature of Thatha’s life that, in several instance, persons with whom he had differences and who treated him with hostility, soon became some of his closest friends. The first example was Mrs. Besant. The Besant v Narianiah case was something of a turning point in CP’s life because it brought him and Besant in touch with each other, through as opponents. Later, C.P became her most trusted lieutenant. She relied immensely on his sound judgement and amazing ability to face difficult situations25. Dr. Annie Besant opined that the District Conference should concentrate attention on specific problems of regional interest and suggest improvements in the general system of administration.C.P participated in the Congress of 1910 at Allahabad. At the twenty-sixth Congress that met at Calcutta in 1911, C.P supported the resolution of Surendranath Bannerjee thanking the Government of India26. He also participated the Congress of 1912,1913,1914,1915 respectively.

            C.P was one of the founders of the S.S K.V Girls High School, Kanchipuram, the YMIA at Madras and so many other institutions27. The YMIA and the Madras Parliament

were two among the notable institutions started by Besant in association with C.P. The Young Men’s Indian Association (YMIA) Besant’s “favorite child”, was founded on January 191428. C.P was connected with the YMIA right from its inception as its Founder Trustee and Honorary Secretary of the Managing Committee. He also served as its President from 1950 to 1966. Thus the Association had the privilege of receiving CP’s counsels and guidance for a solid period of 33 years.

            The other and the more important creation of Besant waas the Madras Parliament. Its launching was proposed on the New year’s Day in 1915 and it was founded on 14 February 191529. What is important in the present context is the Compulsory Elementary Education Act I of 1915, which C.P as the secretary for Education, introduced at the Madras Parliament. It was his priceless contribution to education at the primary level. It was the first Bill on which full discussion took place on reading it for the second time in the House. It would be of interest to know that on 19 April 1915 when CP moved “that the Compulsory Education Bill be now read a second time30.” The Madras Parliament died in June 1917 following the internment of Besant by the Madras Government.

            The Home Rule for India League, which formed part of the history of the Indian National Movement, came into existence. C.P was a great source of strength to Besant in founding it. The Home Rule Movement was nothing but a pure and simple scheme of self- Government. C.P fell under the spell of her magnetic personality and on her invitation threw himself into the work of Home Rule Movement with characteristic zeal. When Besant was interned in Ootacamund by the Madras Government CP who had himself missed internment by a whisker, took up the editorship of New India. When security proceedings were laundered against C.R Das, C.P heroically pledged all his immovable assets as surety. In 1916, he become a secretary of the All India Home Rule League31.       

In 1916, C.P met Pattabhi Sitaramayya, another Home Ruler, who was to become one of his most trustworthy friends. Both of them jointly signed the Satyagrahic Pledge at the China Bagh. Throughout the Home Rule Movement, they never parted company until CP led the All India Home Rule League delegation to give evidence before the Joint Parliamentary Committee in London in 1919. C.P also came into contact with Jawaharlal Nehru when both were Joint Secretaries of the Home Rule League. C.P was invited to attend the Special War Conference convened by the Viceroy at Delhi on 27 April 191832.

            The Home Rule Movement soon became intensely popular. The success of Palaghat Conference was a source of great encouragement to the leaders and the people alike. The second District Conference was held at Calicut on 23 and 24 April, 1917 and was presided over by Mr. C.P Ramaswami Aiyer33. Yet Thatha always felt that this great pioneer in the movement for Indian freedom had not been given the accolades rightly due to her, nor adequately recognized in Free India.

            From the Home Rule Movement to the Indian National Congress was just one step and in 1917, the years which saw Besant’s election as Congress president, CP became a secretary of the party. The Congress historian, Pattabhi Sitaramayya observed: “Between 1917 and 1919, C.P was the one star on the Congress firmament flooding the horizon of Indian politics with his radiance34.” Thatha and S. Satyamurthi, the great Congressman, were good friends, but were opponents politically once Thatha became Law Member. Besides helping Besant to lay the groundwork and build the infrastructure of the Home Rule League, he also did enormous amount of work for the Congress, first as a dedicated member and later as its General Secretary. The Malabar District Conference held at Palaghat on 4 and 5 March 1916, under the presidentship of Dr. Annie Besant is an important land mark in the history of freedom struggle in Kerala. The Delhi Congress of December 1918 virtually ended CP’s fourteen year-old relationship with the Indian National Congress35.

C.P left the Congress in 1920 to become Advocate-General of the Presidency of Madras. On16 December 1920, at the age of 41, C.P. was appointed Advocate General to the Madras Government. As soon as CP’s appointment as Advocate General was known, these was a rumour that Willingdon’s Government had sent up a proposal to the Home Government to enhance the salary of the Advocate General to Rs. 4000 per mensem. While Thatha was Advocate General, as eaplained elsewhere, his income reached unprecedented levels. Lord Willingdon offered Thatha Membership in the Executive Council at Madras36.

            C.P was responsible for the introduction of hydroelectricity in the Madras Presidency through the Mettur, Pykara and Bhavani projects and for the development of the Cochin, Tuticorin and Vishakhapatanam ports37. The Pykara Dam had the highest head plant in Asia at that time (3082 feet/950M.high), and one of five highest in the world. It was commenced in 1929 and completed in 1932, at a total cost of only Rs. 6.75 crores.

            Another great project established by Thatha was the Mettur Dam (built between 1929 and 1932) at the place, where the Kaveri River enters the plains38. This project at an estimated cost of Rs. 385 lakh allowed for the irrigation of a new area of 3,28,396 acres in Tanjore District of which 75,000 would be second cropped and for the extension of the second crop in the existing delta by 70,000 acreas. From Mettur, electricity was taken northward to Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Madras, besides other centres. On 20 July 1925, the Mettur project was inaugurated39.

            In 1920, C.P was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly from the Tanjore-Trichinopoly constituency in the vacancy caused by the resignation of A.Rangaswamy Iyengar40. On 10 July 1930, which was the first meeting of the Assembly that C.P attended, the House was debating the Simon Commission Report on a cut motion. In 1928, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly and later to the Council of State41.

In 1930 for the first time in British-Indian relations, the Government adapted the process of a Round Table Conference. There were three such conference, the first of which was held between 12 November 1930 and 19 January 1931. There were in all 89 delegates who attended this conference. As C.P put it plainly, the British Indian delegates were person chosen by the Viceroy to represent certain points of view before the conference. CP’s first speech at the Round Table Conference was candid and frank. He was the delegate to League of Nations, and to the 1st and 3rd Round Table Conferences42.

            Between 1932 and 1936, C.P served as Constitutional Adviser to the Maharaja of Travancore43. While approving the accession of Chithira Thirunal to the throne, Lord Willingdon had insisted that Sir. C.P was appointed as Legal and Constitutional advisor to the Maharajas. It is proposed to make the formal announcement of the appointment of Sir C.P as Legal and constitutional Adviser on the occasion of the investiture ceremony in November 1931, with the approval the Viceroy. In aletter addressed to the Viceroy on September 26, 1931 the Maharaja sought his approval of the proposed appointment of Sir C.P.

            Within a week after CP took the reins of Government, the Majaraja announced his decision to appoint a Public Service Recruitment Committee. The Government felt that there was no need for an expensive Public Service Commission as suggested by the Recruitment Committee44.

            The magnanimous Mulam Tirunal was the first ever ruler in India to establish two legislative bodies in a Princely State45. Under the guidance of CP, who perused and revised the proposal of the Government. The proposed bicameral legislature would comprise the Sri. Mulam Assembly (First Chamber) and the Sri Chitra Sate Council (Second Chamber) .

            C.P was very keen to purge the State of the evil of denial of access to temple to tue so-called “low castes” 46. In November 1932, a year after C.P became the Legal and

Constitutional Advisor to the Maharaja, the Government appointed a committee. The committee submitted its report on January 11, 193447. The deputation sent by the All-Kerala Temple Entry Conference submitted a memorial to the Diwan, Sir C.P Ramaswami Aiyar on 3 November 1936 demanding temple entry for Harijans. On 11 November 1936, the Majaraja declared open all temples to the avarnas. The Temple Entry Proclamation, which threw open the gates of the temples of Travancore to Hindus of all castes and creeds48.

            Between 1936 to 1947 C.P served as Diwan of Travancore. The Joint Political Congress have viewed with considerable misgiving the intended appointment of Sir CP Ramaswami Aiyer, hitherto Legal and Constitutional Advisor to the Maharaja as the Diwan of  Travancore. In a letter dated September 4, 1936 the Maharaja offered the Diwanship to Sir CP49. Sir C.P Ramaswami Aiyar assumed charges as Diwan of Travancore on October 2, 1936. Regarding his acceptance of Diwanship Sri Chithira Thirunal has this to say:- “when I requested him to be my Diwan in 1936, he was good enough to accede to my request at considerable personal sacrifice50”.

            Moreover, Sir C.P seems to have anticipated the shape of things to come and he resigned from the post of Diwan and made his exit from Travancore (December 7, 1946) 51.

            The Resident informs Griffin that there was nothing hypocritical about Sir CP’s resignation and its subsequent withdrawal. To quote him, ‘The resignation itself was genuine and very sincere and so also is the decision to defer it at Maharaja’s request’.

            From now on Sir CP concentrated his attention on accomplishing two important tasks, viz, implementation of American Model reforms and espousal of the cause of Independent Travancore52. CP’s attempt to make Travancore independent can be called a mistake because

it failed. An attempt was made to Murder the Diwan Sir. C.P on 25 July 1947 at the Swathi Tirunal Academy of Music, Trivandrum. Sir CP resigned his post of Diwan, on 19 August 194753. Today, fifty years after CP’s departure, Trivandrum though definitely uglier and dirtier, still retains something of its old romantic charm54. He continued his contacts with Sri Chithira Thirunal at the personal level till his death on September 26, 1966.

            Between 1948 and 1955, he went on extensive lecture tours to the United States of America, England. Australia, New Zealand and South American countries and was a delegate to the East West Philosophical Congress and the PEN International Conferences55. Towards the end of 1947, Thatha visited Delhi. Thatha visited Brazil as a gust of the Government of Brazil, and also visited Argentina, Peru and Mexico as a tourist. It is no surprise that C.P who had a half a century of public speaking behind him, became a hot favourite of the international lecturing circuit56.

            In the U.S.A, he gave talks at the University of California and had discussions with Federal Reserve Bank authorities. He was invited to meet both President Truman and later, General Marshall. He gave several talks at the Ramakrishna Math in new York as also in Boston. The great Universities of England and America-Oxford, Cambridgs, London, Yale and Harvard-were his beloved stamping grounds57. Thatha was invited to the US again in 1949-50 as a Visiting Professor at the American Academy of Asian Studies in California.

            In 1952, he visited Australia and New Zealand as a gust of those Government. Again in 1953, he visited the U.S.A on a lecture tour. At Wesley and Presidency he had been the prize boy and the one area which never failed to bring him a steady stream of prizes were speaking. From 1948 to 1952, he was fully involved in cultural, literary and philosophical deliberatious58.

            Thatha was the Vice-Chancellor of three universities – Travancore, Annamalai and Banaras. In 1954, at the request of GOI, he took office at Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University59. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor V.V Narlikar says about Thatha, “To be in his company to listen to him” was a priceless education60. In 1962 he was the Vice Chancellor of Annamalai. He was the Vice Chancellor of Travancore University which he established. Thatha received Honorary Doctorate degree (D. Litt or LL.D) from five Universities61.

            In the years that followed, C.P became Member of the Indian Press Commission, Member and later Chairman of University Grants Commission, Chairman of the Hindu Religious Endowment Commission Chairman of National Integration Committee, Chairman of the standing Committee on University education and President of the Inter-University Board of India and Ceylon. He was the President of both Travancore Sri Mulam Assembly and Travancore Sri Chitra State Council. He was the patrons of Trivandrum Club and the Travancore Athletic Assosiation. He was the Chairman, Member and President of the Travancore State Sailer Soldiers and Armies Bord, The Indian Rubber Production board and society for the Prevention of Crueilty to Animals62 respectively.