I clearly remember the small photo frame that was hung above the yellow filament bulb in the lengthy corridor of our ancestral house. The person in the picture is old but smiling. It was not a black and white photo nor coloured one. It had a monochrome feel to it. He was smiling, wearing thick round black framed glasses, and was wearing a full sleeved Jubba. He was probably wearing a dhoti to go with it, but the picture is not a full sized one. I wondered if he didn’t have many teeth left in him. His smile was extended from one end of his face to another. His ears were also a prominent feature of his face. He seems to be sitting at a desk writing and having a conversation at the same time with the photographer.
For a very long time, I thought it was the picture of my maternal grandfather Shri. Sreenivasa Iyer. Photos of people alive are not usually hung in houses during those days. I never questioned it until a friend visiting our house asked me about the person in the picture. My grandfather (thatha) told us with a hearty laugh that it was indeed Rajaji – Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. I looked at my thatha – he had striking similarity with Rajaji – with the bald head, bright eyes, and the lengthy smile.
On another sunny afternoon, while feeding me raw mangoes, my grandfather told me more about Rajaji. I was not very keen, yet he continued. Rajaji’s freedom fight, time in jail, authoring books. That’s when I realised that Rajaji was one of the very few people who had impressed my grandfather. Now, it made sense why the picture was there to begin with. He then said something that I thought was absurd. He was praising Rajaji for his handwriting. Of course, “Who cares” was my attitude.
When we went inside the house from the shade of the mango tree, I saw my thatha giving the picture a glance from the corner of his eye. His steps were fast paced, he went straight inside to the room, opened his almirah and started searching. The wooden almirah was full of papers in bundles. Finally, he pulled out a bundle, removed the string with which it was all tied together. A4 size paper folded into two and tied. He pulled out one paper and showed it to me. It was a letter from Rajaji to my grandfather!!! The handwriting – oh my god – long letters with tails and words written in running letters. It was a sight to watch!
Of course, I was not able to read it as I was not familiar with the font. Grandfather looked at it for a while and then wrapped it the same way and put it back in the almirah. Thatha had interactions with Rajaji through letters! I have no idea what they discussed – but for sure upliftment of the country would have been one.
In recent years I have come to know that Ramayana and Mahabharata commentary by Rajagopalachari published by Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan are one of the best to read and for reference.
So many great people have lived on this earth, and we do not know most of them, but their work is part of our daily lives unknowingly. One such is the song Kurai Ondrum Illai penned by Rajaji and sung by divine doyen of Carnatic Music M S Subbalakshmi. This song is part of our daily lives during our pooja in the mornings. Yet very few know that Rajaji wrote this highly devotional song on Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati during one of the toughest times in his life. He wrote it down and gave the paper to MS amma – there was no sit-down discussion on composing or anything of that sort. The song was born just out of devotion and the rest is history.
How many of us can say “Kurai Ondrum Illai” (I have no qualms) when we are facing one of the toughest situations in life?? Today, Rajaji, M S amma and my grandfather have gone to the ether world – but the legacies they left behind stays for us to imbibe and learn.
#vaniviswanathan #rajaji #rajagopalachari #mssubbalakshmi #kuraiondrumillai
Vani Viswanathan 
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