Multi-dimensional personality

IN THE demise of S. Venkata Subramaniam (lovingly known by his initials SVS), a former Assistant Editor of Kalki, on July 2, 2001, in Chennai, the world of Tamil journalism, literature and culture has lost one of its stalwarts.

SVS was a Telugu speaking citizen of Tamil Nadu whose first love, however, was Tamil literature. He was studying in the Madras Loyola College when an old teacher of his in the T. Nagar Ramakrishna Mission High School commended him to the notice of `Rasikamani' TKC (T. K. Chidambaranatha Mudaliar) of Kutralam near Tirunelveli, famous in his days as the `Sage of of Kutralam' for his dedicated service to the cause of Tamil literature in general and Kamban's Ramayana in particular. Without hesitation of any kind SVS took the plunge - he gave up his higher studies to serve TKC in everyway he could - it was some sort of `Gurukulam' for his Tamil studies, as he lived with TKC like any other member of that family. That was fifty years ago.

In those momentous years of 1930s and 1940s TKC's house in Kutralam used to be frequented for days and weeks by scholars, poets, writers, statesmen and lay admirers alike: among them were C. Rajagopalachari who was then considered next only to Mahatma Gandhi when it came to national politics, `Kalki' Ra. Krishnamurthy, T. Sadasivam and M. S. Subbulakshmi - a quartet, so to say, who had so much to do with the renaissance of Tamil literature, art and culture in those days.

TKC began to lend the services of the young and bright SVS to Rajaji during his holidays in Kutralam and thus blossomed an understanding between the two, which lasted till the very end of Rajaji's amazingly long and active public life.

Seeing how SVS enjoyed the confidence of both TKC and Rajaji, Ra. Krishnamurthy enrolled `SVS' on the editorial staff of his periodical, Kalki, permitting him to be TKC's `understudy' also as long as that patriarch needed him. SVS has to his credit a number of short stories in Tamil besides lead articles in Kalki on vital public issues of the day, especially when Rajaji started once again his crusade for morality and cleanliness in public life in the late 1950s, leading thereafter to the launching of the Swatantra Party which was blessed by Jayaprakash Narain and assisted by giants of the day like Prof. N. G. Ranga, M. R. Masani, H. P. Mody, K. M. Munshi, Sa. Ganesan and so many others.

As literature remained the first love of SVS, he had learnt to read and speak Hindustani also. So T. Sadasivam of Kalki chose to lend the services of SVS to Rajaji as Private Secretary whenever the elder statesman left Madras on all-India tours, be they for English as the sole official language of the Indian Union or for the Swatantra cause.

While on such tours, SVS rendered yeoman service to the cause of our natural integration by explaining in simple, beautiful Hindi Rajaji's so called `inconsistent' stand on that language to the eminent and not so eminent persons outside Tamil Nadu.

Retiring gracefully and voluntarily from Kalki much in advance of its (temporary) closure in 1977, SVS gave his time and energy generously to the causes dear to his heart - encouraging periodical discussions on modern literature in languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali in Chennai and on Tamil in other major cities of upper India.

He spearheaded celebration of the birth centenary of the veteran freedom fighter and a doyen of Indian journalists, Khasa Subba Rau in Chennai. No portrait of SVS will be complete without a mention of his wife who so graciously and tirelessly played host to his many visitors and guests all through their long years of married life. Those of us lucky to have known SVS intimately will miss him - the world is really poorer without him.

K. VEDAMURTHY

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