Sri Sivakamayya: A Tribute

DR. L. S. R. KRISHNA SASTRY
Andhra University

The dawn of 11th February, 1967, did not herald light but darkness; the newspapers carried the sad news of the sudden passing away of Sri M. Sivakamayya. The end came at Masulipatam in the early hours on 10th. “The news was stunning in its effect and one was dazed for the nonce. It was difficult to believe that Sri Sivakamayya, with his simple khadi attire and serenity and determination writ large on his face, was no more. But the news was true and had to be swallowed somehow like a bitter pill.

It is a difficult and necessarily inadequate exercise to try to sum up a life’s achievement, particularly when it is rich and multifoliate as in the case of Sri Sivakamayya. Scholar and teacher, humanist and educationist, administrator and philanthropist, editor and critic, and, above all, gentleman and Sahridaya–Sri Sivakamayya combined diverse roles in himself. He was oneof those rare people who are born teachers and for whom teaching is not a mere profession but a vocation. Teaching does not consist in instruction, nor in completing the portion according to the prescribed syllabus; it must be a continuous process of provoking and quenching the thirst for knowledge, and kindle the fire within. It must be a true translation of the Vedic chant–Asato ma Satgamaya tamaso ma Jotirgamaya–which would verily be the foundation for the edifice of life’s full-blown development. A true teacher’s words are a permanent and priceless treasure with us and one often recollects them in tranquility for solace and strength, inspiration and guidance.

The music in my heart I bore
Long after I heard no more.

Such teaching exceeds the dull routine of syllabus and examination, class-room and pass-mark, and is elevated to the communion of souls engaged in the pursuit of Truth. It is conceived of in that broad perspective and charged with that sacredness that teaching affords ineffable joy and leads to the unfolding of the recipient’s personality. Sri Sivakamayya always had this exalted ideal before him and strove every minute of his career to achieve it. His numberless students who are scattered allover the State and even outside would testify to it. They cannot still forget his brilliant and altogether original exposition of such classics as Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet and King Lear–King Lear in particular perhaps–and his lucid and inspiring analysis of such masterpieces in prose as Arnold’s essays or Ruskin’s, or Thoreau’s Walden, and finally the remarkable way in which he used to forge links between life and literature.

Sri Sivakamayya took his first M.A. in Mathematics and this gave him a mathematical precision in outlook and style. The B. Ed. training gave him an insight into the psychology of the student and the technique of teaching, and whether he taught in the class or conversed in a group, spoke publicly or indicted an article, one could discern the typical approach of a teacher with emphasis on grounds and trends. Sri Sivakamayya was also a product of the Indian cultural tradition and had a stout faith in spiritual values. His study of writers and thinkers like Tagore and Sri Aurobindo was over and above the mere literary angle and he was profoundly influenced by the philosophy that is the mainspring of their writings. He averred more than once that the ills and evils of the world today were the result of the slinking away of spiritual values. He, however, used to strike an optimistic note and say that there would be a renaissance of spiritual values and that the present spell of gloom was but a passing phase. Even as in the physical world matter is indestructible, he used to say, in the spiritual realm also, the work done by a Ramakrishna Paramahamsa or a Vivekananda or a Sri Aurobindo or a Tagore would never be in vain and its constructive results were bound to be felt one day. However much we try to alter the complexion of the country by industrialisation and the like processes of economic and social reconstruction (as we fondly hope), we cannot totally transform the character of the country. India would cease to be India if it drifted away from spiritual values.

An ardent believer in the democratic ideal, Sri Sivakamayya used to assert that we should not fight shy of implementing the democratic principle at all levels. As regards the student indiscipline, his opinion was that the problem became endemic in the country because there was a failure of mutual trust between students and teachers. When the Andhra University addressed the Principals of the affiliated colleges on this question, he was among the few to send clear and concrete proposals, and he suggested the formation of Councils consisting of students and teachers to deal with the difficulties of students and see that they do not ‘escalate’ into ‘problems ‘. Education at the college level, he used to say, should be a co-operative enterprise in which the students and teachers were involved in creative partnership.

Regarding the matter of falling (or fallen) standards also, Sri Sivakamayya’s views were refreshingly optimistic. He was often saying that it was the policy of unthinking expansion that was responsible for the discouraging results. The best student today is in no way inferior to the best student of ten or twenty years ago, if we consider any class. At no stage is personal attention possible. The lecture system is good but it has to be supplemented by a thorough tutorial, and this the colleges cannot afford because offinancial implications. Even the examination pattern places a premium on memorization and the ‘choice’ often makes it a gamble. Add to this the frequent ‘reforms’ and ‘reorganisatiom’ in educational field. It is because of all these factors that one finds that the ‘end-product’ today is not so encouraging and it is unjust to find fault with the quality of present day students. If anything, they have to be looked upon with sympathy as they are being dealt with as guinea-pigs by their well-meaning but unwise elders.

Sri Sivakamayya’ gave the best of his life to the Andhra Jateeya Kalasala, though he had earlier worked in the Hindu College for nearly fifteen years and in the beginning of his career as the Headmaster of a Middle School at Nellore. The Andhra Jateeya Kalasala was the proper place for him and Sri S. T. G. Varadachary, himself a Sanskrit scholar of unusual calibre, spotted Sri Sivakamayya with rare vision, when he took the momentous decision to convert the national institution into a college imparting instruction in university courses. From that time when he joined as Vice-Principal till the day of his demise Sri Sivakamayya’s life and his very being were inextricably woven into the fabric ofthe Kalasala.

Sri Sivakamayya’s joining the Kalasala was no fortuitous circumstance; it was as though the happy coincidence was a contrivance of God. The Kalasala was the offshoot of the educational renaissance in the early years of the present century and catered to the need for national education with emphasis on fine arts and handicrafts. Such patriots and stalwarts as Sri Adivi Bapiraju, Sri Katuri Venkateswara Rao, Sri Bezawada Gopalareddy, Sri Kolavennu Ramakotiswara Rau and several others were actively associated with it. It was therefore in the fitness of things that when the Kalasala returned to life, albeit to assume a different role, Sri Sivakamayya, who was also full of patriotic zeal and nationalist fervour, should have been the first teacher to be invited.

Sri Sivakamayya embodied in himself the ideals and aspirations of the Kalasala. The college was his life and its development his fulfilment. In this connection, I cannot but recall an incident that took place in 1954. It is unforgettable. Sri M. Anantasayanam Ayyangar, the then Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, visited the College one day. The visit was probably delayed for some reason and the V. I. P. turned up at 12-30 P.M.–the time of recess for the students to go away. But still Sri Sivakamayya wanted that the students should not miss the distinguished guest. Something like an emergency meeting was arranged and the students assembled near the Science Laboratory in a vast crowd. The guest and Sri Sivakamayya were standing on the verandah. Sri Ayyangar began his brief speech with a comment on the name of the college and quipped that there was hardly anything national about the ‘National’ College. Probably the speaker was not in a good mood, what with the hot sun above and the tight programme ahead. Sri Sivakamayya, however, was not the man to allow anybody to get away with such an impression. His face was livid and he was quivering with emotion–the whole picture vividly gleams before my mind’s eye–, and pointing to the audience he said, “Please see them They are standing, braving the blazing sun, to listen to you. Is this not part of our national culture?” He then pointed to himself–hewas always dressed in dhoti and shirt and did not have the usual habiliments of most English teachers–and put the question, “Can you say which subject I deal with?” Without  waiting for an answer he went on to say, “I am the Head of the English Department. Am I not national?” Sri Anantasayanam Ayyangar was overwhelmed by a double sense of wonder and regretr and felt sorry for having said something off-hand. Such was Sri Sivakamayya’s courage of convictions and he was the most passionate defender of the honour and prestige of the Kalasala.

Equal was his passion for teaching; teaching gave him joy and was a means of self-exploration and spiritual sustenance, I happened to see him in January last, a month before the tragic event, and requested him to take long leave till he fully recovered. I suggested that even after leave he should take no classes if possible and only small classes if unavoidable. I mentioned that he might engage the B. A. Special English class. Quick and spontaneous was his reply that the special English students were not specially interested in English and he said that he would not be satisfied as a teacher unless he taught the Part I students. “I am sure,” he said, “there will be at least one student who will justify my trouble.” Others told me that he had said more than once in the classes that he preferred death to refraining from teaching in the interests of his health. Alas! how inestimably poor is the field of education for the loss of such a totally dedicated teacher!

If the Jateeya Kalasala was the life of Sri Sivakamayya, Triveni was his soul. It goes to the credit of the far-sighted Sri K. Ramakotiswara Rau, the journalist of journalists, that he hit upon the right person when he chose Sri Sivakamayya to perform the editorial functions of the journal. It needed considerable persuasion to get him to agree to his name being printed. He discharged the duties as editor with quiet efficiency and maintained the high standards for which the journal carved out a name for itself. Sri Ramakotiswara Rau also compelled him to translate pieces from classics like Mahabharata, Soundaranandamu, and these renderings, which came out in Triveni, were at once admirable for their chiselled beauty and remarkable fidelity to the original. Very few people know that he was deeply read in Telugu literatim and that he was a keen student of the Vedas and Upanishads. His reviews in Triveni were always constructive and presented, besides a lucid analysis, a judicious assessment of various books. One can find in these reviews evidence of his rare versatility and catholicity of taste. He also wrote essays on Dryden, T. S. Elliot, Keats and other writers, and broadcast talks over the air on problems of literary and educational interest. He was closely associated with the Educational India and one could see in his writings here how much of bard core of original thought he had concerning different aspects of education.

Early in life Sri Sivakamayya came under the influence of his scholarly and versatile maternal uncle and father-in-law, the late Sri Tumuluri Sivaramayya and later he was under the spell of that eminent and saintly teacher, the late Sri Vemuri Ramakrishna Rao. The intellectual vigour and many-sided brilliance of the former and the austerity and idealism of the latter went into his make-up. Added to that was his own love of simplicity and rigorous discipline. In one of his reviews, he says:

“...but, he finds, however, that the call of the scriptures, at one with the heart’s aspiration to explore the heights and depths, is not a call away from life but a call to life, to Karma Yoga, as the Gita expands it.”

The Gita also states, Yogah karmasu kausalam. Yoga is dexterous, determined and devout action, action directed towards a sacred cause. Yoga is that which unites. It is supposed to unite the spirit with God, while the body, mind and spirit are themselves in unison. More than other professions, teaching affords ample opportunity for intellectual development and offers spiritual solace to those who seek it. So, a teacher who is good and great, selfless and sincere, is something of a yogi. It seems to me that Sri Sivakamayya practised this yoga, because otherwise he would not have been so happy as a teacher. It appears some of his relatives and well-wishers used to say to him that he did not become sufficiently big’ in life. To this his reply always was that he was most satisfied as teacher, whether in school or college, and that he would feel miserable if he had to occupy any other station.

To talk to Sri Sivakamayya was to lose oneself in some serious topic and one could see the elevation from which he spoke and wealth of knowledge and perceptive insight he brought into the discussion. He appeared to be reserved and inaccessible, but once the ‘thaw’ took place, he would open out his heart and was affable as an angel. He was reticent in criticism and alike restrained in approbation. He cared more for the truth of his words than the taste. It seems he was requested once to speak at a function arranged to felicitate a certain gentleman who was a member of Parliament but not much of a parliamentarian. Sri. Sivakamayya rose and mentioned all the good qualities of the gentleman and said that those qualities more than justified the felicitation, though he was not notable as a parliamentarian. He balanced the speech in such a way that even the gentleman concerned was satisfied. He was so intellectually honest. He was incapable of half-hearted effort in regard to anything that he agreed to do and never accepted things for which he had no mind or time. Once he asked me to look after the preparation of a certain person for the M. A. Examination in English. I expressed surprise and said that he certainly was more competent. He smilingly replied, “I have myself advised him against my guidance. My guidance will not see him through in anything less than five years. So, it will begin after he gets the degree.” Thus, whatever he did he did thoroughly and honestly, and his reading of books was critical and incisive and he took the trouble of mastering all collateral information. I know the deep study he made when he was commissioned to write an article on Vemana for the Vedantakesari and the long hours he spent when he had to prepare a 15 minute radio talk on E. M. Forster. The illuminating exposition he made of Philip Spratt’s Hindu Culture and Personality when I saw him in January is still fresh in my memory, and his long and compelling review of this book is among the few things he did before he breathed his last.

I used to make the suggestion to him often that he should accomplish some major work in his life as a writer either in the field of education or in literary criticism or comparative literature. He used to laugh it away and say that after all teaching was his main pursuit and writing but a hobby. But I amsure he would have embarked upon a task of that nature had God granted him at least a decade of retired life. He was also planning to devote himself entirely to Triveni once he retired. But alas! Fate willed otherwise. He is snatched away from us. The gap is something that cannot be filled for Triveni and for all those who used to look forward to him for ideas and ideals.

These are days when values of materialism have corroded the field of education also and education is a miniature of general national situation. While most teachers are concerned with the bell and the bill, there are others who concentrate the ‘private sector’ and build up fortunes. Everywhere we find the wild dance of mammonism. There are others who are frustrated because their worth is not recognised and they have to suffer the ‘proud man’s contumely’. One also finds a new tribe of academic politicians emerging; their business is to issue notices and organise meetings, observe different ‘Days’ and pressurise various functionaries. Owing to these and other factors, ‘teaching’ is in the danger of becoming a casuality. It is for the teachers of today to beware of these evils and steer clear of political and communal pulls and pressures, preserve their sanity and honesty, and forge ahead with devotion and determination. In this field at least people should have integrity and idealism, ability as well as nobility. Otherwise the future is bleak. It is not copious reports and competent commissions, eminent Vice-Chancellors and enthusiastic Ministers of Education that can redeem the situation. The teacher is ‘the thing’. It is in this very important context that the lives of people like Sri Sivakamayya ‘remind us and we can make our lives sublime’. It is by cherishing the ideals for which he stood and emulating his example that we can raise the most fitting and lasting monument for him.

May the noble soul of Sri Sivakamayya rest in peace!

Om Santi ssanti ssantih!