A Tribute

DR B. GOPALA REDDY

I am happy the Golden jubilee of Triveni was celebrated with pomp and solemnity recently in its birthplace, Madras. Handsome tributes were paid to late lamented Sri K. Ramakotiswara Rau who founded it in December 1927 and nourished it despite great difficulties, till he breathed his last. After his death, the mantle of carrying on the mission of Triveni fell on the shoulders of Sri Bhavaraju Narasimha Rao of Machilipatnam who considers it his sacred duty to maintain the continuous stream of the journal. Appreciative references were made to Sri Narasimha Rao on the occasion.

Ramakotiswara Rau was my teacher in 1923 at the Andhra Jateeya Kalasala, Machilipatnam. He was teaching us Indian History. Though I was under his guidance for only one year, we were attached to each other till his end. We were together in jail in the freedom struggle and we were together in the Madras Legislative Assembly. Wherever I was and whatever I was, he treated me with affection and in return I held him in great reverence. He possessed a fine taste. He could immediately identify what was beautiful and identify himself with it. He had a highly developed sensitivity and he could react to any situation with his innate warmth and wisdom. He was emotional and sentimental and endeared himself in his select cultural gatherings.

Triveni was his Magnum Opus. It reflected him in all aspects. It held a mirror to his inner emotions and tastes. He tried to interpret one Indian language to another. He encouraged translations of poems and short stories. He tried to discover the emerging image of Indian culture and literature, though written in diverse languages. He envisaged the imperatives of emotional integration long time ago and tried to translate it through the columns of Triveni. He was an idealist and drew his mental pictures on a wide canvas.

He became a martyr in the cause of Triveni. He staked everything in maintaining its standards and stability. Financial difficulties were haunting him from the beginning of Triveni. With its costly get-up and printing, Triveni could not become a self-supporting proposition. He travelled widely enlisting subscribers and life-members. It became a continuous struggle for a cause and a mission. He never was disspirited. He tried experiments and effected economies. He was all the while thinking of Triveni and it became a sort of penance with him. His health was failing but he never accepted defeat and kept the flag flying despite thunders and tempests of financial troubles. He became a crusader for a cause and he did not mind adverse factors.

Finally, in Sri Narasimha Rao, he found an understanding friend who stood by him and taken upon himself the responsibility of running it. The hallowed memory of Ramakotiswara Rau’s friendship and his assiduous devotion to the cause inspires him to carry on the sacred trust. I was present at the inaugural function and the lunch that followed in Parasuvalkam in December 1927, when the Indian National Congress was having its annual session in Madras.

I pay my homage to the sacred memory of the founder of Triveni and offer my felicitations and good wishes to Sri Narasimha Rao for carrying on the mission entrusted to him.

I wish the Triveniall the best.