T. V. Viswanatha Aiyar: A Man of Rare Integrity

T. V. VISWANATHA AIYAR
A Man of Rare Integrity

He lived right in front of the temple–the Kapaleeswar temple in Mylapore. From his drawing-room on the first floor he could possibly catch a clear glimpse of the glorious temple tower. His house itself was a kind of temple from which no man in need was ever turned away.

Diagonally opposite his house is the Madras branch of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, whose facade reminds one of the Kailasnath temple at Ellora. The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was never out of his sight; nor out of his mind.

The temple, along with the value system that it represented, was the main source of his strength–metaphorically speaking. For he was a devout believer in the ancient Hindu tradition. The Bhavan was one of the main objects of his affection. For it stood for a creative blend of ancient insights and modern perceptions to keep alive the Indian stream of knowledge.

His name is T. V. Viswanatha Aiyar, who died in Madras on 15 September, 1981 at the age of 79.

Born at Tirupattur in North Arcot District in November 1902, Tirupattur Venkata Viswanatha Aiyar, was educated at Salem and Bangalore at the Central College from where he graduated. He took his B. L. Degree from the Law College, Madras. Brought up in a bilingual area like North Arcot, he was fluent in Telugu as well as his mother-tongue, Tamil, and was singularly free from all linguistic prejudice.

An advocate of over 50 years’ standing in the Madras High Court, he was an acknowledged leader of the profession for more than a generation, who specialised in the Law of Taxation. But he was something more than that. He was a public man without being a politician. For he was a man of high public spirit, who gave of his best to the cause of education, traditional culture and social welfare, according to his own lights. And his lights were never dim. The spiritual light, he derived from His Holiness Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. It was Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, now the Senior Acharya, of whom he was one of the devoutest of disciples, who conferred on him the title of “Samskriti Seva Ratna.”

The temporal light he had obviously derived from the professional tradition, associated with the name of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar. Its hallmarks are: integrity, efficiency and generosity. It was an undying source of inspiration to him. If he was not exactly Sir C. P.’s “sishya”, he was certainly one of his “prasishyas.” He could not be a direct junior in his chambers, for the simple reason that by the time he enrolled himself as a vakil in the High Court in 1926, C. P. had technically left the bar, having become a member of the Governor’s Executive Council in the Diarchy Days. He, therefore, worked with two of his juniors, first with N. Chandrasekhara Aiyar (who later rose to be a Judge of the Supreme Court) and on his elevation to the Bench, with M. Subbaroya Aiyar, one of the leading experts in Tax Laws.

Like his senior, Viswanatha Aiyar himself became an honoured expert in Tax Laws, including Income-tax, and Sales Tax, Company Law, Mercantile Law and allied fields. In the latter half of his professional career his visits to the High Court became less and less, as his chamber practice grew more and more. His expert advice was much in demand by the State as well as private parties. He was the Founder-President of the Revenue Bar Association, Madras, a founder-member of the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi and the Bar Association of India. He was also a member of the Advocates’ Association, Madras, and was on the Editorial Board of the Madras Law Journal and the Income-tax Journal.

After establishing himself as a member of the profession and attaining a level of prosperity, Viswanatha Aiyar decided that he had to do something for the society that had served to keep him in comfort. It was the cause of education that drew him most, especially in view of the lack of encouragement to students of merit and the state of neglect that was the lot of Sanskrit learning for many years.

He took a lot of interest in the Lady Sivaswami Iyer Girls’ Higher Secondary School, founded by the great Liberal leader, Sir P. S. Sivaswami Iyer and became its President. He also did a similar service to the Gopalapuram High School. He was also Vice-President of the Sri Ramakrishna Students’ Home in Mylapore.

But it was the cause of Sanskrit that commended itself most to him. He was an ardent lover of Sanskrit language and literature, rather than a scholar. As President of the Madras Sanskrit College, founded by Justice V. Krishnaswami Iyer, which continues to be supported by members of his family, Viswanatha Aiyer has helped not only to keep alive but strengthen and develop the only institution of its kind in Madras, depending on private initiative. He was also President of the Amara Bharati Pariksha Samiti and the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, which is to be taken over by the Union Government for development on the lines of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Poona.

As the prime mover behind the Sanskrit Education Society, Viswanatha Aiyar drew freely and generously out of his own resources and facilitated the publication of many useful books, besides a periodical in Sanskrit, Samskrita Sri.

In more recent years, two institutions claimed a lion’s share of his attention. One is the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, of whose Madras branch he was the Vice-President. His association with it was more than formal. In fact, he helped it to grow from strength to strength, until the cultural complex in front of his house came to be a loved landmark in Mylapore’s East Mada Street. His was perhaps the single largest donation, which made it possible for the Bhavan to acquire a compact and well-designed auditorium, named after his father. He gave his heart and soul to it, to the result that it is now a full-fledged body with the College of Communication among other limbs that constitute it.

Another is the Foundation named after his idol Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, which came into existence in 1967, less than a year after his sudden death in London. It was Viswanatha Aiyar who took the initiative in starting the Foundation, with the active co-operation of Sir C. P.’s eldest son, Mr. C. R. Pattabhiraman and other members of his family. It is now devoted to a study of Indian culture, with special emphasis on the ideal of Samanvaya (or reconciliation) which was dear to the heart of C. P. The Voice of Samanvaya, which is now being brought out as the organ of the Foundation, has brought out many of C. P.’s own speeches and writings apart from other useful material. The weekly public meetings of the Foundation cover a wide range of subjects from music and the performing arts to literature, philosophy and religion; while the C. P. Art Centre has become a much-needed forum for the exhibition of art and craft.

As a committee man, Viswanatha Aiyar was very strict – meticulous about rules, conscientious about accounts and about every little detail concerning the work on hand. He did not spare himself nor did he spare the others. Nothing sloppy or slipshod about him. Nor would he tolerate such a thing in any of the others. Naturally, this habit was unlikely to make him popular among those who tended to take this easy. I could testily to this, having had occasion to watch him on quite a few committees–the Samskrita Academy, the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, not to speak of the now non-existent Khasa Forum.

As a man, he was straight as a lance. He would not be a party to anything that is not a hundred per cent overboard. In fact, friends and colleagues would be afraid of mooting such a thing before him, if they were unsure of clearing it with him, before doing so with the official scrutinising agencies.

Courteous he always was. But he would not suffer fools gladly. Not that he was tactless or unaware of the value of public relations. But he chose to draw a line where P. R. would involve obsequiousness and politeness would mean hypocrisy. He was shrewd enough to know the knaves for what they are, but his innate human quality would not allow him to be inconsiderate to anyone in trouble, even when that person did not deserve any better.

Always correct in his dress and his address, Viswanatha Aiyar was apt to appear a little too stern to strangers who did not know him. Even his prospective beneficiaries would be afraid to approach him in the first instance. But in deserving cases, he would be generous beyond their dreams. Countless are those in Madras who owed him something at one time or another.

As a benefactor, his bark was worse than his bite. He was a good man who did not seem to wear his heart on his sleeve. Persons like him have always been too few. Now, they are fewer still. His example shines like a good deed in a naughty world.