AS I KNOW HIM

Shri. Pola Venkaiah Chetty

(As I know him)

By R K Shroff

Former Secretary,

Mallasajjana Vyayama Shaala,

Bellary

I became a regular member of the Mallasajjana Vyayama Shaala after I joined service in Bellary in 1942. In those days, we used to organize Prabhata Pheris on important national festivals like the Independence Day on Jan 26^th and Martyrs’ Day on Aug 9^th every year. Shri. Pola Venkaiah Chetty was a regular participant in those programs. That was how I came into contact with him. Youngsters of the present generation would perhaps laugh at me for identifying Jan 26^th as Independence Day and Aug 9^th as Martyrs’ Day; but I am not wrong. Prior to 1947, Jan 26^th was observed as Independence Day – as per a resolution passed by the Indian National Congress in its session held at Lahore in December 1929; and Aug 9^th was observed as Martyrs’ day as a tribute to thousands of brave Indians who had laid down their lives in the cause of the freedom struggle – after Gandhiji gave his call to the nation – ‘Quit India’ for the British Government and ‘Do or Die’ for the Indians – from the sands of the Chaupaty beach in Bombay on Aug 8^th 1942. The Prabhata Pheris would start early in the morning, go round the streets of Bellary and culminate at the Samba Murthy Maidan in front of the City Bus Stand, adjacent to the Cosmopolitan Club. The national flag (consisting of the tricolor with the Charka in the middle) would be hoisted and we would all disperse.

Shri. Venkaiah is a self-made man. I was told that after learning the art of business and the tricks of the trade under a senior businessman, he started his own business under the banner of ‘The Lakshmi Iron Mart’. By dint of hard, honest and sincere work he made big strides and now they have spread their wings in various other branches of business – although we see only the Pola Paradise making its appearance on the television screen.

The traits I like most in Shri. Venkaiah are

(1)   His disciplined life

(2)   His love for Khaadi

(3)   His simplicity

He has been a strict disciplinarian throughout and instilled the same spirit in his children also; he would never allow the vulgar show of wealth by his children at any time; we know how easily riches can spoil the character of a rich child. Shri. Venkaiah loves wearing Khaadi, just as I do; a white jubbah, a dhoti and the Gandhi cap were the hallmark of his simple dress. His personal life was also very simple.

I came into greater contact with him after I was elected Secretary of the Vyayama Shaala in 1946 – in which post I continued for well over 25 years. Inside the Shaala compound there was an old building – a sort of Mantap – which we converted into a place suitable for accommodation dividing it into small rooms. There we provided free lodging for the students studying in the Govt. Polytechnic and the Veerashaiva College. Shri. Venkaiah helped us with money and material in accomplishing this. But the fact is that his contribution was known only to 4 or 5 of us, not known to any other members of the Shaala even, because Mr. Venkaiah was against all publicity. I am quite certain that he has helped many another worthy cause, but those acts of benevolence are not known to others for the simple reason that he dislikes publicity. I wouldn’t have penned these few lines either for the same reason, but for the fact that I could not rule out the request of Smt. Rajani, daughter of Mr. Venkaiah, and a great friend of my daughter Smt. Sandhya. This old hostel building was subsequently demolished and in its place there now stands the well known Gandhi Bhavan.

The last time I met him was in March 2002 when I had been to Bellary to attend a meeting held to condole the death of Shri. Bindu Madhav, the driving force behind all the activities of the Vyayama Shaala. Shri. Venkaiah was there and he reminisced his association with Bindu Meshtru as the latter was fondly addressed; they were both born in 1914 it seems. It is very unfortunate that I have not been able to travel to any place outside Bangalore after my trip to Bellary in March 2002. I have been confined to my residence in Bangalore after the surgical operation on my thigh in May 2002.

Before I conclude, let me express my happiness at the fact that Shri. Venkaiah has entered into his 97^th year. Whenever I think of someone crossing 80 years, a thought comes to my memory. On the 9^th of May, 1941, a news item appeared in the paper that morning (I was doing my B.A. in the college at Ananthpur at that time). Gurudev Tagore had completed eighty years of his life and Gandhiji had sent a telegram saying “Four score is not enough, may you complete five” and Tagore in his great humility, although a world renowned person, had replied “If four score has been useless, five would be intolerable”. I would like to make a little change in this wish and tell Mr. Venkaiah “Just 97 is not destination Mr. Venkaiah, go farther beyond 100 in good health and cheer”. May God grant this prayer

Appreciation

The Bellary District Chamber of Commerce & Industry (R) Bellary, in appreciation of Sri.Pola Venkaiah Chetty's "Service to Society and the various achievements made by him, has published an article in "Bellary Chamber News",  Volume 10 - August 2010.

AYYA - MY WONDERFUL FATHER

‘’Mavanavarantha adhrushtashali hindhe yendu huttilla mundhe yendu huttalla’’ These were the words of my brother in law Mr.Nagaraj Gupta (Hospet). Having seen my father for over 60 years now, Bava is aware of his nature both positive and negative.

I feel it is a matter of perception of how one feels about a person. I say this because to opine on a person whether he is positive or negative means to actually highlight our ‘ego’ and in this process we should correct it. Most of us perceived our father as ‘strict’. I feel this is an incomplete statement and over the years I have realised he is not just strict but actually a strict disciplinarian. We have seen this in many instances with his manners, principles, punctuality etc. Rajani has appropriately highlighted this in her blog on how my father used to be on time. This is the discipline he followed ........ and he still follows.

My father is a self made man. He got married at a young age of 16. Despite this he completed his education. He gave a lot of importance to education and he wanted all of his children to complete their studies. He wanted all of us to be graduates. Even after a long day’s work he used to come home and help my elder brothers and sisters in their school work. I being the youngest of his children was not lucky enough to get his guidance in studies and even to this day I regret missing this interaction with him. By the time I started my schooling he had lots of responsibilities to take care of both at the business front and at home and I feel this was the reason for this. On the other hand he used to drop me to school every morning in his car and in the evening he used to pick me up. At times he had to wait for 10-15 minutes for me to finish at school but he patiently waited. I really miss those days. This quality of his has taught me the importance of spending quality time with family. Nowadays we are busy in our own world that we fail to give time for our children (family). I feel very lucky to be born to such dedicated parents.

My father had a strict exterior but was very protective and caring of us. He never said ‘no’ to our wants and needs. He ensured we got the best quality in whatever we wanted. Nowadays we say that we are very tired at the end of the day after the household chores but despite having 11 children to look after, never did our parents every say that they were tired to look after us. One day my father was filling a tub with water. My mother suggested to him to take help from one of us for which my father replied ‘’Manamu kanindedhi valki cheseki valtho chepinchukoneki kadhu’’ (We beget children so that we do things for them not to get things done from them).

I should say my mother supported my father very well in all walks of life. Though my mother’s name is Balalakshmi it’s more befitting to say that she was truly a Bhagyalakshmi in my father’s life. And with this ‘Bhagya’ my father enjoyed all the maximum gruhastha celebrations namely 60th Birthday, 70th Birthday, 80th Birthday, 60th Wedding anniversary, kanakabishekam as a couple. They performed the marriages of all their children with the same enthusiasm and dedication. My father was there when my elder daughter Shilpa’s marriage was being fixed. He proudly mentioned to me then that he was mediating for a marriage for the 24th time. He clearly records all his dealings and incidents in his mind and his memory power is superb even today at the ripe age of 97.

My father is a man with principles. He never liked bargaining in shops. If a customer bargained and gave a few rupees less he would return the whole amount back. When he went out shopping he followed this principle and never bargained in shops. He is one of the leading businessmen in Bellary. He achieved this without compromising any family ties. In spite of having such a busy family and business life I do not know how he used to find time for social work. He did all these activities with full dedication and never for the sake of doing it. He is a practical man and never talks unnecessarily. I am reminded of the proverb ‘ Mathu adidare ayithu. Muthu hodidare hoyithu’ (Words once spoken can’t be taken back like a diamond once broken can’t be mended). We lose credibility and respect by talking unnecessarily but my father commanded respect with his few words which always had relevance to the situation.

Once there was an excursion planned from our school and I went to my father to ask for permission. For whatever reason he said no. Obviously like any other child tears started rolling down my cheeks and I burst out crying. Seeing this, my father eventually agreed to send me to the school trip. When I went to him to seek permission for future trips he used to remind me of this episode and say ‘If I say no then you will cry. So go and enjoy’

Once we were all going in a bus to Harapanahalli for our uncle P.C.Pandu’s marriage. On the way we encountered a cart with flowers, milk etc. In delight my father pointed this out to me as I was sitting next to him. Not realising that this was a good omen I asked him ‘Is this bad?’ To this my father became angry and pointed out ‘Ninni convent lo chedvichindhanki nuvvu itle matladathi’ implying I did not pay heed to hindu culture and traditions. It is no surprise to anybody the importance he has given to Hindu culture and traditions. He wears Khadhi even today and you can see books relating to Hinduism, philosophy, Adhyathma etc in his room which he reads daily. In the name of ‘’progress’’ and ‘’recognition’’ we aspire western tradition and attitudes and we are forgetting our own traditional values. My father did not preach this but he set a positive example by following it sincerely.

One Day my father was in the audience when I was part of the Republic Day parade. Though everybody said we had done well, my father congratulated me but at the same time corrected me by pointing out that my posture was wrong and my back was not straight. He always sought perfection in whatever he did and encouraged us to seek perfection as well. I quote a saying from Swami Vivekananda ‘EDUCATION IS THE MANIFESTATION OF PERFECTION ALREADY IN MAN’ My father is a living example for this as he encouraged all of us to have good education and in his daily activities he became a role model to us by seeking perfection in everything.

Chandrakala Jagadeeshwara