POLA VENKAIAH CHETTY (PVC)
-A great ‘Sthitha Pragnya’
Friday, November 5, 2010
A communiqué to Shri PVC from Gandham Laxminarayana
Parama Poojya Shri PVC Uncle,
My Shata Sahasra Koti Pranams to you.
This communiqué is to recollect the great values that you have lived in your life and to reflect on the same to question ourselves as –Why we cannot follow at least some of the values you have lived, if not all.
I consider it is a great honour and my good fortune to pen the great qualities of your good self. I sincerely thank the Almighty for giving me this opportunity.
It is extremely difficult to write about a personality like yours, who is credited with so many honours for serving the society, doing good to poor and needy and spending till date the entire life in service of others.
The few lines I write here may not necessarily reflect the entire personality of yours, as you are a Gandhian, a devotee of great sages like Swami Shivananda, Sri Ramakrishna Parmahamsa, and Swami Vivekananda. You had even demonstrated that you can serve the poorest of the poor like Mother Teresa.
You are a businessman, like Janaka Maharaja in the sense that the wealth earned in the business did not come in the way of serving others. You had the wealth, but wealth never possessed you.
In Bhagwad Gita the Lord Krishna has defined ‘Sthitha Pragnya’
(Man of Steady Wisdom) in terms of the qualities such a person need to possess. As per Lord Krishna, ‘Sthitha Pragnya’ will be the one who is
- Free from desires but doing his duty
- Free from attachment
- Free from likes and dislikes
- Free from anger
- Free from ‘I’ – ness/Ego
and who can maintain
- Equanimity
- Indriya Nigraha(Control of senses)
Uncle! When I go through your life sketch I find that you possess all the qualities of a Sthitha Pragnya. One single statement about you proves that you are a Sthitha Pragnya i.e. ‘YOU ALWAYS LIVED YOUR LIFE FOR THE GOOD AND BETTERMENT OF OTHERS’
You have been a ‘Karma Yogi’, all through your life. You believed in simplicity and also lived a very simple life though you could afford for a luxurious living.
You were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and till today lived as a true Gandhian following the principles taught by him.
Your life is highly influenced by the teachings of Swami Shivananda, Sri Ramakrishna Parmahamsa, and Swami Vivekananda. You propagated the teachings of these Swamijis to many around you in Bellary. You have been the President of the Bellary branch of ‘The Divine Life Society’ established by Swami Shivananda for twenty years.
The poem you wrote on ‘Steps to Divine Life’ on 1/5/2000 speaks volumes about your spiritual personality. In fact it is a great message from you to all your family members and the general public. The poem clearly indicates the values one should live. Your life story tells us that you have lived all of them.
You believed and enjoyed in serving the poor. You headed many charitable trusts. You gave generous donations to many educational institutions, hostels, hospitals and kalyana kendras.
You provided food to leprosy patients, probably influenced by the work of Mother Teresa. You fed poor people with food prepared at your home on many of your birthdays. You have been the President of Harijan Seva Sangh as back as in 1955. As a Rotarian too, you had served the society by helping the poor.
‘Paropa Karam Idam Shariram’ is 100% true in your case.
You are the ‘Role Model ‘ not only for your family members but also every individual who knows you. There are many things that can be learned from your life. Whenever I meet any of your family members, I see a bit of PVC (yourself) i.e your qualities of humility, contentment and simplicity. By hereditary also, generations and generations of people in your family are likely to acquire your qualities. I am able to see these qualities of yours even in my daughter in law Shilpa, who is your grand daughter (daughter of your daughter Smt Chandrakala, W/O of Sri MS Jagadishwara of Chikmagalur). I am proud to say that a bit of PVC (yourself) is in my house also for the last twelve years.
Uncle, I have great respect and admiration for you. You are the rarest of the rare in Vysya community. In fact your life is an inspiration to every Vysya and Non Vysya who knows you. You live forever in the minds of the people who are associated with you. You are a real ‘Sthitha Pragnya’.
Words do not suffice to write about your personality. You are a rare Diamond in Vysya community. You are a multi faceted personality. You are a businessman, a philanthropist, a social worker, a reformer and a Karma Yogi in true sense. There was always a ‘yagnya spirit’ in every activity that you performed so far in your life. So you are nothing less than a ‘Sthitha Pragnya’.
I wish a person much more closer to you than myself shall attempt to write your biography with all the real stories that will prompt many to live what you have lived for.
With pranams at your feet
Gandham Laxminarayana
