R. Srinivasan: A Profile (Part 1)

I mentioned my great-grandfather in a previous post. My grandmother had given me a photocopy of a magazine called "Sruti," which bills itself as "India's premier music and dance magazine." It is focused on classical Indian music and the cover story in May 1995 was all about my great-grandfather, Professor R. Srinivasan. Yes, that's him on the cover (if you read the article, you will discover that at the turn of the century, women were not allowed to act on stage and so men had to play women's roles. That's him in some play!). The article is based on an interview with my grandmother (his daughter) and is quite detailed in its profile. As part of my desire to archive and make easily accessible information about my family history, I have transcribed the entire article below exactly as it appeared in the magazine, errors and all. I even checked on the magazine's web site and found the issue is not available to buy or read online. So, at the moment, this seems to fall under the "fair use" guidelines. I'll get the whole thing online in multiple parts (it's quite long). So, without further ado ...

PART 1
Prof. R. Srinivasan

(1887-1975)

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Patron & Promoter of Music

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Prof. R. Srinivasan was a connoisseur, promoter and patron of music and a gracious host to musicians when he was living in Tiruvanantapuram. His daughter Kamala Krishnamurthy, now living in Bombay, recently recalled to Sruti, his multifaceted personality, activities and achievements, in an interview conducted -- and later translated from Tamil -- by GAYATHRI SUNDARESAN. Excerpts:

My father, the late Prof. R. Srinivasan, was a versatile person. He had interest in many different fields. It was usually more than a passing interest. Whatever he took up, he had to do it thoroughly and as perfectly as possible. He was very fond of two dicta, which he would often repeat. One was: "One need not do extraordinary things, but do ordinary things extraordinarily well." The other was: "Trifles make perfection, but perfection is not trifle." He followed these in all that he did.

An example of this would be photography. He was a very good photographer. He started this hobby only in 1938 [when he was 51 years of age], but he did well right from the start. He would not only shoot the pictures but also develop and print them himself. He would do each step himself, beginning with developing upto the framing of the photograph. He had bought all the equipment needed for this -- the chemicals, trays of various sizes to wash the negatives, huge bottles for the chemicals, enlarger, and so on. He used a small room next to the bathroom as a dark room, for much water was needed for the process. He would cover the windows with black cloth and do his work after 7:30 pm. I used to be his assistant.

I remember that he made a set of "smoke pattern" photographs during the Kattigai festival, in which the smoke rising from the lamps lit for the occasion were captured by him on film. He sent them to the Illustrated Weekly of India and received a prize for the same. His subjects varied, and included birds, animals, and flowers. Secenery too. Let me tell you to what extent he went in his mad love for photography! He did not know swimming. He would not even take a 'samudra snanam' [a dip in the ocean] which is considered auspicious. Such a man, in order to capture the Kanyakumari temple at an angle from the sea, went on a catamaran to position himself properly for the shot.

This is how he would do everything, perfectly, not neglecting even a minute detail.

Father was born in Srirangam. He studied in the school there and later in Tiruchi. When he was studying in St. Joseph's College, his teachers concluded that an outstanding student like him should go to Madras where he would have more worthy students to compete with. In Madras, he stayed with his maternal uncle in Triplicane and was given admission in mid-term, considering his high grades. He stood first always, and B.N. Rao [Bengal Narasinga Rao, who later became Sir Bengal and served as a diplomat] would come second. He stood first in the Presidency in M.A. (Mathematics). He got a gold medal and a scholarship to study for the ICS examination. In those days, one had to go to London to take the ICS examination. The parents had to give their consent but my grandfather refused to do so, saying that he could not bear to be separated from his son for such a long time. Father never complained that my grand-father spoiled his future. He would say" "I always wanted to become a teacher. So God made this happen; my father was only an instrument." He also felt that, although he might have acquired name and fame by joining the ICS, he would not have been able to work on music or theosophy.

[to be continued in Part 2]