Complete biography of
Dr. M. Visvesvaraya
"Remember, your work may be only to sweep a railway
crossing, but it is your duty to >
On the 15th of September 1861, more than a century ago a
little boy was born in Muddenahalli in the Chikkaballapur Taluk of Kolar
District (Mysore State). His father Srinivasa Sastry and his mother Venkachamma
named him Visvesvaraya.
Visvesvaraya's father, Srinivasa Sastry was a great Sanskrit
scholar of those days. Both he and his wife were good and pious folk who led a
very simple life. They were not very well off but both his parents decided to
educate the little boy.
Right from his childhood days, Visvesvaraya learnt from them
a respect for the culture and the traditions of the land. His father enrolled
him in a school in their tiny Taluk itself and Visvesvaraya completed his early
education there.
He was a good and a hardworking student and was keenly interested
in pursuing his studies. So with his parents consent and blessing he set out to
Bangalore in order to go in for higher education when he was around fifteen
years old. In Bangalore, he joined the Central College.
But alas! His pocket was empty and he had no roof over his
head. But this helpless state did not bog Visvesvaraya down. Instead he started
looking for a job that would sustain him and pay for his studies.
He found a family from Coorg, who was looking for a tutor
for their children. Visvesvaraya, himself a student at that time, became their
tutor. He lived with them and earned a few rupees with which he completed his
education. As a student he earned every rupee by hard work.
Discipline was ever his watchword. All through his student
days he worked hard and in a systematic way. He was an early riser and started
his work quite early.
Though he was poverty-stricken, he continued to study well
and stood high in the B.A. Examination. When he was twenty, he managed to get
some help from the Government of Mysore and joined the Science College in Poona
to study Engineering. Three years later, by sheer determination and hard work
he ranked first in the L.C.E. and the EC.E. Examinations (these were like the
B.E. Examination of today).
As soon as the results were out, the Government of Bombay
offered him the post of an Assistant Engineer at Nasik. Visvesvaraya was very
happy and he worked hard and excelled in his post.
When he was 32 years old, some very difficult work fell to
his lot. He was given the task of finding a way of supplying water from the
river Sindhu to a town called Sukkur. He prepared an ingenious plan, which
amazed the other famous engineers.
Also, he developed a new system called the Block System
where he devised steel doors; these could stop the wasteful flow of water in
dams. Even British officers of those times were astonished by his brains and
were full of praise for the invention.
The Government appreciated Visvesvaraya's genius and work.
He was promoted to higher places. From Bombay, Visvesvaraya went to Hyderabad
as Chief Engineer. Here he achieved something that was simply impossible at
that time.
The river Moosa divided the city of Hyderabad into two. When
rains lashed, the river was in floods and the waters of the river poured into
many houses, and men and cattle were carried away. Visvesvaraya planned dams to
tame the Moosa and also suggested that lovely parks should be laid out on the
banks of the river.
His resourcefulness earned him the position of a Chief
Engineer in Mysore State. But Visvesvaraya was not just interested in
buildings, roads and bridges. He saw that the people of India were then in a
miserable condition. There were very few schools and only six persons out of
every hundred could read and write. Many people were just farmers who depended
completely on the rains for their food. He saw that ignorance, poverty and
sickness plagued the people; and he wanted to bring about change.
Visvesvaraya suggested that an Economic Conference be set up
to find ways of removing ignorance, poverty and sickness. As a result, very dry
lands in parts the country began to smile with plenty.
Visvesvaraya continued to be the Chief Engineer of Mysore
for three years. In 1912 when he was 51, the Maharaja of Mysore chose
Visvesvaraya as his Dewan or his chief minister.
Soon after Visvesvaraya became the Dewan, one of his
relatives went to him. He asked Visvesvaraya, "Can you get me into a
higher post for a better pay with your recommendation to the Maharaja?"
Visvesvaraya who was so straightforward said a plain 'No'.
But, he was kindhearted and as long as the relative was
alive, he paid him a hundred rupees every month from his pocket.
As the Dewan, he got a car from the Government for his use.
He used the Government car for government work and for his private work he used
his own car. Those were days when people had to work by candlelight. He used,
for official work, the stationery and the candles supplied by the Government;
for his private work he used stationery and candles, which he had bought. He
was such an honest man.
Once, one of hi§ friends was advised rest after some
illness. He wanted to spend some days in Bangalore. The friend wrote to him
asking for a house for some days. He thought the Dewan would give him a
Government Guest House, free of rent. The Dewan did give him a Government
House; but as long as the friend stayed there, Visvesvaraya himself paid the
rent of Rs. 250 a month.
He was always neatly dressed and ready for work by seven in
the morning. He was known everywhere for his discipline and tidiness. There was
not a crease or a wrinkle anywhere on his clothes.
Visvesvaraya planned everything smoothly, methodically and
without any hurry. Visitors who wished to see him had to write first and he
would fix an hour. He was very strict about the hour fixed and no one could
come late.
Visvesvaraya always believed in the value of education. When
he became the Dewan, there were about 4,500 schools in Mysore State. In six
Years about 6,500 new school were opened. He also stressed on education for
women. He made the Maharani's College in Mysore where the first hostel for
girls was also opened. He also made arrangements for the government to give
scholarships to intelligent students to go to foreign countries for studies.
Visvesvaraya realized that industry was the backbone of a
country. So he developed the existing industries. He also got experts from
other countries to help by teaching their skills. Thus many new industries came
up during his chief minister ship. He started the Sandal Oil Factory, the Soap
Factory, the Metals Factory, the Chrome Tanning Factory and Bhadravati Iron and
Steel Works. He was also the key in the opening of the Bank of Mysore. He also
brought in many hotels into Mysore and played a major role in the laying of
railway lines.
Visvesvaraya did in six years what many others could not
have accomplished in sixty years. People asked each other "Is he a
magician?" many a time.
But for Visvesvaraya it was no magic. He always believed
only in hard work. He once said, "The curse of our country is laziness. At
first sight every one seems to be working. But in fact, one-man works and the
others watch him. As someone said with contempt, 'it looks as if five men are
working. But really only one- man works. One man will be doing nothing. One man
will be resting. Another man will be watching them. Yet another man will be
helping these three."
Visvesvaraya was also a fearless patriot. In those days the
Englishmen considered themselves the lords of the country. The Maharaja of Mysore
had the tradition of holding a Durbar during the Dasara festivities every year.
On the day of the Durbar, the Europeans were given comfortable chairs but
Indians were required to sit on the floor. Visvesvaraya went to the Durbar for
the first time in 1910. The arrangements pained him.
The next year he did not attend the Durbar. When the
officers of the palace made enquiries he frankly gave the reason. The very next
year all the Europeans and Indians were given chairs.
Following this a British officer wrote a letter to him. In
his letter he said, "In the Maharaja's Durbar, I want a cushion to rest my
feet because the chair is too high."
Visvesvaraya promptly got the legs of the chair shortened
and wrote back saying-"the height has been reduced."
In 1918 at the age of 57, he took voluntary retirement. He
went to the palace in the Government car gave the letter and returned in his
own car.
After retirement he went abroad numerous times, for some
work or the other. Wherever he went, he had a notebook and a pencil in his
hand. He made notes of any new information with which he could help the
country.
After his retirement when the Bhadravati Factory was in
trouble, he worked as the Chairman giving advice for restoration. At that time,
the Government had not decided the salary for him. It took them some years to
do so but by then the Government owed him more than a hundred thousand rupees.
M
When they finally decided to pay him, Visvesvaraya said
"I will not touch a single rupee. Start an institute where boys can learn
some profession." The government followed his wish and wanted to name it
after Visvesvaraya.
But he said, "Name it after the Maharaja of
Mysore." Thus the Sri Jayachamaraja Polytechnic Institute of Bangalore
came about.
In 1944, an association arranged a conference where
Visvesvaraya was the Chairman. The Governor of Berar, an Englishman, was to
open the conference. In those days the Governors were very powerful, highly
respected and obeyed. The conference was to discuss a resolution that India should
have a national government. The Governor said that the resolution should not be
discussed. "Otherwise," he said, "I will not come."
Visvesvaraya was unperturbed by the objection and said to
his friends, "All right. Why wait for him? Let us go on with the
conference".
Such was his commitment towards the country that he did not
care even if someone powerful hindered the growth.
Because of his genius, experience and mellow wisdom people
wanted to hear him and quite often he was to make speeches. Whenever he had to
make a speech he would think about what he was going to say, write the speech,
get it typed and weigh every word and revise it. He would revise it four or
five times and give it final shape.
Once he visited a Primary School in his native village, Muddenahalli.
He gave the teacher ten rupees and asked him to distribute sweets to the
children. The teacher requested him saying, "Please say a few words to the
children, sir,"
Visvesvaraya spoke for five minutes and went away. But later
he was unhappy because he had spoken without preparation. Some days later he
prepared a speech and went to the school again; once again he distributed
sweets to the children. Then he made his speech.
He toiled on briskly though old age crept around him. When
he was around 92 he went to Fatna where he was called to study a plan for a
bridge across the
Ganga. The sun was cruel and the heat was unbearable. There
were parts of the site to which he could not go by car. The Government had
arranged to have him carried in a chair. But he refused to use the chair. He
got off the car and started walking briskly much to the amazement of the rest.
In 1955 when he was 94 years of age, Visvesvaraya was
honored and made a 'Bharat Ratna' or the Gem of India. Even at that age he was
so particular about his dressing that people who went to see him were surprised
for he was so neat and tidy.
His memory even when he was almost a hundred years old
remained pristine. Fifty years after he had tamed river Moosa, at the age of
97, there was a discussion about the river with certain others where some
references were made to some intricate details. Visvesvaraya called a servant
and, pointing to a bookshelf, said, "Bring the three or four books in the
middle of the third row." Then he opened one of them and pointed exactly
to the detail under discussion on that page.
When he finally turned 100, people all over India showered
their affection and respect on the Grand Old Man. The Government of India also
brought out a stamp in his honor.
Somebody once said to him, "You have done great service
to the country. You are like Bhishmacharya." He replied, "You make me
remember what a small man I I am. What am I before Bhishmacharya?" He was
so | modest. Even at the age of 100, he rose to receive a visitor; he got up
again when the visitor was leaving
Visvesvaraya silently passed away on 14th of April j 1962.
He was 101.
Visvesvaraya led the country to the path of progress, every
one of his creations were considered mighty andI magnificent. But far mightier
and far more magnificent was the matchless Dreamer, Doer and leader who paved
the way to modern India.
By PRIYA
AGARWAL(preserved Articles)
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