Sir M Vishweshwaraiah, popularly known as Sir MV, was a man who excelled at many different fields. He is remembered today as an engineer par excellence, a highly respected statesman and a visionary thinker.
Sir MV was born in Muddenahalli, a village in Karnataka, on
15th September 1860. He completed his high school education from Wesley Mission
High School and his graduation from Central College – both in Bangalore. He was
a very bright student.
He went on to pursue a course in civil engineering in Pune,
having received a scholarship for the same. While there, he was awarded the
James Berkley Gold Medal for outstanding performance.
Life Style
Engineering Feats and
Achievements
Sir MV’s first job was as an Assistant Engineer at the
Public Works Department under the government of the erstwhile Bombay
Presidency. He had a long and eventful career in the field of engineering,
during which he also served as the Chief Engineer of the erstwhile State of
Mysore.
Sir MV was the driving force behind the construction of many
major dams and water supply schemes across the country. The famous Krishna Raja
Sagar dam in Mysore is one of these.
The use of automatic sluice gates, an engineering innovation
applied in many dams across the country, was Sir MV’s idea. He became the Dewan
of the State of Mysore in 1912 and during his tenure; he took immense interest
in shaping new developments in education and other fields.
He was instrumental in the formation of Mysore University as
well as two other well-known educational institutions of Bangalore – University
Vishweshwaraiah College of Engineering and University of Agricultural Sciences.
He also played an integral role in setting up the Mysore
Iron and Steel Works, Bhadravathi, and the Bank of Mysore (now State Bank of
Mysore). It is important to bear in mind, however, that these are just a few of
his many achievements.
Job Positions Held By
Sir MV
Some of the job
positions he held were
Chief Engineer, Hyderabad State [he served only for 7 months
starting April 15, 1909]
Chief Engineer in Mysore State [Nov 15, 1909]. He was also
Secretary to the Railways.
President of Education and Industrial Development committees
in Mysore State
Dewan of Mysore. [for six years starting 1912]
Chairman, Bhadravati Iron Works
Member of the Governing Council of the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore
Member of the Governing Council of Tata Iron and Steel
Company [TISCO]
Member of Back Bay enquiry committee, London
Member of a committee constituted in 1917 to make
recommendations regarding the future of Indian States.
Sir M.V. retired in 1908 and Sri Krishnarajendra Wodeyar,
Maharaja of Mysore, was eager to secure the services of Visvesvaraya to serve
Mysore. He joined as Chief Engineer in
Mysore because he wanted challenging opportunities. Sir M.V. had earned a
reputation for his honesty, integrity, ability and intelligence. He had introduced
compulsory education in the State which later was embodied as a fundamental
right in the Constitution of independent India.
To name few of the
many things he was responsible for:
Architect of the Krishnarajasagara dam – or KRS or Brindavan
gardens. One of the biggest dams in
India which irrigates a hundred and twenty thousand acres of land.
Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works – as its Chairman he rescued
it from becoming extinct.
Mysore Sandal Oil Factory and the Mysore soap factory
Mysore University – Sir M.V.’s question was “If Australia
and Canada could have universities of their own for less than a million
population, cannot Mysore with a population of not less that 60 lakhs have a
University of its own?”
State Bank of Mysore (it was first named The Bank of Mysore)
Public libraries in Mysore and Bangalore
Encouraging girls to attend school.
Mysore Chamber of Commerce
Kannada Sahitya Parishad or the Kannada Literary Academy
Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute, Bangalore –
funded by the ENTIRE money [Rs 2 lacs] he earned from rescuing Bhadravati Iron
Works
Sir M.V. was never interested in fame or publicity. But they
came to him on their own. Every university in India sought him out to confer
honoris causa. The univs of Allahabad, Andhra, Bombay, Calcutta, Jadhavpur,
Mysore, Patna and Varanasi.
Some of the honours
and laurels conferred on Sir M.V.,
1904 Honorary
Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken period of
50 years
1906 “Kaisar-i-Hind”
in recognition of his services
1911 C.I.E.
(Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Darbar
1915 K.C.I.E.
(Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire)
1921 D.Sc. –
Calcutta University
1931 LLD – Bombay
University
1937 D.Litt –
Benaras Hindu University
1943 Elected as
an Honorary Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (India)
1944 D.Sc. –
Allahabad University
1948 Doctorate –
LLD., Mysore University
1953 D.Litt –
Andhra University
1953 Awarded the
Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Town Planners, India
1955 Conferred ‘
BHARATHA RATNA‘(The gem of India), the highest dinstiction of the country
1958 ‘Durga
Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal’ by the Royal Asiatic Society Council of
Bengal
1959 Fellowship
of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
His Memorable Personality
There is no dearth of interesting anecdotes about Sir MV.
Some of these revolve around him being a stickler for
punctuality and a strict disciplinarian; there are others that dwell on his
sense of honesty, integrity and professionalism. The fact that he was always
impeccably dressed has also been well-documented.
When Sir MV was offered the position of Dewan of Mysore
State, it is said that he invited his relatives for dinner. He told them that
he would take up the offer on one condition: that they (the relatives) should
not come and ask him to use his position as Dewan to help them get their
personal work done.
Bank Balance
“Indian Express” on March 24, 2005 (by Arindam
Bhattacharjee) carried an article which how simple Sir MV was and how
diligently he maintained his accounts.
Sir MV maintained an account with Bank of Mysore, which is
now State Bank of Mysore. Sir MV had Rs 990 on March 27, 1918, which increased
to Rs 11,487 on March 3, 1919. His account had thrice attracted interests of Rs
14, Rs 66 and Rs 117 during this period. An entry in the passbook on Nov 18,
1918 reveals he got Rs 13,486 transferred to this current account from a fixed
deposit account.
Sir MV And Mahatma
Gandhi
Sir M.V. belongs to that small band of eminent Indians whose
ideas and achievements have been among the truly creative and formative force
of modern India. Sir M.V.’s slogan was Industrialize or Perish and Mahatama
Gandhiji’s view was Industrialize and Perish.
In 1921 Gandhiji launched his non-cooperation movement which
Sir M.V. did not agree with. Sir M.V. wrote to Gandhiji urging him to be better
dressed in view of the upcoming Round Table Conference. Sir M.V. used to be
immaculately dressed.
MV’s Final Years
Sir MV’s extraordinary feats resulted in the government of
India bestowing him with the Bharat Ratna award in the year 1955.
The centenary of the birth of Sir M.V. was celebrated in Lal
Bagh in Bangalore. Prime Minister Nehru flew down to Bangalore by a special
plane to honour the greatest son of India. Sri Jayachamaraja Wodiyar presided
over the function.
Sir. M.V. died on April 12, 1962 at the age of 102 years, 6
months and 8 days. As per his wish, he was cremated in his birth place,
Muddanahalli.
The memorial at Muddenahalli is good but it is not taken
care well. Not sure how he would react to the state of affairs in Karnataka or
India in general if he was alive today. Government hesitates to release Rs 3
lakh for Karnataka’s icon ----------------- Source
[May 5, 2008 / Deccan Herald].
Can today’s
politicians learn from Sir MV’s honesty? is a million Doller Quistion
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