Sheenanna (

Sheenanna (Part 1)

[[Sheenanna (Part 1) Source: prekshaa]]

Out of my grandfathers, hasn’t it been evident that my third grandfather Sheenanna was very dear to me? But when it comes to him, will I be able to talk about every facet of his nature without hiding anything? Is it respectable? On the other hand, would it be appropriate if I tell only tell about his acceptable behaviour and skip the rest? Forget about being appropriate; will the readers benefit as much as they would have by my writings? This is the apprehension I have.

Every human has flaws, however small or big.

Dṛṣṭaṃ kimapi loke’smin
Na nirdoṣaṃ na nirguṇam

If we have to thoroughly benefit from a biography, we should observe both the virtues as well as shortcomings of that person. What is the use of giving the impression to a reader, that the person is a perfectionist, with absolutely no weakness? The reader is a common man. He will look for other ordinary people. Like it is with him, the others too would have a mix of virtues and flaws. The other person succeeded with his excellence, despite the flaws - this is the crux. Flaws are not important; virtues are the one that’s important. And despite the flaws, the virtues overcome the imperfections - this is the point to be noted.

With all this prelude, I will now talk a little about the person dearest to me, my youngest grandfather Sheenanna. It is my intention not to have a tone of arrogance or disrespect towards him. But in case my words indicate such a tone, I will beg that heavenly soul to pardon me with the same love and affection he had for me when he was alive.

There were few situations in Sheenanna’s life that made him temperamental. Like his brothers, he also was a widower. His wife was from Dommasandra village close to Bengaluru. She left behind three children. The elder daughter Ammannamma; second child Shamanna; third child Gouramma. Sheenanna had left his three young children under his elder brother’s care in Mulbagal.

Loose-tongued

I was not aware of Sheenanna’s original profession. At the end, he worked as a clerk under liquor contractor Pacchiyappa Mudaliar. I have mentioned this elsewhere too.

There too, he got into quarrels. His notable nature was that he was loose-tongued, no talk without offending. Whenever he opened his mouth, it was full of gibes and taunts. It was fun for people listening to him. Their laughs further encouraged Sheenanna; more crass talk. Less of foul-words, but more of sarcasm. Along with Kannada and Telugu proverbs/phrases, he also used foul-phrases from Urdu, Hindi, Marathi and other languages while talking. His writings were like his talk. Even his brothers were not spared from such language. The younger ones would be amused on hearing it, the elders would be irritated. Due to this trait, there was always some kind of squabble wherever he went. This habit passed on to his son too.

Lighting Lamps

One example. One day, as usual Ramanna was performing pooja. In the same kitchen, at another corner my grandmother Sakamma was preparing for cooking in maḍi ¹.

At the same time, Sheenanna came and asked his brother:

Shee: “Ramanna, keep the big lighting lamps outside. I need to take it to Nittur.”

In those days, his son Shamanna was working as a station master in Nittur railway station.

Ra: “I will get you a different one for it. The pair we have here, has been passed on from our ancestors; let it remain in their house only.”

Shee: “Huccu muṇḍe ²! I am asking, just give it.”

Sakamma who was listening to this said, “Shiva Shiva! Shiva Shiva!”

Shee: “As if she herself has seen Lord Shiva!”

By then, Ramanna kept the two lamps outside the kitchen.

Ra: “Take it, don’t talk anymore. Before your anger turns towards her, why incur that sin.”

After four-five days later, Sheshanna came from Kolar. Ramanna reported to him, whatever had happened. Sheshanna listened to what had taken place, kept quiet for a while and said:

“We need to endure it - he is our sibling. What can we do? Just because he overstepped decency, can we also do that?” and tried to calm him.

* * *

Sometimes my youngest grandfather Sheenanna used to bring up the matter of dividing the property. This was after his eldest brother Sheshanna had passed away. Whenever he raised this topic, Ramanna used to answer:

“From the times of Gundappa, we have lived in a joint family. We have stood in support of each other in times of joys and sorrows. Till I am alive, do not take up this topic of dividing this house. After I am gone, do whatever you want.”

Ramanna was very firm on this decision. He did not sway from the decision even for a second. Once my father raised the topic of repairing the house: that the backyard wall was eroded. I remember very well what Ramanna had told then:

“If the back-wall has collapsed, let the front stay as it is. Do not bring up the topic of either breaking/rennovating this house or of taking a loan for that purpose.”

Sheenanna did not stay in Mulbagal for more than eight-ten days at a time. He used to move from one place to another, citing some or the other reason. Even when he was in town, he did not have any stipulated time of coming home. And at night, there was no time limit at all. Many nights he used to come home by 9 or 10pm. This was not at all acceptable to Ramanna. He always had the habit of latching and closing the main door by around 9pm. For this reason, often there was tussle between the brothers.

One day, by the time Sheenanna came home the main door was closed. Sheenanna banged the door from outside, he shouted and made a hue and cry. Ramanna was sleeping right across the hallway. He opened the door and asked:

Ra: “What is this? Don’t you have any sense of time?”

Shee: “You might have accumulated some petty cash, that’s the reason you are afraid of opening the door.”

By this, an argument grew between the two. Sheenanna said:

Shee: “She is there right - What’s the issue with waking up and opening the door?” (“She”^( ³) here means Sakamma).

With this, Ramanna got angry like never before.

“What - do you have any sense? You are calling her “She”? Isn’t she the personification of Goddess Kamakshamma? Hasn’t she been like a mother to all of us?”

This is the first part of the four-part English translation of Fifth essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 8) – Sankirna smriti samputa. Edited by G S Raghavendra.

Footnotes

Sheenanna (Part 2)

[[Sheenanna (Part 2) Source: prekshaa]]

Sarcasm

I remember very little of that argument. Whenever I remember this behaviour of Sheenanna, I feel disappointed and worried. Why did he behave like that? The sarcasm that was never found in his father, mother, and brothers, where did he get it from? Some of the incidents in his life might have soured his mind .

I have earlier mentioned about his behaviour during the travel to Tirupati. Sheenanna was not a person without having a mistress. He had three or four of them.

Kashi yātre

⁴

Once, an incident occurred. Sheenanna decided to go on Kashi yātre. His brothers did not approve of this trip. Sheenanna said “What else do I have in this world? At least this way, let me make my life fruitful.” and he left immediately. Sheenanna had memorized hundreds of mantras. He always wore vibhūti and rudrākṣi ⁵. I first heard Nārāyaṇa-sūkta from his mouth. He had a very good voice. His pronunciation was also good. I thought that during maḍi period, even his mind was pure under its influence. But until what time did it typically last? Only from morning to afternoon.

Even after going to Kashi, this great divine soul did not for once, write a letter. One month passed. Two months passed. Sheshagirayya was in despair and worried. Someone who saw him, told me that he was almost about to cry. Thus, when he was longing for his brother, one day he received a telegram, from Kashi - “I am bankrupt here. Send 300 rupees immediately - If you want me to come back.”

Pītāmbara

⁶

Likewise, Sheshagiriayya sent him a telegraphic money order. Sheenanna came back and everyone were happy.

After a month of this happening, a Devadāsi ⁷ Venkaṭa-sāni wore a Kashi Pītāmbara and came to the temple for her turn to perform service to the God. How should a Kashi Pītāmbara appear in the hinterland like Mulbagal? Everyone there kept asking her. She secretly told:

“My Yajamāna ⁸ got it from Kashi.”

Venkataramana Bhat learnt this. Later, everyone came to know of Sheenanna’s Kashi yātre.

Prize

Sheenanna brought some books for me from Kashi. Among them, one was a book of Stotras (hymns) printed in Devanāgari script. Back then I was already introduced to the primary lessons in alphabets. From the book I read -

“Gaṅgātaraṅga-kamanīya-jaṭākalāpaṁ”

When my grandfather heard me practising this verse, he was filled with pride.

Another book given by him to me wasJagannātha Panḍita’s Gaṅgālahāri. This was quite difficult for me. I tried to read it. Sheenanna after teaching me a few lines, said, “You may read it after two to three years”. Further he gave me one more book, theBhagavadgītā - in kannada manuscript. It was just palm-sized with old style paper. Since it was small and contained beautifully printed letters, I liked it a lot. I did not allow others to touch it. Ramanna asked his brother:

Ra: “What is it, Sheena, that you gave to the kid?”

Shee: “Bhagavadgītā”

Ra: “That is something you don’t need! If something is beyond your understanding itself, what is its use to the kid?”

Ramanna said “If you readBhagavadgītā now itself, then by the time you actually need it, it might lose its relevance.”, and took back the book from me. Later I again asked him and got back the book.

Another thing that Sheenanna brought from Kashi was, a big Viṣṇu-pāda ⁹. It was made of copper. We usually use it on the day of Śrāddha ¹⁰ to keep the Piṇḍa ¹¹ on it and perform the pooja. It is the same Viṣṇu-pāda of Gaya.

Affection

Sheenanna was very fond of me. Though he used to travel from one place to another, he used to come back home before Vijayadashami. Jumbū savāri ¹² was a special attraction in our hometown. The processions used to begin from each of the ten temples and would eventually reach a place called Eḻḻu-baṇḍe, at the northeast part of the town. Eḻḻu-baṇḍe was a vast open land of rocks. Once upon a time, the sesame crops were abundantly grown in the neighboring farmlands. They used to clean the grown crops on those rocks. During the remaining seasons the whole place was mostly barren. On Vijayadashami day, after all the deities assembled there in the evening, Śamī-pūjā ¹³ took place. Then, the town’s revenue collector would cut the stem of banana plant with a sword. This act symbolized Rama’s and Arjuna’s victory over the evil. After this, the revenue collector would perform Lakṣmī-pūjā to his treasury in the taluk office. In those days, there were such provisions in the government.

Hordes of people would throng to these festive activities. This itself was the Jumbū savāri. Sheenanna had taken upon him the duty to take me to this carnival. He had a horse for this. A beautiful silk cloth, a golden laced cloth and a shawl was used to cover the back of the horse.

The horse was decorated with turmeric, kumkum and floral garlands. Sheenanna made me sit on this decorated horse, held the leash, held me in one hand and arrived at the carnival.

Like how Ramanna was fond of cows, Sheenanna was fond of horses. Apparently, he good at riding. His path was always filled with grandeur. But the destiny was very cruel to him. After leaving the clerical job under Pacchiyappa Mudaliar, he did not have a stable job. For his day to day expenses, he had the income from the ancestral property and the financial help from his elder brothers. With this money, he toured different places almost six months in a year. His eldest daughter was Ammannamma. Her husband was Nadavatti Venkataramanayya. He was a schoolmaster in Vadagur, a village in between Kolar and Mulbagal. Vadagur village was an economic hub, they used to weave “chakku” cloth from looms. It is well known as “Vadagur chakku”. It was used in making banians, shirts and coats. A high quality chakku cost around two and half āṇa ¹⁴ for a yard. I wore such clothing.

This is the second part of the four-part English translation of Fifth essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 8) – Sankirna smriti samputa. Edited by G S Raghavendra.

Footnotes

Sheenanna (Part 3)

[[Sheenanna (Part 3) Source: prekshaa]]

Sinister view

I have told that my youngest grandfather was someone who indulged in loose talk. His view was also sinister. Sometimes he used to talk ill of my maternal grandmother Sakamma who was an extraordinary woman. With her being in the house, it had brought in a sense of good conduct, regulation and discipline. But our Sheenanna was opposed to being disciplined, “Who is she to this house?”, was his feeling. With such feelings came abusive words too.

Once when such an incident took place, Sakamma felt very bad, contemplated to move into a separate house along with her son and hence rented a small room close to our house. The rent was four or eight āṇa. They took me to that place for lunch.

Even now when I think about those conversations that took place, it pains me. My grandmother and my maternal uncle could not stay away without me even for a second. Even my younger grandfather Ramanna too was the same. That evening when my grandmother carried me back to our house, Sheenanna was not at home. As soon as Ramanna saw me, with a lump in his throat, he said “Oh you came!”, and picked me up in his arms. Later he prostrated to my grandmother, and said

“Amma, this house without you - without the kid, how will I be able to bear? Sheena has a filthy mouth. you already know that. I beg you to not take his words seriously. This is your house. Unless you take care without leaving us, we will not survive.”

- he pleaded with her. From the next day, everything came back to normalcy.

Hakim Saheb

Sheenanna had immense faith in god and customs. But even then, there was no scope bigotry. He never hated other religions. Among his close friends was a Muslim. Everyone called him Baṇḍe (rock) Hakim Saheb. Hakim Saheb was much older to Sheenanna. He had undertaken the Haj pilgrimage; was a doctor by profession. Many people went to him for treatment. His house was close to the dargah - on a rock. Due to this reason, he was called Baṇḍe Hakim.

Saheb used to come to our house daily in the afternoon around 3pm. He and Sheenanna used to sit in the exterior room facing each other. A small table in between them. A chess board and pawns on it.

Like this, from 3 to 6pm - till sunset, they used to play chess. In between some chatting, analysis of religious principles and policy analysis. I vaguely remember one day’s topic.

Pāni tēra raṅg
Tum jisamen mile ho baisa

This is a subject of vākyārtha ¹⁵. There are two meanings. (1) “tēra” means “yours.” (2) Thirteen is the other meaning. The logical outcome of this is, “Hey water, you take the same color as that you come in contact with. You are colorless. In such a colorless thing, ‘you thirteen colors’ meaning does not seem appropriate”…. To make this line of argument, Hakim Saheb quoted eight-ten pertinent examples. Sheenanna also provided some supporting statements to boost the argument. I really felt amazed by listening to their arguments. Such great people, such intellectuals.

Baṇḍe Hakim was detached, person true to his philosophy, compassionate and a very genuine person. Thousand salutations in his memory.

Music connoisseur

Sheenanna was very much interested in music and literature. It reminds me of an incident. During my five day wedding, on one of days a music concert was held, from a Andhra veena player Venkataramanadasappa from Vijayanagara. He was a famous performer. Sheenanna was sitting close to me. After playing four to five kr̥tis ¹⁶, he turned to the audience and said, “If anyone of you would like me to play anything in particular, I would be happy to play as much as my expertise permits”. The audience was ecstatic. Our Sheenanna asked - “Are you familiar with Govinda-svāmi varṇa?”. The veena player said - “Which of the five do you want?”. Sheenanna said - “Śaṅkarābharaṇa would be good”. Venkataramanadasa played the Śaṅkarābharaṇa varṇa. As he was about to conclude, Sheenanna asked a youngster present in the hall to get a garland and presented to the veena player once he finished the varṇa, greeted him with folded hands and said, “felt extremely happy / blissful”. The audience agreed too.

Sheenanna’s daughter Gouramma was married to a house near Anekal. Dommasandra, close to Bengaluru was his in-laws place. Elder daughter’s house was in Yelahanka. Thus his family and relatives were in different places. Sheenanna spent his time travelling between his relative’s places. He used his horse to travel to all these places.

Shamanna

Sheenanna had a son, named Shamanna or Shama Rao. He lived in Mulbagal as a kid and later in Kolar with his father’s brother. He must have been a bright student. He had received a prize book Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa - edited by J Garret. I believe that if he had concentrated on his studies he would have become a scholar. He was very interested in poetry. Lively in conversations. When he was in his high school, government had brought a scheme to train the youth for railway service. It was during the inaugural days of Mysore railways - must have been around 1880-1882. They had organized a telegraph school for station-master and other posts. To be eligible for it, one had to be from Mysore state by birth, and a senior high school level student.

Through this scheme, Shamanna had joined as a trainee. He got a job as station master after passing the examinations. He worked in places like Nittur and Gubbi, also Kurnool, Nandyala, Kambam, and other places in Telugu region.

My grandfathers were troubled about two things in his regard. (1) That he was in a far off place. (2) And that he did not have kids.

I have earlier told that, Sheshanna was extremely proud of his brother’s son. On hearing that Shamanna was transferred to Kambam, Kurnool and other places, apparently he had tears in his eyes. He then confided his grievance to then Kolar’s deputy commissioner Ramanuja Iyengar. Iyengar being impressed, assured that he would appoint Shamanna to any post under his jurisdiction as and when it fell vacant. Thus Shamanna was appointed to the revenue officer post in the sub-divisional office of Eldooru village of Srinivasapura Taluk in Kolar district around 1900-1901. In this matter, there was a bit of unrest in the house. The reason for it was that Sheshagirappa made some appeals for his brother’s son’s job but not for his own son’s job. Let us leave it at that.

When Shamanna was still in Eldooru, the plague spread throughout Mulbagal and I have told earlier the troubles our family had to face because of it. In those difficult times, my parents along with all the children in the house went to Eldooru and lived in a small portion of great scholar Venkata Shastri’s house. Shamanna was the one who had made these arrangements and other assistance that was required.

This is the third part of the four-part English translation of Fifth essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 8) – Sankirna smriti samputa. Edited by G S Raghavendra.

Footnotes

Sheenanna (Part 4)

[[Sheenanna (Part 4) Source: prekshaa]]

Shamanna’s family

Even I had moved to Eldooru. During those days, Shamanna’s wife Venkamma who was suffering from illness for a long time, passed away. Venkamma was the daughter of Venkatasubbayya, a lawyer in Mysore. She was a very well-natured virtuous woman. She had no kids. By the time she passed away, Shamanna was almost 50 years old. Sheenanna hoped to get a new daughter-in-law for the house. In this matter there was some disagreement between father and son. But father was adamant. After searching in different places, he finally found a bride. But the bride’s father put a condition. He had two daughters. The elder one was disabled. She had lost her leg by birth. The second daughter did not have any kind of disability. Whoever agreed to marry the disabled girl, the father intended to marry his second daughter also to him. One husband to both his daughters.

Sheenanna accepted this condition. The wedding took place accordingly. After one year, even before his newly wedded wives moved into Shamanna’s house, the younger wife passed away due to plague or so. The disabled wife survived. This is what I call destiny.

After that Sheenanna passed away. Shamanna moved to Mulbagal and somehow lived separately with the pension he received.

Prankster

Shamanna was a rasika ¹⁷. He had many poems and songs by-heart. He was a very humorous person. Under any circumstances, he found an opportunity for pranks. Once, someone was ailing with a stomachache. Shamanna called me and said:

Sha: “Hey appayya!, Recite the Stotra that you do.”

Me: “Which Stotra?”

Sha: “The one which you recite every now and then.”

Me: “Which one?”

Sha: “The one which you say as ḍar bur nāyaka”

Now I understood. One of the songs taught in school in those days was like this:

Gara-pura nāyaka pāhi
Smara-hara varamiha dēhi ॥

It is probably Nanjanagud Subba Shastri’s kr̥ti; very beautiful music as well as meaning. My uncle Shamanna mocked it as “ḍar bur nāyaka”.

He was a very efficient and disciplined government official. The accountants in the sub-division office were very close to him. Among with, Nandavarika Lakshmipatayya from Lakshmisagara, was his very close friend. When both met, for hours with their sarcastic poems, proverbs, songs and jokes, they made others laugh and they laughed too.

Sheenanna’s death

I have told that Sheenanna roamed around the Anekal region near Bengaluru. His end came at the Aśvattha-kaṭṭe ¹⁸ in front/outskirts of Yelahanka village. Apparently Srinivasayya was a schoolmaster in Yelahanka. He was originally from Mulbagal. Our whole family had developed immense affection and respect towards him. Sheenanna laid down on the Aśvattha-kaṭṭe and asked a passer-by to go and inform Srinivasayya. By the time Srinivasayya came, his soul had already left the body. Kashi-Rameshwar pilgrimage, chanting of Nārāyana-sūkta and Rudra-sūkta, wearing the Rudrākṣi-mālā ¹⁹ and Rāma-nāma Uttarīya ²⁰ helped his pure soul to unite with the Pan̄ca-bhūta ²¹.

Shamanna’s life too ended more or less in the same way. He fell sick and came to Bengaluru. We admitted him into Victoria Hospital. He recovered. He came home and stayed with us for two to three weeks. Yet his mind was not at peace. Since I was always a kid in his eyes, he did not share his inner feelings. He went to Mulbagal and wrote one or two letters - he was feeling restless, he was not happy with the marital relations - is what he had indicated. Nobody was in a position to help him. Meanwhile, he passed away. As per the elder’s directive that I was supposed to perform the last rites, I paid my last respects as per my ability.

Shamanna’s laments

Around 1912-1913, I faced a situation that needed me to go to Mulbagal - repair of our house and some other work. Mokshagundam Krishnamurthy, Belur Srinivasa Iyengar, and two other friends accompanied me. I do not remember who the other two were. Then, my chikkappa Shamanna lived in a rented house in the Agrahāra ²² street. One afternoon I went to his house with my friends. He was very happy. He affectionately spoke to everyone and enquired about the house repair. After leisurely talking, he got barugalu, hurigaḍale, dry coconut, jaggery, bananas in one or two big plates and offered us. He lamented: “What shall I do Appayya? If anyone comes home, I am not able to treat them better than this. There is no provision to offer lunch. Cannot even get upma and coffee prepared.” We said that “We do not want all that. We are completely full after a good lunch. We just need your affection and blessings.”

Rāma-nāma

After that Shamanna took out six-seven very big and fat exercise books from the shelf and placed it in front of us. It was filled with Rāma-nāma - “śrī-rama śrī-rama śrī-rama.”

He said: “This is my job now: After taking a bath in the morning I read two to three chapters of Rāmāyaṇa. After lunch I take a bit of rest. After that this job. After this, I visit the temple in the evening. That is how I am spending the time.”

Me: “I have heard that Natti Shastri has been your teacher. His lessons are now of use”

Sha: (with a chuckle) “I was utterly foolish then - did not learn anything. I wasted my life.”

What can I reply to that?

After coming to Bengaluru, I reported everything to my father. He enquired about his brother. I told him whatever I saw. “He is writing rāma-nāma. Apparently, it’s been some lakhs, If God blesses him with good health, he aspires to write five crore rāma-nāma and offer it at the feet of the God. We have to see - is what chikkappa ²³ said.”

On hearing this, my father sighed and -

Patita-pāvana rāma
Pāpa-vimōcana rāma

sang these first few lines of the song and folded his hands and paid his respects.

This is the final part of the four-part English translation of Fifth essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 8) – Sankirna smriti samputa. Edited by G S Raghavendra.

Footnotes