Manohar Devadoss - A Little Adventure with Books

Manohar Devadoss' book Green Well Years, may perhaps be my only impulse purchase of a book, by an author who was at that point unknown to me. I barely read two pages, flipped through a few more and bought it with no further hesitation. And totally loved it. I have scanned and flipped books by other authors, like Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Rabindranath Tagore, Adam Smith, Alfred Russel Wallace, Jared Diamond, JK Rowling, Oscar Wilde, and many more, and put them back, sometimes to buy them later. Sometimes not.

He spoke today (February 10, 2018) at MLS, with afffection, grace, humor and passion about his love affair with books and more. What a magical hour it was. He was introduced by KRA Narasiah and thanked by S Muthiah. What could be more fitting than two doyens of Madras history, whose books proudly feature Manohar Devadoss' art. These are my notes from his lecture.

S Muthiah (right) thanks Manohar Devadoss(left), after the talk

---Manohar Devadoss speech------

I learnt of kangaroos in the first book I read. That a mother kangaroo had a pouch, and its baby would jump in and out as it pleased. Another described Humphrey Davy's invention, the mining lamp. Hodgson used it and  bravely went into a mine. If the Davy design were wrong, the mine would have blown up. But it didn't. It's safety spread like wildfire (what an ironic metaphor). 

Another book was about the Flying Scotchman, the fastest train at that time.

I tried to see more with my mind.  My Father's medical books had lovely color pictures. Some pictures of babies being born. I read it at an age, when I didn't know how babies were made.

In eighth standard,  I saw a painting of an  artist inspired by a muse. My mother explained who a Muse was.

When I was in the tenth standard, I saw a Painting of Venus clothed scantily, a nineteenth century painting featuring a famous actress. I made a pencil sketch. My father said I got the anatomy right.

Next was a painting of the sculpture of Michaelangelo's David, just before battle with Goliath.

I finished BSc at American College in Madurai 1956. I avoided moral classes at college and spent it usefully in the library. I drew the magnificent College chapel of American College. This was the beginning of my career as a heritage building artist.

I wanted to just finish PhD and become a professor. But I went to  work in a company as chemist making electric lamps for miners, which were replacing Davy lamps.

I paid fifty rupees for lifetime membership in college library, fully reimbursed by the company. The Company sent me to England and also on holiday to London, Paris and Rome, which was unheard of in those days. And my value in marriage market went up because I was foreign returned.

I met Mahima in 1963. She was brilliant student at Stella Maris College in Madras. I had just read Exodus by Leon Uris.

I sang to Mahima, Take my Hand, and she did after a little hesitation. Thank you, Leon Uris.

We exchanged a lot of books. We saw the film ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. It has a scene where a child clutches a teddy bear. I asked her if she ever had a teddy bear as child and went to sleep clutching it, she replied, “No, but in a few days Ill do so with a big teddy bear”. Which inspired me to sketch a large teddy bear and a doll. You can see the eagerness in the teddy bear's eyes.

I drew sketch cards of the Buckingham canal. I sold them at a low price. This was a change, my art was selling.

One day I saw a skeleton in a book and I told Mahima, the skeleton looks familiar. “Don't be ridiculous,” retorted Mahima. Looks like skeleton of Michaelangelo's David, I remarked.

We went to Oberlin College, in Ohio, USA, which opened in 1833 with no discrimination against women or blacks. They were quite interested in and studied Asia also. We spent happy times there.

We had lovely plans and dreams for our life together in Madurai, but fate intervened. We had a car accident. Mahima was thrown out of our car, lost all her limbs, and became a quadriplegic. I  borrowed books and studied all anatomy books. I learnt a lot about how quadriplegics live, what they go through. They invariably suffered bedsores, but the pictures in anatomy books couldn't convey the smell. I made sure that she never got a bedsore during her thirty five years she lived as such.

Mahima kept up a good spirit. She wouldn't let her handicap defeat her spirits. She decided to dictate and thus write a book. She compiled simple stories into a book that was published as a supplementary reader for schools.

But Destiny tested us again, I got retinitis pigmentosa. This is a disease with a beautiful sounding name, but it caused a terrible degeneration of the eye.  Around this time, I had an art exhibition sponsored by Goethe Institute.

I started going blind in my left eye. Perhaps I couldn't continue art. So I started dictating an autobiographical story, Green Well Years. I decided to add sketches to the book, when I found the cataract wouldn't totally make me blind. I was also spending long hours at the factory, taking care of Mahima, and raising our daughter Sujata. Mahima read book after book for hours together, while I did ink drawing. My ink drawing of Spencer's store in Madurai was used by Muthiah, in his book on Spencer's.

Setbacks made us do more and better. I told my monster retinitis, you made me an author, when I was only an artist. I gave the entire royalty to my school. Several lifelong friendships formed including Aravind Eye Hospital. I wrote two more books.... A Poem to Courage, a sequel to Green Well Years. 

A subsequent book Multiple Facets of Madurai, is now in its seventh edition.

A group of girls from Church Park Convent, a school in Madras, came to visit me because my chapter was in their school lesson. The Tamil translation of Green Well Years published as En Madurai NinaivugaL என் மதுரை நினைவுகள்.

Mahima passed away a few years back. But I kept busy with a book on a caterpillars. I also continued to sketch heritage buildings. Sujatha Shankar, an eminent Madras architect, considers my perspective drawings the best. She asked that I come up with a book on Madras monuments, she is writing the text.

I also did a lot of watercolors including butterflies. I drew a large teddy bear with a butterfly sitting on its shoulder, in memory of Mahima. Angels would be taking lessons from Mahima, said Rev. Gallop in condolence letter.

---End of Manohar Devadoss speech------

Essays on Literature

Essays on Art
Notes of Lectures attended

Theodore Baskaran on Film and Literature at MLS

Theodore Baskaran தியோடோர் பாஸ்கரன், renowned film critic, and author of a history of Tamil cinema, Em Tamizhar Seytha Padam (The Films Made by our Tamils) எம் தமிழர் செய்த படம் lectured on the topic “From Print to Screen : Literature and Tamil Cinema” at the Madras Literary Society, on 21 April, 2018.

The lecture was preceded by the opening of a Tamil Books section, at the MLS, thanks to a generous contribution of Rs.25000/- from Smt Padmapriya and her husband Sri Baskaran (no relation to the speaker). via their foundation Aalayam Kanden Trust. They donated the full receipts of Padmapriya’s book “The Gods of the Holy Koovam”, which was released in Feb 2017 at the MLS. On that occasion, I had the privilege of lecturing on the History of the MLS, based on the then recently rediscovered book by N Ramaswami. Several books have also been donated by various people and patrons. The library is eager to expand both its collection and its membership.

Padmapriya and Baskaran and friends
Tamil Books Section MLS

Nivedita Louis, who compered the program, invited me to say a few words about the Tamil section. I said that it was an extraordinary and generous contribution by Padmapriya. I added that such a section was long overdue, given the historical association of the MLS with the Tamil language, its discovery of the Dravidian and Munda families of languages by Francis Whyte Ellis and his collaborators, and the significance of their contributions to several aspects of Tamil society in general.

Theodore Baskaran lecture at MLS

These are my notes from Theodore Baskaran’s lecture.

He had prepared a PowerPoint presentation in Tamil, but he said that, based on a quick glance at the audience, he felt it best that he speak in English.

Tamil film had a long association with books and notable authors. The film Malai Kallan மலை கள்ளன், starring MGR, was written by Namakkal Kavingar, a famous Tamil poet. Classical Tamil literature like Silappadikaaram சிலப்பதிகாரம் and Kundalakesi குண்டலகேசி had inspired such films as Kannagi கண்ணகி and Manthiri Kumari மந்திரிக்குமாரி, adapted as screenplays by M Karunanidhi. Both MGR எம்.ஜி.ஆர் and Karunanidhi கருணாநிதி later became Chief Minsters of Tamilnadu as did their mentor, CN Annadurai அண்ணாதுரை, a popular playwright, novelist and screenwriter.

But these famous names came later. Anaathai Penn (Orphan Girl) அனாதை பெண், a book by Vai.Mu. Kothainayagi, வை.மு.கோதைநாயகி a path-breaking feminist, freedom fighter and author of the early twentieth century was filmed by Raja Sandow. It was the first Tamil book to be made into a movie. Serialized novels in magazines were popularized by SS Vasan, the founder and head of Gemini Studio. He published stories like the famous Thyaga Bhoomi தியாக பூமி, written by Kalki கல்கி and Thillana Mohanambal தில்லானா மோகனாம்பாள் by Kothamangalam Subbu கொத்தமங்கலம் சுப்பு. Such novels were the source for several of his movies.

Unfortunately, most Tamil films are merely photographed drama, the speaker lamented. Most film directors, even the popular ones, like AP Nagarajan and K Balachandar came from the stage. Cinema has its own grammar, different from print and the stage. Few filmmakers understood this. Also, Tamil country had a very popular era of stage plays before the advent of film, full of songs and dance, and narrations of mythological stories. When the era of silent movies ended, and talkies came along, the first generation of actors were all from the stage, far better at singing than acting. The tradition of songs in the film, often utterly unrelated to the story, is till date a major flaw of Tamil cinema, the speaker said. They only retard the narrative.

The era of mythologicals gave way to social themes during the 1950s, primarily fueled by the politics of the Dravidian movement. This merely replaced innumerable songs with interminable monologues. Even Dravidian film makers who brought on social themes like caste discrimination and social justice, had actors talking like they were on  political podium rather than exploiting the grammar film.

Not many of us know Rajaji ராஜாஜி was an excellent writer in Tamil, Mr Baskaran continued. His novel Thikkarra Parvathi திக்கற்ற பார்வதி was filmed by Singeetham Narasinga Rao. The major flaw in the story is that the protagonist gets addicted by drinking toddy. You can't get addicted to toddy, only arrack. I have drunk toddy, nothing happens, he quipped. Rajaji didn't know the difference because he was not a drinker.

Literary writers also contributed their mite to the screen. Ucchi Veyil (High Noon) உச்சி வெயில் a novel by Indira Parthasarathy இந்திரா பார்த்தசாரதி was turned into a film called மறுபக்கம் which won a National Best Film award, but was totally ignored by Tamil population, because it was not a commercial hit. Tamil audiences and even the film world had a mental division of films as either commercial or art, and the latter label was an omen of commercial failure.

In this dark world of Tamil cinema, there were  a few flashes of lightning like Jayakanthan ஜெயகாந்தன் who filmed two of his own novels. Yarukkaaka Azhuthaan (For whom did he cry) யாருக்காக அழுதான் one of Jayakanthan’s films is one of my favorite films, he said. Nimoy Ghosh, who settled in Madras, and was a contemporary of the legendary Bengali film maker Satyajit Ray, shot this film and used very imaginative lighting.

Great films like Mullum Malarum (The Thorn and the Flower) முள்ளும் மலரும் were made from mediocre novels. This is often true of Hollywood films like Godfather and Psycho. Anuradha Ramanan’s அனுராதா ரமணன் novel Chirai(Prison) சிறை was made into a film – a rare example of a female author’s book, after VaiMuKo.

Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal (Some People in Some Moments) சில நேரங்களில் சில மனிதர்கள் was another classic Jayakanthan novel, filmed by a director who showed people talking all the time - it wasn’t very visual. Most authors feel unhappy that directors have misunderstood their novel and made a mess of the movie, but often the authors themselves had a very poor sense of filmmaking. They also indulged in long dialogs and poor pacing.

Alfred Hitchcock said, “Never use words to describe what you can simply show.”A filmmaker should think visually first, but most Tamil filmmakers think verbally. This led to absurd scenes. For example, there are scenes where a character walks into a room and  says things like, “There is nobody here” or “Ah, there is a glass of water.” The audience can see this, why this superfluous dialogue?

A brilliant example of visual filmmaking is from the Hollywood film Gandhi. In a scene, Gandhi washes his face in the river, when he notices a desperately poor woman, washing half her saree. She is so poor she has only one saree and she can only wash one half of it while wearing the other. Not even looking at her, and not wantingto overtly walk over and give her a shawl, Gandhi lets slip his shawl into the river, and it gently floats to the lady. She gratefully grabs it. Without one word being spoken, the filmmaker Richard Attenborough shows the compassion of Gandhi...

Often a film can be inspired by a short story, not a novel. Such was Baskar Shakti’s short story, made into a wonderful film Azhagar Saamiyin Kuthirai (Azhagar Saami’s horse) அழகர் சாமியின் குதிரை.

The Malayalam film Madhilukkal (Walls) மதிலுக்கள் has a scene of the line where the protagonist in the novel, a prisoner, says, “I could smell women, on the other side of the wall”. Because a womens prison was on the other side. Adoor Gopalakrishnan the director, could not show the character smelling the walls. So he introduces a peal of a woman's laughter. This is creative interpretation, and evokes the same emotion the author intended.

Overall, Tamil unfortunately doesn't have a good relationship between literature and film. Several novelists' books have not been made into films.

Cinema is not for entertainment, he concluded.

Gopu’s Comments

While I whole heartedly agree with Theodore Baskaran in his criticism of Tamil cinema as being too verbal, photographed drama, and not often visual, I think he is totally off the mark on two issues.

1. Songs – Indian audiences love them. In fact cinema music is the most succesful and popular music industry and genre in India. The bulk of the audience simply doesn’t care that the narrative is broken or retarded, or irrelevant to the film. Often the songs are far more popular than the movies.

2. “Cinema is not for entertainment.” I think what Theodore Baskaran means, is that cinema is a powerful medium that can be used to educate and mould public opinion, improve society etc.  Personally I prefer entertaining cinema to any advice and propaganda.

3. Literature versus Cinema. I think good literature (itself a very subjective estimation, usually by a segment of the population that reads a lot of books, and has an innate sense of superiority) rarely makes for good cinema (another subjective estimation). In contrast, often so called mediocre novels, make for excellent and successful cinema, because they appeal to more than snobs and nabobs. John Grisham and Chetan Bhagat’s novels are the most popular proof. Often the “mediocrity” of one generation is the classic of its succeeding generations.

Related Links

Theodore Baskaran’s essay in Madras Musings How Old is Tamil Cinema

Pradeep Chakravarthy essay in Madras Musings on Gods of the Holy Koovam 

Sid Caesar's Ghost

Indian Literature – Four hundred Shakespeares, zero Jules Vernes

Vai Mu.Kothainayagi – A Biographical Lecture by Dr Va Ve Subramaniam

Rajaji –A Biographical Lecture by Dr Va Ve Subramaniam

Francis Whyte Ellis - by Thomas Trautmann

தமிழ் இலக்கியம் – ஒரு கால அட்டவணை

Books

எம் தமிழர் செய்த படம் (The Films Made by our Tamils)  by Theodore Baskaran

Mu. Ka –A biography of M Karunanidhi  by Ramki. J

Gods of the Holy Koovam by Padmapriya Baskaran

MacKenzie Lambton and Buchanan - S Muthiah

These are my note from S Muthiah's lecture in December 2016 at the Madras Literary Society. He spoke about three British men who contributed to Madras and its history

S Muthiah lecturing at MLS

Francis Buchanan-Hamilton added his mother's maiden name Hamilton to his own later in life. The story starts with William Jones who founded the Asiatic society of Bengal in 1784. Jones proposed that the Society study, "Man and Nature, what is performed by one or produced by the other." While in Calcutta the efforts were made under the offices of the Asiatic Society, in Madras, mostly there were individual efforts until the formation of the Madras Literary Society in 1812.

Three things one needs when one takes over and rules a country. An army, an administrative service and an understanding of what the country produces. The British did this well, and the Americans fail miserably at the third of these.

Buchanan moved up from the South to the Ganges studying agriculture, natural wealth and fauna. Buchanan was the third director of Calcutta botanical gardens. Pioneering botanical work was done in Madras before Buchanan, by Dr James Anderson. Experiments were performed first with a Nopalry in Saidapet, then at Anderson Gardens in Nungambakkam, across the current MLS premises. 

Buchanan was followed by Edinburgh doctors Johann of Copenhagen, appointed natural historian of East India company 1779. Then Roxburgh. Later Nolte commissioned local painters to draw watercolor paintings of South Indian plants, flowers, leaves etc. Nolte 's book is a treasure. Hugh Clayborn followed them. Said Nolte, "The Hindus excel in this kind of minute detail. Every detail of every leaf and flowers (250 thousand sketches) was captured by these artists."

Muthiah says we don't know who the descendants of these artists are. This knowledge is still the basis of the Botanical and Zoological surveys of India.

Anderson's house and perhaps Gardens, Nungambakkam

Colin MacKenzie He fought in the last Mysore war. Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, commanded the 33rd Regiment in Madras. He lost his way with the Army on the way to Mysore and Colin MacKenzie rescued him and showed him the right way. Later after the Battle of Assaye, Wellesley marched the Madras Regiment into a hail of Scinidia 's guns. He later said, "there is no equal to the Madras soldier anywhere in the world. "

MacKenzie became surveyor general of India. The practices he laid down are still followed. I was part of the Survey of India (said Muthiah) from 1968-1990 before satellites and GPS and we followed most of MacKenzie practices.

Mackenzie collection at GOML, Univ of Madras

Mackenzie's greatest contributions were to Indology. He collected seven thousand artefacts and number of books, mostly on palm leaves. Most of these were translated, mostly by Kavali Boriah and later, his brothers Ramiah and Lakshmiah. In 1821, three quarters of the collection was sent to Britain but much of this came back. This formed the nucleus of GOML, which added the Leyden and CP Brown collection. Mackenzie was the first of the Indologists of South India. To him more than anyone else, South India owes the records of its history.

Kavali Boriah, who assisted MacKenzie, was called the father of Indian epigraphy and paleography. 

The first Indian to write in English, he kept a journal in English.

William Lambton might make claim to greatest contribution to scientific knowledge about India. Trigonometric survey of India. Gave the shape to the map of India as we know it. Began at St Thomas Mount. First survey from Madras to Mangalore and then Kanyakumari and then the rest of India. One of the greatest achievements of nineteenth century.

Anglo Indians many from St George's school participated in survey. Much more dangerous than conquest of Wild West in America. Heat and dryness and rains and floods and snake and Tiger infested jungles. Lambton died at age of seventy near Nagpur. The trigonometrical Survey was continued by Lambton's assistant, George Everest, who completed the survey at the Himalayas, and was honored by having the highest peak named after him. Joshua d'Penny a Madras surveyor did most of the calculations for TSI for Everest. There is a Lambton peak near Ooty, which is all there is to honor his memory. More recently, a bust of Lambton was installed at the St Thomas Mount, to commemorate his accomplishment.

There is also a Lambton's pillar at the Meteorological office in Nungammabakkam, next to MLS.

William Lambton bust at St Thomas Mount

Lambton Pillar at Meteorological Office

Lambton climbed Tanjavur Big temple with the half ton theodolite, because there was no hill or any elevation in those flat plains to help the TSI. The theodoloite fell and damaged some part of the vimanam, and Lambton to wait months for it to be fixed. Perhaps the European face sculpted on it is Lambton as suggested by Venkatesh Ramakrishnan.

Notes of other lectures by Muthiah

1. Madras and its American connections

2. Madras - India's first modern city

Orientalists

0. William Jones and James Prinsep
1. Ellenborough - Abolition of slavery in India
2. Robert Caldwell - discoverer of Munda language family
3. Francis Whyte Ellis - discoverer of Dravidian language family
4. An Englishman's Tamil inscription
5. Did Macaulay undermine Indian education?

6. Erdos on Madras - A Hungarian mathematician's poem

7. The Thames and the Cooum
8. Tales of a Welsh couple