Renowned feminist-economist Padma Bhushan Devaki Jain was in Mysuru on a private visit last weekend. She is the daughter of M.A. Sreenivasan, who was Minister in the Princely State of Mysore. He was a Member of the Constituent Assembly representing the Princely State of Gwalior during 1947-48.
He had an illustrious career in the Civil Service in the then State of Mysore headed by Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, commencing from 1918. He also served as Mysore’s Trade Commissioner in London.
Born in 1933, Devaki Jain grew up in Mysore and Bangalore. She graduated from Mount Carmel College in Bangalore in 1953, with special papers in mathematics and economics. She was awarded three gold medals by University of Mysore (UoM). The College came under UoM then.
Hailing from an influential Tamil Brahmin family, Devaki married Gandhian activist Lakshmi Chand Jain and had the good fortune of meeting various national and international leaders and scholars who immensely impacted her life including Jayaprakash Narayan, Vinoba Bhave, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Amartya Sen and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.
A scholar of repute in economics, she has done pioneering work in giving shape to the women’s movement in India, particularly at the grassroots level. She is involved in various initiatives and institutions that have done remarkable work in recognising gender inequalities and formulated policies to address the imbalance.
Devaki Jain was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006 in recognition of her contributions. Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV-fame is one of her two sons and she had come to Mysuru with him. In Mysuru, she was put up at Hotel Metropole where she interacted with Mysuru Literary Forum Charitable Trust members. Devaki Jain spoke to Star of Mysore about her affinity to Mysuru and her memoir ‘The Brass Notebook’ that has now been translated into Kannada apart from being translated in Marathi, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. Excerpts:
By B.C. Thimmaiah
Star of Mysore (SOM): What is the purpose of your Mysuru visit?
Devaki Jain: We were going to Thirunarayanapuram (Melukote), which is the source of my family — my great grandfather was from here. My brother M.S. Rajan built the Sanskrit Academy in Melukote and also a library. We wanted to see his contributions. We also have great emotional bonding with Melukote — our home and Saint Ramanujacharya, so on and so forth. My maternal grandfather had a career here.
SOM: Your father conceptualised Dhobi Ghats and Agraharas (low-cost houses) of Mysore.
Devaki Jain: My father was a great doer and I am proud to be his daughter. In fact one of the publishers in New Delhi is republishing my father’s memoirs “Of the Raj, Maharajas and Me” and I want to finance its Kannada translation as I think people of Karnataka should read it.
SOM: What are your memories of Mysore?
Devaki Jain: I have written this in my memoirs where I remember my father was the President of the Mysore City Municipal Council. We lived in a house called ‘Bombay House’ on the fringe of the arch which leads to a park and then to the Mysore Palace. I remember my father riding a horse in the mornings for his inspections. When the horse would come and as a treat for me — I was four years old then — my father used to take me on the horse for a ride till the park and I used to get off and he would continue.
For me, the horse and the Palace were special as we used to go to the Palace for every event. Now we went to the Palace and saw it from outside. I remember my mother dressing up for the Dasara Durbar. The other thing I remember is that we used to go by tongas to the school. These are very happy memories. I went to the Devaraja Market last weekend and it looked just the same as when I was a child where my mother used to buy vegetables.
SOM: Give us a glimpse about your father’s personality?
Devaki Jain: He was unusually brilliant. We talk of brilliant people like Ramanuja the mathematician — something beyond the normal. He was not just an administrator but he was the one who revived the game sanctuary near Mysore. He was a multifaceted personality and used to strive for the betterment of the society.
His heart was with workers and wherever he visited as part of his assignments, he used to ensure that he did something for the workers. He was constructive at every step and had an immensely creative mind when it came to development.
M.S. Subbulakshmi came to sing in the Palace for the Yuvaraja many years ago and my father was there as President of the Mysore City Municipal Council. He invited her home to meet his mother and Subbulakshmi sang for her. She was only 19 or 20 then. She became a good friend of the family and she used to meet my father even when he was 100 years old. I became her friend and I used to go to Chennai to stay with her. My father loved music and dancing. He was a rasika and a multi-faceted man.
SOM: How often do you visit Mysuru?
Devaki Jain: I would love to visit more but I have not visited here often, the last was nearly 10 years ago. Mysore means a lot to me and is close to my heart though I don’t visit often. I am happy to tell you that my book ‘The Brass Notebook’ has been translated into Kannada and titled ‘Hithaale Bannada Pustaka, Devaki Jain Badukina Putagalu’. It has been translated by Kodibettu Rajalakshmi and she tells me that the response for the translation is very good.
Interaction with Mysuru Book Clubs
Mysuru Book Clubs in association with ‘Speaking Tiger Books’ — one of India’s most acclaimed independent publishing companies — had recently organised an online talk with Devaki Jain on her book ‘The Brass Notebook.’
At Hotel Metropole, where Devaki Jain was put up during her private visit to Mysuru, she interacted with the stakeholders of Mysuru Literary Forum Charitable Trust where she spoke at length about her experiences and her book, a conversation interspersed with humour.
M.A. Sreenivasan: A champion of low-cost housing
Mandyam A. Sreenivasan, father of Devaki Jain, occupied many posts in the princely State of Mysore, including the posts of President of the Mysore City Municipal (MCM) Council and Chairman of the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB), the present Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Apart from conceptualising Mysuru’s Dhobi Ghat (on the lines of Bhojana Shalas of the Hampi ruins), he championed the cause of building low-cost model houses, drawing inspiration from the old concept of Agraharas to serve as models for a comprehensive rehousing and housing scheme for Mysore.
M.A. Sreenivasan built low-cost model houses for the poor. These houses were built around an open quadrangle adjoining the Karohatti Road, now called Ramanuja Road, in 1936. The houses were given on nominal rent, enabling the allottee to become owner at the end of 20 years.
This locality was inaugurated in 1938 by Yuvaraja Kanteerava Narasaraja Wadiyar and was named ‘Sreenivasan Agrahara’ in recognition of M.A. Sreenivasan’s dedicated service to the city.
‘My son grew into a journalist by himself’
Devaki Jain has two sons — Gopal Jain, Senior Supreme Court Advocate and Sreenivasan Jain, Group Editor of NDTV. He has reported and anchored award-winning ground reports and investigative shows.
When asked about her son Sreenivasan Jain being a popular TV personality, Devaki Jain says, “These are not the things we arranged. Vasu (Sreenivasan Jain) grew into a journalist by himself. And he is a very modest fellow like his father and not a show-off at all and that is the more important thing for us. I am so happy that Vasu is warm and friendly.”
“The skill of being on the TV show, I think, he inherited. Sometimes there are things that come genetically and sometimes through behavioural observations. Vasu’s paternal grandfather was editing one of the most famous newspapers in Delhi during the freedom struggle and it was called ‘Arjun’. He was the editor and writer of repute. In fact, both sides of Vasu’s family — my father’s father and Vasu’s father’s father — were into writing and publishing journals. I think it is a genetic gift,” she said.
When asked about Sreenivasan Jain’s upbringing, Devaki Jain said, “Fortunately for us, we did not have the money when he was growing up and he did not get into this lavish lifestyle. He was brought up with school clothing of others, handed down. So my sons know what it is like not being affluent and privileged. And that’s what adds to Vasu’s credibility that he is not feeling like a rich boy. I am so glad that people appreciate him and he is very sincere about his work.”
This post was published on March 23, 2022 6:05 pm