Glimpses of the Great

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Kulapati Dr. K.M. Munshi, a creative writer, leading lawyer, freedom-fighter, educationist, administrator, constitutional expert, connoisseur of performing arts and literature, builder of institutions and above all a patriot and visionary, founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 1938. He knew that freedom was round the corner and India needed a cultural and educational movement based on ethical and moral values.

Just a year later, in 1939, Shri Ramakrishnan, coming from a poor brahmin family in Pushpagiri village of Trichur District of Kerala and unable to continue his education after passing his matriculation examination, arrived in Mumbai in search of a job. He became Personnel Assistant to Shri Henning Holck Larsen and Shri Soren Christian Toubro of the Larsen & Toubro Company. He then plunged into Quit India Movement. He and his friends managed to spin 72 lakh yeards of Khadi yarn, which they presented to Mahatma Gandhi on his 72nd Birthday. He participated in Quit India Movement and was imprisoned. He was fortunate to provide the Mahatma with secretarial assistance as his part-time stenographer. He then joined Sardar Patel as his Personnel Secretary. As Shri Ramakrishnan did not want to join government service Sardar Patel gifted him to Kulapati Munshi. His sense of loyalty, tremendous ability and dedication and uncompromising integrity made Munshiji entrust him with the work of the Bhavan. The ascend and the glory of the Bhavan thus began.

From then on, Ramakrishnan, who had imbibed Gandhijiís twin mantras of SEVA and TYAGA-service and sacrifice worked incessantly for over half a century and transformed Bhavan into an internationally-acclaimed Cultural and Educational Movement rooted in the glorious spiritual and cultural values of one of worldis oldest and greatest civilizations.

To-day, Bhavan has 117 Kendras in India, and 7 Centres abroad. It runs 355 Constituent Institutions and Units.

With his sterling character, supreme dedication, amazing humility, total commitment to moral and ethical values, super-human capacity to put in hard and sustained work, readiness to lead from the front and willingness to merge himself completely with the Bhavan, Ramakrishnan inspired not only his colleagues but also the great and the mighty to work for the Bhavan.

While building up unique institutions and units of the Bhavan touching a thousand different aspects of human life, Ramakrishnan saw to it that the spirit of Seva and Tyaga permeated through the entire organization ensuring that the enormous assets and physical growth did not come in the way of practicing Bhavanis ideals, the basis of which are the moral and ethical values of India is ageless culture. This is his ever-lasting contribution to the Family of Man.

Ramakrishnan was a Vishva-Manav who, through Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, spread the message of peace, harmony and the essential oneness of all humans and faiths across continents.

A few decades back when Bhavan was at the stage of great take-off, Rajaji described Ramakrishnan as ithe Walking Bhavani. Since then, the Bhavan has grown and grown a thousand- fold and the world has recognised that: Bhavan is Ramakrishnan, and Ramakrishnan is Bhavan.

We invoke Godis blessings to give eternal peace to the soul of Shri Ramakrishnan and to guide the entire Bhavanis family towards greater heights in service to humanity and in upholding the high standards and values bequeathed to Bhavan by Kulapati K.M. Munshi and Shri S. Ramakrishnan.

"Glimpses of the Great" is a collection of articles written by Shri Ramakrishnanji over the last four decades on the twenty-two distinguished sons of Mother India include in Part II. These have been collated by Shri Sheshrao Chavan, an established writer and editor. Shri Chavan has written and collated over a dozen books, chief among them are books on Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Dr. Ambedkar. In each of his books he has analysed the basic character of the subject, what made them great. This is what the common reader wants to understand. Naturally his books have been popular.

But Shri Rao loves more the writing of others which have inspired the reader over the decades. Shri S. Ramakrishananji was one of such distinguished writers. But he was not a dry scholar who depended on the books for the material. He was one of the few fortunates who came into contact with the distinguished persons of every walk of life-political leaders, religious heads, industrialists, and businessmen, civil servants, social workers, literary giants, foreign dignitaries and so on. What made Ramakrishnanji a man of no mean scholarship, so lovable was his dedication to the cause, his humble behaviour, his simple living and high thinking, his indomitable energy and his efficiency in carrying out his assignments, even in the most odd circumstances. He was perhaps in the last series of the sons of the renascent India who had been a witness of both the growth of the Indian Republic and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Since the days of the Bhakti Movement, which moved India from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari 'Satsang' has been a very respectable word. A man is known by his company. Naturally the men of God will attract, and be attracted, towards men of God. Bhakti was mass movement in medieval India. It stirred the life of the common masses. It also strengthened the modern Indian languages which were languages of the masses.

The freedom movement specially after the entrance of Mahatma Gandhi on his return from South Africa did not remain merely a political movement but became a total mass movement for the resurgence and rebuilding of a new India after driving out the Britishers.

The Part II of the book includes twenty-two articles, mostly on political leaders who became Prime Minister, Union Minister, Chief Minister, President of India, and some, who, without enjoying any official position, were important political figures or leaders of the freedom Movement.

Ramakrishnanji came under the spell of Mahatma Gandhi, when he was hardly twelve years old. He had the glimpses of Mahatma Gandhi in 1934 during his visit to Kerala as part of the "Harijan Tour."

Ramakrishnanji dropped "T" denoting Trichur from his initials "T.S.", when Gandhiji appealed in one of his prayer meetings: "We should all be Indians first, last and always-Andhrites, Assamese, Bengalis, Gujratis, Keralites, Maharashtrians etc., next."

The crowning moment of Ramakrishnanji's life was organising the weekly 24 hours nonstop spinning from Saturday evening to Sunday evening, to present 72 lakh yards of yarn to Mahatma Gandhi on his 72nd birth day (in 1941). He presented it to Mahatma Gandhi in Sevagram. The details of Ramakrishnanji's dialogue with Gandhiji are given in the article, "The Cyclonic Patriot Saint" in this volume.