Perhaps it is a reflection of oDeyar`s psyche- He might have been closer to his mother, seen her in various forms and took liberties(salige) with her but had a strict father who he saw as just that. As an exetension, he was closer to Mother and saw everyone/everything in her but not soe with ISvara or viShNu. This is Freudian analysis. Perhaps Raja Chandra can throw light on this.
Well the first thing, which comes to, my mind is: how competent am I to answer this Freudian Analysis? The closest I ever came to oDeyar was when I was recklessly peddling my humble bicycle on the way the Yuvaraja?s College and almost came under his car near Chamundi Vihar (then a Royal mansion where oDeyar was born and was the official residence of Yuvaraja and wherein his mother continued to stay. But to dayit is part of a Sports Stadium and the Mansion a much neglected and crumbling edifice)?
Yet I cannot help wondering at DRS?s Freudian Analysis. It just sounds apocryphal yet there is something which rings a bell in my mind.
When the Yuvaraja died in 1939, oDeyar was hardly 20. Yuvaraja was very busy man being an extra-ordinary member of the council of Minister. He was involved with the upliftment of downtrodden, founding of the university of Mysore etc. Dr.Radhakrsihna once wrote- ?yuvaraja had the heart of a child and made you feel at home in a moment. There was no sense of pride or superiority. His inborn grace and unassuming dignity endeared him to all. He had a profound desire to raise the general condition of the country and status of women. His speeches bear witness to his throbbing love for India and intense loyalty to civilized values?.
Yuvaraja was a avid and frequent traveler and extensively traveled abroad and arguably a one of the greatest ambassador of Indian Culture and Music in those days daily Telegraph once wrote of his speeches ? words which if spoken in the house Lords, would have been front page news?
Alas! Sangeetam once wrote a bumptious article on such a soul.
Thus oDeyar obviously was in awe of his father and yet saw very little of him in his adolescent days.
Now let us revert the analysis to his relationship with his mother.
This brings us back to Dattatreya again. While dedicating the book , he states:
TO MY MOTHER: who showed me the light of Datta, most gracious lady, Her Higness Sri Kempu Cheluvajammanni Avaru, the yuvarani of Mysore, an example of the highest order of Indian womanhood, a great devotee and a loving and benign mother,
This book is most respectfully dedicated by her devoted and loving son,Jaya chamaraja Wadiyar.
By 1970, oDeyar?s health had taken a nose dive and he could barely walk.This forced him to go to USA for treatment and was admitted to a hospital there. But his mother died suddenly and he immediately got discharged and came back to Mysore against medical advice. He is said to have walked barefoot under hot sun from Chamundi Vihar to the Royal burial ground at Madhuvana leading his mother?s last journey. Such was his love and devotion to his mother.
In a letter to one his aide as early as 1955 he is said to have written: I would like to personally like to devote the rest of my life to the sons of India? God and my mother and the unfortunate people of this land?
Need I say more!
WOW!
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