VENKATA PATTABHI RAMAN or simply Bala to his friends
I just wanted to write a few lines on my father. If ever there was a list of men whose amazing intellect was to be revered for the sheer variety of subjects they could intelligently converse on , I guess my dad will be somewhere right on top of that list.
Born on 3rd October, 1932 . He was brilliant academically and finished School from the Church Park Convent ( Yes it was Co-ed ) then. He , having had 2 double promotions on the way to finishing could not join College right away and spent that time reading, learning shorthand and typing , accounts and the Violin – from the noted violinist Pappa Venkatramaiah. I have heard some really great ( I am given to understand) Jam sessions in my house. Ramnad Krishnan and my Mother ( who is today on the Grading and selection Panel for All India Radio) Smt.Kalpakam Raman sing, with dad on the Violin , Joined in by S.Balachander on the Veena ( My grandmother has a few at Home) and Mali on the Flute…..wish we had those sessions Taped.
My Dad then joined loyola College for his B.Sc in Physics , he was not too taken up with Science and did not do his usual Brilliant best. Thereafter he Joined the Madras law College and in those 3 Years set records that to this Day remain unbroken. He stood first and obtained the Gold medal in so many subjects that the record stands unbroken – even after 55 years. He was offered a Lecturership straight after his Graduation which he took up for a while. Many an Advocate has told me of how he used to make Dry subjects like Hindu Law and Jurisprudence interesting.
He had by then finished experimenting with Communism and joined the DMK Party where he was given the alliterative title/name of “Vazhakkarignar VPR”. He along with M/S EVK Sampath, Era Sezhiyan wrote the Constitution of the Party. In 1955 he married my mother and the next year in 1956 I was born.
His life was filled with so many highlights that I can proudly say that even to this day…some 17 years after his passing away , his name still spins magic and opens doors for us. His forte was his sharp intellect , swift repartee , ability to grasp a problem and reduce it to the simplest of terms , and all this , thinking out of the Box. His approach was so different , his language , so fluently stylish. His speech – crystal clear and crisply to the point that as an Advocate he simply stood out. At the young age of 34 he was made the Public Prosecutor and this was when the State had an Advocate general and a Public Prosecutor – not the big band of Law Officers that the States these days seem to require. ( That My brother P.S.Raman – is the current Additional Advocate general is another matter for another Blog maybe).
In 1975 he was called to Delhi to take over as Additional Solicitor General , again at the age of 43.
He made his mark in Courts all over India – by appearing for the Government of Smt. Indira Gandhi , defending the Fundamental Rights case. Indeed , Sri L.K.Advani commented that Mr.Raman was one of the fairest advocates to have prosecuted him !!!
My father’s adherance to Truth and Ethics of the profession was obsessive. Almost a disorder. He could not Stomach many things that happened , which is why he could never make it in the political Arena. His contacts were numerous but they were all in dread of his tongue as he never hesitated to call a spade a spade. Diplomacy and tact were alien to the Man. After the Emergency was called off and the Congress lost power he came back to Madras to be appointed the Advocate general of the State in 1977 for Sri.M.G.Ramachandran. Our relationship to this legend requires another Blog – I promise it will be there. After 1979 he did not take up any Law office but focussed on his Private Practice. He passed away in 1991 at the age of 59. Having packed enough in that lifetime that a 95 year old would not have.
To me he was a friend – so too to my brothers , and I can safely say that he was the first friend we lost…….Many left thereafter , each leaving a small cut in our hearts but Dad’s passing left a gash so big that even now , at times it opens and silently bleeds……
My eternal regret is that he could not see his children become successful and his grand children grow up. He was very well connected to the film world what with Anna, Kalaignar, MGR, Gemini,Kannadasan,Visvanathan Ramamurthy,ALS,AVM,Saroja Devi , Sridhar and Sivaji being some of his clients ,and would have been thrilled to see me do so well in the silver screen.
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