Pic of my maternal grandfather Narayana Ramachandran, First Class Magistrate in Kerala

Last updated on 7th Oct. 2020

On my inquiry, my cousin forwarded me below pic of my thaatha or paata i.e. maternal grandfather (mother's father) Narayana Ramachandran.

[To open pic in larger resolution, right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]

N. Ramachandran was a First Class Magistrate in the District and Sessions Court in various locations in Kerala and finally, before he retired, he served in the State Secretariat in Trivandrum. N. Ramachandran was B.A., B.L. (Bachelor of Law). Based on what my mother told me, I believe he knew Sanskrit but I don't know whether he studied it as part of his B.A.

His Gotra was Kaundinya, Sutra was Apastamba and Shaka (branch of Veda) was Yajurveda. He was the son of Thuravoor Narayana Sasthrigal (TNS), noted Sanskrit scholar in grammar, and principal of Govt. Sanskrit College, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) from 1909-1911 (for more on TNS see https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/12/my-great-grandfather-thuravoor-narayana.html ).

The above pic may have been taken around 1970 when he was around 75 years old. He passed away on 6th March 1975 when he was around 80 years old. I would have been 12 and a half years old then. [As an aside, I just realized that my maternal grandfather may have been the only person whom I can clearly now recall seeing (as I would be taken as a kid for many visits to my uncle's home in Chembur, Mumbai, where my maternal grandfather was living then), who was born in the 19th century (late 1800s)! I don't recall seeing my paternal grandfather or grandmother. I think they passed away well before my maternal grandfather. But I do have some dim recollection of my maternal grandmother who surely would have been younger than my maternal grandfather.]

I recall my maternal grandfather to have been quite tall and quite hefty. I think he would have been quite an imposing figure as a magistrate with policeman/men following him and obeying his orders. As a kid, I recall my uncle and mother telling me about the respect my grandfather would get among the community during those times, due to his position as magistrate (with policeman/men following him). I mention the police aspect as I think that, in those days, police were very much feared and respected. In the accounts I was told as a kid, the policeman/men following grandfather and ready to obey his orders aspect, was very much a part of the story :-).

I did some amateur picture cleaning work.

Above pic is cleaned pic with Tikka (vermillion dot used in worship).

Above pic is cleaned pic with Tikka removed.

Above pic is Screenshot of all 3 pics: Left - cleaned with Tikka, Middle - original pic, Right - cleaned without Tikka.

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Associated Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2961165950766629

In response to a comment on a pic in above post, https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2961164580766766&set=pcb.2961165950766629, I wrote (slightly edited):

Dear Mr. --name-snipped--, unfortunately the third generation after my grandfather, which is my generation, does not seem to have any documentation about our grandfather (other than this picture). His son passed away some years ago and so did my mother (his daughter). One surviving daughter (my aunt) is elderly now and is not in a position to share such info even if she has some info.

So what I have shared in the post is really what is available with us now. I would have loved to know about some cases that he may have heard, and the judgements that he may have passed. But I think there is nothing that we have about that. Its gone! 

I think my uncle, and my grandfather himself, moved from Kerala to Bombay in difficult financial situation for them (in perhaps the 1950s or early 1960s). They were living in Trivandrum, near Padmanabhaswamy temple, in a house given to my great-grandfather Thuravoor Narayana Sasthrigal (a noted Sanskrit scholar of those days), by the Travancore king then! I was told they sold that house and moved to Bombay.

Perhaps Travancore kingdom getting absorbed into independent India in late 1940s/1950 led to some financial challenges for our family in Trivandrum leading to migration to Bombay. But I am not sure about this - just some speculation on my part.

My uncle took up a job in Tata Mills, Bombay. He retired as a Cost Accountant there.

But any documentation within the family, about/associated with the history of my grandfather and great-grandfather, seems to have disappeared. It is tragic but such is life!

As my great-grandfather has been mentioned in some books about those times, as a noted Sanskrit scholar, I have been able to dig some info. about him using the Internet. But about grandfather, there is no additional info. available with us now.

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