Mahesh seems to have deliberately made a change in the story regarding who brought the plant for the alchemical experiment. In the original article ("An Adventure in Travancore") written by the foreign spy, one day Ayya guru was very impatient and restless, walking round and round. The spy asked him what the matter was. The guru told him that he was expecting two of his disciples who had gone to meditate at Maruthwamala to bring a certain plant which he needed for some experiment. After some time two boys entered the scene. The guru eagerly asked, "Did you bring what I had asked you to bring ?" The senior of the two boys with some hesitation said "We have brought what you wanted" and took out something from his mundu and placed it on the table. It was a gold coin which probably they had purchased from the market. The guru's face became red with anger. Seeing this, the boys made a quick exit. The spy asked, "Sir, you should be happy since they have gifted you a gold coin. Why are you angry ?"
Then the guru said, "They are making fun of me. They think I am greedy for gold. They do not understand my real purpose. What I need is a certain plant for an alchemical experiment which requires this plant. The plant is only for cleaning the brass coin. The real transmutation process is psychical". The spy grabbed the golden opportunity. He offered to bring the plant. The guru at first was reluctant, saying that being a foreigner he may not be able to converse with the local people and get the plant. But the spy was very enthusiastic and at last the guru told him the name of the plant. The spy hired a horse drawn carriage, went to Maruthwamala and brought a carriage full load of the plant. This pleased the guru and he included the spy in the experiment in place the two boys who never showed up again.
It was not a deliberate change. It was few days after meeting you I started writing down and many of the valid points were either forgotten or remoulded in my fantasy.You are correct and heartfelt thanks for correcting me. A classic example of how history is mutilated usually.
Anyway this is a very unusual story and unknown to many.
About 120 years back there lived a Vellala couple Chinna Swami Pillai and Nagammal in Trivandrum in a house where the present Accountant Generals office is situated. Chempaka Raman was born to them on September 15,1891.Even during school days he was a revolutionary. Strickland an European lived in Trivandrum send this brilliant boy to Germany in 1908 for higher studies. He continued his studies in Italy an dSwitzerland.H etook Doctorate in Political Science Economics. He lived in Germany for 20 years.He carried campaign against British rule in India, With Hardayal, Raja Mahendra Pratap, Dr. Prabhakar and A.C. Nambiar he founded Indian Independence Committee.Armed with Engineering degree he joined German Navy. He was officer on the cruiser” Emden” and attacked British ships and shelled several places in India.On septmber 22,1914 Madras was shelled. A free Government of India was established in Afganistan on Dec 1, 1915 with Raja Mahendra Presad as President Barkatulla as Prime Minister and Pillai as Foreign Minister. After World War 1 he formed an association of the “League of Oppressed People” In 1933 he met Subash Chandra Bose. They organized INA outside India. The Azad Hind Government was based on Pillai ’s experience during World War 1.In 1933 Pillai married Lakshmi Bai. Unfortunately they had short life together.Pillai soon fell ill. There were symptoms of slow poisoning and he went to Italy for treatment. He passed away on May 28, 1934.Lakshmi Bai bought his ashes to India in 1935 and ater ashes were ceremoniously immersed in Kanyakumari with full state honours.His career was marked by supreme sacrifice and total dedication to a noble cause. Strickland was the spy.unfortunately both missed to namethe SPY. dr.kanam ponkunnam 9447035416
Unfortunately both you failed to name the spy. The spy was mr.Strickland who carried Chepakaraman Pillai(1890-1934) the first malayali freedom fighter to Germany The
After reading your blog I did some research as the narration had some discrepancy. Your narration (or Dr George Mathew’s) “Two boys who were student disciples had come to meet Swamikal with a bunch of rare herbs and plants brought from Maruthva Malai, a hill which is near to Kanyakumari.”cannot be true at all for the following reasons.
(1) Gurudevan was born in 1032 Kollam Era which is 1856 of the christian era.
(2) Gurudevan and Chattampi Swamikal met in 1060 or the earliest in 1058. Let us take the earliest possible which is 1058. That makes Gurudevan 26 years old.
(3) When they met, Chattampi Swamikal was a bearded man according to biographies of Sree Narayana Gurudevan. Chattampi Swamikal was two years older than Gurudevan. That makes Chattampi Swamikal 28 years old. After that only they went to Taycatt Ayyavu Swamikal. Then how can those “Two boys who were student disciples“ be Chattampi Swamikal and Gurudevan? Please check for accuracy before you post historical information.
The Mentor of JAIHIND Chempakaraman Pillai Walter William Strickland (b. Westminster 26 May 1851- d. Java 9 August 1938 ) was the son of Sir Charles Strickland, 8th Baronet (1819–1909). The family estate was at Hildenley Hall in Yorkshire. He married Eliza Vokes (1860–1946) in 1888 and became known as the ‘anarchist baronet’ because he wandered around the world for much of his life espousing radical causes. They had no children and the title passed to a cousin once removed, Sir Henry Strickland-Constable. He wrote several books and pamphlets and translated works of the Czech poet Viteslav Halek. He has been linked with the Voynich manuscript. He may have met Voynich during his first years in London, when Voynich was directly involved in the political activities of Russian refugees in London, under the leadership of Stepniak - Kravchinskii, who founded the SFRF (Society of Friends of Russian Freedom) and the RFPF (Russian Free Press Fund). He spent some time in Russia and in 1923 became a citizen of Czechoslovakia, renouncing his British citizenship and the Baronetcy. In 1931 he moved to Java where he died in 1938.
Strickland had libertarian, socialist and atheist ideas. He helped Guy Aldred, founder of the Glasgow Anarchist Group. As related by Albert Meltzer: " After the publication of Hyde Park in 1938 support for Aldred in London fell off and he had burned his bridges in London and Glasgow, but then an extraordinary chance ended his days of poverty. Sir Walter Strickland, a millionaire whose family practically owned Malta, had during the First World War taken to him and was disgusted with the British Government after the Versailles Treaty. In acknowledgment of the newly created State of Czechoslovakia, the first fruits of League of Nations liberal idealism, Strickland became naturalised Czech (1923), though he never went to that country. In 1938 Strickland died and left a fortune to Aldred, who promptly formed the Strickland Press, bought a hall, bookshop and machinery and proceeded reprinting all his old pamphlets, before actually getting the money. Then the Strickland relatives brought a suit saying the will was invalid. Strickland had said in his will he left the money to Aldred "for socialist and atheist propaganda", illegal under Czech law. There was a complicated legal case which ended as such things usually do, with the money in the hands of the lawyers. Aldred, used to defending his own cases personally and handling courts with ease on matters of obstruction and sedition, found himself outgunned among the moneyed lawyers ". According to John Taylor Caldwell[4]: "Walter was an eccentric. He preferred books to the pursuits of normal young men of his class, and had no interest in sport, drink, gambling or women. His father was disappointed and disgusted. One day when he was having it out with Walter (probably not for the first time) about his unsatisfactory life-style, and the fact that he was nearing forty and still not married, Walter rose from the table and, so the story goes, proposed to the first girl he met, who happened to be the kitchen maid." In the early 1890s Strickland went to live abroad. During 1906 he was in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.When he returned he carried with him 12 year old Chempakaraman Pillai.Later he became the first freedom fighter from Travancore.He introduced the slogan”JAI HIND” After 1912 he did not live in England. Eventually he settled in Java and became a strong opponent of imperialism. In 1923 he renounced his title and became a Czech citizen. He gave Sun Yat Sen £10,000 "to help him start a revolt against teh Emperor of China" [5] In 1909 Guy Aldred was sentenced to twelve months hard labour for printing the August issue of The Indian Sociologist, an Indian nationalist newspaper edited by Shyamji Krishnavarma. Strickland heard of Aldred's action and sent him a telegram of congratulation to the prison and a cheque for £10. During the First World War donated £10,000 to his friend Tomas Masaryk's Czechoslovakian Independence Movement.
8 comments:
Mahesh seems to have deliberately made a change in the story regarding who brought the plant for the alchemical experiment.
In the original article ("An Adventure in Travancore") written by the foreign spy, one day Ayya guru was very impatient and restless, walking round and round. The spy asked him what the matter was. The guru told him that he was expecting two of his disciples who had gone to meditate at Maruthwamala to bring a certain plant which he needed for some experiment. After some time two boys entered the scene. The guru eagerly asked, "Did you bring what I had asked you to bring ?"
The senior of the two boys with some hesitation said "We have brought what you wanted" and took out something from his mundu and placed it on the table. It was a gold coin which probably they had purchased from the market. The guru's face became red with anger. Seeing this, the boys made a quick exit. The spy asked, "Sir, you should be happy since they have gifted you a gold coin. Why are you angry ?"
Then the guru said, "They are making fun of me. They think I am greedy for gold. They do not understand my real purpose. What I need is a certain plant for an alchemical experiment which requires this plant. The plant is only for cleaning the brass coin. The real transmutation process is psychical". The spy grabbed the golden opportunity. He offered to bring the plant. The guru at first was reluctant, saying that being a foreigner he may not be able to converse with the local people and get the plant. But the spy was very enthusiastic and at last the guru told him the name of the plant. The spy hired a horse drawn carriage, went to Maruthwamala and brought a carriage full load of the plant. This pleased the guru and he included the spy in the experiment in place the two boys who never showed up again.
V. George Mathew
Sir,
It was not a deliberate change. It was few days after meeting you I started writing down and many of the valid points were either forgotten or remoulded in my fantasy.You are correct and heartfelt thanks for correcting me. A classic example of how history is mutilated usually.
Anyway this is a very unusual story and unknown to many.
About 120 years back there lived a Vellala couple Chinna Swami Pillai and Nagammal
in Trivandrum in a house where the present Accountant Generals office is situated. Chempaka Raman was born to them on September 15,1891.Even during school days he was a revolutionary. Strickland an European lived in Trivandrum send this brilliant boy to Germany in 1908 for higher studies. He continued his studies in Italy an dSwitzerland.H etook Doctorate in Political Science Economics. He lived in Germany for 20 years.He carried campaign against British rule in India, With Hardayal, Raja Mahendra Pratap, Dr. Prabhakar and A.C. Nambiar he founded Indian Independence Committee.Armed with Engineering degree he joined German Navy. He was officer on the cruiser” Emden” and attacked British ships and shelled several places in India.On septmber 22,1914 Madras was shelled. A free Government of India was established in Afganistan on Dec 1, 1915 with Raja Mahendra Presad as President Barkatulla as Prime Minister and Pillai as Foreign Minister. After World War 1 he formed an association of the “League of Oppressed People” In 1933 he met Subash Chandra Bose. They organized INA outside India. The Azad Hind Government was based on Pillai ’s experience during World War 1.In 1933 Pillai married Lakshmi Bai. Unfortunately they had short life together.Pillai soon fell ill. There were symptoms of slow poisoning and he went to Italy for treatment. He passed away on May 28, 1934.Lakshmi Bai bought his ashes to India in 1935 and ater ashes were ceremoniously immersed in Kanyakumari with full state honours.His career was marked by supreme sacrifice and total dedication to a noble cause.
Strickland was the spy.unfortunately both missed to namethe SPY.
dr.kanam ponkunnam 9447035416
Unfortunately both you failed to name the spy. The spy was mr.Strickland who carried Chepakaraman Pillai(1890-1934) the first malayali freedom fighter to Germany
The
97Dear Mr Mahesh Thampy,
After reading your blog I did some research as the narration had some discrepancy. Your narration (or Dr George Mathew’s) “Two boys who were student disciples had come to meet Swamikal with a bunch of rare herbs and plants brought from Maruthva Malai, a hill which is near to Kanyakumari.”cannot be true at all for the following reasons.
(1) Gurudevan was born in 1032 Kollam Era which is 1856 of the christian era.
(2) Gurudevan and Chattampi Swamikal met in 1060 or the earliest in 1058. Let us take the earliest possible which is 1058. That makes Gurudevan 26 years old.
(3) When they met, Chattampi Swamikal was a bearded man according to biographies of Sree Narayana Gurudevan. Chattampi Swamikal was two years older than Gurudevan. That makes Chattampi Swamikal 28 years old. After that only they went to Taycatt Ayyavu Swamikal. Then how can those “Two boys who were student disciples“ be Chattampi Swamikal and Gurudevan? Please check for accuracy before you post historical information.
Thanks
Please dont give much importance to the word boys.may be youths,disciplesetc.in any way they were kunjan and nanu,so says many a people.
The Mentor of JAIHIND Chempakaraman Pillai
Walter William Strickland (b. Westminster 26 May 1851- d. Java 9 August 1938 ) was the son of Sir Charles Strickland, 8th Baronet (1819–1909). The family estate was at Hildenley Hall in Yorkshire.
He married Eliza Vokes (1860–1946) in 1888 and became known as the ‘anarchist baronet’ because he wandered around the world for much of his life espousing radical causes. They had no children and the title passed to a cousin once removed, Sir Henry Strickland-Constable.
He wrote several books and pamphlets and translated works of the Czech poet Viteslav Halek. He has been linked with the Voynich manuscript. He may have met Voynich during his first years in London, when Voynich was directly involved in the political activities of Russian refugees in London, under the leadership of Stepniak - Kravchinskii, who founded the SFRF (Society of Friends of Russian Freedom) and the RFPF (Russian Free Press Fund).
He spent some time in Russia and in 1923 became a citizen of Czechoslovakia, renouncing his British citizenship and the Baronetcy.
In 1931 he moved to Java where he died in 1938.
Strickland had libertarian, socialist and atheist ideas. He helped Guy Aldred, founder of the Glasgow Anarchist Group. As related by Albert Meltzer: " After the publication of Hyde Park in 1938 support for Aldred in London fell off and he had burned his bridges in London and Glasgow, but then an extraordinary chance ended his days of poverty. Sir Walter Strickland, a millionaire whose family practically owned Malta, had during the First World War taken to him and was disgusted with the British Government after the Versailles Treaty. In acknowledgment of the newly created State of Czechoslovakia, the first fruits of League of Nations liberal idealism, Strickland became naturalised Czech (1923), though he never went to that country. In 1938 Strickland died and left a fortune to Aldred, who promptly formed the Strickland Press, bought a hall, bookshop and machinery and proceeded reprinting all his old pamphlets, before actually getting the money. Then the Strickland relatives brought a suit saying the will was invalid. Strickland had said in his will he left the money to Aldred "for socialist and atheist propaganda", illegal under Czech law. There was a complicated legal case which ended as such things usually do, with the money in the hands of the lawyers. Aldred, used to defending his own cases personally and handling courts with ease on matters of obstruction and sedition, found himself outgunned among the moneyed lawyers ".
According to John Taylor Caldwell[4]: "Walter was an eccentric. He preferred books to the pursuits of normal young men of his class, and had no interest in sport, drink, gambling or women. His father was disappointed and disgusted. One day when he was having it out with Walter (probably not for the first time) about his unsatisfactory life-style, and the fact that he was nearing forty and still not married, Walter rose from the table and, so the story goes, proposed to the first girl he met, who happened to be the kitchen maid."
In the early 1890s Strickland went to live abroad.
During 1906 he was in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.When he returned he carried with him 12 year old
Chempakaraman Pillai.Later he became the first freedom fighter from Travancore.He introduced the slogan”JAI HIND”
After 1912 he did not live in England. Eventually he settled in Java and became a strong opponent of imperialism.
In 1923 he renounced his title and became a Czech citizen.
He gave Sun Yat Sen £10,000 "to help him start a revolt against teh Emperor of China" [5]
In 1909 Guy Aldred was sentenced to twelve months hard labour for printing the August issue of The Indian Sociologist, an Indian nationalist newspaper edited by Shyamji Krishnavarma. Strickland heard of Aldred's action and sent him a telegram of congratulation to the prison and a cheque for £10.
During the First World War donated £10,000 to his friend Tomas Masaryk's Czechoslovakian Independence Movement.
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