Among the Not So Great

Sitaram: The Silent Seeker

Underneath all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity, speech is shallow as Time.

Thomas Carlyle

Sitaram — not many of today know him. He is a man lost in the backwaters (or ‘washing waters’) of our Dining Room. I, since long, have wondered at the man but could hardly fathom him. I am trying again, now, with the help of others closer to him. Here is what little I could salvage, from the lesser depths, to share with others.

Sitaram was a Tamilian, born in the village Gobichetty-palayam in Coimbatore district on the 12th of December 1920. His father was Sri Venkatakrishnan Iyyer (so a pukka Brahmin). Sitaram was a year old when his mother passed away. His father remarried. There were eight children in the family and Sitaram was the eldest. Sitaram later went to his uncle’s (or grandfather’s) at Bangalore for studies. He passed his B. Sc. at the Central College. He had a dear friend, Natesan Iyyer by name. The two friends came to hear of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo from a relative of Sitaram. They first went to Chennai (Madras) and then visited the Ashram. This event, a turning point in Sitaram’s life, happened in 1940.

The Mother called Yogananda (our old friend: see Among The Not So Great, chapter 8) and told him that two good souls had arrived and he should take care of them every time they came for Darshan. (It may be recalled that Yogananda’s work for a period was to receive the visitors to the Ashram.) I would wonder, in later years when Yogananda was my colleague at the Sports Ground and we had tea together daily, why he (Yogananda) would often call Sitaram (or Sitaram’s brother) for tea and seemed inordinately fond of him — hovering over him like a parent would on a son’s visit after a long absence. Some time later, Sitaram got a job in Chennai in Post & Telegraph Department — a step closer to “Home” and to his chosen deities.

Two years went by. Natesan was transferred from Chennai. Sitaram came alone to the Ashram. Sitaram one day decided to join the Ashram, leaving the family to the Mother’s care. He wrote to the Mother. She gave him the permission. Sitaram thus came under the Mother’s wing in 1948.