 First Meeting
December 1983My brother Shiv Gariyali, an architect in
Victoria, Canada and his wife Nora Deene got involved with Krishna Ji (Philosopher J
Krishnamoorthy) early in life. When I was assistant collector on training in Coimbatore in
1973, I received my first set of books and papers on Krishna Ji from my brother as
birthday gift.
That day I was heading for Ooty and I read about him partly
lying down in the Botanical Gardens and partly sitting by the lake. I finished reading the
rest of the material by the riverside in the Madumalai forest.  It
was a perfect setting to understand what the philosopher said. I was deeply moved by his
life, his works and his views on education.
My brother and his wife often followed Krishna Ji from
Victoria to California to Rich Valley, to Variance, to Madras. Whereever Krishna Ji was
speaking they made a pilgrimage to hear him. During December 1983, they came to Madras to
Vasant Vihar (Krishna Ji’s Madras residence) for listening to the annual talks which
used to take place in Madras every year. At that time I was working in South Arcot, as the
District Collector and I came from South Arcot to join them on the first day of the talks.
After the talk I was introduced to Krishna Ji. Meanwhile
lunch was announced and Krishna Ji invited me also for lunch. Mrs. Patvardhan who
looked after Vasant Vihar at that time had arranged lunch in the small dining room. There
were a few more guests like Papul Jaykar and her daughter Radhika, my brother and his
wife, Radha Burnier and others. For some reason Krishna Ji asked me to sit next to him.
Due to the grace of God, it proved to be a unique and
memorable opportunity for me. For the next three hours he had a long conversation with me.
He had so much to ask and discuss.
He began by telling me that in the pre-independence days he
had a lot of British friends in the Civil Service. However, after independence, he has
altogether lost touch with the administration. He wanted to know what was happening to the
people, to the politicians and to the weaker sections in India and specially in Tamilnadu
(Krishna Ji never read newspapers or listened to the news) but now he wanted to know
everything.
During those three hours, I had to fill him in from 1947 to
1984, both politically and socially.
He kept asking questions like, if politicians were corrupt?
If the Brahmins were being ill-treated in Tamilnadu? If atrocities on Dalits were
continuing? He wanted to know about MG Ramachandran, then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu and
about Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India. He wanted to know about the educational
system, the noon meal scheme and the rural development programmes.
I tried to give him as accurate an information as I had. It
was also very clear to me that even if he lived in California or anywhere else he had a
deep concern for the people of India.
Subsequently, I always went to his talks in Madras and was
present for all his talks during 1984, '85, and '86. One of the fallouts of this meeting
was that I sent both my children to study in ‘The School KFI’, the school set up
by the Krishnamoorthy Foundation in Madras. The Foundation has set up several other
schools like the Valley School in Bangalore, Rajghat in Varanasi, Rishivalley in
Madanpalli, Ozai Valley in California and Brockwood Park in UK all trying to impart
education as per the views of Krishna Ji.
Later, my daughter went to Brockwood Park in UK to complete
her A Levels. The best thing which I got from meeting Krishna Ji was that my views on
education changed completely, which led to my changing the schools for my children. I have
never regretted this decision. My children may not be the best children on earth but they
are certainly sensitive, decent, human and caring.
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