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Tribute to the 'flag man'
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An enlightening documentary in Pingali Venkayya.
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PHOTO: K.RAMESH BABU
REAL HERO A statue of Pingali Venkayya adorns the Tank Bund road among many other great heroes-
Marking the birth anniversary
of Pingali Venkayya,
the man behind
the national flag, a one
hour documentary film made
on him was screened at Ravindra
Bharati last week. Uppaluri
Mallikarjuna Sarma,
played the role of Venkayya
in the film. Having sacrificed
everything for freedom
struggle, Venkayya had died
in penury.
The narrative of the film
gives a glimpse into the life of
Venkayya. He was born in
Bhatla Penumarru on August2,
1878. His ancestors
hailed from Maharashtra. He
joined army at the age of 19 ,
went to South Africa and
took part in the Boer war. On
his return, he became a member
of secret revolutionary
units fighting against the
British. He went to Lahore's
DAV College where he studied
Sanskrit and Urdu. He
was known to speak in Japanese
language and hence he
was also known as `Japan
Venkayya'. He took part in
Congress sessions when Dadabhai
Nauroji was the party
president (1908). It was here
he met Muktyalaraja Nayani
Ranga Rao Bahadur and with
him Venkayya came to Munagala.
He took interest in
agrarian revolution and
wrote a book on agriculture
and became member of Royal
Agricultural Society in
Britain. He served as lecturer
in Bandar's National College.
The beginnings
Vijayawada was the centre
for All-India Congress
committee meetings in 1921.
On the request of Gandhiji,
Venkaiah designed the flag
and was accepted by the
Congress party. On July 22,
1947, Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru accepted Venkaiah's
design as a national flag but
added the `Ashoka Chakra'
emblem in the centre of the
tri-colour flag.
Later, Venkayya moved
away from politics. He also
did research on mica,
combed for mines at places
like Hampi and Vajrakaroor
and sent reports to the Government.
He discovered
first diamond stone.
However, he died on July
4, 1963 in utter penury. Before
he breathed his last, he
asked his men to cover his
body with the tri-color he
had designed and then instructed
that it be removed
after his body was placed on
the pyre and later hang the
flagto a tree branch.
The sequences of Venkayya
showing the flag he designed
to Mahatma Gandhi
and Gandhi's reaction and
appreciation was interestingly
shot. The scenes of
Venkayya's last journey too
were moving
G.S.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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