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Dateless diaries
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"The Kasi Diaries", a collection of entries by lawyer N. D. Varadachariar, speaks about the man and his times
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Pic by K. Pichumani
Seetha Varadachariar.
N. D. VARADACHARIAR was barely 13 when an irrepressible enthusiasm for keeping a diary took hold of him. This was in 1916. The entries in his diaries continued till his untimely death in 1945. These diaries are as much a commentary on what transpired around him as they are a collection of autobiographical sketches. As historian S. Muthiah puts it, "these diaries are a fund of knowledge".
Last year was the diarist's birth centenary. And his children, N. V. Kasturi, N. V. Sampath and Malathi Rangaswami, gave a befitting homage to the man by turning the diaries into a book. That is how "The Kasi Diaries" saw the light of day.
Recently, the Madras Book Club organised the launch of the book at Connemara. Malathi Rangaswami dedicated the book to her mother and the diarist's 92-year-old widow, Seetha Varadachariar [affectionately called Seethama], who in turn gave the first copy of the book to K. V. Ramanathan, former Editor, The Indian Express. Ramanathan, Randor Guy and V. Sriram elaborated on the pithy entries and cryptic comments found in the book, with wit and humour.
Read through the book and you will find many an entry that is tinctured with sarcasm. Randor Guy explains: When the lawyer Varadachariar put down his thoughts in these diaries, he did not even remotely expect them to be published some day. Hence, the free flow of thoughts. Sample this entry dated May 27, 1939 [Saturday]: "Visited the Gaiety Talkies to see "Thyagabhoomi". The only tolerable patch of acting was by K. J. Mahadevan."
Keen observer
"The Kasi Diaries" speak eloquently on cricket, the Second World War, books, places, music and a lot more, revealing the lawyer as a keen observer of human affairs.
The entry on October 20, 1933 [Friday] dwells on Germany's decision "to rearm itself in aerial warfare materials" and its move "to ban pacifist books".
As the pages turn, you see an erudite scholar tilting at unjust practices, a connoisseur who lauds good music and great books and an unforgiving critic who does not hesitate to deliver painfully trenchant lines.
Above all, you see a man whose heart wilts under another's misfortune.
The entry on October 15, 1938 [Saturday] has an undercurrent of deep sorrow. "Alighting at Madras, TTK's driver, Narayanaswami, gives me the sad news that Veena Dhanam passed away last night. A greater loss never befell arts in decades and, perhaps, she will not have her peer for years and years. It was such a consolation to me that I had the opportunity of hearing her at length just before I went away to Simla [18th September]. It is a rich and exceedingly pleasant memory."
There are no entries for the next 10 days. V. Sriram wonders, "Was he mourning her death?"
PRINCE FREDERICK
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