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        Recently I had the good fortune of meeting a remarkable woman by name Yesodabai, wife of Ekambara Mudaliar, at her Anna Nagar residence.

Yesodabai

In her own artless way she teaches the art of staying young to those people who care to meet and interact with her. Only when we meet her can we see that the art of staying young depends upon staying youthful on the inside, in mind, heart and spirit, in defiance of wrinkles and grey heirs on the outside.         Yesodabai seems to tell you: 'The Fountain of Youth is within you! Stay young by remaining flexible, adaptable and open-minded. Do not permit your mental arteries to harden. Stay young by keeping constructively busy. Stay young by doing good. Stay young by keeping your heart young'.         Yesodabai was born in Bowringapet (now in Karnataka) in 1916 when Lord Hardinge was the Viceroy of India. Her father was Dr Vinayaka Mudaliar, one of the founding fathers of Veterinary Science and Veterinary Research in India. Yesodabai's husband was C Ekambara Mudaliar who was a graduate in Agricultural Science from Coimbatore Agriculture College and served with distinction for several years as a sugarcane Specialist in the Agriculture Department of the government of Tamilnadu.        Yesodabai has written her autobiography in Tamil entitled En Kadhai (My story). It is a remarkable autobiography written in very simple and graphic Tamil which brings out all aspects of life in the old Madras Presidency from 1924 to 1947. Her autobiography is very reminiscent of the great autobiography of Dr U V Swaminatha Iyer called En Charithram which is a mine of information on the social and cultural aspects of life in Madras Presidency from 1855 to 1915.

        She begins her autobiography in a very simple and unadorned way by saying: 'I am attempting to write my story only to enlighten my children and grand children about the great social, economic and cultural changes that have taken place around me ever since the year of my birth in 1916 till today. My childhood was spent in the days when there were no things like electricity, ceiling fans, air-conditioners, refrigerators, radio, television, and computers.'

        Her early school days were spent in Tiruvannamalai from 1924 to 1930. Her description of social and cultural life in Tiruvannamalai town is really interesting and revealing. When her uncle got her the first gramophone in 1925, she heard Madurai Shamugavadivu, mother of Bharat Ratna M S Subbalakshmi, playing on the veena.

Yesoda with her husband Shri Ekambara Mudaliar in 1937.

She also recalls with nostalgia and affection the song of Subbalakshmi, sung by her as a 10- year- old girl, 'Maragadavadivu Sengathirvela'.         As a keen observer of cultural life she notes the contribution of Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar to the development of theatre and drama in South India. She recalls her seeing Mahatma Gandhi in Bangalore in 1926. She is forthright in saying that while Mahatma Gandhi wanted to create a Rama Rajya in India, yet we have a long way to go.         In her confirmed opinion there was total public law and order and tranquillity during the days of British Raj. She does not hesitate to declare that it was in many respects a Rama Rajya. In this regard, she seems to share the view of Rajaji who recorded the same view in his famous jail diary written in Vellore Jail in February 1922.         She is deeply involved in Tamil literature. She writes with candour and conviction about the many lessons which Indians can learn from the Americans by way of work culture, discipline, practical approach to living, clear thinking, etc. She has recorded these views after making her first visit to USA in 1972 followed by several other visits.        As a devoted daughter, devoted wife, devoted mother, affectionate grand mother and caring and sharing great grand mother, Yesodabai is a stellar example to the younger generation today. She seems to tell us unobtrusively that a duty well performed gives clearness and firmness to faith, and faith thus strengthened through duty becomes the more assured and satisfying to the soul. Exactness in little duties for a lifetime is a wonderful source of cheerfulness. Earnestness means the devotion of all the faculties: it is the cause of patience; gives endurance; overcomes pain; strengthens weakness; braves dangers; sustains hope; makes light of difficulties and lessens the sense of weariness in overcoming them. Grace is to the body what good sense is to the mind.

         Yesodabai is a great woman in her own way with tremendous grace and good sense. As she enters her 91st year, I am indeed overwhelmed by the dignity, the grandeur the tenderness and the everlasting and divine significance of her motherhood and grand motherhood.