VVS Aiyar was inspired by nationalism when he met Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. There was a transformation in his life after his conversation with Savarkarji. He started participating in the fight for Indian Independence. He also assisted in setting up the Indian Home Rule League and providing instruction for a violent revolution for the liberation of India. He was influenced by Savarkar, who in turn was influenced by him. The three individuals that turned India House into a centre for revolutionary operations were Savarkar, VVS Aiyar, and TSS Rajan (who later joined the Congress and also served as Minister in the Madras Presidency).
Under the direction of VVS Aiyar, one of Savarkar’s landmark writings, The Indian War of Independence, was translated from Marathi to English.
In the Tiruchi village of Varahaneri, VVS Aiyar was born on April 2, 1881, into a middle-class Brahmin family. From St. Joseph’s College, he earned a BA in History, Politics, and Latin. He majored in law and graduated from the University of Madras with a Pleader degree in 1902. Later, he worked as a Junior Attorney or Pleader in the Tiruchi District Courts. He moved to Rangoon in 1906 and worked as a junior attorney in the chambers of an English barrister. In 1907, he travelled from Rangoon to London and enrolled in Lincoln’s Inn with the goal of becoming a Barrister in Law.
He learned various languages throughout his academic career, including Tamil, Sanskrit, English, French, and Latin. He was also an excellent wrestler, a swift shooter, and skilled in all sports, including swimming. His goals at that time included learning English dance as well as English music. However, when he met Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, his life underwent a significant transformation. He served as Savarkar’s right-hand man in setting up the Indian Home Rule League and providing instruction for a bloody rebellion for the liberation of India.
“For indeed he was a pillar of strength, a Hindu of Hindus, and in him our Hindu race has lost one of the most exalted representatives and perfect flower of our Hindu civilisation – ripe in experience, and mellowed by sufferings and devoted to the service of men and God, the cause of the Hindu Sanghatan was sure to find in him one of its best and foremost champions in Madras ” — Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Aiyar gave up his Lincoln’s Inn membership in 1910. Aiyar fled to Paris after the British issued a warrant for his arrest. But he had no desire to continue living as a political exile in exile in Paris. Though in French Pondicherry, he went back to India and met Subramaniya Bharathi and Aurobindo there. Until the end of the First World War, he stayed in Pondicherry for ten years. Aiyar participated in the plot to kill Ashe, the Tirunelveli Collector, in Pondicherry. General Ashe was murdered by Vanchinathan, one of his students. As a result, Aiyar and his buddy Subramanya Bharathi encountered greater difficulties. He completed the entire Thirukural translation into English during this time. VVS Aiyar believed that the French Government may one day forcibly remove him from Pondicherry, so he wanted to leave something behind that would help preserve his legacy among his people even if his body were taken away from the Tamil nation he cherished so much. In light of the extremely limited and precarious time he had available, he began to ponder what would be the best course of action for him to take in this situation. He quickly came to the conclusion that he could stake a modest claim in his countrymen’s memories if he could translate the shortest and most faultless of the old Tamil masterpieces into English. As a result, he got to work on it right away and finished it in five months.
Penning Books On Freedom Fighters
Aiyar relocated to Chennai during the conclusion of World War I and served as the Editor of journal Desabhaktan. He was detained and convicted for sedition in September 1921 for 9 months in prison. Additionally, VVS Aiyar wrote Kamba Ramayanam-A Study, his major achievement, while he was incarcerated. He published several biographies of freedom fighters and warriors in order to instill in people a spirit of bravery and heroism, as was his personal trait. He wrote a biography of Italian patriot Garibaldi as a series for India. Additionally, he wrote a biography of Guru Govind Singh. On June 3, 1925, while attempting to save his daughter Subhadra who was drowning, Aiyar perished at the Papanasam falls.
Savarkar’s Emotional Tribute
Vinayak Damodar Sarvakar paid his deep respects to VVS Aiyar on his death in the journal Mahratta. He wrote, “For indeed he was a pillar of strength, a Hindu of Hindus, and in him our Hindu race has lost one of the most exalted representatives and perfect flower of our Hindu civilisation – ripe in experience, and mellowed by sufferings and devoted to the service of men and God, the cause of the Hindu Sanghatan was sure to find in him one of its best and foremost champions in Madras….. It is the loss of Aiyar, the scholar, the friend, the noblest type of a Hindu gentleman, the author of Kural (in translation), the saintly soul whose life has been one continuous sacrifice and worship, that we so bitterly bewail today and bitterly chafe at our inability to pay a public tribute to his memory in a fashion worthy of the noble dead. Oh, the times on which our generation has fallen! The noblest sink down and are washed off to the shores of death, while the unworthy keep gaily swimming on the tides of life. But thou hast done thy duty, friend! It was for Human Love that thou lived, and died too for human love as martyr unto her. Thou knew no peace in life, oh Soldier of God. But peace be with thee in Death. Oh friend, peace be with thee and divine rest!”.
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