"A Valuable Life" Book Review of Innaiah Naresetti's Book "Living With Values" by
Dipavali Sen
[BOOK: N. Innaiah, Living With Values: An Autobiography of a Humanist, published by
Century Publications, New Delhi, 2013, with photographs and facsimiles, pp 229 +63, price
Rs 300 $ 30]
If one wants history, literature and philosophy all together, this is the book to take up.
It is a delightful combination of the three, and presented in an attractive get-up.
Dr Innaiah Narisetti (b.1937), a dedicated Rationalist and Humanist, has taught in
Osmania University and written for various publication such as the Telugu daily Andhra
Jyoti. He has participated in radio and television programmes in India and abroad, and
this is putting it very, very briefly. He has had a most interesting life, rich in manifold
experiences, and his autobiography really required to be written.
The first chapter (My Childhood Memories) is a moving account of a village lad’s initial
years. The author remembers his granny and how he used to walk with her to the wet
paddy fields. He recalls how she died of cholera, falling dead in the act of quenching her
thirst.
College life in Guntur was a turning point for the author, as described in the next
two chapters. Then came the exposure to university education in Visakhapatnam and first
encounters with men of stature. He heard the mention of M.N. Roy and took a fancy to
reading The Statesman. But then his father became a victim to diabetes and Homeopathy
and the author faced the trauma of his falling into a coma and dying on the train to their
native place. For the time, his M.A. course in Philosophy remained incomplete.
In 1969 he became the Personal Secretary of N.G. Ranga and had the opportunity to
meet all sorts of interesting and powerful people. He became associated with the magazine
Vahini, published from Vijayawada. He became familiar with Roy’s work.He attended Radical
Humanist classes and even wrote for RH.
Then came a four-year stint as a school teacher in Sangareddy of Medak district. This
ended with his marriage to Komala Venigalla of Hyderabad in 1964.They spent the first
year of their married life in a tiled house, but with colleagues and friends, of both, dropping
in. One of them was Gora Sastry with whom, in spite of some ideological differences, the
author shared whisky and reading of Jerome K, Jerome. Through him, the author met Upolu
Kalidas, the editor of the widely read Anandavani.
In 1965 and ’66, the young couple had Naveena and Raju born to them. In spite of
hardships they spared the children. In a chapter devoted to his wife, the author mentions
that the two had decided that she should retain her surname Venigalla “and thereby
her individuality” (p 69). He acknowledges that in those days it was her regular salary
as schoolteacher that enabled them to run the family. He describes how she then did
her Masters course in English and in 1968 joined a college whose congenial atmosphere
“brought about a metamorphosis” in her life (p 70). After completing his Master’s course in
Philosophy in Osmania University in 1965-66, the author too worked on his PhD thesis, the
award of which involved him in a protracted battle with the authorities.
Many firebrands loose their inner fire after settling down into family life. What
is remarkable is that this young couple did not let it happen to them. In the chapter
Rationalist Movement, the author writes: “Only after I settled down in life after marriage
in 1964, I could pursue education and take part in movements simultaneously” (p 66).He
helped revive the magazine Indian Rationalist and wrote every month on rationalism and
related subjects. He went to Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry and critically reviewed
the goings-on at the Ashram. He took part in a survey of the living conditions of sanitary
workers in the Old City of Hyderabad. He wrote, he translated, and published his first book
(Andhra Pradesh Rajakeeya Charitra) in 1969-70.But Komala and he also had to undergo
the trauma of having son Raju kidnapped for a day.
Gradually the author developed greater contact with important political leaders and
legislators. He started publishing a quarterly social science magazine (Prasarita). He spent
a decade (1968-78) in the New MLA Quarters of Kolluri Koteswara Roche, stepped up his
writing for RH and organized an All-India Humanist Conference in the MLA Quarters.
What makes this book a most human document is that he mentions that around this
time he “became the proud owner of a telephone for the first time in my life” and “could
acquire a refrigerator and buy modern children’s literature for my kids”. (p 85)
The author then became special reporter of Andhra Jyoti, gathering “invaluable”
experience and numerous political and social contacts. (pp 95, 100)
In 1980 he shifted to Adarsh Nagar, a quiet locality in the heart Hyderabad, acquiring
a b-and-w TV.
He became a freelance journalist, writing, translating, and assisting MLAs. “Our home
in Adarsh Nagar became a beehive of activity”. (p 121)
Naveena and Raju were growing up. The author was acquiring friends as well as foes,
both influential. He was often maligned for the he bold stances he took, and his family had
their share of it. In the mid-eighties there was a lucrative offer from the American Consulate
in Madras. But it would have curtailed the author’s “personal freedom” of writing and was
therefore “spurned”. (p 130)
Naveena and Raju went to the US. The author immersed himself in Secular,
Rationalist and Humanist programmes, working closely with the leaders in those fields.
Meanwhile in 1986 he had moved into the Journalist Colony in Jubilee Hills and even
become the President of its welfare association.
In two subsequent chapters (Homeopathy-The Arcane medicine and Self-proclaimed
saints) the author now describes how over the years he has fought against blind faith. An
earlier chapter (Tasleema Nasreen) too had narrated how the author as well as his wife had
stood by this controversial writer.
In 1992, the couple went on a trip to the U.S, spending time not only with family and
friends there but with prominent Rationalists and Humanists. In subsequent visits as well,
the author has continued that association. He addressed an American Humanist Association
meeting and there was a telecast of his interview conducted by the American Atheist
Association. The family ties have only grown with time and intermeshed with professional
and ideological ones. At the close of the autobiography, the author celebrates his birthday in
Maryland, USA, with Humanist associates as well as grandchildren singing a birthday song in
French and feeding him a slice of a birthday cake (see photographs page 62) – shaped like
a book and a pen.
After this running account comes a presentation of the case regarding the award of
the author’s Ph.D degree. Research students of any discipline should find it relevant. For,
they often have to deal with such injustice.
Next you have reproductions of correspondence between the author and various
Humanist personalities. As documents, they have historical value. So do the photographs,
carrying you through the journey of the author’s life, which was sometimes in stark black
and white, sometimes many-hued.
The font size in the Index is a little too small.
A couple of grammatical errors too can be located here and there. But as a
publication, it is well-produced. The fact that the chapters are short helps readers to
concentrate. In the world today, attention-spans are dwindling.
As you finish the book and close it, you see the author smiling at you out of the front
cover (attractively designed by Giridhar Gaud). You feel that you have come to know him
– at least a little. He is a man who has lived with values and also lived fully, a man of
rationality as well as of human warmth. Thank you, you feel like saying; “Thank you, Dr
Innaiah, for writing this book.”
[Dr. Dipavali Sen has been a student of Delhi School of Economics and Gokhale
Institute of Politics and Economics (Pune). She has taught at Visva Bharati University,
Santiniketan, and various colleges of Delhi University. She is, at present, teaching at Sri
Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Delhi University. She is a prolific writer and
has written creative pieces and articles for children as well as adults, both in English and
Bengali. dipavali@gmail.com]
Published in Radical Humanist monthly edited by Rekha Saraswat
september 2013 issue
Dipavali Sen
[BOOK: N. Innaiah, Living With Values: An Autobiography of a Humanist, published by
Century Publications, New Delhi, 2013, with photographs and facsimiles, pp 229 +63, price
Rs 300 $ 30]
If one wants history, literature and philosophy all together, this is the book to take up.
It is a delightful combination of the three, and presented in an attractive get-up.
Dr Innaiah Narisetti (b.1937), a dedicated Rationalist and Humanist, has taught in
Osmania University and written for various publication such as the Telugu daily Andhra
Jyoti. He has participated in radio and television programmes in India and abroad, and
this is putting it very, very briefly. He has had a most interesting life, rich in manifold
experiences, and his autobiography really required to be written.
The first chapter (My Childhood Memories) is a moving account of a village lad’s initial
years. The author remembers his granny and how he used to walk with her to the wet
paddy fields. He recalls how she died of cholera, falling dead in the act of quenching her
thirst.
College life in Guntur was a turning point for the author, as described in the next
two chapters. Then came the exposure to university education in Visakhapatnam and first
encounters with men of stature. He heard the mention of M.N. Roy and took a fancy to
reading The Statesman. But then his father became a victim to diabetes and Homeopathy
and the author faced the trauma of his falling into a coma and dying on the train to their
native place. For the time, his M.A. course in Philosophy remained incomplete.
In 1969 he became the Personal Secretary of N.G. Ranga and had the opportunity to
meet all sorts of interesting and powerful people. He became associated with the magazine
Vahini, published from Vijayawada. He became familiar with Roy’s work.He attended Radical
Humanist classes and even wrote for RH.
Then came a four-year stint as a school teacher in Sangareddy of Medak district. This
ended with his marriage to Komala Venigalla of Hyderabad in 1964.They spent the first
year of their married life in a tiled house, but with colleagues and friends, of both, dropping
in. One of them was Gora Sastry with whom, in spite of some ideological differences, the
author shared whisky and reading of Jerome K, Jerome. Through him, the author met Upolu
Kalidas, the editor of the widely read Anandavani.
In 1965 and ’66, the young couple had Naveena and Raju born to them. In spite of
hardships they spared the children. In a chapter devoted to his wife, the author mentions
that the two had decided that she should retain her surname Venigalla “and thereby
her individuality” (p 69). He acknowledges that in those days it was her regular salary
as schoolteacher that enabled them to run the family. He describes how she then did
her Masters course in English and in 1968 joined a college whose congenial atmosphere
“brought about a metamorphosis” in her life (p 70). After completing his Master’s course in
Philosophy in Osmania University in 1965-66, the author too worked on his PhD thesis, the
award of which involved him in a protracted battle with the authorities.
Many firebrands loose their inner fire after settling down into family life. What
is remarkable is that this young couple did not let it happen to them. In the chapter
Rationalist Movement, the author writes: “Only after I settled down in life after marriage
in 1964, I could pursue education and take part in movements simultaneously” (p 66).He
helped revive the magazine Indian Rationalist and wrote every month on rationalism and
related subjects. He went to Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry and critically reviewed
the goings-on at the Ashram. He took part in a survey of the living conditions of sanitary
workers in the Old City of Hyderabad. He wrote, he translated, and published his first book
(Andhra Pradesh Rajakeeya Charitra) in 1969-70.But Komala and he also had to undergo
the trauma of having son Raju kidnapped for a day.
Gradually the author developed greater contact with important political leaders and
legislators. He started publishing a quarterly social science magazine (Prasarita). He spent
a decade (1968-78) in the New MLA Quarters of Kolluri Koteswara Roche, stepped up his
writing for RH and organized an All-India Humanist Conference in the MLA Quarters.
What makes this book a most human document is that he mentions that around this
time he “became the proud owner of a telephone for the first time in my life” and “could
acquire a refrigerator and buy modern children’s literature for my kids”. (p 85)
The author then became special reporter of Andhra Jyoti, gathering “invaluable”
experience and numerous political and social contacts. (pp 95, 100)
In 1980 he shifted to Adarsh Nagar, a quiet locality in the heart Hyderabad, acquiring
a b-and-w TV.
He became a freelance journalist, writing, translating, and assisting MLAs. “Our home
in Adarsh Nagar became a beehive of activity”. (p 121)
Naveena and Raju were growing up. The author was acquiring friends as well as foes,
both influential. He was often maligned for the he bold stances he took, and his family had
their share of it. In the mid-eighties there was a lucrative offer from the American Consulate
in Madras. But it would have curtailed the author’s “personal freedom” of writing and was
therefore “spurned”. (p 130)
Naveena and Raju went to the US. The author immersed himself in Secular,
Rationalist and Humanist programmes, working closely with the leaders in those fields.
Meanwhile in 1986 he had moved into the Journalist Colony in Jubilee Hills and even
become the President of its welfare association.
In two subsequent chapters (Homeopathy-The Arcane medicine and Self-proclaimed
saints) the author now describes how over the years he has fought against blind faith. An
earlier chapter (Tasleema Nasreen) too had narrated how the author as well as his wife had
stood by this controversial writer.
In 1992, the couple went on a trip to the U.S, spending time not only with family and
friends there but with prominent Rationalists and Humanists. In subsequent visits as well,
the author has continued that association. He addressed an American Humanist Association
meeting and there was a telecast of his interview conducted by the American Atheist
Association. The family ties have only grown with time and intermeshed with professional
and ideological ones. At the close of the autobiography, the author celebrates his birthday in
Maryland, USA, with Humanist associates as well as grandchildren singing a birthday song in
French and feeding him a slice of a birthday cake (see photographs page 62) – shaped like
a book and a pen.
After this running account comes a presentation of the case regarding the award of
the author’s Ph.D degree. Research students of any discipline should find it relevant. For,
they often have to deal with such injustice.
Next you have reproductions of correspondence between the author and various
Humanist personalities. As documents, they have historical value. So do the photographs,
carrying you through the journey of the author’s life, which was sometimes in stark black
and white, sometimes many-hued.
The font size in the Index is a little too small.
A couple of grammatical errors too can be located here and there. But as a
publication, it is well-produced. The fact that the chapters are short helps readers to
concentrate. In the world today, attention-spans are dwindling.
As you finish the book and close it, you see the author smiling at you out of the front
cover (attractively designed by Giridhar Gaud). You feel that you have come to know him
– at least a little. He is a man who has lived with values and also lived fully, a man of
rationality as well as of human warmth. Thank you, you feel like saying; “Thank you, Dr
Innaiah, for writing this book.”
[Dr. Dipavali Sen has been a student of Delhi School of Economics and Gokhale
Institute of Politics and Economics (Pune). She has taught at Visva Bharati University,
Santiniketan, and various colleges of Delhi University. She is, at present, teaching at Sri
Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Delhi University. She is a prolific writer and
has written creative pieces and articles for children as well as adults, both in English and
Bengali. dipavali@gmail.com]
Published in Radical Humanist monthly edited by Rekha Saraswat
september 2013 issue
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