Doctor, Administrator, Journalist, Social reformer, and Politician (1868-1919)
This was a man who never had any qualms about taking on any
establishment, faction, or individual if he felt they were wrong. Hailing from
the Tharavath ancestral home in Palghat, he chose the field of medicine, became
a well-known doctor in Madras, then decided that social work was equally
important, got involved in all kinds of civic and social matters. During this
period, irked by the Brahmin stronghold on jobs and their control over the bureaucracy,
he took them on, starting what we know today as the Anti-Brahmin or Dravidian
movement, and later co-founding the Justice party. Alongside came the much
written about confrontation with Annie Besant and Leadbeater, but before he
could become an even more popular leader, he passed on, while visiting Britain,
in 1919. That was Dr. T.M. Nair.
In the British times, in the Madras presidency, a lot of
people made a beeline for Madras, its capital, leaving their traditional
occupations such as agriculture, to get educated and pick up a new trade, such
as medicine, engineering, law, or whatever. And there were a rare few who
ventured beyond, mainly to Britain. Most
of them rose to become noteworthy administrators and wrote their memoirs, some
did not. This portly, domineering, barrel-chested and heavy mustachioed doctor,
reminding you of a professional wrestler, was omnipresent in Madras during his
times, and when he talked (his tongue was even more mordant than VK Krishna
Menon’s) or wrote, people stopped what they were doing and took notice. That
was Dr. Tharavath Madhavan Nair, or simply TM Nair, the doctor from Malabar.
Strange is the fact that Nair died from complications of the very disease, he
was considered an expert on – namely, Diabetes!
Early on in his student days, he took to civic duties, he
was a member of various associations and societies. Mastery of the pen came
with his position as one of the editors of Edinburgh University Liberal's
magazine "The Student". He also spent a while in London as a Secretary
and later Vice-President of the London Indian Society which was led by Dadabhai
Naoroji. During a decade in Britain, he became what they called, ‘a thorough
gentlemen’ with poise and a great education.
The anglicized Malayali
Nair was quite adept at Sanskrit and Malayalam, but English
was his natural language, especially so after the British sojourn. Karunakaran
Menon explains an incident before Dr. Nair’s departure for England in 1889 when
“a few of us took a group photo ... A lady in England on seeing the photo
enquired whether he had been once in petticoats and on that he tore the photo
to pieces not to keep it any longer, as evidence of the garb in which he had
been at that time dressed.”. After his return from Britain, he spoke in
public only in English, was considered an anglophile and reputed to be the first
South Indian speaker who introduced the “modern style of eloquence" by
which it meant he had style, force, and humor, not just rambling on for hours using
flowery phrases and unintelligible words like many others did.
Nair the Doctor
As a doctor, Nair presented numerous papers and participated
in many committees, represented India on numerous occasions, chaired many groups,
and was considered to be the first to study diabetes and write extensively
about it. It is said that his book on Diabetes is still taught at some Indian
universities. His ENT clinic in Madras bustled with patients and Dr. Nair had a
lucrative practice. He was involved in the study of tropical diseases (Filaria,
Leprosy) while practicing in India and frequently collaborated with his counterparts
in Britain, often publishing the findings. As a member of the Municipal
Corporation representing Triplicane, he used to take a keen interest in public
health and often referred interesting cases to his counterparts abroad. According
to Deborah Brunton (Health, Disease, and Society in Europe, 1800-1930: A Source
Book) TM Nair endorsed wholly Western medicine, but was critical of the British
for not doing more to give – or allow- India the benefits of science and
sanitation.
Return to Madras, Journalism
Writing seems to have taken a grip of him, for we see his
involvement in the Kerala Patrika, a newspaper started by Kunhirama Menon
supporting the national movement (he used to contribute articles while in Britain)
and later in the Madras Standard, then under the editorship of Congressman G.
Parameshwaran Pillai. Pillai became editor of the Madras Standard in 1892 and
Nair’s friendship with Pillai perhaps influenced his championship for the
rights of the lower castes and the downtrodden.
Nair as Councilor of Triplicane
Nair decided to take a plunge into the socio-political scene
and was soon the councilor for Triplicane in the Madras Corporation, a position
he served from 1904-1916. He gave lectures on municipal governance in 1906 and
again in 1915, and in 1912 he was elected to the Madras Legislative Council.
The quality of potable water in Madras was a favorite
subject of his and he often took umbrage with FC Molony who headed the Madras
Corporation. Molony was responsible for
public water supply and Nair vehemently attacked the decision by Molony to
supply what was known derisively as ‘Molony’s mixture’ (Molony clarifies that
it was P Rajagopalachariar who coined the term) an adulterated mix of filtered
and unfiltered water (i.e., the terrible stuff) to create an unpopular derivative.
The working man’s friend
During the discussions around revising the Factory act, we
can see Dr. Nair, representing the Indian worker, working ceaselessly as a
member of the labor commission, issuing an oft-quoted and strongly critical
Minute of dissent in 1908 (Parliamentary Papers, Volume 74) focusing on the
medical as well as economical aspects. He complained about the poor air quality
in the mills and high humidity, irking their owners, and had no qualms in
stating that Indian employers fared worse (he however singles out Tata and Sons
as an exemplary employer) and treated their laborers badly. Nair’s opinions,
well backed up by evidence and strongly worded, were respected and taken
seriously by the British, throughout his life.
Nair’s minority report and dissent note was the basis behind
the final act of 1911. It resulted in many changes, securing a weekly holiday
for all factory workers, restricting working hours to eleven for women, a
mandatory hour and a half rest, prohibiting working women and children at
night, raising the working age of children, and restricting their work hours,
to name a few.
Antiseptic Magazine and Wartime work
Antiseptic, a monthly journal of medicine and surgery, the
first of its kind in India, edited by him appeared in May, 1904 with Dr. U Rama
Rao as its proprietor and manager. Later versions featured articles about
Diabetes and other subjects, which were of high quality, often picked up by
journals overseas. The magazine continued publication for almost 16 years.
TM Nair served on the hospital ship HS Madras (originally SS
Tanda a steamship owned by BI Steam navigation Company to transport Chinese
from Calcutta to the Far East) maintained with volunteer War funds during WW 1
as a full-time surgeon, and rendered medical service to wounded soldiers at
Mombasa, Zanzibar, the Persian Gulf, and Europe, until 1915, after which he
resigned and came back to Madras. His report on gunshot wounds is quite an
interesting read.
Nair, Annie Besant & Leadbeater
Though a medical journal, Nair used to slip political
articles into his Antiseptic magazine. Annie Besant had by this time, living in
Madras and anchoring the popular Theosophical society, started championing the
Home Rule for India. Her emphasis on the Brahmanical past of India, a base of
the Theosophy ideology, placed her as the main opponent of the Dravidians or
the non-Brahmins and started a massive political dispute. Natesan, Chettiar,
but mainly Dr. Nair, spearheaded the opposition’s response.
One of the articles Dr. Nair published was about child
abuse. Nair alleged that Besant’s associate Charles Webster Leadbeater imposed homosexual
tendencies on some of the boys in his care, under the guise of “initiating” rites.
Besant sued Nair in 1913, for defamation, but lost the case. Besant appealed to
the Privy court in Britain but lost again. The story, covering Besant, Leadbeater,
Narayanaih, his two sons (Jiddu Krishnamurthy the purported messiah, was one
who later became famous), is a long and sordid one. Nair covered much of it in
his Antiseptic magazine, later collated and published as a book. There was no
love lost between Besant and Nair and they fought each other ferociously, on
many fronts. One can assume that the home rule ideology met its end due to the
efforts of Dr. Nair and the justice party.
Anti-Brahmin agitations, Dravidian movement
Dr. Nair was a regular at the Indian National Congress gatherings
until 1916 starting as a volunteer, he even presided
over the North Arcot Congress conference at Chittoor in 1907. However, he
blamed it and the Brahmin lobby for his loss in a 1916 election (a seat to the
Imperial Legislature in Delhi), due to it not backing him sufficiently. He left
Congress, in a huff. Another wounded ego was
that of Thiyagaraya Chettiar, who was denied a seat on the podium at a temple
festival, as a lower caste, even though he had been the biggest donor for the celebration.
The common grouse of both Nair and Chettiar was thus the Brahmin posturing at
the prime position in the caste ladder, something they would not tolerate.
Everything they did later, was to bring down the pillars of this caste hierarchy.
Notwithstanding all that, Nair also cared about the common man and the Swadeshi
movement was something he stood for, and in 1905, he referred to the exemplary
decision by the Irish house of commons to use locally made apparel and furniture.
Even though Nair was
not anti-brahmin and did admire some of their educated and good qualities, he maintained
that the non-Brahmin who could be as good, or better, was unnecessarily kept
down. His opinion put eloquently was – The brahmins toiled not, neither did
they spin – The sweating slaves supplied them with everything, and they, in
turn, cultivated spirituality. Soon Nair was frequenting stages with his popular
and strident anti-Brahmin tirade which many thousands attended, which was the
start of the Dravidian movement of 1916.
Nair’s tenure in the Justice party
In Nov 1916, some 30 odd leaders, including T M Nair and P
Tyagaraja Chettiar, met at the Victoria Public Hall in Madras to form a joint-stock
company, the South Indian People's Association, to publish newspapers in
English, Telegu, and Tamil to express non-Brahman grievances. Within a month, they
issued the 'Non- Brahmin Manifesto' and announced the formation of the South
India Liberal Federation with explicit ideological and political lines. That
was the start of the Justice Party. Nair never attacked religion but always focused
on representation. Heavily funded, the party had no difficulty taking off. The party
ran an English newspaper called The Justice, with Nair editing it, until his
death in 1919. At that time many opined that the Justice Party was supported by
Montague to get support for his reforms, and people had a feeling that the
Justice party was too pro-British, augmented by the fact that Justice condoned
Gen Dyer for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and also opposed non-cooperation. The
Justice Party also supported the relative continuance of British rule in return
for a proportionate reservation of seats in the Madras Legislative Council. Even
though they did a lot of good for the local non-Brahmin populace, they were often
accused to be British puppets, and in nonconformance with the national
movements led by Congress.
Montford reforms
Dr. Nair was the only
non-Brahman leader who made a strong impression on Montagu. Montagu concluded
that Dr. Nair was “most eloquent, rather impressive, and a vigorous
personality, but he has obviously got a bee in his bonnet, because he
explained that the Home Rule movement was financed by German money, nevertheless
pointing out that he was very fierce on communal representation. Montford
reforms – a usage coined by Nair (Montague Chelmsford) covering the introduction
of self-governing institutions, gradually in British India, was not very
popular upon release and felt to be insignificant. Nair did not agree to its
meager non-brahmin representation and eventually got a chance to go and argue
his case in Britain, in 1918. His
connections with Britain and his ability to speak forcibly were of critical
importance in the demand for communal representation from Parliament, and the
reason for the party’s choice as their spokesman.
A furor erupted when he was issued a passport - Tilak was not issued a passport, but Nair was,
resulting in rumors that it was because the Justice party supported the
British. A new report said – The Government had granted a passport to, of all persons - Dr. T. M. Nair, the
anti home ruler, the political renegade, on the allegation that he (the sturdy,
stalwart, stupendous Madras doctor) had become such a physical wreck - as to
require attention in Britain. The
British administration clarified that they granted it only due to health
reasons. In reality, he was in poor health and suffering badly as a result of
advanced diabetes.
Final visit to Britain, death
Nair’s trip to London in 1918
was a success, he spoke well and his arguments were listened to carefully.
Upon his return to Madras, he was convinced that
modified reforms would pass. But the
situation did not change and the representation demands did not pan out. Things went from bad to worse and Nair was
deputed again to go to London and argue the case. Nair quite ill by now knew
that his return to India from that trip was no longer certain. On reaching
London, preparations for the speech started, Nair finalized the draft and
provided key contact details to his team, as his health was failing rapidly. Eventually, he passed away in his sleep, on
July 18th, 1919, and was cremated at Golden Green. KPS Menon
studying at Oxford attended. Many obituaries were written, and his passing left
the Justice party rudderless, for a time.
It was during the 1918 trip that KM Panikkar, then studying
at Oxford, met him. He records this in his autobiography - Dr T. M. Nair was
a very different type. There never was a manlier Malayali. A leonine face, a
long curving moustache, massive chest, a somewhat portly figure and powerful
arms made up his impressive physical presence. His intellect and powers of
expression were equally uncommon. One had only to talk to him for a couple of
minutes to fall under his spell. In the most eminent company. he achieved
effortless primacy. I have never seen an Indian to equal him as a
conversationalist. Although T. M. Nair achieved fame as a skilled physician,
his astonishing intellect could master any subject with equal ease. As leader
of the Madras Corporation, he was ready to discuss engineering with engineer
and law with lawyers. In civic administration, he had no peer in South India.
As an editor and orator, he was matchless. Above all, he was eminently
sociable. He was a connoisseur of food and drink, with unerring taste for wine,
tobacco and good cuisine. A bon vivant, Nair was always open-handed with his
money. In spite of this cosmopolitanism, Dr Nair never ceased to be a Malayali
and I have often heard him quote Nambiar and Ezhuthachan in conversation.
People remember him today as the founder and leader of the non-Brahmin
movement. Although the force of the movement has now waned, T. M. Nair will not
be forgotten by Madras. Nair had come to London to lobby against the
Montague-Chelmsford reforms. Although I had no sympathy for his views, I was
eager to meet such an eminent personality. I was introduced to him by Sir Frank
Brown, an assistant editor of The Times. We were close friends for about three
or four months and I used to meet Dr Nair almost daily in the period just
before my return to India. He returned to India a month after I did, but ironically,
we were not able to meet in India.
Post Nair years – Justice Party
After his death, the party declined to cooperate with the Southborough
committee which had been appointed to draw up the franchise framework for the
proposed reforms, due to Brahmin presence in the committee. After negotiations,
a compromise ("Meston's Award") was reached in 1920. 28 of the 63
general seats in plural member constituencies were eventually reserved for
non-Brahmins.
The Government of India Act 1919 implemented the
Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, instituting a Diarchy in Madras Presidency. The diarchal period extended from 1920 to
1937, encompassing five elections. Justice party remained in power for 13 of 17
years, save an interlude 1926–30. After Justice won the election and got into
power, they initiated several egalitarian moves such as the upliftment of women
and the marginalized, access to water (for the lower castes) from public ponds,
women’s suffrage, abolishment of the Devadasi system, regulation of college admissions,
etc.
Nevertheless, many of Dr. Nair’s ideals were forgotten after
his death. Social injustice perhaps dropped lower in the list of concerns, and
party infighting ensued. Neither Brahmins nor Muslims supported Justice and
membership declined when some lower castes also left the party in a huff. Eventually,
the party was voted out of power and remained in the political wilderness until the
arrival of Periyar EV Ramasamy in 1938 who transformed it into the Dravidar
Kazhagam in 1944.
Though there are roads, medals, and schools, still around,
instituted in Nair’s honor, nobody quite connects those to the persona who once
was a byword in Madras. In his heydays, any luminary visiting Madras made it a
point to call on him and a notable mention is that of the great painter Ravi
Varma and his uncle, who called on him often when they visited Madras in 1902,
recording the event. Many papers and booklets authored by him are testament to
his brilliant mind, medical, social or political.
Kerala forgot Dr. Nair a long time ago and only a few in
Palghat still connect to the name. The Tharavath home is a Kalyana mandapam
these days. But I think this essay may go on to remind some that a great man
once lived a short life, fought for the repressed and for their equality, always
standing up and talking to the British, on equal terms.
Politics and Social Conflict in South India - By Eugene F. Irschick
The Justice party – Dr P Rajaram
Parliamentary Papers, Volume 74
The non-Brahmin movement and Dr. T.M. Nair – T.P Sankarankutty Nair
Dictionary of national biography vol.3, TM Nair – TK Ravindran
An Autobiography - KM Panikkar
On a lighter vein
AV Menon contributing to a Khushwant Singh’s joke book has
this to add - Dr. T. M. Nair, a well-known politician of Madras of the early
nineties, while in London used to frequent a particular pub in the East End.
His usual drink was a cocktail of vermouth and gin, the code word for which
between, his regular waiter and himself was ‘virgin’. Once in the absence of
the regular waiter, the one substituting for him came to take Dr. Nair's
orders. "The usual virgin", Dr. Nair said. After a minute or two, the
waiter came back and whispered into the ear of his client, "One cannot be
found in London at present, Sir."
