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The autograph hunter
S. MUTHIAH
As you entered the hall, it was Mohammed Ali Jinnah, photograph and all, that greeted you. On either side of him were Nehru and Vallabhai Patel. And to one side of Nehru were Mountbatten and Gandhiji. It was such intriguing juxtapositions – Raj
aji and Sathyamurthi, Wavell and Cripps, Alladi Krishnaswami Aiyer and V. L. Ethiraj amongst others – that made me wonder whether whoever did such teaming had done it by chance or had a wickedly impish sense of history that recalled memorable pairings of those who could not see eye to eye with each other.
All of them and over a hundred others were part of a recent private exhibition that had its genesis in Duleepsinjhi triggering in 1941 the interest of a boy of 17 in collecting the autographs of the famous.
Between then and 1950, Al. Lakshmanan collected about 350 autographs of the headline-makers of India and Britain. That carefully hoarded collection became the source for the beautifully mounted display that marked his first death anniversary. Making the mounting possible was the careful protective treatment by the Tamil Nadu Archives of each treasured autograph Lakshmanan had received.
He had sought every one of these autographs with a politely worded letter, which at the outset stated a bit of thoughtfulness that struck me. Or was it a clever bit of psychology? He wrote that he was enclosing a stamp-addressed envelope to make easier the task of sending him the autograph he had requested. How could such a beguiling effort be refused? In some of the letters, he added the fact that he was the grandson of Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar, at that time a name to reckon with.
Lakshmanan like his grandfather had a host of friends. Having been brought up in Chettinad Palace, he had met most of the Rajah’s friends and he would entertain his friends with anecdote after anecdote about them. I was one of his friends – and every time we met I would learn little more about the high and the mighty of Madras from the 1930s onwards. In fact, much of what I know of Madras from the 1930s to the 1960s I owe to him. But though he mentioned it to me, one thing I had never seen was his autograph collection. I am glad that at last I got the opportunity to see it. I hope the public too one day get the opportunity to see this historical record.
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