3. CHILDHOOD

THE child Venkateswara was unique. He seldom spoke
or quarrelled. There was a close relative, Meenakshi
of his age. He would not suckle his mother's breast if
Meenakshi did not also suckle milk; he was so indifferent
about his feeding. He had a sweet and gentle smile but
behind it was a determined nature.

      While admitting him in school in due course, his
name was noted as Venkataraman. This name stuck.
Lakshmana Iyer a close relative of the family was well-
versed in Telugu. He used to address the child as Ramana
or on occasion as "Nayana Ramani". "Nayana" in Telugu
literally means father but is also used as an expression of
endearment. The child adopted the Telugu tradition and
addressed his father as Nayana, unlike the rest. In course
of time the other members also adopted this mode of
addressing. This extended to outsiders as well, all of whom
began addressing Sundaram Iyer as "Nayana."

      Venkataraman always had his way. One day, Sundaram
Iyer set out from his house on business. He placed two pillows
in a cart. The child remarked, "Nayana, the first pillow will
drop off." The father ignored this and went away. In a little
while, the child's prophecy came true. Sundaram Iyer was
astonished — how could the boy know beforehand?

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In his eighth year Venkataraman had his upanayana.

      He learnt to say in the ancient traditional way, "I,
Venkateswara Sarma pay obeisance."

      The school in which Venkataraman was admitted
was run in a mantapa. The head master was one Madhura
Nayagam Pillai. Only Tamil was taught there up to the
fifth standard.1 Sundaram Iyer wanted his sons to be
educated in English so that they could get into government
service. But at Tiruchuzhi nobody taught English.

      Sundaram Iyer had two younger brothers — the elder
one among them, Subbu Iyer, was a clerk in the Sub-
Registrar's office at Dindigul. There was a Hindu School
at Dindigul where English was taught. Nagaswami was
put in that school. Venkataraman also was sent there in
1891 to join the sixth standard.

      The brothers were like Rama and Lakshmana (who
had the support of the monkeys). These brothers had the
support of a group of young boys! They were friendly and
healthy. The elder one was an adept at jumping on the tree
branches, and was nicknamed "monkey." The younger one
was always a winner and came to be known as one with a
golden touch or with a golden hand (thanga-kai) reminding
us of one of the several names of Siva, "Hiranyabahu"
(Golden armed). The brothers were interested in gymnastics,
wrestling and football. The younger one simply followed
his brother — he had no particular preferences. If provoked
to a fight, he was unsparing which was why even those

¹The nomenclature of classes was different during those days.

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older than him left him alone. Venkataraman was never
afraid of being beaten up either.

      Venkataraman was a sound sleeper. At Dindigul, their
house was in Abhirami Amman Kovil street. On a birthday
of Srinivas, son of Subbu Iyer, after the evening meal was
got ready, the rest of the family went to the temple leaving
Venkataraman to look after the house. A little later, he
bolted the door and fell asleep. The family returned late
in the night and knocked at the door but there was no
response. They pounded on the door and made a lot of
noise which brought forth several neighbours on the scene
but all of this was of no avail. Everyone was wondering as
to what had happened to Venkataraman. After several
attempts they succeeded in opening the door. Thereafter
they gathered round Venkataraman and tried various
means to wake him up. They wondered at his sound sleep
and likened him to the legendary Kumbhakarna. Getting
to know about this quality of his, some schoolmates who
were earlier beaten up by Venkataraman but were afraid
to retaliate, would take him while asleep to a lonely spot,
thrash him and bring him back to his bed. By their words
and hints on the following day, Venkataraman would guess
what had transpired the previous night. As mistaken by
some, that movement of Venkataraman during sleep was
not due to somnambulism.

Sakti (power) is of two types — one is mental, the
other practical. During deep sleep these lie dormant in
the body and do not get dissipated as in the waking state.
That is the reason why the body becomes energetic as
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soon as it awakens. Owing to the sadhaka's will sakti does
not get wasted externally through the sense organs; it
becomes turned inward towards the Self. Deep sleep is
involuntary, hence it is a state of ignorance. On the other
hand, Samadhi is voluntary and is a state of knowledge.
For Ramana, the body was able, through this deep sleep
state to sustain a state of tapas ^[?] in later years.

      Neither of the brothers was particularly interested in
studies. Maybe, the elder one was a little better. The
younger one, on the other hand, remembered that there
was such a thing as education only upon seeing the teacher's
face! However, he had the faculty of committing to
memory anything he heard once. But he took particular
care to memorise Tamil poems. He never aspired to become
a scholar nor did anyone expect him to become one.

      Subbu Iyer was transferred to Madurai in 1891. The
brothers also moved with him. They were admitted in the
Scott Middle School in the North Avani Street. Their
residence was in North Chitrai Street.