HAPPY ENGINEER’

S DAY

In Memory ofSir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

September 15, 1860 - April

Born : September 15, 1860

Place: Muddenahalli village (Kolar district of Karnataka).

Father: Srinivasa Sastry

Mother: Venkachamma.

Life & journey of a Centenarian

Education:

Early Schooling in Chikkaballapur,

1881 : B.A. Examination from CentralCollege Bangalore .

1883 : Civil Engineering from ScienceCollege in Poona.

He ranked first in the L.C.E. and the F.C.E. Examinations (equivalent to B.E. Examination of today).

Life & journey of a Centenarian

His ResponsibilitiesSome of the job positions he held were:

• Assistant Engineer, Bombay Government Service [in 1884]

• Chief Engineer, Hyderabad State [he served only for 7 months starting April 15, 1909]

• Chief Engineer in Mysore State [Nov 15, 1909]. He was also Secretary to the Railways.

• President of Education and Industrial Development committees in Mysore State

• Dewan of Mysore. [for six years]

Contd.,

•Chairman, Bhadravati Iron Works

•Member of the Governing Council of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

•Member of the Governing Council of Tata Iron and Steel Company [TISCO]

•Member of Back Bay enquiry committee, London

•Member of a committee constituted in 1917 to make recommendations regarding the future of Indian States

Man with ValuesHe was a strict vegetarian, teetotaler and non-smoker, an admirer of the old Indian joint family system.

In business and industry, he admired the European and American methods, but in domestic habits he wasa perfect Mysore Brahmin

A Minister in Mysore once fixed an interview with Sir MV but was unable to come. Next day when he called on him, Sir MV told him, “you have committed a double mistake- firstly, by not keeping up the engagement yesterday and secondly, by coming when you were not.

Man with Values“Slackness is the worst curse of the country.”

At age of 90, a paper correspondent asked him how he felt and Sir M V remarked, “I find life interesting.”

Once Sri C Rajagopalachari unexpectedly called on him. Sir MV was so smartly dressed, Rajaji said. “Even if I bring a photographer in the middle of thenight, I can take your pictures. Youwill always be well groomed.”

In Sweden Sir MV feel ill, the doctor suggested him to take a

few drops of Brandy with medicine. For which Sir M V replied

“If this life cannot survive without those drops, let it go.”

On his own account book was written, “If you buy what you do

not need, you will need what you cannot buy.”

Sir M V was one of those rare human beings who practiced in

personal life what he preached in public.

Man with Values

Bombay• Introduced the block system of irrigation• Designed a new system of systematic water weir flood gate• Established Deccan Club in Poona

Bihar & Orissa• Selected site for a railway bridge on river of Ganga in Bihar• Hirakund enquiries• Water supply schemes through out the state

Hyderabad• Schemes for flood protection & drainage for Hyderabad• Remodelling of Hyderabad city

Major Achievements

Major Achievements•Architect of the Krishnarajasagara dam – or KRS or Brindavan gardens.One of the biggest dams in India which irrigates a hundred and twenty thousand acres of land.

•Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works - as its Chairman he rescued it from becoming extinct.

Major Achievements

•State Bank of Mysore (1913 it was first named The Bank of Mysore)

•Founder of Mysore Sandal Oil Factory and the Mysore soap factory

•Mysore Chamber of Commerce

•Founder of Kannada Literary •Mysore University- Sir M.V.'s question was "If Australia and Canada could have universities of their own for less than a million population, cannot Mysore with a population of not less that 60 lakhs

Sir M. V.’s great dream was to see India prosper through industrialization.

In 1920 he published a book, “Reconstructing India”& in 1934, “Planned Economy for India.”

He coined the slogans, “Produce or perish”, and “Industrialize or perish.”

Contd.

AWARDS• 1906 : "Kaisar-i-Hind" in recognition of his services

• 1911 : C.I.E. (Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Durbar

• 1915 : K.C.I.E. (Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire)

• 1921 : D.Sc. – Calcutta University

• 1943 : Elected as an Honorary Life Member of the Institution of Engineers(I)

• 1944 : D.Sc. – Allahabad

•1904 : Honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for

The Knight Commander Of The Indian Empire

Contd.,• 1948 : Doctorate - LLD., Mysore Uni.

• 1953 : D.Litt – Andhra University

• 1953 : Awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Town Planners, India

• 1955 : Conferred BHARATHARATNA‘ (The gem of India), the highest civilian award of the country

• 1958 : 'Durga Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal‘ by the Royal Asiatic Society Council of Bengal

• Memorial at Muddenahalli.

• Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute Of Technology, Bangalore is named after Sir M.V.

• University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering.• Visweswaraiah National Institute of Technology (V.N.I.T.), The college is among the elite 17

NationalInstitutes of Technologies•

The Visveswarayya Technological University, Belgaum, to which nearly all engineering colleges in

Memorials & Institutions in his honor

Contd.,

• His alma mater, the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) has erected a statue in his memory and honor on their campus in central Pune, immediately outside the historic COEPadministration building.

• The Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum , Bangalore, set up as part of his birth centenary celebrations.

• Vishweshwaraya Iron and Steel Limited, a public sector undertaking, in the founding of which he was

The End

On 14-April-1962 at 6.15am at the age of 102 years,, Sir M V breathed his last, peacefully.

sanjay_asati@yahoo.co.in