Among the deities that were kept in his prayer area, were two books. One was the Bhagavat Gita. And the other was the Constitution of India, to which he gave life as a judge and jurist. As I saw this in his home on December 5, a day after he had left us, I could not help but weep.
It was only about a year back when I started gaining interest in law that I came to hear about Mr. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer. Though I have still not read even a single judgement delivered by him sitting on the benches of the Honourable High Court of Kerala and the Honourable Supreme Court of India, I could gather from the bits and pieces of writings of his own and on him by others, the man that he was.
Even with a very limited knowledge of him and his works I felt deeply hurt by the loss that his demise had brought to us. I can well imagine what others who knew him closely would have felt upon hearing the news.
It was three days before the day the end happened that I came to know that he was admitted in the hospital and that he was in a critical condition. The Mrityunjaya Mantra, according to the Hindu religion, is recited either for the sufferer to win over the death or, for the God of death, Yemen, to win over the sufferer so that the latter is saved from much pain and sufferings.
I did not know for which of these should I pray in the case of Mr. Justice Iyer. He was really old, a heart patient, and was already, on the hospital bed, undergoing a lot more than what a person of his age could. Without knowing what to pray, I just kept reciting the mantra daily morning and evening.
As late as December 3, a day before he left us, I had asked my friend in Kochi to inquire about Mr. Justice Iyer's health and tell me about it. As I expected his reply about the health condition, I got his message saying that the legend was no more.
I had very much wanted to meet him to get some first hand information about Kamarajar (1903-1975), with whom, though belonging to different political parties, he had been an MLA of the then Madras Assembly in 1952. About Kamarajar, Mr. Justice Iyer had written in his autobiography that he was a 'common man with an uncommon common sense.' I had thought that I will complete the book and in the end go to him to get his views about few events. My wish to meet him will now remain just a wish, forever.
I got the message of his demise while I was in my college in Madras. Soon after the class was over I telephoned my boss and told her that I would want a day's leave to visit Kochi to attend his funeral. She agreed and I set off to Kochi by the night's train.
The city of Kochi did not wear a dreaded look but, I could find quite a few ordinary people on the roads expressing condolence by having his photograph pinned on their pockets along with a black piece of cloth. Even an auto rickshaw union had put up a poster expressing sorrow at the great loss. I was deeply moved when I saw that poster. I have not known of any person, at least in my lifetime, upon whose death sorrow was expressed by as high a person as the President of India and, comparatively, as humble an organization as an ordinary auto rickshaw union. This perhaps best explained the phenomenon that Mr. Justice Iyer was.
From the railway station I straight away went to his home. What I witnessed there moved me even further. Though I was on leave from work that day, I felt that I should write what I witnessed there. A friend of mine told me that I was "lucky" to have been able to pay my tribute to Mr. Justice Iyer on that day. Understanding that I really was lucky to have at least been able to be there for his funeral, I wanted other people to know what it was at his home on that day.
Following is what I had written for The News Minute.
It was only about a year back when I started gaining interest in law that I came to hear about Mr. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer. Though I have still not read even a single judgement delivered by him sitting on the benches of the Honourable High Court of Kerala and the Honourable Supreme Court of India, I could gather from the bits and pieces of writings of his own and on him by others, the man that he was.
Even with a very limited knowledge of him and his works I felt deeply hurt by the loss that his demise had brought to us. I can well imagine what others who knew him closely would have felt upon hearing the news.
It was three days before the day the end happened that I came to know that he was admitted in the hospital and that he was in a critical condition. The Mrityunjaya Mantra, according to the Hindu religion, is recited either for the sufferer to win over the death or, for the God of death, Yemen, to win over the sufferer so that the latter is saved from much pain and sufferings.
I did not know for which of these should I pray in the case of Mr. Justice Iyer. He was really old, a heart patient, and was already, on the hospital bed, undergoing a lot more than what a person of his age could. Without knowing what to pray, I just kept reciting the mantra daily morning and evening.
As late as December 3, a day before he left us, I had asked my friend in Kochi to inquire about Mr. Justice Iyer's health and tell me about it. As I expected his reply about the health condition, I got his message saying that the legend was no more.
I had very much wanted to meet him to get some first hand information about Kamarajar (1903-1975), with whom, though belonging to different political parties, he had been an MLA of the then Madras Assembly in 1952. About Kamarajar, Mr. Justice Iyer had written in his autobiography that he was a 'common man with an uncommon common sense.' I had thought that I will complete the book and in the end go to him to get his views about few events. My wish to meet him will now remain just a wish, forever.
I got the message of his demise while I was in my college in Madras. Soon after the class was over I telephoned my boss and told her that I would want a day's leave to visit Kochi to attend his funeral. She agreed and I set off to Kochi by the night's train.
The city of Kochi did not wear a dreaded look but, I could find quite a few ordinary people on the roads expressing condolence by having his photograph pinned on their pockets along with a black piece of cloth. Even an auto rickshaw union had put up a poster expressing sorrow at the great loss. I was deeply moved when I saw that poster. I have not known of any person, at least in my lifetime, upon whose death sorrow was expressed by as high a person as the President of India and, comparatively, as humble an organization as an ordinary auto rickshaw union. This perhaps best explained the phenomenon that Mr. Justice Iyer was.
From the railway station I straight away went to his home. What I witnessed there moved me even further. Though I was on leave from work that day, I felt that I should write what I witnessed there. A friend of mine told me that I was "lucky" to have been able to pay my tribute to Mr. Justice Iyer on that day. Understanding that I really was lucky to have at least been able to be there for his funeral, I wanted other people to know what it was at his home on that day.
Following is what I had written for The News Minute.
On Friday, from afternoon, people from all walks of life walked into a small compound located on the famous Mahatma Gandhi Road (M.G. Road) in the Ernakulam district of Kerala.
A black flag and a board that read "Satgamaya" welcomed the people to the home of Mr. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, 100, whose soul ascended to heaven on Thursday afternoon.
From Kerala cabinet ministers, High Court judges, senior officials of the state government, to representatives of various social and religious organizations, and the common man, all waited under one shamiana (roof), perhaps representing the maxim of equality before law, in pin-drop silence, to pay their tribute and last respects to the doyen of jurisprudence of our country.
As one steps into the modest, mosaic-tiled house where he had been living for over twenty years, one sees a number of his portraits gifted to him on his 100th birthday.
The week-long celebration of his 100th birthday saw many people re-establish their old connections with Mr. Iyer. This is evident from the many portraits that hung in the hall.
Towards the left is a small room to which a library is attached. A large portrait of his wife, Sharada, hangs on one wall. The wall opposite to it has portraits of the young Krishna Iyer, as a cabinet minister of Kerala, in the first democratically elected Communist government in the world in 1957, with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The library consists of books ranging from spirituality to nuclear science. The wide range of subject matters on which he read stands testimony to the erudition of the administrator, jurist and humanist that he was.
The next room is even more fascinating. Apart from a larger portrait of his wife and many other portraits, in a corner, facing the East, is the prayer area. A garlanded portrait of his wife is in the centre surrounded by portraits of many Gods. Just in front, on a small table, is a lighted lamp in the middle of two books. One the Bhagvat Gita and other, the Constitution of India, to which he gave life as a judge of the High Court of Kerala and later of the Supreme Court of India.
Other rooms have a lot more portraits of the great man with other great men like the former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mata Amritanandamayi and His Holiness The Dalai Lama.
Among the large group of women and men who had assembled in Satgamaya was, from Dharmashala, Tenzin and his colleagues of the "Friends of Tibet".
"Mr. Iyer was a great proponent of the Tibetian cause and was an amazing friend of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. We have come to pay our last respects to him," Tenzin said.
As the ambulance that carried his body entered the compound, all rose with their hands crossed. Sooner was the body placed on an elevated platform, one-by-one all the people present paid their last respects and walked away in silence.
He was cremated at the Ravipuram crematorium on Friday at 6.30 p.m. Though his mortal remains would leave us, his thoughts, which he has written as books that amount to more than that of his age, will continue to guide and inspire his countrymen.
The greatest tribute that can be given to Mr. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, in general, will of course consist in studying what he had preached and practicing it in our own lives. In particular, it should consist in making all out efforts to render justice to the have-nots, a task which he was engaged in until his last breath.
Let us walk in the path that he laid, let us make his soul rest in content.
Jai Hind!
