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   MEET A GENTLE COLOSSUS
V R LAKSHMINARAYAN , IPS (Retd), Former D G P, TN

Reaching Madras, my very first day of police life remains still fresh in my mind. I can't speak of the Englishmen except one DIG Mr. Burrell who was a bit of an eccentric but the indigenous IP officers were uncivil in proportion to their rank, starting with the IGP Sanjeevi There were exceptions and one was Sri. S. Parthasarathy sadly not with us anymore, under whom, I was sent for practical training The Superintendent of Police was harassed by a habeas Corpus action In the supreme Court and the DIG took a direct and Instant Interest in my training That was true serendipity

What a refreshing experience It was seeing Parthasarathy heading the Police force of Southern range. He was scholarly and an intellectual, a man of great culture, over flowing kindness and with a delicate sense of humor blended with supreme courtesy His mind found its native haunt In the aerial boundaries of law and literature To crown It all, he wielded a very facile pen Well-graced prose dipped in thinly veiled sarcasm flowed in a limpid stream He was a great conversationalist and like Dr Johnson collected an admiring crowd and time passed in hours without one noticing .It Justice V Rajagopalan, ICS once said, that spending an hour with Sri Parthasarathy was an education Itself


Sri Parthasarathy was an officer loved by hits men, a gentleman who was too indolent to harm anyone and, he should have easily graced the highest post open to a police officer in a state but some prejudices harbored by powers that be robbed him of the throne It however catapulted him into high honors in Delhi.

It was a love at first sight - my meeting with Sri. Parthasarathy I still remember being pulled up by District Magistrate for what he considered a hasty decision when a dacoit was killed in self defense and I said so at the inquest and closed the case The Collector and DIG visited the scene when growled the Dist. Magistrate for not waiting for a customary magisterial nod I stood my ground and cited the law I did not realize law and adherence to rules are meaningless when our bosses have a different view It was Sri Parthasarathy who brought to bear his diplomatic charm and saved the day for me .Subsequently, he advised me to stack to my guns but that did not mean, he said, an abrasive response I have seen Sri. Arul writing somewhere that his first Chief in District was Sri Parthasarathy and it was his good fortune that he fell under the spell of this good man in his sophomore days Sri Stracey was another pupil 'They all reached high ranks and for Parthasarathy the scepter was With in his grasp but an unkind fate made it over to another .He played an Important Role later in the Central scene. In retired life too, he was active in many fields and will be remembered as the cultured President of the Intellectual Club of LYMA, Madras I still remember, he insisted on my addressing the Club only when he was presiding Such was his kindness. Our| official kinship was strengthened by the entry of Sita into my life, for the two families were very close. Sri. Parthasarathy and A S P Iyer had mutual affection and respect for each other and my brother V R Krishna Iyer who thought very little of policemen held this gentle giant in great esteem and affection

A man without hubris, a man loved by his men, a man who could shine in company ' His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world,                                        

' This was a man'

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