The Hindu Business Line : A house under siege

A FIVE-MINUTE leisurely stroll from the main gates of the famous Tiruvanaikoil temple in Srirangam will take you to the birthplace of a person who did India proud in 1930. The ancient, nondescript house stands in one of the by-lanes off the southern leg of the road that runs around the temple. A few goats graze at the house's dusty foreground. A retired schoolteacher sits on one of the large tinnais, fanning himself. Save an occasional group of scientists, nobody has ever paid much attention to the house. (But all that is likely to change.)

This house was where a famous Indian was born, in 1888. Try to guess the person, before you read on. Can't? Well, here's the answer to the riddle — Sir Chandrasekara Venkata Raman, who won the Nobel for his seminal work on scattering of light and the discovery of the effect that was named after him.

An effort has begun to convert the house into a monument. A group of Tiruchi-residents, headed by Dr V. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, BHEL, Tiruchi, have got together to convert the house into a `C.V. Raman Centre.' The group has approached the local administration — and has been promised help. Dr Gopalakrishnan has been in touch with several "prominent scientific personalities" and has vowed to establish the Centre.

However, the effort may not proceed all that smoothly. The reason: the family that lives in the house does not want to go. When this correspondent visited the house recently, including the room where Raman was born, members of the family expressed fears that publicity may result in their forceful eviction. The family members are descendants of their maternal forefathers. "Raman's mother came here for the delivery. She (and baby Raman) lived here for 10 days. That's all," says T.S. Sasidharan, a senior member of the family. "But this is our poorvigam (ancestral house). Our family has lived here for over 400 years," he says. Now, Sasidharan's fears may come true. Efforts are on — recently, State Government officials visited the house, but the family happened to be away.

Those who are in favour of the house being made into a monument say that the family would get a "good price" for the property. "After all, it is in national interest," is their refrain.