CONTENTS Preface v Foreword viii Contents x List of Poems in Praise of Sri Ramana xvm Sri Ramana Maharshi - A Life Sketch 1-12 REMINISCENCES 1. Dr.Paul Bmnton was a British journalist whose writings made Sri Ramana known the world over. ... ... ... 13 2. Sadhu Ekarasa (Dr.GH.Mees, M.A., LL.D.) was aDutch scholar. 24 3. Prof. Banning Richardson, M.A. (Hons.) (Cantab.), A.B. (Princeton) was Professor of English Literature. ... ... 27 4. Justice K.Sundaram Chettiar, B.A., B.L., was High Court Judge, Madras. ... ... ... 27 5. Manu Subedar was a member of the Central Legislative Assembly. 28 6. WilliamS.Spaulding (Jr.) was from New York City. ... 29 7. Grant Duff (Douglas Ainslie) was a scholar and a senior government official at Madras. ... ... ... 29 8. Dilip Kumar Roy belonged to Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. He authored many books and was also a musician. ... ... 31 9. B.Sanjiva RaO, B.A. (Cantab.) belonged to the pre-Independence Indian Educational Service. ... ... ... 33 10. Justice N.ChandrasekharaAiyar was High Court Judge, Madras. 34 11. Eleanor Pauline Noye was from California. ... ... 35 12. K.S. Venkataramani, M.A., B.L., was Adviser to the former Alwar State (Rajasthan). ... ... ... 37 13. Dr. C. Kunhan Raja was Director of the Adyar Library, Theosophical Society, Madras. ... ... 37 14. Madan Mohan Varma was Chairman, Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Jaipur. ... ... ... 39 15. Ella Maillart was a Swiss travel writer and photographer. ... 40 16. Swami Siddheswarananda was Head, Ramakrishna Mission, Paris. 41 Contents xi 17. T.M.Krishnaswami Aiyar, B.A., B.L., was Chief Justice of the former Travancore State (Kerala). ... ... ... 43 18. K.S.RamaSWami Sastri, B.A., B.L., was Chief Justice of the former Pudukottah State (Tamil Nadu). ... ... ... 43 19. Dr. K.C. Varadachari, M.A., Ph.D., was a scholar based in Tirupati. 44 20. Giridhan Lai belonged to Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 45 21. Prof. B.L.Atreya, M.A., D.Litt., was Head, Dept. of Philosophy and Psychology, Benaras Hindu University. ... ... 46 22. Oliver LaCOmbe was L'Attache Culturel, Consulat General de France, Calcutta. ... ... ... 47 23. Prof. Syed M.HaflZ, M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt., was Head, Dept. of Philosophy, Allahabad University. ... ... ... 47 24. A.S.Panchapagesa Ayyar belonged to the former Indian Civil Service. ... ... ... 49 25. Prof. T.M.P Mahadevan, M.A.,Ph.D., was Head, Dept. of Philosophy, Madras University. ... ... ... 51 26. Duncan Greenlees, M.A. (Oxen.), was a British scholar and a Theosophist. ... ... ... 52 27. H.Ghosh, M.A., was Principal, Holkar College, Indore (Madhya Pradesh). ... ... ... 57 28. C.S.Bagi, M.A., was Principal, Lingaraj College, Belgaum (Karnataka). 57 29. Rudra Raj Pande, M.A., was Principal, Tri-ChandraCollege, Nepal. 59 30. Prof. S.V.Ram, M.A., Ph.D., was Head, Dept. of Political Science, Lucknow University. ... ... ... 61 31. Chinta Dikshitulu, B.A., L.T., was a distinguished Telugu author. 62 32. Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, a poet and artiste, was younger brother of Sarojini Naidu, the Nightingale of India. ... 63 33. Dr. K. Subrahmanian was Professor of English, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad. He was the Founder President of Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad. ... ... 65 34. N.Balarama Reddy, M.A., who authored My Reminiscences, lived closely with Sri Ramana for over a decade. ... ... 69 35. A.Devaraj a Mudaliar, who authored the well-known Day by Day with Bhagavan and My Recollections ofBhagavan Sri Ramana, moved closely with Sri Ramana for over a decade. 36. Maurice Frydman, a Polish Jew, was a research engineer who worked in Karnataka. ... ... ... 75 37. S.S.Cohen, an Iraqi Jew, was a qualified accountant who adopted Sri Ramanasramam as his home in 1936. He authored Guru Ramana and Residual Reminiscences of Ramana, ... ... ... 78 xii Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi 38. K.K.Nambiar was Chief Engineer, Highways, Madras Presidency. He authored The Guiding Presence of Sri Ramana. ... ... 84 39. Suri Nagamma authored the famous Letters from Sri Raman- asramam. ... ... ... 88 40. Arthur Osbome was an Oxford-educated Britisher. He was the Founder-editor of The Mountain Path and authored five books on Sri Ramana. ... ... ... 94 41. Prof.G V.Subbaramayya taught English at a college in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. He was also a Telugu scholar. He authored Sri Ramana Reminiscences. ... ... ... 102 42. Major A. W.Chad Wick O.B.E., who became Sadhu Arunachala, lived in the Ashram from 1935 to 1962. He authored A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi. ... ... ... 110 43. Prof. K.S waminathan taught English at Presidency College, Madras. He authored Sri Ramana - The Self Supreme and Ramana Maharshi. 117 44. Rangan (Velacheri Ranga Iyer) was a classmate of Sri Ramana. 122 45. M.Sivaprakasam Pillai, a Government employee, was the first person to collect (in 1902) Sri Ramana's teachings, later published as the famous booklet Who am I? ... ... ... 125 46. Akhilandamma served food to Sri Ramana for forty years. 127 47. Sadhu Natanananda (Natesa Mudaliar) was a scholar who authored many books on Sri Ramana. ... ... ... 129 48. Prof. N.R.Krishnamuiti Aiyer taught physics for decades at the American College, Madurai (Tamil Nadu). ... ... 134 49. Chalam (Gudipati Venkatachalam) was a famous Telugu writer who authored Bhagavan Smritulu (Telugu). ... ... 138 50. Souris was daughter of Chalam (no.49). ... ... 143 51. Swami Madhavatiltha was a prolific Gujarati author. ... 146 52. Kunju Swami was Sri Ramana's attendant from 1920 to 1932. 150 53. Muruganar (C.K.Subramania Iyer) was an outstanding Tamil poet who sang nothing but glory of Sri Ramana in thousands of poems. 154 54. T.P.Ramachandra Iyer was a laywer who acted as an interpreter and also attended on Sri Ramana. ... ... ... 159 5 5. Chhaganlal V. Yogi, a Gujarati devotee, authored Sri Ramana Mahima (Gujarati). ... ... ... 161 56. Lakshmana Swami of Gudur (Andhra Pradesh) was a sadhaka of great merit. ... ... ... ... 167 57. VlSWanatha Swami, a Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, translated many Ashram publications into Tamil. ... ... ... 171 58. RamanathaBrahmachari authored Ramana Strotra Anubhuti (Tamil). ... ... ... 174 Contents xiii 59. Mastan, a Muslim weaver, got drawn to Sri Ramana in 1914. 175 60. Echammal served food to Sri Ramana for decades. ... 176 61. Mudaliar Patti brought or sent food to Sri Ramana for 40 years, without missing a day. ... ... ... 176 62. Krishna Bhikshu (Voruganti Krishnayya), a lawyer, authored Ramana Leela (Telugu). ... ... ... 178 63. Lakshman Sarma authored Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad (Sanskrit). ... ... ... 183 64. Natesa Iyer served for long as a cook at the Ashram. ... 184 65. Sampurnamma served as a cook at the Ashram for decades. 1 86 66. Shantammal served as a cook at the Ashram for decades. ... 189 67. Suildaram (Sadhu Trivenigiri) was a spiritually-minded person on the staff of the Ashram. ... ... ... 191 68. SubbalakshmiAmmal served for long as a cook at the Ashram. 193 69. Wolter A. Keers was a Dutch teacher and writer who lectured on yoga and Advaita in Europe. ... ... ... 196 70. Annamalai S wami looked after construction projects at the Ashram under direct supervision of Sri Ramana. ... ... ... 201 71. Mouni Sadhu (M. Sudouski), an Australian, authored the classic In Days of Great Peace. ... ... ... 205 72. Kumar was a Bangalore-based journalist. ... ... 209 73. Swami Ranganathananda was till recently President of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, Howrah (West Bengal). ... 209 74. Swami Desikananda was a sannyasi of the Ramakrishna Order. 211 75. Pascaline Mallet, a French writer and seeker, authored Turn Eastwards. ... ... ... 212 76. GuntlUll Lakshmikantam was biographer of Ganapati Muni (no.91). 214 77. Ethel Merston, a French devotee, visited Sri Ramana in 1939. 215 78. A European Sadhak, who withheld his name ... ... 217 79. M. A. PiggOt was the first English lady to visit Sri Ramana. 218 80. J.P. Vaswani is Head, Sadhu Vaswani Mission, Pune. ... 221 81. Swami Ramdas was the founder of Anandashram, Kanhangad, Kerala. 223 82. Swami TapOVanam was the guru of Swami Chinmayananda. 224 83. Swami Chinmayananda was the founder of famous Chinmaya Mission. ... ... ... 225 84. Swami Muktananda was the founder of the well-known ashram at Ganeshpuri near Mumbai. ... ... ... 226 85. Eliot C. Clark was a renowned American painter. ... 228 xiv Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi 86. Swami Abhishiktananda was a Christian monk who lived as a sannyasi. ... ... ... 229 8 7. Ramanadasa Sadananda (Seshagiri Iyer), a high school teacher, authored Sri Ramana Dasakam (Tamil). ... ... 230 88. Dr. M. Anantanarayana Rao was a doctor at the Ashram dispensary. ... ... ... 232 89. N. Ramachandra Rao authored Sri Ramana's first biography in Kannada. ... ... ... 234 90. Papaji (Hariwansh Lai Poonja) was a great Krishna bhakta who relinquished his commissioned post in the army in favour of spiritual attainments. ... ... ... 235 91. Ganapati Muni, Kavyakantha was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet. ... ... ... 243 92. F.H. Humphreys, a police official, was the first European to meet Sri Ramana in 1911. ... ... ... 245 93. Raghavachariar was Superintendent, Public Works Dept., Tiruvannamalai. ... ... ... 247 94. Manavasi V.RamaSwami Iyer was Supervisor, Public Works Dept. Tiruvannamalai. ... ... ... 248 95. N.N.Rajan (N.Nataraja Iyer) was station Master, Tiruvannamalai. ... ... ... 249 96. Rama Varma Appan Tampuran was Maharaja of Cochin (Kerala). 251 97. Swami RajeSWarananda was a sannyasi of the Ramakrishna Order and a life-long devotee of Sri Ramana. ... ... ... 252 98. Dr.Lt.Col. P. V. Karamchandani was District Medical Officer of North Arcot district in Tamil Nadu. ... ... ... 253 99. Dr.T.N.KrishnaSwami was doctor in-charge of the Ashram dispensary. ... ... ... 256 100. R.Narayana Iyer was Sub-Registrar at Chetput, Tamil Nadu. 258 101. Suddhananda Bharati was a patriot who worked in the field of Tamil literature and social reconstruction. He authored Ramana Vijayam (1931), first biography of Sri Ramana in Tamil. ... ... 262 102. Ramanapadananda (V.S.Kuppuswami Aiyengar) was a businessman. ... ... ... 264 103.