A Letter of Thanks From Raja Sir T. Madhava Row

On 28th May 1871 Diwan Sir T. Madhava Row wrote a letter to one Mr. C. Luke thanking him for curing Ananda Row’s chronic eye problem. Luke was a native traditional eye-doctor of Travancore. Ananda Row was Sir T. Madhava Row’s and Yamuna Bai’s son. He was born on the 15th of May 1852 in Padma Vilasam Palace, Trivandrum. He served as Diwan of Mysore from April 1909 to November 1912.

A photocopy of the letter (received from Shri. Sharat Sunder Rajeev) in Sir T. Madhava Row’s own handwriting is given below. The original of this letter is with the descendants of Mr. C. Luke.  A re-typed copy and the DM translsation are also provided below.

Ananda Rao Vasishta

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Trivandrum                                                                  28-May-1871 Mr. C. Luke, I wish now to commit to writing my sense of the valuable services which, as oculists, you and your brother have rendered to my son T. Ananda Row. Ananda Row’s eyes suffered from chronic disorder, which sometimes interrupted and always made painful reading of sorry kind, & which therefore seriously impeded his studies. Two well-known European members of the medical profession were successively consulted, but their treatment showed no permanent benefit. The disorder gradually progressed from bad to worse till it compelled a complete abstinence from reading, & this at a most critical period of the patient’s scholastic career. This naturally made me extremely anxious. I resolved to try purely native remedies. Having personally known your late father as an able oculist, and aware that the art has been preserved in your family from generation to generation, I sent for you & your brother, & stated the case. On due examination you expressed your perfect confidence that you would be able to effect a successful cure. You undertook the treatment accordingly. With apparently very simple appliances & mild treatment you were able in a very moderate time to accomplish what you had promised. Ananda Row was soon in a position to resume his important studies, and I have no hesitation in stating that he is indebted to your professional ability for his success in the last Bachelor of Arts examination. I am desirous that you should possess some mark of the value I attach to the service you have thus rendered ; but as you have been so delicate as to leave me in the dark as to what would prove most acceptable to you, I think it best to send you the accompanying purse (containing British Rupees 150) & to request you to purchase a watch or books, or whatsoever else you may select. It is very gratifying to me to find that the native community can boast of any instances of indigenous curative art succeeding, where even European service apparently failed. I would strongly advise you to foster and perpetuate the knowledge of eye-diseases & of their treatment which has been handed down to you from your forefathers. Yours faithfully T. Madava Row"

अनंतशयन २८-मे-१८७१ "लूक यांस॑, मझ॑ लोंक आनंदराव ह्यांच डोळेला तुम्ही अणी तुमच॑ भाऊ देलते वैद्यक्रीया विषयीन मझ॑ मान्य अभिप्राय व्यक्त कराला म्हणून मी हे कागदपत्र लिव्हतों. आनंदरावाला डोळेच रोगामळे निरंतर पीडा झाल॑. तजमळे कायतरीन वाचताना तला डोळेच सूळ सदाहीं येत होत॑. मात्र नोहो, बरोर दिसणेपणीन नाहीस्क॑ झाल॑. हेजमळे तज विद्याभ्यासाला पणीन फार अडचण होत होत॑. दोन प्रमुख यूरोपियन डॉक्टरांला दाखिवूनपणीन प्रयोजन काहीन झाल नाही. त्यंच शुश्रूषामळे डोळेच पीडा पूर्ण होऊन बरोर झाल॑ नाही. क्रमेणा रोग अण्खीन रूक्ष होऊन वाढून वाचणे पूर्णविणी राह्त॑ करांवास्क॑ झाल॑. आनंदरावाच॑ विद्याभ्यासाच एक मुख्य समयांत॑ अस॑ झाल॑की म्हणून मला फार चिंता वाटल॑ अणी देशी वैद्यचिकित्साला आश्रय कराला मी निर्णय करलों. तुमच॑ स्वर्गवासी बाप एक निपुण डोळे-वैद्य होते अणी ते कला तुमच॑ कुटुंबांत॑ पिढी-पिढींत्सून दत्तन राखून ठिवलाहेंत॑ म्हणून मला स्वता कळ्ळ॑ होत॑. म्हणून, तुम्हाला अणी तुमच॑ भाऊला मी बलावून पाठिवून विषय कळिवलों. रोगीला निरीक्षण करून रोग बरोर कराला होईल म्हणून पूर्ण विश्वासांत॑ तुम्ही सांगिटलांत॑. फार सरळ विधाच चिकित्सा देऊन थोडक दिवसांत॑ सांगिटलत॑ प्रकार करून दाखिवलांत॑. थोडक दिवसांत॑ आनंदरावला तज शिक्षण पुन्हा आरंभ कराला झाल॑. हे जवळ झालत॑ Bachelor of Arts परीक्षांत॑ जिंताला अणी हेजमळे तुमच॑ वैद्य-नैपुण्याच व॑र आनंदरावला फार कृतज्ञता वाटत॑ म्हणून सांगाला मला नंखर पणीन संकोच नाही. तुम्ही देलत॑ शुश्रूषा मी फार आदर करतों अणी तज खूण म्हणून तुमचकड॑ काहीं असांव॑ म्हणून मला आशा आहेतरीन, नाजूकपणामळे हेज विषयीन तुम्ही मला काहीं कळिवल॑ नाहींत॑. तुम्हाला संतोष द्याच काय, हे मला कळत नाही. एक घडीगार अथवा कित्येक पुस्तकें, नाहीतर॑ तुमच॑ इष्टानुसार वेगळ॑ काहीं घेटलतर॑ तुम्हाला बरोर तृप्ती होईल म्हणून वाटून, दीडशें ब्रिटीश-रुपेच बक्षीसाच हे पिशवी मी तुम्हाला देऊन पाठिवतों. पाश्चात्य वैद्यशास्त्राला कराला झालनाहीत॑ चिकित्सा, अमच॑ देशी संप्रदाया वाटे सार्थकविणी कराला झाल॑ म्हणून गौरवांत॑ सांगाला झालकी म्हणून मी फार संतुष्ट झालों. डोळेरोगाविषयीन पूर्वजांकडून तुम्हाला मिळ्ळत॑ हे ज्ञान अणी चिकित्सा पारंपर्य जागृतविणी ठिवून, पुढे ते अण्खीन वाढिवा म्हणून तुम्हाला मझकडून फार विचारींगतों. अस॑ टी. माधवराव"