BANGALORE: Mathoor Krishnamurthi, popularly known as Mathoorji, would have slid into oblivion 35 years ago itself had he been successful in his attempt to commit suicide in London. God saved him. He dropped his idea and survived to secure a place for Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London and etched a place for himself in the hearts of thousands of people across the globe. His biography ‘Mathoorji Jeevanagathe’ as narrated to Sumana Viswanath gives an account of the incident.Some eight months after taking charge as Registrar of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan unit in London, he was desperate to get funds to run the unit or to have its own building or to organise necessary programmes. He met the then vice-president of the executive committee Chandrakanth Master. He sought his help to run the unit. Chandrakanth Master curtly handed over an air ticket to Mathoorji and asked him to return to India if he was unable to run the unit. Mattoorji felt further depressed. Coming out of the room he started crying inconsolably. He thought he had failed in his task to establish the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan unit in London. “The people in India had assigned the responsibility with full confidence in me. But I have failed to fulfil the task. How can I show my face to the people who had confidence me? How can I show my face to my wife. It is an insult to return India without achieving the work assigned to me. It is better to commit suicide rather than returning without completing the task,” he thought.Returning to his room in YMCA building, he decided to commit suicide. He collected 24 sleeping tablets. He fixed 12 midnight as the ‘auspicious’ moment to commit suicide. He left a written note saying that he only was responsible for his death.A few more minutes were left for the auspicious moment to come. He opened a page at random from the book ‘Mahabharat’ to read as the last task of his life. To his surprise it was a chapter where Hanuman had decided to commit suicide after he failed to find Sita in Lanka. Hanuman suddenly realised that he had not searched Sita in the garden and went there. Mathoorji closed the book thinking that unlike the story of Hanuman, all avenues were closed to him. To his surprise he saw the figure of Manek Dalal and Hanuman walking on the edge of the page. Suddenly he decided to consult Manek Dalal on his plan to get necessary funds for Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and went to sleep. The next day he started a new life with Dalal agreeing to become the president of the London branch of the Bhavan.That Mathoorji took Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London to a new height is history now.Knowing fully well that the Indians living in England were fascinated to follow all the Hindu religious rituals, he started performing pujas and other rituals for them. He contributed a share of whatever money he used to get through such acts to Bharatia Vidya Bhavan and built the institution brick by brick. London branch of the Bhavan had become one of the important cultural centres of Hinduism in the West during his tenure.
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