Sri Rajangam

Last updated

Sri Rajangam Iyer (1903 - 1948) was one of the first native Indian engineering managers of the South Indian Railway Company of British India. [1]

Contents

Sri Rajangam Iyer Sri Rajangam portrait.jpg
Sri Rajangam Iyer

Sri Rajangam was the deputy Chief mechanical engineer of South Indian Railways (SIR). He was the first native Indian to become the works manager of Golden Rock Railway Workshop, situated in Ponmalai (Golden Rock), Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. Even his immediate successor in 1946 was a British man.

He is also credited as one of the engineering co-inventors of the water-saving Jaison Water Tap. [2]

Major contributions and legacy

Engineering innovations

Together with friends such as the innovator-entrepreneur J.P. Subramonya Iyer of Travancore and engineer S.L. Narayanan, he developed a water-saving tap named Jaison Water Tap that was later introduced widely across the Indian Railways. [3]

Railway operations

Early years and education

Sri Rajangam was born as the second son of Mada Theru Manaankutty Iyer. He had six siblings, including three elder sisters, an elder brother and two younger sisters.

Rajangam studied at Ambasamudram and Maharaja's College, Trivandrum (today University College Thiruvananthapuram) and later obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering and mechanical engineering diplomas from College of Engineering, Guindy at Madras city, thereby becoming the first graduate of his family. [8]

Professional career

After completing his education as a mechanical engineer, Sri Rajangam first worked for 4 years at Negapatam (Nagapattinam) at the shops (central workshop before it was moved to Trichy in 1928) there. In 1929, he was appointed an assistant mechanical engineer. Until 1936, he served as assistant to works manager, assistant mechanical engineers in two locomotive districts and as personal assistant to the CME at Golden Rock Railway Workshop. In 1936, he was elected as associate member of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers (ILE) and served as the honorary secretary of the South India branch for many years. Circa 1945-1946, he was offered to head the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works. However, he could not take up the position as he developed cancer.

Since 30 March 1947, he was on sick leave (at first for a month, subsequently for another month, and so on) and remained so on medical certificate, until his death on 13 February 1948. [9]

In their official obituary, [8] the ILE described him as "one of the most progressive Locomotive men in India" and acknowledged his many ideas and suggestions that were incorporated in the workshops of the SIR.

Family

In 1922, he married Lakshmi Rajangam (1910–2009), a famous Carnatic classical music composer, vocalist and violinist and litterateur, who was the daughter of T.S. Sankara Aiyar, Financial Commissioner, Railway Board. [10] Lakshmi was only 12 years old at the time of their wedding, as it was common practice then. The couple had two daughters (Saroja Krishnamurthy and Seetha Subramanian) and two sons (R.R.Sankarasubramanian aka Ramani and R.R.Balakrishnan aka Bala). [2]

On 13 February 1948, at the age of 45, Sri Rajangam died due to cancer. [8] [9]

After his early death, his wife Lakshmi brought up their remaining 3 young children while she worked at All India Radio, Trichy as a Carnatic musician as well as a writer of published essays and one-act plays. [11] [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

Charles Edward Fairburn was an English electrical engineer whose work mainly concerned rail transport.

Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotives and rolling stock. In Britain, the post of locomotive superintendent was introduced in the late 1830s, and chief mechanical engineer in 1886.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamalpur, Bihar</span> City in Bihar, India

Jamalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated 9 km from the Munger city centre. Jamalpur is a part of Munger-Jamalpur twin cities.It is main railhead for reaching Munger city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lalgudi Jayaraman</span> Carnatic violinist/composer

Lalgudi Gopala Jayaraman was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Music. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001.

Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA) was a programme by which candidates are selected by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) India, to train in the undergraduate program in mechanical engineering at the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jamalpur. This programme started in 1927 and is one of the oldest in India.

The Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE) was founded in 1888 as a technical school and commenced training Mechanical Officers for Indian Railways in 1927. It is the oldest of the five Centralised Training Institutes (CTIs) for training officers for Indian Railways. IRIMEE is located at Jamalpur in the Munger district of Bihar, on the Patna-Bhagalpur rail route. IRIMEE provides theoretical and practical training for a four-year undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering as well as professional courses to officers and supervisors of Indian Railways. There are also courses for non-railway organizations and foreign railways.

The Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering, abbreviated as IRSME, is one of the group 'A' central engineering services of the Indian railways. The officers of this service are responsible for managing the Mechanical Engineering Division of the Indian Railways. Till 2019, IRSME officers were drawn from the Combined Engineering Service Examination (ESE) and Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA) examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission. All appointments to the Group 'A' services are made by the president of India.

Trichy Sankaran is an Indian percussionist, composer, scholar, and educator. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2011. As a mridangam vidwan, he has been called a "doyen among the percussionists of India" in Sruti magazine. Since the early 1970s, he has performed and recorded in a number of cross-cultural projects. In 2017, he was awarded the "Tiruchirapalli Carnatic Musicians Lifetime Achievement Award".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Maw</span> British civil engineer and astronomer

William Henry Maw was a British civil engineer and astronomer. Born into a seafaring family and orphaned at age 16, Maw was taken into the workshops of the Eastern Counties Railway as an assistant before progressing to the design office as a draughtsman. He was made the head of the office and designed the first outside cylinder locomotive for use in India. In 1865 he founded the journal Engineering and remained an editor for the rest of his life. He left the railway and became a consulting engineer his many works including printing presses for several newspapers and magazines. He was president of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombay Sisters</span> Indian Carnatic music singing duo

The Bombay Sisters, C. Saroja and C. Lalitha (26 August 1938 – 31 January 2023), were an Indian Carnatic music singing duo. They received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. D. Rampala</span> Sri Lankan mechanical engineer

Bamunusinghearachchige Don Rampala, popularly known as B. D. Rampala, was a chief mechanical engineer and later general manager of Sri Lanka Railways. He was the first native Sri Lankan to hold the post of chief mechanical engineer. In 1956, the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in London recognised Rampala as the finest diesel engineer in Asia at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation</span> Municipal corporation for Tiruchirappalli, India

The Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation is the municipal corporation which looks after the city administration of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. It consists of a legislative and an executive body. The legislative body is headed by the city mayor while the executive body is headed by a Chief Commissioner.

The Rudrapatnam Brothers are an Indian Carnatic vocal duo, consisting of brothers R. N. Thyagarajan and Dr. R. N. Tharanathan. The brothers come from a family of musicians from Rudrapatna village off the Kaveri banks in Arkalgud Thaluk of Hassan district in the southwest Indian state of Karnataka. Vocalist Tiger Varadachariar, on seeing the musical atmosphere there, once claimed that "Rudrapatnam is the Thanjavur of Karnataka". Music, Veda adhyayana, and studying Sanskrit were integral parts of their family tradition.

Mahadeva Iyer Ganapati (1903–1976) was an Indian engineer who was well known for his accomplishments in national projects. The Rourkela Steel Plant in Orissa, and many Railway projects including Churchgate railway station in Mumbai and Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) were completed under his leadership. The Indian government awarded him the inaugural Padma Bhushan in 1954. He was the president of the Institution of Engineers (India) for 1973-74.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. G. Natesa Iyer</span> Indian actor and independence activist

F. G. Natesa Iyer was an Indian activist in the Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement. He was also one of the pioneers of modern Tamil drama and Tamil cinema. He was a talent scout who recognized merit and promoted many youngsters, who went on to become great performers in Carnatic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barauni Junction railway station</span> Railway station in Vihar phase of the

Barauni Junction railway station, is a railway station in the Sonpur division of East Central Railway. Barauni Junction is located in Barauni city in Begusarai district in the Indian state of Bihar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock</span> Loco shed in Tamil Nadu, India

Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock is an engine shed located in Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu in India. It is located north of Golden Rock railway station, falling under Tiruchirappalli railway division. It is the largest of the four locomotive sheds under the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashwani Lohani</span>

Ashwani Lohani is a retired officer of Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers. He has earlier worked as the Chairman & Managing Director of Air India and the former Chairman of the Railway Board of Indian Railways. After being retired from Government service on 23 July 2020 he joined GMR Group where He is currently serving as chief executive officer.

The Jaison Water Tap or Jayson Water Tap is a self-closing water-saving tap invented in the early 20th century by J.P. Subramonya Iyer at Travancore, South India. These taps were a common sight on the roads in erstwhile Travancore, part of modern-day Kerala state in South India. They are quite popular throughout the Indian sub-continent and can still be commonly found in most of the traditional railway stations operated by Indian Railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P Veeramuthuvel</span> Indian space scientist (born 1976)

Palanivel Veeramuthuvel is an Indian aerospace engineer who works for the Indian Space Research Organisation. He served as the project director of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

References

  1. Classified List of State Railway Establishment and Distribution Return of Establishment of All Railways. Central Publication Branch. 1936.
  2. 1 2 "Ravanasamudram: Know Your Past Generation - Sri Rajangam". ravanasamudram.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  3. Innovators and patent holders, Achuthsankar S. Nair, The Hindu, Thiruvananthapuram, 13 January 2017
  4. "Journal of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers". www.steamindex.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  5. http://journals.sagepub.com/home/jila [ bare URL ]
  6. Rajangam, Sri (1 May 1937). "Some Factors Contributing to Derailments of Railway Rolling Stock". Journal of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers. 27 (137): 427–448. doi:10.1243/JILE_PROC_1937_027_027_02. ISSN   0534-283X.
  7. "South Indian Railway Strike". The Labour Monthly. 10 (6): 636–639. October 1928.
  8. 1 2 3 "Obituary". Journal of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers. 38 (202): 343–347. 1 March 1948. doi:10.1243/JILE_PROC_1948_038_023_02. ISSN   0534-283X.
  9. 1 2 Directorate of Printing, Government of India (28 February 1948). Gazette of India, 1948, No. 25.
  10. Krishnan, Lalithaa (26 May 2016). "Feminine prowess in lyric writing". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  11. "SRI Rajangam". www.geni.com. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  12. "Lakshmi Rajangam". www.geni.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.