Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 1.djvu/446

 had trained, the master whom he served and the friend whom he always consulted—this one all-engrossing subject so occupied the whole mind that he denied himself the ordinary necessaries and bare requirements of a healthy and comfortable life. In him is once again found an illustration of the universal truth that in this world nothing can be done, no results realised and no work begun except through self-sacrifice. He was a most exemplary instance of self-sacrifice. I knew him as a boy, watched him as an adult, walked with him as a companion, prayed for him as one of his well-wishers, took his counsel as one who trusted in him. And I feel that to have commanded the regard, won the affection, and kept the confidence, of one like Subbarayadu is one of the greatest prizes of one’s life. Unto the Estate the loss is simply incalculably heavy. I know so little of the inner details of the administration of the Estate. But having had the friendship of persons who were intimate friends of the Dewan and the Rajah, I have often been led to ask myself, ‘If at any time there should be