Marthanda Varma could have been Kerala's Henry Ford but for family compulsions

Industry-scarce Kerala could have had a vehicle-manufacturing factory much before the automobile revolution started in India if Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma of Travancore's royal family had his way. His interests in industry and business were among the lesser known facets of the life of Marthanda Varma, who died on December 16, aged 91. As the head of the family since 1991, he managed the business interests of the royals.

 

A keen observer of business, he invested in well-known companies and also promoted some of his own. Travancore was the second wealthiest princely state after Nizam's Hyderabad when it joined the Indian union. Marthanda Varma was very active in Kerala's social and cultural circles. As the family head, he was also the hereditary custodian of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the famous Thiruvananthapuram shrine that caught world's attention in 2011 after it was revealed that its underground vaults contained huge treasure. Controversies over the temple were probably the biggest worries in his life

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After studying Sanskrit and History in Kerala, Marthanda Varma left for the UK in the early 1950s to pursue his main interest, automobile engineering. He then joined Plymouth Company in the UK as an apprentice. According to historian MG Sashibhushan, it was his stint at Plymouth that groomed Marthanda Varma into an entrepreneur. "Uthradom Thirunal had a good trainer in Plymouth who told him upfront that he should not expect a VIP treatment in front of his coworkers", Sashibhushan said.

He used to call Marthanda Varma as "Mr Varma" publicly. Though Marthanda Varma was slightly upset about this irreverence, his interest in automobile engineering made him to continue with the apprenticeship without any complaints. "His plan was to come back to Kerala and start an automobile manufacturing company," Sashibhushan said. But he had to change his plans as the family instead made investments in Aspinwall & Co, first in 1956 and then in 1971 to acquire its controlling stake. Marthanda Varma later became the company's non-executive chairman.

 

Aspinwall is today a Rs 250-crore company with operations in sectors such as logistics, tourism, coffee, coir and rubber estates. The entrepreneur in Marthanda Varma continued to be restless. He founded a company to manufacture rexine in Bangalore. He was the executive chairman and managing director of the company, Varma Industries Pvt Ltd. "The unit functioned for about two decades until he sold it," said his nephew, Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma.

He was well-connected in business circles. His close association with the Birla Group led to him becoming a member of the Mysore Cements board, Rama Varma said. He was also a member of the board of Royal Enfield for a few years as the representative of the royal family, which had made an investment in the motorcycle maker. More recently, he was associated with a hospital project in Thiruvananthapuram, the Uthradom Thirunal Hospital which was later acquired by BR Shetty of UAE Exchange.

 

Senior executives at Aspinwall described Marthanda Varma as a fine human being who remembered them and their family members by name and enquired about them whenever he visited the company. OE Raghavan, general manager at Aspinwall, said Marthanda Varma used to ask sharp questions on the performance of the company. "He always gave patient hearing to all and never lost his temper." His passion for automobiles, especially cars, continued until the end.

 

He had a collection of 20 odd cars, of both vintage and modern variety. He never missed a chance to drive one until a couple of years back. "Below my neck I am 91. But above my neck I am only 19" he said when came to Kochi in November to meet Prince of Wales Charles, who was in Kerala on a visit. Though Travancore was one of the wealthiest princely states, the simple life of the royals had impressed even Mahatma Gandhi, said Sashibhushan, the historian.

 

The developments over the Padmanabhaswamy Temple had become a big concern for Marthanda Varma in the past few years. Some devotees had claimed that some treasures had gone missing from the temple's vaults and filed a lawsuit demanding the appointment of a new custodian. Former Chief Minister VS Achutanandan had accused the royals of taking away gold coins from the temple. The Supreme Court ordered to draw up an inventory of the treasure.

 

Though the royals have largely refrained from making comments, Marthanda Varma's view was that the treasure belonged to the temple.