A luminary's lasting impact

With the passing of Vimala Rangachar (1929 – 2025), India lost an eminent personality who straddled the worlds of arts, crafts, education and entrepreneurship in the pre-independence and post-independence eras. She lived a rich life of 96 years.

Vimala was married at the young age of 15, in 1945, to Dr Rangachar, a captain in the Indian army. He retired from the army and opened his clinic in Bengaluru. Vimala completed her graduation in English literature and Psychology through distance education from Pune University soon after her marriage.

Vimala Rangachar was born to Ammanni Ammal and S K Ramanuja Iyengar. The family had roots in Bengaluru’s Malleswaram neighbourhood. She developed an early interest in arts, education and theatre.

She became the president of a theatre company called Kalajyothi in 1960. Along with her husband, she performed plays by Kailasam, Parvathavani and other theatre stalwarts. Their most famous play was ‘Ammaavra Ganda’ (Madam’s husband), which was translated into Hindi. When they staged it in Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru was present in the audience! Vimala roped in her cousin Goda Ramkumar and friends to act in plays not just in Kannada and English, but also Sanskrit — Malavikagnimitram, Mricchakatika and Vikramorvashiyam.

She was also involved in the promotion of traditional Indian crafts and textiles, an interest inherited from her mother. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay mentored her in these efforts. Vimala went on to lead the Karnataka chapters of both, the Crafts Council of India and Bharatiya Natya Sangh, the theatre school.

Vimala and her friends felt the need for a good theatre space for Bengaluru. They identified a space full of stones and wild shrubs on J C Road. Here, the Amateur Dramatic Associates Theatre (ADA Rangamandira) was built. 

Later, during the centenary celebration of Rabindranath Tagore, the Ravindra Kalakshetra came up on the opposite side. Vimala was consulted on every aspect during the construction of the Ravindra Kalakshetra by the architect. 

Various projects

In 1936, Nobel laureate Sir C V Raman’s wife, Lokasundari Raman, and her friend Rajivibai had established Seva Sadan, a home for destitute women and children. In 1950, Vimala was asked to look after Seva Sadan. Under her stewardship, Seva Sadan acquired a big building and a theatre space.
Now the space hosts many artistic activities and presentations. Vimala’s contribution to its growth was immense.

In 1988, Vimala Rangachar founded MEWS (Malleswaram Enterprising Women’s Society) along with her friends. A few local women, who were interested in arts, crafts and education, felt there must be a hostel for young working girls and a lady’s club. Today, MEWS has its own building and has proved a starting point for several hundred young women. 

In 1971, Vimala was asked to head the committee looking after the Bal Bhavan, the children’s area with the toy train at Cubbon Park. Vimala set up a library and a play garden next to the theatre. Theatre greats like B V Karanth, Prema Karanth, M S Sathyu and Chandrashekhara Kambara got involved in this unique children’s art space. 

Nominated to the board of directors of Canara Bank, Vimala went about establishing ‘Kaushalya’, a project to help craftspeople with soft loans. She also became responsible for the Cauvery Handicrafts Emporium in its initial years as the chairperson of the Crafts Council. 

In the middle of these activities, Vimala became a mother, not only to her child, Revathi, but she also adopted her cousin’s daughter, Asha. They were trained in Bharatanatyam, and now, they have both established Bharatanatyam institutions in the US.

For her 90th birthday, a day-to-day journal young Vimala had meticulously kept when she visited Russia in an Indian delegation in 1956 was printed. Her cousin, the renowned artist S G Vasudev, designed the cover for it. Vimala was the one who introduced Vasudev to art critic G Venkatachalam, who got him into the College of Arts in Madras. 

Vimala Rangachar was the recipient of the Kamala Sanmaan in 2004 and also the Karnataka government’s Rajyotsava Award for her contributions to arts and culture.

Arts, crafts, theatre, social service — Vimala Rangachar has left her mark everywhere.