Sri Mandayam Natampalli .(MN). Singalachar (Shamanna to his intimate friends and family) ,was born on June 13, 1912 in a village near Tumkur. He was the only son of Smt. and Sri.N.Venkatachar. and was married to his niece Smt. Sreerangoo in 1937. He was the beating heart of his family of two sons and a daughter through whom he had four grandchildren and six great grandchildren..
He passed away on………….. February 2003 in San Diego at the ripe old age of 90 with his two sons M.N.Venkatesh and M.N. Varadarajan and his only daughter Vijaya Ranganath by his side.. .To say that his passing was a great loss for the Mandayam community, of which he was a stalwart , would be a narrow interpretation of the life and times of one of God’s good men. He had in his personal capacity and in his official capacity many achievements to his credit and has left an indelible mark in the hearts of many, up and down the country..
He took his Bachelor of Arts degree at the young age of 19. He went on to achieve his early ambition of becoming an Engineer, by graduating with honours from the Mysore University to add BE to his earlier BA degree..He walked into the Mysore State Railways with ease and was later absorbed by Indian Railways the Public Sector giant. He served this organization in various capacities where he had a good run for many years. His specialty was in constructing ring of bridges and tunnels.His achievements include a fruitful stint in the Dandakaranya project where he slogged and personally supervised and successfully completed laying of railway track. It was an exacting stint supervising work in the hot sun but he took it all as a part of life’s challenges. He took time in the midst of his official duties to get a temple built for Sri Rama in Jagdalpur for the benefit of the Adivasis…A notable contribution of his nearer home is the City Railway Station Bangalore in upgrading, revamping and expanding it by devoting all his energy and talents to make it a land-mark cynosure of all eyes .His name has been engraved not only in the plaque that is still displayed there but also in the hearts of his colleagues who worked with him in this prestigious project.
Mr. Singalachar was an evolved, religious minded person. He was well-versed in Sanskrit recited the Venkateshwara Suprabatham and the Vishnu Sahasranama daily. He moved to California to be with his children and grand children. He coped with the changes that time brought. He had to re-arrange his whole life and with his resilience got over the trapped feeling of the new life style But he never left Bangalore mentally. Though out of Bangalore he took great interest in assisting the Jeeyar of the Yethiraja mutt in the construction of the present day mutt building and for collecting funds for various charities.
Irrespective of age or position, one felt comfortable in his presence; he was not just respected but liked by his office staff and relatives.Sri Singalachar’s salient quality was his ‘cool’ attitude in facing vicissitudes
He was known never to have uttered a harsh word or negative comment to or about anyone. Sri Singalachar ( May his soul rest in peace) has left behind not only a slew of admirers and loving relatives but also many happy memories of a life usefully and well-spent Some memories are beyond words–Vengrai Parthasarathy, San Diego