<p><span style="font-family: Arimo, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.48px; text-align: justify;">Sri B.V. Narasimhaswmi was born in the year 1874, 21st August in a well-to-do and orthodox Brahmin family resident at Salem His father was one Sri B. Venkatagiri lyer, a second grade pleader at Salem who owned one of the biggest houses in the second Agraharam at Salem. Narasimhaswami had a younger brother who when a child of six or seven was kidnapped while playing with other children in the street anc was murdered for the sake of costly ornaments which he hac been wearing. The murderer was in due course apprehended, tried and sentenced to death. Narasimhaswami then became the sole surviving son of his parents. He had a brilliant educational career, passed his B.A. Degree Examination from the Madras Christian College and the B.L. Examination from the Madras Law College. He straightaway joined the Bar and began to practise at Salem. That was in 1897. Very soon, he became one of the leaders of the Salem Bar and in any case, when I myself went to Salem in 1907 to practise the profession of law, I found that he was one of the top men at the bar. Not content with acquiring fame and money as a Lawyer, he became interested in all the public movements of the day and came soon to be regarded as an important leader of the political movements and agitation of that very interesting period. In politics, he was a follower of BalGangadhar Tilak and was therefore counted as an extremist. This made him enormously popular with the people and therefore in 1914, he was easily elected to the Legislative Council of those days. He was a member of the Home Rule League of Mrs. Annie Besant and sailed for England to place the case of India for Home Rule before the British public but was detained at Gibralter and sent back to India. Evidently the British Government was afraid otwhathe might achieve in Britain. In 1920, he seemed to be at the height of his power and prestige. In his own words at p. 312 of the second Volume of the Life of Sai Baba, he was "one of the foremost in the ranks of lawyers and political agitators, legislative councillor and Home Rule Workers". He was leading a decent life, had built a spacious bangalow in the Sivaswamipuram Extension of Salem, and was engaged in repairs to and the extension of Lakshminarayana Temple at Salem. It then pleased Providence suddenly to draw him away from all those worldly concerns by what was an unbearable and terrible domestic calamity. His two little boys died of accidental drowning in a well in his own compound.</span></p>
