"...the reclusive and solitary mystic. The Maharaja, open to science and modern technology, had founded the great iron and steel industry of Bhadravathi, one of the most important in the British Empire. His strong example was both a source of inspiration for the English author and a reassuring confirmation of the latter’s belief that philosophy and the active life are not incompatible."

“No London season passes without the presence of number of Indian Princes, some of them regular visitors but a welcome precedent is set to-day by the arrival of the Maharaja of Mysore. In any circumstances a first visit to these shores from the head of so great and progressive a State would be an outstanding event ; and its interest is enhanced by the high personal esteem in which His Highness is held among all who have come to know him. The 'MODEL STATE' as it is called, approximates more nearly than any other to the British Provinces in its conception of good government; nor is any Indian ruler held in more universal esteem than Sir Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who succeeded when a boy of eleven, more than forty years ago. He combines with the strictest Hindu orthodoxy a delight in athletic sport and intellectual interests which will have full scope in a country of which he has heard and read so much but now sees for the first time. Interpretations of his visit as directly concerned with the special problems of Mysore in relation to Federation and in particular that of the subsidy have no foundation at all. After severe family bereavement and in indifferent health, His Highness comes to take a much-needed holiday.”

“Federation is a word that is on everybody's lips to-day. That it will come I am confident, that it will come and I look to see Mysore play a leading part in the destinies of the new India a part she is well qualified to play by her traditions and her long and distinguished history, no less than by her capacity for administration and by the fact that she has as her Ruler one of the most enlightened and broad-minded Princes in India”

“You have rescued philosophy from those who would make it a mere refuge from disappointment, and converted it into a dynamic inspiration to higher action for service.”

“Happily, His Highness is to-day ruling wisely a contented people and it is sufficient to say that I found in him a kind and considerate Chief and a loyal friend. On young shoulders he carried a head of extraordinary maturity which was, however, no bar to a boyish and whole-hearted enjoyment of manly sports as well as of the simple pleasures of life.”

“How important are the responsibilities, which now devolve upon me I fully realise, and it is my intention to prove by performance rather than by words. The inhertitance to which I succeed is no ordinary one, and I appreciate what Mysore owes to the administration of wise statesmen, and the care of British Government under the regency of my revered mother….may heaven grant me the ability as well the ambition to make a full and wise use of the great opportunities of my position, and to govern, without fear or favour for the lasting happiness of my people.”

“For many years we have watched and admired the maintenance of those high standards of administration; we have not forgotten the noble services you have rendered to the British Government when the need for service was the greatest, and we are not blind to what Your Highness has done to set an example of the fashion in which the government of a great State should be conducted Mysore has perhaps a longer tradition of progressive government than any other State in India, and the Government of India can feel assured that any relief which they may feel it in their power to give will inure to the benefit of the people of your State.”