On his return to Trivandrum via Colombo in October 1926 after 18 years abroad, A. R. Pillai was kept under surveillance and spied by the British for quite some time at Rosscote where he lived with his wife and children. (Rosscote is the house built by C. V. and named after his Guru, John Ross, a Scotsman and the first Principal of H.H.The Maharaja's College – now called the University College – in Trivandrum). He was denied the headship of the undivided matriarchal family, which was his due, and access to the family properties.