Category Archives: Records, All

Sullivan took man to modern Ooty

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
Today is 225th birth anniversary of John Sullivan, the founder of modern Nilgiris —DC
Today is 225th birth anniversary of John Sullivan, the founder of modern Nilgiris —DC

Ooty:

As tourism, nature and Nilgiris are inseperable, so is John Sullivan and Nilgiris, especilly Ooty- the queen of hills. Those who enjoy living in modern Nilgiris and tourists who visit the hills have an obligation to remember John Sullivan, called the founder of modern Nilgiris, especially Ooty, as his 225th birth anniversary falls on June 15.

This British-India collector would not have envisaged that the hills, which he loved passionately and started developing it, which changed the face of the Nilgiris in early 1800s, will become a world famous tourist destination in future.

But, certainly, he was the administrator who sowed the seeds for modern Nilgiris. The write-ups documented in the Nilgiris district gazetteer and few other such books, showed the role of Sullivan in developing the Nilgiris and showcase how the Nilgiris, once an unknown place on earth, growing to become a a well-known place in the world.

Born in London on June 15, 1788, Sullivan joined the East Indian Company at Madras and rose to become the collector of Coimbatore, which included the Nilgiris then, in 1815.
As collector he took out an adventurous expedition to reach the Dimhatti valley in Kotagiri, in the Nilgiris, in January 1819.

During his second visit to Kotagiri in May 1819, he built the first-ever modern builing in the hills at Kannerimukku village, from where he used to administer the hills for a while. This house, called Pethakal bunglow by the locals, was resorted a decade ago and now serves as a memorial to Sullivan.

View of the Sullivan Memorial at Kannerimukku in Kotagiri. —DC
View of the Sullivan Memorial at Kannerimukku in Kotagiri. —DC

 It is said probably on February 22, 1821, he visited Ooty with the help of a Badaga guide. Then he built the stone house, first-ever modern building in Ooty, and stated living there from 1823. This building is now a portion of the government arts college. It is not an exaggeration to state that Sullivan was the brain behind the hill residents witnessing a revolution in their lifestyle and enjoying the fruits of modernity.

He was learnt to have introduced horticulture crops and hill vegetables to the Nilgiris and planned the establishment of Ooty lake along with other road connectivity facilities to help the development and economy of the hills.

Sullivan, who lost his wife, son and a daughter in Ooty, as they died in the hills, retired to England in 1841, where he died on January 16, 1855. Besides the stone house in Ooty, a portion of the oak tree which Sullivan planted in 1823 at Stone House, is still seen there.

2-day trek to retrace Sullivan’s trail
B. Ravichandran | DC
Ooty:
The name of D. Venugopal, the director of Nilgiris Docu­men­­­­­­tation Cen­tre(NDC), which maintains the Sullivan Memo­rial at Kotagiri, would be etched in Nilgiris history as it was his interest, affection and sense of gratitude to John Sullivan saw him take genealogical research on the founder of the Nilgiris which helped him discover Sullivan’s grave at Upton, London, and his great-grandson later on in 2009.
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Mr Venugopal’s efforts now help modern-man get an insight into the history and genesis of modern Nilgiris through photographs and other documentaries display at Sullivan Memorial.
Speaking to DC on the celebration of the 225th birth anniversary of John Sullivan, Mr Venugopal said the NDC and Association of British Scholars at Coimbatore will organise a two-day trek on June 15-16 to retrace the Sullivan trail, starting from Sirumugai to Kotagiri.
On the tale behind the trail, he said Sullivan organised an expedition on January 2 in 1819 having at his disposal an entire contingent consisting of army-men, several dozen war elephants, hundreds of dogs and ponies.  The rear guard was made up of two dozen English huntsmen.
They began the ascent of the mountain from the side of Denaigoukot (now Sirumugai). After having reached a level of 1,000 feet, the expedition was compelled to abandon its elephants and throw away nearly all its baggage as they had to climb higher and higher.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by B. Ravichandran, DC  / June 15th, 2013

Tamil Nadu SSLC results: Pass percentage up by 4.5% in Chennai Corporation schools

Education, Records, All

Chennai :

Chennai Corporation run schools recorded a pass percentage of 91.47% in the SSLC examinations, 4.5% higher than last year. Out of the 8,788 students, 8036 passed in the 72 schools.

The results were declared today.

Salma Haseena, a student of the Chennai Higher Secondary School (CHSS) at Market Street in Perambur, became topper among corporation schools scoring 491 out of 500. She was closely followed by K Yuvarani of Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Nungambakkam and Nissi Mariam of Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Saidapet. They scored 490 out of 500. Four students tied for third position with a score of 488 out 500. The students are D Mercy Jebarani and Jebaselvi from the school in Market Street, B Bhoopalan from the CHSS, Seven Wells and M Vijay from CHSS, Maduvankarai.

Corporation schools’ performance in the class 10 examinations seemed to have improved to a large extent compared to last year.

Twelve schools managed to achieve 100% pass compared to only two schools that managed the feat last year.

This year 258 students scored centum in various subjects compared to only 18 students last year. Around 1,558 students scored above 400 out of 500 this year when compared to only 400 students who achieved this last year.

Sticking to the annual trend, girls outshone boys with a pass percentage of 93.77%. The boys achieved a success rate of 88.9%.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Education> Schools / by V. Aiyappan, TNN / May 31st, 2013

Madras Miscellany : When the postman knocked ….

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

When the postman knocked…

*Referring to my piece on Dr. S. Gopal, that outstanding modern Indian historian (Miscellany, April 22), V.C. Srikumar, an advocate, tells me that Gopal could have been an equally outstanding advocate if only he had chosen the Law as a profession. Gopal took his Law degree from the University of Madras in 1944. The previous year, he was awarded the University Gold Medal for Constitutional Law. But instead of following the example of two of his brothers-in-law, Kasturi Seshagiri Rao and M. Seshachalapathy of the Madras Bar — the latter went on to become a Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court — he chose to go to Oxford to improve on his Master’s in History which he had obtained in Madras. The Law’s loss was History’s gain thereafter.

*P. Krishnan, who on a recent visit to the Marina caught up with the Tilak Ghat memorial that was installed after years of appeal, tells me that it’s yet another forgotten landmark in the city: “no one pays any attention to it”. But, he continues, the authorities constantly keep speaking of new plans for the Marina. And there are also now plans for the San Thomé beach, he adds. Perhaps they’d like to add markers at both sites to a historic event — and find them as ignored by the public as the event itself has been forgotten. The event he refers to is the Madras Salt Satyagraha in 1930, following on the heels of the Dandi and Vedaranyam marches. The march to the sea at the Triplicane Beach (later called Tilak Ghat) was led by T. Prakasam, S. Satyamurti and others. At San Thomé Beach, many from the film world were in the forefront. As usual, my correspondent adds, arrests were made followed by releases after brief detentions. And that was that.

*My New South Wales correspondent, Dr. A. Raman, sends me yet another tidbit and I wonder whether the Meteorological Department will have anything to add to these bits of information relating to a Dr. Alexander Turnbull Christie, who was an Assistant Surgeon in the Madras medical establishment until 1828 and who wrote a treatise on “Epidemic Cholera”. When he returned to Scotland on furlough that year, he got interested in Geology and Meteorology and got down to studying them. This academic pursuit of his led to Christie being appointed Geological Surveyor, Government of Madras, in 1830. When he returned to Madras in 1831, he brought with him several meteorological instruments bought from “Robinson, Optician, Portland Place” (London or Edinburgh?). These included a thermometer, a barometer, an oethrioscope, a photometer, an electroscope, a hygrometer, an ombrometer (rain gauge) and an atmometer. Fort St. George thereupon ordered 20-30 sets of this equipment for the Presidency. Dr. Raman, in a footnote adds that “it is interesting to note that Christie speaks highly of (in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science) Centigrade measurements of temperature as against Fahrenheit readings even as early as 1832, when Fahrenheit measurements were followed religiously in the U.K.!”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Columns / Madras Miscellany / by S. Muthiah / June 02nd, 2013

Madras Miscellany – Where did Foote find them ?

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
Robert Bruce Foote. Photo at special exhibition at Government Museum, Egmore./ Photo: M. Vedhan / The Hindu
Robert Bruce Foote. Photo at special exhibition at Government Museum, Egmore./ Photo: M. Vedhan / The Hindu

Where did Foote find them?

It was 150 years ago on May 30 that Bruce Foote unearthed those Palaeolithic (Stone Age) finds that gave India a prehistory. The generally proffered story is that he found them in “a ballast pit” in Pallavaram, ballast in this context perhaps meaning coarse stone or gravel for road-building or rail track-laying, for which the Pallavaram area is well-known. It is also reported that he made his finds near the ‘Parade Grounds’ in Pallavaram. The ‘Brigade Grounds’ are also mentioned in this connection. Now where were these grounds in Pallavaram, that southern suburb of Madras?

To the best of my knowledge, the St. Thomas’ Mount Cantonment is really the St. Thomas’ Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment, stretching south from Kathipara Junction to what was the first major industrial unit in the area, once known as English Electric and now as Areva. The almost 3,200-acre cantonment once had, I’m told, three parade grounds. They were the regimental parade ground in Pallavaram, the Madras Area headquarters parade ground that is now the Officers’ Training Academy ground, and the Artillery Park and parade ground in what is now Mohite Stadium in the shadow of the Mount. In which of these or near which of them was the ballast pit that Foote delved into and achieved fame? Juxtaposing Parade Ground and Brigade Ground, the two sites mentioned, I would be inclined to point to what’s now the Mohite Stadium grounds, the only space big enough for the parade of a brigade. But can anyone offer something more than speculation?

The St. Thomas’ Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment is said to be the second oldest in India. The oldest I’m told was Calcutta’s Barrackpore, established in 1772. But it got its administrative Board in 1775. St. Thomas’ Mount-cum-Pallavaram got its Board in 1774 and was a much earlier military station than Barrackpore. So I’d be inclined to claim St. Thomas’ Mount-cum-Pallavaram as the oldest cantonment — and not the second oldest as the Army would have it — in the subcontinent. But then, as many say about me, I’m prejudiced. More definite, however, is the fact that Bruce Foote’s were the first Palaeolithic finds in South Asia. And, so, he is called the ‘Father of Indian Prehistory’, according to Dr. Shanti Pappu who is tracing his life story and re-exploring his excavation sites.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Columns / Madras Miscellany / by S. Muthiah / June 02nd, 2013

Madras Miscellany : A sporting rationalist

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Sports

As these lines are written, another national hockey championship is about to get underway. Yes, another, for one organised by another claimant to national hockey management has just been completed. Imagine two national hockey championships run by rival bodies within a few days of each other! No wonder our national sport is in the doldrums that it is!

That state of affairs would have broken the heart of the man after whom the trophy for the recently completed championship was named. The S. Rangaswami Trophy was presented by The Hindu in 1957 in memory of an Editor who was passionately fond of sport, particularly hockey.

S. Rangaswami / The Hindu
S. Rangaswami / The Hindu

S. Rangaswami was the son of S. Kasturiranga Iyengar’s elder brother Srinivasaraghava Iyengar, once the Inspector-General of Registration, Madras, and, later, a Dewan of Baroda. Rangaswami, a small-made person, was a keen sportsman at Presidency College where his hockey prowess was well recognised. He was also in his youth a promising cricketer and, later in life, a regular at the billiard tables of the Cosmopolitan Club. His interest in hockey was so great that of him it was said that he never missed a match in the major hockey leagues and tournaments in Madras. It is this interest thatThe Hindu remembered when instituting the trophy named after him. Sadly, it has not been played for as regularly as it should have been; this year, it was competed for after a gap of 16 years!

It was in 1910 that Rangaswami joined his uncle at The Hindu, not long after passing out as a lawyer. In him the paper gained a brilliant analyst and a writer described as a “master of satire and irony”, a writer who contributed “fire, flashes of wit, ridicule and sarcasm, the outpourings of an outraged patriot demanding instant satisfaction.”

His analytical weekly reviews of the action during the Great War were what brought him into the public eye. With no military background whatsoever, he still was able to analyse with remarkable accuracy the happenings on the various battlefronts.

The War over, The Hindu began to pay greater attention to the domestic scene. And this was when Rangaswami was seen at his trenchant best, His “invective”, as some saw it, was neither offensive, vulgar or malicious but was “a fine art”. Of the Moderates who leaned towards the Establishment he wrote, that they are “Moderates only in their patriotism” and that “Moderatism is not a policy but a disease”. Of one of the leading Moderates, the Rev. Hon. V.S. Srinivasa Sastri, he wrote, “It was said of the Austrians that they had a genius for defeat. It may be said with equal justice of Mr. Sastri that he has a genius for surrender.”

A voracious reader of everything from penny dreadfuls to the English Classics, Rangaswami developed not only a mastery over the language but also a rationalist’s outlook to life. A friend described him as “an emphatic, exaggerated and extraordinary protest against all social and moral conventions of the world, especially those attached to a Brahmin by birth”. Reflecting these views were his words to a writer on religious topics:

“The best way of influencing humanity for good would be to carry conviction to your fellowmen by a process of rational persuasion and not by mantras… Never mind your textbook theories and discussions. I realise some superhuman agency (what it is I do not care or stop to investigate) is responsible for the creation of the universe and the best way to worship him is to devote your energies and intellect to the service of the poor, the weak and the downtrodden who are all God’s creatures.” This is what students should be taught, he emphasised over and over again.

Stricken by tuberculosis, he died young. At 40, he had been Editor of The Hindu for only three years. But in those years he had made the paper’s anti-Establishment voice heard louder than ever. It was felt that “a great calamity” had befallen The Hindu when S. Rangaswami passed away in October 1926. But given that he thought the best years of his life were his college years, the S. Rangaswami trophy for the national hockey championships is probably the best memorial to him.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Columns / Madras Miscellany / by S. Muthiah / June 02nd, 2013

Districts outshine Chennai in SSLC exam

Education, Records, All
School teachers and students look at the SSLC examination results eagerly at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kancheepuram /. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu
School teachers and students look at the SSLC examination results eagerly at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kancheepuram /. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu

The highest score in the State has been secured by two students from Puducherry and Ponneri

Girls outshined boys and districts beat Chennai hands down in the SSLC class X examination results, which were announced on Friday.

It was a complete washout for Chennai district with Erode, Melur, Tiruchi, Tiruppathur, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Puducherry and Ponneri educational districts cornering the 11 first ranks.

As many as nine official first rankers and two students who have scored 499/500, one mark more than the official toppers who are all girls, are some of the highlights.

B. Sonia, State first rank holder in the SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District being greeted by her friends at her school / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu
B. Sonia, State first rank holder in the SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District being greeted by her friends at her school / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu

The list of ‘official toppers’ only gets longer, with 52 students, and 137 students with Tamil as first language sharing the second and third ranks, according to the Directorate of Government Examinations which released the results on Friday. The State’s pass percentage, including only those who appeared through schools, has also increased significantly from 86.2 in 2012 to 89 per cent this year. Only two students from government schools feature in the list.

S. Sruthi, State third rank holder in SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District. / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu
S. Sruthi, State third rank holder in SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District. / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu

Kanyakumari, which stood fifth in terms of pass percentage in 2012, has leapt to the top of the list with a pass percentage of 97.29. Though fewer girls wrote the examination this year, they raced past the boys with a pass percentage of 92 per cent, as compared to 86 per cent secured by the boys.

There has also been a quantum leap in the number of centums this year, spurring debate about the standard of the syllabus and nature of evaluation. As compared to 1,141 in 2012, 29,905 students scored a centum in Mathematics this year. Similarly, as many as 38,154 students have scored a centum in Science, and 19,680 in Social Science as compared to 9,237 and 5,305 in 2012.

This is the second batch to write the examination after Samacheer Kalvi, a uniform syllabus for State Board, Matriculation, Anglo-Indian and OSLC schools was introduced.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Education Plus> Schools / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – May 31st, 2013

Prem Kumar jumps to new long jump meet record

Records, All, Sports
Prem Kumar saved the best for the last, his final jump of 8m setting a new meet record in the men's long jump /. Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu
Prem Kumar saved the best for the last, his final jump of 8m setting a new meet record in the men’s long jump /. Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu

ATHLETICS / Kunhu Mohammad overcomes favourite Arokia Rajiv in 400m

Even as everybody was about to leave the Stadium late in the evening thinking that it was yet another uneventful day, a loud cheer was heard from one corner of the track. A small section of the crowd was seen cheering a young athlete, who in turn, was bowing his head to them.

It was K. Prem Kumar, the 20-year-old from Tamil Nadu, who created a new meet record in the men’s long jump with a leap of 8m on the second day of the National inter-State athletics meet at the Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

Prem erased the record of 7.92m set by Sanjay Kumar Rai (West Bengal) in 2001. He is the fourth Indian to break the 8m barrier after Amrit Pal Singh (8.08m), T.C. Yohanan (8.07m) and Sanjay Kumar Rai (8.03m).

Gasping for breath, Prem later said, “I don’t know how to express my feelings. I came here with an intention of clearing 8m, and I did it.

“This is my best ever after the 7.95m I did in the State meet in Madurai a few months ago,” he added.

Prem Kumar was not impressive in the first five jumps. He started with 7.58m, then the next four read: 7.62m, 7.54m, 7.53m and 7.75m. The sixth and last jump made the crowd go gaga.

For others, it was not a great day at office especially high jump star Sahana Kumari. The 31-year-old from Karnataka had to be content with 1.88m for the first place. The National record holder (1.92m) was disappointed with her show.

“I am not happy. I still have one more chance to qualify for the World championship in the Asian championship in Pune,” she said.

Pinto Mathew of Kerala clinched the 110m hurdles gold in 14.56s pipping Tamil Nadu’s Balamurugan. Defending champion A. Suresh couldn’t take part in the final as he had injured his left ankle during practice.

Kunhu Mohammad of Kerala won the men’s 400m gold overcoming favourite Arokia Rajiv (Tamil Nadu) with a time of 46.71s. Arokia Rajiv started off well and maintained a decent lead till the turn, but Kunhu raced ahead in the last 50m.

Neeraj Pawar (Uttar Pradesh) came second while Arokia emerged third.

The 20km women’s walk couldn’t be held due to lack of entries. It will be held along with the men’s event on Thursday.

The results: Men: 110m H: 1. Pinto Mathew (Ker) 14.56s, 2. Balamurugan (TN) 14.76, 3. Sandeep Parmar (Mah) 14.82; 400m: 1. Kunhu Mohammad (Ker) 46.71s, 2. Neeraj Pawar (UP) 46.97, 3. Arokia Rajiv (TN) 47.08; 800m: 1. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker) 1:49.04, 2. Manjit Singh (Har) 1:49.11, 3. Francis Sagayaraj (TN) 1:49.77; Javelin: 1. Krishnan Kumar (UP) 74.80m, 2. Samarjeet Singh (Raj) 73.16, 3. Rajender Singh (Har) 72.96; Long jump: 1. K. Prem Kumar (TN) 8m (NMR) (OR: Sanjay Kumar Rai (7.92, 2001), 2. Arshad (Kar) 7.85, 3. Ankit Sharma (MP) 7.67; Shot put: 1. Inderjeet Singh (Har) 18.92m, 2. Ashwani Solanki (Del) 18.35, 3. Tejinder Pal Singh (Pun) 18.30; Decathlon: 1. Bharatinder (Har) 6963, 2. Daya Ram (Raj) 6925.

Women: 100m H: 1. G. Gayathri (TN) 13.97s, 2. J. Hemashree (TN) 14.04, 3. K.V. Sajitha (Ker) 14.33; 400m: 1. M.R. Poovamma (Kar) 52.85s, 2. Nirmala (Har) 53.94, 3. Anu Mariam Jose (Ker) 54.59; 800m: 1. Tintu Luka (Ker) 2:04.14, 2. Gomathi (TN) 2:07.33, 3. Sushma Devi (Har) 2:07.33;Shot put: 1. P. Udaya Lakshmi (AP) 13.68m, 2. Neha Singh (MP) 13.56, 3. Navjit Kaur (Pun) 13.49;High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari (Kar) 1.88m, 2. Mallika Mondal (WB) 1.74, 3. N.D. Tintu (Ker) 1.68.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by K. Keerthivasan / Chennai – June 06th, 2013

Motorman who halted train before collapsing nominated for award

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

 

A signboard has been put up as a tribute to motorman S.Manohar at the entrance to the Moore Market Complex in Chennai / Photo: R.Ravindran / The Hindu
A signboard has been put up as a tribute to motorman S.Manohar at the entrance to the Moore Market Complex in Chennai / Photo: R.Ravindran / The Hindu

S. Manohar, the motorman who brought a Chennai-bound suburban service to a halt seconds before he suffered a fatal heart attack and averted a potentially disastrous mishap on May 23, has been nominated for a Railway Board award.

The 48-year-old motorman, in a heroic act, had stopped the train GM 42032 within a few minutes of leaving Gummidipoondi, disengaged cabin controls and switched on the emergency flasher light before falling unconscious. Though the motorman was taken to the Perambur Railway Hospital later in the evening he did not survive the attack.

Manohar’s duty consciousness and ultimate commitment to the safety of passengers has been highlighted in a Southern Railway note to the Railway Board recommending him for a posthumous award, an official said. The nomination of Manohar for an award is over and above the compensation that is being worked out for his next of kin.

Railway administrators and workers have already hailed Manohar as a hero. A signboard put up as a tribute at the entrance to the Moore Market Complex, the hub of suburban services, describes him as a “hero who performed his duty even till his last breath”.

Southern Railway has also recommended an award to loco pilot V. Balachandran who had stopped his train (the GM 42029 Chennai-Gummudipoondi) on the adjacent line on noticing the flasher light on the other train.

Mr. Balachandran had entrusted his train with the guard before alerting the station master at the next station Kavaraipettai of the emergency. He then drove the train with Manohar in an unconscious state to Kavaraipettai. There, he helped make arrangements for transporting his co-worker to a hospital before walking back along the tracks for about four kms to resume duty on his train.

The previous occasion when railwaymen in Southern Railway were honoured by the Railway Board was in 2010 when four employees were given cash awards (Rs. 5,000 each) for averting a major disaster after a bomb blast damaged the track section at Sithani between Perani and Mundiyambakkam stations in Villupuram. The reward was announced for alertness, sense of responsibility and devotion to duty.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by M Dinesh Varma / Chennai – June 05th, 2013

Salma Haseena tops Chennai schools in SSLC

Education, Records, All
Chennai :

SalmaCF02jun2013S.A. Salma Haseena has topped the Chennai schools in the SSLC exams held in March/April 2013. She secured 491 marks out of the total 500.

Salma is the daughter of a junior engineer with Southern Railway. The results of Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams were released yesterday.

Continuing the trend the girls outperformed boys with 93.7 pass percentage.

 

www.siasat.com / The Daily Siasat News / Home> Mulaqat / Sunday – June 02nd, 2013

 

Passion for preserving history

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
ARCHIVAL VALUE: S.N. Lekshmanan displaying his collection. / Photo: L. Balachandar / The Hindu
ARCHIVAL VALUE: S.N. Lekshmanan displaying his collection. / Photo: L. Balachandar / The Hindu

On a narrow lane off Melaoorani Vaikkal Street in Karaikudi is a nondescript but astonishing private library that represents a treasure trove of ancient manuscripts, photos, books and other material of great archival value.

S.N. Lekshmanan is a 57-year-old bibliophile with a collection of nearly 70,000 old books, historic photos and rare manuscripts.

His huge collection comprises 200-year-old books on classical Tamil, music, medicine and art. There are also letters, pamphlets and handbills going back to the days of the Indian National Army (INA) in the early 1940s.

There are portraits of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and V.M. Letchumanan Chettiyar, Chairman of the Indian Independence League (IIL), along with his colleagues.

The photo of Netaji with three of his major generals, Chatterji, Giyani and Habib Rahman, was taken in Tokyo in 1942. The group photo of Lekshmanan Chettiyar with others, bears Netaji’s signature. “We are fighting the cause not of India alone, but of humanity as well. India freed means humanity saved,” said Netaji in his signed letter to Chettiyar.

The unassuming bibliophile displays a collection of about 250 post cards and about 50 telegrams sent by the INA troops to Mr. Chettiyar, when they were in exile in Malaya. Among the ‘INA collection’ are handbills and pamphlets announcing street plays and public meetings, details of donations given to the INA, membership cards and Netaji’s writings in the National Liberation Week and his messages.

“I got most of the INA collection from my father who served in the INA and died in Malaya in 1971,” Mr Lekshmanan told The Hindu. He collected some more material after visiting Malaya, Burma and from old paper marts in parts of Tamil Nadu, he says. A ninth standard drop-out, Lekshmanan hails from Pandukudi, near Thiruvadanai in Ramanathapuram district. He could not pursue his studies after his father’s death and took up business, only to end up as a bibliophile.

Though he developed an interest in Tamil literature after reading Appusamy stories by Bagyam Ramaswamy and ‘Tokyovil Thirumanam’ by Saavi in the local library at Pandukudi, his penchant for collecting old Tamil classics began when he visited Sri Lanka in 1982 while on a business trip. During his stay in Colombo, while his friends went to a movie, he visited an old book shop. “I asked for a book and the bookstore man gave me “Kalithogai”, a classical Tamil poetic work written by C.V. Thamodrampillai and published in 1887.

That was a turning point for Lekshmanan. He developed a passion for collecting old Tamil classics after going through the preface in which the author pointed out that Tamil was more than 15,000 years old. On his return, he settled in Coimbatore to pursue his tobacco business, but started scouting for old Tamil books.

During a visit to Sulur Sandai to procure tobacco, more than a quarter century ago, he stumbled upon ‘Sathurakarathi’, the first Tamil dictionary written by Veeramamunivar and published in 1824. This turned out to be the oldest of his collections.

Since then, there has been no looking back as his collection swelled with rare literary works such as the Ramayana and Mahabaratha, Mukkudal Pallu, depicting the struggles between shaivites and vaishanavites, and Thiruvilaiyadal on palm leaf.

Stacked in his library are Athisudi (the moral treatise in easy verse for children by poet Auvaiyar), put together by Saravanaperumal Aiyar in 1832, Tholkapiam, the earliest extant edition of Tamil literature, written by Mahalinga Aiyar and published in 1848. Lekshmanan also has a collection of more than 6500 text books, collection of English rhymes printed in London in 1810, more than 6000 century-old books, magazines and dailies. Research scholars from India and abroad visit his library, but are not allowed to borrow books. He has spent the bulk of his earnings on the collection. Indeed, it is safe to say he has devoted his life to collecting books and preserving history.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by D.J. Walter Scott / Sivaganga – May 22nd, 2013