Periyakoliyur village celebrates the feat of CA topper Prema

Villages are the backbone of India ~ there are thousands of villages of which you may not find any information on ‘google search’ too.  Many of them possess rich heritage ~ some village become famous arising out of some cine activity or otherwise.  Cut-outs and banners are part of Tamil life.. you see digital banners / vinyl banners advertising products. They are placed to welcome leaders; for marriage functions too… the most obvious form is advertising cinema…….. but this one at Periyakolliyur is different for sure.

Periyakolliyur is a Village in Rishivandiam Taluk, Villupuram District ; you may not have heard of this earlier. It is around 45.6 km distance from its District Main City Villupuram  ~ and 188 km distance from its State Main City Chennai. Geographically, Villupuram is situated on National Highway No. 45, from Chennai to Dindigul via Tiruchirapalli.  It is sort of half way to Tiruchi – 162 km off Chennai and 157 km to Trichy. Jagadguru Chandrashekarendra Saraswati Swamigal better known as  Sage of Kanchi – the 68thpeedathipathi of Kanchi Kamakoti peetam was born in Villupuram way back in 1894.

Tracing back the history, Chola rulers ruled these  parts from 1st to 4th century. Karikala Chola was the most famous and powerful of Chola kings. In 1677 Shivaji took the Gingee area with the assistance of Golkonda forces. Then came the Mughals. Villupuram is also a famous railway joint.   The junction serves as the distribution point of rail traffic from Chennai.  Cinestar Vijayakanth founder of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, stood and won from Rishivanthiyam constituency in the recent State assembly elections.  

Prema Jayakumar was in news with all media covering her feat of becoming the nation's Chartered Accountancy (CA) exam topper. I had also posted about her appreciating her feat.  The feat was acclaimed for she is the daughter of an autorickshaw driver. Prema’s father drives an auto for a living, is now determined to use the milestone as a stepping-stone towards providing her parents with a life of comfort. Prema’s four-member family squeezes itself into a 300 sq ft room in S B Khan Chawl, Malad.   Her father, Jayakumar Perumal, moved to Mumbai 25 years ago from Periyakolliyur in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu in search of a better life.

Times of India reports that the village Periyakolliyur is celebrating her feat with pride.  The report reads : **When Prema Jayakumar, who has settled in Mumbai, visited her native village Periyakolliyur in this district recently just before the Chartered Accountancy (CA) examination results were declared, the villagers never thought that the young girl would put the village on the national map.

Prema Jayakumar attained instant stardom by topping the CA examinations and the proud villagers celebrated the achievement by putting up banners praising her. Periyakolliyur village panchayat president S Settu and former president Parthasarathy Naidu in consultation with the villagers, have decided to felicitate Prema whenever she visits her native place.

“It is a very rare feat. A girl born in a small village like ours has got national recognition and honour. We are elated and ecstatic over her achievement. Since the day she was announced the country’s topper in the examinations the village started witnessing hectic activities. The district officials visited the village to inquire about her roots and the family. We started getting calls from various quarters. We put up banners with her pictures to inspire and motivate the local children. We have also decided to felicitate her when she visits the village,” Settu told TOI.   

Settu had conveyed the panchayat’s decision to her father Jayakumar, who accepted the proposal and promised to visit the village with her. Her cousin N Babu, a farmer, while recalling the visit of Prema and her brother Dhanraj Jayakumar, who also cleared the CA examinations 15 days ago, said the sister-brother duo did not mention anything about the examinations they had appeared for.  “Prema, her sister and brother were all born in this village. Her father Jayakumar was a farmhand. The family left the village for Mumbai in 1990 in search of greener pastures. My uncle (Jayakumar) worked in a textile mill for sometime before driving an auto for a living,” Babu said.

A local youth, T Venkatesan, pursuing final year engineering degree in a private college in Kancheepuram said his village was unknown to his friends and added that many of them called him after learning about Prema’s achievement.  Anjali, a farmhand, said the assembly constituency Rishivandiyam which includes Periyakolliyur among other village panchayats gained prominence after DMDK founder-leader Vijayakanth contested the 2011 assembly polls from here. “The constituency did not receive any attention from any quarters until a cine star contested polls here. Now this girl born here has gone several steps further and brought laurels to our village,” Anjali said.**

So a girl has done the village proud and perhaps would motive many more from her place to emulate her feat

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

31^st Jan 2013.