India was born in
midnight ! ~ the freedom was not a day’s affair or that of a single man packing
the rulers away !! – it was a just fruit gotten by the sacrifices of very many
leaders, many of whom perhaps the people of Nation have not recognised properly.
The clamour to advertise that freedom was obtained without bloodshed sent to
background many a great sacrifices.
‘Kappalottiya
Thamizhan’ released in 1961 is a great
movie by many counts. The film directed
by B. R. Panthulu, having cast of Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, S. V. Subbaiah, T. K. Shanmugham, S. V. Ranga
Rao, S. A. Ashokan – powerfully portrayed the freedom struggle down South. The film based on the biography of
V.O.Chidambaram Pillai written by Ma. Po. Si.(M.P.Sivagnanam) taught history to
later generations.
The film was about
VOC (Valliappan Ulaganathan Chidambaram Pillai) – the great man, the advocate,
who started shipping venture challenging the British on high seas – he suffered
throughout his life and struggled. VOC
along with Subramanya Siva, another great patriot was summoned to Tirunelveli
by the Collector (shown as Winch in the
film) – that meeting was also a great scene. They were charged on sedition and sent to long
years of imprisonment. It was
unthinkable suffering that broke their back but never their spirit. Had it
been properly documented, it would break all claims of gentleness and portray
the barbarism of erstwhile British rulers.
The man Subramaniya
Siva is remembered today. He was born
this day (4th Oct 1884). Siva
was born in Batlagundu near Dindigul. In
1908, he was arrested by the British and was the first political prisoner in
Madras jail. While serving a prison term, he was afflicted by leprosy and was
shifted to Salem jail. Since leprosy was regarded as a contagious disease, the
British authorities forbade him to travel by rail after his release and hence
he was forced to travel on foot. He continued to fight for independence and was
incarcerated many times until 1922.
Known for his fiery
speeches and rendering of Mahakavi Barathiyar songs. The relentless freedom fighter and heroic
patriot Subramaniya Siva chose Papparapatti village in Pennagaram taluk as the
center of activities during his last years of life and took efforts to
establish a Bharatasharam in Papparapatti. He published Gnanabanu, a collection
of poems and prabanyamithran magazine in which he published Articles on the importance
of attaining freedom for India, freedom struggle and the service of the
National leaders. He staged labour agitations in Chennai, Kolkatta, Tuticorin,
Tirunelveli against British Government. Despite his illness and the severe
restriction imposed on him by the British Government, he travelled places,
organising people against the British. The disease and injuries sustained in the jail
hastened his death, which embraced him on
23 July 1925, hardly 41 years of age.
By some accounts,
he had bought land at Papparapatti with public support to build a temple for
Bharatha Matha. Senior leader Chitharanjan Doss had even laid a foundation
stone for the temple in 1923. However, after Siva’s death in 1925, his body was
buried at the spot and a memorial was built there. About a decadeago, Hon’ble Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa inaugurated
the memorial of Thyagi Subramaniya Siva constructed at a cost of Rs.40 lakhs in
Papparapatti, Dharmapuri District.
Today, we remember
Subrahmanya Siva and the sacrifices of those people which gave us the freedom.
With regards to great souls ~ S. Sampathkumar.
4th Oct 2016.
Siva
manimandapam pic credit : http://tndipr.gov.in
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