Date:02/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/02/stories/2009010250690200.htm

Tamil Nadu

‘I gave flag to Tirupur Kumaran’

R Vimal Kumar

V. Ramanujam, a freedom fighter who turned 100 recently, recalls the struggle against British colonialism

— Photo: M. Balaji

V. Ramanujam.

Tirupur: For someone who turned 100 recently, the voice of freedom fighter and retired teacher V. Ramanujam, a resident of Sahajapuram in Tirupur, sounds clear and bold.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Ramanujam went back in time to retell how the great revolutionary Tirupur Kumaran died of injuries in a police assault while defending the Congress flag during a protest march against British colonialism, the incident in which he too was wounded.

“The police hit me and pushed me into a ditch after they noticed me handing over the flag to Kumaran”, he recollected.

A staunch vegetarian throughout, Mr. Ramanujam now leads a quiet life. He spends most of his time to meditate at Sri Ram Chandra Mission here, where he joined as an ‘abyasi’ on October 2, 1979 (Gandhi Jayanthi).

He also finds time to share his wisdom with youth asking them to follow non-violence and not to become a pawn at the hands of terrorist organisations.

Born at Kammalapatty village in Coimbatore district, he retired as a secondary grade teacher at Nanjappa Corporation School in Tirupur.

“Since teaching has been a passion for me, I accepted the offer of a teaching post once the country got Independence”, he said. He got attracted to freedom struggle as a student, which took him to Sabaramathi Ashram where he stayed with Mahatma Gandhi for some time.

He then started popularising khadi and handspun clothes in Tamil Nadu and became an eyesore for Britain once he began organising clandestine meetings to enthuse youngsters to join freedom struggle.

Married to Sumangali, who died last year at the age of 95, he is father of eight children and grandparent as well as a great grandparent to 43 children.

He practises yoga and follows a healthy diet which, according to him, helped him keep away from some of the commonest diseases that come with the old age.

“He has never been hospitalised and had stopped cycling only five years ago after compulsions from us”, said R. Ananthanarayanan, his son and a retired Joint Director of Fisheries.