Kurichikottai is a quaint old village located on the outskirts of Udumalpet. One can get to see the western ghats from this location. From dams to a crocodile farm , the place is endowed with much. The silent roads can double up as biking tracks. Famous mill owner R.V.Guruswamy Naidu ( RVG ) and family lived in this region. RVG used to own vast tracts of agricultural lands and had founded the Thirumurthy Mills nearly 80 years ago. The family had also managed the Kamala Sugar Mills for decades. Lord Muruga at the recently renovated temple that had been built by RVG smiles benignly on the passersby. RVG had been blessed with Kamalam and Ramaswamy.
Kurichikottai is a quaint old village located on the outskirts of Udumalpet. One can get to see the western ghats from this location. From dams to a crocodile farm , the place is endowed with much. The silent roads can double up as biking tracks. Famous mill owner R.V.Guruswamy Naidu ( RVG ) and family lived in this region. RVG used to own vast tracts of agricultural lands and had founded the Thirumurthy Mills nearly 80 years ago. The family had also managed the Kamala Sugar Mills for decades. Lord Muruga at the recently renovated temple that had been built by RVG smiles benignly on the passersby. RVG had been blessed with Kamalam and Ramaswamy.
RVG's son Ramaswamy was a popular gentleman during his times. He was a very close friend of the famous actor Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan. Kamalam was married to R.Venkataswamy Naidu ( Founder - Madras Aluminium Company and South India Viscose ) and she founded the RVG Educational trust in the interest of the society. The RVG Higher Secondary School was founded by her. Her first son V.Radhakrishnan took a lot of interest in the development of this school which came under the aided format. The school became the most spoken about institution in Udumalpet Taluk those days. V.Radhakrishnan ( 1939 - 2015 ) ensured that the best facilities and food were made available to the kids coming to RVG. Years passed and Kamalam Venkataswamy ( 1920 - 2005 ) founded a matriculation school in the same village. Her grandson Santossh.R took over the administration of the RVG Educational Trust on the passing away of his grandmother. His mother Vimala and wife Guilia began to get actively involved in the management of the institutions which include RVG Higher Secondary School, RVG Matriculation School and an ITI.
Santossh.R the great grandson of R.V.Guruswamy Naidu had founded Lambhodara Textiles Limited at Thazhaiyuthu in Palani Taluk. He and his wife Giulia began too visit Udumalpet often and they began to develop the matriculation school. A large number of buildings have been put up by them. The school began to grow under the management of Giulia who happens to be the Correspondent. Hard working Giulia spends two days a week in Udumalpet in the company of the teachers and students at the RVG Institutions. Coimbatorean Giulia attended a number of programmes and workshops connected with education in the interest of the schools. She had done her PG in Political Science and Economics from the University of Torino in Italy. Giulia subsequently followed it up with a PG Diploma in Leadership Education and Special Education in India.
Giulia's mother Dr.Susanna Costanzo has been a hard working Gynaecologist who took to dentistry in order to look after her four kids. Susanna is also a homeopath and the father Fulvio Bosco had been managing the business founded by his father. It supplied parts to auto major FIAT. He had been passionate about history all his life. Giulia's grandmother Bruna is a fiercely independent lady at the age 96 and the grandfather Dino Costanzo was the CEO of Tipografia Torinese.
The company used to print art books and painting was Dino's hobby. He was published and had personal exhibits of his paintings in Italy and France. Both Bruna and her husband Dino Costanzo fought as part of the resistance against fascist and Nazi forces during the second world war.
RVG School took a lot of strides under the management of Giulia and its important to note that the institution has imbibed a lot of green practices. The school has a rain water harvesting structure , a compost pit and a huge number of trees. Giulia and her students came to Coimbatore in order to celebrate the 80 th birthday of President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. The green NGO Siruthuli had organized the celebrations and the RVG Institutions took a large number of saplings in order to green up their campus. Today the RVG Higher Secondary School campus resembles a forest. Green Guardian Giulia has been celebrating the World Forest Day, World Food Day, World Environment Day and all the other good days of the world.
The school has now come up with the RVG Sports Academy and the 5 acre campus was inaugurated in 2018 with Television Fame Neeya Naana Gopinath as the Chief Guest. RVG Sports Academy offers its facilities free of cost and it is meant for all the kids in the area. Giulia had been a keen sports person during her growing up years and she continues to indulge in sports.
RVG Sports Academy has been endowed with changing rooms, dormitory , kitchen, bath and showers. The school avoids food wastage and is working hard in order to make Kurichikottai defecation free. Giulia invites a number of specialists to RVG Matriculation School. The school has been designed well and a lot of care has been taken in order to ensure the self reliance of the kids. Every child takes care of his or her own materials every day.
" My grand mother in law Kamalam Venkataswamy founded the schools. Her work and initiative were inspiring. She had a lot of zeal even during her old age. Her keenness to do something for the kids of the Udumalpet area motivated me to do something. I felt that I should contribute to the legacy of the family. She used to wear a ring everyday and I wear her ring whenever I go to school.
I consider it to be a lucky charm and blessing. The ring makes me feel that she is ever present in the campus. It had been her dream to provide quality education in the rural hinterland. My mother in law Vimala and my husband Santossh have been very supportive of my activities. Hope to add value to the lives of the kids pursuing their studies in our institutions ", smiled Giulia while showing some pieces done by her grandfather Dino Costanzo in her residence.
Giulia is a Swacch Bharat Ambassador today. She began by segregating waste in her house and later followed it up in her apartment block at ATT Colony. " I felt that the entire neighbourhood should benefit and began with my locality. Thanks to the guidance of Raveendran , Secretary of RAAC ( Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore ) , officials from the Coimbatore Corporation and co operation of the conservancy workers much could be achieved. I am also grateful to the public for their over whelming involvement. Coimbatore is sure to become the cleanest city in India, "stated the social worker who has been working tirelessly for sometime now. Guilia has been visiting residences, schools and other establishments on a door to door basis virtually everyday. She is not very conversant in Tamil and the conservancy workers are not familiar with English. Yet they seem to understand each other and work together.
" I am really glad to state that Giulia Santossh displays a lot of passion when it comes to cleanliness. It generally takes a long time to carry out the garbage segregation awareness programmes in a ward. A lot of time is required to implement it. Thanks to the good work of the authorities and the awareness created by Giulia one full ward will hopefully become a model shortly. All the road side bins have been removed. Buoyed at the vibrancy displayed by Giulia , the authorities have made her volunteer in the Central Zone of the Coimbatore Corporation, " stated Raveendran of RAAC. A lot of work has been going on with regard to garbage segregation and composting in Coimbatore. It is earnestly hoped that the results will add to the ecological health of the city and its neighbourhood.
" I operate in a number of areas in spite of being new to the city. However I have never found myself out of place. Indian culture and tradition are very special. It did not matter whether I came from Hyderabad or Torino , people welcomed me with open arms. Indian culture is unique and all embracing. I am glad to be in this great country, " added the educationist cum social worker while showing some pictures and documentation connected with her work. The work of Giulia and her ilk demonstrate that there are immense possibilities provided we take up cudgels in the interest of the society.