Long ago the people living in Krishnarayapuram requested the Maharaja of Mysore to grant permission for a settlement in the wake of floods in the Sanganoor Canal. A delegation of farmers impressed upon the ruler and Peelamedu was born on 11/11/1711. The village elders led by an ancestor of the PSG family had played an important role in the entire process.
Long ago the people living in Krishnarayapuram requested the Maharaja of Mysore to grant permission for a settlement in the wake of floods in the Sanganoor Canal. A delegation of farmers impressed upon the ruler and Peelamedu was born on 11/11/1711. The village elders led by an ancestor of the PSG family had played an important role in the entire process.
Destiny blessed the industrialist G.R.Govindarajulu of the PSG Family and his wife Chandrakanthi by making them reciprocate the gesture by hosting the Maharaja of Mysore , His Highness Jayachamaraja Wodeyar at their residence ' Pioneer House ' a few years after the attainment of freedom. The decision of the ancestor of the Maharaja of Mysore had been cent percent fruitful for the members of the PSG Family had put the village on the textile and education map of the world.
The PSG Family had adopted ' Dharma ' or ' Charity ' as the fifth brother long ago and this has helped Coimbatore to become the leading destination for education nationally. Diwan Bahadur P.S.G.Rangaswamy Naidu his brothers P.S.G.Venkataswamy Naidu, P.S.G.Ganga Naidu and P.S.G.Narayanaswamy Naidu need to be accoladed for their noble gesture. G.R.Govindarajulu ( the second son of P.S.G.Rangaswamy Naidu ) and his wife Chandrakanthi emulated their elders by creating a number of institutions.
The people of Coimbatore will forever remember the tall, slender and meticulous Chandrakanthi Amma who had spent all her life towards educating and empowering the girl child. Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu was the grand daughter of a famous Mirasdar cum Banker N.Purushottama Naidu. She was the first of the five children born to Village Munsiff Sama Naidu and Krishnammal. The girl from Peelamedupudur had learnt veena during her childhood and had done her schooling at Presentation Convent. The bright youngster had been fond of poetry and nature from her childhood. In fact the Pisonia tree was first introduced by her at the PSGR Krishnammal College campus years ago. She married the aristocratic G.R.Govindarajulu, the dapper second son of Diwan Bahadur P.S.G.Rangaswamy Naidu and Krishnammal in the year 1941. The affectionate daughter continued to attend to the interest of her parents and siblings all her life. It was this quality that had made her a leader and go getter.
The GRG couple were blessed with two sons - G.Devarajan and G.Rangaswamy who grew up under their care. It was thanks to the initiative of her husband and S.M.Diaz ( Coimbatore SP - Police ) that she began her long public career by joining the Guild of Service. She took excellent care of the children who were under the Guild Umbrella. Chandrakanthi Amma had given away her gold bangles for the freedom movement when Mahatma Gandhi had visited Coimbatore. Later she volunteered for the Central Social Welfare Board and served on the PIC in Coimbatore. It was here that she met Sarojini Varadappan and this was the beginning of a lasting association. The Indian Red Cross Society at Coimbatore was another of her major achievements and it is because of her involvement over 45 years that the organization was able to serve the society in a marvelous manner.
She did much through the Womens Voluntary Service too. G.R.Govindarajulu, the visionary industrialist was the Managing Trustee of the PSG Institutions for almost 25 years and had worked in consonance with his elder brother Dr.G.R.Damodaran who had been the Principal and architect of PSG College of Technology. He was really keen to build a girls school in Peelamedu and thus PSGR Krishnammal School came up in the fifties of the last century. This was followed by the PSGR Krishnammal College for Women. GRG made his wife Chandrakanthi the Correspondent of both the institutions.
Noble minded Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu took excellent care of the infrastructure, teachers, staff and students all her life. The PSGR Krishnammal Institutions became nationally famous under her care. Hygiene, discipline, quality of education and food, safety were ensured by her. Green and white were her favourite colours and they be experienced in all her institutions even today. She was keen to improve teaching quality than getting the kids punished for non performance.
Sir C.V.Raman, Jawaharlal Nehru, K.Kamaraj, Indira Gandhi, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar ( The Maharaja of Mysore ), Dr.C.Subramaniam, M.G.Ramachandran, M.Karunanidhi, several scholars, social leaders, bureaucrats, Governors and Spiritual leaders had been hosted by her over the years. She was awarded an Honourary Doctorate by the University of Arizona and the Kulapathi Munshi Award by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Bharat Ratna Awardee M.S.Subbulakshmi and the famous dancer Padma Subramanyam were quite close to her. Chandrakanthi Amma excelled in both business and agriculture.
She started her day early and used to be up by 4.30 AM. Her day began by listening to the krithis of Thyagaraja by Balamurali Krishna and the busy day would go on for 14 hours ! The meticulous Correspondent did a fabulous job at the time of the Founder's Day celebrations at her PSGR Krishnammal Institutions year on year. She would personally send thousands of invitations and make countless phone calls in order to invite friends, relatives and academicians. The guests would eagerly await her Founder's Day speech which would be delivered in flawless Tamil. She would be brimming with confidence and the content used to be well researched. It used to be a fiery indictment of the educational system or Government policies. The grand lady was deeply attached to the teachings of Swami Chidbhavanda and Swami Satchithananda. A number of poor students were educated free of cost by her.
Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu was a staunch opponent of the capitation system and truly believed that education must not be commercialized. This was due to the guiding principle of her husband G.R.Govindarajulu who abhorred this practice. She ran her schools and colleges purely on the basis of compassion. Chandrakanthi Amma was a stern disciplinarian and she came to the succor of her employees at their time of need.
She was a lady with a Midas touch and for decades she was known to have inaugurated a number of enterprises by lighting the lamp of prosperity. Like the MS Blue sarees, the Binny silks of Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu are well remembered. The tall, kind, Binny silk saree clad Chandrakanthi Amma sporting diamond ear steads and gold rimmed spectacles will forever be in the memories of the city. The institutions founded by her are now managed by her son G.Rangaswamy and her daughters in law Nandhini Rangaswamy, Suguna Devarajan along with other members of the family. The famous ' Chandrakanthi Namaste ' was an epitome of grace and sincerity.
Quality, education, hard work and enterprise brought success not only to herself but for also for everyone around her. In spite of rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful, she could easily be related to the poorest of the poor. Status did not matter for her and it was the person who was important. This is her message and we must learn from her life. In a life filled with rich and varied experiences, she remained true to her calling : To Serve the Society.
