Nilkan Perumal was a chronicler of the past. He has written a lot and fortunately many of his books continue to be preserved. The biographies done by him are remarkable and his style is worth emulating. Nilkan Perumal had written a biography titled ' An Industrial Scientist ' and it had been published by ' Life Book Depot ' from Coimbatore on the 17th of January 1944. Its appropriate the celebrate the story of G.D.Naidu by Nilkan Perumal during the ' Platinum Jubilee Year ' of its publication. Incidentally, it was during the same year that G.D.Naidu joined Rotary as a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Coimbatore. The historic club is now in the process of celebrating its Platinum Jubilee.
Nilkan Perumal was a chronicler of the past. He has written a lot and fortunately many of his books continue to be preserved. The biographies done by him are remarkable and his style is worth emulating. Nilkan Perumal had written a biography titled ' An Industrial Scientist ' and it had been published by ' Life Book Depot ' from Coimbatore on the 17th of January 1944. Its appropriate the celebrate the story of G.D.Naidu by Nilkan Perumal during the ' Platinum Jubilee Year ' of its publication. Incidentally, it was during the same year that G.D.Naidu joined Rotary as a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Coimbatore. The historic club is now in the process of celebrating its Platinum Jubilee.
The author calls ' Coimbatore ' as the third big town in the province. He goes on state that be it a way side rail porter or the driver of a bullock cart, everyone recognizes the residence of G.D.Naidu - ' Gopal Bagh '. It was the most visited house in Coimbatore during the heydays of the industrial scientist . The author goes on to state that it is the home of a man of uncommon brains and an amazing career. The book had undergone four editions ( 1944, 1948, 1951 and 1974 ). The book was received very well by the readers and the press as well.
In his preface, the author states that he had met G.D.Naidu for the first time in the summer of 1941 at Coimbatore. We get to learn that Nilkan Perumal had spent a few years in the USA and that G.D.Naidu had obliged him by sharing photos and details of his own trip. However, he goes on state that he picked up the rest of the materials from the friends and well wishers of G.D.Naidu. The ' subject ' was quite busy and therefore, the facts had been verified only by mutual friends.
It is pertinent to note the last paragraph in the preface, "... But here, I am presenting only the most significant facts about it, keeping in mind the modern trends in the art of biography, which come to concise narrative, different from elaborate writing as in the Victorian Era." The author describes G.D.Naidu in a wonderful manner, "A thin man of medium height, big head and a clean shaven face, G.D.Naidu always wore a smile on his lips. He dresses himself in a simple dhoti, shirt and upper cloth, lives a life based on vegetarianism, eschewing alcohol and entertainments like movies or the opera. He smokes a cigarette at intervals. He had no formal English education through any college, but he has a good working knowledge of the language, picked up by dint of his merit. Very humble and unassuming, he is a delightful conversationalist with a wealth of detail on men and matters. To be closeted with him for a few hours hearing him talk, is a special education in itself. He has travelled far and wide and wherever he went, he came across a lot of eminent men whom he counts today as friends with the result that each week his foreign mail comes to about five hundred personal letters, typed out by his secretaries."
The book contains 13 chapters including the post script and the narration makes in an interesting read. The book had been printed at the ILWA Press in Coimbatore and contains a few pictures which include an autographed photo of Adolf Hitler. The chapters begin with ' Formative Years ' which talks about G.D.Naidu's growing up and it ends with his marriage to Chellammal at the age of 20. The second Chapter is embellished with a picture of the young Naidu on his Auto - Cycle and it shares the details of his early innings in business. We get to learn that Naidu's first passenger auto coach used to take people between Pollachi and Palani. Naidu drove his first bus. The third chapter ' Auto Transport Man ' talks about the evolution and growth of the bus business run by G.D.Naidu. Exactly eighty years ago ( 1938 ) Jawaharlal Naidu took the initiative to form the Planning Commission and thanks to the good word of Sir M.Visweswarayya, V.V.Giri invited Naidu to join the Planning Commission as a specialist on transport matters. In spite of the visit of V.V.Giri, G.D.Naidu declined the offer. Naidu wanted to open an automobile factory and an electric motor manufacturing company was started in 1939 and radio factory followed in the year 1941.
The fourth chapter talks about his inventions and we get to know that he made Rasant Razors and wanted to sell them everywhere. In the USA one person had offered him $ 300000 for patent rights but Naidu just wanted to produce only in India. The fifth chapter talks about his visits to the west. It is in Europe that he got to see Hitler and he stated that in no two pictures did the Fuhrer look alike. The travel to USA is the subject of the sixth chapter. ' No Politics ' is seventh chapter and ' The Play Boy' is the eight chapter. He was a comedy loving person and hence this title. The 'Philanthropist', 'In Search of Justice' are the chapters through which we get to learn that Naidu wanted to make iron lungs in our country. The Chapter ' Experiment With Plants ' is quite interesting. He produced wonderful results in his garden. In his garden, he had a cotton plant which was more then 10 feet in height and was yielding 24 pounds of 2.5 inches staple cotton per year. The author has taken the pains to chronicle fine details about this aspect of Naidu. Naidu spent ' Seven Months in Europe ' and the chapter associated with this unique trip has a picture of Naidu in a kitchen at Stuttgart. The ' Postscript ' and the Press Opinions connected with the first edition is printed in the fourth edition. The Hindu, Free India, Commerce and Industry, The Dawn, Guardian, The Forum, The Sunday Observer, Amrita Bazaar Patrika and the Illustrated Weekly of India have showered encomiums on G.D.Naidu and the author Nilkan Perumal for his lovely narrative.
The Illustrative Weekly stated that, "An inventor and philanthropist of note is G.D.Naidu of South India, whose philanthropical activities Sir Arthur Hope, Governor of Madras, compared to those of Lord Nuffield."
"Mr.Perumal places the subject in the correct perspective, neither too near neither too large nor too small a view. For this correct measure, he has sifted the most significant facts out of a large collection and preserved their appropriate romance, thrill, colour and fullness. The book is a fine example of portrayal of character." This was the opinion and review from 'Guardian', Madras.
Nilkan Perumal had written other books like ' Tamils of Today ' in which he has given the story of 15 prominent Tamils of his times. The listing included one Coimbatorean, P.A.Raju Chettiar who happened to be a close friend of G.D.Naidu. R.Sundarraj, the grandson of Dr.R.K.Shanmukham Chetty had written a similar book many years later and both the books were quite well received.
While introducing 'Gopal Bagh', the residence of G.D.Naidu, the author calls it 'the beautiful home'. He says that G.D.Naidu met every visitor who had come to his house and he used to entertain them well. He goes on mention that, 'The man has a mountain of work each day to handle. Still for fear of being misunderstood as rude to visitors, he goes even to the extent of sacrificing his work to please them." A rare quality indeed.
The book by Nilkan Perumal on G.D.Naidu is sure to leave an lasting impression on the reader. The life of the great innovator and industrial scientist has been chronicled in a befitting manner by his biographer Nilkan Perumal. This biography paved a way for many more. The illustrious children of Coimbatore truly deserved chroniclers like Nilkan Perumal.