The 'Vazhthu Upachara Malar' pubished by 'Kavipowthira' P.S. Mohideen Batcha of Erode in the year 1957 showers praises on the newly elected young MLA D.Raghupathi Devi ( 1929 - 2012 ).
The 'Vazhthu Upachara Malar' pubished by 'Kavipowthira' P.S. Mohideen Batcha of Erode in the year 1957 showers praises on the newly elected young MLA D.Raghupathi Devi ( 1929 - 2012 ).
The good lady was born to N.Balakrishnaswamy Naidu ( Maniyakkarar & Landlord ) and Chandrakanthi Ammal of Vaiyampalayam.
Raghupathi Devi's mother happens to be the elder sister of Textool D.Balasundaram and a cousin of R.Venkataswamy Naidu ( Founder MALCO - Madras Aluminum Company ).
Her grandfather Narayanaswamy Naidu had contributed towards the development of the Kodandaramaswamy Temple in Ram Nagar. She graduated from the Government Arts College in Coimbatore and her close friend was Amirtham Varadaraj - the lady who had spent most of her life in the interest of the differently abled.
The 'Vazthu Upachara Malar' talks about the good work done by the family while felicitating D.Raghupathi Devi. It talks about the family helping schools, hospitals, libraries, public institutions and providing hospitality to the devotees of Lord Shiva.
'Kavipowthira' P.S Mohideen Batcha, the felicitator further states that D.Raghupathi Devi and her family would live long and successfully with the grace of the protector of the world Sri Karunanidhi. He calls the position ( MLA ), sacred.
Raghupathi Devi married M.R.Doraiswamy Naidu ( 1926 - 2005 ) in the year 1955. The couple were blessed with Rajeswari Vijayakumar, Rajendran, Rajashekhar and Vinitra Jayaram.
M.R,Doraiswamy Naidu was a leading citizen of Mettupalayam. His grandfather P.Samanna Naidu ( son of Peraswamy Naidu ) and father M.S.Rangaswamy Naidu were the Chairpersons of the Mettupalayam Municipality for a number of years.
The P.Samanna Naidu Water Works was in fact inaugurated by M.Bhaktavatsalam ( Former Chief Minister of Madras State ) P.Samanna Naidu had maintained excellent records from his early days and was proficient in English.
He had played an active role during the visits of the Governors to the Nilgiris during the early years of the twentieth century. His dairy jottings throw a lot of light on the life and times of the people from this region.
P.Samanna Naidu was a wealthy person and his daughter Govindammal was married to K.Venkataswamy Naidu of Kannapiran Mills. The family residence was perhaps the earliest to get a power connection in Mettupalayam.
Rajashekhar, the son of Raghupathi Devi spoke at length about his mother, " My mother became an MLA at the age of 28. She had done her primary education at Vaiyampalayam and her high schooling from Presentation Convent in Coimbatore. She had done a lot of good work with the Madhar Congress.
She gave the welcome address at the Gobi Maghalir Mahanadu under the leadership of Indira Gandhi in 1961 and had won praises from the future Prime Minister. It was during her tenure that the Mettupalayam Government Hospital got additional buildings in order to accommodate more beds.
The weavers of Sirumugai were given low cost yarn due to her efforts and it was she who requested Chief Minister K.Kamaraj and Industry Minister R.Venkataraman ( he later became the President of India ) to help in the liquidation of unsold handlooms.
The Kumbabishekham of the Mettupalayam Subramanyaswamy Templetook place under her stewardship. She withdrew herself from public life from the year 1984 but continued to help the poor. Mother was a deeply religious person.
She used to tell us that the debates in the Assembly used to be dignified and the members were known for their good conduct. Those were the times when K.Kamaraj was the Chief Minister and the State had just 8 members in the cabinet including him.
The other members were - M.Bhaktavatsalam ( Home ), R.Venkataraman ( Industry ), Kakkan ( Public Works ), Lourdammal Simon ( Local Administration ), Ramaiya ( Electricity ), C.Subramaniam ( Finance ) and Manickkavel ( Revenue ). She used to feel happy that she served during a sincere and productive era. "
The family of D.Ragupathi Devi was keenly interested in Dalit welfare and they helped them to manage their temples M.S.R.Puram and M.R.D. Nagar in Mettupalayam continue to stand as a testimony for their good work in this regard."
Mother used to campaign for her party people by giving speeches. I still remember her speech in the presence of Sivaji Ganesan while campaigning for former Union Minister R.Prabhu.
The former Member of Parliament and Prabhu's father P.R.Ramakrishnan was a cousin of my grandmother. My father and mother were excellent hosts and all the top leaders visiting Ooty used to enjoy their hospitality while moving through Mettupalayam.
The leaders included E.V.R. Periyar ( he had stayed with them ) , C.Subramaniam, R. Venkataraman and R.Prabhu . Father was a go getter and he was financially liberal with all his friends and relatives. Our family was well known to N.S.S.Mandradiar and N.Mahalingam, " added Rajashekhar while sharing snippets about his mother.
The Kula Deivam of the family is Madhammal & Govindammal at Athipalayam and they belong to the Rasakondalar clan. The household had been ever busy because of the continuous stream of guests. According to Rajashekhar one cook used to serve during the day and the other during the hours after sunset.
" Mother used to maintain our big pooja room all by herself. She used to apply dung paste on the floor of the pooja room personally.
The deities were adorned with garlands strung by her. We used to pluck the ' pavalamalli ' flowers and make strands for the deities before our breakfast every morning during our annual visits to our home from the hostel. The co singer of K.B.Sundarambal used to sing devotional songs during the campaign meetings connected with my mother. On hearing these songs,villagers used to just drop their agricultural implements and rush to the meetings.
Mother was the first grandchild in her circles and therefore she was the favourite of everyone. She used to play at the residence of her maternal uncle D.Varadarajan ( GEM ). Chinnammal Rangaswamy Naidu ( the mother of R.Venkataswamy Naidu ) was quite fond of her.
She used to shower her love by giving sweets to my mother and also some money from her bag which used to kept secretively in the stack of vessels found at her kitchen. Mother used to tell us that public life should be in the interest of the people, " stated Rajashekhar while talking about his mother and her times.
The young MLA had welcomed to Goverment's step to supply 21 lakh tonnes of rice through price shops. She suggested that they bring water from Guntha project via Avinashi to Mettupalayamin in order to irrigate more acres in the Mettupalayam area D.Ragupathi Devi had also requested the Government of the day to open a treasury in Mettupalayam and also include the town in the Block Development Scheme.
She had commended the steps taken in connection with social and scientific education. The public representative was always interested in women and children welfare schemes.
D.Raghupathi Devi and the other public representatives from Coimbatore and the rest of Madras State had done much for the people in the most selfless manner. Its time that we remember the good work of D.Ragupathi Devi for it will encourage us to lead a service oriented public life.