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Retired Office Superintendent/Signal and Telecommunication Branch/Southern Railway. Stays at Kumaran Nagar, Virugambakkam
In his own words he describes his work related to Thirukkural …..
I am a retired Office Superintendent from Southern Railway and doing a small (non-reciprocal) service for the last fifteen years in the holy field of EDUCATION at grass root level to all the First Standard children (who are FRESHERS every year and their first time entry into the school is only at the age of six) studying in limited known schools of Village Panchayat Unions, Adi-Dravidar Welfare Department and Corporations / Municipalities, by spending a portion of my monthly pension regularly (with due cooperation of all my family members) by providing a set of supporting study materials Viz., a Thirukkural, a Dictionary and an Atlas apart from pencil, eraser, sharpener, scale and a note book, etc..(neatly packed and presented) in the form of a “GIFT HAMPER” since my retirement in 2001.
This may be Rs.60,000/- to Rs.75,000/- per year approximately–(It is with great pleasure {and with pardonable pride but with due humility] We are doing this help independently and individually, BY SPENDING OUR OWN MONEY AND NEVER AT THE COST OF Others. On all such occasions, we always used to keep few retired persons from teaching fraternity to share their rich experiences with the tiny tots.
Most generously, many national as well as local editions now and then bring my humble service into limelight by which act, often I experience to guide many people to divert their valuable attention towards this most well deserving area of EDUCATION upon which, the future / fate of our country depends and also EDUCATION alone can eradicate poverty our country once for all.
His suggestions to improve Government schools
There is a news item in The Hindu (at page:11) about the Madras High Court directing the Tamil Nadu Government to keep “Thirukkural” as a part of syllabus in the Schools. Having witnessed in person the hard realities in so many schools I visited in the last fifteen years I find that these two extreme ends (of “children blessed” and “children less or no privileged”) may ever remain unequal and irrelevant to each other.
(Even Our Constitution says: All are equal but somebody are more equal—WHY?)
BELOW ARE FEW OF MY HUMBLE VIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS THAT I HAVE BEEN ADDRESSING FOR OVER A DECADE THROUGH MY ARTICLE (WRITTEN BY VIRTUE OF MY VAST EXPERIENCE OVER A DECADE) CAPTIONED “PLIGHT OF PRIMARY CLASS CHILDREN STUDYING IN THE SCHOOLS OF VILLAGE PANCHAYAT UNIONS, ADI-DRAVIDAR WELFARE DEPARTMENT, CORPORATIONS AND MUNICIPALITIES”
1.No other work to teachers other than “teaching”:
2.The unpleasant and irrational teacher–students ratio to go.
3.No school shall be closed.
4.Safety aspects:
i.Good drinking water through water purifiers;
ii.Hygienic toilets with required level of water and washing arrangements:
iii.Fire proof school buildings:
iv.Watchmen during non-school hours and non-school days:
5.It should be mandatory for MP/MLA/Minister whoever comes to a village/small town, must step into a Government School.
6.Full fledged infrastructure of schools
7.No students procession with “placards” in the name of awareness creating programme.
8.Offer of “Thirukkural Book” specially printed by the Government.
{In the wake of our witnessing a decline in moral values and to improve the moral culture to make peoples as good citizens, Thirukkural is felt very much essential to be read by all. This is the one translated in so many languages all over the world and appreciated irrespective of nationality, religion, caste, class and creed. Our Tamil Nadu Government has dedicated this to the Nation. I have given this book (in Tamil with meaning) to thousands of students so far. In the recent past, even the Central Government also has taken measures to spread it across the country and our judiciary too, while dealing with a PIL, supported a suggestion to make it as a separate subject from Class VI to XII.}
9..”Advice” the students and parents to look back their primary schools when they reach high to do their bit.
With pardonable pride and with due humility, I take this opportunity to mention here, in the last fifteen years, I have distributed (Lifco’s) Thirukkural Book (with meaning), along with Dictionary and Atlas to more than ten thousand children of Panchayat Union Primary class children in villages. Because it is made available in their hands, even the first standard children are able to recite more than one hundred couplets (Of course, it is a different matter that children in the city studying in elite schools in Pre-KG class recite more than this for the sake of competition alone) In fact, in the village schools I attend, I find the children, with the teacher’s guidance, do recite one couplet everyday (in turn) and explain its meaning clearly. I used to say that if a person understands just four or five couplets, then the person will have to surely lead a good life with due morality in the society.