User:Kannappant/V.RM.letchmanan chettiar

V.Rm.Letchmanan Chettiar (1897-1950)

From a sandstone to a mountain

Memoirs

V.Rm.Letchmanan Chettiar (1897-1950) was born in a small village called Valayapatti in a notable chettiar family of the Princely state of Pudukottai. He was bored up with taking care of his father’s banking Business in the village. So with the wider vision in his mind moved out to Ceylon to make up his fortunes.

Masterminded Entrepreneur

Chettiars first step of starting a Transport business became a Great success followed by VRMVA Traders, Tea estate named the Woodstock estate in rozelle (Ceylon).

Pudukottai Power Supply Unit,Namanasamudra Textiles,Pico(Pudukottai Industrial Corporation) Garage in Pudukottai district. Agro research Farm in Letchmanapuram (Pudukottai District).

Renowned Politician

After being one among the V.I.P in Ceylon he joined the Indian congress on 1936.Pandit Jawahalal Nehru on seeing the Leadership qualities and straightforwardness of chettiar made him the First president of Ceylon Indian congress on 25 july 1939.Chettiar served as a President of Ceylon Indian Congress with H.M.Aziz as the seceratory for two years.

Chettiar contested the Pudukottai seat in the Madras State assembly election. He had been a member of that electorate earlier too, and had won the 1939 August election with a convincing majority.After being elected as MLC of Pudukottai chettiar made his District and his home town prosperous.

V.Rm.Letchmanan Chettiar son Manickam as an Apperentice in Pico Garage

Linguistic skills

Chettiar didn't even complete his schooling,but the his keen interest and attitude towards the English language made him to read lots of English novels.

From the name of his industry we could know his mastering and proficiency over the language (Pico garage which is a collective unit of twelve different subunits Flour mill,electrical works,sound service,automobile workshop,automobile spare parts,electrical appliances sales,service centre,agro devices service centre,agro devices sales,plumbing works,carpentary works,Scientific equipments suppliers)

He served as an official Translator for the princely state of Pudukottai.For which he had been conferred a title “English Lena”.

Eminent Friendship

Raja Thondaiman and Pandit Jawahalal Nehru were the two pillars who were backing chettiar in each and every action of him.

Chettiar having a great respect on his friends had a dress code similar to that Pandit Jawahalal Nehru and builded his house in Valayapatti which is a typical miniature of the palace of Raja Thondaiman in Pudukottai.

File:V.RM.L Car.jpg

V.Rm.Letchmanan Chettiar in center with his European cars

Things to be swollen with pride

He was the one and only person in Pudukottai District to import European cars in the late 1930’s.

He was the one and only Indian to have a German made revolver in the late 1930’s.

He was the only person to have a huge library dedicated to modern trends in agricultural research in his farm house (Letchmanapuram).

Elegant works

Bringing up the electricity to his district, remembering of chettiars hard work Tamil nadu government had honored Chettiars house to have a Electricity Board No.1

Starting a Higher secondary school named valampuri vaduganathan higher secondary school which is the one and only school to have a outsized playground.

His house in Ceylon is being used as a Temple office (No:301,Sea Street, Colombo) where the first inagraution of Ceylon Indian Congress was held.

Donated his lands for the construction of temples and ponds.

References

http://www.lankalibrary.com/pol/thondaman.html

http://ceylonworkescongress.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

http://kadercolumn.blogspot.com/

http://www.malayaham.net/historlabunion.html

http://www.wikepedia.com/Nagarathars.html

For the detailed biography of V.Rm.Letchmanan Chettiar you could go through the Book (WHO’S WHO “The eminent Persons in India,Burma and Ceylon”,1936-1945,Pg 156).

Out of bondage: a biography‎ by Caumiyamūrtti Toṇṭaimān̲- Page 25.

Documents of the Ceylon National Congress and nationalist politics in Ceylon by Caumiyamūrtti Toṇṭaimān̲ - Biography & Autobiography - 1987 - Page 2641.

Tea and politics: an autobiography‎ - Page 17 by Caumiyamūrtti Toṇṭaimān̲, S. Thondaman - Politicians - 1994 - 295 pages.

Khosia's Industrial & Commercial Directory of India, Pakistan, Burma & Ceylon‎ by Kanshi Ram Khosia - India The Indo-Lankans, their 200-year saga: a pictorial record of the people - Page 289 by S. Muthiah, Indian Heritage Foundation (Sri Lanka) - East Indians - 2003 - 315 pages.

Education and the Indian Plantation Worker in Sri Lanka‎ - Page 112 by G. A. Gnanamuttu - Education, Rural - 1977 - 138 pages. 03:11, 19 June 2009 (UTC)Kannappant (talk)