Thangasamy Nadar, a legend
Mr. M.A.Thangasamy Nadar, (called MAT) a native of a village in Sankarankoil Taluk of Thirunelvely District in Tamil Nadu migrated to Munnar, Kerala, around the year 1940. He established shops in that region and lived in Munnar, for nearly two decades and expired in the year 1961, whose exact date of birth was not known. He owned two shops in Munnar Town, called "46 number shop" on the back row facing Munnar river and another shop called "Jeya Stores"(named after his younger son Jeyasingh David) on the inside row facing the bus-stand next to "DMS & Sons". He owned the third shop in Old Munnar called "Raja Stores" named after his elder son King Calvin (now "Matheena Stores" after the sale of this shop). While he was living in the Munnar area, he helped the poor people as much as possible and set an example. He started his career as an ordinary employee, and then grew to the position of a big employer of the region. He was leading a very simple life as a common man, but his lifestyle, magnanimity, helping nature to the others, differentiated him from the other men. Though he is no more, he is still remembered by the poor people of the region, and some of them had gone to the extent of keeping his picture in their homes along with the pictures of their gods. Men may come and men may go, but this great man is living in the hearts of the people in the Munnar area, for generations. (Photo: family in late 50s)
His early days in the native village
Mr. M.A.Thangasamy Nadar, was born in a traditional Hindu family as a last son, in Sivalingapuram, a tiny village situated 3 kilometers west of Karivalamvandanallur on the way to Panaiyur in Sankarankoil Taluk of Tirunelvely District, in Tamil Nadu. (Then it was known as Madras State). Karivalamvandanallur, or ‘Karivalam’ in short, is situated between Rajapalayam (of Ramnad Dt. which now changed as Virudhunagar Dt.) and Sankarankoil, on the highways from Rajapalayam to Tirunelvely. His Hindu name was Gurusamy Nadar, named after their family’s temple god "Gurusamy" in a temple near Sattur. His father’s name was Muthumada Nadar who had 4 children (one daughter and three sons), namely (I) Arumugathaie, (II) Shanmugavel Nadar, (III) Subbiah Nadar, and (IV) Gurusamy Nadar (Thangasamy Nadar), who was the youngest. His forefathers were originally living in the Sivakasi region of Ramnad Dt. who had migrated to Tirunelveli District in the end of nineteenth century (Between 1899 - 1900), due to the communal riots between Maravars and Nadars there. After the death of Muthumada Nadar and his wife, all the children were growing under the care of the eldest child, Arumugathaie, whose husband was in Burma (Myanmar) till the end of Second World War. Being the youngest in the family, all his elders, especially the eldest and only sister had a great affection on him, and he also loved her so much. He had his primary education in Karivalamvandanallur, but could not pursue higher education due to his family's penury. Since the region where they were living was not fertile enough, with very mean rainfall, they found the life difficult, and the agriculture operations were not yielding any remarkable income. As such, he wanted to migrate from there in search of better livelihood for the entire family.
His early days in Munnar
He migrated to Munnar, Kerala (then it was known as Travancore-Cochin State) around 1940, by the help of a close relative of his native village, Mr.M.R.Ponniah, an educated Christian, who was working in Munnar as an audit clerk in the British tea company called Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co. Ltd. (KDHP Co. Ltd.). Munnar was a little-known small town in those days, situated in The High Ranges of the Western Ghats in Devikulam Taluk, surrounded by picturesque tea estates belonging to KDHP Co. Ltd., and dams and reserved forests. In those days, there were no proper roads and bus routes to Munnar from Tamilnadu, and also from the other parts of Kerala. The only bus route was from Udumalpet and it was 54 miles from there, in which 75% of the route falls in the mountain terrain, with lot of narrow curves, and dangerous deep ravines on the sides. There was another route through Bodinaickanur, in which one had to walk 7 miles in the short cut in the mountain to reach Kerala border, known as Top Station, to board the bus to Munnar. As such, reaching there was a very difficult exercise in those days. Only in early 60s, the present road through Bodimettu via Theni, Bodinaickanur was opened by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, late Sri K. Kamaraj. By then, the connectivity to Munnar improved and reaching Munnar became much easier. Later days, this road became a part of NH 49 connecting Kochin, Kerala with Rameswaram of Tamil Nadu.
Further, life in the area was not easy, as once the southwest monsoon set in, it would continue throughout days and nights with heavy winds, for six months. Heavy monsoon was followed by severe winter, in which one had to experience freezing cold weather during the months of December and January. It was the market and recreation center for the entire estate population of the surrounding estates. In Munnar, he worked for some period in a grocery shop belonging to one Mr. S.Dasan Nadar of Palayamkottai, Tirunelvely, a traditional Christian, whose native village was Kurichampatti near Tenkasi, in Tirunelvely Dt. Dasan Nadar’s two brothers M/s Samuel Nadar and Gnaniah Nadar also had settled in Munnar and were engaged in business. During this period, Thangasamy Nadar was found to be very smart, talented and efficient in the work, and particularly his good character attracted his employer and his brothers. As such, he offered his cousin Nesammal,(alias Paul Nesam) the eldest daughter of Gnanamoney Nadar to him, and he married her, in the year 1942, at Dohnavoor, after converting into Christianity, and his name was changed as ‘Aron Thangasamy’. Nesammal’s age was 21 at the time of the marriage and her D.O.B. was 11-08-1921. Mr. Gnamoney Nadar was the maternal uncle of Mr. Dasan Nadar. In other words, Dasan Nadar's mother Gnana Olivu was the sister of Gnanamani Nadar. Her husband was Sri Savarimuthu Nadar. Photo : Thangasamy Nadar (sitting) and Jesudas Samuel, brother of Paul Nesam Thangasamy (standing)
After working in the shop of Dasan Nadar for some time, Thangagasamy Nadar started his own business in partnership with one late T B Simon Amirtham who recognised the abilities of Thangasamy Nadar and offered partnership. Later, Thangasamy Nadar started his own shops in Munnar Town, Old Munnar and Thenmallay Estate.
M. Gnanamani Nadar had migrated to Dohnavoor, near Vallioor of Tirunelvely Dt., from his native place Mangudi in Tirunelvely Dt. near the Ramnad Dt. border, many years back. Gnanamoney Nadar worked as a catechist in Dohnavur, Ambasamuthram, etc., and died at the age of 52 in Servaikaaranpatti. He had a daughter named Saantham Samaathanam through his first wife. Her husband was Rajiah who worked as a teacher in Kanakkapillaivalasai, in Tenkasi Taluk of Tiruneveli District. (See more details under the page "Wife of Thangasamy Nadar")
Gnanamani Nadar's brother Perinba Nadar stayed back in Mangudi. Mangudi is situated 3 kilometres west of Sholapuram on the Rajapalayam – Tirunelveli highways between Rajapalayam and Karivalam. Mr. Gnanamoney Nadar and Mrs. Mariammal couple had 5 children (two sons and three daughters). They were (I) Nesammal alias Paul Nesam, (II) G.J.Pauldurai, (III) G.J.Samuel, (IV) Yeasuvinkody, (V) Koilammal. Nesammal had studied up to E.S.L.C. (Elementary School Leaving Certificate), and completed teachers’ training and worked as a teacher in Dohnavoor, to support the family after the death of her father, before her marriage.
His progress
Since Thangasamy Nadar was very hard working, and had a great ambition to come up in life, he started a grocery shop in partnership with another merchant T.B.Simon Amirtham, a native of Edayarkadu of Tuticorin Dt., in the heart of Munnar Town. In course of time, he started businesses on his own in Munnar Town, Old Munnar and Thenmallay Estate. Since he supplied commodities at Munnar Town prices, the estate labor force stopped going to Munnar for their weekly purchase, and started purchasing from his shop in the Estate itself. Hence, it flourished and developed into a big business establishment, having its head office in Thenmallay Estate, and its branches in Munnar Town and Old Munnar, comprising of 50 employees. Thenmallay Estate, a tea estate which was owned by KDHP Co. Ltd., is situated 12 miles away from Munnar on the way to Udumalpet of Tamilnadu. The Manager of the Estate, Mr. Knight, who was a native of Scotland, had very good relationship with him, and extended his full support to his business. His establishment was consisting of 6 grocery shops, 4 canteens, 1 ration shop and a cloth shop. A Fordlorry and two bullock carts along with 4 pairs of bullocks were purchased for the transportation of commodities to the shops situated in different places. A Vauxhall car and a Francis Barneth make motorcycle were purchased for business purposes, and also for his personal use. A majority of the Government staff, KDHP Company staff and many estate workers near Munnar surroundings used to purchase groceries, etc, from his shops in Munnar. Since he did not learn motor cycle riding, his relative S.Ganapathy Nadar who was an employee in the shop in Thenmallay Estate, was using it for official purposes. Photo: Munnar Town
His lifestyle and magnanimity
Thangasamy Nadar became a well-known person in and around Munnar by his business activities. He was known as “M.A.T.” among the business community and the government officials etc., and as “Muthalaaly” (Big employer/owner), among the employees and working classes etc. He was considered “Good Samaritan” of the region due to his hospitality and helping nature, especially towards the poor estate laborers, and porters of Munnar Town, which added flavor to his fame. Those who came for any help never returned empty- handed. He could not tolerate if anybody was found starving due to poverty. He would immediately plunge into action and provide them with food items from his shop. He used to distribute money to the poor people from his pocket, when he happened to see them. Porters of Udumalpet Railway Station were not an exception. The porters treated his children and their schoolmates, on their way to and from the station, with much affection and helped them load their luggages and seat them in the train compartments, thus ensuring a comfortable and safe journey. They did it in the same manner on their return journey home, on vacations.
Whenever he visited his native village, he would pour out the money for the poor people of the region. Even an estate laborer who turned as a dacoit, known as Thangiah, had high regard for him as he had helped him in his distress, earlier. Once, when he was looting the people with his gang on the way to Bodinaickanur, near the place called “Kurangani”, he spared one employee of his shop, late Mr. Keppannan, and his family, since the former came to know that the latter was the employee of Thangasamy Nadar.
Thangasamy Nadar was blessed with a large number of cows, fowls, turkeys, pigeons, etc., which were used for commercial purposes and also for the consumption of the employees. The Estate laborers and Kanganies (Supervisors) of Thenmallay Estate were very affectionate towards him as he was meeting their needs without any partiality.
Though Thangasamy Nadar was financially sound in those days, he was leading a very simple life, and he rarely used his car except for emergencies. He had a fair complexion with a smiling face, reasonably tall, sharp nose, ascended forehead, with curling hair combed backwards on the sides above both ears, and his hands stretching down to his knees while standing. Normally he was wearing full sleeved white shirts and Dhotis. He used Parker pen meant for smooth writing, and Swiss-made West End (Sowar - Prima model) wrist watch, with date, which was helpful for him to maintain date and time without any lapse, for his business purposes. He had the habit of writing diary daily. Even if he was very late to bed, he would never sleep before writing the diary. Details such as daily receipts, expenditure, his place of stay at nights, name of persons met, matters discussed etc., would be incorporated in it.
His sister and brothers from the native village used to visit him occasionally, and he treated them with great respect and affection, and trained his children also to treat them accordingly. His smile attracted everybody and brought them closer to him. He was a man of principles and had no bad habits such as smoking, drinking etc. or any immoral activities. He used to call his customers and others in polite and respectful languages, even if they were much younger to him. He became the life-time member of Nadar Mahajana Sangam, Madurai. Though he rose to a higher status in life, he never forgot his first employer Dasan Nadar, and had very high regard, and respected him.
An employer with a difference
He was the one among a few business VIPs of those days in that region, licensed to use a revolver for their personal safety. He had a revolver (automatic) by which 6 bullets could be fired at a stretch. But he did not get the opportunity to use it in his entire lifetime. Also, he was one of the very few persons in Munnar, having a car, a lorry, a motor cycle, and an Ecophone brand radio, made in Italy, at the time when Gramophones were in use. He took his brothers’ and sister’s sons and employed them in his establishment, which was his long-desired objective. Along with them, he brought his wife’s close relatives and others also from low-country to Munnar and employed them in his business concern to earn their livelihood, as their native places were not receiving periodical rains, resulting in abandoning their traditional agriculture occupation.
He also accommodated a Malayalee Christian, K.J.Antony from Chalakudy, Kerala, in his team and made him as the authorized Company tailor of Thenmallay Estate. Thangasamy Nadar maintained a very good relationship with fellow merchants and government officials and bank officials. He imported essential commodities such as rice, jaggery oil etc. and sold at reasonable prices, with less profit margin.
While his business expanded, he established business connections in Madurai, Trichy, Madras, Udumalpet, Pollachi, Kangeyam, Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, Bodinaickanur etc. in Tamil Nadu and Alwaye, Permbavoor, Ponkunnam, Chalakudy etc. in Kerala by whom various goods were supplied at wholesale prices to his establishments. His employees were highly paid, and were neatly dressed, when compared to other similar establishments in the region. Further, the needs of the employees, however small or big, from marriage to death were met by him from his own resources. He also provided them with gramophones in the shops, to be used for their entertainment, as there was no electricity or hardly any entertainment in the estate region in those days. He treated his employees as the partners of the establishment and never as subordinate employees. Those who wanted to leave the establishment for personal reasons and to settle in the low-country were supported by him to establish own businesses in their own places of Tamil Nadu. The employees working in his shops in Munnar Town were fed in his own house and his wife, Nesammal, cooked the food for them. Further, if any employee who left the shop wanted to return to the shop, he was accommodated and put up in the same position which he enjoyed earlier. Every Christmas he used to present new dresses to the employees and their families. Hence, the employees and their families had very high regard and affection on him.
Thangasamy Nadar, though a Mudhalali (shop owner), was adept in working as a sales man on the Kalla (a wooden stool for sitting placed on the wooden partitions containing merchandise items). Without using any note book or a paper slip to note down the saleable merchandise items, he remembered the value of every item and counted in mind the total amount to be collected from the customers. Simultaneously, he attended to about 3 or 4 customers. He had also to bundle the merchandise items promptly in newspapers and bind them with strings which came from bundles hanging from the roof as no polythene or paper covers were available in those days.
He was an early riser. Though he went to bed very late, he rose early to go to shops or to the bus-stand. He was very busy and had not idled his time watching movie, etc.
A GREAT ESCAPE FROM TRAGIC BUS ACCIDENT
Around the year 1959, one fine morning, Thangasamy Nadar set out for Alwaye for business purpose from Thenmallay Estate main bazaar shop where he was normally staying. He had planned to travel in the bus called "Jai Hind Motors" bound for Ernakulam which was leaving around 10 a.m. from Munnar, as this time was very convenient for his business plans. He reached Munnar Town by a van.
The same day late evening, an estate worker who just returned from Munnar broke the news concerning the accident of the same bus "Jai Hind Motors" near the place called Valara around 40 km from Munnar in which nearly 20 people were killed on the spot. This happened while giving way to a vehicle coming upwards in a narrow stretch. The ill-fated bus rolled down into the deep gorge of nearly 300 ft down the road, with all passengers inside. But the estate worker concerned had no knowledge about our father's scheduled plan to travel in the ill-fated bus, when enquired about him. At that time, Calvin, son of Thangasamy Nadar happened to be in Thenmallay Estate on vacation. So he was worried and could not contact anybody to know the safety of his father as there was no means of communication by phone from the place of the accident in those days, and hence the fears of his loved ones.
Fortunately, King Calvin, who was staying in the Factory Division of Thenmallay Estate in the residence of the shop, came to know that some staff working in the main bazaar shop of the estate had been to Munnar and returned in the evening. As there was no means to contact him to know about the fate of Thangasamy Nadar, Calvin and some staff of the shop in the Factory Division decided to go to the main bazaar shop which was 1.5 km away, situated in a remote isolated area. So they took a petromax lamp and a powerful torch and reached the main bazaar shop as there was no electricity connection for the isolated main bazaar shop in those days which was frequented by wild elephants the previous night. Photo: Thenmallay Factory Calvin accompanied by the shop staff reached the main bazaar shop and called the shop's staff concerned who was about to sleep as he was very tired of his tedious journey to and fro Munnar.
On enquiry, to the great surprise, it emerged that Thangasamy Nadar did not travel in that ill-fated bus, but travelled in another bus called Swaraj Motors that left Munnar at 1.00 pm and that Thangasamy Nadar witnessed the mangled remains of the ill-fated bus on the way with the large crowd engaged in rescue operation, along with the police and medical squad. The shop staff concerned narrated the circumstances that led to the change in the travel plan of Thangasamy Nadar as below:- While Thangasamy Nadar was in the ill-fated bus which was about to start its journey, one Ramiah Thevar of the Old Munnar, came to the bus and compelled him to get down urgently for inspecting his cow which he had decided to give him in lieu of his huge debt to the Thangasamy Nadar's shop in Munnar. Thagasamy Nadar was adamant and could not oblige Ramiah Thevar due to his important prior business commitment. Since Ramiah Thevar felt that Thangasamy Nadar was not in a mood to get down, he took the suitcase of the latter from his possession without his consent, and alighted from the bus. As such, Thangasamy Nadar had no other go but followed and went with Ramiah Thevar. Thus God saved the life of Thagasamy Nadar from the worst accident of those times, which claimed many lives. Other family members in Munnar Town were not aware of the aborted bus journey of Thangasamy Nadar in the ill-fated bus except the shop staff in the Munnar Town. Photo: view of Thenmallay Estate in the recent past
TWO FAITHFUL DOGS
During 1950s, in Thenmallay Estate, Thangasamy Nadar owned all the provision stores of the estate and one ration shop-cum-cloth store. The ration shop was situated in a lonely place with living quarters for the shop employees, a tailor shop owned by late K.J. Antony who was lovingly called "Antony Annan" or "Antony Chettan" whose family also stayed in the quarters. During this period, the family of Thangasamy Nadar had reared two domestic dogs, called Mani and Tiger.
Mani was a very faithful dog who used to accompany my father during his visits to all the shops located in different divisions of the estate. The other dog named Tiger was very ferocious. It was a Rajapalayam breed. It was always tied to a post near our lonely Ration shop. At night, it was untied and allowed to roam. Nobody was allowed to visit the shop after 8 PM. The other dog, Mani, was a very calm one. He used to take its food which was normal. But Tiger was given beef and other special food.
ENCOUNTER WITH A WILD ELEPHANT
Another incident is narrated here in which Thangasamy Nadar's pet dog that saved his life from a wild elephant at night in the year 1958. One late evening Thangasamy Nadar, the bazaar man of Thenmallay Estate had to go to the Lower Dn for collecting the dues, being the payment day. When he set out from the isolated main bazaar it had already became dark. So he took with him the pocket torch, his revolver and pet dog Mani, for his protection. On the way, when he was nearing the area known as "cheelai thookki valaivu", the pet dog going in front of him suddenly stopped and started making a strange noise cautioning some danger was ahead. In the meantime, it didn't allow him to go ahead by blocking his way. But he ignored it and tried to go ahead. As the pet already sensed the danger, ran before him and started barking vigorously at him and also towards the road ahead of them. At the same time, he heard a thundering voice of an elephant from the immediate turning point ahead and perceived that an elephant was there. So he immediately turned back and started running in a hurry. But the pet dog continued its vigorous barking and rushed to the other side of the curve that was not visible from their side and started chasing the elephant away. In the meantime, he reached a safe spot and waited for the pet to return. He was hearing the pet's barking more vigorously for quite some time and then its bark stopped. After a few minutes the pet dog Mani returned after fully exhausted with it's tongue floating out of mouth and joined with his master waving its tail. The master hugged and patted it for some time and both returned home. The next day early morning when the estate workers going for work in that way noticed the footprints of the elephant, the elephant dung, and the shrubs pulled down in that area. (Photo: Elephant in Chenduvurrai Estate in the recent past)
Mani was a British breed, with bushy light brownish hair, which was gifted as a puppy by the estate manager of Thenmallay Estate during that period. Mani fell sick after the demise of Thangasamy Nadar, it's master and ultimately died. The family grieved the death of Mani, the faithful dog for some months.
Thenmallay Estate
Enduring bond established with the Estate Manager
The following incident happened in the early 1950s when Thangasamy Nadar was the bazaar man in Thenmallay Estate and the authorised vendor of the K.D.H. Company for supply of goods to the estate. One day, when he returned from his business tour, he happened to notice the wheel of a pleasure car lying in a corner of the main bazaar. On enquiry, he came to know that it was found on the main road leading to the estate in the early morning of the previous day by the driver of the KPR Transport that was transporting goods to the main bazaar from Udumalpet every week. So, the next morning he went to the estate office to pass the information to the surrounding estates to find out the owner of this material. As a result, he came to know that the spare wheel was detached and fell down from the car of the estate manager Mr John Martin of the erstwhile Sothuparai Estate (situated next to Thenmallay Estate) when he was returning from the High Range Club in the midnight. The Manager could come to know about this only in the next morning and sent people to search it but in vain. The car was an imported two seater small car being used for his personal use. Since the spare wheel was unavailable in the local market, he was worried much. In the meantime Thangasamy Nadar engaged a worker and got this head loaded by him and then he accompanied the worker to the manager's bungalow which was situated 3 miles away from the main bazaar and handed it over to him. On seeing the wheel back to his possession, it was a great surprise for him. The Manager jumped in joy, hugged Thangasamy Nadar and thanked him a lot for taking great pains in restoring the lost material.
Following the above incident, the Estate Manager Mr John Martin developed a very good impression about Thangasamy Nadar. At that time, there was a need for a canteen keeper in the office division of the estate. The Manager called Thangasamy Nadar and gave him the license to run the canteen. But, since Thangasamy Nadar was not in a position to run the canteen, he entrusted this canteen to one of his loyal employees, Pachaiappan of Kamatchipuram.
Later days, Sothuparai Estate was amalgamated with Gundumallay Estate and Mr John Martin became the manager of the amalgamated estate.
Some years later, around the year 1960, there was a need for a bazaar man in the Upper division of the Gundumallay estate for which the Manager again asked Thangasamy Nadar to run the same by giving him the license. However, since Thangasamy Nadar was not in good health, he could not take over the shop. Ultimately he became seriously ill and expired. After his death, that shop was given to one Seeniappa Nadar who was already running a shop in Munnar Town. Later days, Sri Lakshmanan, a loyal ex-employee of Thangasamy Nadar was given the opportunity to run the shop in place of Seeniappa Nadar.
In the year 1971, while Mr. John Martin was the manager of Periavurrai Estate, Calvin, the son of Thangasamy Nadar, author of this article joined the KDHP Company as Assistant Field Officer and worked there for 6 years from 1971 to early 1977 until he was transferred to Kalaar Estate on promotion. Mr. John Martin kept Calvin in his good books being the son of his unforgettable bazaar man.
(The above incident was written by King Calvin as narrated by Mr Amose Rajamoney, a faithful employee cum relative of Thangasamy Nadar).
Personal, moral life of Thangasamy Nadar