When Tamil professor and popular
writer Perumal Murugan was hounded by Hindutva and caste outfits for
his alleged depiction of Kongu women in poor light in his novel
Madhorubhagan, his old
students, who have high regards for him, were also helpless like him.
On a day, when they heard that their 'Ayya' (Tamil professor) had
received continuous threats and haunts from his protestors, his
students, who were mostly Tamil teachers in different schools and
colleges across the state, could hardly do anything to condemn the
incident. Nevertheless, recollecting their great teacher's care and
affection for them, they have now come out with a book ' Engal Ayya'
( Our Tamil teacher).
It
may be noted that Perumal Murugan had to tender an unconditional
apology for the 'controversial' content and decide to pulp all his
literary works. In his Facebook page, the writer even declared the
'death' of the author ' Perumal Murugan' in him and he would,
henceforth, be called only by his natural name ' Pe. Murugan', a mere
Tamil teacher.
At
this juncture, answering a question on how his students estimated the
writer's controversial works and whether they have any idea to bring
the writer ' Perumal Murugan' back to life, Velayudham, proprietor of
Vijaya Pathipagam, who presided over a symposium on the book at the
literary organisation 'Kalam' recently, said:
“ This
symposium is only on 'Pe. Murugan' the Tamil teacher, and not on '
Perumal Murugan', the writer. Let's discuss the latter some time in
future “
Admiring
'Engal Ayya', Velayudham informed:
“ I
read the entire book in an over night. 'Pe. Murugan' is a man of
simplicity, who was always seen carrying a 'Manjal Pai' ( An ordinary
yellow cloth bag) and wearing a pair of ordinary Khadhi chappals. A
great teacher, he was of any help to his students, both academically
and personally. The book on him should be read by professors of the
present day so that they could learn the role of a teacher in shaping
a student's personality” added Velayudham.
A
Chinnadurai, an old student of 'Pe. Murugan', recalled:
“ Like
his favourite legendary Tamil scholar, U.Ve.Sa alias U.V. Saminatha
Iyer, our Ayya too loved the mischief of his students. Though he was
a great writer with a number of books to his credit, he never
popularized any of his works in class ”
N.Arul
Murugan, Chief Educational Officer of Coimbatore District, who was
also a student of 'Pe. Murugan', said in his special address:
“ What
we learned from our Ayya was his life, as he lived it the way he
taught us”
Manikandan,
Sivakumar, Chandran, Savitri, Jayakumar and Ranjan, who were also
professor 'Pe. Murugan's students, addressed the
symposium.
Link to my article in The New Indian Express : http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/11339763
