Kamaraj and the journalist 888888888888888888888888 Dharmalingam Venugopal of the Nilgiri Documentation Centre, Kotagiri, one of the regular contributors to Hindu newspaper column, has sent me a brief biography of his late father, Andi Dharmalingam, a legendary correspondent in the Nilgiris for The Hindu for 30 years and for the United News of India for 20 years. There was no one visiting Ooty, administrator, politician, bureaucrat, professional or businessman, who did not know the immaculately booted and suited Dharmalingam who always had his felt hat at hand. But among the legion who knew him, a particularly good friend was K. Kamaraj, in and out of office. Two stories Venugopal relates about Kamaraj in the book he has compiled add interesting footnotes to the history of the Nilgiris. In the first instance, it is related that Kamaraj was responsible for the setting up of the Government Arts College in Ooty in the mid-1950s. But many of his colleagues, including his Education Minister, were dead against the idea and when it was established kept pointing to the meagre enrolment. In 1958, the Minister threatened to close the College if enrolment did not improve. This was on the eve of the visit to Ooty of Bulganin and Khruschev. A delegation led by the local MLA and Dharmalingam rushed to Madras to appeal to the Chief Minister against the closure. Kamaraj, however, lost his shirt; how irresponsible could they be, he chastised them, coming to Madras when they should be in Ooty preparing a grand welcome for the Russian leaders and the Indian VIPs coming with them. If someone was foolish enough to say he would close down a college, how could all of you be foolish enough to believe it, asked Kamaraj. “I did not open a petty shop in Ooty to be closed the moment business is dull; I opened an educational institution that will educate generations of local people.” He then ordered them to somehow get back to Ooty and welcome the VVIP guests in a grand manner on the morrow. And they did — and the college still fulfils Kamaraj’s dream. The other story relates to what I discovered was the first Tourist Bungalow in Madras State which became a Hotel Tamil Nadu. During one of his summer visits, Kamaraj was strolling through the Botanical Gardens with Dharmalingam when a group of middle class Indian tourists greeted him. As was his wont on such occasions, Kamaraj stopped to talk to them and inquired how they found the food and accommodation in Ooty. When they complained about the lack of proper lodging facilities, Kamaraj turned to Dharmalingam and asked what had happened to the tourist bungalow that had been sanctioned for middle class tourists. Sanctioned, Yes; a site found for it, Yes; but that’s as far as we’ve got, Dharmalingam responded. Kamaraj promptly asked Dharmalingam to take him to the site and from there went straight to where he was staying, rang the officials handling the matter, and ordered work to begin the very next day. And it did. That, writes Venugopal, is how the State got its first Tourist Bungalow — and began a chain of what are now called Hotel Tamil Nadu.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:28:36 +0000
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