Source : Suren
EVR fakes
However, one particular alleged incident in Kasi had a profound impact on Ramasamy’s ideology and future work. At the worship site, there were free meals offered to guests. To Ramasamy’s shock, he was refused meals at choultries, which exclusively fed Brahmins. Due to extreme hunger, Ramasamy felt compelled to enter one of the eateries disguised as a Brahmin with a sacred thread on his bare chest, but was betrayed by his moustache. The gatekeeper at the temple concluded that Ramasamy was not a Brahmin, as Brahmins were not permitted by the Hindu shastras to have moustaches. He not only prevented Ramasamy’s entry but also pushed him rudely into the street.
As his hunger became intolerable, Ramasamy was forced to feed on leftovers from the streets. Around this time, he realised that the eatery which had refused him entry was built by a wealthy non-Brahmin from South India.
He is supposed to have spent 1.5 years away from home. His companion while leaving was a Brahmin friend, who doesn’t appear anywhere before or after this incident in his life story. So, in all probability, an imaginary friend.
In any case, the inaugural edition of EVR’s magazine Kudi Arasu had an article by Gnaniyar Adigal, a Saiva Scholar. Among the stated goals of the magazine was Dharma Pracharam :)
The real shift to iconoclasm happened after his tour of Europe in the 1930s. (pic) He is supposed to have visited Germany and spent time in a nudist camp with naturists.
karuNAnidhi fakes
Karunanidhi started his education at a local school. Karunanidhi’s father was eager to teach him music. His music teachers were from the Isai Vellalar group, and the lessons were conducted in temples where he was not allowed to cover his upper body, wear slippers, or wear a cotton cloth around his hips as a sign of respect for the upper caste people. He couldn’t tolerate learning in an environment where he wasn’t treated with respect, which made his father agree to stop his music classes. His father also asked the local headmaster to set up special tutoring courses for Karunanidhi and paid a tuition fee of milk every morning and evening
Totally bogus. Karunanidhi is himself from the same Isai Vellalar group. His father, Muthuvel Pillai, was a scholar of Sanskrit and an accomplished musician. TN Rajarathinam Pillai was said to have learnt from Muthuvel Pillai, for a while, which is how much of a vidwan he was.
- In all temples, no one wore upper clothing except some rich people.
- No one practiced their craft or art with a single vastram. A second vastram was mandated, so that story of upper cloth is nonsense.
- Who the heck wears slippers in a temple?
What Muthuvel Pillai didn’t have was money. The family was improverished since they were attached to a small temple in Tirukkuvalai and not the large Tiruvarur temple nearby.
Nevertheless, Karunanidhi was taught his family trade of music and also, being the only son, was sent to school in the hope he could move to a white collar job and improve the family’s prospects. He turned out to have no interest in formal learning nor the discipline to learn music. He found his calling as a 12 year old in agitating and politics.
Just to contrast, his brother-in-law C S Jayaraman was an accomplished musician and found fame in the movies. His sambandhi (Stalin’s FIL) was a school teacher.
So, if he turned out to be a rabble-rousing thug, it was entirely his fault.
Jotiba Phule
Jotiba Phule was a rich contractor and owned 80 acres of land. He was from a reasonably well off family.
He is supposed to have turned against caste after he attended a Brahmin friend’s wedding, where he was stopped from joining in the wedding procession.