"Grandfather (M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar) found time to take care of our large family and while also indulging in a lot of social work. It was amazing to see him devoting time for so many activities. He was a multi faceted person for he could be at ease with public life, law, accounts, agriculture, administration, co operation, religious activities, land related issues and family matters at one go. He maintained his composure and would lead by example. All our household staff used to be treated well by each one of us. He never wasted food. The leaf used by him would be left spanking clean. He used to request the servers at the weddings to get him a plate in order to remove the food items that he may not consume. No food wastage was his motto. Grandfather would not make any fuss over food and would eat whatever was made available at home. My grandmother Valliammal would be kept informed about all his commercial cum land transactions. She was always in the loop," stated Dr.Gnanapoongothai who has done her Diploma in Medical Virology from the National Institute of Virology in Pune. She has been serving the needs of the society from the P.S.G Institute of Medical Sciences, Coimbatore.
"Grandfather (M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar) found time to take care of our large family and while also indulging in a lot of social work. It was amazing to see him devoting time for so many activities. He was a multi faceted person for he could be at ease with public life, law, accounts, agriculture, administration, co operation, religious activities, land related issues and family matters at one go. He maintained his composure and would lead by example. All our household staff used to be treated well by each one of us. He never wasted food. The leaf used by him would be left spanking clean. He used to request the servers at the weddings to get him a plate in order to remove the food items that he may not consume. No food wastage was his motto. Grandfather would not make any fuss over food and would eat whatever was made available at home. My grandmother Valliammal would be kept informed about all his commercial cum land transactions. She was always in the loop," stated Dr.Gnanapoongothai who has done her Diploma in Medical Virology from the National Institute of Virology in Pune. She has been serving the needs of the society from the P.S.G Institute of Medical Sciences, Coimbatore.
Elumichai Niram Konda (Lemon complexioned) M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar was born to Malaiyandipattinam Shanmugha Mudaliar and Muthunachiyar at the dawn of the twentieth century. Many of his relatives had passed away in a pandemic. He moved over to Coimbatore thereafter in order to pursue his education and completed his B.Sc (Hons). This was followed by his marriage to Valliammal (1914- 1985), the adopted daughter of B.Venkatachala Mudaliar (1863 - 1943). They were blessed with eight children - C.P.Singaram (District Judge), C.P.Natarajan (Chartered Accountant), C.P.Thambiannan (Chief Engineer - Tamilnadu), C.P.Marudachalam (businessman), Meenakshi Ammal, Saradhambal, Ammani Ammal and Dr.Uma Parvathi. The Kula Deivam happens to be Mandhiragiri Velayudhaswamy of Sencherimalai.
M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar used to wear a tuft and would always be in a traditional attire. In fact he sported a dhoti while receiving Queen Elizabeth II at the Madras University. He had served in the Syndicate and Senate of this ancient institution. He used to do a full fledged Shiva Pooja at home every morning. The house had been endowed with a well right in the centre. Water was drawn out of the well for the prayers and MSP (M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar) used to do an abhishekham every day to Lord Shiva. Sandalwood paste for the prayer was ground at home and they had a big stone slab for making the same. Milk from the many cows at the family residence was used for the ablutions. The father in law Periya Veedu B.Venkatachala Mudaliar was a landlord. He was one of the 15 founders of the Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club and S.Kasturi Ranga Iyengar (The Hindu) was amongst them. B.Venkatachala Mudaliar purchased the house belonging to S.Kasturi Ranga Iyengar when the former moved over to Chennai. This became the family residence thereafter for B.Venkatachala Mudaliar who happened to be an advocate. He was the first from Coimbatore to possess a fine pocket watch those days. His brothers were B.Marudachalam Mudaliar (biological father of Valliammal) and B.Ramaswamy Mudaliar. The family continues to manage the old Veeraswamy Mudaliar School and M.Ramaswamy Mudaliar from the family has been at it for the last several decades. The family used to own huge tracts of land in the R.S.Puram area and the Venkatachala Mudaliar Colony can be found on the other side of Thadagam Road.
"Father was a role model. He taught us to be simple. He ensured that the drivers had their meals during marriage ceremonies. We learnt a lot of good things from him. Mother was a kind lady and she managed the show at home. Our house had a Padhiripoo tree right at the entrance and it was one of its kind in the city. Father was known for his public service. He was President - The Coimbatore Co operative Milk Supply Union Limited, The Coimbatore Co operative Housing Society Limited, Ramalingam Cooperative Institute. Father was the Secretary of the Ramalingam TB Sanitorium in Perundurai and also the Treasurer for the NGM College (Pollachi). He was also the Director in Dalmia Cements, Secretary - Union High School Association, Chairman - India Life & Standard Insurance Society, Director - Tamilnadu Cooperative Housing Society and a member of the Cosmopolitan Club in Race Course. There was a time when he had to organize milk on a large scale during the tenure of the Viceroy Lord Wavell and he did it efficiently. The task was done in a few weeks.He therefore came to be known as Milk Supply Palaniappan and was awarded the Rao Sahib title for his good work. He knew Verghese Kurian very well. Father brought in a lot of stud bulls belonging to different breeds and was responsible for the development of the artificial insemination centre in town . Kangeyam, Sindhi and Murraba Buffalo Bulls were brought in big numbers by him. About 5000 cows were successfully inseminated by 1954. He was also closely associated with SPCA. Father was a law abiding person. He got us married at the legal age and did not hurry up in order to get us settled. He believed in gender equality. This attribute was even more evident when he celebrated my mother Valliammal's sixtieth birthday with P.A.Raju Chettiar as the guest of honour," shared Saradhambal.C.P.R.
A number of industrialists and institution builders used to visit MSP and seek his advice. Dr.N.Mahalingam and Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu were top among them. MSP had been soft natured but strict. He was quite close to T.A.Ramalingam Chettiar, C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar, V.C.Vellingiri Gounder, S.R.P.Ponnuswamy Chettiar and the other leaders of the region. The big leaders K.Kamaraj, C.Subramaniam and Kakkan were on good terms with him, In fact he had done a lot of work with the cooperative sector. He was also there with Coimbatore Standard Bank and it had been merged with IOB (Indian Overseas Bank) later. MSP had been the Chairman of the Thiruppani Committee for the Koniamman and Perur Patteeswarar Temple Kumbabishekhams. He had visited all the Thirumurai Sthalams (more than 200 Shiva Temples). The family has been offering a few special poojas at temples and this include the Soorasamharam Kattalai in Sencheri Malai and the Laddoo Pavadai Kattalai at Chidambaram. The Nataraja Shrine used to be decorated with laddoos. Periya Veedu B.Venkatachala Mudaliar had a house in Chidambaram those days. MSP had celebrated his sixtieth birthday at Thirukadaiyur.
"M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar was well known to all of us at home. He used to visit us in order to meet our elder Sivakavimani C.K.Subramania Mudaliar," recalled Mangayarkarasi Kannayiram.
"Dr.S.R.Srikantan was our family doctor and he used to visit us everyday. Grandfather was a perfect gentleman. My grandparents treated their daughters and daughters in law equally. Our house had a nice Thulasi plant and a big vilvam tree. We used to have a number of VIP visitors and it included Chief Minister M.Bhaktavatsalam. He had also met Dr.S.Radhakrishnan and knew Dr.A.L.Mudaliar the famous Vice Chancellor of Madras University. Grandfather was a devout person and he extended his patronage to all the Adheenams of Tamilnadu. I had the oppourtunity to offer a garland to Union Minister Sushila Nayyar (1914 - 2001) during her visit to Coimbatore. Still remember the green pattu pattu pavadi worn by me that day. It had parrots on it. Our family used to shop at Sharadha Cloth Centre and Karana Cloth Palace then,” added Dr. Gnanapoonkothai.
"Grandfather took a lot of interest in guiding people who wished to set up religious and charitable institutions. He guided Annapoorani Ammal (wife of his brother in law Marudanayagam) to establish a free school (Thevara Padasalai) for teaching Thevaram and Thiruvasagam at the Pettai Visweswaraswamy Temple," recalls the grandson Nagarajan.R.
The busy M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar found time for a lot of good things and he added value to the lives of people who came into contact with him.