After his release from the prison in Coimbatore, noted freedom fighter, trade unionist and Tamil scholar V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, lived at Perur on the city outskirts, worked as the manager of Coimbatore Labourers' Bank and Stores and regularly visited his trade union office by a bullock cart. The trade union office was located in front of ‘Stanes Mill’ (Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mills). After Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call to boycott foreign clothes, VOC held a meeting at the ground opposite Stanes Mill. The august gathering to burn foreign clothes witnessed the participation of as many as 5000 people.
After his release from the prison in Coimbatore, noted freedom fighter, trade unionist and Tamil scholar V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, lived at Perur on the city outskirts, worked as the manager of Coimbatore Labourers' Bank and Stores and regularly visited his trade union office by a bullock cart. The trade union office was located in front of ‘Stanes Mill’ (Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mills). After Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call to boycott foreign clothes, VOC held a meeting at the ground opposite Stanes Mill. The august gathering to burn foreign clothes witnessed the participation of as many as 5000 people.
“The large fire set by VO Chidambaram Pillai went up high and burned for about an hour from 5 to 6 PM. The god-fearing people of Coimbatore viewed the blaze as nothing but the Mahadeepam of Tiruvannamalai (The great light of Tiruvannamalai), which is an avatar of Lord Siva “says the noted, late Tamil scholar A.Krishnasamy Naidu, who was also the first Tamil teacher of the historical PSG Sarvajana Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore. It may be noted that Rabindranath Tagore visited PSG Sarvajana Higher Secondary School and sang his Jana Gana Mana… in front of the students in 1929 even years before it was declared as National Anthem.
A.Krishnasamy Naidu’s article Thennaattil Suthanthiram Vendiya Muthal Thalaivar (The first leader who wanted the freedom of nation in the south) informs his friendship with VOC. The former often met the freedom fighter and discussed the strategies to free the nation from the British.
Born in 1888 at Poolaimedu (Peelamedu), A.Krishnasamy Naidu alias ‘Aa.Ki. Naidu’, has left a corpus of his writings to posterity. The books, which he authored, were Poolai Maanagaram Sri Karivaradharaja Perumal Thothira Pathigam, Thirivalluvar Kaviyam, Tholkappiyar Kanda Tamil Samudhayam, Kavichakravarthi Kambar Varalaru, Kammavarum Thennaadum, Naalvagai Paavum Paavai Nonbu Varalarum, Thirubhagavan Geethai Unmaiporul and Poolaimedu Varalaru. Besides, a miscellany of his articles and poems are still in manuscripts, which have been preserved by his son Muppal Mani, a researcher in philosophy and retired Tamil professor from the Government Arts College, Coimbatore.
However, the book Pandithar A.Ki. Nayudu Avarkalin Vaazhvum Thamizh Paniyum, authored by V.Vignesh, an assistant professor of Tamil at PSG College of Arts and Science, which has been lately published by Kalaikathir Pubications, is an informative document on the life and mission of Aa.Ki. Naidu. It may be noted that Kalaikathir Pubications was founded by well-known educationist GR Damodaran.
“It took me about three years to collect information and write the book Pandithar A.Ki. Nayudu Avarkalin Vaazhvum Thamizh Paniyum. Since Naidu was the first Tamil teacher of PSG Sarvajana Higher Secondary School and authored a number of research works in Tamil literature between the years 1924 and 1969, I took interest in documenting his life and mission” says V.Vignesh, the author of the book.
K.Ramachandran, a nonagenarian, who was a student of Aa. Ki.Naidu at the PSG Sarvajana Higher Secondary School between 1947 and 1950, and former secretary of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, recalls:
“Since I hailed from the village Karadivavi, Aa.Ki. Naidu nicknamed me after it and would beckon me as “De Karadivavi” (Hey! Karadivavi, come here). Naidu would come to school, driving his cow all the way from his home at Peelamedu. The cow would be grazing at the school ground, while he took classes for us. A man with a passion for Tamil literature and regional history, Naidu had known about the play Vaanaasooran, written by Appi Naidu, a writer who lived in Karadivavi in the 19th century, and expressed his wish to visit the playwright’s home once. His wish revealed the admiration he had for the forerunners of literature in the Kongu region” recalls Ramachandran,
Kavianban Babu, author of the book Therintha Kovai Theriyatha Kadhai (Known Coimbatore, its Unknown tales) says:
“Aa. Ki. Naidu’s Thiruvalluvar Kaviyam portrays the great philosopher-poet Thiruvalluvar as a proto-Marxist, for his propagation to found an egalitarian society. Naidu, who was a Gandhian throughout his life, has said in his writings that the one personality who could be compared with the father of the nation was none other than Thiruvalluvar”
Durai. Madangan, a writer and bibliophile, who is known for his library of rare books Yaazh Noolagam in Coimbatore, remembers:
“ Aa.Ki.Naidu, who wrote Thiruvalluvar Kaviyam in 4000 venbas, the most complicated verse form in Tamil, had the nuances of Tamil prosody at his fingers ends even in his ripe old age until he passed away in 1980”
Inspired by the Tamil proficiency of his maternal uncle Vidwan. Pudhu. Mu. Venugopalsamy Naidu, Aa.Ki. Naidu pursued Tamil Pandit course at Sethupathi Senthamizh Kalasalai in Madurai Tamil Sangam. Since Coimbatore had little transport facility those days, Naidu walked from Coimbatore to Madurai in 1909 and enrolled for the residential Tamil course. He passed the Tamil examination called' Pravesha Panditha Pareekshai' in 1912.