Appanaickenpatti is located near Sulur in Coimbatore district. The prosperous village is famous for its Mariamman and Perumal temples.
Appanaickenpatti is located near Sulur in Coimbatore district. The prosperous village is famous for its Mariamman and Perumal temples.
The huge and imposing icon of Perumal is a sight to behold. 'Rosebed' A.G.Guruswamy Naidu hailed from this old village. His father Ganga Naidu had been blessed with A.G.Venkataswamy Naidu, A.G.Guruswamy Naidu, A.G.Rangaswamy Naidu, Peddha Thayakka and Chinnathayakka.
"My grandfather was big made and dark complexioned. He was six feet and three inches tall. He simply hated non vegetarian food and alcohol. His short temper was followed up with generosity. The recipient of his anger was considered to be lucky. He used to do something good for the person concerned.
Grandfather was a staunch Vaishnavaite and never sported Vibhuti on his forehead. He never liked people who used non vegetarian or alcohol. Grandfather used to state that dead people were burnt in the crematorium and the stomach was not to be used similarly by consuming dead animals.
He was generous and possessed a tender heart. The famous Radhakrishna Mills in Peelamedu was founded by him along with a few more people. My elder granduncle A.G.Venkataswamy Naidu and his wife Papammal were blessed with A.V.Srinivasalu Naidu, A.V.Ramaswamy Naidu (father of A.R.Jaganathan - great bridge player & A.G.Guruswamy) and one daughter Lakshmi Ammal.
A.G.Venkataswamy Naidu was very close to his sister who is also my paternal grandmother Chinnathayakka. They were literally like Sivaji Ganesan and Savithri of 'Pasamalar' (movie). My grandmother's elder sister Peddhathayakka was married to Krishnaswamy Naidu of Puliyampatti and they were blessed with - Govindarajulu Naidu (Sri Hari Mills), Rajammal Doraiswamy Naidu (Sesha Nilayam) and Sayammal Uttamaramaswamy Naidu.
I am glad to use this oppourtunity to share all these details, "smiled A.K.V.Ramraj while sharing details about his grandfather 'Rosebed' A.G.Guruswamy Naidu from the old electrical outfit Radhakrishna & Co (located opposite to the Dhandumariamman temple on Avinashi road). A.G.Guruswamy Naidu had passed away in the thirties of the twentieth century.
A.G.Guruswamy Naidu had been an enterprising person and his wealth was immeasurable. The family had donated the property which is currently housing the Government General Hospital on Trichy road in Coimbatore. They had also contributed money and land for the Coronation Park more than 100 years ago.
A.G.Guruswamy Naidu used to own two huge houses, one in Appanaickenpatti and the other was 'Rosebed' on Avinashi road in Coimbatore. The village house had been endowed with a huge swing that was supported by silver chains. The enterprising A.G.Guruswamy Naidu had been the energy behind Radhakrishna Mills and the Managing Agency which governed the mill carried his name.
He was very clear about his financial policies. On purchasing the 'Rosebed' bungalow which had been owned by Europeans, the visionary had stated that the house should run on the income generated from Coimbatore and not Appanaickenpatti. Therefore he established a ginning mill right next to his bungalow in order to secure an income for managing his residence in Coimbatore.
"Grandfather passed away at the age of 53 years only due to illness. He was blessed with 7 children. His first wife came from the same region and she had passed away early. The second wife Seerangamma (aunt of Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu) had a child but unfortunately both the mother and child passed away. My aunt Rukmini was his first daughter. The third wife was from Kalangal.
Finally his life stabilized after marrying my grandmother Elamma who came to known as 'Rosebed' Thayamma. She hailed from Avalampatti Nagoor (near Pedappampatti). Grandfather had to be married to a plantain tree and it was chopped off before he married my grandmother. This was kind of a pariharam or remedy those days.
It was done with the belief that the couple will live happily everafter.He was 42 years old at the time of his marriage and my grandmother was just 15 years old at that time. They were blessed with A.G.Damodaraswamy, Saraswathi Venkatapathy Naidu, Kamalam (wife of Textool Balasundaram), A.G.Varadarajan, Rajamani Govindarajulu and A.G.Sundararajan.
The kids were just 2 years apart from each other and grandfather passed away when my last uncle was less than 2 years of age. On learning that he would not live long, grandfather got the partition done and wrote a will in favour of his family.
Its interesting to note that he was unable to recall all his wealth and had therefore stated that even the properties which were not mentioned in the schedule would go his children. He had spent some time in the Nilgiris for recuperation and his co brother G.T.Narayanaswamy Naidu of Soundararaja Mills had sent a very good cook to serve him.
His passing away was a shock for my grandmother Thayamma for she was just 27 years of age at that time. Grandfather was assisted by Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar (his neighbor), M.S.Palaniappa Mudaliar and G.D.Naidu in the drafting of his will. His personal doctor was Dr.N.Velappan, the first son in law of G.D.Naidu. The family had about 1000 acres of land those days and a lot of cotton was cultivated on those lands, "added the first grandson, A.K.V.Ramraj while sharing details about his grandfather.
'Rosebed' Thaymma began to manage the family affairs with the aid of a managerial team. She handled a lot of tricky and difficult situations with aplomb. The daughters were married to suitable bridegrooms. Saraswathi, the first daughter was married to A.K.Venkapathy (son of her aunt Chinnathayakka who was the spouse of S.G.Kasthuriswamy Naidu, the 'Panakkara Naicker' from Anupappatti), the second daughter Kamalam got married to the Sheffield educated Textool Balasundaram and the third daughter Rajamani married UK educated Govindarajulu of Dindigul.
She took good care of her step daughter Rukmini. My first aunt was another child to grandmother 'Rosebed' Thayamma wore a white saree all her life after the passing away of her husband A.G.Guruswamy Naidu. Her choice of jewellery and clothes were impeccable. Her design inputs used to win the appreciation of the famous jewelers P.A.Raju Chettiar and Kirtilal Kalidas.
A.K.V.Ramraj (son of Saraswathi Venkatapathy Naidu) added to wealth of information by adding some more details, "Grandfather was the pioneer who was responsible for a mill by Coimbatore people. The Managing Agency was known as A.G.Guruswamy Naidu & Co. Building a mill required a lot of capital. Grandfather did not want to borrow money from his brother in law S.G.Kasthuriswamy Naidu for it was not in accordance with custom.
The wealthy cotton trader Chennimalai Krishna Chetty had extended finance for the purchase of machinery during the establishment of Radhakrishna Mills. The wife of Chennimalai Krishna Chetty used to possess the best diamond 'adigai' and 'haram' in Coimbatore those days.
The others partners in the mill were V.Rangaswamy, V.Gopal Naidu families. Sangunni was the other doctor who treated grandfather. After the passing away of my grandfather, my grandmother was in grief. The advise of the father of Bhagavatha Subba Naidu made her to wake up and look into her affiars.
Thereafter she began to look after her family interests. Her sisters used to spend a lot of time with her those days. Grandmother was very innocent but experience made her smart over the years. She was a generous person at all times.
Grandmother used to supervise the ' Paruthi Pangupoduvadhu ' along with her kids. People used to work hard during those times while sorting out cotton. Finally they would be made into 10 packs, half would go to the landowners.
Subsequently 3 packs would be taken by the landowners and 2 packs would be given to the labourers. Our people were good cotton farmers. My uncle A.G.Damodaraswamy was the first to help her out for he was the eldest. Grandmother was quite innovative. She was the first to serve dosa varieties in weddings those days by suggesting the concept which is called 'live dosa' these days. It happened during the wedding of my sister Suseela Balasubramaniam."
'Rosebed' had been an iconic bungalow for a longtime. The name of A.G.Guruswamy Naidu and his wife Thayamma will forever be associated with 'Rosebed' ad their ancestral village Appanaickenpatti. The cotton farmers of Appanaickenpatti and its neighbourhood had added to the entrepreneurial spirit of Coimbatore.