V.O. Chidambaram Pillai

In news– Recently, the Prime Minister paid tribute to V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary.

A brief note on V. O. Chidambaram Pillai(1872-1936)-

- He was born on 5 September 1872 in a Vellalar family in Ottapidaram, Tirunelveli District.
- The legendary freedom fighter was popularly known as ‘Kappalottiya Tamizhan (the Tamil Helmsman)’and Sekkizuththa Semmal (scholarly gentry who suffered at the oil press).
- He graduated from Caldwell College, Tuticorin.

He entered politics in 1905 following the partition of Bengal.
Towards the end of 1905, VOC visited Madras and was drawn closer to the Swadeshi Movement initiated by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai.
It was not until the arrival of V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (VOC) at Tuticorin (Present day Thoothukudi) that the Swadeshi movement in Tirunelveli district began to gather force and momentum.
VOC was drawn towards Ramakrishna Mission and came into contact with Subramania Bharati and the Mandayam family.
He founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company(SSNC) in 1906 to compete against the monopoly of the British India Steam Navigation Company.
He launched the first indigenous Indian shipping service between Tuticorin and Colombo with the SSNC, competing against British ships.
VOC won the active support of another fiery Tamil orator, Subramania Siva.
VOC and Siva were aided in their efforts by a number of Tirunelveli-based lawyers, who formed an organisation called the Swadeshi Sangam, or ‘National Volunteers’.
He supported the Tuticorin Coral Mills strike.
Even prior to Gandhiji’s Champaran Satyagraha, VOC took up the cause of the working class in Tamil Nadu.
Hence, Tuticorin Port Trust, one of India’s thirteen major ports, is named after him.
At one time a member of the Indian National Congress, he was later charged with sedition by the British government and sentenced to life imprisonment, and his barrister license was revoked.
He was awarded a double life-sentence by the British court.

His literary works-

He had penned commentaries on Tirukkural and Sivagnana Potham.
He also had a special interest in self-help books of James Allen and translated some of them when he was in the Coimbatore prison.
The autobiography in Tamil verse which he started in prison was completed upon his release in 1912.
He also compiled ancient works of Tamil grammar, Tholkappiam.
He showed ingenuity in his works of Meyyaram and Meyyarivu, praised for spontaneous style.