June 30, 2013

Remembering an Educationist

There were occasions for me to encounter people from different walks of life. One such person was Garodiyaji. A wealthy man who lived in Anna Nagar Chennai for several years. He died few years back. What made me to write something like this is the small picture that was there in the obituary pages of some papers a few days ago. He was a great philanthropist. He contributed immensely for the education of Chennai.  There are several government schools named after him. Garodiyaji  believed in Hindutva. He was a supporter of RSS and its ideology. 
 
A decade and a half ago few like minded persons wanted to develop a school at Manali New Town. It was my place of living  then which was having only a school run by the Catholic Church. The need for proper education was felt by the first generation parents, predominantly by the industrial workers living in New town. Vivekananda Educational Society were running several school successfully with a better national outlook than other schools of Chennai.  He was one among few in Vivekananda Educational Society's office bearers in the forefront of supporting it. However the movement saw many obstacles which were all overcome and the school has established its credentials among the best educational institutions. This blog post is a dedication to the educationists and philanthropists of Chennai.