33
It was with great fortune that I found
my divine teacher as “ PERI DI ELBARAIL” ( Thelbarail in Thamizh). He belonged
to the famous Missionary of Eastern Priests (MEP) and came to serve in the Pondicherry Commune , in India on the 22nd
day of May 1935. He was well versed in Thamizh, the local tongue. He hailed
from the place called Montaboun in France. He got his Doctorate Degree in
Philosophy from the Gregorian University of Rome.
8. MY
DIVINE MASTER
MONTABOUN
34
In fact he longed to serve in my locality
viz., Kallakurihci in the Pondichery Dioceses. No wonder The Most
.Rev.Bishop. Colas preferred to hand
over the Kallakurichi Parish to Rev.Elbarail.
35
The first time when I went to pay my homages
to Rev. Fr. Elbarail; the experience was thrilling and overwhelming . His
presence filled my soul with a divinely feeling the kind of which I had never
experienced before. The moment he saw me , he uttered “ Come, My son Rathinam!
”. I was wondering how he had come to know of my name and it was equally
shocking to hear him speak in chast Thamizh. In fact in order to show off my
Mastery in English , I presented him with a Greetings, in the form of an
English Poem. Accepting my Greetings; he said, “My son Rathinam, It’s rather
you that I am willing to accept than anything else”. I could immediately feel
as to how Simon would off felt when
Jesus Christ picked him up from among the fisher folk as one of his disciples!
Right from that day, I made it a point
to assist and serve Father Elbareil after my teaching hours in the school. My
wife Savari Ammal, besides looking after our agricultural lands in and around the “ Rabbit hills” in the village
Ulagangathan,
served The Rev. Father who was staying
by cooking and house keeping whenever she found time to spare. Ever since my
mother passed away, my father was staying with us. As his behavior at times was
odd and inconvenient to me and my career, he was sent back to our native
village Thirukovilur.
36
My Divine Master Rev.Elabareil after
learning that my stay in Ulagangathan had separated me from Him, he saw to it,
I got transferred to Kallakurichi itself. On arriving at Kallakurichi, we built
a house inside the church where we lived for quite some time.
It was middle of a night when suddenly
I heard strange sound coming from the Father’s personnel room; as if someone
was being whipped non- stop . Out of curiosity and fear I managed to peep
through the window and what I saw shattered me to pieces. Oh! my Master was
whipping himself with all his force and his body was sweating and bleeding.
Before I could do anything, he stopped whipping and kneeled down to pray. I
simply kept watching all these without winkling my eyes, totally stunned and
shocked as I was !
After a long and intense prayer, he
opened the door and called for me. “Come my son, Rathinam. Are you frightened
at what you saw? Don’t be scared. This is nothing but a Penance;Prayer and self
induced punishments are the only ways to reach God and get his blessings”. So
saying he further added “ As I am from a very affluent family , owning a ship
and leading a very luxurious and modern life, I had lived a sinful life.
37
All the whippings and the pains were
the atonement to cleanse me of my sins.” I looked around and scanned his
personal room;what a simple and poor life he was living ! He had a very
ordinary bed , comprising of wooden frame interwove with rope , this kind
usually found in poor farmer’s home. There was no mattress nor a soft pillow to
sleep on. My shock intensified further to see his simplicity considering his
back drop. I could not comprehend the depth of his love to serve in India, far
away from his home town and the loved ones.
We both remained silent for a while and
the priest
addressed me as his son and asked if I would help him to spread the Word
of Christ in that region. Without a thought
I simply uttered that I will be with him to share all his joys and
sorrows, victory and defeats as a son
would. He embraced me with all love and affection , his eyes swelling with
tears of joy, despite my instantaneous acceptance, I confessed to the Reverend
about my shot temperedness and provocative nature and pleaded that I might be
pardoned if at all my in born nature came to surface.
38
“ Never mind my son” said the Priest
and from that instant I accepted him as my Divine Master, because he had so
much faith in my other positive qualities. I reciprocated his immense faith in
me all along. There were occasions when people used to make false allegations
against me but the Reverend rather dismissed such persons forthwith. Thus the
Reverend Father Elbarail not only became my Divine Guru but also was the
ultimate force behind my success in all my personal efforts to serve my Indian
brethren, who were poor and socially weaker.
PERI di ELBAREIL
39
FATHER’S RELATIVES
MARTHAL
40
41
9. END OF MY TEACHING PROFESSION
The very next day, Soon after the Mass,
I joined the Reverend to sort out an agenda to be adhered in our attempt to put
our schemes into action. As an highly learned person, he had already evolved
some specific schemes. Thus, a Seven Point Program was formulated by us on that
eventful day itself.
They were:
1. EDUCATION TO THE POOR
2. LOW CREDIT LOAN
SCHEME
3. BUILDING
ORPHANAGES
4. AWAKENING THE
INNOCENTS
5. REMOVING BONDED
LABOUR
5. EMPLOYMENT TO
THE NEEDY
6.INVESTING MONEY
IN THE LAND FOR FUTURE
CONSTRUCTIONS.
7.LAND TO THE
LANDLESS and finally
8. BAPTISM TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED.
which was aptly termed as “ELBAREIL”
named after himself. We jointly decided to carry out these schemes one
after the other.
42
It was around these time that some of
those good Souls were jealous of and could not stand my progress had sent a
petition against me to the Inspection section of the Education Department;
seeking action against me indulging is extra curricular activities while on
duty as a school teacher.
The
fact was that I took leave whenever I had to assist the Reverend which was
within the school norms. But the Inspector who is a religious fanatic joined
hands with some of my envious colleagues and did whatever they could to see
that, I got suspended . As I was an angry man by nature; provoked by such
stealthy act, but at the same time trusting in God, I tore off my service
register myself and asked them who were they to suspend or terminate me . This
was how I put an end to my teaching career, which I never regretted at any
point of time during my life span
12. REDEMPTION OF
BONDED LABOURS
We began to execute Rev.Father.
Elbarail’s schemes one after the other. We chose the scheme, depending on the
localities and circumstances.
To start with , it was the “ Redemption
of Bonded Labors Scheme” that we under took to execute.
There is hardly any difference between
the Ruler and the Ruled ( Master and Slave ) and that of the Bonded Labor
system.
The Master - Slave systems comes under
the purview of the caste system. The lower caste men are slaves to those of the
upper castes; the former is forced to address the latter as “ Swamy...! Swamy” ( Oh God, Oh God ..).By
doing so the so called upper caste men consider themselves as saviors (Gods) of
the so called lower caste men. Such is the stinky gutter like and
heartless caste system; the fangs that
mercilessly marauds
the less fortunate once.
On one occasion , Rev.Elbarail and me
had to visit a village for a survey. we witnessed a scene that was shocking and
so inhuman. Yes! A seventy year old haggard man was grazing the cattle in the
fields. A boy of about seven years ran to him shouting ,“ Hey you, Karuppa
(Black man) !
63
My mom has given some gruel. You better
bring your mud pot, common hurry up”.
The old man brought and kept is mud pot
on the floor and stood away from the boy as the custom was. The boy poured the
gruel without touching the mud pot. The old man drank the watery gruel and
asked for some water to drink as he felt very thirsty. The boy brought water in
a brass vessel and began to pour it into the outstretched palms of the old man
which the held together forming a
hemispherical bowel. At this, the boy
shouted again, “Hey ! You fool ! Hold the hands tighter, the water is leaking
through your loosely held palms and splattering on my feet, spoiling the
sanctity of our caste”. “ Yes. Little Master ! Please some more” said the old
man adjusting his palms and greedily drinking the water without spilling
any.
My Divine Master could not make out
anything
out of the above episode. “ Why is the
little brat
shouting at the weak old man ? Is the old man his
grandpa, by any chance ? But then, why is he pouring water into his palms
instead of handing over the vessel itself ?” The Reverend father asked totally
perplexed.
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I explained “ Father ! What you saw is
the evil out come of the caste - system. The old man belongs to a lower caste
whereas the boy is of upper caste. The old man is just a farm hand in the farm
land belonging to boy’s father. So the
little boy is the Master and the old man is his slave.
65
I further said that only time will
eliminate this Master - Slave system, born of casteism. I went on to explain
the other slavery systems affecting the human values
and the Double-glass- system practiced in hotels and tea shops whereby there
were separate costly vessels for the
upper caste and very cheaper ones ( like Coco nut shell ) for the lower castes.
Moreover, the lower castes had to carry their foot wear in their hands properly
hidden, once they reach the place occupied by the upper caste people. They had
separate grave yards for upper and lower castes; the former in a reasonably
good locality and the latter in a remote area
filled with bushes or slushy pits.
66
Though the Rev. Father had read about
such evil practices , his heart became heavy on seeing such things happening
right in front of his eyes.
The Reverend exclaimed “ our Heavenly
father ! Please forgive them, for they are not aware of what they are doing” It
was more than a prayer seeking forgiveness for the wrong doers.
What’s all about Bonded labor system:
------------------------------------------------------
The bonded labor system is a horrible
social setup whereby the descendants of Great grand fathers were in fields ,
Quarries or homes of a money lender from whom they had borrowed some money,
seed or grains, on compound interest that keep accumulating in geometric
progression. It’s the most wretched system of exploiting the gullible and the
illiterates by getting their thumb impressions on bond papers , the contents of
which will be irrelevant and least fair to the actual write ups, which will
keep
generations, after generations as
bonded laborers to such Masters; maybe worse than Shylock of ‘The Merchant of
Venice’.Such money lending Masters will
keep counterfeit and falsified loan papers signing which one becomes a bonded
labor to them till he settles the loan in full with interest !
67
If at all any family is able to repay
the principle along with the accrued interests, they would be freed from the
bondage. Such laborers who had redeemed themselves will be very, very few and
negligible.
Since we decided that we would be able
to help such bonded labors, we gave top priority to that scheme, so as to
redeem them from eternal bondage.
To begin with , we started the “ LOW
CREDIT LOAN SCHEME”.
68
We started the scheme, in areas like
Ulagan gathan, Kottalam, Siruvathur, Kaaranoor, Vallimathuram, Sirupakkam,
Kallakurichi... etc. We gave interest free small loans to coolies and petty
traders. We also took an account of those who were subjects
of
the Bonded- labor- system.
Many were the bonded laborers who were
totally ignorant of the fact that they were eternal slaves to their greedy
masters. They would not realize nor understand
the wretched condition they were in . They underwent such ordeals
thinking that all was due to their fates and the ill omen of their past life !
They hardly knew that it was all due to the ill effects of the caste- system.
Some of the redeemed laborers could not
help working again under their ‘cruel masters’ due to their poverty. In order
to prevent such re-employments , we bought some land.
After redemption, we distributed two
acres each to the ex-bonded laborers out of the land purchased by Rev.Elbarail.
Since the reverend had some influence with the Government, the caste fanatics
could not do anything to us. Nevertheless, the money lending masters and many
of the land lords were looking out for a suitable moment
69
to do away with me as they were
antagonized;for they took all our sincere efforts as a great challenge to their
caste oriented fanaticism.
Out of the redeemed bonded laborers ,
many had realized the truth and expressed their willingness to join the
Christian-Folds which honored them as humans and gave fresh lease of life from eternal bondage.
It has to be noted that we never
compelled nor preached Christianity to any one. It is very much natural for
some of those who became Christians for materiel considerations , to drift away
and join their past religious sect.
The Third day of December 1944, was a
memorable day, not only because it was
the Feast of St.Xavier, but also because some sixty families became Christians
after getting duly baptized enmas.
Similarly , many families become
Christians, one after the other. At this stage, some alleged that people were
getting bribed to join Christianity after abandoning their old religion.
some of the priests also questioned the
logic behind mass conversions to Christianity; but my
70
Divine Master Rev. Elbareil simply had
to say “ Jesus said that he came in search of the meek, so also I go after the
ignorant and the underprivileged”.
Even now, some people reticule the converted Christians as “ WHEAT-
CHRISTIANS” or “ MILK- POWDER- CHRISTIANS”.
All such comments are meaningless and
malicious, uttered by those who would not and could not hep their own fellow
men and brethren who suffer for want of one square meal and proper shelter to
live in. After all, they are sadists who derive pleasure out of others’
sufferings. Moreover , they are all venomous
scandal mongers who wish to forcibly retain others as slaves and
untouchables in the name of castes , with no heart or soul.
The Thamizh sage and poet Thiruvalluvar
in one of his couplets has to tell this about people who prefer evil for good.
“ Where one has access to ripened sweet
fruits
Why steal the unripened bitter
ones”
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“After all, one should do what one
wishes the others do unto him. So naturally, its human to seek good things. The
day is not far off for all the people to get the change of heart and seek the
Right Path.”
This is what my Divine Master Rev.
Elbareil told me after watching the dark and eerie atmosphere around him.
72
14.
BUILDING CONVENTS AND CHURCHES
Around March 9th of 1939, We began to
build nunneries and abbeys in places like Ulagangathan, Kaaranoor, Siruvathur,
Melnariyapanur and Agarakottalam...etc.
The sisters belonging to the Gonseka
Convent willingly agreed to establish their convent in the above places. Some
good people voluntarily sold their places at a cheaper price, considering our
need for the construction of their
nunneries. In some places, people were against our project. But we succeeded in
convincing and negotiating with some people, avoiding those who were highly
problematic.
In Ulagangathan apart from the school,
we planned to build an orphanage for the parentless and deserted kids.
In order to extend the schools, we
purchased sufficient lands. To begin with, we built huts with roofs covered by
native items like palmyra and coconut leaves.
77
Rev. Elbaraiel had a horse called
Robert which he had brought down from France. Robert had won many prizes for
his intelligence , speed and courage while in France. It was more than a
companion to the Reverend.
As per our scheme , we were going a
final touch to the traditional roofing to our school in Ulagangathan in order
to extent the same . so as to accommodate an abbey also . As work was in
progress simultaneously at various places , we had decided to spend the night
in Ulgangathan itself.
15. FIRE ON THE COTTAGE ROOF
78
As mentioned earlier, there were many
who would not tolerate our act of redeeming the bonded laborers, were on the
look out for the right time to settle the issue with us.
After the hard days labor in fixing the
roof, we were too exhausted and went to sleep earlier than usual. It was a very
deep sleep that night.
Those who would not digest our schemes
of helping the poor by freeing them from bonded labor and gifting them land to
make their own
living had made many cunning attempts to
frighten and disturb us but all in vain.
We were oblivious of their plan to burn
us along with the roof as we were fast asleep for which they had collected and
stored dry shrubs and thorns. As out ill luck would have it was moonless night
and they could shut all the doors and windows with bundles of thorns and shrubs
and fire the whole structure without any difficulty.
Seeing all these stealthy acts, Robert
had neighed which we could not hear as we were in dead sleep. Hearing the
horse’s frantic noise our tormentors
fled the scene half way.
79
As the complete roof was under fire,
Robert freed himself by snapping the rope he was tied with, rushed to our cabin
and knocked down the door. We literally jumped out of our beds in fright. The
Reverend lost no time in gauging the danger. He jumped on to the back of Robert
and almost carried me along with him. “ Go” was all that Rev. Elbarail shouted. Robert fled like a wind jumping over the burning roof and
bundles of thorns with both of us holding on to each other safe on his back. No
wonder, Robert was a prize winning horse!
The men who had by then gathered and
began to put out the fire, were
amazed at the sight of the flying horse carrying two passengers through the
fire unharmed. Many of the villagers still recollect and wonder at whatever
happened at the eventful night in Ulagangathan school.
After the roof burning incidence , our Rev. Father converted the shed like structure into a concrete building.
Those who attempted to disturb our
plans by killing us were put to shame!
80
In the 1940 s. we staged many plays
written jointly by the Reverend and myself in many of our school.
It was in the year 1947, the Primary
school built by us , became a Middle school catering to the students to study up to Eighth Grade.
17. AN HOUR IN CAPPER QUARI
83
After all, Sir. Isac Newton’s Third law
always holds good!
We used to undertake long journeys
either by car or horse. To cover short distances , we used bicycles. Strange it
might sound that I had hired a driver to carry me on the bicycle! His name was
“CHINNA PAIYAN”, meaning “ Little Boy” in Thamizh and he was an associate of
my son , R.Theraisanathan.
84
He had high regards for me and was treated
as an adopted son by my wife Savariammal (a) Siva pakiam.
Due to my deep association with Rev.
Elbarail, I used to maintain appointments to the minute. We jotted down our
programs accurately and adhered to the same without any delay or break. Watching
the direction of my journey , one can make out my assignment for that day.
That’s exactly what the Reverend expected of us.
In those days, traveling doubles (
two persons)
on the bicycle was an offence as per
Police Law. But I had obtained special permission to travel as a pillion rider,
with Chinna Paiyan as the driver. Unaware of this, some people had set a team
of Police to arrest me and tarnish my image as a law breaker.
That day we set out to go to the
convent in Karanoor. They had spied on me as I was traveling through
Kallakurichi, past the Siva temple and arranged the Police team to
humiliate
me.
As we passed by that temple side , a
police man stopped us.
85
After saluting me, he approached Chinna
Paiyan and asked him to get aside enabling him to check as an higher official
was visiting that area. He further warned him not to go on doubles on the
cycle. I intervened and explained that I had got the necessary permission to go
doubles on the cycle. But to the police man’s only intention was to harass me
on some ground or the other.
He began to enquire my boy about the
condition of the dynamo and the brake etc.. In all innocence and fairness my
boy replied that everything in the cycle
was in order. The police man reacted sharply and asked who the hell he thought
he was and how dare he confront the Police without due respect. So, saying , he
slapped Chinna Paiyan heavily on his
cheeks.
As anybody’s guess, I got wild as I
never could stand an innocent fellow getting punished unwarrantedly. I retorted
back and asked the Police fellow “ How and why did you hit my boy?” As the
police man with preconceived notion
grabbed and pulled the long white shawl
( Anga vastaram) wrapped around my neck, an accessory signifying maturity and
dignity in the society. Short tempered
as already I was, I drew out the pair of scissors and stabbed the Police man in
a fit of anger, all in self defense.
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He shuddered with pain and fell flat on
the ground. Leaving that spot I rushed to the nearest police station and
confessed the whole incidence from start to finish.
As I was an influential person among
the people, I was not arrested immediately. As the victim was a Government
servant,an order was issued by the higher authorities for my arrest and
necessary investigation. Accordingly , they arrested me and I on my part felt
guilty of killing a police in fit of anger. My distant relative and D.S.P.
Rathnam felt very sorry for me, when he learnt of my impulsive act and
subsequent arrest.
My cycle driver Chinna Paiyan soon
after my arrest ran to the Reverend and appraised him of the unfortunate
incidence. The Reverend after thorough scrutiny and analysis contacted the then
Viceroy Lord Mount Pattern over the phone (through Trunk call) and explained
the whole affair in detail. By that time, I
was remanded to the Cuddalore Capper Quarry, an open - air - jail.
The Reverend once again got in touch
with the Viceroy and told that Rathinam was as good as his own son and a good person but with short
temper.
87
He further explained how Rathinam was
goaded
as to resort to violent reaction by
stabbing the police who was very much alive after some first aids. He also
cited the open confession of the Police man that he wantonly demeaned Rathinam
by abusing him for nothing, an act of total vindictiveness.
The Viceroy after studying the facts,
asked his secretary to order for my immediate release and arrange for the other
formalities and investigations at Kallakurichi, i.e. my native residence
itself.
88
Thus, my remand at the Cuddalore Capper
Quarry
lasted hardly for an hour !
After the release, the Jail warden
arranged for my food and with due regard sent me back to Kallakurichi in a
police van. It stopped in front of my house and I silently stepped inside. It
was around 3 a.m. when I reached my home. After resting for a while, I woke up
and walked up to the Bhat’s Coffee Shop to have a cup of coffee. As usual, I
ordered for the morning news paper and began to read the latest news. Sipping
my coffee, I entered into a conversation with the coffee shop owner. Some of
the local men who were not aware that I was released and back home, began to
pass derogatory comments saying that Rathinam was doomed for ever, as had been
taken to the Capper Quarry for the murder of a Police man. Without caring for
their comments, I finished my coffee and left the coffee shop carrying the news
paper duly folded. Some of the villagers who saw me leaving the shop in a very
casual manner, began to shout “ It’s
Rathinam’s Ghost haunting the coffee shop at this early hour ”. They were
frightened at my sight and ran helter-skelter in panic.
When the villages learnt that was realised without any blemish, they were
all scared of me.
89
They were all shocked to their roots
and surprised beyond belief. From that
day onwards my, image and popularity began its rise to and around my village.
On my part, I began to regret my short
tempered nature and decided not to be impulsive at any cost. More than that , I
approached my Divine Teacher the Rev.
Elbarail and made a heartfelt confession seeking for his forgiveness and
blessings. Further, I sought his guidance to do away with my anger. After
blessing me , the Reverend advised me to keep my mind calm and balanced. He
further suggested that whenever I
was haunted by the evil force of anger,
I should repeat the Rosary as many times as I could, contemplating in the name
of the Divine and Holy Mother Mary.
After things became normal, I went up
to the police Quarters to meet the Police man injured by me. I explained how
bad , I felt for all that happened
and repented for the same. But he was
more apologetic and explained how he got into the trap of some bad elements, which prompted him
to act against his conscience, as he was not aware of me and my reputation,
being new to that area.
90
He went on adding that his brother- in-
law had got a Government job through my reference. He once again felt sorry for
having abused someone who was a benefactor and a good hearted individual. After
calmly listening to the Police man, I replied that I was also equally to be
blamed for my short temper and angry nature.
Generally, I follow the Biblical verse
according to which one should be as calm as a pigeon and as sharp as a striking
snake which it comes to self defense. Till day, I am not able to understand as
to how and why I got so violent on that eventful day!
Maybe because my self respect was at
state and injustice was meted out to me and my cycle driver, that I lost my
self control and became wild, an expression of my self defensive nature coiled
in me.
There after, I controlled my anger to a
very great extent , as a result of which
I never resorted to any impulsive act of violence in my life.
94
Once, my Divine Teacher Rev.Elbarail
and myself were traveling in the Veppur jungle area. It was a dark night and
some robbers who were hiding on the tree tops pounced upon and way laid us.
The Reverend was an army trained person
with wrestling skills. And I was an exponent in the Silambam techniques ( A
local combat with a long pole). My response was very impulsive and I was about
to defend ourselves with the Silambam. But surprisingly , Father Elbarail did
not attempt anything, but asked the robbers to come to him.
“ How much money do you want? ” That
was all the Reverend asked of them as they approached us. Along with the
robbers , I was equally shocked at His comments. As they realized that they had
way laid an European Father, the Veppur Robbers exclaimed , “ Father, Whatever
we did was out of total ignorance and poverty. Please forgive us and proceed
with your journey ”.
My Divine master asked the intruders,
if they would rob other passers by once we left the area. They simply stared at
each other without any word.
19. THE CREATION OF AZIZ TOWN.
95
“ What will be your price, if you
should stop robbing for ever ?” asked the Reverend. “ Father ! we don’t have
homes to live in nor any land or job to lead a normal life”, was the
spontaneous response from the robbers.
Satisfied with their confession, the
Father said that he will provide them with homes to live in and lands for cultivation; besides,
sufficient money to do some trade provided they did not resort back to robbing.
The head of the robbers swivelled
around in shock and disbelief and bursted out “ Father ! Whatever you say , we
will accept and obey your orders”.Soon
we purchased a large piece of land and built homes for the reformed thieves.
The Reverend named the newly formed tenement as ‘ Asisi Town’.
They kept their words and abandoned
their old profession and engaged themselves
in other trades. Many of them born and brought up in the Asisi Town,
grew up to become teachers and lead a decent life.
The Reverend’s true Christian sprit
forgave the trespassers and blessed them with good life. In short, he walked
his talks.
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20.THE PRIZE OF SERVICE - A TARNISHED IMAGE
Of all the persons, I was very closely
associated with the Reverend Elbarail and this induced envy among those who
hated our association. Such envious people began to make false allegations
against me among the locals and the Reverend as well. To me, this was an act of
the most mean and evil entities, who were insolent and intolerant to see their
fellow mens’ overall growth.
But the Reverend never ever believed
such allegations against me nor he considered such liars in the least. That was
the kind of impeccable faith he had in me and the limit of my real
reverence towards my Divine Master.
Eventually, many such scandal mongers,
who in my opinion were nothing but filthy assess, began to make allegations
against the Reverend himself.
Their main charge against the Reverend
was that he bribed the locals and converted them as Christians and many such
Christians went back to their Hindu
religion. On this basis, they even wrote petition to the diocese alleging that
the non-christians people were dissatisfied with the Father leading to aversion
for the Christians and Christianity.
They cited my name also as party to all
that the Reverend was up to as per their allegations.
97
The Reverend on his part very clearly
and emphatically denied all the allegations saying that “We never paid money
nor tempted or coerced the locals in order to make them Christians. Those who
came to Christian folds did so on their won will and wish; and those who left
Christianity did so on their own volition”.
He was of the strong view that it was
the duty of all the Christians to honor and retain those who became Christians.
He further confirmed that Rathinam ( my self ) was honest and as good as his
own son.
It was a mystery and a harsh fact that
the authorities of Diocese would not bother about the facts behind the
Reverend’s detailed and categorical explanations. However, the Reverend
who felt isolated and humiliated
decided to leave India for good. Accordingly , He requested his authorities to
relieve him from India. Soon he began to prepare for his journey to Paris.
98
My Divine Master Rev. Father Elbarail
left India to his native country of France on the 17th. of January 1947.
21. the reverend’S JOURNEY - BACK HOME
99
Just before bidding goodbye, he called
me up and hugged me with great affection. He stumbled for words and hardly
uttered a word. I was equally saddened and emotionally disturbed to see his
watery eyes. He was a Great Soul who got thousands of people to get into the
Christian folds whose descendants still remain pious Christians.
It was my destiny to join Him in all
his endeavors and A Great Blessing which I shall cherish all through my life!
100
The Rev. Father Elbarail soon after
boarding the ship sailing for France, wrote a letter to me.
22.THE REV. FATHER’S LETTER
101
It was more of a document to certify my
integrity and at the same time a great blow to those who spoke ill of me and
leveled utterly false allegations against me.
Some may think it an act of boasting on
my part, to publish the copy of ths letter in his own hand writing and in my
mother tongue. i.e. Thamizh. But can’t
help doing so just in order to remind my
tormenters about what exactly my Divine
Master had to tell about me.
As the saying goes ‘ I was born with the silver spoon.’ Yes ! We
were comparatively richer than many in our town, owning many acres of land just
adjacent to the sluice of a large lake, facilitating priority for irrigation
and fertility which in turn meant regular harvests. The fact is that those
lands and my ancestral house were duly endorsed to my relatives and associates
by me.
Literally joining hands with my Divine
Master Rev. Fr. Elbarail, We established about seven abbeys and nunneries, built
six churches in and around Kallakurichi. Hundreds of acres land were purchased
and distributed to the poor and downtrodden.
102
Besides spreading Christianity to more
than twenty towns and villages , We bought sufficient lands to eradicate bonded
labors and construct schools, convents and churches in all those areas. Had I
purchased just five acres in a village, I would have added about hundred acres
of land to my already inherited
properties. But I never did such a thing or expected my legal heirs to indulge
in such avaricious act of amassing wealth beyond necessity.
The Rev. Father had unshakable faith in
my integrity and sincerity. Obviously, I
strived hard to maintain my image untarnished though there was plenty of scope
for corruption and temptations.
Even if thousands of allegations were
to be made against me, the above letter
written by my Divine master was sufficient enough to forget them and proceed
with my service to the people without retreading my steps.
After the Rev. Father left for France,
I involved deeply in my party activities, as I already was a member of the
National congress. My political involvement gave me great opportunity to get personally associated with eminent
leaders and statesmen like Mr.Kamaraj,
M.Kakkan and Mr.Ponnusany .. etc which widened my horizon and scope to pursue
my service to the public.
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