Periyarism traits that I saw in my father
My father was an ardent follower of Periyar from whom I have visualized a few ideologies of Periyar which I was able to correlate in my later years after learning about Periyar. Every year on September 17th, the birth anniversary of Periyar, my father never forgets to offer his respect. I was amused to know that when my father was the students’ secretary during his college days, they used to invite Periyar as their chief guest. This personal contact with Periyar is due to the admiration my father had on his speeches and ideologies which I saw reflecting in my father’s life. I would like to share a few such incidents. The very name Periyar was given to E.V.Ramasamy by the Neelambikai Ammaiyar, daughter of Maraimalai Adigal, as a token of appreciation for raising his voice in support of the freedom of women. When I was born my mother and grandmother were not happy of me being a female child because they were expecting a boy and even my mother neglected to take me in her hands, it was my