User:ADHIYAMAAN/Athiyamaan

Early days
Mr. Athiyamaan (whose birth name is Subbarao) was born to Mr. Raju (Ex. Councillor) and Mrs. Kannammaal on the 19th day of March 1953 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He did his primary schooling (1959-1964) in Kenvin Municipal Elementary School, R.S.Puram, Coimbatore and high school (1965-1969) in Municipal High School, North Coimbatore. His higher secondary education (PUC) was done (1969-1970) in PSG Arts College, Peelamedu, Coimbatore. He attended college (1972-1975) for Bachelor of Arts degree in the Government Arts College, Coimbatore. After a short stint, he joined the transport department in 1976 as junior assistant and in 1978 he met his future wife P.A. Nalayini. Unlike many of his colleagues, Athiyamaan believed in “caste denunciation” marriage. This led to their “caste denial, social equality” marriage at “Periyar Thidal” in Chennai under the auspices of the editor of “Viduthalai”, Mr. Veeramani on 25th February 1979.

Burgeoning an era of social service
Even during his formal education Mr. Athiyamaan was interested in self education. In 1970s he started attending thought provoking sessions conducted by “Sinthanai Peravai” held at “Kalviyagam” led by Ku.Ve.Ki. Aasaan. This gave him an oppurtunity to meet Thanthai Periyar, which was a major turning point in his life. Since then he upholds the principles of Periyarism in his personal life and insists the same to the society. Furthermore his Tamil patriotism led to his alias name ATHIYAMAAN. His social awakening followed a thirst for knowledge. This saw his fervent reading and frequent visits to Coimbatore public library. He joined “Youth Guidance Service” (YGS) in 1980s and served in various capacities within the YGS. In 1991, under his leadership he organized a meeting for all Arunthathiyar groups through “Tamil Nadu All Arunthathiyar Sangam Coordination” (TAASCO). YGS could not unite all Arunthathiyars within its umbrella, so he joined TAASCO and continued his service. In spite of his efforts he could not unite the Arunthathiyar groups under TAASCO too. This concerned him a lot.

Birth of Aathi Thamilar Peravai
During the same period of his failure with YGS and TAASCO, “Vanniyar Sangam” which was led by Dr. Ramadoss and the political success of “Paataali Makkal Katchi” (PMK) grabbed Athiyamaan’s keen attention. He was motivated by the idea of Dr. Ramadoss who established an organisation based on caste, motivated it to struggle and then re-modelled it to a political party which turned out to be a great success. Athiyamaan was also fully convinced that establishing an organisation is possible based only on strong core principles. Taking all these factors into account and based on the principles of Dr. Ambedkar, Thanthai Periyar and Karl Marx, Athiyamaan established a new revolutionary organization Aathi Thamilar Peravai in the year 1994 with Coimbatore being its Head quarters. ATPs motto says “Arunthathiyar liberation is liberation to all”. He wanted to completely break the image of arunthathiyar being picturised as migrated people. He not only insisted that arunthathiyar are the sons of the soil but also wanted to strongly motivate arunthathiyar on the same through ATP. Furthermore, Athiyamaan’s efforts have enabled the empowerment of the youth of Arunthathiyar community. Today ATP has grown into a vibrant organization with branches spread all across Tamil Nadu and is a beacon of hope for the Arunthathiyar community. Since its inception Athiyamaan has worked hard and relentlessly to uplift Arunthathiyar Community through ATP.