P Jeevanandham
| Jeeva | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
Sorimuthu 21 August 1907 Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu |
| Died | January 18, 1963 (aged 55) Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| Occupation | Socialist Leader and Social Reformer |
P. Jeevanandham (1907–1963) also called Jeeva, was a social reformer, political leader, litterateur and one of the pioneers of the Communist and socialist movements in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.
He was not only a socio-political leader, but was also a cultural theoretician, an excellent orator, journalist and critic; and above all, a relentless fighter for the deprived. A down-to-earth person with a clean record in public life, Jeevanandham was held in high esteem by ordinary people.
P. Jeevanandham was born in the town of Boothapandi, in the then princely state of Travancore (which is now in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu) into an orthodox middle-class family on 21 August 1907. His original name was Sorimuthu. He was named this name after his clan god Sorimuthu.
The orthodox and religious background of his family exposed Jeevanandham to literature, devotional songs and the arts, early on in his life. He grew up in an era when caste-based rigidity was widely prevalent, and from early on in his life he resented the very idea of untouchability and could not tolerate his Dalit friends being denied entry into temples and public places and being humiliated. Even as a schoolboy he became averse to Varnasrama Dharma, a Hindu religious code that stratifies society on caste lines and facilitates the practice of untouchability. The national movement and Gandhi’s call to wear khadi and his stand against untouchability influenced Jeevanandham to join the movement. He began wearing only khadi from then on.
Jeevanandham took his Dalit friends into the streets and public places where, usually, entry was denied to them, which earned him the displeasure of his family and orthodox caste members in his village. His father disapproved his behaviour and asked him to stop all things which were against their caste traditions. Jeevanandham said he would rather leave his home rather than follow discriminatory practices and eventually did so.
Jeevanandham started his political life basing himself on Gandhian ideas. In 1924, he participated in the Vaikom Satyagraha against upper-caste Hindus, where Dalits were barred from walking on the road leading to the temple at Vaikom. He participated in a similar protest, demanding entry for Dalits into the Suchindram temple. When he joined an ashram run by V. V. S. Aiyar at Cheranmadevi, he found that Dalits and ‘upper-caste’ students were fed in separate halls. He supported Periyar’s protest against this practice and quit the ashram. Later, he took charge of an ashram funded by a philanthropist in Siruvayal near Karaikkudi. The ashram life gave him an opportunity to read a lot of books. In this ashram, he got opportunity to meet Gandhi. Jeeva had written a letter to Gandhi disagreeing with his methods. When Gandhi came to Madras, he had this letter in his pocket and wanted to meet Jeeva. Rajagopalachari asked Gandhi to name the person he wanted to meet so that particular person can be called. Gandhi mentioned that he did not want the person to be called and would like to go to the ashram where Jeeva resided and meet him. When Gandhi went to the Siruvayal ashram and asked for Jeeva a young man of around 25 years appeared before him. Gandhi asked him if he was the same person who wrote the 'letter' and Jeeva replied in the affirmative.
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