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Learn from the Master: CN Annadurai's Books in Tamil and Their Wisdom



Though Annadurai was an atheist in his personal life as he took oath as the Chief Minister of the state in the 'name of conscience' rather than in the 'name of god', he proclaimed as "Only one race, Only one God" (Ondre Kulam Oruvanae Devan) from tamil novel thiruvasagam penned by thirumoolar in order to unify the people of Tamil Nadu.[6][7] Though secular to the core, he later described himself as a Hindu sans the sacred ash, a Christian minus the holy cross, and a Muslim without the prayer cap.[8]


Some of his books had a social approach and its content were debatable, such as "Arya Mayai" (Aryan Illusion) in which he highlighted the view point of bringing an equal living society regardless of any caste dominance and especially drawing similarities which existed by then of the upper-caste Brahmin (Aryan) people. He was fined INR 700 for sedition[32] and was also sent to prison.[16]




cn annadurai books in tamil



Some of his well-known works are his books Annavin Sattasabai Sorpolivukal (Anna's speeches at the state legislative, 1960), Ilatchiya varalaru (History of Ideals, 1948), Valkkaip puyal (Storm of life, 1948) and Rankon rata (Radha from Rangon).[5] His work Kambarasam criticises Ramayana of Kamban.[33] His works of fiction such as Kapothipura kathal (Love in the city of Blind), Parvathy B.A., Kalinga rani (Queen of Kalinga) and Pavayin payanam (Travels of a young lady) carried elements of political propaganda.[33]


Tucked away in the quaint little town of Thirukokarnam in Pudukottai, Gnanalaya (place for knowledge) is a treasure trove of rare books. And, the seeker of these rare finds is B. Krishnamurthy, who started collecting books while he was in college. Today, the library has more than 1.2 lakh books, including 80,000 in Tamil and 15,000 in English, making it one of the largest private libraries in India.


Krishnamurthy has found a unique way of sharing his stories about the books. He now records them digitally. A digital recorder is placed on each shelf, giving details about the exclusivity and content of the books. Way to go digital!


The open secret of his success can be traced in his encyclopaedic knowledge and rich and strong memory power. One can say with safety that it was all because of his voracious reading of books for hours and hours together. Most of his lifetime had been spent in reading and writing books, stories and essays. When many fail even to recognize the idea of maintaining, developing and foresting libraries, he was having his own personal library, since he knew the worth of it. There were days when he used to sit in the libraries to muster and master, to cull and collate knowledge from morning till evening.


Friends, let not your flying days go in vain, since no gold can get them back again. Make haste to plunge deeply into books and try to disseminate knowledge in every direction. Hence it is books, books and nothing but books that can put you in goodstead. Acquaint yourself with the storehouse of knowledge ie library. Silent revolutionists and reformers are there waiting for you in the form of books. In fact Anna himself used to advise his followers to read more and more so that they can equip themselves.


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