How V.O. Chidambaram Pillai earned the title  ‘Sekkizhutha Chemmal’

V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, fondly known as VOC and Sekkizhutha Chemmal (‘the great man who pulled the oil press’), might otherwise have been remembered by the lesser title Kayiru Thiritha Chemmal (‘the great man who spun coir’). This change came about owing to the “kind attitude” of a British jailer named Mitchell. When Mitchell saw VOC’s  hands bleeding from the harsh labour of separating coir and spinning rope in the Coimbatore prison, he advised him to work at the oil press instead. VOC accepted the suggestion and pulled the oil press, a task normally performed by bulls. “Though it earned him the title Sekkizhutha Chemmal, words fail to express the physical pain he endured during that period,” Kurusamy Mayilvaganan writes in Kelatha Kathai (The Unheard Story).

Helping hand

Unable to bear the sight of VOC pulling the oil press under the scorching sun, fellow prisoners were deeply moved. “When British officers were not around, they joined him in pulling the press. They asked him to rest under a tree and eat sesame seed balls and insisted that he pull the press only when the deputy jailer was present,” writes Mr. Mayilvaganan. His book chronicles the 1,449 days VOC spent in prison.

VOC was arrested on March 12, 1908, and released on December 24, 1912. During these four years, he was lodged at the Palayamkottai, Coimbatore, and Kannanoor prisons. He was sentenced to double transportation for life and exile on the charge of sedition. In a telegram to the Director of Criminal Intelligence, the Director of the Madras Crime Branch said, “Tinnelvelly sedition cases. In the first case Subramani Siva sentenced to ten years’ transportation and Chidambaram Pillai to transportation for life; in second case Chidambaram Pillai again sentenced to transportation for life.” Subsequently, the punishment was reduced to four years.

The title Kelatha Kathai is derived from a word in the poem Velalan Siraipugunthan by poet Subramania Bharathiar. The poem was secretly sent by Bharathiar through Parali Su. Nellaiappar, a close friend of both Bharathiar and VOC, who gained access to the prison in disguise. At Nellaiappar’s request, VOC wrote his autobiography, Va.U.Chi Suyacharithai, composing it as ten poems in Coimbatore. The second part, a long single poetic version, was written at the request of T.S. Chokkalingam, editor of Gandhi and Bharatham. But for Chokkalingam, the world would not have known about VOC’s jail life.

The autobiography is an authentic record of his prison experience, and Mr. Mayilvaganan has rendered it in everyday Tamil. He notes that the arrival of freedom fighter Subramania Siva in Thoothukudi and his meeting with VOC on February 3, 1908, ignited the political atmosphere of the port town. The book records events from that day on. What affected VOC most severely during his imprisonment was the collapse of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company that he had launched in 1906 with the aim of challenging the economic might of the British Empire.

Call to shareholders

“Brothers, I am in prison now. I do not know what will befall me tomorrow. Therefore, the love and concern you have for me should also extend to our shipping company. Do not think it was established for generating monetary profit for shareholders, but as a temple of our sweet Bharat Mata and dharma. Work with patriotism,” VOC wrote to his shareholders from the Palayamkottai prison. VOC continued to fight for the rights of his fellow prisoners. His communication with the  outside world was maintained through The Hindu, which was smuggled into the prison along with Swadesamitran and Amrita Bazar Patrika. When the sentences of some prisoners, including Sankaranarayana Pillai, convicted for their involvement in the Tirunelveli riots, were reduced, prison officials suppressed the information and continued to detain them. VOC sent a letter to The Hindu through his brother-in-law, Pitchai Pillai, and its publication led to their release. However, the smuggling of newspapers and letters also caused him trouble. Prison officials insisted that VOC, instead of sweepers, dispose of the sand kept in a pot for urination in the cell. He refused. That night, Ramaiah Gounder, who had brought The Hindu, snacks, and letters, was caught.

The author also addresses the allegation that VOC remained a “casteist” and insisted that only a vegetarian cook prepare his food. He recalls a conversation between VOC and a cook disguised as a vegetarian. “He never concealed his caste. In his speech at the Salem conference in 1927, he proclaimed it openly, but made it clear that he would not approve of one caste suppressing others,” says Mr. Mayilvaganan.

A note of appreciation

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who has written a note of appreciation for the book, says tears well up when one reads the passage describing VOC receiving the coarse clothing given to prisoners. “His sacrifice becomes evident when we compare the prison attire given to VOC with the elegant dress and thalaippagai he once wore,” he writes.