VIP Interviews - ( Anbe Anantham )

Love is bliss …! – Professor Solomon Pappiah

Professor Solomon Pappiah family

She had won many prizes. She got the first prize in an oratorical competition in Japanese. She did her post graduation under the Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University. She worked as a Japanese professor in that university. Her husband’s name is Vimaladithan. The couple has one daughter, Priya and one son, Surya. My son’s name is Thyagamoorthy. I named him in remembrance of my two friends. He is having a computer sales outlet. He is incessantly affectionate. His wife Devasena is more of a daughter than a daughter-in-law to us. They have one daughter Sharon Bharathi. Our family is like a strongly built fort. It has been built with a mixture of love and affection. I thank God for giving me such affectionate children and a beautiful family. I feel that the travails and tribulations I underwent during my early days matter to me nothing when I am blessed with lots of happiness now. Now, all my attention is focused on developing the art of debate and taking it to great heights.

Q: Recently, we, Kalyanamalai got up a function at Madurai to honor you by conferring the title ‘Pattimanra Bharathi’. We were all very happy about it. Many good things that you teach at your ‘Pattimanrams’ are reaching even those at the interior hamlets through this great art. We felt it was our duty to honor you. We are eager to know your state of mind during this function …

A: : ‘Kalyanamalai’ Mohan and Meera Nagarajan, both are very efficient. They plan things meticulously and succeed in whatever they do. They told me that they were organizing a debate at Madurai and that I should be the judge. But, they must have planned to hold a function to mark my achievement in the oratorical field through fifty years. Only ten days earlier, I learned about the function through Raja. Subsequently Mohan also spoke to me and I agreed. I thought it would be an ordinary function. But I was wonder-struck at the huge arrangements and grandeur. Indeed it was a spectacular event held in a very impressive manner. When I was brought to the venue at 4.45 p.m., I was astonished at the swell of the crowd. That auditorium had never seen such hugeness. The speech of the justice who presided over the function, the love and enthusiasm of the people that had gathered, the respect shown by Kalyanamalai group brought tears into my eyes. I don’t know which to tell, which to leave out. I really feel that there should be some ‘poorva jenma bandham’ between me and Kalyanamalai. You people treated me like a member of your family. The honor I received was like the one a father or a brother receives from his family. I wonder how I am going to return all this love and respect. I prayed to Madurai Meenakshi that all the members of the Kalyanamalai family should live long and prosper.

That a simple Tamil teacher, born into an illiterate and poor family, has reached great heights of excellence in the literary field through his own efforts travelling around the globe propagating valuable doctrines through his talk peppered with humor with the noble aim of making people tread the right path is really something incredible. Pappiah has achieved so much in this great task. He remembers with gratitude all those that have done timely help to him during his days of adversity. While he mentions the names of good-doers, he avoids naming those who had given him bitterness. He proves great in this aspect. A man of much splendor, Pappiah is indeed an exemplary man to be emulated by one and all for his simplicity, hard work, good conduct and amenability. His mastery over Tamil language, a God-given gift has made him a household name even at the nooks and corners of interior hamlets while simultaneously he continues to remain a world-wide known person.