In 1952, S. Sivan Pillai, a freedom fighter, Gandhian and nominated MP from Kanniyakumari district, ventured to do what was unthinkable for an upper-caste man, born into a traditionally rich family. He constructed a house amid a Dalit settlement on the banks of Theroor kulam, a waterbody, and lived there till his last days. Those were the times when only people who were on the margins of society lived on the banks of waterbodies as they had neither land nor wherewithal nor social status to live in villages.
“As a Gandhian, he was attracted by Nai Talim (New Education), an idea propagated by Mahatma Gandhi as an alternative to the Macaulay education system. He went to Wardha for training in basic education and, on his return, decided to live among the Dalits to educate them,” said Sai Subramanian, the eldest son of Sivan Pillai, who had visited Gandhi’s ashram in Wardha with his parents.
