MGR TALKS OPEN HEARTEDLY
MGR says he is not a Malayali. There is no stigma attached in coming out that a person belonged to Kerala. Many believe that I am a native of Kerala. But I tell you from the depth of my heart that my ancestors were belonged to Kongu Nadu and native of Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. ( MGR talks about his nativity to dialogue and story writer Aroor Das).
When the Karnataka Mysore was ruled by then Hyder Ali, he forcibly converted many Hindus to Islam. During the regime many converted to Islam. Those who did not wish to become Moslems migrated from Pollachi and had settled down in several villages of Palghat. " Actually I belong to Mandradiar family. Later those who had settled down in Palghat were become branded as Nair or Menon. All these details were given by mother and about this my elder brother Late M.G.Chakrapani also knew it.
What MGR had told was correct. In the year December 7, 1962, Deva Kannan, belonging to Congress Party, laid roads for the devotees of Marudhamalai Murugan temple and also installed street lights. During the inaugural function that took place on the day the then Minister for Cooperatives Nalla Senapathy Sarkarai Mandradiar also participated. MGR then requested the Minister to give him chance to inaugurate the electric machine in the function. Then MGR lit the traditional lamp and expressed that he was a native of Coimbatore (Kongu nadu) and belonged to Mandradiar family. The speech of MGR and the Minister were tap recorded, which the story writer, producer, lyricist in the days of MGR had mentioned in a biography which appeared in the Tamil paper.
(One thing comes to my mind, that Shivaji Ganesan's son Prabhu used to tell that he belonged to Mandradiar community. Both MGR and Sivaji Ganesan lead a friendly life and on many occasions Sivaji had spent time in MGR's house by the food served by latter's mother.)
Comments