Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Forgotten history

Reading Rooms of political parties have disappeared from the city landscape

PASSIONATE Engrossed in reading dailies Photo: G. MOORTHY

Days of reading leisurely in `padipagangal' (reading rooms) are a thing of the past. There was a time when every street in the city housed a reading room mostly owned by political parties. But, now it is very hard to find them. What happened to those rooms, which reverberated with passionate discussions through the nights and days?

Origin

In the olden days, reading rooms were a platform to exchange anti-British views. Later, they turned into evening schools. In the absence of any pucca structure, people were taught to read and write often sitting under sheds or peol (thinais) of tailor shops. It was to educate the masses and to inspire them to chuck Britishers out of the country, that these `vasaka salais' or `padipagangal' were established," says freedom fighter I. Mayandi Bharathi.

When the Simon Commission was formed, the `padipagangal' educated the masses on the commission and its mission and leaders often addressed the public from these places. Though the reading rooms were functioning even before Mahatma Gandhi's entry into freedom struggle, they worked more as secret hideouts as all activities were under the English scanner, he points out.

Purpose

With the advent of Mahatma Gandhi, reading rooms became more explicit. "In fact, the history of Indian Freedom struggle can be divided into two periods: before and after Gandhi," says M. Chidambara Bharathi, secretary, Tamil Nadu Freedom Fighters Samiti. Though the reading rooms were established by the Congress party, mostly comprising elite and educated people, Mahatma Gandhi took the party to the commoners listing several values and ideology to be followed.

He talked about freedom, eradication of religion and caste discrimination, economical development and role-model families and life after independence. To promote a sense of patriotism among the people, many regional language newspapers such as Sundandira Sangu, Swadeshimithran,Young India and Harijan were published, Mr. Chidambara Bharathi says.

"The first reading room in Madurai was established on West Chithirai Vethi in 1930. It was called the Sathyamoorthy Vasaga Salai and functioned as a school by night. Several other vasaga salais came up later and named after Bharathi, Babu Ghanu, Yathindranath Das, Lala Lajapathi Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru," he says.

"The Lajapathi Nilayam has the distinction of being privy to roaring voices of V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, Veera Sarvakar, U.N. Dhebar, Krishna Swami Bharathi, Rajendra Prasad," remembers Mr.Chidambara Bharathi.

"There were no mikes or phones and the only mode of communication and dissemination of news and speeches of leaders were these reading rooms," Mr. Chidambara Bharathi says. Later, these rooms lost relevance largely due to change in lifestyle and people's buying capacity. Also temples began to provide space for reading. The original reading rooms were handed over to the people of the community. For instance, Lajapathi Rai reading room was handed over to Yadavas while Babu Ghanu to Vellalars, says Mr. Chidambara Bharathi. Concurs S.A. Perumal, Tamil Nadu Progressive Writer Association's vice-president and executive editor of Semmalar, a Tamil literary magazine. "A major reason for the closure of street corner libraries was the initiative of corporation, which took out a massive encroachment drive destroying rooms functioning on poramboke lands," he adds.

Earlier, the party readings were surviving with individuals' sponsorship. Later people took to buying newspapers either for their own sake or for their children, signalling the slow death of these reading rooms.

"Few reading rooms still survive in Bethaniapauram, Anupanadi etc," Mr. Perumal informs. With the emergence of Dravidian parties, the party reading rooms turned into street corner libraries and were used by political parties to reach out to the masses easily. When DMK came to power in 1967, hundreds of street corner libraries disintegrated. One interesting point to note is that often the reading rooms were named after martyrs and Communist leaders like Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, Bhagat Singh, Fidel Castro, Lumumba etc and there is no party reading room named after Mahatma Gandhi.

Not quite aware of the history of reading rooms, many people still visit the Balu Padipagam and Lamboo padipagam in Bethaniapuram just to read the newspapers.

"We not only read newspaper but also discuss various issues and understand various perspectives of a single news," says N. Velumani, a retired TVS employee and a regular visitor to the open-terraced Balu Padipagam, which functions under a tree.

S.S.KAVITHA

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail