Thank you Rajendran Ayya, 8 Pages Letter – Founding and Workings of the Dravidian Movement

On March 14, 2026, I received a letter from Mr. Rajendran Ayya, who is 85 years old. As some of our readers would know, on September 25, 2025, we celebrated the centenary of my grandfather, AR. Periyannan (who is no more), and I published a book on him. As you can imagine, a lot of hard work went into writing the book, a lot of research, and many conversations with people who knew my grandfather and more.

Ponni is a magazine founded by AR. Periyannan that championed the Dravidian movement. The leaders of the later years were nurtured by Ponni, including the introduction of 47 poets under the Bharathidasan lineage.

After I published the book, I did meet and talk to quite a few people in their 80s and 90s who called me or connected with me after reading it. There were new learnings for me, these are people I was not aware of, and I was able to connect the dots after talking to them. We are also working on compiling the Ponni magazine (all the volumes) and publishing it in a searchable format. We have been working with Roja Muthiah Research Library and students at Madras Christian College on this effort. We have also been experimenting with AI on the magazine. However, we are missing a few issues of Ponni, and one of the people who called me said that he has the entire volume collection of Ponni magazine and shared with me a lot of history on how it fueled the growth of many leaders. We are working on getting the missing issues.

This letter I received from Rajendran Ayya is very special and in many ways is a treasure. Mr. Rajendran lived in Pudukkottai until the 70s and later relocated to Chennai. He wrote this letter after reading the Periyannan book, and knew Periyannan Ayya well. He visited the Senthamizh Pathipagam, the Ponni offices, and more.

He received the Periyannan book from one of his friends, Thanga Sundarapandian, and Mr. Rajendran’s father is Rama Kalyani, who was very involved with the Dravidian movement. In this 8-page letter, he goes into a lot of detail about my granddad, and also documents the visits of Thanthai Periyar and Arignar Anna and more. He writes about the van that Periyar used and how people followed his van to find out where it stopped, and it did stop at AR. Periyannan’s house in Pudukkottai. He also writes about the staging of Arignar Anna’s play நீதிதேவன் மயக்கம் (Neethi Thevan Mayakkam) at the famous West Talkies in Pudukkottai, and the night stay of Anna at AR. Periyannan’s house.

He also writes about Ka. Appadurai, a prolific writer, who married Alamelu in a Self-Respect Wedding, with the reception hosted at AR. Periyannan’s home. And in a wonderful little detail, Mr. Rajendran still vividly remembers the Gulab Jamun that was served at his house.

In the letter he also writes about the Ponni magazine and the very important role it played in the Dravidian movement, first of its kind in many ways, a pioneering voice for the cause.

There are a lot more interesting and historic details like this throughout the letter. Many names that we associate with history today, all of whom contributed significantly to the Dravidian movement, are mentioned in the letter. This letter not only tells the story of AR. Periyannan’s early life in the 40s and 50s, but in many ways also documents the founding and workings of the Dravidian movement.

When I talked to Mr. Rajendran Ayya to thank him for the letter, he appreciated the effort and mentioned that after reading the book, he felt like he saw AR. Periyannan and Murugu Subramanian right in front of him. It brought back a lot of memories, and that is why he wrote this letter.

Writing is powerful. But it is great to see it in action. When you write a book and receive a letter like this in return, it is very motivating.