My Hometown

I was born in a tiny little town called Polur in TamilNadu and moved to Vellore, which was about 50 kilometers away when I was 12. Ever since that, I have called Vellore my home. There are some distinguishing characteristics of Vellore.. It came into national prominence in the mid 1990's when about 50 LTTE detainees had dug a tunnel from their holding cells and made their way back to SriLanka. Any person from TamilNadu will readily identify Vellore by its "Central Jail" (more like a state penitentiary in U.S.).

There is a medical college-cum-hospital called the Christian Medical College and Hospital which is one of the very best hospitals in Asia for its facilities and the physicians and surgeons. It also holds a special place in my heart as my dad was taken there for treatment and rehab when he suffered a stroke.

One more piece of fact that is not very well known about Vellore is that, it was the venue of the first known organized rebellion against the British Empire. The war for independence when Jhansi Rani and others took part and fought against the British in 1857, is what is usually referred to as the "First war of Indian Independence". Efforts are underway by the Indian Government to commemorate the 150th anniversary of that great struggle. The TamilNadu government however went ahead and decided to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the struggle in Vellore, known as "Vellore Mutiny" by releasing a postal stamp, depicting the fight that happened in Vellore Fort.

There was an article on BBC about this and it was also reported in it that "south India's participation in the Indian independence struggle is neither recognised nor recorded". I necessarily do not agree with that. I studied mostly in the central board of education, and there was a fair recognition of sipoy mutiny in the history textbooks. I can understand that it is not accorded similar sort of reverence as war of 1857 due to their differences in magnitude and the collective effect the war had on the populace. However, any rebellion against oppression is still a remarkable endeavor and the sipoy mutiny was one of the first historically recorded outbursts against the British rule in India.

Of all the leaders of the Indian freedom struggle, there are very few nationally recognizable names from South India. That is not to say that the efforts of the people from south India were any less. One of the brightest was Dr. Rajagopalachari ("Rajaji") who served as the Governor General till India was officially a republic and then, in Pandit Nehru's cabinet. I guess, if you grew up in the South, you came to know and read about a lot more of the freedom fighters from South India, along with all the luminaries across the great nation.

Talking about textbooks, do any of you have access to the history textbook from class IX (C.B.S.E)? It was one of the best I have ever had. It provided the history of ancient, medieval and modern India, alon with the cultural heritage of India -plus - the world history as well. A marvellous textbook. Really. If you do have it or have anyone you know has it, I'd like to buy/borrow it from you.. let me know.