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 Rtn.
PHF. G. Sundararajan more popularly known as 'GS' is
a household name, especially among the downtrodden in Dindigul,
a town in Tamil Nadu.
The adage goes 'No gain without
pain'. Well, GS too experienced so much pain in his life to attain this gain. He is a millionaire now. But, that
is definitely not news, any way.
He earns through his various business establishments and spends almost every thing for the needy..
And people address him fondly as 'Kaliyuga Karnan'. GS heads not less than 27 trusts. He is at the helm of
affairs in many district and state level associations and for him, service tops the priority list. And to top
it all, he is humble by nature. So called VIPs will benefit from following the trail set by this living
legend, a real philanthropist.
His early life was not a bed of roses all the way.
He struggled much to complete even his schooling. Even the monthly school fees was much beyond his reach. But
then, he had a blessing in the form of his Tamil teacher. That generous hearted gentle man came to his rescue
many a time and helped him through schooling. He was immensely overwhelmed by that Tamil teacher's gesture
[of course, he did not know then, that he would one day reciprocate by founding a trust for the welfare of
Tamil teachers]. The memory of that past brings tears to his eyes even now.
Circumstances drove him to discontinue his graduation
from the Virudunagar College and he had to get back to Dindigul to join his siblings in a new business, a small
provision store. After decades of toil with sheer dedication, their business has multiplied and diversified. But,
he is not at all an epicurean. He is for following 'manu dharma' -- lead a meaningful life. Accordingly, he has
been using a fairly large amount of his earnings for the welfare of the society. With an open mind and generous
heart he has been rushing to the succour of the needy.
Having lived a 'below poverty line' life in his early
years, he is very much aware of the traumatic pains, and difficulties in such a livelihood. And so his
determination to keep the wolf from the door of human lives as much as possible.
Here is a sample list of trusts he has founded for :
… the road side vendors… the platform dwellers … rickshaw pullers… the cobblers… the laundrywalas… cooks…
temple priests… the provision shop labourers… the physically handicapped… railway porters… Newspaper delivery
boys… hand cart pullers… provision merchants… elementary school teachers… middle school teachers… high school
and higher secondary school teachers… Tamil teachers… English teachers… Maths teachers… Science teachers…
Physical Education teachers… for Postal employees… Telephone department staff… the aspiring students of
IAS/IPS/IFS.
The list below shows his versatile involvement in various organizations……Tamil
Sangam… Tamil Asiriar Peravai…Tamilnadu Football Association…
TN Chess Assn. … TN Volley Ball Assn. … Stadium Committee… TN
Parents Teachers Assn. … District Basket Ball, Foot Ball, Cricket,
Hand Ball, Chess and Badminton Association… Harijan Seva Sangam…
District sales tax advisory Board… MK University Advisory Committee…
District Sports Centre… GTN Arts College Advisory Board… Dindigul
Chamber of Commerce… Dindugul. Railway Advisory Committee… Rotary
West Welfare Trust… A/M Abirami Amman temple… A/M Selva Vinayagar
temple…The list is endless of course!
Though he has appointed coordinators or conveners for all the trusts, he himself supervise the proceedings daily
and keeps himself updated about its functioning. Voluntary assistance is being given to the needy people by the
respective trusts. Recently, he has donated Rs.1000/- worth raincoat kit to all the paper delivery boys and
rickshaw pullers of Dindigul. His warm heart always cares for the uncared. He conducts family get togethers
often, and also cultural competitions with prize bonanzas. Yearly once, he organizes tours for the less
privileged people. And they look up to him.
"I believe in God and everything belongs to Him",
he humbly says.
GS had a vision for the future. That is why, he concentrates mainly on three important things [i.e]
Education-Sports-Spirituality and in fact, these are the things a youngster needs to keep in his mind for a
better living.
All his activities have been revolving around these concepts. He always lends his helping hand to any one and
willingly uses his authority to help the under privileged. An academy he founded recently for the aspiring
students of IAS/IPS/IFS mirrors his heart. He was so inspired by the services of two of the past District
Collectors of Dindigul District Mr. Pitchandi and Mr. Jeeva Rathinam. He aims to have Dindigul
promote more such devoted Collectors. And hence, the academy for the benefit of students. It is really a treasure in
Dindigul. All types of reference books, past histories and A-Z required for entering that field are
available there, at a very nominal fee. Well, he has laid a strong platform and it is up to the students
to build skyscrapers on it.
Apart from trusts, GS has been giving educational scholarships for deserving poor students and many of them are
now in plum MNC jobs. GS's involvement in sports is well known and it is solely because of him that Dindigul
is rightly called "SPORTS CITY" of Tamil Nadu. Students of this district participate in all the major District
and State level events and have been securing prominent places.
His wife Prema, taking the cue from her husband, now heads a women's forum, Rani Mangammal Trust and is an
active person behind solving women related social problems and helping in the empowerment of women.
GS says, "It is this Dindigul, which gave me every thing and I am just giving it back what I have and
I will continue doing so till I breathe my last".
Rare
to find such persons. He is surely Dindigul's pride.
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