DINDIGUL: By then, decades had gone by. But still, when the current Nobel Peace Prize winner Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay, along with her siblings, visited their ancestral town of Vathalagundu back in 2007, it could rightly be termed as “back to the roots”. And, when she left for South Africa, the whole town hoped she would return, at least once.
That longing is evident in the words of 53-year-old M Muthumani, a relative of Pillay, when he elaborated on the family tree. With pride gleaming in his eyes, he said his grandfather Narayanan’s father, Vellaiya Naidu, is the elder brother of Alagarsami Naidu, the grandfather of Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay.
Alagarsami Naidu got married at the age of 21 and moved to South Africa with his wife in 1890. Narrainsamy Naidoo, ‘Navi’ Pillay’s father, is his son. “For over a century there was no contact. Before Narrainsamy passed away in 2006, he expressed his wish for his ashes to be immersed in Rameswaram. However, after his passing, his family faced difficulties locating their relatives in India to fulfil his last wish,” Muthumani said.
Determined to honour her father’s request, ‘Navi’ Pillay, then serving as a judge, sought help from her judicial circle in Chennai, and successfully traced the family in Dindigul, and landed in Vathalagundu on December 24, 2007.
Muthumani still remembers Pillay and her siblings spending time reconnecting with family members and visiting the village. “We are extremely happy that she got the Nobel Prize. Hope she visits again.”
M Venkatesh Kumar, another relative, recalled, “During her visit, Pillay also paid a visit to her village deity – Azhamalaiyan Veera Chinn Vetta Karuppu. The land for the temple was donated by Narrainsamy Naidoo, who had visited our family in 1970. He promised to return but didn’t.”