COIMBATORE: In a sunlit room, where wooden shelves strain under the weight of well-thumbed books, a group of children sit cross-legged, their eyes locked onto their teacher. He is not reading from a textbook. Instead, his voice rises and falls in an animated rhythm, bringing a story to life. Occasionally, he pauses, letting silence stretch just long enough for his students to imagine the next turn in the tale. A child at the back, her fingers drumming against a dog-eared book, leans forward, unable to resist the lure of the next sentence.
The man spearheading the literary revolution in the quaint village is K Amsagopalmurugan. The 56-year-old, fondly known as K Amsapriya, is a Tamil teacher who has spent the last 38 years lighting the spark of education in Pillchinnampalayam near Pollachi. Much like John Keating from Dead Poets Society, Amsapriya is more than an educator - he is an author, guide and above all, a believer in the transformative power of literature. While Keating wanted his students to “seize the day,” Amsapriya wants his village to seize knowledge—to read, write and think.
His reading journey began in Class 7, influenced by his father’s love for books. What started as an evening ritual of reading at the Samathur branch library soon became a lifelong pursuit. Even as financial difficulties forced him to abandon his college dreams, Amsapriya did not abandon his love for learning. He worked in stores, took up the job of a public welfare officer and eventually found his true calling in teaching.
“When I was in Class 11, I started a free tuition centre, Thamizhan Thani Payrichi Nilayam, at my home. It was the first of its kind in the area, where I taught around 90 students from Classes 1 to 5 in the evenings,” recalls Amsapriya, who later joined a private matriculation school after obtaining his master’s degree in Tamil through distance learning.
After taking up the teaching job at a matriculation school, Amsapriya had to pause the tuition centre due to workload and other responsibilities. But in 2010, with a desire to rebuild the village through literacy, he launched the Arivusolai Kalvi Vizhipunarvu Centre from his home. The centre provides children a space beyond the curriculum, to engage in storytelling, essay writing, and poetry.
“In addition to teaching the subject to students at the centre, I conduct storytelling sessions and writing exercises for children every Friday. I help them to develop writing skills by having them write short stories,” Amsapriya said.
“It [the centre] aims to ensure literacy for all, prevent school dropouts, and cultivate a reading culture. It also helps children identify and develop their unique skills. The centre functions actively once a week,” he added.
To promote Thirukkural in the community, Amsapriya introduced the Thirukkural Arvalar Award in 2015. The award is given to those who can write the entire Thirukkural by memory. In its first year, five students received it, and last year, 125 individuals won. On Children’s Day, the centre hosts storytelling sessions, essay-writing competitions and other events. The goal, he insists, is not competition but participation. Every child receives a prize - be it a coin bank to encourage saving habits or a sapling to promote environmental awareness.
Earlier this year, Amsapriya established two children’s reading centres, housed in volunteer residences within the village. Every week, 150 children gather in these informal spaces, thumbing through the hundreds of books provided. His next goal is to establish a mini-library in every home in the village.
“If a student develops reading habits in childhood, it will ignite their thinking and creativity,” Amsapriya says. To reinforce this belief, he introduced student-published mini-books, each four to six pages long, encouraging children to write their own stories. P Kalimuthu, who grew up under his guidance, receiving the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for his poetry collection is a testament to the success of the initiative.
As the sun dips below the horizon in Pillchinnampalayam, the centre remains alive with hushed conversations and the soft rustle of turning pages. Amsapriya’s revolution is silent, but its impact profound.
(Edited by Adarsh T R)