Padmanabhan Palpu
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Padmanabhan Palpu, born on November 2, 1863 in Indian princely state of Travancore.Present day Kerala Dr. Palpu was a prominent Indian literary, physician, and philanthropist during the Indian Independence Movement. Father of Nataraja Guru. A London trained physician who later abandoned his profession to affect social and spiritual reform within his community.
[edit] Early life
In 1884 Dr. Palpu appeared for the pre-qualification entrance examinations conducted by the State Government and was ranked fourth. However, he was denied a seat to study medicine due to his lower caste which was a form of descrimination prevalent during this time in Kerala. Dr. Palpu Later gained admission at the famed Madras Medical College. He faced more bstacles when he returned to Travancore when the Government denied him a career in medicine for the same reason. A determined young Dr. Palpu went to Mysore, a neighbouring state, and started his practice there at a princley sum of Rs. 100 a month. At the time the Government of Travancore was offering a salary of Rs5.
[edit] Formation of SNDP
Dr. Palpu sought the advice of the famed Indian saint Swami Vivekananda to unite and work towards the emacipation of the Ezhava caste. Vivekananda's advice to Dr. Palpu was quite simple: Spirituality was the essence of any kind of unity in India. Therefore he advised Dr. Palpu to “Spiritualize and Industrialize the Masses”.
In 1903 Dr. Palpu founded the Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam. Little did he realize then that this organisation would later become the cornerstone of major social and religious reformation that would envelope the entire state. Although an Ezhava himself, Dr. Palpu was not limited to working within the bounds of his own caste.
Much of his earlier written works were press reports in local dailies and was in English. He later published a compendium of his journals and essays in ‘Treatment of Thiyas in Travancore’. The Malayalam translation of this book would become one of the earliest written records on the miserable condition of the masses of feudal Kerala.
In 1891 two petitions were submitted to the Maharajah of Travancore "The Malayali Memorial" and The "Ezhava Memorial". Both emphasised on providing job opportunities for the lower castes in Kerala. These signaled a united movement to demand social change amongst the backward classes.
The memorial also complained about the corrupt "Divans" (British Raj Appointed government servants) who misappropriated large sums of funds for personal use. This petition largely was ignored by the government.
He later used his influence with British MP. Dadabhai Naoroji to raise the issue in the British Parliament regarding the plight of the Ezhavas in Travancore. His efforts bore fruits when in 1936 "The Temple Entry proclamation" was made by the government. Essentially this allowed lower caste Hindus to enter Hindu places of worship which was denied to them till then. Along with this declaration also came admission to schools for lower cast students.
[edit] Retirement
Dr. Palpu also started the Malabar Economic Union. Large portions of the proceeds of this venture was spent of welfare and philanthropy. Dr. Palpu died on January 25, 1950. A day before India became a Republic. He has influenced the works and lives of several noted personalities in Kerala like Kumaran Asan, T.K. Madhavan.
