At the foothills of Thiruvannamalai’s circumambulation trail, is a small village called Aadaiyur. Four years ago, a ninety-four-year-old man named Dhanapalan passed away in this village. He was the panchayat council’s President for a few years. He had three sons and three daughters and his funeral procession was attended by many people who had come from different towns and villages. Most of them were folks who had no blood ties with him. We wondered why this man received this kind of a tribute and that is when we happened to know his story. Dhanapal served as panchayat council President during the reign of K Kamarajar. He was deeply committed to Gandhi and had a strong love for Kamarajar, always fulfilling his words without denying them in any way. Dhanapal owned about sixty acres of land in two villages. But by the time he died, not even a small piece of land belonged to him.
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