Alagappa Chettiar's legacy of fortune and philanthropy

Born on April 6, 1909 into the Nattukottai Chettiar community with a father who was a successful banker, he could have remained just a product of his inheritance. But Alagappa went on to craft his destiny, which he understood not as simply making money and consuming it ferociously but as the empowerment of future minds in India.

Growing up in Kottaiyur in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district, his intellectual curiosity yearned for horizons beyond his masters in English literature from Presidency College, Madras. It was here that he forged a lifelong friendship with his teacher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the future president of India. Soon, the young Alagappa embarked on a journey to London, where he became the first Indian trainee at the British Chartered Bank.

Then, unexpectedly, tragedy struck; he was diagnosed with leprosy. While he did get cured, he came back with a disfigured face. But his spirit was untouched.

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Conquering new skies

Even as he gained insights into international finance, he also qualified as a barrister at law at the Middle Temple. During his time in London, his adventurous spirit led him to obtain a pilot’s licence, a testament to his willingness to conquer new skies.

On his return to India he started practicing in the courts but soon became weary of it. He plunged into business, realising that traditional methods were no match for the transformative potential of industrialization. In 1937, he established Cochin Textiles in Kerala, a venture that would evolve into Alagappa Textiles, complete with its own self-sufficient township, Alagappa Nagar. Within a few years, his sharp business acumen and strategic investments catapulted him into the first line of industrialists in India.

For generations, the Chettiars had traversed the maritime routes of Southeast Asia laden with commodities and also navigated the intricate dance of credit and exchange. Alagappa dipped into this ancestral understanding of the ebb and flow of global trade and invested in rubber plantations at home and in tin mining operations in Burma to fuel the growing global need for these commodities. Alongside, he expanded his footprint into the financial services sector through a clutch of insurance companies, complemented by a flourishing stock market business which earned him the sobriquet of the Madras Express in the Bombay Stock Exchange.

For most businessmen, this might have been enough. Not for Alagappa who now turned his attention to the country’s nascent aviation sector and established Jupiter Airways. It wasn’t a commercial venture as much as it was a national need. During the integration of Hyderabad into the Indian union he lent his fleet of aircraft to the government for troop transportation.

With his ballooning net worth, his network became extensive. His daughter's wedding in 1943 under a huge shamiana made to seat 5000 people, was the talk of town thanks to performances by singers and dancers like M S Subbulakshmi, M L Vasanthakumari and Rukmini Arundale.

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Power of education

However, under the influence of Radhakrishnan he realised that profit was a reductive construct in the larger sea of life. Post-Independence Indian society could pull itself out of the quagmire of grinding poverty only through education.

As the call went to industrialists to contribute to nation-building, he responded with characteristic alacrity setting up an Arts College in Karaikudi. His most important contribution came with the setting up of the Alagappa University in Karaikudi. With this in hand, he persuaded prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to establish the Central ElectroChemical Research Institute on its campus by donating 300 acres of land and ₹15 lakhs. By now, much of his wealth had been gifted for various causes, but Alagappa wasn’t quite finished.

Approached by girls in his village who lacked a college to study in, he donated his house for the purpose. This marked the genesis of a remarkable educational movement that would leave an indelible mark on the landscape of Tamil Nadu.

The British government knighted him for his contributions, but he returned the award after independence. Better recognition followed with the Padma Bhushan in 1957, the very year that his life was cut short by advanced cancer. He was just 48. In his short, impactful life, he exemplified the interconnectedness of economic progress and social advancement with education not just an act of charity but a strategic imperative for national development.

Under the stewardship of his daughter, Umayal Ramanathan and his grandson Ramanathan Vairavan, his dream of education has been carried forward in all his institutions. To Ramanathan we also owe the only definitive biography of the man. Aptly titled A Beautiful Mind, it is a perfect epitaph to this deeply religious man who believed in providence but also in striving to his utmost.

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