Shri Vijaya Kumar IPS & Dr. Sreedher Awarded Padma Shri
Celebratory News for MCC
Two of the 113 Padma Shri Awardees for this Year are MCC-ians
#newspaperinlearning
Two MCC-ians - Shri K. Vijaya Kumar IPS, the Police Officer who is famous for hunting down the sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, and Dr. Sreedher Ramamurthy, fondly known as the ‘Father of Community Radio’, in India, are among the 113 Padma Shri Awardees this time.
Shri K. Vijaya Kumar IPS, is most famous for leading the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) that successfully ended the multi-decade hunt for the notorious forest brigand Veerappan in 2004.
Unlike previous attempts, Shri Vijaya Kumar used a meticulously planned undercover operation that lured the bandit out of the jungle, a feat he later detailed in his book titled, Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand.
A distinguished alumnus of Madras Christian College, Shri Vijay Kumar pursued his M.A. in English at Madras Christian College during 1973–1975.
And this literariness from his literature background is found in ample measure in his book titled, Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand. Reading through every page of the book is like reading through the gripping lines of the likes of a Hemingway! 😊
A few excerpts from the book –
The burning lights engulfed Cocoon’s front in a soft halo. It stood there in the middle of the road in all its majesty, still rocking like a boat tossed by waves, its double beam of lights bobbing up and down.
Two men shot out of Cocoon with the speed of discharged bullets—the captain and the navigator had abandoned their ship.
Saravanan’s voice carried clearly, his left hand pointing backwards. ‘Gang yulla irukaangoe (The gangsters are inside).’
Even in that moment, I could make out that he was eager to catch my eye, as if seeking approval for delivering the goods. I nodded appreciatively and hurriedly patted him as he brushed past me.
Rajarajan grabbed Saravanan and shoved him behind a huge tree near my position.
Meanwhile, Durai—identifiable from the shine of his shaven pate—turned back abruptly towards Cocoon. He had pulled the safety pin of his stun grenade and rolled it into the rear of Cocoon from the secret slot under his seat.
‘What had happened to the damn thing?’ he thought. It took him a moment to realize that the damned thing had a four-second fuse to blow up. It finally did.
Cocoon rocked on its wheels. Durai had 4 metres to reach the relative safety of Hussain’s flank, just opposite my position. He headed for it like Usain Bolt taking off from the blocks.
After all, the firefight could begin any time, and he had no intention of getting caught in the core battle zone.
I raised my right palm. Kannan’s warning rang out over the megaphone, ‘Surrender. You’ve been surrounded.’
A few moments went by.
Then, the unmistakable sound of an AK-47 emerged from the rear of the vehicle.
There was a sudden flutter of birds from the tamarind trees. Far away, a lone dog barked. Soon, many joined the chorus.
Shattered glass flew out of the rear of Cocoon. With the others fumbling to retrieve their guns, Govindan must have been the first to react, we later concluded.
A total of forty-four cops and foresters had already died at the hands of these men. At least eighty more civilians, known to the police, had been killed by them.
There may have been more deaths that were never reported. Those people were probably killed in multiple brutal ways. It would end tonight, one way or the other.
Our response was instant and overwhelming. Brass hosed down on Cocoon from every direction. Bullets zipped all around along with the rhythmic flashes of guns.
I felt something hot on my neck. Empty shells were spewing from my buddy Sundaram’s AK. Since we were standing close together, some of them scalded my neck. I shuffled to my left, flicked my gun to burst fire mode, and let go.
After a few bullets, I paused briefly, as did the others. Another couple of reports of a self-loading rifle and a shotgun came from Cocoon.
Kannan reiterated the terms for surrender. There were a few more shots, followed by a volley of the STF’s response. I signalled the teams to stop. Another pause. This time, there was no return fire.
The mayhem of the encounter faded to a dull murmur. Some birds had returned to their nests, but were still chirping restively.
Dogs were still barking in the distance. Cocoon was engulfed in smoke and dust. I signalled to Rajarajan and Hussain. Another stun grenade was lobbed into Cocoon. There was a flash and a bang. Rajarajan flashed on a torch, which he held below his gun’s barrel, as did Hussain. The two beams of light converged.
The two men approached Cocoon warily. They heard a gurgle, followed by a hiss — like air escaping from a cycle tube. It is a sound typically made by air trapped between the lung tissue and the chest. Someone wounded was trying to suck in air.
Then, silence.
The stillness was finally broken by the cry of ‘All clear’.
The encounter had started at around 10.50 p.m. and was over in twenty minutes—a rapid climax to a twenty-year wait!
Hussain and Rajarajan saw blood and bodily fluids splashed all over—the walls, floor and seats, food packets and the stretcher. They picked up two AKs, a 12-bore Remington pump-action gun and the infamous 7.62 mm SLR.
Three persons were huddled together—their final conclave before going down.
Men in their death throes, clutching each other! One, later identified as Govindan, was a little distance away.
The four men were speedily removed from Cocoon and laid on the ground. I beckoned to Kannan and, ignoring a cramped muscle, hobbled over to where they lay.
It was my only face-to-face moment with Veerappan, if it could be described as such. He was unable to speak and was clearly dying. I noticed that a bullet had gone through his left eye, just as it had with Senthil in Sorgam Valley almost ten years ago.
With his moustache trimmed and in civilian clothes, rather than his trademark green dress and brown belt, he seemed a stripped-down version of his former self.
He had been a wily and worthy foe, with a mastery over both strategy and tactics. Even at fifty-two, he was sinewy and extremely fit.
Forensic specialist Dr Vallinayagam, who later examined his body, told me he was in the shape of a twenty-five-year-old, apart from the problem with his eyes.
Rumour has it that he had damaged his eyes while applying dye to his famed moustache, which often filled him with pride.
It was an irony worthy of an O’ Henry tale. The famous moustachioed bandit eventually trimmed his whiskers to get his eyes treated, only to end up losing both—his eyes as well as his life.
I took stock of the encounter. There were no casualties or serious injuries among my boys. I sent up a quick prayer of thanks. It was one more thing to be grateful for on a night when fortune had been exceedingly gracious.
I was not the only one to be scalded by a buddy’s empty shell. It’s not so unusual when people are firing while packed in close proximity to each other.
These are just excerpts.
Do read the book that’s available for buys – online at Amazon! It’s such a gripping read of sorts, you bet!
Coming to the next Padma Shri awardee from MCC –
Dr. Sreedher Ramamurthy – An eminent broadcast veteran, and a proud member of the MCC academic fraternity, who lived for 37 long years in Tambaram, Chennai.
Apart from being a faculty member at MCC, he was also an illustrious alumnus of the College (B.Sc. 1965; M.Sc. 1967).
He pursued doctoral research in MCC during 1967–1971 and served MCC as a Demonstrator for two years. His association with MCC is further enriched by his family legacy, being the grandson of Shri Gopal Iyer, who was Professor with the Department of Tamil.
“Shri Sreedher’s distinguished contributions to education, science communication, and public broadcasting have earned him this well-deserved national recognition”, says a felicitation note from our Principal Dr. Paul Wilson.
Dr. Sreedher is also an acclaimed writer.
His book titled, Community Radio in India, is widely regarded as a foundational text and practical roadmap for the community radio (CR) sector in India.
Published in 2019 (in association with UNESCO) the book serves as both a historical record and a practical roadmap for radio stations.
The primary purpose of the book is to guide individuals and organisations on how to start, manage, and sustain a community radio station. It addresses the ‘information divide’ in the sector by offering expert insights into the operational realities of running a station in India.
He also takes credit for having established Anna FM, India’s first campus community radio station, and was instrumental in drafting the policies that govern the sector today.
So what’s the takeaway for today’s post? 😊
Writing about our life experiences - whether through a formal memoir, an academic reflection, or a collection of essays – serves a great deal in inspiring and mentoring a thousand people at once, and offering guidance to them on facing the various challenges of life. This apart, through your writing, you contribute to the ‘human archive’.
Let me sign off this post with the inspiring words of Toni Morrison =
“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
So... Why wait?! 😊
PS: You may want to read more about MA English with IPS / IAS Combo from MCC, on our past post HERE.
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