Thiru Vi Kalyanasundaram is remembered in Chennai by a bridge across Adyar, the Industrial Estate in Guindy, a Park and a handful of roads and colonies named after him. So who was he? We had a lesson about him in our Tamil textbook when I was in school, not sure if it is still there. So what has he done for him to be remembered in Chennai?

Thiru Vi Ka (as he was called), was one of the leading lights of Trade Union movement in India. He, along with B.P. Wadia, formed the first Trade Union of India, the B & C Mills Labour Union. He was a journalist who worked in the daily “Desabakthan” and founded the weekly magazine “Navasakthi”. Kalki Krishnamoorthy, the famous journalist and novelist, started his career as sub-editor in “Navasakthi”.

Thiru Vi Ka wrote many books in his writing career. Ofcourse, I have read none of his writings, except for what little was in the text books. He is credited with developing a fresh style in Tamil Prose writing in 1920s. Amidst all this, he was the President of Tamilnadu Congress Committee in 1926.

A brief obituary of him that appeared in The Hindu dated Sep 19, 1953.