Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (1919 – 1974) was the maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1940 to 1950. He served as the governor of Mysore and Madras states from 1964 to 66. He was a connoisseur and patron of arts and music. The Mysore royal connection with Nilgiris can be said to date from 1782 when the father of OotyRead More →

Padinjarethalakal Cherian Alexander (1921–2011) was an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1948 batch who served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 1988 to 1990 and as the Governor of Maharashtra from 1993 to 2002. He was considered as a candidate for the post of the President of India in 2002. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha Read More →

C. Iyothee Thass (1845 – 1914) was a prominent Tamil anti-caste activist and a practitioner of Siddha medicine. Iyothee Thass (1845-1914) who belonged to Chennai was brought up in the English household of George Harrington in Ooty.  His father worked for the Harrintons. Thass also called himself Pundit Ayodhya Dasa and Kathavarayan. Thass became a wellRead More →

Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer,  (1879 – 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law member of the Executive council of the Governor of Madras from 1923 to 1928, Law member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India from 1931 toRead More →

Octavio Paz Lozano (1914 – 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1962 he was appointed the Mexican Ambassador to India. TheRead More →

Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan (1892 – 1974) was one of the prominent leaders of the Justice Party. He was briefly the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency in 1936. He was also the last President of the Justice Party. Sir P. T, as he was fondly known, attended The Leys School, Cambridge and later, Jesus College, Oxford.Read More →

Long, long before the freedom movement was born, Sullivan in 1831 spoke in the UK parliament to allow Indians to govern themselves. It took another hundred years for the idea to become the Home Rule movement. Sullivan’s writings were used by freedom fighters like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Dr.AmbedkarRead More →

Pierre Jules César Janssen (1824-1907) also known as Jules Janssen, was a French astronomer who, along with English scientist Joseph Norman Lockyer, is credited with discovering the gaseous nature of the solar chromosphere, and with some justification,  the element helium. The Nilgiris has been a coveted site for observing totalRead More →

Annie Besant (1847-1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, women’s rights activist, writer, orator, educationist, and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human freedom, she was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She was kept in house arrest in Ooty during the Home Rule movement. The call forRead More →