BIRTH
Was born at Kuthiyathod in Cherthala Taluk in an ancient Nair family called Valathattu on 11 Kanni 1079. Father Shri Veluyudha Panicker, Mother Mrs Valathattu Karthiyayani Amma. Father was a member of the prestigious Nair family called Aattuvally at Palluruthy. The Cochin Raja had conferred the title Aasan to him.
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Lived along with his father at Palluruthy till the age of nine. He underwent preliminary education there. Thereafter he joined Kodamthuruth Vaneevilasam School. Was under the control of uncles at that time. Completed Secondary education in places like Thycattussery , Cherthala, Vaikom, North Paravur, Mavelikkara and Kottayam. In certain schools he could not complete even a single academic year. It was consequent on participating in Vaikom Sathyagraha that he had to discontinue studies in Vaikom school. While studying he was a good soccer player.
Following this he went to Calcutta for higher studies. While studying second year for intermediate there he associated with the renowned Shri CR Das and worked as a member of the editorial board of the newspaper “Forward”. He took part in many agitations in Bengal which was in the forefront of our freedom struggle. While studying at Shanthinikethan, the renowned educational establishment of Rabindranath Tagore, he became a volunteer to the freedom struggle captivated by the exhortations of Mahathmaji. For the offence of working for the independence of our mother country and for collecting news to the newspaper “Ïndian Opinion” he was rusticated from college. Though his uncles strove for his higher education it proved to be not fruitful. No one could deter him from the will to work in social fields.
MARRIAGE
Got married at the tender age of 16. The bride was Madam Bhagath Meenakshi Amma who was the daughter of the eldest uncle. The bride was only 13 year old. The ritual marriage according to tradition had been conducted in early childhood. The couple experienced no novelty in wedded life as they were living in the same house. The marriage was conducive to his independent activities. He had the full backing of his wife in public work.
G.Raveendran Nair, G.Ramachandran Nair, G.Padmanabhan,M. Saraswathy, G. Ramankutty Nair and G. Viswambharan Nair are his offsprings.
PUBLIC ACTIVITIES
He was in the forefront of the prohibition movement and the Vaikom Satyagraha under the leadership of Shri T.K. Madhavan . He got arrested after flouting law in the grand meeting held at Thuravoor. Among those who were arrested that day Shri K.G. Gopalakrishnan and Shri K.S. Parameswaran Pillai were prominent. Though temple entry was sanctioned through enactment, many temples had not implemented it.
In the case for sanctioning entry in Cherthala Velorvattom Temple he became the principal defendant. For this reasons several Karayogams boycotted him.
In different stages of the Independent struggle especially in foreign cloth boycott and in the propagation of indigenous Khadi Movement he participated unreservedly and, in the process got arrested.
Special attention has been riveted on his work towards adult education. Irrespective of caste differences he organized old people suiting their convenience and time. He transmitted knowledge to them. He established many reading rooms and organized many discussions with this end in view.
Probably great importance should be attached to his work in the co-operative field. He took initiative for starting many societies in different parts of the land. He played the main role in establishing the society of societies (Co-operative Bank No 1501) in Cherthala Taluk. Shri K.G. Gopalakrishnan, the leading co-operative executive of Kerala was first his preceptor and later his colleague. He introduced many experiments in the co-operative world and made innovative forays into schools, cinema and agriculture. Shri K. Karunakara Panicker who was Coir Special Officer worked along with Shri V.A. Gopalan Nair for long.
His desire to form an agricultural college in the Co-operative field could not be fulfilled. He was the manager of the Pattanakkadu High school which was run under the Cherthala Co-operative Union. He used to give a gold medal to each of the SSLC toppers in the High Schools at Chammanad and Pattanakkad.
Velukutty Menon was a colleague of Mannath Padmanabhan who wielded his majestic influence over the era in which he lived. He organized the Nair community through the length and breadth of our state and exhorted them to be united and become strong. The resonances of the era could be heard in Cherthala as well. The symbol of resurging youth in Kerala, Shri Kattiyattu Sivarama Panicker joined this move to form Nair societies in different parts of Kearla and instilled a passion to unite under an organization with a national fervour. At that time Mannam, the ringleader of the Nairs appointed Shri VAG as the Registrar of Karayogas.
He had been the office bearer of the Panchayath Karayoga and temple committee. While he was the President of the Valamangalam North Karayoga he started a primary school there. That is the present Valamangalam North LP School. He has also worked as NSS Director Board member and President of Thuravoor Karshaka Sangam.
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
He who was a full time Congress worker has functioned in Travancore State Congress and then in Kerala Pradesh Congress Executive Committee. He has also functioned as Thuravoor Constitution President. He was a true Gandhian unanimously accepted in the political area. He had extraordinary ability to suggest suitable remedy for all the puzzling situations faced by the party. He was the kingpin of the Veluthully Kayal agitation which was a sensational and earth shaking issue in Kerala Politics. The late Varkey Tharakan was also his colleague.
For some time he worked in league with the Communist Party. Human love was the motivating force behind it. The late Shri M.N. Govindhan Nair has lived clandestine in his house. He has also worked as Secretary of Aroor Coir Factory Workers Union. For the first time he established a Coconut Climbers Union in Kerala. During the time of Punnapra-Vayalar agitation he withdrew from the Communist Party once and for all. The reason for this is in said to be the fact that the agitators threw themselves to the roaring guns of Sir CP armed with coconut lance and chilli powder without the knowledge or the consent of the leadership.
In 1938 Subhashchandra Bose became the Congress President and he and Jawaharlal Nehru associated with the Socialist Group in the Congress. They reinforced their activities and went forward. Then a bogus case was fabricated to the effect that a house in Aroor was set on fire and VAG and Comrade CG Sadasivan were arrested. Later the Court allowed both to go scot-free.
At that time the leadership of Coir Factory Workers Union belonged to Comrade T.V. Thomas and VAG. VAG has undergone imprisonment several times before and after independence. He was arrested for the last time in connection with the murder attempt on Sir CP.
The Hindumandala under Mannam and Shanker was a movement which gathered force. A three-member committee was constituted to arrest its movement towards questioning the very existence of the Congress and also envisage suitable programs. Shri T.M. Varghese, Shri Kumbalath SankuPillai and Shri V.A. Gopalan Nair were the members. Finally the Hindumandala tottered.
VAG contested as an independent candidate in the second general election after Independence and lost. The reasons for contesting as an independent were the communal proclivities in the organization and also the cross-voting. It was Smt. K.R. Gowriamma who won the election. After a short stint of disaffiliation to the organization he again immersed himself in the active working of the Congress.
THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE
VAG was the leader in Cherthala of the liberation struggle which had rocked Kerala as a whole and had been instrumental in dismissing the then Communist ministry. The hunger strike which he had conducted was brought to an end by the intercession of Mannath Padmanabhan.
KHADI MOVEMENT
His interest in foreign cloth boycott and growth of indigenous Khadi movement at different stages of the independent struggle was noteworthy. At the time when he was deputed as the representative of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee in Kerala Khadi Board (in 1972) he tried to give shape to Khadi movement in his own place. As a result of it a movement called Pattanakkad Block Khadi Industry Co-operative Society took shape in Thuravoor on 10-1-1973. His close relative Advocate M.N. Prarameswaran Pillai handed over after accepting a nominal price the1.5 acre property on which the society functions. VAG handed over the property to the society. He spent the evening of his life exclusively for this movement. He left the institution to go to hospital for the sleep from which no one awakens.
MAN OF LETTERS AND ORATOR
He was a very good man of letters and an orator, to boot. He has written many articles, essays, plays and poems. All of his writings were published in the newspapers and journals of that time. He has acted in plays. He had a penchant for speaking beautifully and at length. Renowned writer and orator Shri P. Kesava Dev has recorded in his autobiography “Ethirpu” that he had learned the art of oratory from VAG.
EXCEPTIONAL PERSONALITY
He never tried to secure any benefit either to himself or to his own people capitalizing on his prolonged political clout. Though he was promised jobs in the Co-operative field and NSS he accepted none of them. He waived the honorarium which was sanctioned to him. He never accepted any dowry for his sons’ marriage. Nor did he give any dowry for his only daughter’s marriage. He was opposed to accepting or giving dowry. He reposed excessive trust in other people and this led to financial stresses in later life. He retained purity of ideals till his death. He has kept the Thamrapatra for freedom fighters. But he was not prepared to receive the pension sanctioned along with it. He stated the reason for refusing the pension thus: “I participated in the independent struggle for my mother country. It was not for the money which you dish out now. It is only the obligation to a mother” (Mathrubhumi). Though he missed regular education in unfavorable circumstances he made it up by reading. Everyday he set apart time for reading.
The inveterate farmer that he was, VAG had found time for agriculture even in the thick of affairs. His farming instinct had caused wonder even to his closest workers. He took immense pride in manual labour. He was proficient in tackling problems in a facile manner. It was because of this unperplexed nature that he was able to chuck barriers and challenges. He was never dispirited by recriminations and obstacles. The last public function he attended was at Cherthala.- the inauguration of Shri K.G. Gopalakrishnan Memorial Building. Then he also unveiled a portrait of Shri K.G. Gopalakrishnan