Former ISRO [ Mahendragiri ] SE Grade Scientist/ Engineer Er Chandran Gandhiji, B.E[ Electronics] and Communication ]

Introduction     : Former ISRO [ Mahendragiri ] " SE"  grade Scientist / Engineer Er. Chandran Gandhiji  was  one of the unassuming great Space Scientists and was an unsung hero . His remarkable jump from the lake banks of  Vedanthangal village to the space research laboratories of  of  ISRO at Mahendragiri deserves our attention and admiration. He achieved greatness by his relentless hard work and  untiring self motivation . His rise from a Technical Assistant in ISRO to the grade of SE Scientist/ Engineer will definitely motivate and galvanise the village youth to aim  for higher goals and to live a meaningful  life 

                                        Former ISRO Scientist/ Engineer Er. Chandran Gandhiji 

Er. Chandran Gandhiji's Parents and Birth   :  Vedanthangal village lies in Acharapakkam Block, Maduranthakam taluk, Chingepattu dist, Tamil Nadu and  is one of the beautiful villages in Tamil Nadu. Vedanthangal Birds Sanctuary is world famous today .  Er. Chandran Gandhiji's  parents Mr Ezhumalai and Mrs Karpagam Ezhumalai are natives of this enchanting village and this couple gave birth to Er. Chandran Gandhiji on 11th march, 1961.  Er. Chandran Gandhiji even as a boy had his visionary dreams. 

Er. Chandran Gandhijji's Siblings  :  Mr. Ezhumalai and Mrs karpagam Ezhumalai couple gave birth to the following children namely  :[1] Mr. Er. Chandran Gandhiji , B.E, [ He is the Hero of this Article], [2] Ms Gandhimathi and she married Mr. Paramanandam ,[ 3] Mr. Karunakaran Gandhi [ IT.I ] and he married Ms Dhanalakshmi and this couple is blessed with 2 sons, [4] Mr Mohan Gandhi ,[Died], and [5] Mr. Rajan Gandhi, B.A, B.L, and  and he married Ms Anu and this  couple is blessed with one daughter , [

Er. Chandran Gandhiji's Educational Track   :  Er. Chandran Gandhiji did his School education at the Govt High School at Vedanthangal and passed his  S.S.L.C in 1977. Then he pursued his Diploma in Electronics  course at the Govt Central Polytechnic  College at Adayar, Chennai and passed his Diploma in Electronics [ D.E]  course in 1981.. He joined ISRO at Mahendragiri in 1983 as a Technical Assistant  and while working in ISRO, in line with his thirst for knowledge  he pursued his B.E[ Electronics and Communication ] and passed his BE in 2011 meritoriously. .

Er. Chandran Gandhiji's Wife and Children  : Er. Chandran Gandhiji married Ms Ravathy from a respectable family from Tuticorin and this couple is blessed with the following children namely  : [1]  Ms. Geetha , B.A, and she married Mr Jegathesh Kumar and this couple is blessed with 2 cute daughters , [2] Ms. Sidharthamathi , and she did her B.E[ Mech] at the University Engineering College Nagercoil and  she meritoriously  came out as College Topper in all the subjects and she was an University Rank Holder also in her B.E .. After having passed her B.E with flying colours Ms Sidharthamathi pursued her M.S [ Mech] in Germany and passed her M.S. meritoriously and currently she is working in a Bank in Germany in Engineering section , and [3] Ms. Sangamithra and she is currently doing her M.B.B.S. final Year at the  Tirunelveli Govt Medical College . 

Er. Chandran Gandhiji's Professional track   :  After having passed his Diploma in Electronics , Mr. Chandran Gandhiji joined ISRO at Mahendragiri as a Technical Assistant and after a few years he was promoted as Technical Assistant  ," C ".  He was discharging his professional functions  and responsibilities with great devotion and efficacy and he was promoted as Scientist/ Engineer ' S.B," in 1990 --1991. After having worked for 37 years and six months in ISRO  for the cause India's progress  in Space Research, he retired from service in March 2021 as ,"SE'  grade Scientist/ Engineer .

Conclusion     : Er. Chandran Gandhiji's professional accomplishments and educational achievements  deserve our admiration .  As first generation graduate his reach to the citadels of Space research in ISRO  at Mahendragiri will definitely galvanise the  Indian Youth who plays in their village streets to set their goals towards planets in the sky and to become Space Scientists like him . His father was a great Gandhian and admirer of  Mahatma Gandhiji. Er. Chandran Gandhiji after his retirement  resides in Nagercoil with his family and he loves his wife and children so much. . He instilled the value and importance of education in the minds of his daughters  and accordingly his  beloved and brilliant daughters  have reached enviable heights in education . He is a humanitarian and a great Social Thinker and a staunch follower  E.V. R [Periyar] and Dr. Ambedkar. He follows the principles of equality,  fraternity  and social justice  It is not possible to accommodate all the chapters of his real life travel and  history within the space of this Article and so I will end this Article with the  following sentence, "Dear Er. Chandran Gandhiji, we are  proud of you, along with our nation " 

END.

By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A, [ All rights are reserved, this Article will be enlarged , modified or corrected later if needed ] 

     

y youth. 

A Short Introduction about St. Mary's Church, Madras and St. Mary's Charity School, Madras ,

Introduction   : To understand the history of St. Mary's Church and St Mary's Charity school at Madras we need to have some idea of Mr. Streynsham  Master . The Agent of British East India Company , Madras  Sir. Streynsham Master was the 8th son of Richard Master Esq., of East Langdom Court, kent, U,K,.  He entered British East India Company's service in 1659 and some years before he came to Madras , he distinguished himself at Surat in 1670 by his courageous defence of the factory against the forces of Sivaji with a party of seamen from Swally for which  he received the Gold Medal from the East India Company. He was appointed to Fort. St. George, Madras  with the understanding that he was to succeed Mr.Langhorne  [Mrs. Frank Penny, Fort St. George Madras ,p. 47 ].  Mr. John Langhorne left India with Mr. Herrys at the beginning of 1676. Mr. Master's first act was to remodel the rules which governed his Council and introduce a more orderly system of keeping the  accounts books.. On return from the Bay he set about consolidating and building up the status of Fort St. George, Madras . Mr. Streynsham Master  may be called the second founder [ Ibid. ,p. 60].He remodelled Mr. Langhorne's rules. . Fines were also imposed for swearing, lying, quarrelling and Sabbath- breaking. [Ibid, p. 61]. Mr. Master's reign was a short one yet in his  time he left two lasting memorials of his energy. One was the St. George Fort Church dedicated to God in honour of St. Mary ; the other was the Court of Judicature out of which was by and by evolved the Madras High Court [ Ibid., p. 62]. . Within a few days of the sitting of the Court of Judicature the foundations of St. Mary's Church was dug. It was the first Church of the Anglican Communion raised in India and it was built by the liberal subscriptions of the Merchants of St. George Fort , Madras . [ Ibid., p. 63]. When factories and forts were established in India  the Chaplains were appointed to them by the East India company . As early as 1655 mention is made that a protestant Chaplain in Madras Revd. Richard , the successor of Rev. Patrick Warner , and had the privilege of performing the dedicatory service of  the St. Mary's Church at St. George Fort, Madras,, two years later in 1680. [ Ibid ]. The spire was added in 1692 and quarters were built at the West and adjoining the Tower for the Chaplains[ Ibid, .p. .64]. 

                                                                Sir. Streynsham Master 

St. Mary's Church Madras      :   St. Mary's Church , Madras , is full of mementoes of men who have helped  to make history. and is the resting place of several English Governors and Commanders in Chief to the Madras Army , Mr. Francis Hastings , Sir. Thomas Munro, Sir Henry George Ward, Sir Alexander Campbell , Sir Samuel Hood, Lord Hobart, Lord Pigot, and others . [ Mrs. Penny, p.66]. Since the time of the consecration of St. Mary's Church , a Vestry was formed to govern its affairs. The history of this Body is unique being the story of irresponsible effort  nobly sustained for the general good of the settlement. The Governors usually presided at the Vestry meetings, supported by the Members of the Council and the chief people in the Company's service. The most important duty of the Vestry was the administration of the St. Mary's Charity fund. . This Fund was commenced with the foundation of the Church. -[ Ibid, pp 67 & 68]. Provision was also made for the orphans of poor Europeans by the St. Mary's vestry, as has already been described , which resulted in the foundation of St Mary's School in the  St George Fort Madras [ Mrs. Frank Penny, p. 129].  

Evolution and Establishment of St. Mary's Charity School , Madras         :   In 1670 the Directors of the  British East India Company made some inquiries about the education of the Children at St George Fort , Madras . In 1678 was taken, by the appointment of a scotch preacher named Pringle who kept a School for teaching the Portuguese, Eurasians, British Eurasians and the children of a few Indian subordinates.. Mr Pringle, Mr. Ralph  Ord,  and Mr. John Barker  successively worked in this school as teachers. When Barker died this small School grew in importance and attracted towards it, gradually increasing Charity stock for the care and education of the orphans.  After 1692 the work of superintendence was entrusted to the Chaplains who were required to have knowledge of Portuguese and Tamil for the performance of their new duty, by the Company Directors.. During this period of time Rev. Lewis was working as the Chaplain of St Mary's Church ,  Rev. Lewis  recommended to the then Governor of the Fort  Mr. Pitt  to establish two Nurseries one for Boys and the other  for Girls. . Mr. Lewis object was to make Portuguese the medium of instruction . [ Narendra Nath Law , Promotion of Learning in India,  London, 1915, pp 11 to 13 ].. But  his Plan was not carried out. [ Ibid],.  Yet Mr Lewis was  a great educationist he himself without waiting for any help from the Company or any other source,  founded a Free School in a large room under at the  St. Marys Church Library  which was carried on by himself as long as he remained in the St. George Fort Madras . After his departure he was succeeded by Rev. William Stevenson. {Ibid pp 14 & 15]. .

Rev. William Stevenson established the St Marys English Medium School    . Rev. William Stevenson thought that an English School for the children of English soldiers would be more useful than a Portuguese school. So Rev William Stevenson established an English School called  St Mary's English School and left the Portuguese teaching to the Danish Missionaries. [ Narendra Nath Law , p, 15]. This English School was opened in December 1715 with 18 boys and 12 girls under the name of  St. Mary's Charity School. Among the boys there was a Portuguese boy sent by the Danish Missionary Mr. Grundler [ Narendra Nath Law , op.cit. .pp 15 & 16. ].The establishment of  St. Mary's Charity School was one of the results of the greater attention paid to the matter by the authorities in England .[Ibid , p, 19]. During the initial days after the foundations of the School there were more than 30 children . The boys lived in one apartment under the charge of a Master and an usher and the girls in a  separate house under the care of a Mistress and an Assistant [ ibid , p.23]. Whether boys or girls, shall be taken into the school house at 5 years of age or thereabouts and be put out to service or apprenticeship  when they are about 12 years old. And while they are entertained in the School the boys shall be taught to read write, cast accounts, or what they may be further capable of and the girls shall be instructed in reading and the necessary parts of house-wifery. [ Narendra Nath Law , op.cit, pp 20and 21] .  

Conclusion      : I think it will be good to revisit the story of the St Mary's Charity School so that we can cover some uncovered information in this regard.   A Free school for elementary education had been in existence at St George Fort for many years. designed and established at the outset for English children, it was afterwards opened to the offspring of Portuguese and native parents. Mr.. Ralph Ord was appointed as School Master in 1678 was followed in 1682 by Mr John Barker, who governed the institution for a quarter of a century.. On Barker's death in 1707, Mr John Knapton was nominated to succeed. The Chaplain the Rev. George Lewis who had a good command over Portuguese language seems then to have assumed the Control of the school. After his return to England in 1714, , Rev. William Stevenson succeeded him as the Chaplain. Rev. William Stevenson emphasised the necessity for a  Charity School on the English Model ,  The vestry of St Mary's Chapel  agreed. to this proposal.in 1715 a Scheme was drawn up for an institution to accommodate the poor protestant Children from 5 to 12 years of age who were to receive both education and board. The Overseers of the School were the Ministers and Churchwardens with three others elected by the Vestry. This Church school was established on the 28th October 1715. . It received the assistance and support of the Mr.  Harrison's Government . . The Overseers of the school in 1716 were the Rev. William Stevenson, the Rev. Charles Long and Messrs Thomas Way, Mr. Catesby Oadham , Francis Hugonin , Thomas Robson and Thomas Theobalds. The SPCK cooperated with Ziegenbalg's Danish Lutheran Mission at Tranquebar and in 1717 the Rev. Grundler came up to the St. George Fort  to promote a scheme for erecting two Charity Schools in Madras one for the Portuguese in the English Town and another in Black town for the Malabars. The teachers were at first to be native converts from Tranquebar. With the approval of the Directors , Jearsey House and ground were granted for a new School building on the understanding that the compensation already given for the Church house which had been absorbed in the new  Hospital  should be refunded  [  HENRY DAVIDSON lOVE , VESTIGES OF OLD MADRAS , 1640-- 1800, vol  11, LONDON, 1913, PP 163 TO 165]. In 1872 the St Mary's School was removed from St George Fort to Egmore and amalgamated with the Civil Orphan Asylum,  another charitable institution for destitute Children [ Mrs Frank penny ,p. 130]. in short the St Marys Charity school played a galvanising and motherly role for the growth and spread of  modern  public education among  all classes of people  in Madras ,  Tamil Nadu and India. . The impact made by the St Mary's Charity School, Madras   and the Free Schools started by the Danish missionaries in and around  Tanjore ,    on  India's educational and intellectual progress deserves a detailed study.. 

END . 

By Babu Manoharan, M.A, [  All rights are reserved. This Article will be enlarged, modified or corrected later if needed ].

.