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The World To Come
(English Version of the Tamil Book “Ini Varum Ulagam?” Released in 1944)
Seventy years ago, Thanthai Periyar E.V. Ramasamy delivered his presidential address in one of the Self-respect marriages held at Thiruvatripuram - Cheyyar (North Arcot District of Tamil Nadu). His disciple late Anna, a great lieutenant of the Selfrespect Dravidar Kazhagam was also attending that marriage function.
Anna as he was fondly referred to, Mr.C.N.Annadurai, the founder-leader of D.M.K. and as well as the first Chief Minister of D.M.K. party in Tamil Nadu, was astonished by his mentor’s free flow of original thoughts about the future world. He jotted down his original speech and wanted to publish in his well-known Tamil Weekly ‘Dravida Nadu’ with permission from his leader Periyar. Periyar was pleased to correct his script and saw it was published later on as small booklet in Tamil and many thousands of copies of the book were sold. This book was reviewed in ‘The
Hindu’, a famous English Daily. It compared Periyar to the “H.G.Wells of the Twentieth century”.
Many utopias were written by eminent thinkers like Thomas Moore, Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) and others. The original ideas of Thanthai Periyar who never had the facility of schooling or collegiate education, are far beyond
the thinking about the futuristic world and its innovative scientific achievements. Periyar being a visionary was able to see through his abundant common sense and unconditional reasoning power and efficacy, worldly experience how the world - tomorrow would emerge.
He visualised cellphones, video-conferences etc. This is evidence for his original thought. Periyar was rightly conferred UNESCO Award and the citation aptly portrays him as
“Periyar, the Prophet of the New Age;
The Socrates of South East Asia;
Father of the Social Reform Movement;
And Arch Enemy of ignorance,
Superstitions, Meaningless Customs
and Base Manners”
- K.Veeramani
Seventy years ago, Thanthai Periyar E.V. Ramasamy delivered his presidential address in one of the Self-respect marriages held at Thiruvatripuram - Cheyyar (North Arcot District of Tamil Nadu). His disciple late Anna, a great lieutenant of the Selfrespect Dravidar Kazhagam was also attending that marriage function.
Anna as he was fondly referred to, Mr.C.N.Annadurai, the founder-leader of D.M.K. and as well as the first Chief Minister of D.M.K. party in Tamil Nadu, was astonished by his mentor’s free flow of original thoughts about the future world. He jotted down his original speech and wanted to publish in his well-known Tamil Weekly ‘Dravida Nadu’ with permission from his leader Periyar. Periyar was pleased to correct his script and saw it was published later on as small booklet in Tamil and many thousands of copies of the book were sold. This book was reviewed in ‘The
Hindu’, a famous English Daily. It compared Periyar to the “H.G.Wells of the Twentieth century”.
Many utopias were written by eminent thinkers like Thomas Moore, Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) and others. The original ideas of Thanthai Periyar who never had the facility of schooling or collegiate education, are far beyond
the thinking about the futuristic world and its innovative scientific achievements. Periyar being a visionary was able to see through his abundant common sense and unconditional reasoning power and efficacy, worldly experience how the world - tomorrow would emerge.
He visualised cellphones, video-conferences etc. This is evidence for his original thought. Periyar was rightly conferred UNESCO Award and the citation aptly portrays him as
“Periyar, the Prophet of the New Age;
The Socrates of South East Asia;
Father of the Social Reform Movement;
And Arch Enemy of ignorance,
Superstitions, Meaningless Customs
and Base Manners”
- K.Veeramani
16 pages, Unknown Binding
Published December 1, 1980
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About the author
Periyar
177 books167 followersErode Venkatappa Ramasamy (E.V. Ramasamy), commonly known as Periyar (பெரியார்), also referred to as Thandhai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.
Periyar spent over fifty years giving speeches, propagating the realisation that everyone is an equal citizen and the differences on the basis of caste and creed were man-made to keep the innocent and ignorant as underdogs in the society. Although Periyar's speeches were targeted towards the illiterate and more mundane masses, scores of educated people were also swayed. Periyar viewed reasoning as a special tool. According to him, all were blessed with this tool, but very few used it. Thus Periyar used reasoning with respect to subjects of social interest in his presentations to his audiences. Communal differences in Tamil society were considered by many to be deep-rooted features until Periyar came to the scene.
The bedrock of E.V. Ramasamy’s principles and the movements that he started was rationalism. He thought that an insignificant minority in society was exploiting the majority and trying to keep it in a subordinate position forever. He wanted the exploited to sit up and think about their position, and use their reason to realise that they were being exploited by a handful of people. In a message to the Brahmin community, Periyar stated, "in the name of god, religion, and sastras you have duped us. We were the ruling people. Stop this life of cheating us from this year. Give room for rationalism and humanism". He added that "any opposition not based on rationalism, science, or experience will one day or another, reveal the fraud, selfishness, lies and conspiracies".
Periyar's philosophy of self-respect was based on his image of an ideal world and a universally accepted one. His philosophy preaches that human actions should be based on rational thinking. Further, the outcome of the natural instinct of human beings is to examine every object and every action and even nature with a spirit of inquiry, and to refuse to submit to anything irrational as equivalent to slavery. Thus, the philosophy of self-respect taught that human actions should be guided by reason, right and wrong should follow from rational thinking and conclusions drawn from reason should be respected under all circumstances. Freedom means respect to thoughts and actions considered right by human beings on the basis of reason. There is not much difference between freedom and self-respect.
Periyar spent over fifty years giving speeches, propagating the realisation that everyone is an equal citizen and the differences on the basis of caste and creed were man-made to keep the innocent and ignorant as underdogs in the society. Although Periyar's speeches were targeted towards the illiterate and more mundane masses, scores of educated people were also swayed. Periyar viewed reasoning as a special tool. According to him, all were blessed with this tool, but very few used it. Thus Periyar used reasoning with respect to subjects of social interest in his presentations to his audiences. Communal differences in Tamil society were considered by many to be deep-rooted features until Periyar came to the scene.
The bedrock of E.V. Ramasamy’s principles and the movements that he started was rationalism. He thought that an insignificant minority in society was exploiting the majority and trying to keep it in a subordinate position forever. He wanted the exploited to sit up and think about their position, and use their reason to realise that they were being exploited by a handful of people. In a message to the Brahmin community, Periyar stated, "in the name of god, religion, and sastras you have duped us. We were the ruling people. Stop this life of cheating us from this year. Give room for rationalism and humanism". He added that "any opposition not based on rationalism, science, or experience will one day or another, reveal the fraud, selfishness, lies and conspiracies".
Periyar's philosophy of self-respect was based on his image of an ideal world and a universally accepted one. His philosophy preaches that human actions should be based on rational thinking. Further, the outcome of the natural instinct of human beings is to examine every object and every action and even nature with a spirit of inquiry, and to refuse to submit to anything irrational as equivalent to slavery. Thus, the philosophy of self-respect taught that human actions should be guided by reason, right and wrong should follow from rational thinking and conclusions drawn from reason should be respected under all circumstances. Freedom means respect to thoughts and actions considered right by human beings on the basis of reason. There is not much difference between freedom and self-respect.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 25, 2020
It has to be noted that Periyar's speech about the future is a reflection of his belief in science. It also shows us the hopes he harboured. His utopia might be far fetched from rational reality but it is rather a reflection of his desires and dreams. Having said that, many of his predictions, especially in the realm of technology has come true. With the use of common sense and rational expectation, he predicted the use of cellphones, surrogacy, cashless transactions, WiFi, video calling, portable radios and even electric cars. Isn't it amazing how he could, with the efficient use of rationality, foresee these things almost a century ago!
There are two interesting possibilities that Periyar envisages, I am going to dwell longer on them.
He envisages the possibility of human lifespan being doubled or even more. Initially, I found this thought to be implausible; then, I realised that I knew nothing of this subject to have a formed opinion. On watching some authentic YouTube videos, it seems plausible that ageing can be cured in the long run. In the short run, we are very close to inventing drugs/technology that would tremendously increase our lifespans. We have found ways to kill senescent cells, increase the longevity of NAD enzymes and to use stem-cell therapy to reinvigorate the functioning of our brains, hearts and other organs. Successful results have been observed on mice and human trials are about to begin! Periyar would be smirking on knowing all of this, hehe!
I, personally, think that the increase of the human healthspan and lifespan is on an inexorable forward march that cannot be halted. Having said that, I feel disconcerted by the thought of immortality. With immortality, comes greater possibilities and responsibilities too. Subscribing to the Buddhist view that human life is inseparable from suffering, I feel that immortality would bring a whole new dimension to the burdens that we humans can carry. Nevertheless, with immortality, the human species can scale remarkable heights. Just imagine Newton working with Einstein!
The second thought pertains to the possibility of capsules replacing our daily food intake. This is still scientifically implausible as of now, but it is not impossible. Maybe, a day will come when Periyar will come beaming with an "I told you so" look.
His utopia has socialistic dreams embedded within it. He dreams of an egalitarian society where people get to work minimal hours for their survival and focus on contributing to the overall development of society. He also addresses the 'laziness' argument that the detractors of socialism often bring about. He says lazy people would exist like they've always had and they wouldn't hamper the growth of the society. He dreams of a world in which all human beings can nourish their human potential through intelligent, creative expressions of such potential, rather than toiling away entire lives merely to eke out a living. Also, he dreams of a post-capitalist society that is devoid of capitalists, money-lenders and private businesses that thrive on the miseries of the masses.
As is his wont, he dreams about the equality of the sexes and he also dreams about societies with advanced views on sex. I think the present discourse on consent, sexual liberties and the primacy of individual desires would have pleased Periyar. Sexual freedoms were considered by him to be a part of the struggle for the liberation of women. His thoughts about an atheistic society are also turning out to be true with increasing levels of irreligiosity across the world. At the heart of it all, he wants an egalitarian society that'll help people enjoy the fruits of civilisation and help in its advancement.
Eventually, he also imagines what John Lennon would imagine decades later - a world without notions of heaven and hell. He believes that such a rational world that is replete with good values, freedom, equality and tremendous advancements will come when we work towards it. He certainly views himself as a cog in the wheel of human advancement, and he seems to have fulfilled that role splendidly.
There are two interesting possibilities that Periyar envisages, I am going to dwell longer on them.
He envisages the possibility of human lifespan being doubled or even more. Initially, I found this thought to be implausible; then, I realised that I knew nothing of this subject to have a formed opinion. On watching some authentic YouTube videos, it seems plausible that ageing can be cured in the long run. In the short run, we are very close to inventing drugs/technology that would tremendously increase our lifespans. We have found ways to kill senescent cells, increase the longevity of NAD enzymes and to use stem-cell therapy to reinvigorate the functioning of our brains, hearts and other organs. Successful results have been observed on mice and human trials are about to begin! Periyar would be smirking on knowing all of this, hehe!
I, personally, think that the increase of the human healthspan and lifespan is on an inexorable forward march that cannot be halted. Having said that, I feel disconcerted by the thought of immortality. With immortality, comes greater possibilities and responsibilities too. Subscribing to the Buddhist view that human life is inseparable from suffering, I feel that immortality would bring a whole new dimension to the burdens that we humans can carry. Nevertheless, with immortality, the human species can scale remarkable heights. Just imagine Newton working with Einstein!
The second thought pertains to the possibility of capsules replacing our daily food intake. This is still scientifically implausible as of now, but it is not impossible. Maybe, a day will come when Periyar will come beaming with an "I told you so" look.
His utopia has socialistic dreams embedded within it. He dreams of an egalitarian society where people get to work minimal hours for their survival and focus on contributing to the overall development of society. He also addresses the 'laziness' argument that the detractors of socialism often bring about. He says lazy people would exist like they've always had and they wouldn't hamper the growth of the society. He dreams of a world in which all human beings can nourish their human potential through intelligent, creative expressions of such potential, rather than toiling away entire lives merely to eke out a living. Also, he dreams of a post-capitalist society that is devoid of capitalists, money-lenders and private businesses that thrive on the miseries of the masses.
As is his wont, he dreams about the equality of the sexes and he also dreams about societies with advanced views on sex. I think the present discourse on consent, sexual liberties and the primacy of individual desires would have pleased Periyar. Sexual freedoms were considered by him to be a part of the struggle for the liberation of women. His thoughts about an atheistic society are also turning out to be true with increasing levels of irreligiosity across the world. At the heart of it all, he wants an egalitarian society that'll help people enjoy the fruits of civilisation and help in its advancement.
Eventually, he also imagines what John Lennon would imagine decades later - a world without notions of heaven and hell. He believes that such a rational world that is replete with good values, freedom, equality and tremendous advancements will come when we work towards it. He certainly views himself as a cog in the wheel of human advancement, and he seems to have fulfilled that role splendidly.
July 14, 2020
It's a speech given by periyar himself and after reading the short speech I wondered, how a man be so mindful on the social matters and imagine about the future with resource which was not even imagined during that time. The speech is all about the future India where bounded barriers like casteism, crime against women, class/status, slaver are been eliminated and where people live cooperate free living.
It is the one of the cheapest book found in official Periyar web portal.
It is the one of the cheapest book found in official Periyar web portal.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews