The head of the Communist Party of India ( Marxist) was in Luz on Saturday evening to attend to a warm and unique event held at the Raga Sudha hall, near Nageswara Rao Park.
Prakash Karat who studied at MCC in this city and soaked in in his first experiences of the labour movement was here to release a book titled ‘ The Making of the Madras Working Class’ written by late D Veeraraghavan.
Speakers at this packed hall repeatedly underlined the importance of the scholarly work that is now packed into the 358 pages of this book published by LeftWord, Delhi stating that it was a serious and close study on a subject which is rarely documented, a study that looked at the workers and their issues in the colonial days of Madras.
Veeraraghavan, who was visually disabled early in life grew up in Mylapore, his family having migrated from Thanjavur district and went to college at Vivekananda College.
A student of Marxism, one who attended factory gate meetings and observed strikes in the city as part of his M Phil and doctoral studies at IIT-Madras, Veeraraghavan’s study was the subject that has now been published almost 25 years later.
Sadly, wrecked by ill health Veeraraghavan passed away in 2009 but the packed Raga Sudha hall on a weekend did indicate to the man’s popularity, impact of his work and the large circle of friends and well wishers he had.
This was indeed a different kind of event at this Luz hall, which always plays hosts to concerts and led-dems on Carnatic music or events related to the performing arts.
