Madhavan’s upcoming biopic G.D.Naidu is about a remarkable genius, who was behind Coimbatore’s emergence as an industrial powerhouse. Inventor, Industrialist, Visionary, thread on the real life hero, whose story needs to be known more.
Coimbatore is often called the Manchester of India, due to it’s factories and industries. Tamil Nadu’s second largest city, also called as Kovai, is an Industrial, Technology, Textile hub of the state. And the reason is one man, Gopalswamy Duraiswamy Naidu, aka G.D.Naidu, the man who created the first motor in India. A school dropout, who was behind many inventions and also started many industries, playing a vital role in development of Tamil Nadu.
He was born on March 23, 1893 in Kallangal village near Coimbatore, son of a humble farmer Gopalswamy Naidu. Having lost his mother at an early age, he was raised by his uncle and aunt at the nearby Naayakanpaalayam village, where he grew up under their doting care.
At school, the teacher identified him as a brilliant student, though quite mischevious too. However he could not get along with the strict class room environment, and dropped out of school, beginning to work on his father’s farm. It was during his work on the farm, that he developed an interest in reading, and began to read books on every subject that interested him. As he grew up, he came to know about a medical company called Park Davis, and managed to finalize a business deal with them of selling pain balms. He also got married in the meantime to Chellamal.
One day he saw a Britisher driving a motorcycle in his village, and desired to own one himself. He went to Coimbatore, for the first time in his life, worked in a hotel for 3 years, and managed to save around 400 Rs. Later he purchased the motorcycle from the British surveyor he had seen and proudly showed it to his father and wife. The model can still be seen at Gee Dee Car Museum in Coimbatore.
He tried his hand for sometime in the cotton business, however with that turning out to be a failure, he decided to stay away from it. It was around this time he met Robert Stanz, while looking for a job in auto industry. Robert knowing the potential of Duraiswamy, offered him Rs 4000 and suggested him to invest another 4000 to buy a bus that could yield a good profit. He ran his first bus from Pollachi to Palani in 1920, and soon his transport business flourished in the decade to come, as he rose to become an owner of 70 buses. When his competitors failed to beat him, he invited all of them, and set up United Motor Services(UMS), a joint venture, that soon became a leading transport company.
The humble Duraiswamy who had never left his village till the age of 20, now began to tour the world. He made his own camera, through which he captured the images of leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and also the funeral of England’s King George V in 1935.
He established National Electric Works in 1939, that manufactured the first electric motor in India. It was a completely indigenous product, with all the parts except the ball bearing manufactured in his company.
He invented the Rasant razor, that was made at a factor in a German town called Heilbronn, which bought good profits. His inventions included a Refrigerator, Recorder, Mechanical Calculator, a distance adjuster for film cameras, fruit juice extractor, Coffee Supplier.
He invented a 2 seater petrol car in 1941, that cost Rs 2000, however then British Govt did not grant him the licence.
It was not just industry, even in agriculture too he created hybrid varieties of cotton, maize, papaya, banana and coconut.
He also deeply researched on Siddha medical system, coming up with his own medicines. The likes of C.V.Raman and M.Visveswarayya visited his farm and were impressed with his work.
He developed a good rapport with many industrialists, political leaders, Govt officials across the world. In memory of his father he constructed a bungalow in Coimbatore called “Gopala Bag”, where he would spend the rest of his life till his last breath.
He firmly believed that students needed more hands on experience, than mere academics. And started two premier institutions in 1945,“Sir Arthur Hope College of Technology” and “Sir Arthur Hope Polytechnic” named so after then Madras Governor. He later gave them to the Govt, and they are now called the Govt College of Technology, and Govt Polytechnic, both leading educational institutions in Coimbatore.
He felt that the four year course was not needed, and two years with practical training was more than enough. However his proposal was not accepted by the Britsh Govt and he resigned as principal.
Later in 1946, he started Industrial Labour Welfare Association (ILWA), now known as G.D.Naidu Charities, to impart higher education with an emphasis on practical training.
G.D.Naidu passed away on January 4, 1974, leaving a vast legacy in the form of his industries and educational institutions. The G.D.Matriculation Higher Secondary School and G.D.Public School in Coimbatore are now run by his descendants.
Gopalswamy Duraiswamy Naidu was a truly exceptional individual, a school dropout, who invented, set up industries, educational institutions, a self made genius, who thought far ahead. Another hero whose story needs to be known. He was called the “Indian Edison”, but then considering what a fraud and copycat Edison was, would say G.D.Naidu was far more greater, as an inventor, and as a human being too. He is an Indian whose life needs to be known more, glad to see the biopic on him coming up.
If Coimbatore is an educational, industrial, commercial hub today, credit to likes of Gopalswamy Duraiswamy Naidu, who laid the foundation for it’s growth and development. Salute to a remarkable genius. Coimbatore has had a whole lot of greats behind it’s emergence as an industrial powerhouse-G.D.Naidu, PSG,N. Mahalingam(Sakthi Group), G.K. Devarajulu(LMW), G. Kuppuswami Naidu. There needs to be a web series on these guys, each of them an icon in their own right.