To Carry Forward An Ancient Legacy

In the heat of the summer in April 2022, R Ramakrishnan swayed the bo staff in his hands, parrying and blocking, in front of a cheering audience during a Tamil new year's event at Ponmalai in Tiruchy.

- P THIRUSELVAM @Tiruchy

His fluid yet dynamic movements caught the eye of a group of youth from Manachanallur, a town nearly 20 km away from Ponmalai. Impressed by his mastery over the art, they requested him to teach silambam to the children of their area. Without a second thought, Ramakrishnan agreed; a decision which transformed the ordinary life of a private school clerk into a tale of dedication, and cultural pride.

Born into a humble background in Ponmalai, Ramakrishnan, who lost both his parents at the age of 11 due to an illness, was raised by his grandfather V Nagappan, who ensured that his grandkid received proper education. After schooling, Ramakrishnan went on to complete his B.Sc. in statistics and currently works as a clerk at a private school. Despite his financial challenges and modest living conditions—he resides in a small house with a tiled roof—his commitment to silambam remains unshaken.

Over the last four years, Ramakrishnan has taught the ancient Tamil martial art to over 400 children and youths in Manachanallur, free of charge. For this 35-year-old, the commitment to silambam stems from a vow to carry forward his late father-in-law's legacy.

In 2015, Ramakrishnan got married to M Janapriya, who later became an essential pillar in his mission. Janapriya's father, late R Mahalingam, was a silambam master known for teaching the martial art free of cost, accepting only a symbolic guru dakshina of ₹11. He believed that knowledge, especially of traditional art forms, should not be commercialised.