A share certificate of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company established by V.O. Chidambaram Pillai at the Tuticorin Old Port.
| Photo Credit: N. Rajesh
News announcements often bear a ring of novelty. It is perhaps the immediacy of news that makes a current initiative appear new, pioneering, and even unprecedented. But one of the best parts of being a reporter is that you chance upon historic nuggets or linkages when you least expect them. Your colleagues have covered similar, if not the same, stories decades ago or sometimes, even a century ago.
The news thrust of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Colombo on June 20, 2024, was a bilateral commitment to expedite India-backed projects in Sri Lanka. Officials said the two sides followed-up on projects outlined in the India-Sri Lanka Economic Partnership Vision document adopted by the two governments in 2023. Among other things, New Delhi and Colombo vowed to promote and strengthen “connectivity in all its dimensions as the key enabler”. They agreed to enhance maritime, air, energy and economic connectivity, and the media in both countries have been reporting on these initiatives.
Three days later, I attended an event at Wellawatta, a vibrant Tamil neighbourhood in Colombo, where noted Indian historian A.R. Venkatachalapathy launched his latest book, Swadeshi Steam: V.O. Chidambaram Pillai and the Battle against the British Maritime Empire. He said he was keen to present the work in Colombo, because V.O. Chidambaram (VOC) Pillai’s Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company operated a steamer service between Tuticorin and Colombo over a century ago. VOC was undoubtedly a pioneer in Indo-Lanka connectivity.
A discussion on freedom fighter V.O. Chidambaram Pillai brings out the country’s apathy towards meticulous documentation
Venkatachalapathy, who spent years combing through archives in both countries and elsewhere to research the bold business venture, spoke of an enterprising Tamil patriot’s desire to challenge the maritime monopoly of the British, by setting up Swadeshi Steam in 1906. VOC saw economic nationalism as a tool to resist oppressive colonial power. Fascinatingly, nationalism of that time, anchored in a resolve to take on and defeat the colonial powers, transcended borders. VOC set up a Colombo branch office and made frequent business trips before shifting to Colombo with his family for a brief while. Venkatachalapathy pointed to VOC’s interview to Ceylon Observer, and his columns for the Tamil daily Virakesari, published in Colombo. In fact, the first reports of the Swadeshi venture appeared in the Colombo press, predating its coverage in India. Rivalry within the company and inevitable losses would subsequently bring the business down. VOC returned to India, faced imprisonment for his defiance of the British, and died in 1936. The media in Ceylon paid rich tribute to him. Venkatachapathy’s rigorously researched, evidence-based account nudges us to see Indo-Lanka connectivity in a whole new way.
Soon after hearing about this steamer service, I sought the help of my ever-prompt colleagues at The Hindu’s library for any reference to this venture in our archives. They pulled out at least seven reports from 1906 to 1949 that refer to VOC’s Swadeshi Steam company. In 1949, The Hindu’s special correspondent in Tuticorin had covered the inauguration of an Indian shipping service from Tuticorin to Colombo by the Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari. The journalist noted: “Today’s function gathers significance not so much from these circumstances as from the fact that it recalls to the mind of the visitor the pioneer effort of Mr. V. O. Chidambaram Pillai some forty years ago.”
Six decades later, former Colombo correspondent R.K. Radhakrishnan tracked the story of the Indian government reviving the ferry service between Tuticorin and Colombo. It was re-launched in 2011 but terminated soon for commercial and operational reasons. In 2017, a Cabinet Minister in Colombo announced that Sri Lanka would seek expressions of interest to revive the service. But the proposal seems to have gathered little steam since.
meera.srinivasan@thehindu.co.in
