About Ramalingam Shanmugalingam
1934 – 2004
Ramalingam Shanmugalingam 1934 – 2004
[see also 1. US Tamil Activist Dies ;
2. ciRpi cetukkAta cintany Unsculptured Thought by R.Shanmugalingam ;
3. Selected Writings – R.Shanmugalingam]
Ramalingam Kichi Yazhan Shanmugalingam was born on September 29th 1934 to Ramalingam Karthiravel and Pakiam, in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was lovingly known as’ Kichi’ by his family and friends. Kichi was blessed with a wonderful family, his living brothers Mahendralingam, Suntharalingam, Ganeshalingam and Panchalingam. He also had a sister Thenmozhi, who passed away. One cardinal guideline Kichi believed in was if you can’t do good, at least do not harm others. What is harmful and what is not is a matter of judgment dictated by those particular circumstances. He illustrates with one of his stipulations to his intended and later his wife of over 43 years. If my mother and only sister (let her beautiful soul return within my family as I, during my life will nurture her substitute even better than I did to her from a different place and time), had no saree to wear, I would rather buy three cotton sarees than one Kanchipuram saree for my wife. There is no physical hurt to my wife, except perhaps a challenge to her ego. Her subsequent actions to outdo me with deeds to others prove that I did fair by her and others .
Kichi’s childhood was wonderful with great adventures and accomplishments.
He graduated from Jaffna College and went on to receive his engineering degree from Allahabad University, India. He flourished academically, serving as a tutor for many of his classmates. He worked for many years at Collets and Massey Ferguson in Sri Lanka. In 1960, he met Susila Devi Ratnasabapathy, an accomplished Indian Classical dancer- Bharathanatyam. He fell in love with her the minute his eyes saw her. Her beauty, demeanor and poise led to their marriage on May 15 1960.
From Kichi’s early childhood, the oppression of the Tamils in Sri Lanka was the precursor of his life-long struggle for the liberation of Tamil Eelam. In 1970s he realized that he did not want to bring his children up under an oppressive government that discriminated against Tamils. So, in 1972, Kichi moved his family to Zambia, Africa, where he was the Chief Agricultural Engineer for the government of Zambia. In Zambia, he progressed and developed a close relationship with his roots. His exemplary work and integrity took him to higher positions in the government sector. The admiration and love that was bestowed on him was realized when the ex-president of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, talking about AIDS in Africa at UCSD, made a point to visit his friend at his home in San Diego last year. Kichi travelled extensively all over the world for his work and he was the type of man that took his work very seriously. In 1980 he got an opportunity to move to the USA with his family.
When Kichi turned 55 years old, he retired and took on a more active role to educate the world on Tamil heritage and promote pride in being a Tamil, which was his true passion in life. In the last few years, he met some of his goals. He helped develop a Tamil font language software, called Yazhan Tamil font. He also formed the World Wide Tamils Coalition, which served as an umbrella group to bring together Tamils from all over the world in solidarity to promote Tamil language and culture. Kichi was also instrumental in publishing his poetic works and wrote the book Sitpi Sethukkatha Sinthanai. He was in the process of translating the book Sitpi Sethukkatha Sinthanai in English and publishing his next book Journey down the Memory Lane when he passed on. Kichi had an enormous appetite for music and was an excellent singer and loved to sing. He was an avid reader and an exceptionally a powerful writer both in Tamil and English.
Kitchi leaves behind to treasure his memory his wife, Susila Devi, children, Dhayalan, Sudhamathy and Sivamathy; Children-in-laws, Goulai Khoo, Thabenthiran and Sean Coffey; Grandchildren, Chaminie, Janon and Tena; Brothers, Mahendralingam, Suntharalingam, Ganeshalingam and Panchalingam; Brother-in Laws, late Thirunavakkarasu, Vivekananthan, Mahenthiran, Manoharan, and Pathmanathan.
Farewell to Shan – Alex Doss writes on Ramalingam Shanmugalingam’s death, 8 November 2004
“…To those of you who do not know who this man is, he is a Tamil , a Scholar who has done a lot for Tamil and the Tamil cause. To those of , you who might have met him at the Cross Cultural Center, he is the one you have met. To those who were interested in learning Tamil, he, was the one who was willing to teach you. To those who were , interested in going to Sri Lanka with VISIONS and to learn Tamil, he,was the one who wanted to teach you Tamil to prepare yourself. I was with my family today visiting the Shans. We had lunch together and, everything was fine until Mr. Shan then started to have chest pains. He asked me for his medicine and I gave it to him. When it didn’t work, he told me that he needed to go to the hospital. We then called 911. His wife Mrs. Susheela cried out and told me that he was having a heart attack. I tried the best I could to revive him and to give him CPR. The paramedics then arrived and gave him CPR and used the fribulator on him. He was then taken to the ER. We all went to the Scripps Medical Emergency Room in La Jolla. Around 5:30 pm today (7 November 2004), he passed away.
I will never forget this man for the rest of my life. He was not only my guru, but like a second father to me. When his daughter arrived at the ER from L.A. she had told me that just today she and her husband were planning to have a ceremony for her father’s book which he had just released in India earlier last month.
He has treated everybody with dignity and respect. Even when he could not afford to host people, he made sure that they were treated like kings and queens. He was also the first person to teach me how to write in Tamil. Before he had the attack which was roughly around 3:30 pm he was showing my brothers some of his poems. I remember the last one he showed was about his wife and his father. His death will never be forgotten, and his works shall live on for ever. He will live always in our hearts….”
Kichi’s funeral was on November 11th and the 31rst day remembrance will take place on December 11th in Los Angeles.
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