Sri V. Thulasiraman and Srimathi Ramani Thulasiraman

By Dr Vijayaganesh Thulasiraman, their son

My parents, V. Thulasiraman and Ramani Thulasiraman, were teachers in Cumbum, in the Cumbum Valley of Tamil Nadu. They belonged to a generation that saw education as a way to change whole families and communities, not only as a path to personal advancement.

They are no longer with us. The belief at the centre of their lives, that every child deserves the chance to learn, grow and fulfil their potential, now continues through AHAL.

V. Thulasiraman

My father came from a poor family. His own education was made possible by charitable support, and that experience shaped the rest of his life. He knew what education could mean to someone who had very little, and he spent his life passing it on.

He became a teacher of Economics and English, and in time Head Teacher of NSKP Higher Secondary School. His work went beyond the classroom: he helped develop educational institutions in the rural community, including an elementary school and a women's college.

The Government of Tamil Nadu honoured him with the Best Teacher State Award. For our family, the greater recognition was the respect he earned from the people he served. In Cumbum his name became associated with education, integrity and service.

Ramani Thulasiraman

My mother was also from Cumbum. Education was part of her family's heritage: she was the daughter of a Head Teacher, and she followed him into teaching.

She taught Mathematics and devoted herself to her students. Like my father, she saw teaching as much more than a profession. It was a way to shape young lives and help children build a better future, and she was deeply respected in the community for it.

Two teachers, one belief

My father's life showed what education can do. He began in a poor family, received help to study, and became a teacher, a Head Teacher and an award-winning educator who created opportunities for others. My mother carried forward a family tradition of teaching.

They lived and worked in the rural communities of the Cumbum Valley, where education can make an enormous difference to a child's future. Their legacy is the lives they touched, and the belief they left behind: education should be a source of opportunity, whatever a child's background.

Keeping their light alive

After my parents passed away, our family wanted to honour them in a way that reflected how they had lived. We established AHAL Educational Charitable Trust in their memory, to support the education of underprivileged children.

Most of AHAL's trustees were once their students. The trust is our way of keeping their values alive: not only remembering what they did, but continuing what they believed in.

A home that still gives

My parents' home in Cumbum is full of memories of their life together and the values they gave our family. We now rent it out, and the income supports AHAL's charitable work.

A house that once sheltered our family now helps children who need support. It is a small continuation of my parents' philosophy: what we have should, in some way, help others.

From their light to the next generation

My father's life began with the support of charity, and he spent it educating others. Through AHAL, we hope to continue that circle of giving.

A child who receives an education today may become a teacher, doctor, engineer, scientist, entrepreneur or community leader tomorrow. More importantly, that child may one day be able to help someone else. That is how a small light becomes a larger one.

Their light remains in the memories of their students, in the community of the Cumbum Valley, in the institutions they helped build and in the values they passed to their family. Through AHAL, we hope it will reach underprivileged children for generations to come.