P. Jeevanandham (21 August 1907 – 18 January 1963) also called Jeeva, was a social reformer, political leader, litterateur and one of the pioneers of the Communist and socialist movements in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He was not only a socio-political leader, but was also a cultural theoretician, an excellent orator, journalist and critic; and above all, a relentless fighter for the deprived. A down-to-earth person with a clean record in public life, Jeevanandham was held in high esteem by ordinary people. Jeevanantham Early life P. Jeevanandham was born in the town of Boothapandi, near Nagercoil, in the then princely state of Travancore (which is now in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu) into an orthodox middle-class family on 21 August 1907. His original name was Sorimuthu. He was named this name after his clan god Sorimuthu. The orthodox and religious background of his family exposed Jeevanandham to literature, devotional songs and the arts, early on in his life. He grew up in an era when caste-based rigidity was widely prevalent, and from early on in his life he resented the very idea of untouchability and could not tolerate his Dalit friends being denied entry into temples and public places and being humiliated. Even as a schoolboy he became averse to Varnasrama Dharma, a Hindu religious code that stratifies society on caste lines and facilitates the practice of untouchability. The national movement and Gandhi’s call to wear khadi and his stand against untouchability influenced Jeevanandham to join the movement. He began wearing only khadi from then on. Jeevanandham took his Dalit friends into the streets and public places where, usually, entry was denied to them, which earned him the displeasure of his family and orthodox caste members in his village. His father disapproved his behaviour and asked him to stop all things which were against their caste traditions. Jeevanandham said he would rather leave his home rather than follow discriminatory practices and eventually did so. Political life Gandhian and Congress Worker Jeevanandham started his political life basing himself on Gandhian ideas. In 1924, he participated in the Vaikom Satyagraha against upper-caste Hindus, where Dalits were barred from walking on the road leading to the temple at Vaikom. He participated in a similar protest, demanding entry for Dalits into the Suchindram temple. When he joined an ashram run by V. V. S. Aiyar at Cheranmadevi, he found that Dalits and