Popularly known as the “Edison of India”, Gopalsamy Doraisamy Naidu has many firsts to his credit. He invented a wide range of products, researched on a basket of subjects, started skill education programmes, hosted freedom fighters, religious heads, industrialists, and national leaders in Coimbatore, and contributed for the growth of the city.
Giving an insight into the life, thoughts, and achievements of G.D. Naidu (1893 to 1974) are the photographs, collections, and products showcased at the 2,500 sq.ft. GD Naidu Memorial Gallery.
Inaugurating the Gallery here on Saturday, B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore, said the public, especially students, should visit the Gallery to understand how one man did so much even when conditions were not so favourable.
The aim of opening the Gallery is to inculcate among youth the scientific temper and to encourage them to focus on innovation.
Coimbatore has had people who had contributed a lot in different fields.
“The government should celebrate these people,” he said. G.D. Naidu’s contributions for the industrial advancements in Coimbatore are noteworthy and there are more like him who had strived for the growth of Coimbatore, he added.
Raj Chengappa, Group Editorial Director (Publishing) of India Today Group, said that G.D. Naidu remains a personality of not just the past and present but of the future too.
He had a deep interest in every thing he did. Even several decades ago he was talking of skill development and low cost housing, he pointed out.
A biopic “G.D. Naidu - The Edison of India” was screened at the inaugural function.
The film, produced by the Films Division of India, won the national award in the “Best Non-Feature Film” in Science and Technology category in 2019.
The Gallery, established and to be managed by G.D. Naidu Charities, is to take G.D. Naidu’s messages to the youth, said a press release.
