Dr. Aram was to come to Pondicherry on 24th May 1997 and participate in a meeting on 25th. But the meeting was postponed. I tried to give solace to my mind in a way of thinking that if the meeting had not been cancelled, and if Anna had been to Pondicherry and the Divine Vibrations at Pondicherry, would have saved him from his untimely death.

All along his life he used to talk to us about the ushering of the magic 21st century. Indeed he was a dreamer of the 21st century. Blessed was his soul, Dr. Aram, who worked for Peace. He rose to supreme eminence as a leader of Peace Movement not only in Nagaland but all over the world. Dr. Aram was a man who with all his mind and heart loved India and the whole humanity.

He had great faith in India’s inherent powers he said, “We should develop a new self-awareness and a new self-confidence to meet the challenges of today.”

In 1987, he wrote a letter from Mount-View of Kovaipudur to me. In that letter he said that he had three ideas before him.

Ours was a great friendship, which evolved more because we shared the same ideas as we knew one another. When I finally had the opportunity to greet him personally in the synod hall in the Vatican, on the opening day of the 6th Assembly of the WCRP, we had already established a relationship of reciprocal esteem and great appreciation.

I treasured his greetings from Princeton and Copenhagen, from Melbourne and Riva del Garda.I saw in him as great defender of peace and of human rights. He sustained non-violence, and above all, he was a builder of unity among people and religions.

His sincere admiration for St Francis of Assisi, a great Christian saint, whose prayer for peace he often recited, made him particularly close to all those who – like me and our movement – see in this witness for the love of Christ, a model to imitate.

For us too, Dr. Aram was an exemplary “instrument of peace,” because of his philosophical and religious vision, his amazing capacity to smooth down tension and build bridges of understanding, his attention to the world of young people, because of his spirit of prayer, and because of all those qualities that made him a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi.

- Chiara Lubich
Founder, Focolare Movement

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Dr Aram is remembered by many of us for his firm commitment to, “positive, active and dynamic non-violence,” to use the words of the commission on, “Building Trust through Non-Violence and Education for Peace,” at the Melbourne Assembly. This was not a political slogan but a style of life, which drew him into solidarity with victims of conflict and injustice wherever they were. At one level this commitment and his skills and sensitivities were shown in delicate missions to places as far apart as Fiji or Zambia; he joined multi-religious delegations to meet religious and political leaders on both sides of communal conflicts  in Fiji, and racial conflicts in apartheid South Africa. At another level he would show his gentle but firm human touch and his constant concern for young people as he took international visitors to meet the young Shanti Sena/Peace Brigade members in his home town.

Madam Chiara Lubich
Founder, Focolare Movement
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Dr Aram is remembered by many of us for his firm commitment to, “positive, active and dynamic non-violence,” to use the words of the commission on, “Building Trust through Non-Violence and Education for Peace,” at the Melbourne Assembly. This was not a political slogan but a style of life, which drew him into solidarity with victims of conflict and injustice wherever they were. At one level this commitment and his skills and sensitivities were shown in delicate missions to places as far apart as Fiji or Zambia; he joined multi-religious delegations to meet religious and political leaders on both sides of communal conflicts  in Fiji, and racial conflicts in apartheid South Africa. At another level he would show his gentle but firm human touch and his constant concern for young people as he took international visitors to meet the young Shanti Sena/Peace Brigade members in his home town.

- Dr John B. Taylor
October 2001, Geneva, Switzerland

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Dr. Aram had good knowledge about Tamil Literature, Tamil Culture and Saiva Siddhanta Philosophy. But he did not have much acquaintance with Gandhian Philosophy and literature and Freedom Movement till he left for the US in 1950. In the United States,  Dr. Aram chose for his Ph.D. thesis, the topic “How American students conceptualize India.” So he had to study about Indian politics, economics, sociology, Indian freedom struggle, Gandhian Movement and other Indian affairs. When I reached USA he was engaged in studying about these subjects. As I was already acquainted with Gandhian Philosophy, we used to discuss about it and studied several Gandhian literature together. His Ph.D. work was a turning point in his life. It brought him very close to Gandhian Thinking and Philosophy, the Gandhian Movement.

- Dr. K. Kulandaivel
Chancellor, Avinashilingam University

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Aram Anna will be remembered for his selfless service and for the betterment of the downtrodden. Whenever people came to him he used to give patient hearing. Those who moved with him will not forget his warm welcome and hospitality. His efforts for bringing in world peace were unparallel. The very thought of him will inspire persons who moved with him and worked closely. He will be remembered as an eminent Gandhian Thinker, an Educationist and a Defender of Peace, in the days to come.

- Dr. N. MARKANDAN
Former Vice Chancellor, Gandhigram Rural University

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Dr. Aram, a man of faith and Action for Peace

When Dr. Aram was selected to be the recipient of the twelfth Niwano Peace Prize in 1995, he sent me a message saying, “I have striven to make the values of Mahatma Gandhi helpful to world peace. Therefore, I am accepting this Niwano Peace Prize as recognition of India’s Gandhian movement.”

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) was the guiding light of the Indian nationalist movement and led it by advocating nonviolence and non-cooperation with the British colonial rule. He is reserved today as the Holy Hero of Indian Independence. Dr. Aram’s fervent desire was to revive the Gandhian sprit for the present age. He devoted his life to the practice of peace activism because he wished to make the Gandhian sprit a reality.
I hear that he was involved for many years in the task of conflict resolution in Nagaland, a hill state in northeastern India, participating in the Nagaland Peace Mission as one of the architects of the famous “Shillong Peace Accord” in cooperation with both the Baptist Church Council and the Underground Nagas. Then, with his indomitable passion and vigor, he founded Shanti Ashram, a rural development movement that seeks to enhance the individual quality of life by improving and expanding education, including literacy education, and also to address the problems of population growth and poverty by consolidating the “Panchayat system” of community self-government.

In his Niwano Peace Prize acceptance speech, Dr. Aram explained his vision of “Holistic Peace.” The content of his talk was extremely impressive. He told us, “When there is peace in the family, then there is peace in the world; when there is peace in the family, there is peace in the individual also.

From these words of Dr. Aram, I surmised, the guiding principle of the various activities of Shanti Ashram – to put into practice respect for families and for local regions, which serve as the bedrock of peace, in order to seek peace for all humanity. And this, too, was another form of his refinement and embodiment of the Gandhian Sprit.

- Rev. Nichiko Niwano
President of Rissho Kosei-kai

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Dr. M. Aram, An Educationist

Dr. M. Aram, a Gandhian, educationist and able administrator, has carved a name for himself in the annals of Gandhigram Rural Institute – Deemed University, through his innovative contributions to the field of Rural Higher Education in Gandhigram Rural Institute(GRI). An academician par excellence, Dr. Aram, added visionary depths to the existing academic programs, thereby entrenching GRI deeply into national map as a pioneer in educational reforms in rural higher education. The courses/programs envisaged by Dr. Aram were a fine synthesis of academic and vocational/job oriented.

- Dr. (Mrs.) G. Pankajam
Vice Chancellor, Gandhigram University

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Dr. M. ARAM , A multifaceted personality

I was privileged to come in contact with beloved brother Aram, two decades ago through our revered Ayya. Dr. T.S. Avinashilingam Avargal, who had requested me, when I was a postgraduate scholar in the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA, to procure admission and scholarship for Aram to do Ph.D. By God’s grace, it was possible for me to accomplish what Ayya Avargal had wanted for Dr. Aram, who had been hand picked up by him from Government Arts College, where he was a Lecturer.

From Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, he went to Ohio State University in June 1950, to study under the famous Audio-Visual Educationist, Dr. Edgar Dale.

Dr. Aram has been a symbol of simple living and high thinking. His life and mission are worth emulating by the youth of the country. His mother, an ardent lover of God and humanity, was a source of inspiration to him till her end. His wife, Smt. Minoti Aram, daughter and son, constitute an integrated family, dedicated to human service. Leaving behind her personal grief, Smt. Minoti Aram, continues to uphold the ideas of her beloved husband and dedicates her life to the cause of the downtrodden.

- Dr. Rajammal Devadas
Chancellor, Avinashilingam Deemed University
Coimbatore – 641 043