Bharatha Kesari Shri. Mannathu Padmanabhan, the peerless leader of the Nair Community, the immortal founder of the Nair Service Society and the great social reformer was born in the closing decades of the 19th century in Perunnai, a village in Changanacherry taluk of the erstwhile state of Travancore as the son of middle-class parents. Abject poverty, misery and deprivation marked the early years of his life. After school education he became a teacher and then a pleader. Before long he found himself drawn into the vortex of political and social movements. The plight of the Nair Community that was witnessing its own decadence and disintegration, precipitated by extravaganza, superstitious veneration for antiquated and anachronistic customs and tradition, filled him with anguish. He marshalled his oratorial skill and organizational ability to motivate, inspire and mobilize the community that was lost in a long and deep slumber. The Nair Service Society which he conceived, nursed and nurtured, epitomized the hopes and aspirations of the community which had been waiting for a saviour.ssss