Who was the man Priyanka Gandhi called ‘Malayali Achan’?
He once taught the Gandhi siblings to use a bow and arrow. Cheruvayal Raman called Priyanka Gandhi his daughter when they first met, and she affectionately called him “Malayali Achan”, meaning Malayali father. Known as Nellachan, or “father of rice”, the tribal farmer from Wayanad devoted his life to preserving indigenous paddy seeds, conserving over 55 traditional rice varieties. He began working in paddy fields at 10 and received the Padma Shri in 2023 for his contribution to agriculture. Raman died at 74 on October 14.
