Who is APPATAKAR really?

APPATAKAR  is the word which is regularly doing the rounds these days and is being often used in Tamil lingo, you would often hear people saying something like “Nee ena avalo periya Appatakar ah?”. So what does this word actually mean and what is the real reason for using it?.

FYI it actually refers to Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar, popularly known as Thakkar Bapa, who was a famous social reformer and a spiritually sound man, The Government of India even issued a stamp in his honor in 1969. He was a very knowledgeable person and an expert in many fields, to such a level that he would promptly answer any question that was fired at him and Thakkar Bapa was popular in Madras(now Chennai) as APPA THAKKAR (there is also a school there by that name to tribute him).So if anyone was an expert in his field they jokingly called him Periya Appa Thakkar meaning “BIG APPA THAKKAR” and in due course it was made into APPATAKAR. Now we call a person Appatakar when he acts like a show-off.