Seshachalam was born in a Shaivite family on 21 August 1949 at Agaram in Perambur, a neighbourhood in present-day Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

He was attracted towards the rationalist ideals of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, the founder of the Dravidian movement.

He translated the Dhammapada, a compilation of Buddhist virtues, authored by B. R. Ambedkar, into Tamil.

Taking everyone by surprise, he embraced Islam as his way of life on 11 March 2010 during a visit to Mecca and rechristened his name as Abdullah, and his wife Vasantha was given the name Fathima.

[6] Before embracing Islam, he spent 10 years knowing the key aspects of that religion and learning the Quran and the Arabic language.