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Pancharatra Agama Temple Administration

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If the authorities set hand on an Archaka's land, it will be treated as a serious offence - Pancharatra Agama
The Sthalathars should be without material desires and anger, not talk ill of others and follow dharma in every walk of life, should be present at the temple from Sunrise to Sayanam
62 year old K Sriraman Bhattar of Therazhundur, son of the renowned Kannan Bhattachar (who passed away a few years ago after over 7 decades of service at Therazhundur Divya Desam) is one of the most well respected Pancharatra Agama experts in the country. He is well versed in several languages and can speak fluently in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and English, in addition to his indepth knowledge of Sanskrit. His knowledge initiation in Pancharatra Agamas began at the TTD. Right from his teenage days, he developed special interest in the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, the sacred verses of the Azhvaars. He has also learnt part of the Vedas. His father, Kannan Bhattachar, had been performing Thiru Aradhanam at the Therazhundur Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html?m=0) from the 1950s. Right from his early teens, Raman Bhattar used to join and watch closely the performance of his father during the utsavams including grasping the minute details of the conduct of the Brahmotsavam. 

While he has performed archaka service at Therazhundur, Thiru Cherai, Banaswadi and Secunderabad temples and Samprokshanam in over 700 temples across the country, he counts the initiating of the Pancharatra Agama and creating 100s of Pancharatra archakas as his best service to-date. 

Raman Bhattar, as he is affectionately called in the temple circles, is now involved in an even more of a gigantic contribution to the Pancharatra Agama Temples in the country. He is in the process of dissecting this ancient Sanskrit text – Paramapurusha Samhitam - for the benefit of Tamil readers so this could stand as a long standing reference material when issues relating to temple administration crops up in the future and for those in the future generations who may not be well versed in Sanskrit. 
Lockdown, and before, there have been several questions on the role of archakas, sthalathars and the temple administrators and this has also been quite a sensitive and touchy subject. This story provides an insight into the administration of Pancharatra temples as directed in Paramapurusha Samhitam. Part 1 of this series provides details on specifics relating to archakas and Sthalathars. 

The great rishis of the time approached Narada for a briefing on the role of archakas, paricharakas and the sthalathars of Panchatratra Agama Temples and Narada quite willingly narrated to them with complete clarity on every aspect of temple administration. The text starts right from the appointment of archaka and goes up to directing the evening duties of Sthalathars. 

Archaka appointment 
For the welfare of the state, he says that right at the time of installation of the deity in the Sannidhi, the administrators should have identified the archakas to perform Thiru Aradhanam. The appointment of such archakas has to be made public prior to the installation. 

Who can be an archaka 
The Samhitam says that an archaka should have been initiated into the Vedas and Upanishads and should be one who understands the inner meanings of the Pancharatra agamas. It calls for a very important fundamental characteristic in him ‘he should be someone who should fear doing a wrong act.’ A Vaishnavite, he should have undergone pancha samskaram and belong to a hereditary archaka family. Interestingly, it also calls for him to be ‘healthy’, placing specific emphasis on the hygiene and health of the archaka who touches the idol to perform the aradhanam. 
In case a hereditary archaka is not available at any point of time, it says that one with similar characteristics as referred above can be appointed but the Samhitam lays stress on the fact that he should be a Vaishnavite, have in-depth knowledge of Pancharatra Agama and be one with devotion. 

Who cannot be an archaka 
Further, he says that a Non- Vaishnavite, one without an Acharya Dikshai and the sacred thread and an unhealthy person cannot become an archaka in a Pancharatra temple. 

If an appointment is made contrary to any of the above principles, the Samhitam warns of serious repercussions ‘Not only will the state see a downward trend, the archakas as well as the people too will face severe challenges.’ 

An archaka should not go after money 
The samhitam states with absolute clarity that an archaka should not perform aradhana for money. If an archaka shares with a devotee even as a simple piece of information that he has been pushed to a state where he is performing pooja to meet his ends meet, Narada says that such an archaka will have to face punishment in hell. Not just the archaka, even those who meet and engage with such an archaka will be subjected to hardship. 

The Samhitam also clear states that an archaka cannot do work that does not directly relate to the deity. Those who do ‘human karma’ related poojas will be considered a sinner. 

For big temples that have multiple sannidhis and there are requirements of multiple archakas, those from different gothrams should be appointed. 
Administration’s duty to take care of the Archaka 
The archaka, who has installed the idol, and his descendents are the ones bestowed with the rights to carry out the pooja in the temple. The Samhitam places the responsibility on the administrators of the temple for the financial stability of the archakas. In order to enable the archakas to carry out their duties without the worry of finances, the authorities of the temple are to hand out lands to the archaka as a thanking gesture to him for having accepted to perform the pooja. 

Lands to Archakas 
The archaka, who touches the deity and performs aradhan,a should be considered as equivalent to God ‘He should be seen as God in human form’ says Narada. And hence, the powers that be at the temple should prostrate in front of the archaka in full public view and present him with Sambavanai. The archaka is the one who will be solely entitled to the land and the granting of the land should be seen as an act of pure donation to the archaka for his well being and for his service to the Lord. The harvest from these lands solely belongs to the archakas. 

However, at any point of time, if the State or the powers that be begin to show interest in these lands, it will be treated as a criminal offence. The Samhita records that the authority that experiences and enjoys even a miniscule part of this land for any length of time, will go to hell. The handing over of the land to the archaka should be in front of Lord amidst chanting of sacred verses. The presentation of the lands should be inscribed on a stone for future records. The family of one who gifts such a land to the archaka will be seen to be of the highest order. 

Other than the grant of lands, no salary should be paid to the archaka. There is a clear warning that any cash paid as monthly salary to the archaka will create unhappiness and negativity among them. Not just the giver but also the archaka who accepts cash as salary will be deemed to have faulted and their families too will face suffering. 

The Samhitham says that only if these guidelines are followed to perfection, will the installation of the idol meet its desired results in the state. 

The above directions are applicable to all temples, big and small alike. 

Sthalathars 
The Paramapurusha Samhitam also lays down the roles and responsibilities for the Sthalathars of Pancharatra temples. Vaishnavites, they can be Grihasthas or Brahmacharins. It records that the best scenario is if they are Yathis. The place of residence of the Yathi will be announced as the Mutt which should be located in the 2nd or 3rd Thiru Chutru. Mutts for Yathis and Thirumaligai for others should be granted by the authorities in power. 

Code of Conduct 
The Sthalathars should be without material desires and anger, not talk ill of others and follow dharma in every walk of life. And definitely they should be ones following Vedas and Upanishads. They should have been initiated with Pancha Samskaram and be followers every day of what is stated in the Pancharatra Agama. 

Personal Presence at the Temple every day 
From Sunrise to Sayanam, the Sthalathars should be present and remain in the temple to perform their stated duties in the temple. If they adhere to this, they should be given the first theertham and prasadam. 

During Brahmotsavam and other big festivals, the Sthalars should be gifted liberally with Sambhavanai.

TA Adhishwar Mumbai Indians Strategy Analyst

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Not a Fast Bowler, No Masters Degree – 'A Life with Dogs and Cricket Strategy' 

TA Sekar was the fastest Indian bowler of his time and had the legends of Pakistan at the peak of their powers hobbling at the crease in January 1983 at Lahore and Karachi. If not for the shoddy slip catching, his Test Career may have charted a completely different path. But a result of those ‘drops’ meant his international playing career was short lived.  In the 2nd phase of his cricketing journey starting 1988, he carved a name for himself, as the architect of the MRF Pace Foundation, helping create the next generation of fast bowlers along with Dennis Lillee. And over the last decade, he has been on an even more exciting phase first as the Director of Delhi Dare Devils and now for many years with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL actively involved in identifying and selecting the players at the auction.

Being the son of once India’s fastest bowler and a man credited with producing several fast bowlers in India, it would have been normal and expected of TA Adhishwar to have followed in the footsteps of his father. He tried for a brief while but quickly accepted failure on the playing front but much to the delight of his parents, he has carved a niche for himself in two contrasting arenas. He has turned into a successful entrepreneur having set up in his teens ‘Hotel for Pets’, a venture he is now looking to expand across the country, and closer to his parents’ interests, signed up a lucrative deal with the biggest name in the IPL when he was just 22. 

Now 25, he is currently in the West Indies, working as the strategic analyst for Barbados, the Champions of the Caribbean Premier League, where he has worked closely with the likes of Christ Gayle and Andrei Russell over the last three years. Here’s the story

The birth of Adhishwar 
TA Sekar and his cricket crazy wife Prabha had been quite depressed after they found 10months after the birth of their first son, Abhijith, that he was not going to be a 'normal son'. Medical facilities that decade was still quite primitive in India.  The late 80s, when there was so much buzz around Sekar and the launch of the MRF Pace Foundation, was a tumultuous period on the personal front for in those years he visited several hospitals to seek a turnaround for Abhijith.Later, Sekar took him to Australia and Sri Lanka but those proved to be of no avail and they resigned to the fact that Abhijith would not be able to sit, stand or walk all his life. 

It was during that depressed phase that Rathnam, the then head of cricket operations at MRF (and many other well wishers) advised Sekar on a more positive outlook to life and thus the idea of a second child cropped up. It was against this background that Adhishwar was born. In fact, Sekar was not present during the delivery for he was away in Maritius with his cricket team. In the early phase of Adhishwar's life, he missed a normal sibling and thus began his interest in pets.

Father’s fast bowling vision for the son
When Adhishwar was just 2 years old, he was already 3 feet tall and with the scientific theory that he would double his height to at least 6 feet, Sekar believed that he would be suited to fast bowling. His mother, Prabha, was a cricket crazy fan right from her school days. The only matches she did not watch in her teenage years were those in the Blue Star tournament!!! 

For all the success of his father in the cricketing arena and his mother being a diehard cricket fan, Adhishwar’s early interest was not on cricket but ‘cars’. He would read every car magazine in the country and would ‘go-karting’ every weekend on the ECR (maybe that’s the reason one finds multiple cars and car brands at the parking lot of Sekar’s house in Sastri Nagar these days). 

Leggie becomes a Fast Bowler 
It was only later that he went up to his parents and asked if he could join a summer camp. He started off as a leg spinner for he idolized Anil Kumble (he was not yet 5 when the legendary leggie took all 10 wickets in an innings) who too was tall for a leg spinner. But soon, his father talked his way into fast bowling citing his height. Thus he became a fast bowler, though he is still a leggie in his mind. 

While he did take some wickets, working under the guidance of Abdul Jabbar at his academy in CLRI, his mother spotted in him a different kind of skill ‘In the tournament at his school, he would go about organizing water for the day, umpires for the tournament, pickups and drops for the boys that soon the entire responsibility was bestowed on him. He used to organize everything around cricket’ she remembers of Adhish from just over a decade ago. 

Into his mid teens, he continued with his fast bowling and made it to the round robin stage in the city squad in the U14 category. Like all teenagers and with his father as a fast bowling coach, he too nourished ambitions of playing for the country as a fast bowler. But serious injuries threatened him right through that phase. From shoulder to ankle, he encountered in a matter of a few years all the injuries that a fast bowler would be prone to in an entire career. 

Grew up fostering Stray Dogs 
By this time, he had become passionately attached to something that has been close to his heart right from childhood. As one growing up without much of a personal interaction with his sibling (elder brother Abhijith has been physically challenged right from birth), Adishwar had developed a special bonding towards pets and used to foster the stray dogs in the Adyar neighbourhood from when he was a young boy. Much before he entered his teens, he pushed his parents for a pet at home. But given the challenges at home, they were not too keen on a dog at that time. 

Munaf Patel gifts a Rottweiler 
During the 2010 IPL, he met with India fast bowler Munaf Patel and began chatting about dogs. When Munaf told him that he had a Rottweiler pup at home, Adishwar’s interest grew for he had always cherished having a Rottweiler. And one day, much to the surprise of his parents, Adishwar introduced Krugar (who passed away recently after almost a decade at home), the Rottweiler sent to Adishwar as a gift by Munaf from Surat. 

Turns a ‘Pet’ Enterpreneur 
And soon began his first entrepreneurial venture when he was just in his teens. Adishwar teamed up with another cricket Shravan Krishnan to run ‘Hotel for Pets’ on ECR. It was meant to be a high class ‘resort’ where owners could leave their pets while on vacation. The demand increased exponentially. There have been times especially in the summer when he has not been able to accommodate the request of pet owners, such was the demand. Following the success in Madras, he expanded this concept to Bangalore, setting up the infrastructure there almost single handedly. 

Aged 20, he received the Student Start up award from the TATA Group for developing the hotel for pets into a successful business model. 

Injuries halt his playing interests 
Serious injuries during his teenage years meant that the fast bowling vision of his father did not take off in the way he would have liked. But Adishwar was not too concerned for, apart from continuing his entrepreneurial venture, he had already begun to take ownership of his career in another area within the cricketing arena, 

With his father’s interactions with the world’s top players at the pace foundation through the 1990s and early 2000s and his association with the IPL right from inception, Adhishwar had access to the best players in cricketing world. He was good with technology and gadgets from an early age and with his background research began tipping his father on players. 

The First IPL Tips - Suggests Nannes and Pietersen 
Talking to this writer from the West Indies, where he will remain posted for the next month guiding the 2019 Champions Barbados with his inputs, he looks back with delight on his first tip to his father in the IPL “Based on my research, I suggested Dirk Nannes to my father when no one else knew about him in India and insisting that he pick the fast bowler for the Delhi Dare Devils.” 

This surprise pick turned out to be one of the successful bowlers in the early years in the IPL. 

It was also Adhishwar who presented to his father the value of Pietersen to the Delhi team given their composition at that time and convinced him to go for the English great. His father was truly impressed by the research done by Adhishwar and ever since has looked up to his son for ‘player’ ideas ahead of the auction. 

Adhishwar is grateful to his father for encouraging him and considering seriously the suggestions made by him. He considers it a big boost, one that created the early interest in him to pursue the research on cricketers “It was after my father accepted the suggestions on Nannes and Peterson that I began to take things very seriously. Ahead of every auction, I went about my research on players and began providing my inputs to him.” 
One of the differentiators at that very early stage was of Adhishwar envisaging what other teams would do and how his father (DD /MI) could outwit them. The efforts of his son left even the seasoned TA Sekar surprised “Spotting and unearthing a talent is one thing. But Adhishwar went one step ahead which really took me by surprise. He analysed the other teams in the IPL, understood their line of thinking based on past trends and presented to me as to the choices they are likely to go for. This helped me a great deal in my preparation.” 

Academics vs Cricket?
And then as he went past the teen, that typical dilemma stuck its neck up again in this family too. By the time he graduated, there was pressure on his parents from close relatives to get Adhishwar to do his Masters and focus on academics. He had not made much of a progress as a player and they wanted him to pack his cricketing kit and turn his attention to perhaps a corporate career. Adhishwar followed their advice, but only partly. He did pack off his kit but remained associated with cricket. 

His mother, Prabha, a home maker who supported several remote temples in Tamil Nadu for almost a decade through this writer, has been a source of inspiration for Adhishwar right from his childhood ‘When I have been confused with life, she’s the one who advises me on the direction to take and I usually listen to her for she has a practical approach to life. Importantly, while she presented her thoughts, she always allowed me to make my own decisions and that independence and freedom has really helped me with my decision making skills of today’ says Adhishwar on the contribution of his mother in him chalking out his career path.

By 2015, the intensity of his global research on players had increased manifold. He was breathing cricket almost the entire time, outside of his work with the pets. He has been present in the ‘outfield’ at every auction, first at Delhi Dare Devils and then at Mumbai Indians. He says that mingling with the team, speaking to the world’s best players and coaches has had a huge positive influence on him. 

And then the Biggest Break!! 
Through a cricketing agent, he managed to break through into the Caribbean Premier League where he came in close contact with Gayle, Carlos Brathwaite and Andrei Russell. In the last three years, he has had the experience of working with three different teams – Jamaica, St Kitts and now Barbados. 

The biggest break in his life came in 2017 when Akash Ambani, son of Mukesh called him in for a chat in his room. So impressed was he with Adhishwar’s incisive knowledge of the premier league teams and cricketers across the world, that within 10 minutes of the meeting, he offered him a one year contract with the Mumbai Indians as a Strategic Analyst. He was just 22 then. It was the best moment of his life for he was to work officially with the Super Stars of world cricket. He was particularly happy that the contracts, both with Mumbai Indians and in the Caribbean, came on his own based on merit without the influence of his father. 

His performance in the first year led to Akash handing him a longer term and a more lucrative contract that has meant that he finally put to rest the pressures of the relatives and has become firmly entrenched into the IPL as an analyst of one of the best premier league sides in the world. 

Father’s Support - Massive 
While Sekar was not involved in putting in that 'word' for his son at Mumbai Indians, he played a role in the formative years of Adhishwar that the son considers as being massive. While his father wanted him to be a fast bowler and the best at that, Adhishwar says that his father’s message to him has always been to ‘give the best in everything you do’. As he looks at the decade gone by, he realizes that his father’s association with the IPL and the consequent presence at the auctions and the matches has thrown open big opportunities for him to interact, learn and improve in his teenage years. All along, the discussion with his father has always centered around cricket and more specifically on scouting for talent, technical aspects of cricket, the auctions and its impact on the team composition. 

‘My father has been my biggest sounding board’, says Adhishwar. When in 'cricketing' doubt, his father has been the first person he has reached out to. 

Adhishwar has not rested on the laurels of the IPL and the CPL. He has simultaneously also qualified as a level 2 coach from Cricket Australia. He has tried to understand indepth and imbibe the fast bowling knowledge from his father, especially on the technical aspects of fast bowling. 

Not a Fast Bowler, No Academics - Dogs, Cricket and Adhishwar
Not so long ago, his father wanted him to become a fast bowler of repute, his relatives tried their best to convince him into academics while his mother believed he had great organizational skills. Adhishwar has surprised all of them by signing into the IPL as a Strategic Analyst and that for a top notch team with high expectations every year. A couple of decades ago, it would have been unlikely for youngsters in India to have jumped into a non playing career in cricket at 22. But that is what IPL has offered – a financially lucrative career alongside the superstars of cricket and globally renowned business people.

The real turning point for Adhishwar came when someone told him a few years ago that the thought of converting a passion into profession would never work. He probably considered it outdated thinking and it was just the kind of trigger he needed to prove the thought process wrong. Since that day, he has worked with the belief that “if you’re passionate about something and pursue it with all sincerity, there is a good chance that you will be successful.” And that is what this 25 year old is seeking to achieve - a distinctive mark for himself in the Cricketing Arena in a really challenging and high pressure scenario.

On the non cricketing front, the two ‘pet resorts’ have become so successful that Venture Capitalists have expressed interest to pick up stake in his firm. Adhishwar is just waiting for the restrictions of the lockdown to be lifted for him to roll out the expansion of 'Pets Care' business.

It is truly a Unique Combination - 'Care for Pets' and 'Advise on Cricketers'- That's Adhishwar.

S Mahesh TN All Rounder

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A Cricketer who lived on principles, played by his rules, went against the norm of the day and achieved what no other cricketer in the State did in the 1990s – Did not play a single match for the top 3 clubs in the city and yet played 50+ first class matches 

Never Played a Single Match for Chemplast in his life – Yet considers MD Vijay Sankar as next only to his Mother in his life 

‘Maggie’is the one of the very few genuine allrounders in TN’s over 80 decades cricket history- VV Kumar, Legendary Leg spinner and Chairman of TN Selectors in the mid 90s                             
It was just after the new academic year had begun in 1990. I was walking around at the Pachaiyappas College B Ground when I saw a tall guy repeatedly sending the ball outside the huge wall on the Western side. Not often do you see the balls getting lost almost every over at that ground. It was an early indication of what the teenager was capable of. 15 years later, after he had played over 50first class matches as a top notch all rounder including Duleep and Deodhar Trophy, in his final season in local league cricket, I umpired a match of his at Chepauk where he showcased a characteristic that had been an integral part of his cricketing career. Extreme aggression on the field, a vocal and vociferous display of emotions, a bit of stubbornness and taking on the opposition head on (in this case the umpire as well), almost literally, had become a feature of the way he played cricket. He took everyone on in the field, from the big to the small, and many a time won the cricketing battle. He debuted at No.11 and opened the batting in his final first class match. After his cricket career, he slogged at a manufactured firm for 15years, the only first class cricketer from the 1990s to work full time at a firm for that long. 

As I tried to catch up with him almost 15 years after that match at Chepauk, this man, a complete workaholic, now in his late 40s was cycling his way back 250kms on a newly bought cycle to Chennai, from Krishnagiri. He failed to get an ePass. For a cricketer who had played with aplomb for the state for over a decade, he could have reached out to the ‘powers’ that be to get the necessary clearance during the lockdown. But this man would not. He has lived his life on principles and often that has come at a cost but he has remained undeterred, one of the many rare qualities of this terrific all rounder. The greatest pride he has, looking back at his first class career, is that he had No God Father, No Mentor, faced ‘sports politics’ at important phases in his career and yet managed to play half a century of first class matches, purely on merit. 

Here is the story of a unique cricketer from the 1990s, who never played a single match for the top three renowned clubs of Chennai – Chemplast, India Cements or MRF and yet played a decade of first class cricket.

A 'Sodakku' Exponent in Tennis Ball
S Mahesh began his cricket on the streets of Azhvaar Tirunagari (not to be confused with the Nava Tirupathi Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/06/nava-tirupathi-garuda-sevai.html?m=1) on the western outskirts of Chennai playing tennis ball cricket, where he would often bowl the knuckle ball much before it became popular in international cricket with Ajantha Mendis. Unlike many others his age, he did not go to any academy and continued with tennis ball cricket until one day leggie Chandrasekar (George Oakes), with whom I played league cricket for a year in the 1990s, roped him into a league team when he was 15 years. He batted at No. 11 in his debut match (he also batted at No. 11 in his Ranji Debut) for Perambur Cricket Club but showed his bowling skills picking up 5 wickets. It was the beginning of a long almost two decade association with cricket in which he faced many a struggle to bring to light his cricketing skills.

Challenges at RKM 
Unfortunately, he found challenges in the very beginning. Right then as a 15 year old he showed what he was made of, an indication of what was to follow in his life. The Sports Master at RKM School, T. Nagar was a Ball Badminton enthusiast and wanted him to focus on this sport while Mahesh was keen on cricket. After his class X exams, he made it clear that Cricket was his first interest and that he would move to another school if he was not allowed to play cricket for the school. The master relented and Mahesh had his way over the next two years. 

Mistrust begins 
As with middle class families of the time, his parents were keen for him to pursue his academics and for him to join Vivekananda College. But there was pressure from the cricket team at Pachaiyappas College for him to be an integral part of their cricket for the next three years with SM Balaji, who he would join at Indian Bank the next decade, being instrumental in him taking the decision for a cricket life at Pachaiyappas. But it was also the time when he was let down in terms of the course he was to take. After his acceptance to join Pachiayappas for cricket and when he had let go of all other options in the city colleges, he was given a different course (BA Economics) by the Physical Director after having been promised his more preferred course. It was a decision that probably led him to an everlasting mistrust in people. And as is seen from his career, rarely did he agree to offers even if it were seemingly lucrative.

The first Big Breaks but more sour taste in early years 
His first big moment in cricket came when he was chosen for the state U19 team. He had not played U15 or U17 cricket for the state and this was to be his first entry into junior cricket for the state. He picked up wickets in his first year. And then an event following a match in U23 left a poor taste in him and the mistrust in people continued. He had joined SPIC in the first division league to play under VB Chandrasekar(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html).

In an U23 state match, Mahesh was asked to go as night watchman and he came up trumps with a blistering knock of 99. When Mahesh came back for the match at SPIC, he was shocked with the remark VBC made to his club and U23 team mate J Gokulakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/03/gokulakrishnan-j.html?m=1) ‘Why did you not go as the night watchman. See he (Mahesh) has now used the opportunity.’Mahesh looks back on that day on how favourtism played its part in his life. He was just out of his teens and to hear this comment from a former India player left a sour taste in him on how cricket was played here.

Ranji Debut and rejects offers from top clubs 
It was after Gokulakrishnan was called for ‘chucking’ that Mahesh made his Ranji Trophy Debut, when in his first year at work at SPIC, in January 1994 at the age of 20. In the year they played together for SPIC  Mahesh and Gokulakrishnan were feared as Wasim Akram -Waqar Younis duo of Chennai cricket 

During the months following his Ranji debut, he was in constant chat with his captain at SPIC and former Ranji Trophy batsman PC Prakash who looks back at that summer of 1994 “We definitely wanted him to stay at SPIC for he had performed brilliantly for us. I still remember his great spell when he took 7 wickets against Chemplast. Offers were pouring from all the leading clubs and he would discuss each of these with me at my house. While he would hear out all that I said, he would come back the next morning and go back to where we started. He was indecisive, off the field on the choice of the league team.” 
                         
It was an incredibly great feeling for him that year with every single team in the first division pursuing him after he had just turned 21. Quite shockingly, Mahesh rejected all the top offers and went for the officer’s post at Indian Bank.

Having seen him at SPIC, VBC was keen to take along with him to India Cements with Gokulakrishnan. While the former moved without battling an eyelid (India Cements had helped him incredibly soon after the chucking incident) and formed a formidable partnership with VBC at India Cements and later for Goa, Mahesh pondered over the move and did not get to sign up. It always struck him that Gokulakrishnan was VBC's preferred choice and that he may to play second fiddle to him.
TA Sekar of MRF too tried for a while but he found Mahesh too moody for his liking and did not pursue further after Mahesh did not answer in the affirmative “We were interested in him but he was influenced by so many others and hence we did not pursue. He was too moody.” 

And then Vijay Sankar - The Biggest Rejection 
However, it was the rejection of Chemplast that was the most interesting and gave an indication of the personality behind Mahesh. Now VC and MD, Vijay Sankar was at the ground to watch league matches in the late 1980s and early 90s. He was fully in charge of 2nd division team Kohinoor for whom Mahesh’s brother S Ramesh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/11/sadhagopan-ramesh.html) played as a teenager. Vijay had a special liking for Mahesh and tried to put sense into him on the benefits of playing for a strong team like Chemplast. There was a time in the 1990s when Vijay even went to Mahesh’s house to get him to agree and pampered him even on devotional trips to Tirupathi. He even went to the extent of assuring him of a corporate career after his cricketing retirement but Mahesh remained firm and stubborn. It was rare for one from the founder family to pursue this way but Vijay found Mahesh to be a class apart and worth this persuasion. 
Unfortunately, Mahesh had developed a mental block from a young age of the way the team was run at Chemplast. In his mind, he had decided that the cricketing culture anchored by Bharath Reddy was not one suited to him. He never changed his mind in the years that followed. Almost 30 years later he is grateful that Vijay Sankar did 'what he did' in that phase and says that he has the greatest regard for him but does not regret not playing for Chemplast in his life time“I consider Vijay Sankar as next only to my Mother in life in the way he engaged with me at that time but I could not have played for Chemplast in the environment that existed there at that time.”

Satish recalls the day when Vijay Sankar came home and spoke to the family members for well over an hour sitting in the portico of the house in Azhvaar Tirunagar on Mahesh being taken care of at Chemplast “We were all convinced that he should play for Chemplast. Mahesh would hear out the family members but while he would give us hope once in while as if he was listening to us, I think in his mind he was also clear that Chemplast was not the place to go for cricket. As this went on, my brother Ramesh asked me not to force him into a decision and we let him take his own call.”

The Initial Years at Indian Bank
Instead of the top three cricketing teams of the city, he opted for the officer’s post at Indian Bank. Unfortunately, he does not have happy memories at Indian Bank. There were no proper net facilities, at least not like the ones from the top private clubs. He did not have cricketing shoes or the kit at that time. 

Only years later did he realize that he was always seen as a staffer who also played cricket as contrasted with the private clubs who were seen as professional cricketers. On the cricketing front, he was completely squeezed. He remembers bowling from morning to tea against Railways in one single spell. There was no ‘taking care’ of the fast bowler at that important phase in his life. It was testimony to his fitness that he bowled without complaining but it left a bad taste in him on how people used him. He remembers another match“Against India Pistons, I went to bat at 90/6 chasing around 240. Soon we were 110/8. I scored an unbeaten century and we took the first innings lead. In the next match, I was once again sent at No. 8. That was the way I was treated at the bank.”
Satish Kumar remembers his younger brother Mahesh as being a fitness freak “He was a self motivated person from very early on . He would wake up at 4am on his own and cycle all the way from Azhvaar Tirunagar to the Beach on the East Coast for his morning run and fitness regime. He would then go to the Bank by cycle. In the 2nd half he would be at the nets bowling long hours. He had great work ethics right from his teenage days. He would cycle to school, college, nets and to the Bank. That’s how he developed the stamina to bowl long spells. His focus on fitness also let to his strong shoulders.”

The fitness freak and a Cyclist all his life once  'bought' the 'Match of the Match' cycle from Ananthpadmanabhan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/09/ananthapadmanabhan-kn.html) after a YSCA Trophy tournament.

More Distrust-Cricket Politics in the State 
In one of the years when he was performing well, he overheard a bathroom conversation between two senior people who were working a plan to sideline him from the team. Similar to Rajesh Kannan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/06/rajesh-kannan-bcci-board-umpire.html) a few years ago, Mahesh was dropped citing fitness issues when he was fully fit. It was the legendary VV Kumar, the Chairman of the State selection Panel, who fought for Mahesh in the selection committee meeting backing the wickets he had taken and the runs he had scored and remained firm to keep him in the TN Squad. 

Legendary VV Kumar fights for 'Maggie'
VV Kumar stood his ground citing the exceptional performances of Mahesh “I went and watched Maggie in the local league matches and found his performances to be exceptional. He was prepared to ‘go miles’ to be successful. He had it in him to be a match winner especially with his ability to bat with impunity and was capable of playing in the higher echelons of cricket. Had he been given more chances and used better in the matches that he played, it is likely he would have scaled much higher for he was one of the few genuine allrounders in the history of TN cricket. ” 
VV Kumar found the same challenges at the Zonal level too when he was part of the South Zone Selection Unit in that period “I pitched for Maggie and told them that he was a player for all occasions. He could bat in any spot in the order and had the ability to turnaround a match on his own. But he did not get the chances he deserved.” 

As he went through that phase in the mid 90s, he knew t was always going to be an uphill battle to fight cricket politics “You had to always remain in the good books to be picked and I was not one such guy to do things to be in the good books” says Mahesh of his struggles to remain in contention through that decade.

Simply a Captain's Delight
Match Referee S Sharath the TN captain in the late 1990s remembers Mahesh as a captain’s delight “He never complained even after bowling over 30overs in a day. He was such a workaholic that members of the TN state team of the 1990s used to constantly joke ‘Mahesh, you are making up for (your brother) Ramesh.”
“Under my captaincy, both Mahesh and Gokulakrishnan brought ideas, winning culture and attitude. In that phase, their performance in the first division was mind boggling.”

Best years in cricket - 1999/2000
In the first few years of his cricket for TN, he had to bowl on placid tracks or on turners in home matches.

In March 1999, in a match when Madanagopal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/madanagopal-j.html?m=1) scored 199 in a super league Ranji Trophy match, Mahesh scored his only first class century against Maharastra. He also did well with the ball with three five wicket hauls that season. He performed even better the next season, capturing 37 wickets in Ranji cricket that earned him a call in both the Duleep and Deodhar Trophy.

Opens batting for TN ( Debuted at No. 11!!!)
January 2000 was one of the best months for him in first class cricket. In the last match of the Subbiah Pillai one day tournament, TN had to win early to win the tourney and for the first and only time for TN he was promoted to open the batting (quite something for a man who went No. 11 in his debut match for the state). And he produced a scintillating inning getting to his half century in a record 21 balls. He went on to score 69 in 29 balls as TN chased 130+ in 11overs. 

Gets Viru but appeal rejected
A month earlier, in his first and only Duleep Trophy match, he trapped Virendra Sehwag plumb in front when he was on 70. The umpire negated the appeal to his disbelief. As was his way throughout the 2nd half of his career, he minced no words with Sehwag when he came crossed to the non striker’s end “Kya Bhai Viru. Should you not have walked”. The pilot one that Sehwag, he told Mahesh “If Umpire had given that out, I would have walked off”. Sehwag went on to score 274 and South Zone was knocked out. Mahesh never got another chance in Duleep Trophy. 

Blistering Form in Deodhar Trophy
Deodhar Trophy in January 2000 proved to be a dream run and his fighting spirit was on full display. Mahesh remembers this reason for more reasons than one “There were some former TN players who were gunning for me. They went to the extent of telling the captains for that tournament on keeping me away. That made me even more determined to show what I was capable of.” 

He was promoted to the top of the order as a pinch hitter in the tourney opener against West Zone. He scored 85 in a partnership of 160 with Karnataka’s J Arun Kumar. In the next match he opened with JAK and for the 2nd match in a row he put on a century stand this time in 20overs. Laxmi Ratan Shukla was hailed as the next ‘Kapil Dev’ and he was at his ‘sledging best’ when Mahesh came into bat. Repeatedly Mahesh smashed the ball into the boundary and point his bat at LRS. It was one match when Mahesh’s verbal aggression as well as his powers with the bat was externally visible. 

In the next match, he began by hitting four fours in HS sodhi’s first over of the innings as SZ once again got off to a rollicking start. 

Cricket Politics Again, Yet scores
Finally, the ‘forces’ from TN had their way. After three terrific starts, Mahesh was shunted down the order for the final match of the tournament against North Zone. But like VV Kumar said above, Mahesh could bat anywhere in the order. South Zone slumped to 75/5 and in came Mahesh at No. 7. He was in sublime form in that series. He played yet another blistering knock that his TN teammates and those in the city league had long known him four. Four towering sixers and he posted close to a century stand with Sharath. 

He repeatedly hit straight sixers off the back foot as he showed one day to Venkatesh Prasad well over two decades ago. Sharath remembers the back foot sixers that Mahesh made his own “Mahesh was the only cricketer that any of us from that generation had seen hit back foot sixers down the ground and over the covers. It was hitting of the extraordinary order.” 

K Srikkanth, who played for Pentasoft a couple of years in the first division league acknowledged that he had only seen Viv Richards and Sachin Tendulkar play those kind of shots after watching yet another of Mahesh’s raging six hitting in a league match. 

Mahesh was among the top run getters nationally that season in the Deodhar Trophy. But he never played another Deodhar Trophy match in his life. In that phase, he played another blazing knock scoring 68 helping TN recover from 60/7 in a Gopalan Trophy match. In Moin Ud Dowla tournament he got Kaluwitharna out second ball.

Quits Indian Bank 
Just as things were looking up on the cricketing front, his employer in the 2nd half of that decade, Indian Bank, was going through a rough patch and he heard rumours of Pink Slips being handed out. He was at the peak of his powers then having just had the best of seasons for Tamil Nadu. The doors at Chemplast or India Cements may still have been open but he chose an unlikely option of the IT firm Pentasoft. The Penta group was coming up then and the expansion plans were a mega affair. For the first time, he played first division league cricket along with his two brothers, S Satish Kumar and S Ramesh. He joined thpre Group with the assurance that he would be initiated into MainFrame. The finances were lucrative at that time and he was paid many times what he earned at the bank but it was too short lived. 9/11 happened and then for all the hype surrounding the launch and expansion, the Group collapsed in no time and Mahesh was caught in no man’s land. There was no salary for several months. He did not want to go back to Chemplast or India Cements who had previously sought his cricketing services. As he came towards the end of his career, he was suddenly out of job.

A few years earlier, when he was in the peak of his powers, India Pistons had provided him one of the most lucrative offers in the city for a cricketer but he had rejected like the many others that decade. But he was now looking for a work option and India Pistons made him pay the price. For a cricketer who had played half a century of first class matches, he was hired at almost half the price of what they had offered him a few years earlier. The memories at the beginning of his college life began to haunt him again.

Final days in cricket - A fortnight with Dhoni
In 2003-04, at the tail end of his first class career, former India Cricketer Aashish Kapoor roped Mahesh in as a professional cricketer for Tripura. It was the year he came in personal touch with MS Dhoni who was playing for Bihar that year. He stayed alongside Dhoni for almost a fortnight as part of the Zonal One day tournament in Jamshedpure. In the final match of the tourney, Captaining and Opening for Tripura, he scored the last memorable knock- a stroke filled 92- of his life with Dhoni’s bat. A delighted Dhoni gifted him his bat, one that treasures to this day well over 15 years later. 

Former India Cricketer Karsan Ghavri who watched Mahesh bat that day fought for his inclusion in the East Zone team but Tripura rejected his inclusion citing that he was only a guest player. He began his career fearing being called by the Karnataka Umpire and ended his career with the news that the (East) Zone could not consider him for selection as he performed (only) as a guest!!!

After being in the limelight for over a decade in the glory of high class performance as an all rounder, the post first class phase turned out to be quite a challenging one. He is probably the only first class cricketer from TN from the 1990s who worked full time in a corporate environment for 15 years. He was shunted between many different departments from Product Casting to Label Printing, from Production Planning to Billing, Inventory Management to even Accounting. He was also in charge of the After Market Sales which went up from Rs. 4crores when he took over to around Rs. 15crore when he quit in 2017. He was unhappy at the way he was treated but like he did during his cricket career, he remained a workaholic and quietly slogged his way for 15 years till he could no more put up with the unfair treatment meted out to him. Throughout this phase, the mandate had seemed to be to take him to task for rejecting their lucrative offer in the late 1990s. 

Rejects VBC’s offer in 1990s, Heads VB Academy in 2020
He then spent a brief period at the cricket academy at Ramachandra College but he fell out with former TN wicket keeper M Sanjay and quit that as well. And then as fate would have it came to him an unlikely offer. 
Almost 30 years after he rejected the first big call in the first division from VB Chandrasekar to move to India Cements, he was offered the role of the Head Coach of the VB Cricket Academy by N Srinivasan soon after the sudden demise of VBC exactly a year ago. Truly, life has come a full circle for S Mahesh.

The principled lifestyle that he has held on to himself all through the challenges was hugely influenced in his early years by his Azhvaar Tirunagar neighbour Margabandhu, who was a colleague of his father at ANZ Grindlays Bank. Eldest brother S Satish Kumar is now able to connect Mahesh’s principled character from those days in the late 70s and early 80s “Margabandhu Maamaa and his wife were childless and Mahesh spent a lot of time in their house almost as their son. Maamaa was principled and systematic. As a banker, he would never accept gifts, was punctual, systematic and disciplined and very helpful. Before this death, he wrote his huge house off to the Sankara Mutt. Mahesh imbibed all the good qualities of the Maamaa and he was the biggest influence on him during his formative years.” 

He is one of the only 7 seven cricketers in TN’s history of those who had played between 50and 75 first class matches. Had he played for Chemplast or India Cements in the 1990s, he may have catapulted into a different level for he may have mingled with the best of the cricketers at the nets and in the dressing room. Instead, typical of him, he chose a bank that was not known to produce Ranji Cricketers and stayed with them through the peak of his career. 

Through all the challenges during his playing days and after, Mahesh remained his own man, lived by his rules and achieved what no other cricketer in Tamil Nadu believed was possible - Play in the league for a Public Sector Bank in Chennai and you could still play a decade of Ranji Cricket. Mahesh was one in a generation kind of personality. He was distinct in that he did not bow down to anyone and still hasn’t. He played cricket on his own terms in the only way he knew from the time he began as a flood light tennis ball cricketer in his teens. He gave his best in everything he did but refused to go behind anyone for ‘chances’. A cricketing working fulltime in a corporate has been unheard off since the 1990s. Mahesh showcased that one could play for long for the state and then slog it out in a corporate as well. 

Into his 40s, Mahesh spends a lot of time with street dogs in Avadi feeding them each day of the year, a kindness that has been passed on to him by Margabandhu Maama.

R Chandrasekaran SBI Globe Trotter

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A first class cricketer, Umpire, Match Referee, Treasurer, Selector, Manager, Owner of multiple TNCA league teams, Committee Member and a ‘Globe Trotter’ 

India Captain Nari Contractor saw him as a good and long term prospect for TN but Politics of the time ensured that he did not play more than one Ranji Match for Madras despite one of the best bowling records in league cricket in the first half of the 1960s

“Ridiculous of the TN Selectors to not consider him for the State” – SBI and TN team mate VV Kumar 

In 1963-64, a 27 year old staffer at SBI was spoken alongside the teenaged S Venkataraghavan as one of the two best off spinners in the city. In successive years, he had produced outstanding performances both with the ball and the bat including taking over 100 wickets for SBI in a single season and outshone Venkataraghavan in the first division cricket. A few years prior, he earned laurels from Indian Captain Nari Contractor, who after watching him bowl in Bombay, rated him as one with great potential and likely to play for the state for long. He repeatedly reaped 8 wicket hauls for the bank in those years. He even picked up 12 wickets in a 'one day' first division league match. He performed creditably in his first Ranji match with 3 wickets and 36 runs but a certain turn of events meant it also turned out to be his last and that he never played Ranji cricket for Madras again. An opportunity to play for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy had also been nipped in the bud, earlier and he had to say ‘NO’ to Contractor’s invitation to play in the Times Shield which too may have transformed his cricket life. Here is the story.

Tennis Ball cricket in Kutcheri Road
R Chandrasekaran spent his teenage years at No. 32 Kutcheri Road, a landmark house just two buildings away from the Post Office starting off playing tennis ball cricket in the huge verandah of that house. When he was 15 years old, he began playing cricket for PS High School where his elder brother Nagarajan captained the school team (he played Buchi Babu and for Indian Schools). In 1951, Chandrasekaran played for Madras Schools in the TNCA 2nd division league as a 15 year old. In his last year at PS High, he captained the school to trophies in the inter school tournament. 

It was Vivekananda college captain M Suryananarayanan, grandson of Buchi Babu, who initiated the thought of Chandrasekaran getting into Vivekananda College. By the time he was 17, he had begun playing first division league cricket for TUC. Short on money, he could not pay Rs. 25 that was expected from the college players to make it into tournaments and for outstation trips. But he performed outstandingly for the college. He was the best batsman for the Vivekananda college in 1954 and 55. In those early years, he did not have money even to buy cricket shoes and it was Ramanathan, an engineer from Benaras Hindu University (later at Blue Star) who sponsored his cricket shoes in the mid 1950s.In the first year of its initiation, he won the T Srinivasaraghavan scholarship for the best collegiate cricketer. 
Roped in by TVS Ratnam for Sundaram Motors
Immediately after graduating from the college, he joined Sundaram Motors, handpicked by (TVS) R Ratnam and worked under the wheels, something he did not particularly enjoy in the eight months there. An extraordinary turn of events in January 1957 within months of him joining the auto firm was to lead him to play alongside the legends of Indian cricket that decade. Former Ranji Player AK Sarangapani, a salesman at Sundaram Motors,organised a practice match between TVS /Sundaram Motors and SBI, one in which Chandrasekaran played for Sundaram Motors. So impressed was the then captain of SBI T Krishnamurthy with his performance that day that he asked Chandrasekaran to write the banking exam (there was no sports quota job at that time). And within two months, Chandrasekaran joined SBI in March of 1957, much to the dislike of Ratnam.

Secure job at SBI, but slows down cricketing growth 
While SBI was to provide long term financial security, it dented his cricketing growth in the 2nd half of the 1950s. SBI was in lower division of the TNCA league and thus Chandrasekaran who had already played first division cricket at that time went back to lower division cricket after joining SBI. He lost out on playing 1st division cricket for a few years till SBI made its way to the first division. For Chandrasekaran, as with any middle class family of the time, job stability was important and a bank job provided that. It was not until he was 25 that he played first division cricket again. During this period, he played junior cricket for the state where he also came up against EAS Prasanna of Mysore. 

Missing Ranji Trophy for Kerala 
He also played for RS Puram Cricket Club in the Tripanathura Tournament and performed exceedingly well to help the Coimbatore club win the tourney. So impressed was the secretary of the Kerala cricket association that he asked Chandrasekaran to take a (bank) transfer to Kerala so he could play for the state in the Ranji Trophy. His outstanding form at that time would have made him an automatic choice for the state. Had he made the move, he could have easily played for several years for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy. Unfortunately SBI refused to provide him the transfer for they wanted him to play in the local league and the tournaments here. 
His Best Phase in Cricket and the Frustration!!!
The first half of the 1960s proved to be his best period in cricket and paradoxically also one with extreme disappointments. 

The tall and lean mustachioed Chandrasekaran performed extraordinarily well for SBI in all tournaments and received rave reviews. Soon after SBI Madras met Bombay in the final of the All India State Bank tournament Indian captain Nari Contractor was so impressed with Chandrasekaran that he said that 'Madras had found a good off spinner and one with great potential."
Lets go an Opportunity in Bombay 
Not just that, he wanted Chandrasekaran to play in the Times Shield Tournament that immediately followed the inter circle tourney. Unfortunately for Chandrasekaran, it coincided with the Sport and Pastime tourney (The Hindu Trophy) in Madras and his Bank did not permit him to go Bombay, even though the invitation came from none other than the Indian captain. Had he gone and played under Contractor, his cricketing life may have taken a different turn. But it was not to be. It was also around that time when he received a big offer from Parrys & Co following his star performances with the bat and ball but SBI did not permit him to leave convincing him of good prospects at the bank. 

Ranji Debut and Farewell!!! 
He took 54 wickets in 11 matches in the first division league in 1961-62. In the next year, he topped the bowling averages ahead of the upcoming S Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) and Kripal Singh, who cherished ambitions of playing for the country as an all rounder (a batsman who could bowl spin). In 62-63, he easily took more wickets in the first division than these two and claimed over a 100 wickets for SBI in all forms of cricket that year. With the bat, he had scored 8 centuries for SBI including 176 against a very strong Bombay State Bank and was clearly an all rounder who could excel in both. He also received the award for the Best Performance in the Sport and Pastime tourney. 

He once picked up 12 wickets in a single day, quite a rare achievement in a one day TNCA first division league match, picking up 7wickets in the first innings and then picking up 5 in the 2nd innings to bowl out Crom Best twice in a day. Everyone that followed TN cricket expected him to go a long way. However, what followed was tragic and left him bitterly disappointed and frustrated at that time. 

After being in the state reserves for almost two years, he finally got his chance in Ranji Trophy cricket in the final match of the 1962-63 season and had what one could call a ‘successful debut’ picking up three wickets and scoring 36. 
After being the leading wicket taker and one with the best average in successive years in first division cricket in the city, an unfortunate turn of events led him to never play for the State again in Ranji Trophy. He was not in the original squad for the Ranji Matches in the next season. On the day the Madras players were schedule to leave by train for a Ranji Match, he received a call at 9am from S Sriraman, Hony. Secretary, TNCA asking him to pack his cricketing bag and head to the Central Railway Station as it had been suddenly decided to include him in the squad as a replacement. 

Says NO to Sriraman
That call is still vivid in Chandrasekaran’s memory "My mother was unwell and I had to be by her bedside to take care of her health. I explained to Sriraman the scenario at home. Unfortunately a ‘NO’ to Sriraman did not go well with the powers that be." 

It was also in this phase that SBI organised a tournament for first division clubs in the city in an endeavour to provide more opportunities to players. Chandrasekaran anchored the organising of this tournament. He remembers the backlash "Sriraman was clearly unhappy with SBI organising a tournament in the city. We clearly indicated to them that this was to provide more playing opportunities to the cricketers in the city. As I was the man doing the work on the ground, I was targeted and my hopes of playing for the state were dashed."

Frustrated at not being considered for the Ranji Trophy after outstanding performance in 3-4 successive years in the first division league, Chandrasekaran stood for the post of the Treasurer of the TNCA (then MCA) in June 1964 leaving Sriraman stunned. It turned out to be the final nail in the coffin for Chandrasekaran for he was never considered for Madras again in Ranji Trophy cricket. His refusal to join the Ranji squad when his mother was ill, the organising of the inter club tournament in the city and him standing for the Treasurer's post combined to ensure that he would never be considered again.  These series of events brought a premature end to his Ranji career, almost before it started!!! 

Ridiculous Selection Committee
Legendary leg spinner VV Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/07/cricket-tales-exclusive-with-vv-kumar.html) was a year senior to him at PS High School and knew him from his days as a teenager. He captained Chandrasekaran at SBI and was a good foil for him as the two bowled in tandem through the 1960s and 70s. He also used to drive Chandrasekaran to his office on his two wheeler every morning in the 1960s. He says that it was ridiculous of the TN selection committee to not consider him despite strong performances in the first division league “Chandru was an automatic choice in the All India State Bank team that comprised of international bowlers. He took wickets in the first division league and in all other tournaments for SBI. Why the TN selectors never considered him against after a strong Ranji debut and consistent performance in the league defeats any logic. He was not given the rightful chances.” 
VV Kumar says that Chandru should have competed more vigorously after finding that the selectors were not considering him and leaving him out deliberately “He should have fought his way back into the team but maybe he was frustrated that the selectors continued to ignore him despite strong performances in the league.” 

Stars for All India SBI in Ceylon 
In August 1966, he was selected for the All India State Bank team that was to tour Ceylon for a series of matches against a strong Prime Minister’s XI in Colombo. Chief of SBI N Ramanand Rao who was the transformative sporting force at the bank and who roped in cricketers and made them the cricketing force that they were in the 60s and 70s wrote of the team that went to Ceylon “Our team blends enthusiasm with experience and includes a number of promising young cricketers in addition to Test Stars.” 

The bank team comprised of top Indian and Ranji Trophy players including Wadekar, Goel and VV Kumar. Bowling alongside star bowlers such as VV Kumar and Rajender Goel against the likes of Michael Tissera and Stanley Jayasinghe, Chandrasekaran picked up 4 wickets in the match.

Ramanand Rao would come to the ground and watch every match of SBI and he landed up one rainy morning at the house of Chandrasekaran and asked him as to what he was doing at home on a match day. When he remarked that the match was likely to be rained off as the rain had been rather heavy, the Chief told him that the game would definitely start with the groundsmen at work. He drove him to the match and watched Chandrasekaran pick up 8 wickets after lunch to help the bank win against Bunts. When the newspaper headlined the next day as Chandrasekaran helping SBI win, the Chief joking remarked that that it was his role in driving him to the ground that helped the bank record the victory. 

Frustration leads to Umpiring 
By the mid 1960s, Chandrasekaran realized that the politics at work was too strong and he accepted the fact that he would not be considered for the state. It was the frustration of being ignored despite extraordinary performances that led him to take to umpiring. The umpiring fee for a match was just Rs. 3 that decade when he started out. A ticket for umpires for the pongal test was a big motivation. One had to umpire a certain number of matches before January to be eligible for this ‘umpire’s ticket’. In the early 70s, there was invitation to him to appear for the BCCI Umpiring exam but as with other cricketing events in his life in the previous decade, he was away in Europe at that time and missed out on progressing ahead in his umpiring life. 

From Cricket to Banking focus 
Once he reconciled that the TNCA had shut out his cricket for non cricketing reasons, he began to focus on his work at the bank. In 1966, he was promoted as an officer. He also passed exams such as CAIIB, Diploma in Industrial finance. Shortly after, when he was in foreign exchange department, he came in contact with many overseas visitors who made a trip to India in their two wheelers. That inspired him and triggered the thought in him to try and see if he too could do an overseas trip on a two wheeler. 

To Europe on Lamby 
Lambretta was in great demand that decade. He approached the firm to see if they could hand out a few Lambys to him and his three friends for this overseas trip. They could not give it free but did an out of turn delivery of three Lambys. In the summer of 1971, Chandrasekaran along with PVH Babu, GV Venugopal and R Lakshmanan went on a three month 7000kms 15 countries European trip via Bombay, Kuwait and London. The globetrotting trip of 1971 was repeated in 1974 with his footballer brother Mohanakrishnan and KRS Mani (SBI). Cho Ramaswamy helped him raised funds for the trips by organizing a special edition of his then popular Mohammad Bin Tuglagh. KS Narayanan of India Cements too helped him on those two trips as did his classmate A Krishnamurthy of Simpsons. 
Names his new league team in Euro Tour memory 
This Globe Trotting led Chandrasekaran to name his new league team in 1975 as Globe Trotters (introduced into the league after winning the Ranga Rao Trophy), a team that went up to the first division in five straight years under the captaincy of G Srinivasan. VB Chandrasekar(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html) played for Globe Trotters when he was just 16. In the 1980s, for over 5 years, he handed the team to Udumalpet SVPB’s Soundararajan to run Globe Trotters ( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/06/svpb-udumalpet-soundararajan.html) in the first division league. Soon after, Venkataraghavan came to him and requested him to hand over the team permanently to MRF (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-architect-behind-worlds-best.html) which he did. 

After his globetrotting experience, Chandrasekaran began taking a combined squad from here to overseas destinations for a 10 day cricketing tour to play against leading local clubs in Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, USA and even the Maldives. In May 1973, he went on a trip to Kuala Lumpur with players such as Hanumant Singh, Ambar Roy, GRV, SMH Kirmani, AG Milkha Singh, Abdul Jabbar and his brother R Prabhakar. 

Top cricketers from Karnataka including AV Jayaprakash, B Vijayakrishna, G Kasturi Rangan, B. Raghunath, PR Ashok Anand, BS Viswanath and Narayana Raju were part of the trips to the UK and the Far East. P Mukund, VBC, M Subramaniam and D Padmanabhan too were part of these tours from TN.

Karnataka Cricketers the most respectful 
Looking back on the overseas tour, Karnataka batsman and BCCI Umpire AV Jayaprakash says ‘Chandrasekaran showed me the world’. It was a phase when legendary leggie BS Chandrasekar was the room mate of R Chandrasekaran on cricketing trips. R Chandrasekaran considers the cricketers from Karnataka as being most respectful in their conduct ‘Even the top most cricketers from the state including some who played for the country would fall at my feet when they met me as I was many years senior in age. They have been like this for several decades. The cricketing success just did not get on to their head and the big cricketers from Karnataka have remained unchanged in the way they have interacted over a long period of time, even after they played state cricket for two decades and cricket for India.'

MCC v Combined XI at Chepauk 
During that phase, Chandrasekaran also put together combined teams to play practice matches against MCC on Saturday afternoons. There was stiff competition to figure in that Combined XI for it was a great experience for many who had hitherto never played at Chepauk. An added incentive was the tiffin and coffee at MCC at the end of the match. 

In the mid 90s, Chandrasekaran was the treasurer of the TNCA for a couple of years when Ashok Kumbhat was the Secretary and was also team manager of TN. In the 1980s and 90s and later as well, and long before the ICA (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/ica-on-track.html) came into being, he was vocal on the changes needed in the system and wrote several letters to the BCCI pitching for changes for the betterment of the system and for the players to be taken care of, better including pension to players who had played less than 25matches. And he continues to engage with the likes of Ashok Malhotra (the ICA President) sharing ideas.

A Celebrated Life
Octogenarian Chandrasekaran has had a truly celebrated life. A First Class Cricketer, Umpire, Match Referee, Treasurer, Scorer, Selector, Manager, Owner of multiple TNCA league teams, committee member at the TNCA and a Globe Trotter who took teams many times overseas on cricket trips. He should have easily played more matches for the state but non cricketing reasons led him to be discarded for ever. He could have played many for Kerala but his bank refused to grant him a transfer. Despite terrific performances in the league, Chandrasekar had many disappointments and frustrating moments in cricket in the 1960s but he saw the downturns as part of one’s life and took it in his stride. He turned a great admininstrator making personal globe trotting trips along with colleagues, running cricket clubs in the city and organising cricketing tours that offered several cricketers opportunities to play overseas.  In 2010, aged 75, he took a team comprising of teenagers to Colombo to play a series of matches such has been his passion for the game. At a point of time in his life, Chandrasekaran ran four league teams in the city – Globe Trotters, Rising Stars, BRC and Magnet. He continues to run Magnet Cricket Club in the TNCA league to this day. 

If he had not joined SBI, he may have ended up as a salesman at Sundaram Motors. Instead he enjoyed well over a decade of playing with the who’s who of Indian cricket. He played first division cricket for SBI for 15 years at the peak alongside the likes of the non controversial SVS Mani (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/svs-mani-cricketer-selector-coach.html) when they won several championships, rose to the level of AGM at the bank and remained a strong contributor to the bank throughout his career.  Several 100s of wickets for SBI in the early 1960s could not earn him more than one Ranji Match and he was hugely disappointed  at the decision of the TNCA to keep him away from Ranji Trophy matches but at 85 he is proud that he came out of that and continued his association with cricket in various capacities for another 45 years .

Truly an outstanding personality.

Venkatesan S Sundaram Finance

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Struck with Polio at the age of three, he encountered multiple challenges through his childhood days and teenage years but overcame the adversities with grit and determination displaying extraordinary confidence in discharging his duty and rose to the post of CFO and Company Secretary of Sundaram Finance

“SELECT HIM” wrote TS Santhanam on his job application form even without looking at him in 1971 
Polio struck him when he was just three years old. He studied in a Tamizh Medium School in Madras int he late 1950s and early 60s. His disciplinarian father was hospitalized for two years incuding during the PUC Examination days. Into his 20s, his amma was not keen on him taking up a job outside of Madras and had to give up on outstation offers that came his way. Up against all odds, this man showcased to the world that with commitment and determination, one could overcome any challenge and succeed in life. The man from Mannargudi went on to become one of the trusted members of India’s Auto Legend. Here’s the story. 

A Chequered Childhood -Missing the Sports Activities
S Venkatesan hailed from the historical town of Mannargudi, home to the beautiful Rajagopalaswamy temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/05/mannargudi-rajagopalaswamy-temple.html). His father D Srinivasan lost his father (G Duraiswamy) early when he was just 7 years old. Seeking greener pastures in the city, he moved to Madras with his family in the 1950s.

Given the physical challenges, Venkatesan was completely disconnected from any sport and hardly played a game during his schooling days. Wesley school boasted one of the biggest grounds in the city but throughout that decade, he could only watch his mates from the ‘sidelines’. Not to let negativity to set into his mind, his amma, Jayalakshmi, who lovingly called him ‘Durai’, initiated him into Sanskrit and Hindi (he passed Visharath) classes so as to keep her young son’s mind occupied. Alongside, he also completed higher in typewriting and short hand. He also learnt to play Chess at home.

During that phase, his appa, a Sanskrit and Tamizh scholar who worked at LR Swamy would take him on the weekends to Divya Desams and explain the legend of each of the temples singing the verse of the Azhvaars and inculcated in him the Dharmic way of life as detailed in the scriptures. Those trips created an early devotion in Venkatesan that has continued well into his 70s. 

Throughout his formative years, his amma continuously initiated him with the values of life and told him never to waver from the Dharmic Path. That was ingrained into him all through his childhood. She was a strong willed and positive woman and believed that physical handicaps could not halt the progress of a human being. 
First Day at College  
After having spent over a decade in Tamizh medium school, Venkatesan joined PUC at the Vivekananda College. His first day at the college left him a bit down. The tiny Venkatesan found his fellow students conversing in fluent English. His amma, now aged 92 and residing with Venkatesan’s sister in Nanganallur, was and has remained his greatest strength and inspiration in life. In times when he has been down, it was she who instilled the confidence in him that he could match up to anyone in academics and that there was nothing to fear in life. It was the same message that TS Santhanam was to give in his first meeting at Sundaram Motors.

PUC preparation at the Hospital
Just over a decade after Polio struck him, Venkatesan faced his next big challenge in life. His appa met with a serious accident and was hospitalized for a long period during his SSLC and PUC. 16 year old Venkatesan prepared for the entire PUC examinations studying under the lights at the hospital sitting beside his appa. With the financial challenges at home, he sought permission from his appa to discontinue his education to find a job that would provide some financial impetus to the family. But his appa was keen that Venkatesan pursue his academics and fought his way back from the hospital and into his job at LR Swamy. Venkatesan recalls those days from the 1960s “My father was a strict disciplinarian and always wanted me to give my best in academics. He was keen to do everything to help me further my studies. It was his motivation that helped me focus on academics. ” 

After having passed Class X with distinction, Venkatesan secured the highest grades in Physics and Chemistry in PUC that led the Principal to offer him B.Sc instead of the ‘Premium’ and ‘In demand’ B.Com. But he was keen on doing B.Com. He was probably destined to be a trusted lieutenant of a legendary automan. Impressed with the confidence level of the boy, the principal told him that he was likely to do well in life and handed him the B.Com seat.

Despite all the setbacks in life, a differentiating feature of Venkatesan's life was his confidence he exhibited in everything he did. If it were not for the self confidence, his life may have turned out very differently given the challenges he faced early on in his life.

Rank Holder in B.Com and CA 
Once his appa was discharged from hospital, the family shifted to Alwarpet Street from Royapettah to facilitate his appa’s travel to LR Swamy. For Venkatesan, there were no sporting activities at college too and he spent a large part of his free time reading books. Professor PA Hariharan, a gigantic personality and one with a MA in 18 disciplines, provided the literary inspiration with his presentations in English.

Three years on, Venkatesan graduated among the top five rank holders of the college in B. Com. Soon after graduating, he once again asked his father if he could get into a job but his appa despite his ill health pushed Venkatesan to pursue a professional course. CA was at a premium in those years and one had to pay a fee to be taken in as an apprentice in a reputed audit firm. Being a rank holder, CS Hariharan, CA, offered him a ‘free’ apprenticeship. Continuing his outstanding performance in academics, he cleared CA in three straight years, securing a top rank in both Inter and Final. 
Offers poured in from several companies including from those in Bombay. However his amma, with whom he has been closely attached all his life, was insistent that he not leave Madras and thus he rejected all the outstation offers that came his way. It was then that he heard about an opening in the TVS Group. One who had come back home in tears after day one of his college now drafted a letter in English that was to prove transformational (he came to know about this only at the end of the first year). 

The Best Moment of his Life - 'SELECT HIM' says TS Santhanam
Following a job application letter to the ‘TVS & Sons’ that he sent by post, he was called in for an interview at Sundaram Motors. He went through five grueling rounds. He had almost lost hope when he was called  a sixth time. A Rangaswamy, who passed away recently, welcomed him with a smile and led him into the room of someone with whom he was to have a close association for over 25 years. Legendary TS Santhanam handed him the appointment letter in November 1971 with the remark that Venkatesan vividly remembers almost 50 years later “This is not recruitment for the army. Always Do your duty. Do your job without fear or favour.”He thus joined Sundaram Motors as an accounts assistant in the first week of December 1971 at a salary of Rs. 600. 

It was at the end of the first year at Sundaram Motors when his appointment came for confirmation that he found a revealing truth that he considers as the Best Moment of his life. When the Union Leader Chelliah held up his hand written application form (of the previous year) that he had to clear for Venkatesan’s confirmation of job at Sundaram Motors, Venkatesan found on the back of the application a signed remark from Santhanam that pre dated all his interviews “SELECT HIM”. Based on the content of the application letter and the confident tone of the letter, Santhanam had spotted the potential in the man even without meeting him. The subsequent interviews were probably a test to see if this youngster would withstand the pressure of a corporate environment. 

An Unfulfilled Dream - working in a manufacturing firm
During his 6 ½ year stint at Sundaram Motors (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/r-chandrasekaran-sbi-globe-trotter.html), he also completed ICWA, a course that included a difficult paper on Engineering Maths. It was a favourite of his. It was a long felt dream of Venkatesan to work in a manufacturing arm of the TVS (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/tvs-ram-s-cricketer.html) for a period so he could put the learning of the Costing Degree to full use but that dream remained unfulfilled till the end. 

The move to Sundaram Finance
When Sundaram Finance was looking for a person to take care of Internal Audit, Venkatesan’s name was shortlisted. His mentor and the chief at Sundaram Motors, M Krishnamurthy was a bit reluctant to let go of Venkatesan for he had served the company well in the 6 1/2 years of his service. Just like the Principal at Vivekananda College, Krishnamurthy too  had developed a special liking for Venkatesan in the disciplined and methodical way he worked and was of the view that this man would go far in life.

He joined Sundaram Finance in 1977 and worked  closely with TN Padmanabhan, a former IRS officer and a renowned expert on Taxation. By 1981, Venkatesan had also completed ACS, the third of his professional qualifications. Those initial years were intellectually stimulating, for Padmanabhan always looked up to Venkatesan for insightful answers to challenging and complex points in Tax and Company Law. He enjoyed working under Padmanabhan just as he had under Krishnamurthy. 

Working with ‘The Super Computer’ 
In the years that he worked with Padmanabhan, Venkatesan was always referred to as the 'Walking Encyclopedia'. And then one day Padmanabhan took him to Santhanam. In the 6 ½ years at Sundaram Motors, Venkatesan had not met with Santhanam after receiving the appointment letter from him in 1971. From the early 1980s, he became part of everyday interactions with Santhanam. Considering that he woke up a bit late, Santhanam, the fine gentleman that he was, made his first call of the day to Venkatesan much after 6am after he had finished with three others!! 
Venkatesan recalls the early years of his morning calls and meetings with Santhanam “He spoke without paper, had a great memory and would remember every aspect of all the earlier conversations that the two had had. One had to be 100% accurate. He was a Super Computer.” 

One of the most challenging tasks and enjoyable engagements in the early phase of his career was the presentation of a comparative analysis of Balance Sheets of industry players. Over time, when industry pundits tried to find out the secret sauce of the company from Venkatesan, he gave them an explanation relating to the temples “This story is like that of the Tirupathi Laddu or the Thiruvallikeni Parthasarathy’s Chakkarai Pongal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/07/thiruvallikeni-prabhandham-ghosti.html). Even if you give all the ingredients, the output was likely to be below par.” 

Handling the ever changing regulations were among the things that he liked the most. While regulations were tightened over the decades, new ones never surprised him for he felt that the company was always ahead of time “It was like a terrific student anticipating the toughest of questions in the examination.” 

Rama Rajya - A Divine Personality
Very early into their professional engagement at Sundaram Finance, Santhanam began placing the Financial Times, the renowned international business daily on Venkatesan’s desk. Venkatesan made specific allocation of time in the day to read this paper, for Santhanam, a voracious reader, would pick up points from the paper for discussion the next day. While that was on the business front, Santhanam also handed out various dharmic books to Venkatesan that instilled in him the Dharmic way of running a finance business. One morning, he handed the Adyathma Ramayana book which Venkatesan treasures to this day. During the period of the lockdown, decades after receiving the book, another reading opened his eyes to a lot on how Santhanam worked in office based on the principles of Rama Rajya“He was a Divine Personality.” 
While Venkatesan excelled in academics right through with distinction in Class X, D+ in PUC and ranks in B.Com and CA, he says that the real learning was under Santhanam “It was here that I received my P. hd. Every single day, I would be put to a new test and I had to come through each one of them with 100% accuracy. I learnt my real accounting and finance lessons under his mentorship,” 

Appa dies early, additional responsibilities at Home 
When Venkatesan’s appa, who worked for 22 years after his major accident, died in the mid 1980s at the age of 59, it was a big personal loss. Family responsibilities increased manifold. In the years that followed, it was Venkatesan who took care of the family responsibilities and supported his sisters and performed the wedding of his brother and sister.
Allround Knowledge - What is the Price of Idly? 
One day, Santhanam came to the desk of Venkatesan and took him by surprise by asking the price of an idly at Udupi Hotel. When he expressed ignorance of the pricing at restaurants, Santhanam shot back 'you have to be aware of all things around you’. Only later did Venkatesan realize that Santhanam was planning to introduce food subsidy in the company and hence the query. 

Santhanam gives him a ‘new lease of life’ 
Venkatesan was also touched by Santhanam's personal care“He treated me as his own family member. He always gave the feeling that he ‘cared for you and your well being”. Into his 90s and when he was not in the best of health, Santhanam heard that Venkatesan had been hospitalized. Venkatesan had to undergo a bypass surgery at the turn of the century. After he was discharged, the doctor at the hospital told Venkatesan that he had been directed to give two health bulletins each day to Santhanam and that he had wanted personalized care and attention to be handed to him at the hospital. When he regained consciousness for the first time after the bypass surgery, he saw GK Raman and TT Srinivasaraghavan (MD and Dy. MD at that time) in front of him – TTS greeting him with a ‘re-bored engine’ and GKR cheering him up in his typically towering tone. Venkatesan says that Santhanam gave him a ‘new lease of life’. 
Venkatesan say that Santhanam accepted him ‘as I am’ and brought out the best in him “I had not had such a strong bonding even with my appa. He showered fatherly love on me and creating a bonded for me with the firm for forever. And for all this, he had sowed the seed without even seeing me way back in 1971.” 

Venkatesan retired in 2011 from Sundaram Finance after almost 35 years with the firm having served as the CFO and Company Secretary.

Retired Life listening to Velukkudi Krishnan
As the 72 year old Venkatesan sits in his second floor flat on Dhandapani Street in T Nagar reading and listening to the stories on ancient temples and to the Upanyasams of Velukkudi Krishnan, his mind goes back to the school days when his appa instilled that early devotion in him. Venkatesan’s amma is hard of hearing these days but every day of the year, she calls her adorable ‘Durai’ and gives out dharmic messages on how he should live the rest of this live. 

For Venkatesan, life has been full of challenges right from the age of three. From physical handicap to overcoming an inferiority complex, from missing the games during his childhood to spending very little time with his family during his corporate life, from losing his father and brother early to getting used to the English language in the city, he has had to encounter tough times in different phases of his life that could so easily have shattered him and pulled him down the barrel. But devotion to God, the unflinching support from his amma and the extraordinary confidence and self belief with which he discharged his duty were reasons for him to grow to the top of the chart in Sundaram Finance where he rose from the position of an internal auditor to don the twin role of the CFO and Company Secretary. 

But to him, earning the confidence of the legendary TS Santhanam who reposed the trust in him for 25years is the single achievement that he cherishes most to this day.

Michael Dalvi Gopalan Trophy Salem

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A Century that inspired a Salem School Boy 
                              
In February 1975, it was Tamil Nadu's turn to host the annual Prestigious Gopalan Trophy match against Ceylon. That year the match was played in Salem. S Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/vasudevan-tn-ranji-trophy-retirement.html), who went on to captain TN to a Ranji Trophy Triumph over a dozen years later and The Hindu's K Balaji made their state debut in this match. An enthusiastic 12year old school boy TV Jayaraman was excited to watch top class cricketers competing against each other. 

Ceylon was still a few years away from gaining test status (this match was played just ahead of the Inaugural World Cup and many of these players were to play in inaugural edition) but it was a very strong team comprising of Duleep Mendis, Roy Dias (later he was to play two exciting knocks in the one off test at Chepauk in 1982- his 2nd innings knock would still rank as one of the best test knocks seen at Chepauk), Anura Ranasinghe (he was an aggressive batsman who went to South Africa on a rebel tour and was banned from Test Cricket) and Siddath Wettimuny. And they came up against the likes of TN's hat trick man B Kalyanasundaram ( who had taken a famouse hat trick against Bombay just a couple of years earlier) - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html - and V Krishnaswamy, who opened through that decade for TN (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) and is now the Treasurer of the ICA ( Indian Cricketers Association).

The Ramakrishna Sarada Vidyalaya school boy sat through all three days of the match that proved to be a life defining moment for him. He watched in awe Venkataraghavan’s extra ordinary spell on the opening day as his 7wicket haul helped bowl out Ceylon for a paltry 150 odd. Interestingly both the debutants performed creditably that match - Vasudevan picking up 5 wickets in the match and Balaji notching up a score in the 30s.
But it was one of the all time great knocks by a TN bat on day 2 that inspired the young boy to take to sport. Earlier this decade, almost 40years later, he was still a very active sportsman at the Mylapore Club and an inspiration for many budding sporting talent at the club. 

In the dozen years of his life till then, Jayaraman had not seen such a blistering batting display and the innings immediately transformed him and took him into the sporting world. And he was to be involved in active sport for the next 40 years till his untimely death a few years ago.

Michael Dalvi was up against a good fast bowler in Dennis Chanmugam and the spin twins of Lalith Kaluperuma and D’Silva (both of whom played test cricket for Sri Lanka) on a challenging wicket. In a brilliant counter attacking display, Dalvi smashed 179 and was involved in a big partnership with the stylish TE Srinivasan, who five years later went on to play for India. It was to remain his highest ever score in first class cricket. It left the Lankans stunned but the knock had created a new sportsman. 

Dalvi's Knocks inpires the school boy
The three days had changed his life. In a chat with this writer in 2015, Jayarman, then 52, said that Dalvi's scintillating innings inspired him to take to cricket 'I went back after the match and took to cricket seriously captaining the school team in Salem for three years."

He decided to head to Madras for his graduation and joined Guru Nanak College on the basis of his cricket certificates. However, a strong college team that had that decade included S Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/rbi-madhavan-leg-spinner.html), NP Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html) and Ravi Mishra meant he could not break through into the college cricket team.

Represents University Team in TT
He remembers those years from his college days"When I could not make it to the college cricket team, the innings of Dalvi flashed through my mind. I wanted to be a sportsman and changed sport. I took to Table Tennis."

Within a year he was in the college Table Tennis team and represented the University. Very soon he added Badminton to his sporting repertoire, one that continued into his 50s.

An inspiration at the Mylapore Club 
Almost 40 years after this Gopalan Trophy match, he was part of the Mylapore Club TT team that bagged the runners up trophy in the 1st inter club TT tourney organised by Madras Gymkhana Club. He also reached the finals of a doubles shuttle tournament organised by MRC. Aged 52, he sent a diving winner at the shuttle court drawing big applause from everyone notwithstanding the fact that he violated the Mylapore Club rule of ‘Don’t dive on the shuttle court' ( may be he remembered a dive of Michael Dalvi from that match in Salem and wanted to recreate that in the Shuttle Court). 

No wonder, Jayaraman was an inspiration to most of the Mylapore Club sportsmen and women, especially the youngsters. And for that, he, forever, thanked Michael Dalvi for inspiring him to take to sport.

(When this writer was the Editor of the Mylapore Club Magazine, Jayaraman contributed to stories on dharmic way of life handing out messages to children on the way to live life. He was brilliant at throwing up 'Puzzling' questions and did that all the time at the shuttle court and at weddings and family functions. Unfortunately, a sudden heart attack took away the life of Jayaraman in a flash a few years ago) 

A version of this story featured in the Mylapore Club Magazine in 2015

K Balaji The Hindu Ranji Trophy

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A Blossoming Cricket Career was cut short by Leadership Issues
The stylish southpaw topped the batting chart for TN in his debut season and scored a terrific century against Hyderabad in his second year but quit Cricket soon after
"When capability is unequally distributed, the leader has to extract the best out of the players. It just did not happen in TN cricket in the late 1970s" - K Balaji
In the mid 1950s, 16 year old S Ram, son of legendary auto man TS Santhanam, who had played for the South Zone Schools had to make the choice between pursuing serious cricket and academics. He chose academics and let go of cricket. Two decades later, a youngster from another renowned traditional family business, made his debut for TN in the Gopalan Trophy aged 19 but let go of cricket for two years to pursue his Masters. He came back to score runs aplenty in Ranji Trophy cricket in his first two seasons prompting the Great GRV to extol lavish praise of his batting style in the process touting him as a solid long term middle order prospect for TN in the 1980s. And yet, he felt his upbringing did not permit him to continue in the team environment that existed then, one that did not contribute to either the development of cricket or the personality. He quit cricket at 24 after having played just a dozen matches for the State and pursued a career in the corporate world. Here is the story.

Picks up the bat Left Handed 
K Balaji, son of legendary G Kasturi (Editor of The Hindu for 25 years from 1965), began playing serious cricket aged 13. His coach KS Kannan at Don Bosco asked him to open the bowling, even though Balaji wanted to be an off spinner. Much to his surprise and the coach’s delight, he began taking wickets (Former India Wicket Keeper Bharath Reddy who played for MCC School remembers Balaji taking 9 wickets with the new ball). 
When he picked the cricket bat for the first time, he faced left handed (probably against the leg spin of his younger brother, K Venugopal, former Editor of The Hindu Business Line) even though he was a right hander in all other sports – Tennis, Shuttle and TT. Wickets with the new ball earned him a place in the city and state schools team. Balaji and Venugopal played together, first at school and later at Loyola College. During the four years at school, Balaji shone more with the ball than the bat. Despite his fine performances in cricket, academics remained at the forefront throughout his schooling and he was consistently among the toppers in his class (While Venugopal cherished being a leggie, he did not pursue cricket as seriously as Balaji and went to the US for his Masters giving up cricket soon after college). 
Balaji sitting next to his first coach. Also seen in the pic is K Venugopal

The Musical Interest 
As a teenager, Balaji also learnt Violin for a brief period from legendary TN Krishnan though he found it difficult to straddle between Cricket, Academics and Violin. It was that initiation by the music legend that kindled Balaji’s interest in music that has stayed to this day. 

Tamil Nadu’s Hat Trick man B Kalyanasundaram who was at the fag end of his career when Balaji made his Ranji debut and who counts him as one of his closest friends in life is grateful to Balaji for infusing the musical interest in him“He was a good violinist and was the one who created the music interest in me. He would often call me to a musical ‘Sath Sangam’ and share with me the wide range of recordings he had in his possession. If I am still listening to carnatic music at this age, it was because of those musical days spent with Balaji.”
              
Radio Cricket Commentary at 15!!! 
While the Violin initiation generated his musical interest, an unforeseen ‘cricket’ opportunity came his way in 1971. All India Radio Madras had launched quite a unique programme called the ‘Youth Commentators” in an endeavour to develop cricket commentators. IOB cricketer ‘Ram’ Ramesh suggested to them the name of Balaji as a prospective commentator. Just like his batting fluency, Balaji was fluent in the English language as well, for he conversed a lot of the time in English with his classmates at Don Bosco. Balaji recalls the audition that he did at the AIR studio “I was petrified to be locked inside a studio. The producer asked me to imagine a cricket match and commentate for about 3-4 minutes. Obviously they found something right in those few minutes for they asked me to do the commentary of the next match that came up at Chepauk.” (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/04/cricket-tales-12-memorable-cricket.html)

And thus, much before his cricketing debut for the state (which too he was to make in a Gopalan Trophy match), this teenager sat alongside the renowned Ramamurthy, with his unique voice, RT Parthasarathy and NK Murugesh to present English commentary on the state cricketers with whom he was to play later in the decade debuting his commentary(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/04/memorable-cricket-matches-on-radio-1985.html) stint with the Gopalan Trophy match between Madras and Ceylon in January 1971. Balaji was paid a princely amount of Rs. 30 per day as the fee for his commentary. Impressed with his commentary, AIR continued his services for the Ranji Trophy matches as well over the next couple of years before commentators such as Ramamurthy began commentating on their ‘colleague turned cricketer’ when Balaji began playing for TN. 

In the pre Television days, Radio Commentary of state matches had a huge audience and Balaji counts that as one of the most enjoyable experiences of his teenage life.

Shoulder Injury – New Ball bowler to a full-fledged batsman 
Injury to his shoulder in the first year at Loyola College forced him to give up bowling completely (medical solutions to cricketing injuries were not available those days – Swing bowler S Ram too damaged his shoulder and he too never felt the same again in terms of bowling fast) and he become a full fledged batsman, something he considers a ‘blessing in disguise’. By the time he was into the 2nd year at college (B.Com), his batting had blossomed and he began to make some big runs that made the selectors sit up and take notice of this young talent. 

While he continued to play serious cricket for the college, the strong focus on academics continued and he was keen to pursue a Master’s Degree. In the final year of his graduation, when he also captained the Loyola College team, the Rohinton Baria Tournament clashed with the CAT exam (IIM –A) which meant that he did not have the time to prepare for his examination. After playing the first match at Mysore, Balaji took a bus to reach Madras the next morning to write the entrance examination. With Madras University winning the second match, he made the trip back to Mysore to play the third match!!! 
He was in terrific form for the Madras University that year and his two centuries including one in the Semi Finals against a strong Bombay team (that included Vengsarkar and Sandeep Patil) earned a State call for the 19 year old against Ceylon for the Gopalan Trophy match at Salem in February 1975 (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/michael-dalvi-gopalan-trophy-salem.html), one known for the scintillating century by Michael Dalvi (Dalvi scored a century in both of Balaji’s debut!!!! as a commentator 4 years earlier and this match as a player). Balaji made a good start scoring 34 in the only innings he played. However, events of the morning of his debut gave an early insight into the leadership in the team that left a bad taste in him on the first day (more on this later in the story) and it was the reason that led him to quit serious cricket, 5 years later.

Masters - Away from Cricket for 2Years
A few months after his debut for TN and even though a Ranji debut was just a step away, Balaji much like S Ram of the TVS(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/tvs-ram-s-cricketer.html), kept cricket aside and went to Bombay for his Masters with an eye on his professional career. The Masters Programme was so intense that during the two years of the course, he did not touch the bat. 

A dream debut season in Ranji Trophy
He came back to Madras in the summer of 1977 after the completion of Masters and joined The Hindu in Circulation. He was roped in by Bharath Reddy to play for MCC in the first division league. Such was his natural talent that despite being completely away from cricket for two years, he hit top form straightaway. Within six months of his comeback into competitive cricket, Balaji was in the state reckoning again, this time in the TN Ranji squad for the 1977-78 season. And it turned out to be a dream season. 

Though there were established batsmen in the team - TE Srinivasan, V Sivaramakrishnan and Abdul Jabbar, among others - Balaji topped the batting charts for TN in his debut season scoring 225 runs, quite a significant achievement. The two best knocks came against Karnataka when he top scored in both innings, though TN lost that match. In his first season, Balaji contributed in every match. It was a season when S Venkataraghavan was away in Australia and he flourished under the captaincy of P Mukund. As seen later in this story, the absence of the ‘Legend’ Venkat proved to be a blessing in disguise for Balaji, and he had his best year in cricket. He counts that year as one when he played with a lot of freedom and was able to express himself with the bat.

A Century after a Jaundice Strike
At the beginning of the next season, Balaji fell ill with Jaundice and missed the first three matches. He had not played any cricket in the preceding months when he was called up for the final league match of the Ranji Trophy against Hyderabad in January 1979. On a challenging wicket, TN was toppling against the likes of Abid Ali and V Ramnarayanan chasing Hyderabad’s 218 and had lost 4 wickets at the top of the order. It was then that Abdul Jabbar joined Balaji to forge a winning partnership. Balaji’s delightful century helped TN gain the first innings lead in the final match of the season. 
40 years later, Abdul Jabbar, who was the backbone of the TN middle order in the 1970s and early 80s, looks back at Balaji’s century with delight “I still remember that knock of Balaji. It was a Superb Century. I enjoyed his graceful strokes from the other end. On his day, he made batting look so easy. His batting was all elegance with superb timing in his strokes mainly on the offside, both on the front foot as well as off the back foot. It was always a treat to watch him bat. I made some 70 odd runs but it was Balaji’s batting display which dominated our innings that day against Hyderabad.” 

A month later he fell to the guiles of Bishen Singh Bedi in both the innings in the knock out match against Delhi on a slow wicket where it was difficult to play strokes, a match that TN lost. 

A premature end to his cricket career 
Later that year and within 12months of scoring that gritty century against Hyderabad, Balaji came up once again against the same team in what turned out to be his last Ranji match. It was a horrible season for TN and Balaji (and the team) experienced Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) at his worst. Venkat had had a terrible captaincy stint for India in the summer of 1979 fairing badly in the World Cup where they lost even to Sri Lanka that had not yet gained the Test status and losing the Test Series to England, with Venkat drawing the curtains on Bharath Reddy going for the kill in the last test match. The experience there seemed to have made Venkat even bitter than before and the TN team felt the aftermaths of it as the state went from bad to worse. 
Balaji recalls the earlier match in the season against Karnataka in particular, a match that this writer distinctly remembers listening to AIR’s Kannada commentary in full
(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/04/domesticindia-cricket-matches-1979-1983.html) in Dec 1979 one in which he had played a reasonably good knock though he did not carry on to a big score “Roger Binny’s century left Venkat (he had dropped Binny early in his innings and that added to his anger) fuming.  With every run that Binny added, Venkat’s anger became uncontrollable and it was difficult to handle. Binny’s century and Saad Bin Jung’s century later that month meant we did not qualify for the knock outs. His inability to get crucial wickets in that match in Bangalore and then his personal failure once again in the important first innings against Hyderabad left him red faced and the players had to face the music.”

A TN Batsman for the 1980s - GR Vishwanath
Leg Spinner VV Kumar remembers his State Bank teammate the artistic GR Vishwanath telling him after watching him bat in that match “This left hander Balaji is a delight to watch. He has such fluency in his strokes. He is likely to go a long way for Tamil Nadu in the 1980s.” 
                                       
 VV Kumar says that after such lavish praise from a legendary batsman, you knew what a talent Balaji was "In that phase, going into the 1980s, there was a place for a middle order batsman like Balaji in the TN team and he had the advantage of being a left hander. He had it in him to be a long term middle order bat for the State. But his career ended much sooner than it should have."

Early 1979, Balaji was as buoyant as any youngster could be after his stunning century against Hyderabad. He was looking ahead to the season on the back of two very successful years in Ranji Trophy cricket. His confidence was high and he was on a roll. Clearly, a long career beckoned. But the events of the year led him to quit cricket at the beginning of 1980. The season of 1979-80 left Balaji disgruntled with the way the team was being led and he made his voice known. Three senior cricketers – VV Kumar, B Kalyanasundaram and V Krishnaswamy who played through a major part of the 1970s  retired by the end of the decade and TN was in the process of building a young team.

A Meeting with the Chairman of Selectors
While the entire team from the 1970s and 80s discussed behind closed doors the leadership of Venkat and his abusive conduct, Balaji, who right from his childhood was a forthright personality, was the one who boldly raised the issue with his former captain P Mukund.

Bharath Reddy, as the senior member of that team and with international experience, was the one who anchored a meeting that season with the then Chairman of Selectors Balu Alaganan. Balaji and Mukund too were part of that meeting. Bharath Reddy remembers that meeting“Venkat was becoming really abusive. There were new youngsters coming into the team, most of them in their 20s and we were looking to build a team for the 80s but the atmosphere was not conducive for good cricket to be played. He was becoming too hot to handle and it was impacting the performance of the TN players. We wanted the Chairman of Selectors to address this issue in the larger interest of the state and its performance. It was a genuine attempt by us to try and get Venkat to be a motivational leader.”
Bharath Reddy(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/11/bharath-reddy-players-man.html) recalls as to how this well intended 'good for TN cricket' meeting backfired on them “Instead of addressing the real issue, the ‘spineless’ Balu Alaganan leaked the info to Venkat and positioned it as three players revolting against him and this infuriated Venkat even more. In the next match, Venkat openly abused the three of us for raising our voices against him. It was a period when Venkat abused his own players, the opposition and even the Umpires. No one was spared. The fact that Venkat was bitter with life did not help TN players in that phase.”

Bharath Reddy says that in all the interactions he had with AG Satwendar Singh, AG Milkha Singh and PK Belliappa in those years, he pointed to them that their putting up with Venkat in the initial years of his captaincy led him to take a dominating position in the team with almost no player being able to come close to him during his playing days. The TN players from those early years shoudl have taken corrective steps in the larger interest of the team. But they did not and he remained unapproachable and the youngsters who came into the TN team without exception feared talking to him. 

Brijesh Patel's Mentorship at SVPB
Another Stylish batsman NP Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html), who played for TN between 1980 and 86 under the captaincy of Venkataraghavan, points out the huge positive impact that the three year leadershp of Brijesh Patel’s at SVPB/Globe Trotters made to the players and the success of the team “UR Radhakrishnan, VB Chandrasekar and Robin Singh were all at the start of their careers when they joined SVPB and Peter (Fernandez), Sukumar and myself were the senior members in the team. Brijesh’s presence as a captain was transformational. He would talk to each one of us personally about our strengths and weaknesses and how we could improve our performance as a team. It was his inspirational leadership that helped in getting the best out of the players. Each one of us went into each match with a motivated feeling and that helped us win many tournaments in that phase. You could also see the impact he made on Karnataka cricket that decade in the way the players jelled together as a team.”
Living in Fear of being Shouted at
Contrasted with that friendly and motivational approach, Madhavan found that no member of the TN state team could go near Venkat and there was always the fear that they would be ‘shouted’ at. But almost everyone in that period from the early 1970s remained largely silent and no one raised the issue with Venkat. 
Too Moody for Team's Good
Bharath Reddy, probably the most vocal member of the team in the 1970s and early 80s, says that while he shared the room with Venkat on many occasions, he too feared that ‘Venkat’s fuse would blow’ if he touched the sensitive topic about the fear that existed in the team members and hence he never had the ‘guts’ to tell him anything ‘He was so moody that no one knew when he would blow up. It completely shook the morale of the team in that phase.’

Players left to fend for themselves
It was really this frustration that led Balaji to quit cricket at 24 and he never played for the state again for he moved into his corporate role at The Hindu. Balaji found no leadership in the team. Not once in his stint with TN did he have a one on one interaction with Venkat nor was a single team meeting held in that period. Every player was left to fend for himself. He was simply not a positive influence on the players, especially those who came in new. While Venkat may have been a legendary spinner, Balaji looks back at that period of cricket as shattering the confidence of young and upcoming cricketers “For a man, who was seen as a cricketing legend, there was not a single proactive piece of advice he passed on to youngsters. There was zero communication from the top. He expected everyone to be like him. There was very little mentoring and no efforts towards team development.”

Balaji recalls the morning of his Gopalan Trophy match in 1975 as an example of how damaging Venkat was to the morale of a newcomer“When I was handed my debut in the Gopalan Trophy in Salem as a 19 year old, all he said was ‘you will bat at No 5’. There was not a word spoken to me during that entire match. As a teenager, I was shocked that such a legendary player would not wish a debutant with a smile. There was not even a ‘Congrats’ message. I just found it ridiculous. You simply don’t do that to anyone in any walk of life.”
Ranji Trophy Winning Captain S Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/10/s-vasudevan-tn-ranji-winning-captain.html), who played with Balaji from the University days, too made his TN debut in that match. He remembers Balaji’s batting the period in the 1970s “Balaji was a very stylish batsman. Had he continued to be available for the State, he would have probably gone on to greater heights but he chose a different career.”

Decision to Quit Cricket in 1980 
The assumption that everyone is as capable or talented or able as him (the leader of the pack) is a completely faulty one, says Balaji. Youngsters always look up to legends such as him for motivational words and encouragement. But he was completely de-motivating“There was not even one word about my batting in the two years, no analysis and no corrective steps. We were just not taken under his wings. Of course, he had great qualities as a cricketer. But when it came to captaincy, he simply did not measure up for he did not 'deal' with people and that is such an important role for leadership.” 

“It was not me alone. Everyone in the team felt the same way. We used to despair among ourselves but there was no option. With zero communication, how could you run a team. If you are constantly running down people, how will they be motivated to play. Most of them did not want to sacrifice their career and put up in silence and continued to play. The atmosphere was so bad and I found there was no point in continuing.”

If you are the captain of the ship, it is your job to keep it afloat and develop a match winning side. Clearly there was a leadership failure in TN throughout that period. Balaji counts his appa’s message as very comforting in that phase “My father had a very balanced approach to life. He did not praise too much when you performed well and did not pull you down when you did not score.” 

With the talent that the team possessed in the 1970s, the team should have done better “We had a collection of gifted individuals through that decade but as you could see, the overall outcome was simply not good. If capability is unequally distributed, then the leader has to extract the best out of the players. It is not a mechanical process.” 
From Cricket to The Hindu
For a decade, from 1990, he went away from The Hindu and played the role of a consultant in the media industry. At the turn of the century, he rejoined The Hindu and anchored a number of technological initiatives in the group. Earlier this decade, he was the Managing Director of The Hindu for a few years before retiring in 2017, It has been his long standing view that old people should make way for the new gen. Since then he has been on the committee of VHS and the Palkhiwala Foundation and on the Board of Cognizant Foundation. Over the last two decades, Balaji has also spent time visiting the 108 Divya Desams (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/ezhuthurai-nathar-temple-innambur.html) and has completed over a 100 of them. He is hoping to complete the balance sometime in the future when the COVID scenario improves. He has also been supporting ancient and remote temples in the state.

Given the fine start he had to his Ranji career, Balaji was well poised to climb the cricketing ladder and should have figured in the TN squad of the 1980s but he chose family business over cricket and became the only cricketer of the era to quit state cricket as early as he did at 24, after fighting in vain to improve the cricketing system. In Cricket, the responsibility to have a Wholistic Picture is of the Selection Committee’s and the Captain’s. That was the reason he chose to go to the Chairman of the Selection Committee but it proved a futile exercise for no one in the TN cricketing system then was strong enough to take on Venkat. The feeling in him that things would not change was so strong that he decided to give up despite the form and the future beckoning in cricket.

For all the disappointments around cricket, it did teach him a big lesson - In a team game, one individual alone is not important. The role of team sport in building individual personalities and overall development is often not driven home. He counts those cricketing years as having provided him with a great learning experience for life. And the Greatest Leadership Lesson came from his Cricket Captain that of ‘How Not to be”.

Neelu Drama Stage Plays Movies

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7000+ Stage plays, over 160 films, a true connoisseur of carnatic music and a crazy cricket fan 
His interest in drama and an ‘ear to music’ were both initiated very early on during his school days in Triplicane
'Advocate Panchapakesan' in Sambavani Yuge Yuge was his all time favourite
Ever since his school days, he remained an artiste and performed on Stage for six decades, something that gave him the greatest satisfaction. When his firm transferred him out of city, he missed the stage so badly that he came back as quickly as he went. He remained contended through his life and stayed in the same firm for four decades. For ever, he remained a cricket fan and a test match of the time was one of his favourite topics of discussion at the Mylapore Club where he would taste the special sweet in the evening. Past 80 and till his very end, he continued to be part of the Crazy Mohan's Popular Chocolate Krishna team. Here is the story.

Born in 1936 in Manjeri, Kerala, R Neelakantan ( Neelu to those in the Cine/ Drama Circles) moved to Madras and did his entire schooling in Triplicane - first at Raghavendra School (the school completed 100years earlier in the decade) and then at The Hindu High School.

His first exposure to drama came through the Boys Scout Movement. P Seshagiri Rao, a dental surgeon and a man of histrionics was also a scout master. He used to organise an annual day competition, that included a camp fire organised late in the evening. The 10-15minutes skit that Neelu presented in front of the audience there was his first initiation into the world of dramatics. It took away the stage fear and he always attributed his success in drama to that early initiation by Seshagiri Rao. 

It was from his sister that he imbibed interest in carnatic music and for several decades, he watched LIVE Kutcheris of some of the greats of carnatic music - GNV, Madurai Mani Iyer, Choudiah, Raja Manickam Pillai, Palghat Iyer and Mali at his peak. One of his biggest regrets was not taking up Rajam Iyer’s offer to learn carnatic music, in a formal way. 

His All Time Fav- Adv Panchapakesan
His first big moment on stage came when he joined Vivekananda College in the mid 1950s. During those years at college, he acted in several plays that included Devan’s Kalyani, Ms Mythili and Janaki. He donned interesting roles in Sambu Nataraja Iyer’s (Triplicane Fine Arts Club) stage plays, a couple of the prominent ones were Sriman Sudarshanam and Mr. Vedantham. The ‘astrologer role’ in Justice Jagannathan was particularly well received. He played the role of Advocate Panchapakesan in Sambavani Yuge Yuge in 1962-63 one that remains his all time favourite. 

Thathachari in Mohd Bin Tughlaq
He told this writer in 2014 that it was during the inter-collegiate competitions that he was introduced to Cho. It marked the beginning of a friendship that lasted well over five decades. Neelu enacted the role of Thathachari in Cho’s all time hit Mohd. Bin Tughlaq, an MLA in Yarukkum Vetkam Illai and the role of a CM in Nermai Urangum Neram "We were all like family members. Cho knew our capabilities and helped us make a mark by assigning relevant roles for each of us that suited us the best", he said complimenting Cho for his success and that of the team.

In the late 1950s, he became a founding member of Viveka Fine Arts and played the role of Mr. Plan in their first play – Thenmozhiya (dramatised by Koothapiran and a cricket commentator). 

Niche Roles in Cho's Plays
After completing his MA in Economics, Neelu joined VD Swamy and Co, in 1960. A couple of years into his job, he was transferred to Calcutta that put a temporary halt to his drama roles. Neelu told this writer in that 2014 interaction at his Beach side home in Besant Nagar that it was Cho’s intervention that helped him get back to Madras"After Cho presented Sambavani Yuge Yuge at Krishna Gana Sabha, he ‘forced’ VD Swamy (who was also the chairman of KGS) to transfer Neelu back to Madras so he could continue to pursue his passion."
Neelu performed varied roles on stage and that gave him the most satisfaction in life ‘Drama gave me a lot of satisfaction. There was instant appreciation and acknowledgement of our performance. The response from the audience was immediate. We always wanted to give our best in front of them’, he told this writer. 

Drama helped in Recovery of Dues
Interestingly, his performances on stage also held him in good stead at work. Neelu was in the Export- Import division that took him around to many countries in South East Asia, the US and Europe ‘Where ever I went on work, around the world, I was instantly recognised. There have been instances when my drama roles have even helped in ‘collections’ at work as important officials acknowledged the happiness that stage plays had given them and cleared the cheques, some which had been pending for a long time. I did no favours to them and yet they went out of their way to help me out. That is the positive impact that drama has had on the audience.’ 

Stage Play was a stepping stone for Neelu’s entry into movies. In 1966, Neelu debuted in Mukta Srinivasan’s Aiyiram Poi. Since then, he acted in over 160films including alongside Shivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Karthik, Vikram and Kamal, among others. 

Much later, Mouli’s Flight 172 was an unforgettable  and thoroughly enjoyable experience for Neelu. He was also fond of cricket and tracked most of the test matches in the 1960s and 70s.Till the end, he remained a crazy cricket fan.

A Contended Personality
For all his achievements in theatre, Neelu was not aspirational. Right till the end, he remained a contended person. Neelu did not take to acting as a full time profession despite receiving many offers in those days. He chose to take up only small roles and got back to his office work, one where he worked for four decades. 

On many evenings, he would gulp the popular Badam Halwa at the Mylapore Club and engage in light talks with The Hindu's Narasimhan, Sundaram Iyer (Enfield Group) and Easwar Iyer. 
Bhagavathar in Engey Brahmanan 
After his retirement, he took on the role of a ‘Production Manager’ for his close friend L Viswanathan’s movie ‘Jerry’. He would often joke that he too is a 'Producer'. When he was presented an opportunity to display his emotions in Cho’s Engey Brahmanan, he grabbed it with both hands. His enactment of the Bhagavathar brought commendation from Shri. PV Srinivasan, his Sanskrit teacher of the 1950s. Upanyasakar Dhamal Ramakrishanan too showered heaps of praise on Neelu for his acting in Engey Brahmanan. 

In the last years of his life, he was part of Crazy Mohan’s hugely successful Chocolate Krishna. Till the very end, Neelu’s interest in drama remained undiminished. He was inseparable from drama and carnatic music.  His eyes would always light up every time he spoke about stage plays and he woudl instantly recollect the plays from the 1950s even as he continued to hum his favourite ‘Thathari na naa’.

(Neelu passed away in 2018 - a version of this story featured in the Mylapore Club Magazine in 2014)

R Srinivasan TVS Madurai

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62 Years of Service at the TVS Group
At 84, unmindful of the broken thigh femur bone, he continues to contribute to TVS Schools, TVS Hospital, the CSR Welfare activities and the development of Madurai and the nearby Villages
Almost five decades ago, Tamil Nadu right arm fast bowler B. Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html), then at India Cements, was injured in his left hand and it was likely he would miss the Buchi Babu match against ACC that week. When the then Chairman of India Cements KS Narayanan saw him at the office and enquired about the upcoming match, Kalli pointed to the injury in the left hand. Reminding Kalli that he was a right arm fast bowler, Narayanan asked him to play the prestigious match as his bowling hand was intact!!! It is this logic that  Octogenarion R Srinivasan of TVS Madurai seems to have applied in the weeks gone by. 

A month ago, R Srinivasan, Director of TVS Schools and one of the two longest serving personnel of the TVS Group slipped on a floor mat on the first floor of his house in Madurai and broke his right thigh femur bone. The 84 year old waswas in unbearable pain and rushed to the nearby TVS hospital for a surgery. For a man his age, who has lived a majority of his life in the pre technology and internet era, he is surprisingly tech savvy. Soon after the surgery that ran into hours, much to the shock of his family members, sitting on the hospital bed he was seen working on his iPad sending directions to the TVS School colleagues on the action points for the fortnight at a time when there has been so much debate on the reopening of educational institutions. No member of the family has been able to keep him away from work even for a few hours (The injury is in the right leg but his fingers in both his hands are fine and more importantly his mental frame of mind is as sharp as it has always been, seems to have been the message received by his deeply concerned relatives). 

Till the time, Corona Lockdown hit the State in March this year, his daily routine included 3hours of physical presence at the TVS Schools where he has been a sole Director for the last two decades. In the initial period of the complete lockdown and the gradual unlocking thereafter, he has been actively involved in the multiple roles that he has been donning using technology to the core. With the surgery and his inability to walk, his three sons, all alumni of TVS School and now in well settled jobs in three different cities, found it a challenging task to manage their appa 'long distance' and a decision was arrived at amongst them to pack him ‘out of Madurai’. The city has been his love for much of his lifetime having arrived there from Sri Vaikuntam, a town renowned for the Kaisanathar Nava Kailayam Temple(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/09/srivaikuntam-kailasanathar-koil.html), in the summer of 1946 and having lived his life ever since in the proximity of the Meenakshi Amman Temple. 
It took a great deal of cajoling from his family members on the need to be under the care of his sons at such a time of medical emergency and he finally agreed to make the 'temporary' trip to Madras in the middle of September for what is now turning out to be one of his longest hiatus from Madurai over the last 75years.  Here is the story of the man’s love for Madurai, his over six decade long association with the TVS Group and what lies in store for the Octogenarian.

Football Tourney, Azhagar Utsavam -The Love for Madurai and TVS
Srinivasan was born in Sri Vaikuntam, a town on the Northern Banks of Tamaraibarani also known for Kallarpiran Nava Tirupathi Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/05/srivaikuntam-vaikunta-nathan-divya.html), in 1936. His father, Rajagopal was a Government official and moved to Madurai as a commercial tax officer in the second half of the 1940s. By the time he was into his teens, the TVS Group began to have a profound influence on Srinivasan. Two renowned events that he was witness to in that phase led him to an unshakeable early decision in his mind that both his father and uncle were to realize only much later.

In the 1950s, Madurai played host to an All India Football Tournament that saw the participation of the who’s who of Indian football. Srinivasan himself was a footballer during his college days and was greatly influenced by the care shown by TVS in managing the huge crowds at this popular tourney. The other event that sharply influenced the young Srinivasan was the way TVS managed the huge devotee crowd every summer at the renowned Chitrai festival. Srinivasan found the ease with which they transported the devotees to the banks of the Vaigai and back after the festival to be very impressive. It occurred to the young boy that the TVS management saw the entire devotee crowd as part of their own family and they managed both the football crowd as well as the festival crowd as they would their own family. The third most influential aspect in that early phase of Srinivasan’s life was the punctuality of the TVS bus service, the friendly relationship between the crew and the passengers and the way the entire TVS Management conducted itself with the people of Madurai.
And the Consequent Impact 
His father and his uncle (KS Krishnaswamy), both Government officials, were keen for the young Economics Graduate to take up the Service Commission Examination. As directed by the elders, Srinivasan wrote the exam and sailed through. Much to their delight, he was posted in the Revenue department in Perambalur but their joy turned out to be short lived, for just 48 hours after he joined work, Srinivasan knocked on the door to hand his father the news that he had returned to Madurai for good and that he would not be going back to Perambalur, an announcement that left the father speechless. His uncle Krishnaswamy was even more shocked and exclaimed ‘Would anyone quit a Government job after just two days.’ 

With the strong direction to take to a Government job, things had happened far too quickly in that phase for his liking. When he requested for a couple of days leave, his boss in the Revenue Department smelt something ‘fishy’ and warned the young boy that he would be ‘reported’ to higher authorities if he did not return at the appointed time. Srinivasan did not return for his never ending love for Madurai and the TVS Group played an overpowering role in the decision that he took that week. 

The young Srinivasan was adamant that day, much to the disbelief of the seniors at home. It was odd for a young 20 something graduate to take such a strong stand in those days in the 1950s. But Srinivasan stood by his conviction. While his uncle was unwilling and considered him foolish, his father finally relented to the power of youth.

July 58 – The First TVS meeting 
He applied for a job at the TVS and met with the then company secretary of the TVS Group, Sankara Iyer, who too suggested to the youngster that he may be taking a hurried decision on his career and asked him to re-consider the Government job, one that was likely to give him long term security. It seemed that the entire world was conspiring to navigate him away from Madurai and the TVS Group. In fact, his uncle went one step ahead. He called the boss at the revenue department in Perambulur and requested him to hold on to the resignation letter assuring him that he would soon instill some sense into the young boy and ‘dispatch’ him back to Perambalur. Clearly, uncle Krishnaswamy misjudged the strong bondage between the young grad and Madurai. Srinivasan was far too influenced by the value system of the TVS group and had bonded so well with Madurai over the previous ten years that he was unwilling to look beyond TVS.

That same month he had made the transition from a Government job to a role at the Corporate. He joined the TVS Group on July 11, 1958 and 62 years later is one of the two longest serving members in the TVS group outside of the promoter group. 

The Personal Aide of India’s PM 
Within two years of joining TVS, he came under the tutelage of CMD R Ramachandran, who spotted the long term potential in Srinivasan and began involving him in the social activities of the Group. Before he had turned 30, Srinivasan was handed out a prestigious assignment that he still cherishes almost 6 decades later. When the then PM of India Jawaharlal Nehru visited Madurai for a meeting in 1963, Srinivasan was posted as his ‘Aide’ during the period of the conference. And on the morning of the event, the PM of India pinned his favourite Red Rose on the shirt of the young Srinivasan.

On the eve of the high profile event that was also attended by Kamaraj, Bhakthavatsalam and Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, Madurai was flooded after rains lashed the city relentlessly for hours. Srinivasan, who had seen the working of the TVS team during the football tourney and Azhagar Utsavam, now saw the working of the Group for a third time, this one as a staffer who was assigned personally to the PM of India. He remembers the event from that night “TS Krishna brought around 200 foremen from the TVS Group firms and they worked tirelessly, through the night. When the PM reached the venue the next morning, he was delighted at the turnaround time of the TVS and the professional way they had ensured that the venue was ready for the event.”

For his personalised service to the PM of India, Ramachandran presented Srinivasan with a special letter acknowledging his role in taking care of Nehru, one that he has preserved to this day with great happiness.

Public Speaking Course in Madurai
In 1972, TVS & Sons organised a public speaking course in Madurai with Srinivasan playing an active role in the conduct of the event. It was the first time he came into contact with Venu Srinivasan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/venu-srinivasan-historical-temples.html), who participated in the course as a teenaged student. In the six decades of his service at the TVS Group, he worked closely with many of the members of the TVS Family.

Into Welfare Activities 
After serving TVS & Sons and TVS Coach Building for 15years, he moved to TVS Rubber as the Supply Manager. In the phase of his stint there, it was one of the top three rubber companies. During the period, Ramachandran sponsored several academic courses for Srinivasan’s up-skill in business. These included General Management and Export- Import Management courses, among a few others. Very early on, Ramachandran involved him in social service initiatives of the TVS Group. Srinivasan was initiated into the Junior Chamber in Madurai. When Srinivasan turned 40, Ramachandran proposed his name to the Rotary Membership with the words that Srinivasan remembers to this day, well over four decades later “People expect a lot from you. It is your responsibility to live up to their expectations.”  Since 1977, Srinivasan has remained an active Rotarian. He received an award last year from the TN Governor for his contribution to the society as a Rotarian.

When TVS signed a JV with Dupont, Srinivasan donned the role of GM Projects. 

Wife's Contribution to the Society
While Srinivasan had a 12 hour work day through most of his corporate life including his CSR, social services association and his active participation in the Rotary, his wife Kamala took a devotional teaching route. What started off as a rather simple learning of the Thevaram verses of the Saivite Saint Poets (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/12/thiru-vathigai-veerateswarar.html) translated into one of the more serious form. Her devotional acharya Pichammal was so passionate and devoted in the rendering of these verses accompanied by the ragas, that Kamala Srinivasan became completely engrossed in the recital.
Impressed with her absorption skills, her acharya suggested that she begin to take classes herself so the sacred verses could pass on to the next generation.Several batches of students have graduated out of Kamala's teaching of the Thevaram verses (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/01/thiru-vennai-nallur-kripapureeswarar.html) tuned in with the accompanying Ragams. The passing of the sacred renderings of the Saint Poets (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/thiruvathavur-thirumarainathaswamy.html) has given her a gread deal of satisfaction while her husband spent time contributing to the development of Madurai and its neighbouring villages.

An Exclusive Post at TVS Schools 
After his formal retirement from the corporate life (having spent several decades with various TVS firms in Madurai and having grown to the post of Vice President), Srinivasan was leading a team of youngsters at Rotary International to Osaka, Japan for an event. It was just prior to this trip that he was called on by Shobhana, daughter of R Ramachandran who took over charge at the school in 1982. 
She created an exclusive post for him at the TVS Schools that did not exist till then and made him the Director to take care of both the day to day administration as well as laying out the broad policies for the schools. In the two decades of his association in the education space, TVS Schools has expanded dramatically. He was bestowed with the responsibility of formulating policies, preparation of annual budget, identifying new focus areas for all the TVS schools and to provide guidance, support and evaluate all activities of School Heads. With the strong expansion in recent years and increasing need for quality teachers, Srinivasan is also actively involved in the recruitment process of the teaching faculty. Lakshmi Vidya Sangam (named after TVS Iyengar's wife) now governs 10 educational institutions with 15000 students, 800 teachers and over 200 staffers.Till March this year, his daily routine included a visit to the TVS Schools.

In the education space, he was also inducted into the Sath Guru Sangeetha Vidyalaya (an institution for Music and Fine Arts) of which he became the President. He is also an executive committee member of the Sath Guru Sangeetha Samajam. 

TVS Hospital, Arogya Trust and more
In addition to his full time role at the Schools as the Director, he has also been a Lead Trustee at the TVS Hospital. As part of the CSR activities of TVS, he oversees welfare activities in 24 villages around Madurai. The Octogenarian is physically present at all the big events in these villages. He is also associated with community related projects pertaining to Women Empowerment, Education, Health, Environment, Youth and Child development around Madurai. 

Advisor to TVS Srichakra
While engaging actively in  social services activities, Srinivasan has also been continuing to play an advisory role on the corporate front. Currently, he is an advisor to TVS Srichakra.
He will soon be 85 but at the moment has no plans to slowdown his contribution to the TVS Group. His philosophy has been to keep the self busy in constructive activities that are useful for the development of the Society. One thought that was a philosophy that held good in the normal course and not for these extraordinary times when there is a health scare across the world. But Srinivasan has willingly and proactively extended that (philosophy) to even when he is unable to move without the help of a walking stick. Sitting 500kms North of Madurai at his son’s home in Mylapore, Srinivasan’s day this month has begun with his best friend in recent years - The Apple iPad. He is often seen scrolling the official emails. His responses are not short either as he types in detail to his colleagues in the TVS Group. Every morning, he remembers the message of Ramachandran from the pre technology days in 1960 “He would always say that one should respond to everyone as quickly as possible and definitely not later than 24 hours.” Srinivasan receives a reasonably good number of mails each day relating to the schools, hospital, welfare activities and the developmental programmes. He succintly follows that six decades old message of Ramachandran and ensures that he responds to each one of the mails on the same day.

Similar to the 86 year old H Lakshmanan, ED, Sundaram Clayton, Srinivasan too has engaged with the TVS Group for over six decades, quite a significant achievement for a staffer. Commitment to work, Loyalty to the TVS Group and the Will Power to carry out the tasks assigned to him has been long standing virtues of this Octogenarian. While his sons seem to be chalking out a different plan for him in the coming months, Srinivasan is itching to go back to Madurai at the earliest and to continue his life in his favourite city and with his favourite organization.

“Till my final breath, I want to contribute to the TVS Group and to the development of Madurai” is his message to his sons and the family members.

For those like Srinivasan, age simply does not matter. Truly a memorable personality, this man.

Abhishek R India Table Tennis Star

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The Defenser had risen to Number 2 in National Rankings in 2010-11
A year later, former India Cricketer Sunil Joshi offered him an Officer’s Post at BPCL but the Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist chose CA over a PSU job and let go off a professional career in TT 
His father was an Engineer, his elder brother too took the same path and his mother was a Maths (Tuition) Teacher. He was strong in Science and wanted to take up Medicine. And chose the Biology group in Class XI, a choice no one else in the family had made. However, his passion for Table Tennis overshot the Medicinal interest and in December of that year took the call to pursue his interest in TT and moved to the Commerce Group. A few years later, the risk taker turned conservative and let go of a lucrative PSU offer to pursue his CA Final. Here is the story of the Commonwealth Bronze Medalist who gave up TT at an early age for his auditing profession.

Abhishek Ravichandran was selected for the PSBB (Nungambakkam) school cricket team when he was 10 years old (his neighbour since childhood at Balaji Avenue in T. Nagar was R Ananthakrishnan(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/03/42year-old-scores-48over-century-in.html), an alumni of the school, who had scored a league century at 42 earlier this decade) but Dilip Kumar, his then physical director at school and now a Chief Referee at the TNTTA was keen to tap into his Table Tennis potential and suggested that he let go of cricket to take up TT. Abhishek did not play cricket again and focused on TT. 

PSBB Nungambakkam had a legacy of TT stalwarts that included Chetan Baboor and Sharath Kamal. The competitive spirit at school spurred his early initiation into TT. Well before he had turned 15, Abhishek had begun winning inter school tournaments and his ranking was on the rise. By 2000, he was already on top of the U14 charts.

A differentiator – The Defenser
Very early on his career, he chose to play the Defenser model in TT at a time when most of the players chose the offensive option. He made a smooth transition to the crucial U16 and the U21phase. He finished in the Top 8 in India in his first year in U16. 

While he was thus making swift progress in Table Tennis, he did not lose focus on his studies. Through that entire phase in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he remained proficient in academics. As with most middle class households in Madras, the topic of academics vs sport came up when he went into Class IX, for he had to decide on the future course of action in academics Abhishek remembers that important decision making period in his life “While my father was an engineer and my elder brother too had chosen that path, I had a liking for Science and was keen to pursue Medicine. I joined the Biology group in Class XI.”

The number of tournaments that he was participating increased as did the practice hours. This meant that he was infrequent at school and missed many of the classes in the early phase in Class XI. He was passionate about TT and winning tournaments.Abhishek was in the peak of his powers and seeing a strong rise at the national level in TT. It was a year when he was in national camps under top Indian coaches which involved practicing three hours in the morning and another three in the evening. The defenser model took a lot out of him and he would often be dehydrated. Food poisoning too led him to fall ill in that phase. In addition to practicing and playing tournaments, a lot of his time also went into focusing on physical fitness.

Lets go interest in Medicine
He recounts the call to pull back from his medicinal interest “I was enjoying my time with TT and moving in the right direction. By December of 2003, within six months of joining the Biology Group, I made the shift to Commerce against the advice of everyone at school including the Principal.”

Jaundice and the Dampening Feel of a Sportman
Into Class XII, he played in the Asian Junior Tourney and won his game against Japan, a match that India won 3-2. The victory helped India qualify for the prestigious World Championship. However, Abhishek was struck with Jaundice and his hospitalization meant that he could not play in that tournament. It was the first time he felt a demoralizing and dampening feel in Sport.The time away from the Championship taught him many lessons in life including that of facing challenges at crucial phases in life.

Unruffled by this setback, he came back strong in the next couple of years winning Gold and Silver in the South Asian Junior Tourney. By the time the next World Championship arrived, Abhishek was all set to take part and he beat the World No. 12 in that tourney that took place in Austria.

The three years of his life at Loyola College was a glorious phase for him in TT. There was all the freedom at the college to pursue his sporting interest. He became India’s Number One in U21 and jumped into the World Top 50. It was a period when the powers that be at the senior level began taking notice of him.

The Dilemma of the middle classer
On the academics front, on his amma’s behest he presented a competitive exam and came through. Impressed with his ability to straddle between sport and academics, his Uncle, a CA, took him under his fold as an apprentice in Taxation and Auditing. In 2009, he was faced with the dilemma of choosing between the CA Inter Exam and participating in national and international level tournaments and he chose the former. The TT federation was keen on his participation in the Indian Open but he let go the opportunity and instead spent months preparing for the CA Inter.

It was a sign of times to come and indicated his mindset and the direction he was headed as contrasted with the line of thinking a few years earlier as a teenager.

Under a foreign coach - The Big Transformation in game
Despite his absence from the Indian Open, a pre requisiste, he was chosen for the national camp that year. India had just picked a foreign coach Massimo Costantini (Max to the players) for the first time in 2009 and Abhishek had some of his best time in TT under his mentorship. Max had very early in his stint as the coach identified Abhishek as a potential player for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, especially as a key Defenser. For over 12 months leading up to the Commonwealth games, he worked hard under the guidance of Max and his game shot up dramatically.

2009 also marked the year when Dena Bank sponsored him (Legendary Kamlesh Mehta was the last one sponsored by the Bank to make a big mark in TT). For the first time since Kamlesh Mehta’s win, Abhishek won national level tournaments for Dena Bank. He was into the Top 8 in India and had remained unbeaten in that period. In the camp held in China, he came up against top Chinese players that enriched his experience. His form over the next year that included beating top 50 players in the World led him into the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games. 

Commonwealth Bronze under his Parents’ eyes
One of the biggest moments of his life came when he won the match against Nigeria to give India the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2010. In the previous decade, his parents had not watched him play in any tournament for he had an apprehension that he would be conscious by their presence at his matches“When I was included the team for the Commonwealth games, I invited them for the first time to watch me play and they were delighted at the way the huge crowd at the Commonwealth Stadium in Delhi cheered me when I fought for a medal for the country. It also opened their eyes to the contribution I was making to India as a TT player. Following that, they were even more encouraging in my pursuit to become the best in TT and suggested that I look at the CA Final later.”

In that phase, he moved into the Top 2 in India behind Soumyadeep Roy. He also qualified in the Singles for the World Championship in Rotterdam. Though he did not make the main draw having lost in the preliminary stage, it was a great experience to be part of the big world stage.

And then the hardest decision
He was in his early 20s. Over the previous decade, he had moved from an upcoming sub junior talent to No. 1 in U21 and then to No. 2 in India. Former India left arm spinner Sunil Joshi was impressed with Abhishek’s performance, the progress he making and the potential he held as a TT player and was keen to draft him into BPCL as an officer. It was to be a high paying job and a secure long term one at that. The players recruited on such sports quota were not required to work till the time they played the game. It was a financially secure offer and would have served as an ideal platform to further his international career in TT. 

Much to Sunil Joshi’s shock, Abhishek refused to attend the interview citing his focus on the upcoming CA Final Exam. His two contemporaries, who too were called for the interview, took up the offer and continued to play at the top level over the next 5 years for India.

Olympics vs CA?
In that phase, based on his rankings, he had a chance to take a shot at the Olympics. As a teenager, he had been a risk taker having let go of his ambition to become a doctor and had chosen to focus on TT by moving from Bio group to the Commerce group in the middle of his Class XI. But by the time he was into his 20s, he turned conservative. Suddenly the risk taking characteristic deserted him and he chose academics over the possibility of national glory in TT. He became apprehensive about the prospects of a full time career in TT and the life after. Driven by this thought process, he skipped many of the tourneys in 2011-12 and prepared for the CA Final that he cleared in May 2012. He was the only top ranked TT player of the decade to appear for CA. The year that followed his success in CA saw his interest in TT wane for he was caught between the sport and the audit work at his uncle’s firm. He further moved away from TT when he took an Equity Research post at CRISIL. He let go of national tourneys and devoted most of time to his full time corporate role.

The Sporting Spirit back again
A few years later, his passion for TT claimed his spirits again and he was keen to restart the sport that had been an integral part of his life since the time he was 5. He quit CRISIL in 2015 and played TT continuously for six months including professional TT in Sweden. Despite his time away from TT, his inherent talent came to the fore as he won 7 out of the 8 matches. He made a rollicking comeback in 2016 when he won the inter-state championship for the first time. The next year he contributed to TN's victory with a match winning performance against Karnataka. He also played in the newly launched franchise league but it turned out to be his last competitive tournament for he simply could not make time to practice. He simply could not provide the time that was required of a sportsman to remain at the top of his game. The CA practice took precedence over the TT practice and he finally quit competitive game, aged 29.

Had he taken up the PSU offer aged 22, Abhishek may well have become an international star in TT for he was already in the Top5 in India at that time. But as with most middle class families in Madras, he chose academics over sport. Interestingly in this case, his parents were quite supportive and even encouraged him to pursue the sport by postponing the shot at the CA Final examination. But he decided otherwise and came through the CA examination. He was the only one among his contemporaries to choose academics over sport. Through the early part of his TT playing days, there was a huge investment that his parents had to make into the sport. At the time, how long will a TT career hold good always played in the back of his mind and probably prompted his decision to choose CA over TT. 

Another middle class  boy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/ananth-devarajan-eyes-euro-tt-league.html )is a case in point. In 2016, Ananth Devarajan had jumped to No. 4 in the Junior ranking and was eyeing the professional leagues in Europe. His parents were making a huge investment for him in the sport at the time, similar to Abhishek's parents. But the lack of sponsors during the important teenage years meant he could not get the opportunities to play in the competitive overseas league to up his game. And as he has found out, the future in Table Tennis is not guaranteed unless one performs well and is in the top 4 nationally consistently. Ananth too is looking to make his way into the corporate world with TT probably taking a back seat. 

At 32, the TT spark remains for Abhishek. With his academic background, he is hoping to get into financial management for sportspersons. While he is now into taxation and audit, his contemporaries who pursued the sport are now Arjuna Awardees. But he has no regrets quitting the game for a sportsman's career is rather fickle and is dependent on the 'current success' at any point of time.He played for the love of the game and enjoyed the two decades in the sport. And that love for the game will never diminish as he seeks to continue his association as a TT coach.

R Madhavan TN Cricketer 1980s

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The only Cost and Chartered Accountant Ranji Cricketer from TN was on the verge of Indian Selection in the winter of 1984 when in a 15 month phase he scored almost 6 centuries but was overlooked despite an ‘unwritten’ promise 

One should look at a 5-10 year plan for TN cricket that would help identify, create and groom potentially talented cricketers to help them scale up to the next level - and hopefully national duties - TN Selector Madhavan told this writer in Sept 2007. It has remained an unfulfilled dream

Earlier this week, this section featured the story of a Chartered Accountant (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/abhishek-r-india-table-tennis-star.html) who had risen to the national level in Table Tennis only to quit the sport at 24 choosing Taxation and Auditing as his life’s priority ‘unsure’ about the long term career path in that sport. This tale is about another CA who was on the brink of an India debut, long ago in cricket. In September 2007, as a State Selector, he spoke cheerfully to this writer on the need to chalk a ten year developmental programme for TN cricket. But after his sudden quitting as the Chairman of TN State selection committee, he completely shut his eyes and ears from cricket such has been the ‘cricketing’ wound. This only Cost and Chartered Accountant State cricketer has refused to talk any cricket let alone relive the memories of those ‘glory cum shattering’ months of 1984 when he was just one step away from proudly wearing the ‘India Cap’. 

Here’s the story. 

It was December of 1983. This writer had just moved to Bangalore ahead of one of the most remarkable recoveries in TN’s cricket history. In fact, earlier in the year, the writer had listened through the night to Suresh Saraiaya and Ravi Chaturvedi describing one of Test Cricket’s greatest batting recoveries (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/04/cricket-tales-12-memorable-cricket.html) when West Indies after being rocked back losing 3wickets down for 1 run at Port of Spain hit back with two southpaws scoring centuries to help take a big lead. And at the KSCA stadium were two southpaws (one lean like the West Indian No. 4 of that year and the other a stocky figure like the West Indian Captain) scoring centuries from an identical situation to help the state to a huge first innings score. It was brilliance of one of these lefthanders in his early 20s that drove the recovery and made everyone take notice as one for the future. 

In the 15months that followed this match, he was in as good a patch of form as any TN batsman in its history. Performing against a touring country has always been a challenge for TN cricketers. On the back of his strong performances that year in domestic cricket, he had been informally told that a century in the international tour match would land him a place in the Indian team for the test series against England. And he responded with almost three centuries in a fortnight including a brilliant one against the touring English. The performances should have got him into the Indian middle order for that series that saw LS’s best Test performance. Unfortunately, the ‘unwritten’ promise was broken and he was overlooked. And the rest as it’s so often said is history. Azhar scored three successive centuries in that series and the TN lefthander was never the same again. 

From a historical Temple Town 
R. Madhavan hailed from Raaja Mannargudi, a historical temple town that is home to the handsome Raaja Gopalaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/05/mannargudi-rajagopalaswamy-temple.html). In the early part of the 20th century, like many of the traditional inhabitants, his grandfather moved away from the town that is famous for its 18 day Brahmotsavam and boasts one of the biggest tanks among the temples in Tamil Nadu. 

And thus Madhavan grew up in a city based environment through the formative years of his life. He was 6years when he first started playing cricket in the mid 1960s with the neighborhood boys behind Nehru Park on Poonamalle high road. League cricket at 12 for Egmore Excelsiors and the one at school was rather quiet and he went largely unnoticed. The most distinctive feature in those early years was the presence of his father, Rangachari, at every match (a decade later, S Sriram’s matches during his school days was marked by the presence of his grandfather). 

Makes a mark at Loyola 
Madhavan came to the cricketing limelight for the first time in 1977-78 season with strong performances for Loyola College and Madras University. Leg Spinner and team mate at Loyola K Venugopal (former Editor of The Hindu Business Line) recalls Madhavan’s entry into the college team and his contribution in the final “Everything about Madhavan was simple when he joined the Loyola cricket team in 1977. He was the frail lad who brought his thayir saadham along to the game. He was indeed so frail that many of us thought a strong wind might endanger his stability on the field. Yet he had enormous cricketing talent, his ball sense, his elegant left handed batting and fine sense of timing made up for the lack of muscular build. His father was often his ardent moral support at the ground. Madhu, as he was known, was a sincere and honest young cricketer as any you could find.” 
          The winning Loyola Team - Feb 1978

“Loyola won the Madras University inter-collegiate tournament for the Duncan Trophy in February 1978 with Madhavan making 67 runs in Loyola’s score of 293 in the final. The young Madhavan had made his mark and Loyola won that trophy after a gap of four years.” 

Successive Centuries in Univ cricket 
He scored centuries in the Semi Finals and Finals of the Rohinton Baria, a tournament that his teammate and SVPB’s opener of the 1970s and 80s S Sukumar remembers“He batted as well as anyone in the tournament and scored successive centuries. Much like his name sake (NP Madhavan), he was very soft spoken and his conduct on and off the field was exemplary even in those early years.” 
                                   S Sukumar, SVPB

That characteristic of Madhavan has remained firm to this day. His words measured and sentences beautifully crafted are skills that were shaped by a Loyola College lecturer who made a real impression on the teenager Madhavan. While he refuses to engage with this writer on cricketing communication (he did not participate in this story) there is a touch of class about his email exchanges on topics outside of cricket (mostly temples) something he attributes to a sort of fetish to try to make his communication clear and precise. 

A couple of years later he once again showcased his class with a century for City Colleges against Alwarpet a team that he was to play for a major part of the next decade. 

The turn of the decade and coming of age of a new Southpaw 
1980-81 was a big year for Madhavan, one that helped his push for a place in the TN middle order. Another fluent left hander, K Balaji, son of The Hindu’s legendary editor G Kasturi, (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html) had just quit Ranji cricket aged just 24 disgruntled with the way the team was being led and that created an opening in the middle order. 
Madhavan made a strong case for that spot scoring over 550 runs in the inter university tourney, one in which Madras University lost to Bombay in the Semi Finals. Madhavan scored 90 against Mafatlal in 1981 and a century against Nirlon the following year in the then Prestigious Buchi Babu tournament, knocks that earned him laurels from Sunil Gavaskar. On the back of these knocks, he finally made it to the TN team and almost scored a century on Ranji debut against Hyderabad in December 1982. 

His Best Ranji knock 
In the winter of 1983, the year that India won the World Cup, this writer’s father had a surprise middle of the year transfer to Bangalore just ahead of the Ranji Season opener for TN at the KSCA, one where Madhavan was to play his best Ranji innings. It marked the beginning of a glorious 15 month run when he scored almost 6 centuries. 
Madhavan was S Vasudevan’s roommate in many a Ranji match and the TN Ranji Trophy winning captain particularly remembers this match against Karnataka for he (Vasudevan) was dropped soon after “Madhu was young and energetic at that time and bubbling with enthusiasm. He was a jolly character and ever smiling. While cricket was a passion and a full time professional career in the sport was not yet an option in those days, he cherished the dream of playing for the zone and the country. But at the same time, he was aware that one was always on tenterhooks, with most (cricketers) not knowing how long it would last. Not everything was in our hands.” 

Madhavan was to realize that in the 12months that followed!!! 

That morning, TN lost both its openers before opening its tally. Soon after Madhavan walked in, he lost ‘Test Cricketer’ TE Srinivasan leaving TN tottering at 3/3. The team was in dire straits within the first half hour and this brought the best out of him that day. Madhavan scored a delightful century, one that brought him into the national limelight. 
S Srinivasan, who had made his Ranji debut for Bombay earlier, partnered with Madhavan helping TN recover from the dreadful start. He remembers Madhavan from that century partnership “He was technically very sound and gritty. His temperament came to the fore against Karnataka and showed the mettle he was made of. He scored runs when it really mattered. It was his century that helped us recover that day.” 

The Best Cricketing Year 
A couple of months later in Feb’84, the best year (as well as probably the most disappointing of his life!!!!) of his cricket, he made another century. Still not 25, he was clearly in the Selector’s shortlist as a man for the future. And when he began the next season in October with a 95 in the Duleep Trophy match against West Zone, he seemed to be just one step away from his Test Debut. In the Ranji opener against Hyderabad in mid November, he struck another century. 
He had made four Ranji centuries and the Duleep Trophy 95 in just over three quarters of a year - an unprecedented performance for a TN middle order batsman in the state’s cricketing history. 

Score a Century against England and you are in!!! 
Those informal ‘famous’ words from the powers that be probably remain to haunt him close to four decades later and is probably one of the reasons for him to not discuss cricket from the past. He was told that if he continued in his rich vein of form and scored a century against the David Gower’s English team, he would be picked for the Indian test team for the winter’s series. Tamil Nadu fast bowler of the 1970s B Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html) had joined LMW in the later part of the decade and had moved to Coimbatore. He was on an official tour to Ahmedabad that week in November 1984 and remembers wishing Madhavan well on the eve of the match though he himself did not stay back to watch the match. 

Playing for India U25s, Madhavan responded with a brilliant century against England, one that should have got him into the Indian team had the ‘word’ of the fortnight been kept. Exactly three years ago, his TN teammate K Srikkanth had played two blistering knocks for India U22 against the same touring English team and was rewarded for that performance with an India debut against England in the winter of 1981 and he went on to play for India for over a decade. Madhavan’s domestic performances of the year and the century against England should have been enough to get him into the squad. Almost 6 centuries in under a year was as good as it had been for any TN player in its history but despite the ‘reward for performance’ promise, it turned out to be a case of ‘so near and yet so far’ for Madhavan. 

Mohd Azharuddin followed his century in this match with a twin century for Hyderabad in December in a Ranji match and was picked for the England series. With three successive centuries, Azhar sealed his batting spot in the Indian middle order and Madhavan was never to come back into contention again. He scored another century that season in the Ranji Trophy and ended up with close to 500runs but really the bus had flown past him without a stopover. 

A shattered feeling ‘inside’ 
Srinivasan, who also watched Madhavan post his highest Ranji score in February 85 just a few months after the century against England, recalls the let down feeling of that 1984-85 season “Any human being who experienced that would have been shattered. He scored when and where it counted and yet he was not considered. If I had been in his position and were to look back at it now, I would be hugely disappointed with the non selection. Centuries mattered in those days and he came up with those. What more could he have done that year.” 

Srinivasan remembers the words of Madhavan from the time “It is all part of life. You have to move on”. While he did not show the disappointment externally at that time, I am sure it would have hurt a lot inside to not be picked after such an outstanding year in domestic cricket and after the century against England, says Srinivasan. 

Like Vasudevan, Srinivasan too says that Madhavan saw cricket as too much of a gamble and hence strengthened his academics “He was always skeptical of cricket as a career and the path it offered, for he saw one’s future as always being in the hands of the ‘selectors’.” 

Finance Professional – CA and CMA 
With the shattering experience of having been ‘let down’, Madhavan was never the same again in cricket. In 1985, he completed his CA Inter (he had completed the Cost Inter by then). In the years that followed, he completed both his CA and CMA Final. Cricketing wise, he just did not recover. For the first time in his life, in that phase, he tried to come to terms with cricket and the external factors and circumstances that decide one’s cricketing fate. If one did not get the rub of the green at his peak, many times it is likely that the form may not return again in one’s cricketing life. Madhavan found his peak in 1984 with a middle order consistency that almost none from TN had till then. 
In the second half of the 1980s, Madhavan made runs aplenty in the first division league for Alwarpet. In the English Summer, he played two years of professional cricket in the Scottish league . Arjan Kripal Singh, who made a triple hundred for TN against Goa in 1989, was a budding teenage cricketer when he met Madhavan for the first time. He remembers the season distinctly for he watched the best of Madhavan in those few months in the first division league “Madhu had missed the initial part of the league season having played cricket in Scotland and came back full of energy. In the 8 matches that remained that season, he scored 6 hundreds and 2 fifties.” 
A most ‘genuine’ human being 
While that was Madhavan at his vintage best, Arjan experienced the human side of him that he is grateful for three decades later “He went out of the way to create an opportunity for me in Scotland and got me my first overseas contract. While you would attribute helping tendency to many in your life, Madhu was in the most ‘genuine’ category. He was a great student of the game and one of the most intelligent cricketers I have met in my life. Often, he went out of the way to instill the confidence in me and helped me perform to the best of my ability. He would constantly come and sit next to you and provide inputs that would transform your game.” 

One really did not get too many mentors like him in those days in TN cricket. 

When Arjan arrived in Scotland and mentioned the name of Madhavan to the cricketing community there, he was stunned at their response “It was three decades ago and a most difficult time for Indians in the UK. A mere mention of his name and the respect for me shot up dramatically. Even opponents remembered him both as a cricketer, who won matches, and as a gentleman human being. Very few have gone to the UK and succeeded. Madhu held his own even in Scotland not just in cricket but in societal life as well.” 

A flavor of Javed Miandad in his batting 
India U19 left arm fast bowler from the 1980s Hemant Srivatsa, owner of the renowned Murrays Auction (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/04/hemant-srivatsa-cricketer-of-1980s.html) played first division cricket for Alwarpet as a teenage Vidya Mandir School boy and was in the team for 7 years, a phase when he watched Madhavan every day from close quarters. Frustrated with the way cricket was run in the city, Hemant too quit cricket when he was just 22 having joined Alwarpet when Madhavan was in the form of his life. 
He remembers Madhu as ‘one of the most gentlemen cricketers’ he played with or met in those 7 years. “He was what I would call a ‘Mr. Genius’ in cricket. Each time, I watched him bat in those years I was reminded of the legendary Javed Miandad. Without ever being noticed, he would have moved on to 30-40runs in no time without too many boundaries. Every knock of his was an education to a budding cricketer on how to gather runs. He played the ball late and had a delectable way of finding the gaps in the field. He was a real master class.” 

“When I joined the team as a 15year old and having seen me bowl in the nets, he called me his ‘Kid Brother’ and took me under his tutorship. He was the constant guiding force during my stint at Alwarpet.” 

Responsible for all of Sanku's big knocks
VV Sankapani was the opening partner of K Srikkanth for almost a decade at Alwarpet and was regarded by the late PK Dharmalingam as one who was more dangerous than Srikkanth. Sanku credits Madhavan as both the best captain he played under as well as the one who made him convert rapid starts at the top of the innings into big knocks “Every time I was getting into an over aggressive frame of mind, Madhu would help me get a single and push me into the non striker’s end. Many times in my stint at Alwarpet, it was he who helped me convert my aggressive starts into centuries. Without him at the other end, it is likely I would have continued with over aggression and lost my wicket going for another six.” 

Behind every big knock of Sankapani, in that phase, there was Madhavan’s hand at play. 
While he played a great role in the lives of city cricketers in that phase, his own Ranji career took a Southward curve in the second half of the 80s with him trying to straddle between the preparation for the final of the CA and CMA examinations and State cricket. While the newly appointed captain, Vasudevan, backed him at the start of the 87-88 season, Madhavan was dropped half way and did not feature in the knock outs or the Ranji Trophy winning match. With strong performance in the first division league, he came back into the squad the next season but that was the last he played for TN. With Venkat and Vasudevan dominating the spin attack and with LS ( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/04/l-sivaramakrishnan.html) having made a spectacular entry into Ranji, Madhavan was vastly underbowled in Ranji Cricket though he could have easily held his own as a left arm spinner. 

Done with Cricket, Off to Dubai 
By the early 1990s and with him into his 30s, he decided that he had had enough of cricket and moved away into the finance world in Dubai. For over a decade, he was into a life largely away from cricket though he was associated on and off with the former West Indian captain Jimmy Adams on some cricket developmental initiatives. He also worked on some interesting cricket infrastructure initiatives in Bangalore.

Life with a Straight Bat
Ad man D Sampath, who is now a Marketing Consultant at The Hindu was then the Regional Buying Director for UAE at ad firm Media Edge and met finance professional Madhavan for the first time at a social meeting around two decades ago. While during his playing days, Madhavan played strokes all around the wicket, Sampath has always seen Madhavan as one with a ‘straight bat’ during the years in Dubai“A stand out quality in him is that he deals with issues with a straight bat and does not change his opinion to please others. I saw him as one who always held his values high.” 
And that also meant he could not survive long in the cricketing environment in Tamil Nadu when he returned to Madras in the mid 2000s after his father’s illness brought a premature end to his finance stint in the UAE. 

Chairman of TN Selectors 
When he returned to Madras, Vasudevan recollects Madhavan being the same bubbly character he had seen in the early 1980s when he got into the TN state "He was keen on contributing to the development of cricket in Tamil Nadu and believed that he could play a role in it."

Despite have been away from the TNCA and any sort of cricketing association in the state for over a decade, he was straightaway handed the Chairmanship of State U19 selection committee. Soon after, he became the Chairman of the TN Selection Committee and it was during his rather ‘short’ regime that the teenaged Abhinav Mukund was picked. 

Ashwin the Best bowler we have in TN 
Well over a dozen years ago, this writer sat next to the Selector Madhavan on the terrace of Chepauk watching a Ranji match and watching Ashwin bowl that day asked him as to how he could pick an off spinner like him for the state, Madhavan’s answer was straight and honest “He is the best we have in the state.” Ashwin has gone on to pick up over 350wickets for India. 

A 10 year Plan for TN cricket? - Remains Madhavan's Dream
While he was thus bullish soon after his return from the UAE and had plans to contribute to TN cricket, he found the TNCA to be a different kettle of fish and discovered that he probably was not cut for this. He showed great commitment as a selector and went from one end of the city to the other to watch first division matches for weeks together, all at his own cost!!! Selectors in TN were not paid then (they still aren’t). But for a personality such as Madhavan who had played two full summers of professional cricket in Scotland as early as the 1980s, it was clear this model of the TNCA would not have suited him for long. 

In a chat in September 2007, Madhavan had told this writer that one should look at a 5-10 year plan for TN cricket that would help identify, create and groom potentially talented cricketers to help them scale up to the next level - and hopefully national duties. Not only did this fade out as just a cricketing vision of a supremely intelligent cricketer, a disgruntled Madhavan quit the Chairmanship of the TN selection committed in the middle of his tenure. 

Resigns as Chairman, Shuns Cricket
While (finance) professional pursuits were primarily the reason, other ‘unwritten’ circumstances including interferences in the workings of the committee led him to quit his selector role sooner than expected. Since then, he has been minimally involved with the TNCA. In fact, during this period, he has shunned any conversation on cricket especially relating to TN cricket and moved into playing Golf .

Return to the TNCA league 
Soon after Madhavan returned from Dubai, Arjan was the captain of MCC in the third division trying to put together a team that could aim for promotion into the 2nd division. He picked Madhavan as his first choice in the team and remembers him as being the first to come to the ground in a full buttoned down shirt through the time he played for MCC in his late 40s “In the way he contributed that year, he put many a youngster to shame with his top class professionalism.” 

1st ball of the match out of the Vivekananda College 
In a rain shortened TNCA league match that this writer umpired at the Vivekananda college, Madhavan, then well into his mid 40s, sent the first ball of the 30overs match over mid wicket into the terrace of the house on the western side that gave an indication of his batting fluency and timing.
Bowl to the Captain's Field
That day, he came back and opened the bowling too from the end that I umpired!!! He was so wily that the opposition just could not spot what was coming next. A big turner was followed by one that came back in sharply. In another match the next season that I umpired at Chepauk (a match where Arjan scored a brilliant century), with MCC having been promoted to the 2nd division, I watched Madhavan adjust to the field set by his captain Arjan. When I pointed to him on a very different field for a left arm spinner, he replied in his typically polite way ‘My job is to bowl to the field set by the captain.’ It was also the match that former Ranji allrounder S Mahesh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/08/s-mahesh-tn-all-rounder.html) was pulled by this writer (umpire) for abusive language on the field. 

It was around that time that he also made a trip for the Tripanathura cricket tourney reminding one of this popular annual tournament in the decades gone by.
Madhu  in the UK/Australia???
Srinivasan believes that are few in the country with such credentials“If he had been in the UK or Australia, his cricketing acumen would have been immediately picked up by the cricketing body and he would have become a top cricket professional. Such a cricketing brain has been completely underutilized by the state association and the BCCI as well.” 
For a major part of the last decade, Madhavan has not discussed cricket with this writer. And he refused on this one as well. The only time he has looked back on cricket was when he discussed in his typically cheerful style (that reminded me of his days in the 80s) the qualities of legendary S Venkataraghavan in a Video Chat on you tube during the lockdown a couple of months back. But otherwise, he has stayed far away from cricket. These days, he has moved into a disciplined morning devotional model aka Venkat reciting Dasavatharam and Aaditya Hrudayam Stotrams, among a few others. He is now looking to add ‘Sanskrit’ to his repertoire. 

The wounds of 1984 remain which was then accentuated by what he saw in city cricket once he returned from the UAE. He has preferred silence over noise. In the 35 years that have passed since that glorious year with the bat, he has rarely spoken on the heartburns of the period. 

A ‘word’ was given to him and he delivered but the promise was not kept. 

And yet, for someone who could have easily played any number of tests had he been picked when in prime form that winter of 84 and with such strong cricketing credentials, it is a bit of a shame that he has been under utilized by the State and the BCCI. He is a pretty good captain of the ship (as seen during the years at Alwarpet and during his period as the Chief of Selectors), was a master batsman in his hey days, a coach, a mentor, finance professional and an administrator with great communication skills. Despite looking to contribute to the development of cricket in TN after his return from the UAE, he just could not find reconcile himself and find a mid way point that could be a win win for both – the association and himself. There were just ‘far too many things’ at play that did not find his acceptance. 

It is hoped that into his 60s, he will begin to be closely associated with the state for which he played through the 1980s. A mentor like him has been sorely missing for decades. Will he make a comeback in cricket at 60? Or if the frustration remains, he may one day head back to his roots in Mannargudi, a town that is now bustling with devotional activity. For cricket’s sake, one hopes it’s the former, though the heart wants him to continue with his spiritual endeavours. 

TAIL PIECE

A note on my wall in the 1980s 
For well over a decade, from the 1980s, that served as a life lesson, this writer’s father had a big sheet of paper pasted on the wall that read “When there are Bedis and Venkats, there are Shivalkars and Goels too”. And there are Madhavans as well.

Najam Hussain 80th Birthday

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The Forgotten Cricketer from the 1960s
On the eve of his 80th birthday, the great all rounder of India Cements is going through financial challenges

The ICA provided financial assistance to him during the lockdown but mounting medical bills and multiple surgeries to his son have set him back further, financially. It is hoped the TNCA, KSCA, BCCI and his former employers would support this cricketer who once upon a time in the distant past gave them great delight with his all round display on the field

In Dec 1965, he scored a century for Mysore in a record breaking Ranji Match when his state team dismissed all 20 Hyderabad batsmen through the 'Caught' mode - a first time occurance in the history of cricket - One for the Guiness Records in Cricket
Mir Najam Hussain, the great all rounder who played for Mysore, Madras and Jolly Rovers in the 1960s will be celebrating his 80th Birthday tomorrow (Oct 24), 55 years since he scored a century for Mysore against Hyderabad in a historic match that created a world record for the first time in 80 years of cricket. All the 20 wickets claimed by Mysore were dismissals recorded as ‘Caught’. Since then this has occurred a few times, but back then in December 1965, it was the first time that all the 20 wickets of a team in a first class cricket match were through the mode of ‘caught’ and hopefully will feature one day in the Guiness Book of Records as the first time all the batsmen in a cricket team were out Caught in both the innings!!! 

He made significant contribution to Mysore and Madras teams in the Ranji Trophy and to Jolly Rovers (India Cements) in the TNCA league, Buchi Babu Tournament and The Hindu Trophy (Sport and Pastime) and was regarded as a star cricketing personality that decade alongwith the likes of KR Rajagopal, PK Belliappa and B Kalyanasundaram. In the 1980s, after his return to Bangalore from Madras, he coached the to be international cricketers such as Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Vijay Baradwaj, Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh and Johnson. Three decades later, Match Referree Javagal Srinath still refers to him as his ‘Teacher’. A man with such a remarkable cricketing background is now languishing in financial turmoil on the eve of his 80th birthday celebrations. 

Tears, mostly of joy reminiscing the good old cricketing days in Madras, roll down his eyes all through the long conversation with this writer. He remembers the great contribution of KS Narayanan and N Sankar to his cricketing life and the way the two of them took care of him as their own family member. 

Moves to Jolly Rovers and Madras 
Through the first half of the 60s, he played for Mysore and performed creditably including scoring a century in that historic match in Secunderabad in December 1965 against Hyderabad when all the 20 Hyderabad batsmen were caught. Najam himself took a brilliant catch to dismiss Pataudi, a catch that sparks him even today and makes him forget the financial challenges for a moment. As with KR Rajagopal, he moved to Madras when he was picked by KSN and Sankar for Jolly Rovers in 1966 and played the second half of the decade for Madras in the Ranji Trophy. 

He shares great bonding with KR Rajagopal and commends his commitment to both work at India Cements and cricket “Rajagopal was a brilliant cricketer. Once, he worked at the foundries till just before the start of the match and then went straight from there to Chepauk to score a century. If only Belli had Raja’s brain and Raja had Belli’s brawn.”

The GM of ITI in Bangalore Venkatraman was the one who referred their names to KSN and that’s when both of them made the shift to Madras from Mysore. Najam Hussain was among the first appointees at India Cements after they took over the running of Jolly Rovers in 1966 and says he enjoyed a brotherly bonding with Sankar. It was such a cosmopolitan side but all of them combined well as a team. There was no differentiation at all and the played as a well oiled unit, motivateevery match by the presence of KSN and Sankar at the ground.
The Cricket Job Interview with KSN in 1966
He remembers his first meeting with KSN “When I met him for the interview, he said enjoy and play cricket but also do some work in office. He took us under his fold and encouraged us beyond our dreams. We matured as cricketers in Madras under KSN and Sankar. It was my most enjoyable stint in cricket.”

While the cricketers had compensatory off on Monday after they played a game on Sunday, he says they would all be at the office at 8.30am on Monday morning.

Top Management encouragement
The memories of  KSN and Sankar encouraging the entire team in every match is still fresh in his memory. Once he batted on one leg to win a Buchi Babu match for India Cements which then took one month to heal but that was his commitment to the two of them “They gave us royal treatment that we had not experienced anywhere else. They looked up to us for a grand display on the field and took great care of us off the field.We toiled hard and gave our blood for India Cements. More importantly, we played cricket the way it ought to be played. We played with a ‘straight bat’ in those years. It was glorious years with them.” 
Najam Hussain recalls his life on Subramaniam street in Abhiramapuram in those years “After my performances for Jolly Rovers, they handed me a timely loan for my scooter and then subsequently money for my housing reconstruction as well. ”

Rejects SBI officer's post, continues with Jolly Rovers
At the peak of his form, SBI offered Najam Hussain an officer’s post in 1966. It would have been an offer that any cricketer of the time would have grabbed with both hands. In fact, the offer letter was kept pending for two years at the desk of the Madras office of SBI. He was in India Cements at that time and his commitment to KSN and Sankar was such that he let go the PSU job, one that would have given him long term financial security. He continued in the marketing department working in the Dhun Building on Mount Road in Madras. 

Later, SBI’s GM Balakrishnan personally came up to him at the end of a Buchi Babu Final and asked him if he remembered the banker. It was a great moment for Najam Husssain that he remembers to this day “I thanked him profusely for the great offer but told him that he was committed to KSN and Sankar and to India Cements and that he would continue with them.” 

It was a time when off spinner R Chandrasekaran was in the thick of action at SBI (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/r-chandrasekaran-sbi-globe-trotter.html).

His father, a Vigilance Commissioner, wrote a polite letter to Balakrishnan on the then popular ‘inland letter’ citing the reason for his son Najam not being able to take up the Bank offer. 

He stayed with India Cements for 18 years. 

Dei, you are a great all rounder
As he looks back at cricket in the 2nd half of the 1960s, his memories go back to that great swing bowler KS Kannan, who was the first coach of (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html) The Hindu's K Balaji (later played Ranji Trophy for TN) “In Marina, with the cross wind, he was simply unplayable and made the opposition batsmen dance to his tunes with his prodigious swing”, he recalls the matches at the Marina watched by huge crowd that stood on the beach side. 
Every time Kannan looked at Najam both at the ground and later, Najam remembers those shouts from him ‘Dei, you are a great all rounder.’ Those words of Kannan inspired him to perform better and still remain etched in his memory over five decades later.

Best Phase in Cricket- The India Cements days
He reflects on that phase in cricket in Madras and the time at India Cements as the best of his life. The Sport and Pastime trophy he says was a pioneering initiative in 30overs cricket and was replicated by other states much later. In a match in the tournament against a strong SBI team, he bowled 15overs at a stretch in one spell at the Vivekananda College ground.
Tripanathura Tourney

Well past his best, he remembers getting the then University player K Srikkanth gobbled up at slip by his close friend PK Dharmalingam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/06/pk-dharmalingam.html ) “Cheeka played and missed 12 times in that period and finally he got him nicking to slip.”

The 1980s- Starting all over again 
He quit India Cements in 1984 after 18 years with them as he could not move to the Cuddapah plant at that time. He had to start life all over again, afresh in his 40s. He moved to Bangalore and coached teenagers who later became international stars from Karnataka. He was that state coach of Karnataka during the formative years of Kumble, Srinath, Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad among others. He happily recollects suggesting Prasad’s name to the Chairman of Selectors as an ‘Indian cricketer for the future.” He was also the coach of 10 year old Rahul Dravid. 
Najam moulded the upcoming stars of Karnataka by talking to them in their mother tongue as against the usual conversations in English. More importantly, in every coaching stint in those years, he focused on building character of the players. Also with players coming in from different castes and communities, he stressed on the importance of national integration. 

The ‘Teacher’ to Karnataka's India cricketers
Only recently Javagal Srinath spoke to him from his IPL match referee stint in the UAE addressing him as ‘Teacher’. That’s the regard the Karnataka players have for Najam Hussian and for his contribution to their cricketing lives. 

Politics took away his prospective ITI job 
He played cricket for HAL in Bangalore till he was 45 when he scored 38 batting on one leg and made them a champions side. He was then selected as a sports officer at ITI and even received congratulatory messages but politics of the time meant that the post was handed to another at the last month. It would have helped his long term financial security but it was not to be. After his coaching stint ended in Karnataka, he did small engagements in Bangalore. He sold off his share from his family house to conduct the wedding of his two daughters. It has been a financially challenging phase in the life of a once great cricketer and coach but he is clear in his mind “It is better to deserve without receiving than to receive without deserving.”

Kanchi Periyava's look rejuvenates Najam
He remembers a time when he saw Kanchi Periya while he was travelling in Madras decades ago. The saint he says was looking only in one direction, not left or right “I instantly felt rejuvenated and there was a feeling of a new man and positive vibrations reverberated inside me. He may have cast his great eyes on me that day. Holy men don’t belong to any caste and have an universal appeal. He says that everything is pre ordained and God will cast his eyes on him once again sometime in the near future.”

ICA’s Financial Support 
Najam Hussain played just over 40 first class matches in the 1960s for Mysore and Madras. The pension from the BCCI for former Ranji cricketers has remained stagnant at Rs. 15000 over the last decade. Earlier this year, it was former TN opener from the 1970s V Krishnaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) who initiated financial support to him from the ICA during the lockdown ‘Kicha called me and assured assistance to me. I am personally grateful to him for that initiative that has been useful at a challenging period in my life.” 
More Financial Challenges in recent months 
Subsequent to the financial support from the ICA (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/10/krishnaswamy-v-ica-treasurer.html) and during the lockdown, his elder son met with a serious accident and had a multiple ligament fracture that has led to a piling up of medical bills and further financial challenges of this once great cricketer of India Cements. Najam himself has had multiple operations and these days he walks with the help of a walking stick. He lives in a rented house in Shanthi Nagar in Bangalore and the rental expenses too have been mounting. But like with batting and bowling, he is mentally courageous and has strong faith that God would take care of him. 

During the lockdown, the ICA also organised financial assistance to another TN Ranji cricketer from the 1970s and 80s - Peter Fernandez ( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/05/peter-fernandez-ica-financial-assistance.html).

He remembers the comment that the legendary Mysore fast bowler Kasturi Rangan once made to him in his youth “Reputation is what others know you to be, Character is what you know yourself to be.” In that context, he says that if he were given two cricketing options – Get Millions to play in coloured clothing Or Play in Whites once again in the 1960s and 70s, he would choose the latter “I will pick up the whites and Jolly Rovers/ India Cements of the time, not the millions.” 
Cricketers like Najam Hussain played for the love of the game when cricket was seen as a gentleman’s game. These days, he spends his time reliving those glorious moments of his life from the 1960s and 70s. He has more tears in his eyes as he shares the current state of his life “I have no money. I have no assets. I have no resources now. But I am happy with what God has given me in this life - happiness especially of reflecting on the cricket for India Cements and Jolly Rovers and for Mysore and Madras and especially the engagement with KSN and Sankar.” 

It is hoped that the authorities be it the TNCA / the KSCA / the BCCI or may be his employers from the 1960s and 70s would get around to financially support the man who offered so much joy with his all round display and one who played a role in the development of many international cricketers from Karnataka.

This is wishing Najam Hussain a Happy 80th Birthday.

CSK Srikkanth Aniruddha

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An Opportunistic Strike in troubled times 
Calling it 'favouritism', Srikkanth raises issues, old and current, on how Dhoni has not given TN youngsters a fair go at CSK
It was during Cheeka's 'mentor' days that Abhinav Mukund did not play for two years. Did he raise it anytime then or in the years that followed
Calling himself as being 'Brutally Honest', Aniruddha asks if Piyush Chawla looks like a cricketer. Did he know that the TN players always asked the same of him when he played
CSK Website
In the last fortnight, different sets of people have raised the issue of CSK’s poor performance this season. In a business interview that took place a few hours prior to a CSK’s match earlier this month, a Managing Director and the Business Journalist were tense at the end of the interview on the prospects of CSK that evening. Another Managing Director was watching the match this week while working late evening as his father was awaiting happy news of CSK’s perfromance. A third Managing Director had told this writer many years ago that the only IPL match that he followed was that of the CSK. A former features head of a newspaper did not know why CSK was playing so badly this year and wanted to know from this writer if there was any particular reason that she could not see. 

A common factor among all these fans was the passion with which they tracked and followed CSK. And the disappointment of the performance this year is palpable and questions are being asked by everyone. Just this week, a young group of boys all aged below 15years who play at the Corporation ground on St Mary’s Road also gave their loud verdict on Kedar Jadhav and CSK. 

But the timing of this morning's public domain pronouncement by former India Cricketer K Srikkanth and the allegations against Dhoni and Fleming is questionable and in poor light. He himself was a Mentor of CSK once upon a time when he was also a national selector at the same time (clear conflict of interest)!!! 

Former Ranji Player and off spinner from the 1960s R Chandrasekaran (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/r-chandrasekaran-sbi-globe-trotter.html) forwarded a video to this writer this morning of Srikkanth hitting out at CSK.  Interestingly, he had alongside him his son Anirudha who propped up points for his father to lash out.
                       From CSK Website
What is Fleming Doing?
Srikkanth begins by asking as to what Fleming is doing as the coach and as to why he is not raising the issues. He obviously seems to have insights into what is happening in the CSK dressing room and how Fleming after all these years at CSK has suddenly gone silent. And is doing nothing about the performance.

Abhinav Mukund and CSK 
In the video, Srikkanth’s son talks about chances not being given to Abhinav Mukund for 2 years in the initial phase of IPL a dozen years ago (Abhinav then moved to RCB where too he did not play too many matches). Srikkanth himself was the mentor of the team in that phase. Did he ever raise the question in the public domain about Abhinav not being given a chance by CSK in the IPL and how his T20 career was ruined by CSK not giving him match opportunities. 

Clearly, Abhinav was not even a performer for TN in the T20 domestic tournament and he was more a long innings player. This section wrote in 2011 about Abhinav not being given a chance for CSK and that he should focus on longer version of the game for which he was best suited (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/05/abhinav-mukund-in-indian-test-squad-to.html?m=1

Aparjith leaves the 'Bench' hot
Then the son raised the question about B Aparjith sitting out for 4-5 years without playing a single match. Having not previously raised, Srikkanth now says that the ‘bench’ was left hot after Aparjith having sat there for 5 years in a row.

Where is the local flavour in CSK
Srikkanth makes a comment about Aniruddha (the local flavor) being in the CSK team those two years just under a decade ago and CSK winning the IPL. Is Srikkanth saying that the local boy Aniruddha’s presence on and off the field contributed to CSK’s IPL Victory in those years? They then talk about TN players being in the CSK team at the beginning of the last decade and they name Ashwin, Balaji, Badrinath and Vijay (Aniruddha was the 5th player in that ‘local flavour’ list) as contributing to the local flavor for CSK. All four were international players at that time with two of them playing active international cricket in that phase. 

Thank God - All the TN players are in other teams
He then goes to the extent of saying that all the other TN players are thankfully in other IPL teams indicating that had they been here, they too would have been sidelined.

Fitness levels of CSK Players
Calling this as a 'brutally honest' opinion, they also talk about the fitness levels. Aniruddha, who has played for TN and was in the CSK squad asks one to take a look at Piyush Chawla and asks if he looks like a cricketer. Aniruddha seems to have forgotten his own fitness levels during the best of his times for TN and what his teammates thought of him, his fielding, his running between the wickets and his fitness. There was always the talk in the TNPL (and earlier) as to why he was chosen a wicket keeper!!! The cricket fraternity in TN knows as to why he played as the keeper.

Will he be BRUTALLY HONEST  about his cricketing phase and his entry into the CSK squad and the TN team and his onfield performances there and what every state cricketer and the selectors of the time thought of him. One cannot be selectively 'Brutally Honest' about opinions.

This section had written about Aniruddha’s selection for the TN T20 when he had not performed enough (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/01/aniruda-srikkanth-t20-selection.html). While on honest opinions on TN cricketers, a TN Selector had told this writer a few years ago on ‘the pitch’ made for Aniruddha to be included in the TN squad through a telecon on the eve of the Selection committee meeting. 

No spark in youngsters 
Srikkanth says that it is unacceptable for Dhoni to have made the comment that there was no spark in the youngsters. Srikkanth is no more a mentor of the CSK and is sitting far away in the studios in India. Of course, as a former selector snd CSK mentor, he would have a direct line to Dhoni and definitely to Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of CSK. He should ask them as to what was meant  by lack of spark in youngsters. Dhoni has for long built a reputation of backing youngsters and been heralded for making youngsters perform beyond their potential. The CSK performance over 12 years has been a great success story in terms of the number of finals they have reached. Dhoni alone can shed more light on what is missing in the youngsters of the current team. And it is likely he would have spoken about those factors to the youngsters. 

What is the trigger for Srikkanth to come out with such statements at this point of time when he did not raise any of these in the last few years, and in the tone and manner in which he and his son have done it. The cricketing fraternity of Madras who know them well may ignore this video as they say they often do but the lay man on the street, a CSK fan, may tag in with this sentiment of the Dad and Son. 

Did Srikkanth make these loud comments after the auction in any of the last many years on how local flavour is missing and who from TN should have been picked by CSK? Interestingly, Aniruddha replaced Abhinav in the TN T20 squad as the selectors of the time did not think Abhinav was suited for T20 cricket. This section had written about Abhinav being dropped from the TN's one day squad six years ago (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/03/abhinav-mukund-dropped-from-tn-one-day.html).

Favourtism within CSK
During the last two years, did Srikkanth repeatedly make the point that only 'oldies' were being given a chance by CSK and local TN youngsters were being repeatedly sidelined. He calls it 'favourtism' within CSK. In the years that he was associated with CSK and he has known Kasi Viswanathan for decades (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/ks-viswanathan-tnca-bcci-ipl.html?m=1), did Srikkanth raise this issue with the CEO of CSK.
Two years in succession after the ban, CSK performed at the top of their potential and received rave reviews. The old age and experienced hands was cited as an example for performers. And this year, when they are down, the opportunists are cashing in and asking questions that they had not asked for over a decade. Definitely, the CSK fans would like answers to the current problem and there are ways to ask those questions. Till this season, Dhoni was seen as a Demi God and suddenly everything from 'local flavour' to 'opportunities to Chennai's youngsters' has become a topic for two of the former cricketers who were once part of that institution. 

The tone and manner of the video as well as the content is a very irresponsible way to talk in the public domain for a man who was once the Mentor of CSK and the National Selector at the same time. Srikkanth is clearly trying to tap into the current negative sentiments of the CSK fans by igniting the issue of local flavour and opportunities for youngsters. The video is disappointing and the comments of legendary Srikkanth questionable.Even if these are valid points – Yes, every CSK fan/follower would like TN players in the team- why did Srikkanth not raise any of these in the public domain over the last 5-6 years. 

In the phase between 2008 and 2012, Srikkanth did not raise the question of lack of match opportunities to Abhinav at CSK. Neither has he in the past about Aparjith. Suddenly he is using the mood and sentiments of the CSK fans to his advantage and striking hard on issues that he has not brought up over the last decade or so. In any case, the tone and manner of both the son and the father is deplorable and unacceptable and unbecoming of a cricketer of Srikkanth's stature.

(Anyone who wants to post a comment on this story, please do with it your name/identity. The writer will use his discretion to accept anonymous comments)

Jolly Rovers N Sankar @ 75

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He picked a future TN Ranji star one morning at Pachaiyappas ground, travelled to Bangalore and Bombay to watch his favourite player bat and chose his best cricketing partner when he could finally afford

20 First Division Titles, Over 60 tournament wins, 30+ International Players, 125 State Players and full time cricket employment to well over a 100 – A Phenomenal and Unmatched contribution to the development of cricket in TN over a long five decades period

As he was growing up as a teenager playing Tennis under the guidance of TK Ramanathan, it was more likely that he would become a tennis star in the future. There was no precedence to running a cricket club in a professional way. Cricket Management was never on the cards. Polio at 17 put paid to his Tennis ambitions and also ended the league cricket that he was playing at the time. As he made his way to the Illinois University in the US for his Masters in 1965, his thoughts would have been on management of the corporate business. Instead, on his return, he had an unlikely new engagement. Soon after he landed in Madras, he was off to the Pachaiyappas College ground and picked for his (second) team a fast bowler who would go on to play for Tamil Nadu for the next ten years. An unexpected cricket offer had come his father’s way a year earlier and that was to play a transformative role in the development of TN Cricket in the coming decades. His club won a record 20 first division championships, over 60 trophies overall in all formats of the game, 30+ cricketers from the club represented India and over 125 the State in domestic tournaments. The large heartedness of the man was seen this week from his spontaneous gesture to hand over a huge amount to 80 year old Najam Hussain, a star cricketer from the 1960s who has been struggling financially especially from medical challenges. Over the last four decades, he has also built his corporate group with diversified business interests into a billion dollar conglomerate.

As he turns 75, here is the story of the man, who driven by his cricketing passion, pioneered the concept of professionally running private cricket clubs and one who has had the longest and the most successful stint in running a cricket club in the country.

A Tennis Star in the making
Chairman of The Sanmar Group N Sankar played cricket in the ‘gully’ (street cricket) off Gandhi Nagar Club in Crescent Park Avenue as a St Patricks school boy in the 1950s. When he moved into MCC School (Chetput), he began playing cricket a bit more seriously. In the early 1960s, he played league cricket for Jai Hind CC (the team is now ‘run’ by Sundaram Finance in the 6th Division) as an attacking batsman, a medium pace bowler and a ‘Slip’ catcher.
In that early phase as a teenager, Sankar was more inclined towards tennis than cricket and won a number of tournaments. His younger brother N Kumar too nourished ambitions of playing ‘serious’ tennis (that story will feature soon on this blog). Sankar was coached by TK Ramanathan in the late 1950s and early 60s. Tennis Legend 83 year old Ramanathan Krishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/03/ramanathan-krishnan.html), who recalls Sankar partnering with N Srinivasan to win the doubles tourney at Loyola, remembers the years when he was coached by his father “Sankar was one of the favourite students of my father. Just like my father, Sankar too was an early riser and would come to the court very early in the morning, much ahead of others. He was quite talented and a ‘thinking man’ on court. In that phase, he had improved quite a lot and could have gone on to become a bigger player.”

However, polio struck when he was 17 and that put an end to his singles ‘career’ in tennis (Recently, this section featured a story on former CFO of Sundaram Finance S Venkatesan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/venkatesan-s-sundaram-finance.html) who was struck with Polio soon after birth that put him out of sports but fought all the way to a triple professional degree and rose to the position of Company Secretary and CFO of the NBFC). It put paid to Sankar’s Tennis ambition. After a year of physiotherapy, he got back to the tennis court partnering with N Srinivasan and the two won many doubles tournaments in that phase. 
Krishnan vividly remembers his appa’s reaction on hearing the news “My appa was particularly fond of Sankar and admired his perseverance and hard work at such a young age. When Polio struck him, my appa was quite saddened as he saw him as a genuinely committed student with a willingness to learn and improve. He was of the view that Sankar would progress to the next level in Tennis but bad luck hit him at a time when he was emerging as a star player in the city, and the Polio strike brought about an early end to his Tennis aspirations.”

City cricket in the 60s
In the mid 1960s, VA Parthasarathy owned Jolly Rovers was run by S Rangarajan of The Hindu. Later to become Ranji Cricketer and Rangarajan’s nephew K Balaji played a ‘surprise’ league match for Jolly Rovers aged just 10 in 1965 (only in the last decade the minimum age limit to play in the TNCA league was fixed at 13!!) at the Vivekananda College ground in the last year that The Hindu ran the club. A majority of the clubs in the TNCA was run by individuals. Corporate involvement and professional running of cricket clubs were not yet in the realm of reality at that time.

Transformative Decision in 1966
It was against this backdrop that, in mid 1966, VAP approached KS Narayanan (KSN), MD, India Cements and asked if it would be possible for him to run Jolly Rovers. While Narayanan was passionate about cricket (his brother KS Raman was the only one in the family who had played some good cricket at that time - he played for Alwarpet and was the one who later promoted sports in Tirunelveli), he had had no thoughts about running a club in the TNCA league. His focus at that time was clearly on building the Cement firm. There was not too much money into the league clubs at that time and definitely not big corporate sponsorship. After much thought and in consultation with Ananthanarayan (Cost Accountant, India Cements), KSN nodded in the affirmative. It set the stage for the most transformative change in TN cricket, and life for the cricketers saw a sea change with the coming together of the father-son (KSN and Sankar) duo into cricket management.

Venkat and Prasanna bowling in Tandem in the TNCA league!!!
KSN did not take up the team to be ‘another ran’ in the TNCA league. While he debated with Ananthanarayan on the financial implications of such a call, once the decision had been made to go ahead, he was clear on running it as the best in the city and went about picking players accordingly. The who’s who of city cricket played for India Cements in that phase. S Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) was the biggest cricketing name in city circuit at that time having debuted in Test Cricket a year earlier and he fancied himself as a genuine allrounder in the Jolly Rovers team of the year. In fact, KSN immediately explored options outside the state. Mysore’s EAS Prasanna was almost picked but Ananthanarayan refused to accommodate the extra Rs. 25 (a big sum at that time) that the great offie looked for and thus the sight of watching two legendary offies bowl in tandem in the TNCA league was lost to the cricket fan.

A Truly Cosmopolitan Team
While the roping in of outstation players in the TNCA league gathered steam in the early 1990s, it was a revolutionary concept when KSN and Sankar initiated it way back in the 1960s, a move that left all other teams in the first division league in awe. They roped in two players from Services (PK Dharmalingam and V Balaji Rao), two from Karnataka (KR Rajagopal and Mir Najam Hussain), one from Andhra (KVR Murthy) and one from Kerala (B Kalyanasundaram (Kalli) – REC Calicut) in addition to the local flavour. 
                                 From The Hindu Archives - 1971

Picking Kalli at the Pachaiyappas ground for 2nd div team
Once Sankar came back to Madras in 1967 after his Masters in the US, while he was jointly involved with his father in the running of Jolly Rovers, he managed Jai Hind in the 2nd division (1B) all on his own. It was he who roped in Kalli into Jai Hind much to the initial ‘displeasure’ of the then Kerala Ranji cricketer.

Kalli(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html)  played Ranji cricket for Kerala when in his final year at REC and had performed exceedingly well. That morning at the Pachaiyappas College ground Sankar met Kalli and asked him to play for Jai Hind. Kalli had hoped for the first division team (Jolly Rovers) but Sankar brought to the notice of the 21 year old the bowling strength of Jolly Rovers that year and reasoned out that he was unlikely to get enough bowling opportunities to showcase his talent if he played for the senior side. Sankar recalls that morning’s meeting with Kalli “He was not happy that I suggested a 2nd division team for he thought it would hamper his chances of a Ranji debut for Madras. I read out Jolly Rovers’ bowling list of the time and convinced him to play for a year for Jai Hind.”

Kalli accepted the offer and thus began his almost three decades long association with Sankar. He signed up for Jolly Rovers a year later and went on to become their star bowler and an integral part of the new ball attack that destroyed many an opposition in that phase, one when he performed with aplomb for TN in the limited bowling opportunities he got at a time when Venkat and VV Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/07/cricket-tales-exclusive-with-vv-kumar.html) dominated the state bowling attack.

KSN’s infectious smile
Najam Hussain, who celebrated his 80th birthday last week (Oct 24), was an integral part of the Jolly Rovers team in those winning years when they won almost everything in sight. He remembers KSN as one with an Infectious Smile ‘He was ever smiling and ever loving. Not once in that phase did he ever frown. When he heard the news that eight of us at Jolly Rovers were selected for the State, he was on top of the world and his happiness was beyond description.”
Sankar’s all time favourite cricketer
Soon after watching KR Rajagopal bat, Sankar became his cricketing ‘fan’. Five decades later, the opener remains his all time favourite cricketer at Jolly Rovers. He remembers ‘Raja’ from that phase “He would come from Tirunelveli by train on the morning of the match, have his ‘Thayir Saatham’, wear his shoes and smash a brilliant century. He would then quietly return to Tirunelveli by train and get back to work after noon on Monday. In the five decades, I have not seen another like Rajagopal.” 

                         
In those days, cricketers’ commitment to work was high and they contributed both on and off the field. Najam Hussain remembers Rajagopal once working at the foundry till after 9am, changing into whites and scoring a blistering century at Chepauk that morning.

As Rajagopal narrates later in the story, Sankar was so fond of him that he went around the country watching his matches in a glorious phase for the opener in late 1967, one that ended in frustration.

PKD lets go Govt Pension, Joins Jolly Rovers
The excitement to play for Jolly Rovers was so palpable in those days that Services all rounder PK Dharmalingam(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/06/pk-dharmalingam.html), who passed away in June last year, took a big financial call. He told this writer in 2015 at his home on Vedantha Desikan Street in Mylapore that he was so excited at the prospect of playing alongside the top cricketers that he quit IAF and lost his Pension there (as he quit two years ahead of his eligibility period) when he joined India Cements/ Jolly Rovers. 
He recalled to this writer his double century (233) for Tirunelveli against Madurai in the SS Rajan Trophy after his move to India Cements Tirunelveli, one that still remains the top score. PKD was delighted to see their (KSN and Sankar) passion for cricket “I would alight at the Mambalam station and they would pick me up for the match in the car. Playing for them was a completely new experience for me in cricket and a delightful one at that”, Dharmalingam told this writer that day.

KS Kannan’s star act with the new ball
Former TNCA curator 68 year old K Parthasarathy, son of Jolly Rovers’ star new ball bowler KS Kannan, remembers the strength of that bowling attack after KSN and Sankar took over Jolly Rovers “As a teenager, I used to do 'scoring' for Jolly Rovers’ matches and in the process was excited to watch my father bowl. The MD of India Cements (KS Narayanan) and his son (Sankar) would come and watch every match. Their message to my father was to get early wickets with the new ball and my father responded almost every time. Even though the matches were only of one day duration, their bowlers would bowl out the opposition so quickly that they would win the match with time to spare.”
KSN bets on his team’s bowlers
It was that confidence in the team’s bowlers that led KSN to believe that they could achieve improbable feats against all odds. KSN and RN Chettur, Chief of IOB, another cricket crazy fan, used to watch league matches together, munching ‘Sundal and Kadalai’. TN’s hat trick man of the 70s Kalyanasundaram recounts an interesting episode involving the two of them during the semi final of the Buchi Babu Tournament at Loyola between Jolly Rovers (India Cements) and IOB. 

In the first session, IOB had romped to 120/1. KSN drove back in his Plymouth for lunch. When he came back an hour or so later with Chettur, KSN found Kalli standing beneath a tree (and not on the field, bowling) and called for him. When Kalli narrated the tale of the play after lunch (Kalli had taken 7 wickets and IOB was bundled out for 145), KSN pulled Chettur’s leg in delight “In their drive back to the ground after lunch, KSN had bet that we would have bowled out IOB soon after lunch even though they had been just one wicket down at the luncheon break. He was laughed at by Chettur at this positive thinking of KSN, but after I shared the events of the hour after lunch, he congratulated KSN and shook him by the hand expressing delight at the strong team he had built.”

Reward for outstanding performance once made Venkat angry
In that early phase, outstanding performance was instantly rewarded. Every centurion and a bowler with a five wicket haul were handed Rs. 100 at the end of the match. It was a special moment for the players to get the reward personally from the top management. But Venkat was not always enthused by it. Once after he had taken 4 wickets, a catch was put down of his bowling. Venkat who set high standards for himself and the team even in those early days in the 1960s gave it his typical yell in anguish “I will give you that 100, take the catch that comes your way”.

Casatta Ice Cream, Buharis, Woodlands and Shanti Vihar
While centurions and bowlers with five wicket hauls were thus rewarded for their individual brilliance, the large heartedness of Sankar came to the fore when Jolly Rovers achieved tournament victories during the late 60s and early 70s. If it was a win at the Marina, the team landed up at ‘Marina Buharis’, a popular hangout then. On some of these trips, they would have an unlimited number of ice creams (Casatta was a favourite) and there were times when only a bit of the stick remained in the choco bar!!! A victory at the Vivekananda College ground and the destination was the then popular Shanti Vihar (now converted into a huge residential complex) at Luz in Mylapore. The reward for a special comeback win was a day out at Woodlands on Radha Krishnan Salai.

In each of these cases, it was a ‘No questions asked, just send the bill to the accounts’ kind of treat that was handed out to the players. It was the kind of motivation and reward that was not on offer anywhere else in the city with any other club “We had food to our heart’s content. The money that was spent on one lunch would have been the annual food budget for most other teams in the first division league” says Najam Husasin, looking back at the sumptuous meal they enjoyed in those years.
Great Spontaneous Gesture
Well, 50 years later, when this section wrote, last week, about the financial plight of Najam Hussain (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/najam-hussain-80th-birthday.html) on the eve of his 80th birthday, Sankar sprung a surprise on Najam by immediately handing him a huge amount. Najam who referred to Sankar as ‘Sankaracharya’ when he met him in 2015 says that Sankar has always been one who wanted to see happiness in the faces of cricketers “He has remained humble and down to earth all through the years despite the huge success he has enjoyed and has been so loving and caring. The treatment he meted out to us in those days was ‘brotherly’ and this spontaneous gesture now is so heartwarming at a time when my medical bills are mounting.”

As he looks back at those cricketing years in the late 60s and early 70s, Najam says that he would not exchange Jolly Rovers of that period with any other team or era or management.

Great Men in Spirit as well
It was not just financial motivation but they were also great in spirit. When Gavaskar, who had become a national hero after his record breaking performance in the West Indies in 1971, came to the city to play in the Buchi Babu tournament, thousands landed up at the ground to watch him bat. PT Raman Nair, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court till September 1971 watched the match alongside KSN. Raman Nair’s son and Kalli were classmates at REC Calicut and soon after India Cements were bowled out for a low score, he called Kalli and threw a challenge to get Gavaskar in his first spell. Buoyed by the inspirational challenge, Kalli had Gavaskar edging the 2nd ball of the innings but much to his anguish (and the crowd’s delight), Balaji Rao dropped the catch. As it so often happens in cricket, the next ball was hit out of the ground for a six.
When a distraught Kalli came back for the tea break, KSN put his hand around him. Five Decades later, Kalli recalls that magic moment at Tea, words from KSN that were truly motivational“Do not worry. You got his (Gavaskar’s) wicket in spirit.” 

Marina Crowd’s anger - Drive every player back home
Their humane gesture came to the fore at the end of another Buchi Babu tournament match. KR Rajagopal was the captain in the rain marred unfinished semi final against ACC in Marina that was decided by spin of the coin (Rajagopal called it right). The huge crowd that wanted to see international stars Umrigar, Gavaskar and Nadkarni, among others, in the final invaded the pitch after ACC failed to chase down Jolly Rovers’ modest score.

Talking to this writer from his home in Basavangudi, Bangalore where he has lived for the last 27 years, the 81 year old Rajagopal remembers the events of the day“As you know, Marina had a very small pavilion. Unmindful of that, both KSN and Sankar sat there next to the players and motivated us through the match. It just inspired each one of us that the top management of the firm was personally present. It was a big boost to us and we wanted to give it our best. When the crowd almost chased us in anger and began pelting stones, the two of them organised cars for all the players and ensured that each one of us were dropped home. It was just an amazing gesture. And they were even more thrilled when we won the final beating a strong State Bank side.”

Not only were they present at most of the matches, they also reached the ground on time. Kalli is embarrassed to recall that on many occasions, Sankar would be at the ground ahead of the players and that they had to hide themselves in shame. 

Around the country to watch ‘Raja’ play
Rajagopal had been a star performer for Mysore in the first half of the 1960s. When he reached Madras in 1966, he set the city grounds alight with his dashing stroke play. 1967 was a special year as he was in the form of his life. He began with two Ranji Trophy centuries and was in the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy as well as in the Rest of India team for the Irani Trophy match. The Octogenarian recalls Sankar’s trip to Bangalore and Bombay “It is unlikely one would have heard of a corporate chief travelling 400kms to watch his club cricketer play a domestic match and then another 2000kms to motivate him in another match, staying the full length of the multi day match in both instances. He was so passionate about the game and saw his club players as one from his own family. Every time we performed, we saw his eyes light up in delight and that spurred us to perform even better. For him to come and watch me play in Bangalore and Bombay was simply unthinkable. His presence was great inspiration for me and I wanted to showcase myself in front of him to make his trips worthwhile.”
After these performances in the Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy, Rajagopal was considered a certainty for the Australian tour end of that year but he was not picked with the selectors citing some frivolous reasons. Sankar was with him in those shattering days of Rajagopal’s life and remembers his frustration with cricket after he was unceremoniously left out of that tour despite amassing a wealth of runs early that season. Sankar was the one who repeatedly consoled his favourite batsman but found him to be never the same again and let go of his national ambitions that very day after what he heard from the selectors. In the 1980s, southpaw R Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/r-madhavan-tn-cricketer-1980s.html) had the same psychological feeling after being left out (of the England series) despite a strong domestic season and he too was never the same again for TN.

Sankar recalls the exact words of Rajagopal from that day “When the announcement came, he was shell shocked. He had performed in three different tournaments and he was almost unstoppable that year. He was so down that he simply shouted at himself with the remark ‘Po Da, Neeyum cricket um’. He almost packed off the cricket kit that day.”

Outside of Jolly Rovers’ KR Rajagopal, Sankar rates VV Kumar as the best cricketer he has seen “He just mesmerized the batsmen with his flight and turn. How sad he did not get to play more matches for India.”

The other dashing batsman Sankar was particularly fond of at Jolly Rovers in the late 1980s was VB Chandrasekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html) and he made many a trip to the city grounds to watch VBC crush the opposition bowlers with his scintillating batting.

The 1970s – The Cricketing Slowdown 
After six glorious years, when Jolly Rovers won the Palayampatti shield five times, the club was rocked back in the 1970s. Sankar’s mother passed away and that was a huge setback for his father. It was also a challenging period for the Cement industry. Jolly Rovers’ fortunes turned south and the scenario had turned so bad that at one point of time they were on the verge of relegation. 

Cricketers’ regard for Sankar
When Kalyanasundaram was coming towards the end of his Ranji Career (in the early 1970s, he was on the verge of India Selection and was even told to keep his kit ready for an overseas trip but like with many others of the generation from TN, the national call remained elusive and he had lost hopes of a test call by the mid 70s), the Engineer had a financially irresistible offer from LMW in Coimbatore in 1976. At the end of the interview with the founding family at LMW, the 30 year old Kalli threw a condition that shocked them.“I will go back to Madras and seek the blessings of Shri KSN and Shri Sankar on this move. Only if they consent, will I be able to join” Kalli told the LMW management.

It isn't like this anymore in the corporate world. The regard Kalli had for the two after his decade long engagement with them led him to 'seek' approval to make this move from cricket to a full fledged corporate career. He distinctly remembers the day when Sankar nodded his approval “He appreciated my gesture seeking his approval and it was with his full blessings did I accept the offer at LMW.”

Even after joining LMW, Kalli made the train trips from Coimbatore to play for Jolly Rovers. Interestingly, when health issues emerged in the 80s, Kalli rejoined Sankar and had an enjoyable almost two decade stint at Chemplast rising to the post of VP at the time of his retirement. 

Revival of Jolly Rovers
Sankar, who was the Chief of Industrial Chemicals in the 1970s, took over as the MD of Chemplast in 1977. It was then that the running of Jolly Rovers moved to Chemplast from India Cements and Sankar orchestrated a great turnaround. Initially, he roped in a young team that brought the team from the bottom of the zone into the top half in two years. K Balaji(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html), who starred for TN in his first season in Ranji Trophy topping the batting charts in 77-78 and scored a top notch century in his 2nd season, moved to Jolly Rovers in 1979-80 with his childhood friend M Sriram as the captain. 
                              M Sriram seen sitting on the extreme right (1982-83)

Balaji recalls the performance of the young Jolly Rovers team in 1980-81 “Chemplast had laid a new turf wicket at the ‘home’ ground at University Union. While it was good for batting, the bowlers found it tough to get the opposition out twice to secure outright wins. Despite that, midway into the season, we were very much in contention for the top spot but our performance faded away in the second half.”

It was curator Parthasarathy who laid down the new turf wicket at Union for Jolly Rovers renewing his family’s association with the team.

“I will call you when I can afford you”
While Jolly Rovers through Chemplast was thus making a comeback into the top half of the first division league, Sankar eyed a man who was to go on to change the face of Jolly Rovers in the decades that followed. But it was not easy getting him. Wicket Keeper Bharath Reddy was in England the summer of 1979 with the Indian team under S Venkataraghavan and offers poured in from the top teams in the city league. 

Sankar managed to finally rope in Bharath Reddy from SBI in 1982. He told this writer last year that he had wanted Bharath Reddy a few years earlier but could not afford his price tag at that time and had told him that ‘he would call him back when he could afford him’

While he brought him as a captain, Sankar did not necessarily think that Bharath Reddy would turn out to be a man who would help Jolly Rovers reclaim the glory years of the 1960s. But Bharath immediately showed the mettle he was made of as Jolly Rovers won the Palayampatti Shield in his first two years  as captain with a young team that was bereft of star state players. In the first year, he roped in lanky fast bowler TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-fastest-indian-bowler-of-1980s.html?m=0) who went on to make his Test debut in Pakistan later that season. And in the second year, he roped in 18 year old L Sivaramakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/04/l-sivaramakrishnan.html) who then went on to play a series winning role against England the next season. After this league success that had come over a decade after they had last won the 1st division title, Sankar made him the man in charge of the team and he just went beserk. 
From The Hindu Archives 83-84 JR Team

During Bharath Reddy’s stint at Chemplast, Jolly Rovers has won the first division league a record 15 times. The understanding of the ‘partnership’ has probably been the single biggest factor in the success of this engagement that has now lasted close to four decades. 

Balaji puts the contribution of Sankar (in recent decades with Bharath Reddy) in context “The trophies won by Jolly Rovers in different formats of the game and in diverse conditions make for an impressive record. But more important is the role the club has played over the decades in improving the lot of the humble Madras league cricketer, and in elevating his status from that of a mere company employee to that of a valuable resource. What set this group apart from the other patrons of the sport was the professionalism and consistency in finding cricketing talent and nurturing it.” 
Sankar himself is hugely surprised at the way his association with Bharath Reddy has progressed “In terms of both success of the club as well as the length of the engagement, Bharath has far exceeded my expectations. With his brilliant networking and player management skills, he has done wonders for the club. In the 90s, he brought three outstation players, who were relatively unknown here in the city at the time of the signing and yet each of them played for the country within 12 months of their entry into Jolly Rovers. He just pulls them (hidden talent) out of the hat.”

In the second half of the 1980s, Sankar ideated an annual exchange between TN and Western Australia, the Sheffield Shield Champions of the time and a team that boasted of many test players. The winner picked up an expensive silver studded trophy. However, after two editions, the annual tournament fizzled out. 
    Graeme Wood with the Trophy

Vijay Sankar’s entry into cricket management
The phase also marked the entry of Sankar’s son Vijay, current MD of Sanmar Group, into cricket management. Parthasarathy remembers Vijay Sankar’s days at Chepauk as a young boy “KS Narayanan would walk around Chepauk, and on many days he brought along his grandson Vijay Sankar. While Narayanan did his walking rounds, he would often ask me to get Vijay on to the roller. I showcased the finer aspects of rolling the pitch and related activities to Vijay.”
While he did watch the league matches with his grandfather in those early years, it was only after the tied test in Madras and the 1987 World Cup that Vijay Sankar became active in team management. In that phase, in the late 80s and early 90s, this writer watched many a match in the first division with Vijay too being present at those matches. While crowds for the first division matches had dwindled by then, those few who came to the ground took immediate notice of Vijay’s presence and exclaimed ‘That’s Chemplast Sankar’s son”.

Guided by Bharath Reddy, he began to run and manage Kohinoor, a 2nd division team at that time (Sadagopan Ramesh and JR Madanagopal - http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2012/05/.-set-for-big-leap-as-umpire.html-played for the team). It was an active 6-7 year phase of cricket administration for Vijay. Ranji cricketer from the 1990s S Sharath played for Jolly Rovers through that entire decade amassing runs both for the club as well as the state. He remembers his time at Chemplast “The professionalism in the way it was run is unmatched. Encouragement, motivation, cricketing infrastructure and personal care was always at its best at Jolly Rovers.”
Sharath met with a serious road accident in the early 1990s and was admitted at the Malar Hospital “Through that challenging phase in my cricketing career, Vijay Sankar was there for me with personal visits to the hospital. His presence and constant monitoring was reassuring in that period.”

It was also Vijay Sankar who gave Sadagopan Ramesh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/11/sadhagopan-ramesh.html) that famous nick name ‘Lazy’ after watching him bat once in the early 1990s with the elegance of David Gower. That has stood with him ever since and the Ranji cricketers of the decade continue to address him by that name. Ramesh began his India career while he was at Jolly Rovers.

Offering Long Term Job Security to Cricketers
During that active phase in cricket, Vijay Sankar pursued Ramesh's elder brother S Mahesh(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/08/s-mahesh-tn-all-rounder.html), who went on to play over 50 first class matches, for a long time to sign up for Jolly Rovers. Mahesh recalls those times“No one pursued me in my two decades of cricket like Vijay Sankar did in that period. Unmindful that he was from the Management, he even came home to get my family to convince me to sign up. Not just the signing up for cricket, he even promised to the family that he would take care of me at Chemplast after my cricketing days and till my retirement.”

For reasons that his family is not able to come to grips even now, Mahesh remained firm and never played for Jolly Rovers in his career.

It was in that phase starting the late 1980s that Sankar initiated the thought of roping in outstation players once again. And the earliest ones, Jayakumar (the first oustation player in the 80s) as the Coach and Ajay Kudua, who scored 10 centuries against arch rivals Vijay/ India Cements, as a cricket manager, have stayed back for decades with Chemplast well after their playing days. 
Over the five decades, Jolly Rovers has provided ‘cricketing employment’ to around 125 players.

Cricketers in the Corporate Set up
Among the star cricketers of the 1960s and 70s, Kalyanasundaram is the one who had the longest stint with Sankar (a decade with Jolly Rovers/India Cements and then almost two decades at Chemplast). He says once inside the corporate environment at Chemplast, there were no special privileges of having been a cricketer in the past and is all praise for the professional way the company was run “One had to remember that you have to consistently perform all the time to be in the reckoning. Familiarity or popularity has no place in the ranking of professionals.”

A larger role at the TNCA
As early as 1976, Sankar became a committee member of the TNCA. MA Chidambaram, who ran the show in that phase along with S Sriraman, was particularly fond of Sankar and respected his professionalism and the knowledge he brought into the meetings. Once, when a cricketer played for two teams in the league it was Sankar who suggested the creation of a unique id for all registrations. Initially the idea was scoffed at but when the aforesaid episode showed its head again, Sankar’s idea was implemented. 

The two NS’ and its global cricketing impact
In the early 1990s, Sankar took over as the President of the TNCA after winning unopposed. He also roped in N Srinivasan (who had been out of cricketing action) as the VP of the TNCA and there was a real possibility at that time of the two working together. Had that happened, the TNCA may have become the strongest cricketing association in the world with the cricketing knowledge, administrative and management skills and their combined passion for the game. Had the cricketing environment been good, it is likely he would have stayed as the President for the time of his choice for there was no opposition at that time. Unfortunately what Sankar witnessed that year in the TNCA left him shocked and he has stayed away from the larger administration ever since (the full unfolding of the events of that phase at the TNCA will be kept for another day!!). 

His one regret in cricket remains the failure to implement his grand vision for the TNCA and the cricketers.

Initiatives at TNTA
Between 1988 and 93, he was also active in the administration of the other sport that he so loved from his childhood. As the President of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), he transformed the association in the five years that he was at the helm. Sankar looks back at those ‘Tennis’ years with a lot of satisfaction “The finances were improved quite a bit - the Association I inherited was bankrupt with a negative corpus. Several tournaments were conducted, the most prestigious of which was the Indian Bank Indian Classic Tennis Tournament” 

“During my Presidency, the biggest achievement was streamlining and regularising the administration and operations of TNTA. We improved its reach and infused a lot more interest in it. We also expanded it to other age groups and ladies. It continues to be the best organised and most popular tennis league in the country.”

Record Titles in the 2000s
Since the mid 90s, after deciding to stay away from the TNCA, Sankar has focused on making Chemplast and Jolly Rovers the best of the lot in cricket. And he has easily achieved that in partnership with his cricket manager Bharath Reddy. Since the turn of the century, Jolly Rovers has featured in 15 first division league finals winning 10 of those. The club has not been in the final only thrice this century and that is an astounding record that Sankar can be proud of.

In this phase, Sankar set up, in memory of his father, a world class cricketing facility at the sylvan settings within the IIT Campus. It has been widely acknowledged over the last decade as one of the most beautiful grounds to play cricket. The players who have played for Jolly Rovers have always been lavish in their praise of Jolly Rovers' cricketing infrastructure, though the former India internationals, who had their formative years at Chemplast, refused to offer comments for this story, quite in contrast to the cricketers from the generations gone by. 

Bharath Reddy looks back at his four decades association with Sankar with great contentment“I had many offers at the time. SBI had also won the 1st division three years in a row. I see it as a great blessing that he pursued me, and came back a 2nd time. It was his cricketing passion that made me nod to him. In the decades since, he has been a terrific boss who has always trusted me and given me complete freedom to run his team. He has been a father figure to me and one I respect the most in the world.” 

In the most challenging of times, the Chemplast has actually added two more teams under its fold in recent years. In addition to Jolly Rovers, the firm also runs Alwarpet and MCC. However, after well over 35years of managing the cricketing operations, Bharath Reddy says that the joy is not there anymore in the current environment and his own cricket management days may be numbered“Vijay (Sankar) has always been passionate about cricket and I am confident that he will take over from Sankar. I will do everything in my fold to ensure a smooth transition to the next cricket manager.” 
For Sankar, it has been a long and enjoyable cricketing journey “Cricket has given me a lot of pleasure. While there was not much money in the game back then in the 1960s and 70s, we enjoyed a great relationship with the players. They valued our presence at the ground. And winning the Palayampatti Shield was a big deal as was The Hindu Trophy and the Buchi Babu Trophy.”

Sankar’s Glorious Five Decades @ Jolly Rovers
As Sankar turns 75 this month, the cricketing passion is still there and the old memories of the glorious days from the 1960s linger. However, he is unsure as to how long this will last as he has been pondering his cricketing future for quite a while now. The finances have surged over the last decade. Currently, the investment into cricket is almost near the size of the company when Chemplast took over Jolly Rovers in 1977. The economics is working just fine for the moment, given that the team is continuing to enjoy major success. 

Jolly Rovers has won the Palayampatti Shield 20 times in the last 53years that is a 40% success percentage, unmatched by any other club in the city. When he took over with his father in the second half of the 1960s, Jolly Rovers won the first division league 5times in the first 6years. And now five decades later, they have been in the first division final 6 times in the last 7 years, a remarkable achievement indeed, especially the longevity of success. While many of the nationally renowned private clubs of the 1970s and 80s such as Mafatlal, ACC and Nirlon that rose to popularity then have ceased to exist, the personal passion of this man, in partnership with Bharath Reddy, has kept this club still relevant and at the top of the city league five decades after he took over. Sankar is hopeful that his son, Vijay, who manages 13 companies in the Sanmar Group, would find the time to take over the sporting reins from him and carry this legacy, into the future. 

While the cricket fan will eagerly await a decision on that one, this section salutes the man who provided a strong platform for many a budding talent to pursue his cricketing interest and one who has stayed through challenging times making a smooth transition through three different generations from the golden days of Octogenarians KR Rajagopal and Najam Hussain to the current set of teenaged cricketers for whom cricket has become a full fledged professional career.

This is wishing Sankar a Happy 75th Birthday, in advance.

Varun Chakravarthy coach Peter Fernandez

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Former TN Ranji Cricketer and Level 3 Coach Peter Fernandez was instrumental in  Varun Chakravathy's new run up and bowling action when he converted himself from a fast bowler to a spinner earlier this decade

Ranji Cricketer from 1980 and once captain of a star studded SVPB outfit Peter Fernandez played a crucial role as a coach in the formative years of now IPL star Varun Chakravarthy, who has been in the news recently with his bowling performances in this year’s edition. 

Peter Fernandez was the one who corrected Varun’s run up and bowling action during the time he was with him at the Spin Foundation in Gandhinagar. In fact, Varun has been coached by Peter in three different stints over the last 15years. 

During the 15year period at the SPIN Foundation, Peter came into close contact with legendary spinner EAS Prasanna, Aussie off spinner from the 1970s Ashley Mallet, Lankan legend Muralidharan and Shane Warne’s coach Terry Jenner and is now a level three coach. His son Rohan Fernandez is a Level 1 coach and was under Robin Singh at the academy in Dubai for a few years

Varun's Three Coaching Stints under Peter
In 2004/05, when Varun was a school boy in his early teens was the first time Peter Fernandez coached him at the Kotturpuram nets of the MAC Spin Foundation. Varun had started off as a wicket keeper batsman. By the time he came back the next time, a few years later, by when the foundation had moved to SPIC, Varun had become a fast bowler. But an injury meant that he could no longer don the role of a fast bowler.

Earlier this decade, when Varun became a spinner from having been a fast bowler, it was Peter Fernandez at the Gandhinagar Nets of the SPIN Foundation who corrected his run up and bowling action. 

Soft spoken Peter, who has been going through challenging times after the shutting down of the SPIN Foundation a few years ago, is quiet and in the background these days and rarely talks to his fellow cricketers.  

He was happy to recount to this writer the period when he coached 'Spinner' Varun and made some fundamental corrections to his bowling “At that time, he still had the instincts of a fast bowler and hence had a fastish run up to the wicket. He was also delivering the ball a bit faster. It was quite understandable as he had been a fast bowler in the earlier period.” 
                                From the KKR Website

Correction to the run up and release of the ball
During that third stint with him, it was Peter who asked Varun to shorten his bowling run up which at that time was too long for a spinner. Through that period at the Muthiah ground in Gandhi Nagar, Peter worked onVarun’s run up, both in terms of the length of the run up as well as the speed of arrival at the bowling crease. He also inculcated the art of bowling a ‘little slower’ in the air, for at that time Varun’s fast bowling instincts led him to bowling a bit too fast for Peter’s liking.

Peter says that through that period at his nets, Varun was consistently improving and the academy batsmen struggled against him in the nets “Even then, he was too hot to handle. It was difficult to spot him and every batsman in the academy would be bamboozled by his variations.” 

Hard working and Quiet
He also remembers Varun as a quiet boy, sincere and hard working at the nets “He would come early to the nets, focus on his bowling and bowl long spells. This year’s performance is a just reward for all the years of hardwork. Given his variations, he has it in him to be successful at the highest levels for a long time.” 

Peter has a word of caution for Varun "He has to focus on his fitness and improve the levels to meet the demanding schedule at the international level."

Peter Fernandez was one of the early recruits of SVPB (Sri Venkateswara Paper Boards) Udumalpet, whose founder Soundararajan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/06/svpb-udumalpet-soundararajan.html) was promoting cricket in the districts and was keen to build a strong team. He was a dashing top order batsman and had played in his only year of Ranji cricket in 1980-81. He played 3 matches for Tamil Nadu but was never considered again. He captained SVPB and led them to victories in the Coimbatore league in the1980s.TN State teammate NP Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html) joined him a year or so later. Both of them played in the Coimbatore first division league alongside S Sukumar and M Subramaniam (Idly Subba) among others for close to two decades. In the 1990s, he was also a Ranji selector for three years under the chairmanship of VVKumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/07/cricket-tales-exclusive-with-vv-kumar.html). He has also been an U17 and U22 selector. 
Peter coached at the Spin Foundation for 15 years till January 2016. Following the shut down of the academy, Peter Fernandez has had a tough time financially with no coaching engagements. During the Lockdown, the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA), which was formed last year, pooled in financial resources from cricketers across the country to help former Ranji cricketers in need of financial help. Peter Fernandez and Najam Hussain (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/najam-hussain-80th-birthday.html) from Tamil Nadu benefited from this. As a level 3 coach and with the experience he has had at the MAC Spin Foundation, he is hopeful he will be able to get a coaching assignment with the TNCA once the cricketing activities are revived. 

While currently the finances are pinching, Peter Fernandez can happily look back on the contribution he once made to this new IPL star.

Srirangam Temple Elephant Lakshmi

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Venu Srinivasan's Restoration Initiatives Continue
LMW’s Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu presents the 20 Year old 'Premi' Lakshmi to the Ranganathaswamy Temple 
Presence of two 'Coimbatorean' elephants bring back old memories
Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam has secured the services of a second elephant, a rarity these days in temples in Tamil Nadu. The 20 year old 'Premi' Lakshmi had been in Coimbatore since birth and was handed over recently to the historical temple by Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, CMD, LMW under whose care the elephant had been in Coimbatore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2012/09/palamalai-ranganatha-temple.html). This is part of the restoration initiatives that had been initiated by Venu Srinivasan after he took over as the Chairman Board of Trustees of the temple earlier this decade (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/11/venu-srinivasan-srirangam-temple.html).

Venu Srinivasan's son is married to the niece of Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu and this may have made the task of securing the 'prized catch' a bit easier for the temple.

Srirangam Divya Desam has been devotionally praised by Kulasekara Azhvaar as a temple where devotees gather after letting go of everything in life to surrender completely to Lord Ranganatha
(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/03/kulasekara-azhvaar-srirangam-residents.html). In his verses, he says that being in the midst of the people of Srirangam elevates any new entrant to a mood of true devotion. Following her move from Coimbatore, Lakshmi is likely to be elevated to a new devotional spirit being in the company of Andal.
 
Historically, the temple had two elephants with two separate shelters at the Ranga Ranga South entrance of the temple housing them. In the 1940s, there was the duo of Sekaran and Gowri and then a few decades later Gopal and Thirukovilur Lakshmi. But over the last few decades, the now 40 year old Andal has had a lonely feeling performing service all alone since the mid 1980s. 

Two Coimbatoreans in Srirangam
With the arrival of ‘Premi’ Lakshmi from Periya Nayakkam Palayam on the Northern outskirts of Coimbatore, Andal, who too had come from that region, from Karamadai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/06/karamadai-ranganatha.html), will now have company during the street processions on festive occasions. Lakshmi will also perform the role of bringing the sacred water from the Cauvery every morning for Vishvaroopam alternating with Andal. 

With the restrictions imposed on street processions, the Mahut Rajesh is currently in the process of training Lakshmi and getting her ready for her services once the restrictions are lifted. He is confident that once the regular processions restart, Lakshmi will be up and leading the Lord on the processions along with Andal. 
JC of the temple Pon Jayaraman is delighted at securing the second elephant for the temple “It is an auspicious and positive development for the temple to get the second elephant. One can already see the joy in the face of Andal after the arrival of Lakshmi. While it is now becoming increasingly difficult for temples to secure elephant, with the presence of Lakshmi the Srirangam temple is likely to have the services of an elephant for the next several decades.” 

A twin shelter within the temple complex
This section had written a story last year on the temple creating an exclusive shelter within the temple complex (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/10/srirangam-elephant-andal.html). In the 20th Century, the shelter was initially at the Southern Entrance and then later moved to the Eastern Entrance. For long, the elephant had to encounter vehicular noise on both the South and East streets. 
The new home  near the Andal Sannidhi provides for High Ventilation, Free Air Circulation, Hygienic Environment and most importantly a peaceful environment for the elephants to help the two perform the daily service to Lord Ranganatha in an energized manner. There is a new shower that allows for bathing of Andal and Lakshmi every morning. There is also a small nandavanam in the outer precincts of this complex. Drinking water facility has also been taken care of for two of them. An exclusive bathing pond has also been created at the ''Thoppu' North of the temple on the banks of Coloroon.
Srirangam North Thoppu

Bringing the shelter for the first elephant into the temple complex after several decades was the first step in the restoration process. And now the arrival of Premi Lakshmi is welcome addition. 

At a time when there has been fall in the temple elephants across the state, the two Coimbatoreans (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/07/sulur-venkatanathan-perumal-temple.html) are likely to stay long to serve Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam.

LMW supported cricket in a big way in the 1970s and 80s in Coimbatore and along with SVPB and Ramakrishna Steels were responsible for the development of cricket there (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/04/domesticindia-cricket-matches-1979-1983.html).

Sanmar Mayura Kumar Swimming Tennis

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The anti Hindi agitation dented N Kumar’s Tennis ambition but his passion for the sport remained unabated and he anchored the home coming of the Prestigious ATP Tourney to Madras in 1997 

Daughter Mayura rose dramatically to the top securing 100s of State and National Medals but ‘sports burnout’ led her to quit Swimming at 19 soon after winning three International Medals
Sanmar Group’s Vice Chairman N Kumar was all set to play in the Tennis Nationals in Pune in 1965 when the anti Hindi agitation led to the postponement of the SSLC Board exams. Kumar missed the Nationals and was replaced by Anand Amritraj. And the rest as they say is history. He was in form and a strong performance there may have fuelled his tennis aspirations. Unfortunately, a year later, his father directed him to focus on academics and he had to let go his Tennis ambitions. Three decades later, his daughter Mayura Kumar, managed to achieve what her father could not and was on top after bagging international medals albeit in another sport. But soon after, she quit the sport rather prematurely and made her way to the US to pursue her academics and secured a double bachelor’s degree. Kumar himself did not let go of his tennis passion easily and without an accomplishment, for much later in life he was the mastermind behind bringing the prestigious ATP tourney to Madras. Here is the story of the father – daughter sporting duo.

As seen in the story on Sanmar Group’s N Sankar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/jolly-rovers-n-sankar-75.html), TK Ramanathan, father of tennis legend Krishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/03/ramanathan-krishnan.html), was the driving force in him achieving early success in Tennis. By the time, younger brother N Kumar arrived on the tennis scene, Ramanathan was slowly moving away from coaching. But it was still not too late for Kumar to get the much needed early initiation. There was early success for Kumar and he won many tournaments including achieving wins over Anand Amritraj. He also beat the upcoming Vijay Amritraj in that phase. Kumar recollects the coaching days under the guidance of Ramanathan “Even though he was in his final years of coaching, it was he who taught me the fundamental aspects in tennis - serve and volley and the basic strokes - upon which I built my game.”
Later, he came under the tutelage of Akhtar Ali who, Kumar says, was all about ‘strategy’.

At 15, Kumar was on the verge of playing in the prestigious nationals in Pune when the anti Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu led to a postponement of SSLC examination. While the nationals went ahead as scheduled, Kumar had to skip the tournament focusing instead on the Board exams. His replacement in that tournament, Anand Amritraj, never looked back after that. Into his early teens, Kumar was exploring Tennis as a career and this was a big setback to his aspirations. A year later, Kumar faced the same quandary that TVS’ S Ram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/tvs-ram-s-cricketer.html?m=1) faced as a teenager a decade earlier when he entered that important decision making zone. Should he pursue his tennis ambitions or was it time to focus on academics. 

Kumar remembers the simple direction from his father “He asked me to head to the Guindy Engineering College for my Engineering. There was no discussion about the career decision and my interest in tennis. I simply followed his direction.”

He says that unlike those in the current generation who are vocal in discussions with parents on ‘decisions’, there was no such (debate) in those days. Kumar may have been disappointed to have had to let go of his tennis ambition but he says that may have lasted only a few days and that with the clear instructions from his father, he moved on to focus on his academics over the next five years.

Out of sporting interest, he also played cricket as an attacking and carefree opening batsman, one that also reflected his personality. Najam Hussain (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/najam-hussain-80th-birthday.html?m=1) remembers some of his shots played at the Marina “He would take the attack to the opposition and hit bold shots over the top. He was a ‘lucky go happy’ person right from those days and enjoyed life in the way it presented itself to him.”

That personality has stood the test of time, for aged 70, Kumar is easily approachable even while he is at his Golf and responds to every query with a cheerful face.

Soon after his Engineering degree he moved to the US for his Masters bringing to end his active sporting days as a player. But he did have his big cricketing day in the Sun one that he delightfully remembers “Playing for MCC against Jolly Rovers, I opened the batting against Kalli and George Thomas. We beat them in the Semi Finals of the Buchi Babu tournament and then played Mafatlal in the final.”

Bringing the Prestigious ATP tourney to Madras
Kumar’s passion for Tennis remained unabated and it was during his stint as the President of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association that he pitched Madras as the venue for the ATP tournament in January. During that year, 1996, he (along with his team that included Prem Kumar Karra) masterminded the move from Delhi to Madras and convinced the authorities with the idea that Madras would be a very succesful venue to host the tournament in January, just around Pongal. Two decades after that golden moment, Kumar delightfully looks back at Madras capturing an important moment in Tennis History "We spoke with the heads of multiple organizations involved with the tourney and convinced them of Madras as being the most appropriate venue in India given its rich history of players who were successful on the global circuit as well as the knowledgeable and sportive tennis fan".

After just one year in Delhi, the ATP tourney venue in India was moved to Madras and continued quite successfully for the next two decades. 

A New Initiative - Personal Coaches on overseas tours
During his term as the President of the TNTA, Kumar also launched the Tamil Nadu academy of Tennis Excellence, an initiative that funded coaches to accompany talented and upcoming tennis players on overseas tours and camps. This was a much needed support for budding tennis players who were without the training and psychological support of personal coaches on tours till the 1990s.

Tennis vs Horse Riding/ Gymnastics
When his younger daughter, Mayura, was growing up as a child, Kumar initiated her into tennis. But she was not particularly interested. She was also into horse riding and gymnastics. Talking to this writer from her home in Alamo, near San Francisco, US, Mayura recalls those early days from the late 1980s “My father had been a pretty good tennis player and he was keen that I pursue Tennis. But as you know with parents, they would lecture and manage you a lot since they themselves had been good at the sport. I did not like that ‘parental coaching’ in Tennis and I did not show the interest that he expected from me.”

Swimming – A First in the Family
While she was not interested in tennis, one thing was clearly visible even at that early stage. Mayura was inclined towards sport. It was then that her father asked her to choose and focus on one sport. And she made that call when she was 12. Turning away from her father’s tennis passion she unexpectedly took to swimming, something that had not been tried earlier by any of the family members. Father Kumar remembers the first few months after she jumped into the pool “She adapted to swimming as easily as a fish to water”.

Under her first coach, Senthil, she made rapid progress along with another young upcoming swimmer Sandeep Srikanth, who too did well in that early phase. Within the first year, she won a bronze in the national championship in 1992. Her days began at 5am with a two hour practice session in the morning, followed by the whole day at school and then she would get back to the swimming pool in the evening. Right from the beginning, backstroke was her favourite segment and she specialized in that. 
While Mayura began winning medals at State level tournaments and her coaches (Railways coach KK Mukundan being the second one) found her to be naturally athletic and supremely talented, it was a very challenging phase for her in life. Being in a top ranked CBSE school had its set of academic challenges. She looks back at those initial years with a touch of sadness “It was really tough being in a CBSE school. You had to do well in academics and it was a big challenge to straddle between academics and sport, each day of my life in those three years.” 

Educational Institution’s Support
By the time, she entered college, she was already in the top 3 in India. Aged 17, Mayura went to the University in Dallas, US, for summer training. She considers that an invigorating experience that It was only after she joined Adarsh Vidyalaya for her Class XI did she receive the much needed support from the educational institution that is essential for the development of a sportswoman. She points to the support from Adarsh Vidyalaya and then Ethiraj College as being critical to her sporting success “Adarsh and Ethiraj College helped me leverage my potential and provided me the leeway to focus on the sport. It was that phase that helped me reach and stay at the top, consistently for a few years.” ‘taught her a lot’. 

Malaysia after Malaria 
As with her uncle, N Sankar, who was struck with Polio at 17, Mayura too suffered health issues at a crucial phase in her career when she turned 18. She was down with a bout of Malaria. She remembers that phase distinctly “I was down for a month. It drained me physically. I lost a lot of weight and was out of swimming action for a while.” 

It was then that her fighting spirit came to the fore. She worked hard and came back strong. Despite the Malaria strike, 1998 turned out to be her best year in her sporting career. She surprised herself and her parents, and in fact the entire sporting community with her comeback. 
Her mother, Bhavani, who was present at the APAC games in Kualalumpur, proudly recalls the spirit of her daughter "Once she decides to take up something, she would always give it her best shot. That is what we witnessed in that phase. She wanted to give her best and came back strongly after having been down with Malaria."

Best Sporting Moment
India had picked a strong contingent in August 1998 for the Asia Pacific tournament that was considered very competitive. While most of them returned empty handed, Mayura had the moment of her life as she turned out to be the one who saved the blushes for India. She won two Silvers and a Bronze at the tourney in Malaysia “It was easily the best sporting moment of my career. It was a very competitive tourney. To come fighting back from Malaria and to win medals in an international tournament was quite pleasing.” 

Two International Silvers
In fact, she recounts with delight the reasons for both the Silvers being a special achievement at that time “I bagged the Silver in my favourite event, the backstroke, just behind the then Commonwealth bronze medalist (Aussie Brooke Hanson). It showed to me that I was up there with the best. But what was even more pleasing was the fact that I surprised myself with a Silver Medal in the Freestyle, a category that I was not particularly fond of and rarely did.” 

A month later, she won the Gold at the National Championship held in Bangalore. 
At that time, she was on a roll and her father was hoping for many more sporting years. Kumar recalls her form at that time “The success at the APAC tourney was a high point in her career. Three International Medals and  a National Gold in successive months was a creditable achievement. I thought she was good enough at that time to aim for the Olympics."

Another Burnout in Sports
Fitness training and focus on diet was an integral part of her calendar. She would do a lot of running, cycling and weights to develop power. Soon after the APAC tourney, she was back into her fitness regimes. It was during one of those practice sessions in Bangalore, ahead of the Short Courses Championships, that she tore a ligament in the ankle, a result of the ‘pot holes’ in the running field. It put her out of action once again. 

Even in a sport that is not as popular as cricket, in India, the effort to reach the top and then to stay there takes its toll on the player and their personal lives. For close to a decade, Mayura’s life was all about training and competing in tournaments. Her day began at 5am and by the time it was 8pm she was left with very little energy to do the normal kind of things that teenagers her age did. She had won a number of tournaments nationally and the hundreds of medals that she collected at the Podium brought happiness to her parents. But burnout, that is such a common feature in successful sporting personalities, began to take a toll on her and she decided to call it quits at 19. She put behind the hundreds of medals she had won in the seven years prior and just let go of her swimming career in a flash. She was never at it again and went to the US to pursue academics.
Just over two decades after she last won those three international medals and now settled in the US, she reflects on her teenage phase that revolved around swimming“Even today, I cherish the 7-8 years of my life that I completely dedicated to the sport. My parents and elder sister were always there to encourage me at major tournaments and that was a real motivation to do well in that phase. Swimming shaped my personality and made me what I am today. I wish I had worked harder and continued for a few more years. In sport, one has to push oneself for more and I simply did not want to push myself any longer, at that time.”

Kumar has the final word on his daughter's decision at that time "Ambition is critical for a sportsperson. Drive to succeed is an important feature, especially in sports, and that is lacking in most of us. Once you reach the top, you need to increase the speed in the ‘treadmill’ and pursue relentlessly. Like I could not initiate her into Tennis, I just could not convince her to pursue swimming when higher glory and bigger laurels for the country was beckoning.”

Ahobilam Temple Restoration

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Venu Srinivasan has moved his focus North of Tamil Nadu to Ahobilam to carry a ‘Srirangam’ style extensive restoration of the Thiru Mangai Azhvaar Praised Divya Desam
In the last 50 years, new and unwanted constructions had come up within the temple complex and many historical structures were seen in a dilapidated state
Earlier this decade, in a matter of 18 months, Venu Srinivasan under the direction of the then CM of TN J Jayalalitha undertook what was to be a once in a century restoration of the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. It was transformational because in the 75 years preceding the renovation, almost every single sannidhi in the temple had seen unwanted additional construction that took away ventilation and made every Sannidhi dark and congested. Most of the Sannidhis remained shut. The restoration exercise saw every single such new construction being brought down and the sannidhis brought back to its historical glory in terms of architectural beauty. Today, every Sannidhi is open each day of the year.

As seen in the story in July this year (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/venu-srinivasan-historical-temples.html), after having undertaken restoration of temples in TN since the mid 1990s, Venu has now moved onto temple restoration initiatives outside Tamil Nadu. With the lifting of the lockdown restrictions, he has just begun a large scale restoration initiated for the first time in almost 50 years at Ahobilam Divya Desam, located just over 100kms North West of Cuddapah, under the blessings of the Jeer of the over 600 years old Ahobilam Mutt.The scenario at Ahobilam was no different from what the one that existed in Srirangam prior to the commencement of the activities. Since the last large scale repairs work organised in 1974, there has been extensive additional construction within and outside the temple complex in lower and upper Ahobilam.                

It was the Ahobila Narasimha cave temple in Upper Ahobilam (about 8kms from Lower Ahobilam) at the foot of Garudathri about 3000feet above sea level that Thirumangai Azhvaar visited and sung praise referring to this location in his verses as Singavel Kundram. The difficulty of visiting Singavel Kundram can be seen from this verse of Thirumangai where he says that it is almost impossible to reach this temple as this is a rocky terrain with constant forest fires and the presence of bow wielding hunters.

முனைத்த சீற்றம் வின்சுடப்போய் 
மூவுலகும் பிறவும்
அனைத்தும் அஞ்ச ஆள் அரி ஆய் 
இருந்த அம்மானது இடம்
கனைத்த தீயும் கல்லும் அல்லா
வில் உடைய வேடரும் ஆய்
தினைத்தனையும் செல்ல ஒண்ணாச்
சிங்கவேழ் குன்றமே

Ahobila Narasimha is seen in an Ugra Posture with Prahalada standing opposite to him. The Utsava deity of Ahobila Narasimha Divya Desam is seen at the Lakshmi Narasimha Prahalada Varadan temple at Lower Ahobilam. 

12/24/36 Pillar Mandapams – Restoration
Within three months of beginning the restoration exercise, there has been a sea change at this Divya Desam. Just ahead of the lockdown, the 24pillar mandapam at the entrance arch was seen with huge amount of debris with the structure having gone down. After removal of the debris and work around the structure, the mandapam has been brought back to its historical best.
Worse was the state of the 12 Pillar Mandapam. Rubbles surrounded the Mandapam that was seen in an unattended state. A good portion of the mandapam had sunk below the earth. After the first phase of work as one sees it in Karthigai, it is almost unrecognizable. 

The 36 Pillar Mandapam and the Sasana Mandapam are no different. The bottom part of the Mandapams has not been visible with huge quantity of mud and debris that had collected over several decades. In fact, those visiting the divya desam in recent times would not have been aware of the historical nature of this architecture. The work is now under progress to reflect the foundation of the mandapams in its historical beauty. While the base of the Sasana Mandapam had gone below, the flooring and roofing were in dilapidated conditions. Stones were seen in broken condition and these have been replaced. A new weathering course has been initiated on the roof of the Mandapam. 

Deterioration over 50 years
To get a feel of how the Divya Desam had deteriorated in terms of its architecture, one only had to visit the Ramanuja Sannidhi in Ahobilam. There was a thick growth of shrubs, the sannidhi had gone beneath, the path leading to the Sannidhi was strewn with rough stones and the sannidhi complex itself provided a forlorn look. Subsequent to the activities undertaken over the last three months the Ramanuja Sannidhi and around stand transformed. Even as one looks at it from a distance, one can feel the historical nature of the Sannidhi.
Before and Now - The Transformation

Dilapidated Theppakulam Mandapam/Pavement
The pavement around the Theppakulam pointed to the dilapidated state of various zones at the temple complex. The west entrance had remained shut for a long time, the south side was full of shrubs and the west mandapam was in a dilapidated condition. Repair works around the Theppakulam over the last quarter has reopened this entrance and provided a facelift to the entire zone. There is beautiful greenery on the South side reminding one of similar restoration near the 1000 pillared mandapam in Srirangam.

9 Forms of Narasimha
Narasimha is said to exist in one of the nine forms- Ugra, Veera, Jwala, Sarvamukham, Nrisimha, Bisanam, Bhadram, Mrityu and as Vishnu (Lakshmi Narasimha). It is only here at Singavel Kundram that one is able to see him in all the nine forms in a single location. As there are nine Narasimhas here, this place is also referred to as Nava Narasimha Kshetram. As Garuda undertook penance at the mountain here, this is called Garudachalam.  Every month on Swathi, there is a special Abhishekam for all the nine Narasimhas.

Dwajarohana Mandapam - Debris and Buried
Another zone in the temple complex that exposed the deterioration over the last half a century was the Dwajarohana Mandapam. This too like the above mandapams had submerged and gone below. With the removal of the mud that had built up near the mandapam, this too has been restored and original stone structure around the Mandapam is now clearly visible.
Cashing in on devotees’ prasadam craze
The Laddu Counter, and this is typical of most of the historical temples, is a prime example of how new constructions have come up inside temple complexes of late, to cash in on the popularity of the ‘prasadam’. The new construction is being dismantled and a traditional open stall is being set up.

Huge complexes relating to Anna Dhanam sheds, the provisions storage and the devotee toilets had all been built within the temple complex. These are being shifted outside of the prakaram into more acceptable zones.
                             Laddu Stall and Anna Dhanam Shed - New Accretions

In the first prakaram, new flooring had meant that historical epic carvings lay hidden and unseen. The Flooring has been restored and the entire stone carving that date back several centuries are now clearly visible to the devotees. In the second prakaram, a stone mandapam lay completely hidden with big sized new constructed that had converted it into rooms and offices. These additional constructions have been brought down and the mandapam restored to its historical grandeur.

White and Red Paints on the Mathil
Another common feature seen in almost all the historical temples in the last few decades has been the painting of the ‘Mathil’. Across the entire temple complex, the new styled paintings have been removed and the temple walls now have the historical look to it.

The Vahanam and Alankara Mandapams are also being restored. As with many of the temples, the madapalli is often a discarded area with new modern innovations. The current exercise also involves restoring the madapalli. In all the mandapams, roof leakage is being arrested by using traditional weathering course and pressed tiles. New  electrical facilities will be installed in the entire premises. In addition to these, rain water harvesting systems will be introduced around the temple complex.

Upper Ahobilam
Vishnu took the form of Narasimha (half man-half lion) in this mountainous terrain to kill Asura Hiranyakashipu. The pillar – Ugra Stambha- out of which Vishnu came out in his Narasimha Avataar is seen at the top of the Nalla Malai forest, about 7kms above the Upper Ahobila Divya Desam.
Thiru Mangai Azhvaar begins by praising Narasimha's physical strength and his special appearance in a half man-half lion posture and tearing Asura Hiranya’s chest while the world looked awe struck at his power and ability to destroy the Asura.
அம் கண் ஞாலம் அஞ்ச அங்கு ஓர் ஆள் அரி ஆய் 
அவுணன் பொங்க ஆகம் வள் உகிரால்
போழ்ந்த புனிதன் இடம்

பைங்கண் ஆனைக் கொம்பு கொண்டு பத்திமையால்
அடிக்கீழ்ச் செங்கண் ஆளி இட்டு இறைஞ்சும்
சிங்கவேழ் குன்றமே

It is one of the most exhilarating experiences to make the trip across rocks and water falls to reach the top of this mountain. While it is not an easy task, especially as there is no straight path or steps (unlike a Sholingur), a sincere devotee whose thoughts center around the Lord will be able to make it to the top of this mountain in about 2hours from Ahobila Narasimha temple.
Red Blood of Lord Narasimha
2kms below the Ugra Stambha and 5kms above Ahobila Narasimha Divya Desam is the Jwala Narasimha temple, the exact place where Narasimha tore open Hiranyakashipu. This temple is in a very scenic location, mountains on all sides, with the water fall just about 50yards away. To this day, one can see the red blood below the rock signifying the Hiranya Samharam. At the Jwala Narasimha Sannidhi, one finds Lord Narasimha in the middle in a fiery sitting posture here with 8hands. With a couple of hands, he is seen tearing open Hiranyakashipu and with another two, he is seen holding the Conch and Chakra. 

The developments at Upper Ahobilam is no different to the one below. New additions, Polished granite flooring, shutting out of light and ventilation in most mandapams with the construction of closed walls all around. As with Lower Ahobilam, there too the ‘accruals’ of recent decades have been removed, the polished floors replaced with traditional stones and all the mandapams restored to what it once were.

Festivals 220days a year
There are several inscriptions inside both the Lower and Upper Ahobilam temples. 14th Century inscription records the construction of the steps at the Upper Ahobilam (Divya Desam) temple. A 15th century inscription reveals the gifting of the village (Kaluvacheru- Komaragiripuram) by Karama Reddi for the conduct of the daily rituals and worship at the Divya Desam. A mid 16th century inscription reveals the contributions made by Vijayanagar kings. Kakatiya kings also contributed to the improvement of the temple and the mandapas. Inscriptions relating to the 16th century provide insights into the building of mandapam, Garuda Stambha and festivals on 220 days in the year. Another interesting inscription refers to ‘Thaligai’ to be presented to the Lord twice a day- once at noon and the other in the evening at the Lower Ahobilam temple. Krishna Deva Raya, who sought the blessings of Ahobila Narasimha before going for a battle, came back after having won the battle and installed the Vijaya Stambha in front of the temple here.

Every year, a 12day Brahmotsavam is celebrated in a grand way in Panguni.
While in every large scale restoration exercise, there is an initial apprehension and resistance, Venu Srinivasan finds a lot more openness in temples in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The appreciation of the months of  hard work in restoring the 9 temples to historical glory has found resonance in the people there. And that for the moment is motivating enough for him to carry on  such large scale restoration work well past the 25th year. 

This section will track further the restoration developments at Ahobilam over the next few months.

Sweety S Suresh TN Ranji Finals Captain

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From Obscurity to Leading TN to two Ranji Finals and a National One Day Championship
TN Captain, U22 Coach, State Selector and a Match Referree - A  grounded personality unmoved by the highs and lows 
Just under two decades ago, Tamil Nadu cricket witnessed a shake up when the selectors chose an unfancied captain who had played just three Ranji matches in the previous four years and was not even a certainty in the squad/playing XI. Within two matches that season, there was a ‘behind the scenes’ player revolt, something that was not completely a shock to him (interestingly just over a decade later, another player revolt, this time when he was the state selector, led to the sacking of the Coach, who had been the most influential person in his life). The captain survived that, managed players much bigger in stature, had to drop his ‘best friend’ in cricket on multiple occasions and led TN to two successive Ranji Trophy finals and a win in the All India One day tournament. Soon after the great turnaround, the captain was informed of his sacking and (the need) for him to fight for a place in the squad. On both occasions (the appointment and the removal), the cricketer expressed very little emotion, a characteristic that’s been his way of life all through his cricketing life that has now lasted over three decades. Here is the story of probably the ‘Sweetest’ Captain in TN’s history.

Tennis Ball at Somasundaram Ground
Like most T Nagar cricketers of the 1980s, S Suresh, who resided in Coats Road, began his cricket at the Somasundaram ground playing tennis ball ‘test cricket’ for ‘YSCA’ Gurumurthy’s team. A good chunk of his free time was spent playing street cricket with his neighbour S Sikandar. Like most other cricketing teenagers of the time, he played all kinds of matches – tennis ball, blue star, school cricket and the TNCA league.

M.S. Gurumurthy, who took the teenaged Suresh on cricket tours and also included the 15 year old in his fourth division league team Eccentrics as a wicket keeper batsman, was the one who provided the early cricketing platform for Suresh. He remembers Suresh from those early days “He was such a nice boy, very obedient and sincere. When he spoke, he uttered words in a tone that was always sweet. His family was not particularly fond of him playing cricket all the time and wanted a shift in focus to academics.”
For a cricketer who was to go on to captain the TN Ranji team, he did not feature in any of the age group teams (U15/U17/U22) for the state. In fact, his cricket went largely unnoticed till he was out of his teens.

This writer played a full year alongside Suresh in 1990, a season when he struck his first half centuries in the TNCA league. He was the quiet boy in the team and rarely spoke on or off the field. In the first match of the season, opening the batting with just one over to play before lunch, he struck a six of the first ball and ended the over with another boundary. It indicated very early on his fearless instincts. 

Initiation into bowling
He moved from RKM to Guru Nanak school for his Class XI and XII where he played under the captaincy of current BCCI Umpire R Rajesh Kannan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/06/rajesh-kannan-bcci-board-umpire.html) who remembers initiating him into bowling “We had only four bowlers in our school team. I asked him to play the role of the 5th bowler through that year and that is how he moved from a wicket keeper to a medium pace bowler”.

‘Sweety’ - Forging a lifelong friendship
It was only when he joined Guru Nanak college did he begin to really work seriously on his game.Moved by the sweetness in his character he was called out for as ‘Sweety’ by his captain DJ Gokulakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/03/gokulakrishnan-j.html). The name struck a chord with the cricketing fraternity and has stood with him for the next three decades (very few cricketers now know him by his original name!!). It was during this period that he forged a lifelong friendship with Gokulakrishnan and sought his advice at important moments in his career. 
Rs.500 per match in second division
While at College, he was roped in by Chemplast’s future MD Vijay, son of N Sankar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/jolly-rovers-n-sankar-75.html), for the second division team Kohinoor that he was managing in that phase. Suresh was taken aback when he was told that he would be paid Rs. 500 per match after signing up for Kohinoor. Initially, he refused to accept that payment for he thought he was playing for the love of the game. It was then that he understood the concept of ‘professional fee’ to play the game and considers it his first big moment in cricket "It was a ‘big deal’ for a college cricketer to be paid a 'match fee' in lower division cricket.

Broken Nose
He continued to be a bits and pieces player in the 2nd division as well as at college without making any major contribution. Kohinoor securing promotion that year paved the way for Suresh to make his debut in the first division in 1993, one that was marked by a nasty injury when he was struck on the nose while batting. 
It was Vijay Sankar who took Suresh to Plastic Surgeon Dr. Nirmala Subramaniam to perform the surgery on him (a year earlier, Vijay had stood by S Sharath when he met with a serious road accident). 

Vijay, who remembers Suresh as a ‘well behaved’ boy and a ‘nice fellow’, recalls his batting style from those two years at Kohinoor “He was very good against the fast bowlers and would bat confidently against the new ball but once the spinners came on, his stroke play was limited. Watching him bat years later against spinners, I found a ‘night and day’ change in his approach. He must have worked really hard to have adapted so well to the spinners later on.”

It was in 1994 that he caught the eye of VB Chandrasekar while batting in a practice game for Guru Nanak College against India Cements that had taken up the college ground. It was the first of many transformational interactions he was to have with VBC. What came through in every single interaction over the next decade was the ‘Sweet’ Character in him and the way he accepted the ‘announcements’ made to him at VBC’s home without too many emotions. 

The First Interaction with VBC
Between 1994/95 and 2003/04, Suresh had five major interactions with VBC, at his home on Desikachari Road in Mylapore. The first of these, in the summer of 1994, was soon after his first year in first division with Kohinoor. While Suresh was set to be registered for Sridhar CC, a team run by India Cements, VBC (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html) ‘announced’ to him that he would be playing for Vijay CC ( the 2nd of India Cements’ team) that had just been promoted to first division. Vijay CC was to be the ‘A’ team of India Cements that year and VBC asking him to sign up for that team made him apprehensive for it was to be a star studded batting line up. In his ‘sweet’ way, he pleaded with VBC to sign up for ‘B’ team Sridhar CC but as was to happen in each of his subsequent meetings, VBC always had his way. 
Through the 1990s, Gokulakrishnan was the go to man for Suresh whenever he was in a dilemma. Soon after VBC’s announcement, he went that late evening to Gokulakrishnan’s house to express his predicament. It was based on Gokulakrishnan’s advice that Suresh signed up for Vijay CC. 

An unlikely Corporate Job
When Kohinoor was relegated back into the second division, Suresh was called in by IOB’s dashing opener S. Sivakumar for a job at the bank. Suresh had a family shop on Pondy Bazaar road and the family’s plan was for him to run the shop. They had not liked him pursuing cricket in his teenage years and were keen for him to manage the family business.
Hence when a job offer came from IOB, he was not particularly interested. However, when VBC directed him to take up the employment at India Cements citing opportunities to play in limited over tourneys that were open only for employees (The Hindu Trophy and the like), Suresh, in addition to signing up in the league for Vijay CC, quite reluctantly took up employment with India Cements, marking the beginning of a long association with them that has now lasted over 25years.

With VBC banned for two matches at the start of the season, Suresh opened the batting only to fail on both the occasions. When VBC came back, Suresh original apprehensions came true and he had to sit out the next four matches. An unexpected opportunity came his way in the 7th match of the season and he grabbed it with both hands. It was to be the turning point in his first division career. Karunamurthy non availability opened the doors for Suresh and answered with a classy 65 opening the batting. 

In those first two years at India Cements, he turned around his approach against spinners "While the official nets would start at 3pm, I came an hour ahead and batted against P Rajesh's off spin. That is how I improved my skills against spin."

In 1996-97, he scored three hundreds in the KSCA trophy in Bangalore against big named national teams. He considers the century against Javagal Srinath on a challenging wicket in that tourney as his best knock in cricket. In the Arlem Trophy in Goa, he picked up four wickets including WV Raman and M Senthilnathan and scored a half century in the chase. He followed that with another good knock against Chemplast. Having been apprehensive at the start of his India Cements career, match winning all round performances in these one day tournaments gave him the confidence and he never looked back for India Cements after that. 
 
The 2nd Big Moment with VBC – To Goa for his Ranji debut
Following his stellar role in these tournaments, VBC called him home for the 2nd big cricketing ‘announcement’ (VBC took all his big decisions on the Verandah of his house!!!). In that meeting, he asked Suresh to join him in Goa for the Ranji season ( VB had moved to Goa the previous year taking along with him J Gokulakrishnan). It was a completely unexpected call and for the second time running, Suresh expressed his apprehension at him matching up to Ranji Standards. VBC once again instilled the confidence in him of his ‘hidden’ abilities and made the decision for Suresh and he made his way to Panjim along with Gokulakrishnan, who had already played a year for Goa the previous season. 

Highest Rungetter for Goa
He considers his engagement with VBC as being transformational in his life “It was a great experience to open with VB. To watch him captain on the field was a great learning- his thought process, the bowling changes, the field setting for different batsmen. His guidance in that phase was transformational. He brought the best out of me and helped me play to my potential.”

In his debut season in Ranji Trophy cricket, Suresh emerged the highest run getter for Goa, quite a creditable achievement for someone who had least expected to play Ranji cricket. His first big contribution in Ranji Trophy came against Andhra when he picked up 6wickets in the match and helped his team chase down a target with an unbeaten 80. But he rates the half century and a century (carrying the bat) against Tamil Nadu in a losing cause as the most satisfying performance of the year.

Topping the batting charts in a low year in Ranji for Goa was personally satisfying for Suresh as was the three successive half centuries in the one day tourney but his cricketing life witnessed another unexpected turn, this time for the worse with him having to lose a year of Ranji cricket. VBC, in yet another of his battles, fell out of favour with the Goan authorities and decided to head back to Madras bringing to end his first class career. Unfortunately, he also brought along the two youngsters, Gokulakrishnan and Suresh, back with him.

TNCA introduces a sudden Cool Off Period!!!
When they returned, much to their shock, the TA Sekar led Selection committee along with the TNCA decided on a one year cooling off period for those who played for another state the previous year and thus both of them had to sit out the entire year (interestingly, when MRF’s Ashish Kapoor came back the next year after his outing with Punjab, the same TA Sekar led panel and the TNCA revoked the one year cooling off and Aashish Kapoor played for TN immediately). After having enjoyed a successful debut season, it was a harsh home coming for Suresh and his first introduction to the wagaries of the TNCA. For the next 3years, Suresh remained on the fringe and continued to play only the odd game for TN.

From Obscurity to The TN Captaincy
In the summer of 2000, VBC announced the decision to hand him the captaincy of the India Cements team. There were other star performers in the team but VBC saw a captaincy spark in Suresh and appointed him as the captain for the year. India Cements won one day tournaments under him including the KSCA for the first time after many years. Soon after, he was made the captain of the TNCA XI for the Buchi Babu tourney and the team won that as well with Suresh scoring a century in each innings in the Semi Final.
As the Chairman of Selectors, VBC handed to him the biggest news of his life. He ‘announced’ to him that he was suggesting his name as the captain of the TN team that year. TN was a star studded batting lineup at that time with three international players (Sriram, Ramesh and Badani) and Sharath, who has amassed runs for TN over the previous decade. While TN had had a mixed decade in the 1990s reaching the finals only twice and Captaincy had not been a strong point in the state with several captains have experienced the hot seat, Suresh himself had not been a regular in the team since his debut for Goa and had played only 3 Ranji Matches for TN in the previous 4 years. 

Suresh remembers that meeting at VBC’s home in Mylapore “I clearly told him that I did not want the job as there were bigger stars in the team but with him it was always a one way monologue. He had made up his mind and no one could reject his call. He reasoned out that others were not even captaining their league teams regularly and were also likely to be away on international duty that season.”
The news sent shock waves in the TN cricketing fraternity. TN middle order batsman from the 1980s PC Prakash was part of that Selection Committee and explains the thought process behind the decision “We needed a strong captain to bring the team together and handle big names. Sweety was a selfless cricketer and always placed the team interest ahead of him. He was non controversial as well. We thought he would fit that role well. Also, the fact that VBC had made him the captain of the India Cements team earlier and worked with him closely meant there was a comfort factor for him as the Chariman.”

While Suresh was not a regular member of the team in previous years, the fact that he was made the captain for 2002-03 meant a batting spot had been taken up. Gokulakrishnan’s brother was a casualty that year. In successive seasons in 2000-01 and 01-02, JR Madanagopal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/madanagopal-j.html?m=0) was Tamil Nadu’s highest run scorer in one day cricket and performed well in Ranji Trophy in the limited opportunities that he got. In both the years, he was among the top 6 in the country in domestic one day cricket in India out beating most of the reputed names in the state. And yet he was not picked for the  entire one day league phase in 2002/03.
A 'Players Revolt' in the offing
After TN’s narrow first innings lead against Baroda in the season opener (thanks to the late half century partnership between Sharath and Gokulakrishnan), the team just about survived in its 2nd match against UP with the last pair batting out a tense last 15minutes on the final evening (it was a year when the zonal format was discarded in the Ranji Trophy).

After the shaky start to the season and with Suresh not performing with the bat, there was an upheaval with the stars in the team unhappy with the new captain. To complicate things further, the coach of the team (B Arun, then of Chemplast) did not see eye to eye with Chairman VBC. Back room meetings were being organised to remove him from the captaincy. Suresh remembers this as a very challenging phase in his life and he just about hung in there “I did not want the captaincy fearing exactly this and it happened sooner than expected. There was a huge pressure on me to perform both as a batsman as well as to get the team to perform. There was also pressure building up on VB for it was he who backed me as a captain. Luckily, we had a break for the one-dayers after the first two Ranji matches and that was the turning point in the season and we never looked back after that.”

TN fared exceedingly well in the shorter format and qualified for the nationals. Suresh himself scored 82 against a strong Karnataka side comprising Kumble and Prasad.  With the  win in the all India One dayers under his belt and the confidence of a tournament victory behind him, Suresh hit a bit of personal form with the bat in the Ranji scoring two half centuries and a century following the resumption of the season. Overall, he scored close to 450runs in a season. 

His refreshing memories of that year was the performance of L Balaji “When your new ball bowler takes that many number of five wicket hauls in a single season, the team will obviously get a boost. Balaji played a big role in our reaching the final.”

Looking back, he sees that final as one of the best opportunities for TN to win the Ranji once again “After having bowled out Bombay cheap, we were batting really well but just one bad session cost us the opportunity of a big first innings lead. We should have sealed the match in the first innings.”

Un‘Sweet’ Decisions
The year itself was not without selection controversies. In one of the matches, there was a discord between the Chairman of Selectors and the Coach on the selection of the XI with Suresh caught in the middle of the tangle. With the Umpires and the opposition captain waiting for the toss, the composition was still being finalised. It was probably the only time in his career that the 'Sweetness went out of Suresh' as he made his way into the ground with 10 players written in the list and wrote the 11th player just near the toss area.

In the course of the year, he also had to do the unthinkable of dropping Gokulakrishnan, his college captain and his closest friend of over a decade, more than once. He calls it as the toughest decision of his cricketing career.

By the time the next season arrived, coach Arun was keen on bringing in youngsters into the team and the seniors were being eased out. In the Buchi Babu, he was relegated to the captaincy of TNCA Presidents XI but Suresh led that team to victory as well.  With the new model for the season the pressure of ‘stars’ around him eased a bit for Suresh in the 2003/04 Ranji tourney. The team performed well once again as a unit under Suresh and the team once again reached the final but was soundly thrashed by Bombay. After the morale boosting tournament win the previous year, TN slid in the national one day championship after topping the zone.

Two Successful Years but Captaincy gone!!!
It had been two glorious and unprecedented years – two successive Ranji finals and one national one day tourney win and a Zonal One day win - for TN under Suresh. But his personal batting form dropped drastically in the 2nd season in Ranji where he managed only 300runs in 15innings, though he performed well in the one dayers, once again. Despite TN reaching two successive Ranji finals, he was dropped from the captaincy for the coming season. PC Prakash justifies that decision of the selection committee “Our appointment, in 2002, of Suresh was vindicated by TN reaching the Ranji finals twice in a row. At the end of the 2nd year, we felt that the captaincy was affecting his batting. We wanted him to focus on his batting and bowling.”

In a cricketing engagement that lasted exactly a decade having started in the summer of 1994, it had all been positive news thus far. For the first time, that summer of 2004, VBC called him home to hand him news that did not sound sweet "He told me that the team was moving on, I was being removed from Captaincy and that I would have to earn my place in the squad. When I said Okay, he was stunned and asked if I did not want to know the reason. I said No!!!” 

That is how Suresh has been all his life. He has easily absorbed the highs and lows taking everything in his stride without too much excitement or depression. Questions will forever be asked if his captaincy was the differentiator those two years that led to TN’s success.

Peter Roebuck (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/11/peter-roebuck-my-favourite-cricket.html) in his book writes on Brian Rose’s captaincy for Somerset contributing to the team’s success that year “Captaincy is not as straightforward an occupation as it seems. He had to keep the side together (for months) while surviving the inevitable setbacks, insecurities and differences and still performing upon the field, for a struggling captain swiftly loses his authority.”
   Peter Roebuck - The ABC Commentary Team in Madras - 2001

Suresh was caught in the same scenario when he took over as captain but in the same way as Rose did for Somerset in 1979, Suresh managed to take TN all the way through, winning the national one day tourney before falling in the final hurdle in the Ranji (Somerset too won the one day tourney that year). It was an incredible achievement for this quiet cricketer who at the beginning of the season may not have had his place, secure, in the team. Under his captaincy, the fortunes of TN were certainly turned around after a barren run in the years preceding. 

Suresh himself looks back at those two years as the most challenging as well as the most exciting days of his cricket career “Both years presented different sets of challenges to me. While the first year was challenging because of the presence of a lot of seniors, the second one had several newcomers in the team. It was a period when my relationship with the closest of friends was strained. It was a delicate situation for me and I was not really used to being in those situations, previously. But I became tougher and stronger, mentally.  Also, I became a bit more of an extrovert in that phase.”

Gurumurthy is delighted that his ward has not changed one bit from the tennis ball days of the 1980s “His perseverance helped him reach the top in Tamil Nadu. Well over three decades after he first played for me, his conduct still remains the same – truly top class. It is the strength of the personality that has really stood out with him. He has not forgotten those early cricketing days and still talks to me in the same sweet way he did as a young RKM school boy. ”

Most who have interacted with him over the last 30 years would endorse that view of Gurumurthy.

Suresh played the last three years of his Ranji cricket as professional for Kerala (two years with S Ramesh) and Assam (a year with Sharath and Ramesh) before hanging his boots. (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/11/sadhagopan-ramesh.html

As a teenager, Suresh’s thoughts were on playing cricket for the love of the game and to take care of the family shop. Playing Ranji cricket was not something he had set his eyes on. But once he came under the influence of VB Chandrasekar, his life took a transformative turn. Cricket became not just an integral part of everyday life but also a very successful one playing over 40 first class matches. He achieved what no other TN captain of his generation has – that of leading the state to two successive finals and the One Day victory. More importantly, he has come through unscathed in cricket over a long three decades association as one with a clean slate. And that is a big deal for a TN cricketer. 

On top of all these, the one personality trait that has stood out shining all through his life has been that Somasetty Suresh has remained grounded amidst all the cricketing success that saw him rise to the State Captaincy, a Coach and State Selector and now a BCCI Match Referee.

Suresh will forever be the 'Sweetest' TN Captain.

Thirunagari Thirumangai Azhvaar Utsavam

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Thiruvali Thirunagari Divya Desam's 87 year old Venkatesan Bhattar passes away ahead of Avathara Utsavam
The last of the Azhvaars provides darshan in a rare Sayana Kolam on the 6th day of the Avathara utsavam at Thirunagari Divya Desam 
Thirumangai Azhvaar Avathaar Utsavam has just begun at Thirunagari Divya Desam near Sirkazhi. As per the directions of the Government, this year's utsavam will be bereft of Street Processions and the entire ten day utsavam culminating on Karthigai day in Karthigai will be organised inside the temple complex. The Utsavam this year will also miss Venkatesan Bhattar, who passed away last weekend, aged 87. His son Padmanabhan Bhattar, who along with his (cousin) brother Sridhar, has been taking care of the poojas at this Divya Desam over the last 25years too will not be able to be at the utsavam this year. 

Born in Sengendhi, near Trichy, he moved to Sirkazhi in his childhood and completed the four Vedas at the Vibrant Patshala in Thadalan Divya Desam. During those early years, he would accompany the grandfather of Badri Narayanan Bhattar of Kaazhi Cheerama Vinnagaram to Thiruvali - Thirunagari and thus he became devotionally attached to Thiru Mangai Azhvaar. 

Financially Challenging Days in the 70s and 80s 
Venkatesan Bhattar performed service at the Thirunagari Divya Desam for many decades. Throughout the childhood days of Padmanabhan Bhattar, in the 1970s/80s, things were so challenging, financially, that his mother would wait for his father to bring the temple thaligai after the morning pooja and it was then that she would feed the entire family. It was a very difficult phase for the family with very little salary from the temple and an almost non existent Thattu Kaasu. 

Those decades were also one of the worst for Divya Desams in Thiru Nangur.  Even the few devotees that visited the other Divya Desams did not turn up here for there were no public transport facilities in those days and this was far too remote to access. Through most of the days, Venkatesan Bhattar would wait at the entrance looking for that elusive devotee before shutting the door around noon. 
When it was time for Venkatesan Bhattar to retire, officially, Padmanabhan Bhattar took over in 1995 at a monthly salary of just Rs. 360/-. Venkatasan Bhattar was roped in by the authorities at the Anjaneya Temple in Nanganallur and he performed service there till well into his 80s including after plates were inserted on both his legs.

Priests at Thiruvali Thirunagari
While some sort of revival happened in in the 1990s in many other Divya Desams, Thiruvali Thirunagari was at least a decade behind. In 2000, Padmanabhan Bhattgar also took charge as an archaka at Thiruvali Divya Desam at a monthly salary of Rs. 200. In the 25 years of his service, Padmanabhan Bhattar’s salary at Thirunagari temple has risen from Rs. 360 to just a few thousands. This utsavam takes a big toll on him for there is very little rest on most days. Unmindful of the physical and financial challenges, he goes about the task devotionally. 
வந்து உனது அடியேன் மனம் புகுந்தாய்
புகுந்ததற்பின் வணங்கும்
என் சிந்தனைக்கு இணையாய்
 திருவே, என் ஆர் உயிரே

அம்  தளிர் அணி ஆர் அசோகின்
இளந் தளிர்கள் கலந்து
அவை எங்கும் செந்தழல் புரையும்
திருவாலி அம்மானே
Last year, an offer came his way to support a Samprokshanam in another temple that would have made him richer by atleast Rs. 20000 for a 4 day service which is several times his official salary for the month from the Thirunagari temple. In the two and a half decades, he has been at Thiruvali-Thirunagari, he has let go several such revenue earning opportunities, opting instead on serving Thiru Mangai Azhvaar and Kalyana Ranganatha at Thirunagari and Lord Narasimha at Thiruvali. 

On Utsavam days, priests in such remote temples spend almost 12hours with street processions in the morning and evening as well as managing the daily pooja work. There is usually no one to even enquire about their well being for most of the original inhabitants have moved, long ago, seeking greener pastures in cities. Priests such as Padmanabhan Bhattar have survived these 25 years in such remote temples simply through their devotional commitment to the Lord and Azhvaar unmindful of the very low salary paid to them. 

On non utsavam days, Padmanabhan Bhattar shuttles on his old TVS XL bike between Thiruvali and Thirunagari to perform daily service at both these temples jointly considered as one Divya Desam. It is through the decades of tireless efforts of bhattars such as Padmanabhan that devotees are now able to have darshan in such remote locations. 

Reliving last year's Avathara Utsavam
It is well past 1am on a rainy Saturday (Dec 7, 2019) night at Thirunagari, the sixth of the Thiru Mangai Azhvaar Avathara Utsavam. The dimunitive and the tireless 50 year old Padmanabhan Bhattachar has had a long day and is now in the process of unveiling the once in a year Thiru Kolam to the 50 odd devotees who had stayed back to witness this rare event in a Divya Desam. It is the only day in the year when Thiru Mangai Azhvaar, who praised Thiru Kudanthai in such glorious verses in the Thiru Ezhu Kootrirukai, provides darshan in a Sayana Kolam similar to the one seen at the Sarangapani Aaravamudhan Divya Desam. 
நால் திசை நடுங்க  அம் சிறைப் பறவை ஏறி
நால் வாய் மும் மதத்து இரு செவி
ஒரு தனி  வேழத்து அரந்தையை
ஒரு நாள் இரு நீர்மடுவுள் தீர்த்தனை

The scene earlier in the day left one surprised. For a remote Divya Desam with minimal public transport facilities, the temple was seen packed with Prabhandham members reciting the Perumal Thirumozhi and the sixth canto of Periya Thirumozhi of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar. A few from Thiruvallikeni Divya Desam made a big difference with a devotional rendering of the sacred verses as did the several budding boys seen in a traditional attire who had made their way from Srirangam Patshala for the Utsavam. 
Badri Narayana Bhattar of Kazhi Cheeram Vinnagaram Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/05/kaazhicheeraama-vinnagaram.html) was at Thirunagari to take care of the decoration of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar and Kumudavalli Nachiyar for the evening procession (Badri Bhattar will be leading the Utsavam this year as well with Padmabhan/Sridhar Bhattar having to stay away fromt he temple). 

Even as the rain belted down in buckets on the 6th evening, Badri Narayana Bhattar was focusing on the minute details of the alankaram ahead of Elephant Vahana procession. In a happy development, the next gen of Bhattars too has been an integral part of this Utsavam. 19 year old Gokul, the son of Padmanabhan Bhattachar and a student at Sastra Engineering College too was participating in the festivities of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar seen in three different attires on this sixth evening. 

Thirumangai Azhvaar refers to Sinthanai Kiniyaan
After two hours, the screen finally opened up for the devotees just after 8pm with Thiru Mangai Azhvaar seen in a grand princely attire, flanked by Kumudavalli Nachiyar. Also seen atop the elephant was Sinthanai Kiniyaan. By 9 pm, well over a hundred devotees had gathered at the mandapam ( this November 2020, it is unlikely there will be too many devotees at this utsavam with all the restrictions and the absence of street processions). And for the next half hour, it took devotees back in time to memories of the period when this Divya Desam reverberated with devotional rendering of the Divya Prabhandham. 
Badri Narayanan Bhattar, Sirkazhi

The Sri Patham too gathered in big numbers for this difficult elephant vahana procession. Soon after 10pm, the rains gathered speed again and unfortunately the procession lasted only till the end of the Sannidhi street. Following the commencement of the Divya Prabhandham, Thiru Mangai Azhvaar and Kumudavalli Nachiyar returned to the temple. 
‘புண்ணை மன்னும் செருந்தி வண்  பொழில்
வாய் அகன் பணைகள் கலந்து
எங்கும் அன்னம் மண்ணும் வயல்
அணி ஆலி அம்மானே’

மாதவன் தன் துணையா நடந்தால்
தடம் சூழ் புறவில்
போது வண்டு ஆடு செம்மல்
புனல் ஆலி புகுவர்கொலோ

The priests then got down to the second alankaram of the evening – from the princely attire seen earlier in the evening, Thiru Mangai Azhvaar now moved into a wedding Thiru Kolam and just after midnight, he along with Kumudavalli Nachiyar made their way to the Eastern Raja Gopuram for the ‘exchange of garlands’. 

Thirumangai Azhvaar Sayana Kolam
The events of this long day came to an end just before 2am when the devotees headed to the Kannadi Arai for a glimpse of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar in a handsome Sayana Kolam similar to the posture of Lord Aaravamudhan of Thiru Kudanthai Divya Desam, with Kumudavalli Nachiyar seen standing and serving him at his feet. 
While the devotees made their way home soon after, there was still an hour of work left for the priests for they had to move Thiru Mangai Azhvaar from the Sayana Kolam attire to one for the early morning procession on the 7th day. It was 3am when the priests finally left the temple for a well earned rest. 

Such is the life of a priest in remote temples on big utsavam days.
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