K Ravishankar Alwarpet TSM

It was a hot Saturday afternoon in April 1988. This writer was asked by T Nagar Auditor Varadan (who promoted cricket actively in those days) to bowl to a promising cricketer in the nets ahead of his preparation for the YSCA Trophy match. It was also the season he was to sign up for Alwarpet to play in the first division for the first time. For well over two hours, he was full of concentration at the Vidya Mandir nets and gave a sense of ‘wanting to succeed’ in cricket much in contrast to the external public image that he portrayed of not being so serious about playing the game. That was one of those rare moments of outward display of his determination in cricket for throughout his cricket career including playing in lower division cricket years later, he gave the feeling of ‘enjoying’ his cricket and at most times allowing others to shine. After having started cricket very late, he had a riveting five years in the late 1980s and early 90s, a phase in which he captained his college to tournament victories, the Madras University to a final and contributed enough in the first division to warrant a place in the team for the then prestigious Buchi Babu tourney. But he quit a year later following the death of his father to focus on the family business one that he has taken to great heights. What shone through then and it has right through over the last three decades is that both in cricket and business, he remains as helpful as anyone can be in life always sporting a smile. Here is the story of one of the most pleasant cricketers the city has seen.

Like any youngster from the 1970s, K Ravishankar (Ravi) played tennis ball cricket every evening with the neighbourhood friends in Mylapore but much to his own surprise, he did not get into the more serious version as he did not find a place in the Vidya Mandir team till he was 14 such was the strength of school cricket in those days. Even after he managed to get into the squad in Class IX, he could not break through into the playing XI. One of his earliest inspirations right from those school days was the dashing opener VV Sankapani ‘It was quite an experience to watch him bat. His knocks for the school combined with my non selection drove me to work harder on my batting.’

Finally, he got into the playing XI when he was in class XI, not always the right time for academically inclined students. A year later, he was in the city team in U17 but he did not make much of a progress. But at 18, with a lot more confidence of league runs and his performances for Vidya Mandir in his final year behind him, he starred at the U19 level where he represented South Zone.

Left arm fast bowler Hemant Srivatsa, who was given a raw deal by Alwarpet in the late 1980s, was one year senior at Vidya Mandir. He remembers Ravi as a late bloomer “We were a strong side in the 80s. Ravi came in late into the school team but once he did, he performed really well. A stylish bat, non controversial and a sweet personality, he was the blue eyed boy of Vidya Mandir once he took charge and led the next bunch of cricketers there. ”

It was his performance in the third division league that got him into the strong Alwarpet team in the first division at 18. His father encouraged him to pursue cricket and stood by him through the teenage years. Hence, while his two brothers had professional degrees, Ravishankar focused on cricket at college. 

For former TN allrounder and State Coach, DJ Gokulakrishnan, Ravishankar was a hero at that time "He was my captain in Junior State. He has always been a nice person and was a good cricketer in those days. He also used to play as a guest for us in local tournaments. He was like a hero to us then." 

As he looks back at those first six months at Alwarpet, he recalls the anxiety within him to prove in front of the stars of the TVS run team“As a teenager who had played his first ever cricket match just a few years earlier, here I was sitting next to Srikkanth who was at the peak of his India powers at that time. I was quite nervous watching Cheeka and Vidya Mandir icon Sanku give us those rollicking starts. It left me wondering if I really belonged to that stage. There was always this question of a lack of self belief in my abilities to muster big knocks.”

Despite this initial apprehension, the period from 1988 to 1992 was marked by some outstanding knocks almost to his disbelief against tough oppositions for Vivekananda College as well as for Alwarpet. In the practice matches for Vivekananda College against Jolly Rovers, he helped chase 300 runs including hitting B Arun out of the ground twice. Following this, he scored a half century against a SPIC attack comprising of TA Sekar and S Vasudevan. 

Fast bowler S Aravind played alongside Ravishankar at school, college and Alwarpet CC and watched him from the dressing room for close to a decade. He recalls Ravi from the 1980s and early 90s “He was a handsome (pun intended) left handed batsman who should have played for the state for long. Once when we had toured England to play a few matches, we played against a team called HULL CC. They had a few overseas players. I remember, vividly, we were 0 for 2. A tall, well built, strong West Indian who was really quick had bagged 2 wickets in the first few balls. Ravi, who opened the batting that day, scored a brilliant century to get us back into the game. As a person, Ravi is ever helpful and a very kind hearted person, who means good for others.”

The four years at college were quite intense and he peaked in cricket in that phase. Against Pachaiyappas College comprising SM Balaji and P Rajesh, he played a captain’s knock in the final to help win the trophy. His tourney winning knock of 90NO for Vivekananda College against a Karnataka XI in the Brijesh Patel Cricket Clinic’s Annual tourney in Bangalore earned him early praise from Brijesh himself “He called me and told me that I had the promise and had it in me to play higher. It was inspirational words that helped me belief a bit more in my abilities.”

He remembers the century against a strong MRF bowling attack comprising of Vivek Razdan and Robin Singh that gave him a lot of confidence that he belonged to that level. He was adjudged the Best Batsman in the prestigious annual tournament held in Tirupanuthura. In the four years he was at Alwarpet, he also managed once to put on a century stand with the then India captain Srikkanth at the University Union ground against SBI “Everyone ran on to the ground to get an autograph from Cheeka and then a few got my autograph too. It was an amazing feeling to be signing autographs alongside the Indian captain.”

Srikkanth, who was a great source of encouragement, helped him secure a cricket contract with a minor county in the UK league where he scored a lot of runs in swinging conditions.

He remembers two knocks played against two top off spinners as the best of his career. Against IOB, he countered the wily M Santosh Kumar, who he calls as a top off spinner of the time. And then came the knock of 95 against India Pistons where he weathered the bowling of legendary off spinner S Venkataraghavan who was also a state selector at that time. Srikkanth had told him shortly after that Venkat was impressed with his batting and saw the potential in him to progress to the next level in cricket. Being a left hander, it was particularly pleasing for him at that time to come up with two big knocks against renowned off spinners.

Ravishankar topped 700runs at the turn of the decade for Alwarpet and seemed to be going in the right direction. He was in the Buchi Babu team and the Ranji probable. He had heard stories of Gavaskar performing in the Buchi Babu tournament in the 1970s when he was growing up and he considered it an honour to be selected for that tournament. However, once again, self doubts lingered as he was surrounded by bigger stars in the team and he did not free himself enough to make a mark in that tournament that was then the stepping stone for entry into Ranji cricket.

Despite being a late bloomers, within a few years of his entry into first division, he had contributed enought to find a place in the prestigious Buchi Babu tourney but it was not until he played for MCC well over a decade later was he able to express himself freely “I just was not there mentally. I did not have the self belief to convert those starts in the Buchi Babu tournament into big knocks that would have helped me seal the Ranji Selection. Even though I knew I had a wide array of strokes, I imposed a lot of ‘self restrictions’ on my game and I just could not break the shackles. It was not until 2005 when I came back in cricket to play for MCC did I free myself and began playing like Sanku. I decided to hit a boundary in the first over of the innings, much like Sanku did and I enjoyed in that role but back in the late 80s and 90s, I was almost a nervous wreck playing alongside Srikkanth.”

Former Alwarpet team mate R Madhavan, who Ravi says treated him like a younger brother found Ravi to be graceful in his stroke play “He was extremely talented and a graceful batsman. He could also bowl a bit. I feel he did not concentrate enough as he had business commitments to shoulder.”

With the brothers having secured a professional degree and a family business to run, there was always a conflict between cricket and academics and a doubt as to how long he should continue with cricket. 

The death of his father in November 1992 led to Ravishankar quitting serious cricket and joining the then 60year old used cars business in April 1995 after completing his MBA  from Manipal University. Thus, by 23, he quit cricket after having been in the Ranji probables and the Buchi Babu squad the previous year. He has no regrets on quitting cricket early "23 was a threshold for me in terms of being in the TN squad. When I did not manage that and with a family business to take care of, I made that call to let go of cricket."

Soon after joining TSM, he dramatically changed the business model. After having been a pure used car broking firm for the best part of 60years, Ravishankar launched the ‘buy and sell’ model soon after taking over charge in the mid 1990s when the company’s turnover was just a few crores. This meant significant ongoing investment into the business. This new model initiated by Ravishankar now contributes around 50% to the overall business of TSM. 

His father, Krishnamurthy, persisted with a few key messages all through Ravishankar’s childhood – ‘Always be polite and nice to people, respect them irrespective of who they are and have your feet grounded regardless of the success you achieve’. He seems to be following his father’s message every single day in all walks of life as endorsed by a conversation about five years ago.

Ravishankar had been drained out with non-stop calls from his customers and colleagues. De-hydrated, he was in bed the whole of the afternoon. He was back the next morning at his cheerful best talking to his two decades old customer in the way that only Ravi can. In an hour long chat, the customer (who had not sold a car outside of TSM) was in negotiation to sell his old Accent. While it seemed to be a done deal, he kept coming back to the point of ‘what’s the best price’. Ravi gave enough reasons to convince his customer that this was seriously a great price for him. Almost every single time, he makes the customer leave the showroom with a sense of ‘I have got the best possible price in Madras’!!! 

It all started in 1935. His grandfather the legendary TS Mahalingam was in Burma. Having worked there for a while (he was said to be a great auto mechanic who could solve any problem relating to cars - such was his expertise), he saw an opportunity to trade in cars, something that had not been done previously in a formal way in Madras and was of the firm belief that this would one day become a big business in the city. He came back from Burma and took the bold move to start this from a small shop near the Swagat Hotel on Royapettah High Road. During the first decade of the launch, he would charge Rs. 5-10 to bring together the buyer and seller and to broker the sale of a car!!!

Into the mid 1950s, three of TSM’s sons took this business into the next phase of growth. Those days, the fee had risen to around Rs. 100 per transaction. It was also the time that they bought out the property - now a landmark location - on Royapettah High Road. It surprised them that they had customers from Nagaland and Mizoram. There were many instances when customers from Andhra Pradesh camped at the Swagat Hotel for days and went back only after TSM helped them close the ‘car deal’. 

Soon after he joined, Ravi organised an exchange mela giving away cell phones free as part of the deal - this was the first time TSM had done a mela. The result - he sold 72 Maruti cars that weekend. 

Cricket has played a big part in building a strong customer base for TSM. A good number of his customers are yester year cricketers who look up to Ravi for advice. There is a great comfort factor for the cricketers in entrusting their car ‘buy and sell’ to Ravi.

While broking – a business that they were in for the first 60years - was a stable model with fixed commission, the buying and selling of used cars that Ravi has forayed into is fraught with risk. There have been times that the cars he has bought have remained unsold for months but overall it has paid rich dividends. These days he is constantly on the look out to buy used cars. 

Ravi has also diversified TSM’s business into Insurance and car loans as part of a de-risking strategy. 

He says margins are low in the used cars business and it is important to drive volumes. He jokes that he would have earned lot more by letting out this prime premises in Royapettah but the joy of providing employment to a lot of people, a 100 of them now, seeing the happiness in them and the process of carrying on the legacy of a firm started by his grandfather 85years ago is very satisfying that no amount of money cannot compensate.

In between taking care of his business and his time at the cricket grounds playing inter club cricket for MCC, Ravi was lured into acting by his school mate (and son of KB) Prasanna. Ravi donned the role of a handsome ‘young boy’ in KB’s Premi. Despite receiving accolades for his acting skills, Ravi could not allocate time away from his business and hence it has thus far been restricted to just a couple of roles on TV.

A scene at the TSM office on a Tuesday morning, normally a lean day in the week says it all about Ravi and his pleasant personality. Two staffers at his office are engaged in a heated discussion on the price of a vehicle. As the two debate the sale price, the lady throws in the final winning punch. - Ravi Sir thought that Rs. 4.20L was a good deal leaving the man totally frustrated. This is a typical event at the TSM showroom every day with Ravi almost always seeming to give away a better deal to his customer. With Ravi, you have always felt that he has given more than he has taken. He has kind of never said ‘No’ to anything people have asked of him. 

In 1999, it was one of those close matches in a third division league match for Prithvi at the Pachaiyappas College ground. Ravi and this writer were playing for the same team that year. A young not so financially well to do 19year old boy from the outskirts of the city brought the back from what looked like a certain defeat. The clock had just ticked past 5pm that Sunday evening and it had been a long tiring day. While all the players were packing their bags to leave, Ravi took out his new pair of shoes and in an instant gesture of appreciation of helping the team win handed it to the young boy with a ‘well played, do well’ message that left the boy in tears.

His teammate from his Alwarpet days and my spin partner at YMCA TSR V Sakthivel is now a mid level manager at Sundaram Finance. He also played against Ravi’s Vivekananda when he captained Loyola college. He recently bought a second hand car that Ravishankar suggested with no second thoughts or options and with no bargaining. Sakthivel recalls the everlasting quality of Ravi as a personality “Two qualities have not changed in Ravi in the 30 years that I have known since our first match together for Alwarpet. He continues to be very jovial and is easily one of the most helpful persons that I have seen. Down to earth as a personality, he often goes out of his way to help others. During those cricketing days, while he did not externally show the burning desire to perform, once he went into bat, he always gave it his best, though he  always gave an impression to others that he was not all that serious on cricket.”

This buring desire to his batting was seen when in an inter club match a few years ago Ravi, then in his late 40s, almost refused to leave the wicket after getting out LBW to this writer. 

Today, he sells on an average around 250 cars every month from the three branches in the city. TSM has also moved digital with all info on the cars at TSM now available online. He is bullish on the used cars business especially with the market growing and the consumption levels on the rise. 

The used cars sales at the firm that he has been heading and managing for the last 25 years went on an upward spiral in the first fortnight of March this year. Just before the lockdown, he closed out a Rs. 50lakhs deal of a high end luxury car with a leading doctor in Chennai. That showed to him that business is there to be taken. “The first fortnight of March saw us post one of the best sales for March, in years. Used car sales were rocking. There seemed to be a buying frenzy. It looked like the sales would boom for the rest of the year. And suddenly with the lockdown, it felt like having fallen from a cliff” says Ravishankar looking back at the lockdown phase.

The Lockdown gave him many sleepless nights for he was worried about the uncertainty in business and the likely speed of recovery. However, with the lifting of restrictions, the business has seen a sharp climb up on the back of pent up demand and the social distancing apprehensions relating to Public transportation. His grand father had built the firm offering value to customers in terms of quality and range, a fair pricing in his deals and terrific after sales service. And Ravi has been continuing that legacy taking it forward at a much faster pace. When he took charge in 1995, TSM clocked turnover of just around Rs. 5crores. Today, he has driven that up to around Rs. 100crores. 

Ravishankar, who was not always ambitious in cricket, now aims to double TSM’s turnover to around Rs. 200crores over the next five years. It is likely he will do that with the cheerful smile that he has sported all his life and the message that the customer should always be the winner.