A person capable of applying his attention in many directions is referred to as Astavadhanii. The title would certainly fit T.A. Venkateswaran, popularly known as Isaikkavi Ramanan. who has enriched the world of performing arts with his talents as a thinker, writer, poet, actor, speaker, singer, photographer and performer
I first met Ramanan at a
Madras Book Club meeting where he was in conversation with a professor from
Pondicherry on his book on Mahakavi Bharathi`s life in Pondy. Ramanan was very
articulate and impressed me with not only his knowledge of Bharathi but also
his impeccable English. I came to know that he is a bilingual writer and
speaker. He is as comfortable giving a talk in English or writing in English as
he is in Tamil. From a successful corporate honcho to a popular performer on the stage, Ramanan has
come a long way in 20 years. He turned 70 on 30th March this year. I
decided to explore his reinvention story for the readers of Madras
Musings.
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Ramanan`s late
father, Sri T.V.Anantaramaseshan was a scholar in English and Sanskrit. An M.A.
(Hons) with a gold medal from the Presidency College, Madras. he taught
Economics at Loyola College (1954 – 63) before he joined The Hindu as Assistant
Editor, where he worked for 23 years. Later he was associated with
the evening paper News today. An expert in temple/sculptural architecture, he
was instrumental in conducting 25 Kumbhabhishekam. He composed 27 Suprabhatams
on deities from Kanyakumari to Jageshwar. No wonder Ramanan has his penchant
for spiritualism in his blood. Ramanan also has imbibed the zest for
life and enthusiasm from his 95 years old mother Savithri, who now lives with
him.
Sandwiched
between three elder sisters and one younger sister who were all super singers,
Ramanan obviously had singing in his blood. However, only his youngest
sister pursued a career in singing.
While in Ramakrishna
Mission Boys High School, Bazululla Road, in Chennai where he completed his
SSLC, he used to participate in literary competitions. The first time he
ever received a prize was when he was in his third or fourth class for singing
Bharathi’s Vellai Thamarai. He fondly remembers receiving two volumes of
Eesop’s fables (in Tamil) from Sri Parali Su Nellaiappar, Bharathi’s close
associate.
Recalling his
student days Ramanan says, “For a poor student to whom even simple arithmetic
was a horrible nightmare, studying Commerce in A M Jain College, Meenambakkam,
was nothing less than a disaster. Most of my class hours were spent under the
trees, penning poems or winning prizes in debates, oratorical competitions,
essay writing, mono acting, recitation and so on. I was the Secretary of the
Commerce Association once and Fine Arts Association later during which time, I
could invite Kannadasan to our college” His tryst with Kannadasan and his songs
probably started from that time.
Ramanan says
that he never had any academic dreams, though he was always a dreamer. While
poetry enticed him on one side, he was a natural mind watcher too. There is a
vision that has stayed with him since he was 10 or so – that of an angler with
a brown hat, reclining on a tree, facing a jungle brook, watching the flow of
water silently.
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He joined The
Hindu on October 1, 1977 as a Sales Representative in Chennai. When he became a
Sales Officer he had to travel a lot, often going on tour for three weeks
a month. Apart from his travels, whenever he was in HQ, he was the official
typist for the Circulation Department, packed/loaded newspaper parcels, worked
for several nights in the packing and dispatch section and distributed
the newspaper in the early hours. Life was tough. The brighter side was that he
saw a lot of movies, visited several temples and picked up working knowledge of
Kannada and Telugu.
In 1989, he
was promoted as Regional Manager, Visakhapatnam where he launched the
Vizag edition. As a Regional Manager, he won several awards for achieving sales
targets and also for his impressive presentations at the company`s annual
conferences. Managers chosen for other regions used to be sent to Vizag for
training.
Ramanan says, “I
was instrumental in introducing an important software system for the
Advertising department. I also played a big part in opening up The Hindu for
regional and local advertisements like regional front page solus, ear panels, local
supplements etc.”
However Poetry
never left him. It provided the psychological relief and also the fillip to his
enthusiasm for work.
What
makes him invoke goddess parashakthi and his guru in most of his talks? What
was the trigger that made him quit his job and get fully involved in creative
pursuits?
Ramanan
says,“I was in my ninth class when Sri Ma Vi Raghavan, our Tamil teacher
recited a poem of Bharathi. Something hit me. Though I did not understand even
the basic meaning, I was overwhelmed. It was in 1971 October that I started
writing poems and a few years later, I started composing songs. Sometime
between 1974 and 1976, on a sunny afternoon, I had a strange experience which
happened in a flash. I had a vision of Bharathi and Ma Kaali and I felt as
though something invaded my consciousness. Parasakthi and Bharathi entered me together I
should say. She is a palpable, living reality to me”
His quest for
Truth, took him to several Gurus until he found the right one in Satguru Sri K
Sivananda Murty of Bheemunipatnam near Vizag. who took him on several yathras.
Ramanan has so far visited the Himalayas 36 times.
“If I can say
that my life is over and my living continues, I owe it all to my Guru. He cured
my psychological injuries through his love, taught me the real history of this
great nation, made me understand the depth of our Dharma and granted several
deep spiritual experiences.”
"As the
inner call was getting louder and as I realized that my slogging in a career
was not worth all that martyrdom, I quit my job on 30th March 2005 with
nothing else in my hand.”
Ramanan was 51
years old when he launched his new life as a performer. In the last 19 years
his fan base has widened to not only within India but has also spread
across the world. Because as a
public speaker Ramanan provokes, stimulates and entertains -- whether he speaks
on literature, music, cinema, theatre, spirituality or culture. Ramanan’s voice
rings out with bell-like clarity, every syllable distinct.
“I am more a talker than a
speaker,” says Ramanan. “My talks are different, the audience do not feel any
distance between them and me.” The talks are different also because he
frequently bursts into songs -- or into flowery lyric or infectious rhyme, His
style is conversational, his tone is positive, he has a light witty touch. The
audience is kept in good humour and glued to its seats.
Over the years he has
addressed members of literary or cultural associations, music sabhas, students
of MBA or engineering, schoolchildren, parents, corporates. The topics are
diverse too: Thirukkural, Bharatiar, Kannadasan’s film songs, spiritual
discourses. And self-improvement topics such as communication skills,
positive attitude, personal management and conflict management.
He has been on lecture tours
to the US, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Sri Lanka.
He has spoken at temples, university auditoriums, radio stations, the basements
of a few houses.
Though he is
very popular for his singing, Ramanan says that he has no formal training in
music. He says, “I have imbibed a feel for music from my mother and also
sisters. Tunes happen to me though I cannot set my own poems to tunes. I
am spontaneous! Yes, my music is inseparable from my poetry and it is clearly
the gift of my Parasakthi. Again, I am not a scholar; not at all a well-read
person; I have an intuitive feel for things, thanks to the blessings of
my Guruji. He provides that edge”
Ramanan is
also a prolific writer. So far he has published 40 books in
Tamil, Five in English. `The Intimate Unknown`, a book in English he wrote
about his Guruji is close to his heart.
In Tamil, his
two books on Kannadasan, one each on Bharathi and Kamban and one titled
‘Pala Mugangal Sila Ninaivugal’ are his favourites. Another book which is
popular is his biography on Director K.Balachandar titled `Sigaram`for which
he interacted closely with K
Balachander for six to eight months. ‘
“Since I refused to accept
money from him for the biography, Balachandar invited me to act in
a serial directed by him . During the
shootings he always insisted that I should be given a chair beside him. Till
the end, he addressed me as Ramanan Sir, despite ,my protests.” says
Ramanan.
His other
publications include 12 books of his poems, 19 books of his essays. He has also
translated three books from English to Tamil and one from Tamil to English.
Ramanan has
also been an actor on stage as well as on the small screen. He has participated
in over 1400 television programmes, The only movie in which he played a
good role did not see the light of day. He has acted in four serials. The
first one was directed by late Sri K Balachandar.
As regards
theatre, he acted in a small role in an English play ‘Free Outgoing’ by Creasakthi
Dushi, directed by Mahesh Dattani. In Tamil theatre, it was SBS Raman who
invited him to write a play based on his father’s (Sri S Balachander)
famous movie ‘Andha Naal’ and also play the lead role in it.
Ramanan has
also written and acted as Bharathi in the play “Bharathi Yaar ` which has been
staged in several cities in India and abroad.
Ramanan says,
“Playing the role of the Mahakavi who died when he was hardly 39 at 70 is
indeed challenging” He is also acting as Bharathi in a serial on Bharathi produced
by Krishnaswamy Associates, currently being aired on Doordarshan in Tamil.
One of his
most popular programme in recent years sponsored by Krishna Sweets and
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is `Kalangalil Avan Vasantham` , a series on songs
of Kannadasan which has already seen over 100 shows in six years.
Ramanan has
received over 45 Awards and recognitions in the last 19 years since he started his new innings as
a performer. The prestigious Kalaimamani Award from Tamil Nadu government for
the year 2018 was bestowed on him in 2019
Ramanan says,
“I value all of them but the title “Isaikkavi” is the one I cherish most as it
has become part of my name. It is special because it was not given by any
organization but by my friend Mahesh Krishnan who presented me a
memento with the inscription “Isaikkavi”, after a talk in English I gave in Los
Angeles in 2006."
Anuradha is the woman
behind the successful Ramanan for the last 43 years. He calls her his guardian
angel.
‘She also has a flair
for languages and is very fluent in Tamil, English, Hindi, Telugu and to some
extent in Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam too. A thoroughly no-nonsense person,
I have never suffered from boredom in married life, thanks to her company”. says
Ramanan.
The couple is blessed with
twins, Anand and Vikram. Anand lives in
Boston with his wife Priya and children Shivsundar and Aadhya. Vikram lives in
Madurai with his wife Deepthi and son Kumara Seshan. Both my sons and daughters
in law sing well. So does Kumara Seshan and Aadhya who have started
learning music.
A blessed family indeed!
“A happy, noisy family!” says Ramanan. “I am not special
in any way but very fortunate in every way”.
Let us
pray that Parashkthi bestows good health on Ramanan so that he continues
to delight his fans with his multiple talents, for years to come!
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