IS OLD AGE A CURSE?

 I was visiting an old friend after a long time. Our friendship goes back to our school days. It was a typical middle-class home where my friend`s father, a nonagenarian, was also staying. Because of a paralytic attack he had suffered a few years back, he could not speak, nor could he see properly. However, when I was introduced to him, he held my hands tightly and started crying. My friend told me that since the passing away of my friend`s mother a year ago,  his father had become depressed.  He was often seen cursing his fate for keeping him alive while many younger people around him were dying. Obviously, old age was a curse to him.

Another old couple was living alone in a flat. They were being looked after by their only son, who was settled in the USA. Though the son had made all the arrangements through an `anytime- any problem` service provider to look after his parents,  they were missing him and his personal care whenever there was an emergency. In their old age, they were not keen to live in the USA, because of the isolation they felt there, without social interaction with friends. In weaker moments, they were also cursing their fate. I also know of cases where the old people were tortured with verbal and sometimes physical abuse by their children, who had themselves become senior citizens and were unable to cope with the enormous stress caused by their ailing old parents.

I can narrate a few more such cases where old people considered old age a curse. But talking to my friends in Nana Nani,  the  senior citizen home where I am settled now, I found many felt that old age is not a curse but a blessing.

Samji (82), is very clear that old age is not a curse but a boon! A corporate honcho who worked in a very senior position in a multinational company he had no time to discover his hidden talents while in service.

He says, ‘ My retirement gave me a lot of freedom. Since I have fulfilled all my family responsibilities and my children are well settled in life,  I can now live for myself. I have the freedom to travel as I like, visiting many countries, and having new experiences”.

 After the sudden death of his wife, he got into a deep depression. With the help of a friend, when he was recovering from it, he discovered his writing talent, The success of his first `self-help book` made him try writing novels. Inspired by a detective thriller in English, he tried his hand at writing suspense thrillers in Tamil. His experience as an engineer and his knowledge of our scriptures and religion helped him come up with credible stories. He also started  writing  poems in Tamil. Within seven years of his stay in the community, he has published eight books ( six of them thrillers), written more than 100 poems and 30 short stories. A self-taught A/V expert, he has also successfully scripted, directed and produced several short films in Tamil, featuring talented residents as actors, which have been well received by the appreciative audience in Nana Nani.

“All these are happening because of the total freedom I am enjoying to do what I want. Besides, I feel healthy for my age, which allows me to be very active both physically and mentally. Old age, far from being a curse is a golden period – olden age is  golden age!”

Vasanthi Sampatkumar (77) who moved to the Senior Citizen Home with her husband eight years ago says,“While in general old age seems like a curse due to  sickness,  immobility,  loneliness,  emotional trauma of staying away from children etc, it can be a blessing because old age gives you the freedom to indulge in passions for which you had no time when you were busy running a family and bringing up children. With proper planning for retirement, if  you are financially secure  and fulfilled all your family responsibilities, old age can be fun”

 “Is Old age a CURSE? Emphatically NO!” says Narayanan (81), another retiree from a corporate job who moved to the same Senior Citizen Home with his talented wife, four years ago.

He added, “Old age can be pleasant for both men and women who are fully prepared financially and want to lead an independent life without responsibilities. Besides their wealth of experience, knowledge, and maturity make them respectable and lovable, both in the society as well as the family. Old age is a boon for those who can lead a life in a community, sans ego, being friendly with others  and exhibiting genuine concern and care for others who need them”

Vijaya Rajagopal (79), with two children well settled in life, lost her husband early in life. She was a teacher running a school for kids in Pune. To spend her twilight years in peace, she decided to move to a Senior Citizen Home,  where she found the ambience and the vibrant community living in the complex to her liking. Despite indifferent health and mobility problems, she says, “Old age is not a curse if you can lead a life without depending on anyone one, including your children. Keep yourself active both physically and mentally.  Also, learn to be happy in any situation and make other people happy with your acts and deeds.”

Here is my take on the subject: Old age is a curse for those who have not done proper planning for their retirement and are dependent on their children for everything.  Prolonged illness adds to the burden on their children and makes the old parents feel miserable.

On the other hand those who are financially secure and are in a position to lead an independent life, the situation is different.  Focusing on a healthy lifestyle, maintaining a positive outlook, and embracing new experiences  helps such people find a new meaning in life. If they can pursue their passions for which they had no time earlier, build strong social connections and consider ways to contribute to others, they would find life more enjoyable.

In my old age (83), I am enjoying my new avatar as a writer/author while following a policy of making at least one person happy every day. I have discovered the joy of giving- sharing my resources, both in terms of cash and kind, for the benefit of those in  need.  I have learnt to live and manage the shifting pains that come with old age. I am leading a stress-free life- happy and contented, waiting impatiently for the final departure call from my maker. I hate when people bless me and want me to live for a hundred years. Because I know that the longer I live, I cannot escape the health & other related problems that old age could inflict on me. Old age is not a curse but a blessing if the Lord above takes you with your shoes on!

 

 

A.S. Diwakar – From Table Tennis to Digital Printing

It was my first Publisher, Srinivasamurthy of Productivity and Quality Publishing Pvt. Ltd., who referred me to Diwakar 12 years ago.  I remember visiting his office behind former CM Karunananidhi`s home in  Gopalapuram. It was on the ground floor of a standalone apartment complex.  The receptionist, who was surrounded by boxes of books and other materials, indicated the room where I could meet Diwakar. When I entered the room, I was pleasantly surprised to see a young, handsome couple welcoming me to their office. I felt instantly connected with the ever-smiling couple - cool,  humble, friendly, helpful, with a positive attitude. No wonder, Diwakar was to play a major role in publishing a dozen of my books and also helped many of my friends realise their dreams of seeing their Memoirs in Print.

This is the story of a sportsman turned entrepreneur, who was the first to introduce Digital Printing with a Print on Demand facility in Chennai.

Diwakar is the youngest of three sons of Shri Ramanujam, who was the Set Master in Gemini Studios. When he was in his Tenth class, his father passed away, leaving the responsibility of bringing him up to his mother and the two brothers. His mother was interested in cookery, handicrafts, and writing, in addition to being actively involved in social service through the Saidapet Ladies Club, which she founded in 1973.

Diwakar says, “My mother inculcated in me the spirit of service to society. Thanks to her motivation, I have so far donated blood 77 times. All members of my family have also pledged to donate their eyes”

Diwakar did his schooling in Sankara Bala Vidyalaya and Shrine Vailankanni Senior Secondary School, T. Nagar. While in Velankanni, he became the unofficial photographer for the school events simply because he had access to his brother's professional photography equipment.

Diwakar`s brother, A.V. Bhaskar, was a professional photographer and was quite famous for photographing film stars and producing magazine cover photos for many popular magazines. Diwakar used to assist his brother in the shoots and learnt the art of photography from him.

 “After an unsuccessful attempt to get a medical seat, I settled to do my B.Sc. Zoology from Vivekananda College, Mylapore. My heart was not in that course. So, I continued my photography and discovered that I could also write in Tamil. I got the opportunity to take photos and write articles for Kalki, Amudasurabi, Subhamangala, Dinamalar and Mangaiyar Malar. The association with magazines and newspapers introduced me to the nascent development of Photo Typesetting and later the emerging technology of Desktop Publishing”.

Before he discovered his interest in printing, Diwakar was to make his mark as a Table  Tennis player.

 “I  started playing Table Tennis only during my School final years. In Vivekananda I represented my college together with S Raman, who later went on to become National Champion multiple times. While participating in the tournaments organised by the Tamil Nadu Table Tennis Players Welfare Association, I was encouraged to umpire the matches by the then President of the Association, Smt. Tara Murali. She motivated me to qualify myself as an umpire, and very soon, I was umpiring in the State Ranking Tournaments. I then rose to the level of conducting classes and examinations to select Umpires for the State. I was the Chief Referee for several State Ranking tournaments—all these ,while I was still in college.

I had the opportunity to be a referee in the World Table Tennis Championship in New Delhi, 1987 and also in the Asian Junior TT Championship, New Delhi, 1989. By then, I had already started my company Compuprint and spending time away for extended periods was proving to be difficult. So my umpiring had to be curtailed”.

Diwakar met his future life-partner Deepa in the Table Tennis tournaments. Apart from being a State Champion, she also represented India as a Junior, in competitions in Japan, Egypt and Indonesia and won medals. He covered her TT achievements in many Tamil Magazines, including cover stories in Kumudam, Mangaiyar Malar and Savi. Cupid entered their lives, and love blossomed between this made-for-each-other couple.

Deepa`s father, Shri T N Lakshmanan, was the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Table Tennis Association, who took a liking to Diwakar and encouraged him to be a part of the Association's activities. No one in the TT fraternity was therefore surprised when the two families joined to get the couple married in 1992. Diwakar was then 26 and Deepa 21.

After completing his  UG in 1986. His brother Jayaprakash and he toyed with several ideas of entrepreneurship, including Desktop Publishing. It was  Shri R. Krishnamoorthy, then editor of Dinamalar, who gave the brothers a set of brochures of Apple Mac-based DTP systems and suggested they explore this option. Soon, a supplier of Apple Mac-based systems in Delhi was identified. After going through several ups and downs, three  Apple Macs and a Laser Printer were imported, and Compuprint started operations in Jan 1988..

“On the first day of official business, one of our printer friends walked in with the first order to design the souvenir of the London Murugan Temple. Talk about auspicious beginnings,” said Diwakar.

There were no trained operators at that time. So he recruited youngsters with fast typing skills in English and Tamil and taught them the essentials of layout and designing. Soon, he had enough business to add 2 more Macs.

“We were doing a lot of company newsletters and annual reports. The companies did not want to deal with multiple vendors and, encouraged by the quality of my typesetting work, wanted me to undertake printing works also. So I tied up with good-quality offset printers and delivered the finished products to the customers.

As technology evolved, we updated ourselves with the state-of-the-art software and computer systems. I invested in a Colour Digital Printer and converted most of the offset jobs into digital., I also decided to use a Monochrome Production Printer, which gave a fillip to our operations. With designing, printing and binding operations all under the same roof, we were successful in providing good quality books at attractive prices and in a short turnaround time.”

 Reliability and integrity were major factors for the publishers, since they were giving away the Print file of their books. He had already established himself as a reliable and quality-conscious printer, and once he set up the Print-on-demand vertical and convinced the hesitating publishers of the economics of short runs, there was no looking back.

The first book publishing client was Mr. Srinivasamurthy and his Productivity and Quality Publishing. Soon, many prestigious publishers followed. In addition to book printing, commercial printing for many 5-star hotel chains and commercial organisations kept the colour production facility busy. Among the many other clients, Music Academy has Compuprint as its main printer for all its designing and printing requirements.

Diwakar says,” There have been several challenging and fulfilling productions during these years. The 12” x 12” coffee table book, Pigeons to Post by Steve Borgia, which presented the development of Post in India, was highly acclaimed in India and abroad. Discovery of Japan, a full-colour coffee table book written by Ichiro Hoshino and published by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, is another prestigious project which demanded uncompromising quality.

The 5-volume Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini, brought out for The Music Academy, Madras, was an extremely complex job in terms of the content. With complex musical notations, this tested our competence to the hilt. We have now done several complicated music books, including for the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society. The publications on Srirangam, Ramanujacharya, Kanchipuram, Maestros of Carnatic Music and more for Mr. R.T. Chari has been fulfilling assignments. I owe a lot to Mr. Chari for his unstinting encouragement.”

 Diwakar was among the first set of print houses venturing into Digital Printing. Now, there are a host of print houses that have moved into the Print-on-demand model. Even the conventional offset presses have invested in Digital Printers to cater to the low print run requirements of their clients. But being an early mover into this segment, Compuprint has established a firm footing and occupies a niche space.

Though Compuprint started only as a Print Design company, today, commercial printing and book printing form a large part of its operations. Most of the books it prints are also converted to eBook versions for selling through Kindle and other platforms.

Diwakar says, “To help new authors bring out their works, we started a publishing imprint named Creative Workshop, under which we have brought out more than 100 titles. We help the authors list their books in eCom portals like Amazon and Flipkart, in addition to physical stores like Odyssey. We have translators, professional editors and proofreaders on call and support authors with these services.”

Compuprint has four experienced designers in addition to trained print operators. From the latest computers and design software, 4-colour and monochrome digital Production printers, finishing equipment including Perfect Binders, Programmed cutting machines, Laminating, Creasing, Sticker Cutting machines in-house, it is able to offer high-quality, timely service to its clients.

Diwakar received the Hall of Fame recognition from Konica Minolta for being one of their top users who brings out the best in their machines.

“In addition, for almost all the new book launches, I have been invited to the stage and honoured. That, I consider as being the best award I could get,” says Diwakar.

His wife Deepa, a  Post Graduate in Commerce and a B.Ed degree in Teaching, quit the teaching profession and now takes care of the back office operations and accounts of the company. Diwakar considers her a pillar of support to him in all his activities. His eldest son, Sai Darshan, is a Chemical Engineer from BITS and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University, UK. He works in Siemens Digital Industries in London. His younger son, Sai Prapanch, is a Game Designer and works in the USA.

Diwakar is a man of many parts - A writer, photographer, printer, publisher, social worker- He also has an active presence on Instagram, where he shares his photography, including images of cityscape, nature, and cultural events.. Above all he is a wonderful human being who is willing to accept any challenge posed by his clients with confidence and delivers on his promises, every time. The number of friends whom I referred to him for their book jobs will vouch for this. A man for all seasons, indeed!

I am happy that Diwakar has been given ` Man for all seasons Award` by the TAG group and Ramu Endowments at a function held  recently at the Tag Centre, presided over by Mr.N.Murali, President of Music Academy. A well deserved honour. Let us wish Diwakar many more!

(The above article published in Madras Musings issue  dated 1-15th October,2025}

Dr.A.R.K.Pillai- a tribute

The news of the passing away of Dr.A.R.K.Pillai, at the age of 97, due to old age-related problems, brought back memories of my long association with him, going back over 60 years.I first met him at the College where I was doing a 2-year PG Diploma in Advertising and PR. He was one Year junior to me in college, but was senior to me in terms of age. He was employed in the Railways then. He wanted to give up his job to move into the private sector. However, I did not expect to meet him a year later,  in  Clarion McCann advertising, where I was a Junior Account Executive. Because of his background, he was hired as the Manager of Administration in Clarion, Bombay.. That was the beginning of a long friendship between us in which our paths would cross many times. While in Clarion, he became my mentor, keenly interested in my progress. He also became close to my family.

 While many well-wishers, because I was doing well in my job,  wanted me to move out of the chawl where I was staying, he was the person who located an apartment for me in  Santacruz. While my father refused to move the family with me, it was Pillai who convinced me and later my father to move to the flat. It was an important move in my life.

 Our paths crossed again when I joined ACIL,  a subsidiary of Clarion in Delhi, where the legendary Tara Sinha was the Chief Executive, who pulled Pillai from Bombay to Delhi to be in charge of the administration in ACIL. In Delhi, our families became close. When the force of circumstances made me occupy the larger-than-life shoes of Tara Sinha as GM and Acting CEO, I went through a very turbulent time facing all kinds of challenges. It was Pillai who was a Pillar of strength to me during those years. He helped me face the challenges with confidence through his mature advice.

 When both of us quit our jobs and he decided to move back to Bombay, I was to help him connect with R.Desikan, another good friend who was running Speciality publications, which was publishing a few magazines. He became the Bombay representative of the group, promoting the magazines among potential clients and ad agencies. From administration to media selling was an important turning point in Pillai`s life. It was during this association with Desikan that he was introduced to an NGO running the India Leprosy Foundation. Soon, he quit his job with Speciality and got involved with the activities of the India Leprosy Foundation. When the incidence of Leprosy was coming down in India, he decided to convert it into the India Development Foundation (IDF). Somewhere along the way, he acquired a PHD, and became Dr A R K Pillai.

 IDF is a non-profit NGO run by a trust established in 1985, with Dr A.R.K Pillai as the Founder President. IDF has been working in the education, healthcare and women empowerment sectors since its inception. Dr Pillai became well known as the champion of the underprivileged, working tirelessly for their upliftment. He was supported by a dedicated team of equally committed staff.  His belief in the power of youth saw him conduct several programmes involving school children. Whenever any programme was held in Chennai, he would invite me. Time permitting, he would also visit my home in Sastri Nagar, Chennai. Whenever I was in Mumbai, I would make it a point to see him. 

 Pillai was a philosopher,  guide and mentor to many who had the privilege of being associated with him. More than that, his contribution to society at large through the several philanthropic acts that he undertook made him a towering personality as a social worker.

I can never forget the role he played at various stages in my life. While conveying my heartfelt condolences to his only son  Girish, daughter-in-law Indu, granddaughter Sreelakshmi and IDF family, I pray for his soul to attain Satgati.