Dr.Kalarani Ramachandran- A scholar among dance exponents

When I met Dr.Kalarani Ramachandran ( Kala), a Bharatanatyanm exponent and a scholar in dance theory & history for this article  I was intrigued to hear that these days she conducts  Nrithyobics-  a workshop on dance movements as therapy for house wives ,senior citizens and anyone interested in keeping fit. Though using dance as a medium to teach people physical exercises is common,  using the classical Bharatanatyam movements as therapy, I thought,  was unusual. Probing about her background I found  that Kala has dedicated her whole life to Bharatanatyam, initially as a performer and later as a teacher, speaker and a researcher on the history of Bharatanatyam resulting in her becoming an author of five books on dancing.

Born in Coimbatore, she did her schooling in ,Bangalore and Ahmedabad and later went to get a degree in Music  from Queen Mary`s College  in Chennai.  Her mother  Sivakamasundari, herself an accomplished Carnatic singer , encouraged Kala to learn dancing from the age of 3 and had  been a great support  to her in her dancing career. Her mother would sing in her dance programmes and was also capable of composing  Varnam, Padam  and Thillana.

Kala gave her first public performance when she was only 6 and had her arangetram  in Coimbatore when she was 8. “When I was only 8 years I  Performed `Krishna nee begane` and got a standing ovation which made my parents proud” says Kala.

Over the years she had the privilege of being trained  in renowned institutes under stalwarts like V.Chalapathy Rao,  Smt. Mrinalaini Sarabhai (Founder, Darpana Academy), Thanjai Arunachalam, Chennai , Prof. Anjali Merh (Head of Department of performing arts, MS University, Baroda), Sri Sriramulu Acharyalu (Kuchipudi)and Kerala Kala Mandalam (Mohiniattam and Kudiattam). A chance meeting with Dr.Padma Subramaniam  who was visiting the city on a lecture cum demonstration tour got her interested in  the theory  and history of dance.

Kala  got married to Ramachanadran of Bombay when  she was only 21, and moved to Madurai where her husband decided to set up a business  and where she was to spend the  next  30 years. Though a daughter and son  arrived soon after marriage, encouraged by her husband and her in laws she continued to indulge in  her passion for dancing by conducting classes  in Bharatanatyam  under the auspices of Nrithyanjali Dance Academy which she founded in Madurai.

 It was in Madurai, when she was in her early  forties  that she decided to get a doctorate  from  Madurai Kamaraj University on `History of dance`. The year was 2001. Since her arrival in Chennai in 2006 Kala also has been experimenting with the use of Bharatanatya`s melody based Bhava`s to teach mentally and physically challenged children at V-Excel and Mithra,  both schools in Chennai, for children with special needs. In addition to her first book based on her thesis for her Phd she has published  other  books titled Bharatanatyam in Tamil Nadu (2004),Thanjai Valartha Bharathakalai  ( 2004), Road to Happy Dancing ( 2014). In  2019 Tamil Nadu Eyal ,Esai Nataka Manram  sponsored the publication of her book in Tamil

Currently she is working on a book on dance grantha  ( grammar of dance) -a translation job from Sanskrit to English based on techniques of dancing practiced in 17^th Century.

Kala says,`My  mission to day  is to pass on whatever I have learnt about dancing to the next generation`.

Kala, who lives in Kalakshetra colony in Besant Nagar can be contacted on – email; kala_ram@yahoo.in or mob. 9884887913.

( This article has appeared in Adyar Times issue dt.20^th November,22)

 

 

 

 

 

Self publishing or Vanity publishing?

Publishers are generally not interested  in encouraging new writers unless they are celebrities or well known for their subject specialization. Many of the famous   writers of today had to face rejection by several publishers before their first book got accepted. I had some experience with this when I wanted to publish my first book- my autobiography in 2009 which I wrote post retirement Two Chennai-based publishers were interested but were not giving me a firm commitment. In the meanwhile, my good friend Srinivasamurthy of Productivity & Quality Publishing, specializing in management books offered to help me provided I promised him a book on Rural Marketing ( my area of specialisation then) which he would publish. He however wanted me to self-finance my autobiography and wanted Rs 1,00,000 for printing 1000 copies. He promised to give me 500 books to sell myself and on the balance that he sold through his distribution network, he promised me a royalty.

 

The concept of digital printing and print on demand was yet to make its appearance then. Being an impatient man I agreed to the terms and within six months the book was ready featuring my cartoon by legendary cartoonist R.K.Lakshman on the cover. I had a dream launch of the book at a meeting of the Rural Marketing Association of India (of which I was a Founder President) where I was being given the Life Time Achievement Award by the association. The two-in-one function held in Chennai with a packed audience consisting of friends and well-wishers was a resounding success. I sold 100 copies of the book on that day. Within the next two years not only I sold most of the copies I had through aggressive marketing among my contacts but also received a handsome royalty from the publisher over a period of four years for copies sold through book shops. My next book on Rural marketing sold about 2000 copies and I was happy with the good royalty I got from the publisher. However, I lost money on my self-financed third book, the first collection of my essays, because I had printed more copies than what I could sell through my contacts.

 

Right from the beginning I had decided that I would try my hand at different genres of writing and realized that no publisher would be interested in supporting me in my experiments. By this time self-publishing, digital printing, and print on demand were becoming popular and I got introduced to Mr Diwakar of Compuprint who is a specialist in this area. I decided to use the services of Diwakar who not only prints my books but also publishes them. Needless to say that I self-finance them. He also gets the ISBN no. and uploads my books on Amazon and handles the orders received. But he has no arrangement for distributing the books to book shops.  I, on my own, ensure the sale of my books in a couple of book shops in Chennai by directly contacting them.

 

I am clear that I am publishing my books not to become a world famous author or make big money through my books. I am doing this because of the immense joy it gives me every time I publish a new book and it is favourably received by my readers who are growing in numbers. Besides, holding the first copy of every new book is like holding your new baby. I market my book shamelessly and promote it through social and other media, which helps create awareness about my book but does not result in big sales. What gets me the result is the direct marketing efforts to targeted audiences. 

 

Since I do not have the benefit of getting my books sold through a distribution network, I initially print 150 copies and order extra copies as and when I run out of copies. Some of my well wishers even order extra copies to gift them to their friends. The fact that I have a huge network of friends through my association with several voluntary and professional bodies and my background as an ex-adman  helps in selling my books.

 

I am very happy with the system I am following because I am completely in control of my book projects and know exactly where I stand with the sales at any point in time. The same cannot be said about the experience of some of my friends who have used the services of a well-established self-publishing house and even after two years they don`t know where they stand in terms of the sales of their books. Most of them have not even recovered 40% of the investment they made in self-publishing their books. It is a well-known fact that good publishers can help in distributing the books but cannot guarantee sales. If an author is interested in selling his books he has to relentlessly promote his book through every available media and at every available opportunity. Even well-known authors have to do this when their books are released.

 

 

Thanks to self-publishing and print-on-demand facility today every other writer is able to become a published author. It is also called `Vanity Publishing`. Today Self publishing or Vanity publishing is an accepted norm in the world of writers/authors. It is also an ideal solution for those who want to see their writings in book form. They can print limited no of copies of their memoirs or any other book that they have written for free distribution. With the experience of publishing 12 books in 13 years covering seven genres of writing I have already  helped 15 friends self publish their books.  I will be happy to offer my services, pro bono, to anyone needing advice on self publishing their books. My email id: rvrajan42@gmail.com

 

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The attached photo does not feature my new book titled `Bright Stars in the Chennai Sky`- my 12^th book in 13 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why you must always carry your identity card

Every one must carry an identity card when they go out. After reading the following stories you will agree with me on this very important message, which I got a few years ago.

During my regular walks on the Elliot beach road in Chennai,  one day I found a crowd gathered around a  gentleman,  probably in his  sixties, lying dead on the footpath. Eyewitnesses mentioned that he had come on a two-wheeler and after parking it in the parking lot as he stepped on the footpath he collapsed. Someone called the ambulance which arrived in no time and on checking the pulse and other parameters  of the gentlemen he was declared already dead. He must have suffered a massive cardiac arrest. The police arrived and found no identity card on his person.  After some deliberation, they broke open the glove compartment of his  two -wheeler and found his insurance paper from which the dead man`s address was noted. By the time the family was informed and they arrived to take charge, the body was lying on the footpath for nearly five  hours with a policeman keeping guard.

This gentleman, in his fifties,  was a regular at the tennis court in an upscale colony  of Chennai where  he had moved in recently . Everyone knew his name but  no  one had an idea about his address. One morning at the end of a vigorous session, he collapsed. He was rushed to a nearby hospital by fellow players but they did not know whom to contact as he had no ID card on his person. His mobile phone was locked. It was with great difficulty, using social media, his identity was known  and later the family was  informed.

The latest incident involved a very good friend , a part of my  walking group. He was 81 years old and used to come in a two wheeler  to the popular coffee shop near Elliot beach where we regularly  meet for coffee after our walks. He was not doing well with old age related  problems  and in spite of repeated appeals from friends not to use the two- wheeler he insisted on using it and refused to  carry any identity card on his person. During my morning walk a few days ago, a regular walker on the beach road,  interrupted me and told me that he saw an accident involving an old man on a  two  wheeler and wondered if could be our  friend. Instinctively  I rang up my friend`s mobile and found the attendant of the ambulance responding. He asked me about  my relationship with the mobile owner who, he said,  was involved in a serious accident and was being taken in the ambulance to a hospital . He named the hospital  and asked me to come there. I  got into action and through another friend in  the group  the son of the victim was informed.  The son  rushed to the hospital only  to find that his father was brought dead to the hospital. He had died of a serious head injury as he was not wearing a helmet.  But for the tip I got, I wonder how his family would have been informed  of the accident in time as my friend did not carry an identity card.

So my friends, young or old, always carry an identity card on your person whenever you go out  walking alone or going on errands  in your vehicles. It is not enough if you have your Aadhaar card. You must carry a card featuring your name and contact details on the front and on the reverse of the card it must feature the names of your near and dear ones who can be contacted in case of an emergency. It will be a good idea to also mention your blood grouping. I am reproducing  below the scanned copy  of a laminated identity card I always carry with me. Any big Xerox shops which also offer  printing facilities can help you with this at a nominal cost.

A bumper harvest of articles!

Happy to report that nine  of my articles have appeared in as many publications in the last six weeks. That includes Times Of India, Chennai,  Adayar Times,  Dignity Dialogue, Seniors Today & Seniorgiri ( both e-magazines published from Mumbai, Vidhura,  Kalaimagal ( Diwali Issue) and  Ladies Special ( Diwali issue) and a guest article in the Biography of my good friend R.T Chari released at a glittering function held at Music Academy last Sunday at which the who`s who of Chennai  were present.  My guest article in Chari`s Biography talks about Chari`s service to Tamil Literature through Tamil Puthaga Nanbargal ( Tamil Reader`s Forum) with which I was also closely associated. My article in Ladies Special  is an adaptation from this guest article and  the first bio sketch I wrote about Chari published in an issue of Madras Musings in 2013 which is featured  in my new book `Bright Stars in the Chennai Sky`.  I am happy to reproduce  below the English version of my article on Chari, the Tamil translation of which for Ladies Special  was done by my brother`s wife Mythili Seshadri . I thank Mrs Girija Raghavan the dynamic editor of the magazine for inviting me to write this article. If this article on the inspiring story on Chari motivates you to read his full biography titled `The Inspiring Saga of an Accidental Entrepreneur`  by my good friend S.R.Madhu, the purpose of this posting would be more than served.  Book is not for sale but  available on  request to  Rajagopal on Whats App no 9884320292.

     R.T Chari – A philanthropist with a difference!

How many businessmen will think of building an auditorium, not to make money, but to primarily conduct programmes of their choice and to derive great joy in throwing it open to friends and well-wishers as well? This always preceded or followed by delicious South Indian tiffin. Food for the stomach and food for the soul! Doing it month after month for more than 20 years. That businessman is my good friend R T Chari  who has been sharing his wealth and his passion with the society, long before Corporate Social Responsibility became a buzz word in the corporate world! The auditorium he built  is the Tag Centre on T.T.K.Road in Chennai.

Chari was born into a typical middle class Iyengar family at Kesava Perumal Street in the heart of Mylapore, as the fifth child and fourth son in a family of nine children. His father, with his limited means could only assure his children three square meals a day and decent education. While he was the favourite of his grandfather, his grandmother  was more fond of his other brighter brothers. Sometimes she would join her brothers in tease him about his inadequacies arising out of his being mildly dyslexic as a student.

Chari says, “It was this constant comparison between me and my brothers that sowed the seeds of an angry young man in me. I was determined to prove to the world what I am capable of.”

Fortunately, the family moved to Tambaram where he was enrolled into Corley High School run by Christian missionaries. The headmaster of the school discovered that not only was Chari a good student but the tall young man was also good in sports. It is in this school that Chari realized that he was good in Maths and also in Science subjects.

“My success in sports and the recognition I got because of it changed the attitude of my family towards me. My family members stopped teasing me. I was now even more determined to prove to my family that I was different from others”, Chari recounts.

Different he was as happenings in  his life over the years proved. After successfully completing his engineering degree from  College of Engineering, Guindy he joined Seshasayee group as an Apprentice Engineer in 1961  and quickly  rose to become the Chief Technical Commercial Manager in 1972.

Chari was married to Rangi, a multitalented girl from Bangalore, chosen by his parents, in 1971. A year after his marriage through a force of circumstances and backed by luck Chari was allowed to start his own company in 1972 while continuing as the Commercial manager of the Seshayee until he proved himself in his business. Chari could have his cake and eat it too! This turned out to be the ultimate break in his life

Chari  took to business like duck to water. Within a couple of years of starting on his own he started seeing big money and instead of just hoarding the money, he decided at the  young age of 40, to share his prosperity with  society. From being a successful businessman, Chari was on the road to becoming a generous philanthropist. A philanthropist who did not believe in just cheque book charity.

He joined Rotary Club of Madras South in 1974 and became close to the well known  Diabetologist Dr.C.V.Krishnaswamy who motivated him to help in  some of his pet projects in Voluntary Health Services.

While Chari was continuing with his generosity, an incident in his personal life completely changed him as a person and the direction of his philanthropic activities. Provoked by a challenge posed by his brothers  regarding  his lack of interest in Carnatic music, Chari decided to listen to Carnatic music every day. He realized that Carnatic music was not only giving him great joy but also helped him to become a calmer and a focused person. Just as he had decided to share his wealth with the deserving in the society, he also decided to share the joy of listening to Carnatic music with his close friends and relatives. Thus began his tryst with not only Carnatic music but also South India Heritage.

 As one of  his good friend in Rotary he would invite  me and Prabha to every one of the events that he organized. First to the series of Chamber Music he organsied at his own flat in Poes garden and  later to  the South India Heritage Lecture series at Tag Centre.  The number of Musicians,  heritage enthusiasts  and  writers /authors he has encouraged & rewarded and the number of institutions he has supported with his active involvement is too long to be recorded in this short article.

Later in life Chari developed an  interest in Tamil literature which led to his starting a Tamil Readers Forum ( Tamizh Puthaga Nanbargal) the idea for which he got at a Tamil book launch function I had organised at Tag Centre. In his inimitable style of identifying the right man for the right job, he roped in Charukesi, Ravi Tamilvanan and me to help him with the project. Thus was born Tamizh Puthaga Nanbargal comprising the four of us. Though I have known Chari for the last 45 years thanks to our association with Rotary Club of Madras South,  it is TPN which gave me an opportunity to work closely with him and observe his style of working.

Chari is an ideas man. Every time he gets an idea he pursues it relentlessly. He is also impatient  to get things done fast. He is highly focused on  whatever idea is implementing. He is a stickler for time. He always believes in  starting meetings on time and ending on time. So much so that even if the auditorium is full and waiting eagerly for the start of the meeting he will not start until the scheduled time. Similarly you can see him getting  fidgety if a speaker exceeded his time limit. Chari has always believed in his invitees responding to the RSVP for any meeting he organizes. The same rule applied to TPN meetings also. It was my job to receive the RSVPs and inform Chari about the number of people likely to attend the meeting so that he could make catering arrangements.

Another interesting feature of the TPN meetings was the decent  honorarium which Chari decided to give the chosen author and the reviewer at every meeting. Authors from outside Chennai were also given a travel allowance to cover their travel costs. An  unheard of practice in any Tamil literary meetings.

.

Thanks to my involvement with TPN I started reading Tamil  books. I think the same thing happened to Chari as well. Even at the age of 83 he his bubbling with ideas to serve the society.

 

 I must thank Rotary for introducing me to a wonderful friend who motivated me to get involved in philanthropic activities in my own small way  but  also for reinforcing my belief that age is no barrier to pursue one`s dreams!

A bumper harvest of articles!

In an earlier post I had promised to reveal about other good things that happened  to me around Diwali time this year as a writer. Happy to report that eight of my articles have appeared in as many publications in the last six weeks. That includes Times Of India, Chennai,  Adayar Times,  Dignity Dialogue, Seniors Today & Seniorgiri ( both e-magazines published from Mumbai,  Kalaimagal ( Diwali Issue) and  Ladies Special ( Diwali issue) and a guest article in the Biography of my good friend R.T Chari released at a glittering function held at Music Academy last Sunday at which the who`s who of Chennai  were present.  My guest article in Chari`s Biography talks about Chari`s service to Tamil Literature through Tamil Puthaga Nanbargal ( Tamil Reader`s Forum) with which I was also closely associated. My article in Ladies Special  is an adaptation from this guest article and  the first bio sketch I wrote about Chari published in an issue of Madras Musings in 2013 which is featured  in my new book `Bright Stars in the Chennai Sky`.  I am happy to reproduce  below the English version of my article on Chari, the Tamil translation of which for Ladies Special  was done by my brother`s wife Mythili Seshadri . I thank Mrs Girija Raghavan the dynamic editor of the magazine for inviting me to write this article. If this article on the inspiring story on Chari motivates you to read his full biography titled `The Inspiring Saga of an Accidental Entrepreneur`  by my good friend S.R.Madhu, the purpose of this posting would be more than served.  Book is not for sale but  available on  request to  Rajagopal on Whats App no 9884320292.

 

                        R.T Chari – A philanthropist with a difference!

 

                                                       

How many businessmen will think of building an auditorium, not to make money, but to primarily conduct programmes of their choice and to derive great joy in throwing it open to friends and well-wishers as well? This always preceded or followed by delicious South Indian tiffin. Food for the stomach and food for the soul! Doing it month after month for more than 20 years. That businessman is my good friend R T Chari  who has been sharing his wealth and his passion with the society, long before Corporate Social Responsibility became a buzz word in the corporate world! The auditorium he built  is the Tag Centre on T.T.K.Road in Chennai.

Chari was born into a typical middle class Iyengar family at Kesava Perumal Street in the heart of Mylapore, as the fifth child and fourth son in a family of nine children. His father, with his limited means could only assure his children three square meals a day and decent education. While he was the favourite of his grandfather, his grandmother  was more fond of his other brighter brothers. Sometimes she would join her brothers in tease him about his inadequacies arising out of his being mildly dyslexic as a student.

Chari says, “It was this constant comparison between me and my brothers that sowed the seeds of an angry young man in me. I was determined to prove to the world what I am capable of.”

Fortunately, the family moved to Tambaram where he was enrolled into Corley High School run by Christian missionaries. The headmaster of the school discovered that not only was Chari a good student but the tall young man was also good in sports. It is in this school that Chari realized that he was good in Maths and also in Science subjects.

“My success in sports and the recognition I got because of it changed the attitude of my family towards me. My family members stopped teasing me. I was now even more determined to prove to my family that I was different from others”, Chari recounts.

Different he was as happenings in  his life over the years proved. After successfully completing his engineering degree from  College of Engineering, Guindy he joined Seshasayee group as an Apprentice Engineer in 1961  and quickly  rose to become the Chief Technical Commercial Manager in 1972.

Chari was married to Rangi, a multitalented girl from Bangalore, chosen by his parents, in 1971. A year after his marriage through a force of circumstances and backed by luck Chari was allowed to start his own company in 1972 while continuing as the Commercial manager of the Seshayee until he proved himself in his business. Chari could have his cake and eat it too! This turned out to be the ultimate break in his life

Chari  took to business like duck to water. Within a couple of years of starting on his own he started seeing big money and instead of just hoarding the money, he decided at the  young age of 40, to share his prosperity with  society. From being a successful businessman, Chari was on the road to becoming a generous philanthropist. A philanthropist who did not believe in just cheque book charity.

He joined Rotary Club of Madras South in 1974 and became close to the well known  Diabetologist Dr.C.V.Krishnaswamy who motivated him to help in  some of his pet projects in Voluntary Health Services.

While Chari was continuing with his generosity, an incident in his personal life completely changed him as a person and the direction of his philanthropic activities. Provoked by a challenge posed by his brothers  regarding  his lack of interest in Carnatic music, Chari decided to listen to Carnatic music every day. He realized that Carnatic music was not only giving him great joy but also helped him to become a calmer and a focused person. Just as he had decided to share his wealth with the deserving in the society, he also decided to share the joy of listening to Carnatic music with his close friends and relatives. Thus began his tryst with not only Carnatic music but also South India Heritage.

 As one of  his good friend in Rotary he would invite  me and Prabha to every one of the events that he organized. First to the series of Chamber Music he organsied at his own flat in Poes garden and  later to  the South India Heritage Lecture series at Tag Centre.  The number of Musicians,  heritage enthusiasts  and  writers /authors he has encouraged & rewarded and the number of institutions he has supported with his active involvement is too long to be recorded in this short article.

Later in life Chari developed an  interest in Tamil literature which led to his starting a Tamil Readers Forum ( Tamizh Puthaga Nanbargal) the idea for which he got at a Tamil book launch function I had organised at Tag Centre. In his inimitable style of identifying the right man for the right job, he roped in Charukesi, Ravi Tamilvanan and me to help him with the project. Thus was born Tamizh Puthaga Nanbargal comprising the four of us. Though I have known Chari for the last 45 years thanks to our association with Rotary Club of Madras South,  it is TPN which gave me an opportunity to work closely with him and observe his style of working.

Chari is an ideas man. Every time he gets an idea he pursues it relentlessly. He is also impatient  to get things done fast. He is highly focused on  whatever idea is implementing. He is a stickler for time. He always believes in  starting meetings on time and ending on time. So much so that even if the auditorium is full and waiting eagerly for the start of the meeting he will not start until the scheduled time. Similarly you can see him getting  fidgety if a speaker exceeded his time limit. Chari has always believed in his invitees responding to the RSVP for any meeting he organizes. The same rule applied to TPN meetings also. It was my job to receive the RSVPs and inform Chari about the number of people likely to attend the meeting so that he could make catering arrangements.

Another interesting feature of the TPN meetings was the decent  honorarium which Chari decided to give the chosen author and the reviewer at every meeting. Authors from outside Chennai were also given a travel allowance to cover their travel costs. An  unheard of practice in any Tamil literary meetings.

.

Thanks to my involvement with TPN I started reading Tamil  books. I think the same thing happened to Chari as well. Even at the age of 83 he his bubbling with ideas to serve the society.

 

 I must thank Rotary for introducing me to a wonderful friend who motivated me to get involved in philanthropic activities in my own small way  but  also for reinforcing my belief that age is no barrier to pursue one`s dreams!