Saturday, October 18, 2025

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!

 

 

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

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, 1989By 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 PublishingSoon, 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.

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Invitation for a meal!

 A few years ago, I met an old friend at the Delhi airport. I was on a five-day official visit to Delhi and was happy to bump into a friend after nearly 10 years. We were colleagues at a company in Delhi where I was working at the time. After exchanging pleasantries, my friend said,

 

“ Hey, why don`t you drop in for dinner one of these days. I will be at the station for the next week. It will be great to go down memory lane. Give me a `ping`. I will ensure that Rama cooks your favourite Rajma chawal”

 

I am always suspicious of such vague invitations.  When I rang up the friend the next day and got him on the line after several attempts, he said he was busy with some unexpected development and that he would call back. But he never called.

 

Another experience I had was much worse. This friend invited my wife and me for dinner on a specific date and asked us to arrive around 8:00 pm. As a person who believes in sticking to time, my wife and I reached the friend`s home and rang the bell. After a few minutes, his wife, dressed in a nightie,  opened the door.

 

She said, “ What a pleasant surprise. Raghu did not tell me that you are coming. Please come in and take your seats. I will be back in a few minutes”. So saying she went in and came back dressed in a saree. After the usual preliminaries, we hesitantly told her that we were visiting because her husband  Raghu had invited us for dinner. She was shocked and embarrassed. Even before she could gather her wits to respond to us, in walked Raghu,  who seemed to be equally shocked to see us. Clever guy that he was, he said,

`Sorry Raj,  I thought I had invited you for dinner tomorrow. Did not expect you today.” While his wife was frowning and gave him a dirty look, Raghu tried to save the day.’ No problem, yaar.  It is too late for Meena to cook a meal. We will go out for dinner. Where do you want to go? Bikanervala or Agarwal`s?” Both my wife and I felt miserable, but could not back out of the invitation to dine out.

 

After I settled down in Nana Nani, the Senior Citizen Home where I live now,  I rarely go out. On the rare occasions  I go to attend a Rotary or some club meeting, I meet old friends. On one occasion, when a friend asked me to come home for meals,  I  told him. “ I will. Please tell me a specific date and time. As a VIP ( Velai Illadha Paya- a man without any work) I have all the time in the world. It will be my pleasure to enjoy a meal in your family`s company,” I added, “ Please tell your wife to keep the menu simple. All that I need for lunch is 2 chapatis, dhal,  some sabji and a glass of buttermilk. If it is dinner time, any one tiffin item is good enough to fill my shrunk tummy ( the interior and not the exterior )”

Needless to say, I am still awaiting his invitation to the meal.

 

Lesson: It would be advisable to discreetly check with the wife before accepting an invitation for  meal from an  overenthusiastic friend.

 

 

 

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Mythili Seshadri - Will power matters in life!

  I consider most Indian women to be human dynamos.  The number of things they pack in a day`s work is amazing. They work 24x7x365 days. There are no Sundays or holidays for them. For those who do some jobs in addition to managing a home, life is even tougher. There are millions of them in the world. What makes  64-year-old Mythili Seshadri stand out in this crowd is her will power to do things she enjoys doing despite a Liver condition, which calls for her to be extremely careful in her food habits, medicines that she can take, and also the kind of activities she can undertake.

Right from her college days in Coimbatore, where she was born and brought up, she was inclined towards social service. She was actively involved both in the National Service Scheme ( NSS) and Community Social Service (CSS), which was to influence her career choice later in life.  Her marriage at 24 took her to Bombay, where her husband, a successful advertising professional, was working. While she was brushing up on English speaking skills,  she decided to get a B Ed from the Bombay Teachers Training College and qualify herself as a teacher.

` I was thrilled when I learnt that out of 1600 applicants, only 100 had been shortlisted and I was one of them,` says Mythili.

Arrival of her son within two years of her marriage prevented her from taking up any teaching assignments in Mumbai. The family moved to Chennai in 1988, where she was to realize many of her dreams over the years.  As a person who cannot sit at home idly, in her spare time she learnt Shorthand, Typing, Tailoring & Embroidery. It was in 1997, a friend influenced her to consider teaching special children. She joined  Vidya Sagar, a school for special children in Chennai, as a volunteer in their Vocational Rehabilitation Unit.  Her formal training in Tailoring and Embroidery helped her become instrumental in starting the Tailoring unit in Vidya Sagar. She taught the students to make drawstring bags,  scrunchies ( cloth rubber band), hand towels to name a few. These were done using the scrap materials given by a boutique in the neighborhood.

`I was delighted when I found that some of the students I had trained were given jobs in a well-known  Boutique, where they did well. But I also realized that, being a mere volunteer, not an employee, you are not taken seriously by the management.  So I decided to get a formal qualification as a special educator by joining `Bala Vidyalaya`, a school for the hearing impaired,  and did a one-year diploma in Teaching Young Hearing  Impaired, a course which is recognized by the `Rehabilitation Council of India`.

 Along the way, she also completed two short-term courses in Alternative and Augmentative Communication conducted by Vidya Sagar.  After working in Bala Vidyalaya for a couple of  years, she decided to quit and started teaching language therapy to children with special needs at home. Her students also included children with additional disabilities like mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy besides being from different age groups. This one–on–one therapy helped children who cannot hear and speak to get integrated into mainstream schools. 

`It was tough because these children do not understand direct communication, but respond to alternative methods of teaching where you patiently take them through several stages using different props to make them understand things. The course also involved training the parents of such children so that they can continue to practice the lessons at home. It was heartening when, after two years of training, they were ready to be integrated into mainstream schools. That is the biggest satisfaction from the job I got.` However, since teaching such children necessitated speaking loudly, she developed vocal cord problems, which posed the danger of Mythily losing her ability to speak. So reluctantly, she had to give up a career she loved so much.

This setback did not deter Mythili from pursuing other interests, which helped her bring out the inherent creativity in her. She channelized her creative abilities by involving herself in making handicrafts and a variety of cloth bags, curtains, etc.  Most of these items were made from waste cloth and other waste materials, thus furthering the concept of `Waste to wealth`. However, she did not do it as a regular business but produced bags, curtains from old saris, wall hangings, plastic bag dispensers, to name a few, based on specific demands from friends and relatives.

Mythili says, “I stitch my blouses, salwars myself. By not depending on the tailor,  I save money and time chasing him. I use the scraps from these to make other patchwork items  like cushion  covers, pouches, potholders, etc.”

While she was busy creating useful items from waste clothes, another friend introduced her to the fascinating world of `Quilts`, which again opened up opportunities for converting used clothes into mattresses, table runners,  wall hangings, etc. For this she had to attend a training workshop run by `The Square Inch(TSI)` in her neighborhood before she could start working on the quilts. She participated in  the  First International Quilt Festival held in Chennai, in 2019 where her quilt titled `Pinwheel in a square inch` was displayed. It was made using more than 5000 cloth pieces, each  measuring one square inch.  Since then she has participated in 3 International Quilt Festivals organised by The Square Inch.

When I asked her about the process of making a quilt, she said, ` I first think of an idea,  convert the idea into a picture/drawing, then look for materials to make the quilt, and then get into action. I used an old saree to create a quilt to cover the Diwan set in my home. Similarly, I made curtains out of old cloth materials. Every quilt is like a piece of art. I thoroughly enjoy making them` says Mythili. She is currently active in the informal group of quilt makers in Chennai.

Mythili`s childhood dream of becoming a dancer came true when she was in her early fifties.  She joined a dance school in her neighborhood which was providing dance training for senior citizens, ranging in age from 50 to 80.. She became a part of the group from the school, which was invited to perform at the temple & other festivals in the city.

Mythili did all the above while busy bringing up her son & daughter, who are both married and blessed her with four lovely grandchildren. A most interesting aspect of her life is the fact that she never appointed a ubiquitous maid servant, not even a part-time one,  to help her  with some of the household chores. Where did she get the energy for this? Her reply sums up the practical woman that she is: `I did not have any maid servant all these years because I realized early that dependence on them can cause unnecessary anxieties and tensions. My day is not affected by the idiosyncrasies of a maid. With a strong willpower as my strength,  I have been managing the home and my outside interests. Having a two-wheeler of my own has also helped me  in being independent  to  move around  on assignments.`

Mythili also gives full credit to her supportive husband for encouraging her to do whatever she enjoys doing.  As they say, there is always a man behind a successful woman and vice versa

 

Monday, September 8, 2025

SHORTS IN THE DARK

 I saw a programme of short plays in English, ranging from 15 minutes to 20 minutes each, at a Show titled `Shorts in the dark` organized by Coimbatore Arts and Theatre Society, this Sunday. This society, founded by K.V.Siddhartha, has been promoting the amateur stage in Coimbatore. All the plays directed by different directors were good, but only a few actors stood out for living their roles. Among the five plays I saw, while I liked the play `In search of truth` featuring the husband and wife team of Shakthi and Gaury Chakravarthy, I felt, like many others in the audience, that  `The Waltz`, the last play to be  the best play among the five I saw, with a contemporary theme scripted by Mr.Vithal Rajan, an octogenarian writer and activist who lives in Coonoor and directed by Rohini Sivalingam a professional story teller and writer.

 My younger daughter, a performing artist and a well-known professional storyteller in the family, acted as the old lady and Pradeep Yuvaraj, a business storyteller, as the old man. It was a demanding role for both, and I must say that both did not act but lived their respective roles. The intense emotion shown by Sowmya in the last scene brought tears to the eyes of many in the packed audience. My elder daughter, Kavitha, the visual artist in the family,  had come from Chennai specially to see her younger sister excel in the role she played.

The programme was held in the ITC Welcome Hotel on Race Course Road, which was the Venue Partner. There was a packed audience consisting of friends and relatives of the performing artists, who had paid Rs.1,500 each to witness not only some good plays but also indulge in the sumptuous snacks provided during breaks and a delicious lunch, provided by the hotel, after the show. Food for the mind and the stomach indeed! It was a time well spent on a Sunday morning.

 

 

Saturday, August 30, 2025

A low-key Birthday!

 Normally, if I were in Chennai, I would have organised a spirited birthday party in the evening in which all my family members and a few close friends would have participated. It was different this year. A low-key birthday celebration on my turning 83 and entering the 84th milestone. Made special by the participation of my cousin Ashok and his wife, Priya, from Pune. A  made-for-each-other couple,  whom I admire a lot for the genuine affection they display and their mutual respect. Ashok has become a senior Citizen recently, having turned 60 last year. He and his wife were on a two-day visit to Coimbatore after visiting Bangalore, to meet me and a few other friends in Coimbatore. Ashok agreed to extend his stay by a day to be with me on my birthday. So nice of him. He chose to stay in the guest house here to have first-hand experience of the Place. He was not disappointed.

The day started with us visiting the nearby Varadraja Perumal temple and performing an archanai. Followed by a lunch I hosted at Kailash Parbat restaurant in which my daughter Sowmya and son-in-law Sathya participated, along with my Schoolmates Raju & wife Geetha and Balu, my adopted brother in Nan Nani and his wife Laxmi.  Have written about Balu`s helpful nature in an earlier posting. He is truly amazing- a good Samaritan in our community.

The delicious meal ended with our having  Malai Kulfi in Rabadi, a speciality in KB here. After mandatory selfies and group photos, we returned to our respective homes. There was  Ananya`s Games Event organised by Ananya`s Games Team in the evening, which saw many residents participating with childlike enthusiasm. I stayed at the event only for a short duration. The evening ended with our having a simple dinner at the dining hall – mini idlis in sambar and curd rice.

While extending a special thanks to Ashok and Priya for spending a full day with me on my birthday, I would also like to thank all my Facebook friends for remembering an old friend. The most unexpected call came from Supriyo Das, my old colleague in Grant K & E. On the whole, it was a simple but intimate get-together, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Boredom and depression among children

 

 Growing up in a chawl in Bombay, I remember there was no time for me to get bored. There was some activity or another happening in the building complex for all age groups. I was kept busy with friends from my age group playing some games in the building complex or at the nearby Matunga Gymkhana. I would come back from school, throw the schoolbag in one corner, partake of whatever tiffin mother gave me and off I went to play with friends. No worry about security. My parents worried about me if I did not return home before the appointed time. In my case, it was 7.00 pm. Living in a chawl was like living in a big joint family. We lacked the basic conveniences we take for granted these days, but life was fun then. We learned to manage many of our problems ourselves without the involvement of parents. The constant social interaction with friends in the community helped us. Parenting was not as challenging as it is today.

 

Times have changed drastically. Nuclear families have replaced joint families. While gated communities provide some security and opportunities for social interaction, stand-alone apartments where many nuclear families live, there is less interaction among neighbours. Bringing up children has become a humongous task for parents. Security concerns prevent parents from allowing their children to move freely. Though mobiles and the internet help them keep their children busy, the gadgets have their negative aspects as well. Today, it is not surprising to see many children in their teens, exposed to social media, showing signs of depression.

 

`Preteens who spend more time on social media may be at greater risk for depression, according to a US study published in JAMA Network open,` as reported in the Health  supplement of  one of the issues of The WEEK magazine

 

To ensure that this does not happen, parents have to see that their children are engaged in some physical or mental activity. Interaction with other children in the community or outside, by inviting them home or arranging for their children to visit their friends' homes to play, helps. Encouraging such children to participate in one sports activity ( badminton, table tennis, cricket or football, etc.) and one creative activity (  music, dance, drawing, etc) or anything else in which the child shows interest would also help them develop their inherent talents. Such children turn out to be confident kids, full of life. I am witnessing this in the case of my son`s two kids. My daughter-in-law gave up her job to concentrate on the two kids, a son and a daughter. She is exposing them regularly to many new ideas and games and encouraging them to be creative. While she spends a lot of time with them, my son tries to keep them engaged during weekends. They also try to keep a check or even control the use of smart phones or other electronic gadgets by the kids.

 

If the parents show enough understanding of their children`s problems, be available to them whenever they want them, and learn to trust them, children will respond positively.  In other words, be a trusted friend to your kids. At least one of the parents should assume that role! If that happens, not only with the children never get bored, but there is very little possibility of such children becoming depressed. 

Saturday, July 26, 2025

A Honorary Award as a writer!

 Pachyderm Tales is a literary consultancy and education company focused on promoting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education and supporting artists and storytellers. Pachyderm, in association with Ananyas Nana Nani Homes, announced a short story/essay competition in Tamil and English two months ago for writers in all Phases of Nana Nani Homes.  The suggested topic was `How the residents faced challenges in life or Unforgettable experiences in their lives`. There was an enthusiastic response from the residents of Nana Nani, many of them writing for the first time. In addition to the prizes given to participating writers, three established writers were chosen for an Honorary Award. Two from Tamil ( Mrs Mythili  Narayanan and Mrs Sushi Krishnamurthy from Phase 4) and  I had the pleasure of receiving the Honorary Award as a writer in English from Dr. Umamaheshwari Yuvaraj, JMD of Ananya group at a function held on 25th July 2025. The event, attended by a large gathering of residents from all Phases of Nana Nanai, also witnessed the release of two books containing a collection of all entries received from the residents in book form, titled `Pearls of wisdom` in English and `Gnana Muthukkal` in Tamil. My essay titled  `A Turning Point`, based on a real-life story, appears in the  book containing essays /stories in English. It is a nice feeling to receive two awards as a writer within six months.

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Battle of the Bulge (Revised)

During my morning walks in Chennai, I would see a friend doing exercises on the parapet wall at the beachfront in Besant Nagar. He was on all fours with his protruding belly dangling prominently to the twists and turns that he was attempting. It was a sight to behold. I stopped and asked him the purpose of the exercise. He said that he was trying his best to reduce his tummy and look trim. I know that he has been trying to do this for several years without luck. I wished him good luck and moved on. It brought back memories of my bulging tummy and my efforts to reduce it for several decades.

Before I acquired a bulging tummy, also known as a `paunch`, I was a thin guy. My waist was so slim that even a baby belt would not hold my pants. I used to wrap a piece of cloth around my waist and then pull up my pants to ensure that it did not slip down.

There is a story behind how I acquired the `paunch`. Throughout my student days and the early part of my career, my mother did her best to help me gain weight. She forced me to eat vegetables & fruits. She would roast a few badam kernels and give it to me every morning with butter. I was also given an extra quantity of milk to consume at night. Nothing worked. What she could not achieve for a decade happened during my stay at Murugan Lodge in Calcutta, where I gorged on the delicious meals they served. I had spent three months in Calcutta undergoing training in advertising at the second-largest advertising agency at that time. During my stay as a trainee, I was also introduced to drinking beer. I was told that as an adman, I would have to do a lot of entertaining and drinking alcohol was a prerequisite for a successful adman. In three months, not only did I learn about the advertising business but also learnt how to gulp down three bottles of beer without any problems. My tryst with the bulging `Madhya Pradesh` started in Calcutta which eventually became an integral part of my body. In the early years, girls in my office used to call me `roly-poly`. My efforts to reduce the tummy over the years were not successful because of my inability to control my eating and drinking habits.

However, I found that my tummy was a great asset when my four grandchildren through my daughters arrived in this world in quick succession between 1996 to 2003. My `Thoppai` as they would call my bulging tummy was their playground. All that I had to do was lay still on my back exposing my Thoppai. They would go berserk playing with it. One of them would play drums on it, another one would give it a massage and the third one would give it an imaginary bath using appropriate sound effects. It was a joy beyond compare. For a change, I was happy to possess a Thoppai.

Eventually, my Thoppai` did shrink, after the two hospitalisation experiences I went through about 10 years ago. Thanks to a complete change in my lifestyle since then, I lost about eight kgs in six months. While I am fighting hard to ensure that I maintain my reduced weight, I am happy that the smaller bulge in my `Madhya Pradesh` has allowed me to reuse half a dozen tight-fitting pants that I had stopped wearing.

A small victory in my `Battle of the Bulge`!

This article appeared in the Adyar Times issue dated December, 14/06/2019


PS: Since the publication of this article I have put on weight. My Madhya Pradesh has gone back to its original size. All the pants I restored have become useless. My `Battle of the Bulge` continues.

 

 

Saturday, July 5, 2025

A Farewell visit to Chennai? Not yet!

 I was visiting Chennai after three months. Primarily to attend the Upanayanam ceremony of my brother`s grandson on 27th June. As I found I could attend a couple of get-togethers of a few groups with which I am associated,  and meet most of my friends,  I decided to reach Chennai on 21st June, and return to Coimbatore on 30th June. Though I had invitations to stay with my children, this time I decided to stay at the guest house of the Gandhi Nagar Club because I wanted to be independent and not bother my children. Besides, by staying at the guest house I could entertain my friends and also  meet my walking friends at the Bessy, every morning.

While it was a joy to meet all my friends and relatives during the short visit, the sweltering heat in Chennai hit me badly. After experiencing the salubrious weather in  Coimbatore, when I got out of the aircraft at Chennai at 3.30 pm, I could not bear the searing heat of the sun that welcomed me.

After checking into the guest house and spending a pleasant time with my son`s family, who had come to meet me, I had to rush to a dinner meeting of the 41 club (an association of ex-Round Tablers with the motto `May the Hinges of Friendship Never Rust`) at the Cosmopolitan Club. The next morning I attended the AGM of SHARAN, a Senior Citizen group consisting mostly of NRI parents, with the motto, `For Mutual Support`, at the Gandhi Nagar Club. On Tuesday evening, I had the privilege of attending the 66th Installation meeting of the Rotary Club of Madras South( RCMS), held at GRT Grand Hotel in T.Nagar. I was a member of RCMS for 47 years and the 31st President ( 90-91).  From June 25th to 27th, I was busy attending family get-togethers associated with the Upanayanam. In between, I was also visiting a few close friends and relatives. The trip ended with the Breakfast meeting on 29th at Tag Centre organised by my good friend R.T. Chari, where I thoroughly enjoyed the lec dem on `A Pictorial Tour of Mahakumbh 2025 - A Spectacle Once in 144 Years by Mr V R Ajitkumar. It was a brilliant presentation on Mahakumbh where the speaker walked us through the Mahakumbh, describing the mind-blogging efforts that had gone into organizing the mega event by the UP government at Prayagraj.

At the end of the 10-day trip, I felt exhausted. Apart from the hectic schedule, the humidity in Chennai made me feel miserable. A few friends quipped," You were living in  Chennai for 50 years. Why are you complaining now?` To which my answer is,”I did not have the opportunity to experience an alternative. An air-conditioner addict in  Chennai, I have managed two summers ( March to mid-May) in Coimbatore without an air conditioner in my flat”.

I am not only enjoying its beautiful weather 10 months of the year but also the pollution-free atmosphere in the community where I am living. Besides the wonderful friends I have made here make me feel like part of a happy family.

Though I have become a 100% Coimbatorean, I cannot say goodbye to Chennai yet, as I would have to attend important functions of family and close friends in the future. However, I have decided that in future my trips would be only for a day or two to attend specific functions and return to Coimbatore the next day. I have had enough of Chennai!

Though I still have the enthusiasm to do things, my energy levels are going down. While the mind says `think young`, the body says, `enough is enough, respect your age and restrict your activities`. I have decided to respect my body!

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Importance of smartphones for senior citizens

 I have been in touch with an old friend who is an acute patient of arthritis. A nonagenarian with an octogenarian wife, the couple have been living in a small two-bedroom flat in an apartment complex, not far from where their children,  a son and a daughter, live in the city. The son is a busy professional, while his daughter-in-law runs a small business outfit, which keeps her busy.  With grown-up children studying abroad, both children keep visiting their parents and try to look after all their needs. They also ensure that their parents get the best medical attention. 

As long as they were physically fit, my friend and wife used to attend all social events and had a good time, keeping themselves busy. Things changed once their health issues led to their having mobility problems. While my friend and his wife were familiar with the internet and kept in touch with their near and dear ones using their laptop and a basic mobile, for some reason, they were not allowed to use a smartphone by their children. They probably feared that their parents would not be able to handle a smartphone and would be exposed to irrelevant and sometimes negative messages on WhatsApp.

When I rang up my friend the other day, he was sounding depressed. In his feeble voice, he told me that he was taking some medication for his depression, which is making him feel drowsy and sleepy all the time. His wife came on the line and told me that though their children are taking good care of them,  after a few friendly neighbours who were giving them good company every day had moved out, they felt isolated. They started missing the company of friends. Talking to friends and relatives, they realised that in the absence of a smartphone with WhatsApp facility, they were missing the opportunity to get instantly connected to the outside world, which would help them keep mentally occupied  and keep their spirits high. An idle mind is the devil`s workshop. So the couple is constantly thinking of their health problems and indulging in self-pity, leading to depression in my friend`s case. I am aware that depression in old age could lead to dementia and other problems associated with it. I felt bad for them that the children had not realised the importance of smartphones for their parents.

As a resident of a popular senior citizen home in Coimbatore, I have seen the role that smartphones are playing in the lives of the residents here, many of them living alone, with their children living abroad. Such children not only connect with their parents on video calls every other day but also share photos or videos of their activities, making the parents happy. Besides, smartphones also help such residents stay connected with the happenings in the community. Those with mobility problems, who are unable to physically attend popular programmes hosted by the residents, are able to see the videos of the events the following day.  Smartphones keep them busy. If they have an issue with the phone, they seek the help of a tech-savvy resident and get their problems resolved.

In the case of my friend, if he or his wife has a problem with the smartphone, I am sure they could get some bright, tech-savvy youngster in their apartment complex to solve their problem, without disturbing their children.

As I have been repeatedly saying, socialising with friends is very important for senior citizens, however caring the children might be. Smartphones, particularly WhatsApp, surely make up for the lack of physical socialising, especially for senior citizens with mobility problems.

Food for thought for children of elderly parents who are living alone!

 

 

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Simple Solutions to nagging problems

 Very often, we suffer from problems without realizing that the solutions are within easy reach. For several months, I would get up from my bed every morning with aches and pains in different parts of the body, especially the back and hip joints. Visits to the doctor, followed by medication, did nothing to improve the situation. Then I saw an advertisement for a Memory Foam mattress. From the time I started using it, the body pain that I would experience in the mornings has vanished. It is another matter that nowadays I do suffer from age-related shifting pains below the waist, which I am learning to live with.

A friend of mine was suffering from acute arthritis. When all kinds of treatments failed, a doctor friend advised him to go to a swimming pool, not to swim, but to walk the length of the pool in the water, up and down a couple of times every day. My friend found that this unusual treatment gave him some relief, though he still has the problem.

 Most of us have experienced shoe bites caused by ill-fitting footwear or the infection and itching caused by socks or undergarments made of material that doesn’t suit us. Incorrect posture at work is a contributing factor to the acute back problems faced by a growing number of ‘techies’ who sit for hours at a stretch, glued to their laptops. Maintaining the correct posture and taking regular breaks from work can help ease the problem

For several years, I suffered from ‘dry cough’, often accompanied by wheezing which sounded like a multi-organ orchestra. I used to feel miserable. Tests revealed no specific problem. The doctors attributed it to general pollution in the atmosphere and allergy to something or other. While trying to identify the cause of my allergy, my son discovered that every morning and evening, I was in the habit of lighting up agarbathis in the Puja room as I liked the divine feeling, triggered by their fragrance. On his suggestion I stopped lighting the agarbathis. Sure enough, my dry cough and wheezing slowly vanished, and I am now free from the problem that had plagued me for years.

Whenever you find that you are suffering from a nagging problem, talk about it to friends. Someone might help you find a simple solution lying under your nose!

--

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, June 12, 2025

Bombay Kannan- A legend of the Tamil audiobook industry.

  Krishnamachari Kannan more popularly known as Bombay Kannan (74) is a multi-faceted theatre personality who has acted in more than 3000 stage shows, written over 20 plays some of which he directed. He was also active in AIR and Doordarshan early in his stage career. He was running a regular stage troupe called  NAADAHAKKAARAN  staging plays first in Bombay and later in Chennai. After foraying into telefilms he got into producing audiobooks in 2010. 

I asked him how he got `Bombay` prefixed to his name though he had spent only 8 years in Bombay. His answer: “I went to Bombay on transfer to the Central Bank of India which I had joined in 1972. After 8 years in Bombay when I  came back to Chennai in 1984 there were many  Kannans in the theatre and for easy identification I was called Kannan from Bombay.  One morning I saw in the Hindu engagement column my name being referred to as Bombay Kannan. Since then I have been known as Bombay Kannan. Nowadays even my close relatives  only identify me over the phone as Bombay Kannan.”

Kannan`s life story is one of mad pursuit of a passion for the stage at the cost of a successful career as a banker. He was born as the youngest of four siblings. His  father was working with Parry & Co. Kannan had his schooling in Nagapattinam and went to Vivekananda College in Chennai to get a degree in Botany.

“I was interested in acting right from my school days.  My debut on stage took place at the age of 8 when I danced with my sister as Lord Krishna. My full-fledged stage appearance happened inside a Perumal Koil in Nagapattinam when I was 12. It ended up sadly as my throat was choked and I could not utter a single word “

The real break came when he took on the role of the heroine in a play staged by his college in an inter-collegiate drama competition held at Guindy Engineering College.

Kannan says, “In Guindy Engineering College some of the students mistook me to be a girl and were hesitant to shake hands with me while appreciating my acting. That was the first reward for my acting. Then came my first stage appearance in public at  Puttaparthi before Sathya Sai Baba on his birthday in 1968. I owe this to T S Narayansamy of Doordarshan fame who had immense confidence in me to give the title role in his play Krishna Vijayam when I was only 17. He was my  first mentor and guru”

Since then the stage has become his passion. He joined UAA, the famous troupe of YGP in 1970. His debut play was Flight 172. His mentors there were YGP and ARS, the director. He acted in many plays of this troupe before he became a writer.

“My first script was for Doordarshan, Chennai in 1977.  The play was titled KANAVU KANDA KAATCHI. A suspense thriller in which ARS acted in the lead role and Shri Gopalie  was the producer/director”

His first stage play script was SAKTHI PIRAKKUTHU MOOCHINILEY produced and directed by him and was staged in Bombay in 1981. His hilarious play IRU VEEDU ORU VAASAL written & directed by him was staged over 75 times. Kannan got the Best Director award for this play from Mylapore Academy

Kannan is also proud of his play  JUST A SECOND PLEASE, which was a 50% autobiography in which he portrayed God differently. This play was appreciated by many stalwarts and won him the Best Play Award from Mylapore Academy.

While playing Sherlock Sharmaji, a tele serial won him the  `best all-rounder on stage award` `Chakravayugam` a play by the popular writer K.K.Raman, fetched him the best director award- both from Mylapore Academy.

While he was busy leading a double life as a banker and a stage artist, he got married to Subhadra in 1976. She was fresh out of college and had not taken up any job. Their first daughter was born in 1977 and the second in 1985. 

After spending 24 years in the bank, where he was working as a branch manager, he took voluntary retirement at the age of 45 in 1996 and plunged full-time into the creative field hoping to make it big in his chosen field.

Kannan stopped acting in stage plays in 2005 and started producing Teleplays based on his own and other popular stories and sold them in the market in DVD/VCD formats. He claims to be the first person to produce exclusively for home video segment teleplays with popular artists like Delhi Ganesh,  Achi Manorama,  Kathadi Ramamurthy,  Meera Krishnan, Vaiyapuri, Sonia,  Kamlesh, Manager Cheena etc.  He also converted novels of  Bhaggiam Ramasami’s `Appusamiyum Africa Azhagiyuum`,  Sujatha’s `Mama Vijayam`,  Komal Swaminathan’s `Atchi Maatram` etc. into teleplays.

Hearing about his teleplays  Pooram Sathyamurthy, a literary writer requested him to make an audio version of his short stories as he had lost his vision and could not read his own stories.  That was the beginning of his reputation as a pioneer in producing audiobooks in Tamil using multiple voices with music scores and surround sound effects.

“The appreciation I got for the three volumes of Pooram's short stories was a catalyst for continuing my audiobook initiative. I decided to make Kalki`s  Sivagamiyin Sabatham into an Audiobook as my attempt to make it into a Telefilm had failed “  says Kannan.

“Sivagamiyin Sabatham Audiobook was a big hit and hearing the audio Mr C K Venkataraman of Bangalore, an ardent fan of Kalki, wanted me to produce Ponniyin Selvan in audiobook form and was willing to invest his money in the project. Later he joined me as a partner giving birth to the production house  called ` Ponniyin Selvan and Friends` “

Ponniyin Selvan was a marathon project in which 60 popular artists lent their voices. Sathyaseelan was the music director who tuned 15 songs of Kalki as well as  Ilango Adigal to suit the audio format. It took six months of hard work by Kannan. The audiobook was split into 293 chapters ( episodes) so that the buyers could stop listening to the story after any chapter and continue listening from the next chapter, later.

Ponniyin Selvan audio book was launched at a mega function on 14th June 2013 at Narada Gana Sabha with Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar as the chief guest, attended by many other luminaries from the creative world. The hall was overflowing with enthusiastic readers of Kalki prompting the Chief Guest to comment “ I have never seen this kind of crowd for any book launch” The complete set was priced at Rs 600 per set. 150 sets were sold at the launch function. Since then it has sold over 2000  sets.

“Our major clients are visually challenged people who cannot read Tamil and others  who do not have time to read printed books”

Motivated by the  phenomenal success of PS audiobooks, Kannan produced audiobooks based on stories of many other popular writers earning him the reputation as  `A Legend of Tamil audiobook industry`

“ In recent years the audiobook industry has seen a downward trend. Besides, mine is a one-man show because of which I have no time or budget to promote the books aggressively. I discontinued producing audiobooks two years ago” says Kannan.

What made him produce his first documentary `Arangayanam`, which is receiving wide appreciation from invited audiences to which it is screened?

“ When I produced the audiobook based on Sri Venugoplan`s `Thiruvaranga Ula`, the history behind the novel moved me. It talked about how thousands of people sacrificed their lives over 48 years to safeguard the idol of Ranaganatha during the invasion of Srirangam by Thuglak 700 years back.I decided to make a full-fledged documentary based on this story and visited all the places where Ranganatha`s idol was taken to protect it from the invaders. Extensive research on the subject helped me come up with an interesting story for my documentary. I funded the entire cost of production from my savings. This documentary which took 18 months to produce runs for 2 hours and 45 minutes and is shown to invited audiences at Sabhas, Clubs, and other institutions that have members who are interested in the subject. The documentary is also available as Pendrives which  are sold at the venues of the shows.”

“ It is interesting that I though  I visited Srianagm several times during the shooting of Aranagayanam, for some reason or the other I could not get the darshan of Lord Ranganatha, though my  wife who accompanied me got the darshan every time,” says Kannan

 “When I quit my job to pursue a creative career, I was not sure if I was making the right decision. But my wife encouraged me and was a pillar of strength to me.  Without her active support and tolerance,  I would not have been able to face the ups and downs I went through and achieve whatever  I did in the last three decades.  I lost her 2 years back and my confidence & enthusiasm for my work have been shaken up. However I am continuing to keep myself  busy with new projects,`

Kannan`s next documentary project is on the life and preachings of Ramanuja, the much revered social reformer, the shooting for which is almost complete. He is also planning to revisit the tele serial on Sivagamiyin Sabhatham, a project which he had abandoned earlier.

His two daughters, both brilliant students with successful careers are living with their families-  one in the Australia and another in Chennai who are providing the moral support he badly needs.

Let us wish Kannan all the best in his new projects.