Another wicket down!

Another friend passed away on Monday morning after fighting a losing battle with Cancer for over two years. He was 74. Ramani was one of the founding members of a Seenager group called the Elliot Group which meets every morning at Bessy to gossip and have fun. I have been a member of this group for the last 11 years and had the privilege of becoming one of Ramani`s good friends. Every morning Ramani could be seen bursting with his trademark laughter at every joke anyone cracked. Otherwise, he was a serious person. A soft-spoken and caring gentleman he was very popular in the group. He and his wife were regular walkers at the Bessy.  As a man who was involved in the computer business all his life, he was a tech-savvy person. A go-to person for anyone with problems with their mobile. While he was an avid cricket buff, he was also good at creating caricatures of friends using Photoshop. I think I was one of his favourite subjects. He had done seven caricatures of me over the years. I am attaching one sample where he made me look like Kamalahasan in Avvai Shanmughi. Obviously, there was a creative streak in him, and creating caricatures was his hobby. While one is sorry for losing a good friend, in a way it is good that he will not have to go through the sheer agony he went through during the last two years. While offering my heartfelt condolences to his wife Girija and his two sons, I pray to God to bestow Sadgati on Ramani. Om Sairam!

My writing process-How do I get ideas for writing

 The other day I was going through the folder containing the list of my published articles since the publication of my first article in the April 2011 issue of Eves Touch. I was happy to note that more than 350 of my articles have appeared in 27 newspapers and magazines, both national and local, including a few e-magazines. Taking into account the articles that were published only on my blog and shared on my FB page the number exceeds 400.

 

Many of my readers ask me how I choose the subject of my articles, which are general and deal with daily happenings in life. I get ideas any time of the day. While walking, attending a function, reading a newspaper or magazine, talking to friends, an unforgettable incident, and sometimes even the death of a person I have known closely. Very often I also get ideas early in the morning when I am awake but roll in the bed before I get up and get started with my morning chores. Whenever an idea comes to my mind, I immediately record a catchword or a line that will trigger my memory, in the `Evernote` app on my mobile. Anytime the Evernote reminder section on my mobile has nearly 15 topics on which I can write articles. I don`t write every day. Whenever I feel like writing a new article I go through the Evernote list and choose the topic for writing.

 

Until I got invited to write my column `Rajan`s Random Reflections` in Adyar Times my articles used to exceed 1000 words. However, the 600-word restriction imposed by Adyar Times helped me master the art of writing shorter articles that a reader can read in less than 5 minutes. This word discipline has certainly helped me get more readers over the years.

 

I am a person who believes in the `Early to bed, early to rise `policy. I get up at 4. a.m. and I am at my work desk by 4.30 a.m. I find that I am at my creative best during 4.30-6.00 am considered the ‘Brahma muhurtham’ time. I go for my morning walk only after this.

 

Until I got used to keying my articles directly on my PC/laptop I was writing the articles by hand and then typing them on the PC. It was a painful process because very often I could not decipher my own handwriting. As long as I was employed and had a secretary who could decipher 90% of my handwriting I had no problem. She would give me the typed article as a Word document on which I would make my corrections. Even after I retired, the secretary was kind enough to type from the scanned copy of my handwritten articles which I would send her.

 

I must confess that since I started keying my articles directly on my PC, I have been able to make corrections as I am typing, resulting in a reasonably well-written draft. The draft then goes through several revisions before I am sure that it meets the expectations of my readers. I consult Google Knowledge whenever I have doubts. Since I have never been confident in my grammar, I would share the draft with my brother and daughter whose knowledge of English grammar is better than mine. These days I use an app called `Grammarly` to correct my draft. It is good at pointing out not only grammatical mistakes but also punctuation marks, spacing, use of caps, etc. It is really a boon for any writer in English who is not confident in his English.

 

I believe everyone has a writer in him/her. Whenever a friend tells me that he cannot write I ask `Did you not write essays in your school/college days?” It is only a question of discovering one`s hidden talents. Start with going down memory lane and record interesting anecdotes from your life. I assure you it is a fascinating experience and therapeutic. Age is no barrier to starting writing. Don`t forget I started writing only after my retirement at the age of 65. If I can do it, you can too!

A Junior School Day to remember!

The first time I attended a Junior School Day (JSD) function was when my first child Kavitha was studying in LKG in Sishya school in Chennai, in 1977.  All my three children and Kavitha`s two children studied in Sishya. As an Air Force officer`s children Sowmya`s two kids attended Kendriya Vidyalaya School, mostly in Bangalore. The last time I attended a Junior day School event at Sishya was in 2006 when Kavitha`s daughter Nila was performing on the stage. After 17 years I had the opportunity to attend a JSD at Sishya to see my resident grandson, Balaji`s son Thavam, studying in UKG, performing on the stage. What a performance it was! He danced with grace and total focus not faltering even one step. God bless him.

Junior School Day functions are events looked forward to by families with small kids. Because that would be the day when their child- a boy or a girl - would be going on the stage for the first time. The whole family including the thathas , pattis, uncles , aunts and cousins would be there at the function to cheer the child.  To see their ward positioned in one corner or the other of a group of at least 20 kids from his/her class.  While the seniors would shout with excitement “ there.. there… he is third from left on the second row”, it was not unusual for the kid to stop in the middle of his act looking for his parents in the crowd. The excitement in the audience was palpable judging by the screams, catcalls, whistling that reverberated   when ever children of a particular class entered the stage.  

Those days it was not unusual  to see the exit of families from the auditorium as soon as their ward`s performance was  over. The auditorium which would be overflowing with families of performing kids in the beginning  would be half empty by the time the kids from  the 4^th or 5^th standard in the junior school were performing.

I realize Sishya has come a long way since then. The school has grown in size and numbers. They have also learnt lessons from every show. It was evident from the way the whole event this year had been meticulously planned and executed. The entire programme was divided into two parts. The first part of 60 minutes mainly  belonged to the children  from LKG & UKG. There was restriction on the number of people who could attend the programme- In addition to the parents only two extra passes per family were issued. There was different colored passes for families of LKG & UKG students and  for students of 1^st to 5^th class. Instead of families of small classes leaving in batches, the entire audience watching the programme of small kids had to leave the auditorium to make space for families of children performing after the  show by the kiddies. There was a big shamiana put up in the open space outside the auditorium where people could sit and watch the programme on a big digital screen. Even the music chosen for the dance numbers were good and helped keep up the tempo of the show. While the crowd management was brilliant, the management of incoming cars and parking facility ensured smooth flow of hundreds of cars coming into the school.

Kudos to the  Sishya  management and all the teachers and volunteers from Sishya PTA who were responsible for the well planned and executed event. It brought back memories of my own involvement with the school as a Past President of Sishya PTA in 1991-92. Mr.Kit Thomas, the founder of Sishya used to refer to me as the only `male gender` Past President of Sishya PTA. Before and after me only ladies have been Presidents of the PTA.

As one who  had the longest association  with Sishya as a parent first and grand  parent later I wish Sishya , which celebrated its golden Jubilee this year all the best in providing quality education and ensuring all round growth of its students, which is what Kit Thomas always  believed in!

 

New educational opportunities in India

The other day I was chatting with my grandson Keshav (20). He is doing his under graduation at Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence in Noida studying for a degree in B.Sc (Research) Biotechnology. While the name of the University intrigued me the course that he was pursuing also made me think of the new educational opportunities that await young students today. In our days and for a long time the only popular courses were a degree in Arts, Commerce or Science leading to a career as a teacher, chartered accountant, engineer, or doctor. Students who had special talents in sports or any creative field were told that it is safer to have a degree in some subject before pursuing one`s passion because a degree can guarantee you a job if the passion does not help you earn a living.

 I was therefore surprised to see some creative work that Keshav has been doing as a part of his Biotechnology course. When I probed him about this he said,  “Our Coursework involves a lot of inter-departmental content. Doing courses in the Fine Arts department demanded a new creative outlook rarely encountered in the science field. For example, photography submissions asked us to get inventive with our submissions based on the assignment. The creative freedom given is virtually infinite and very exciting for everyone. In my art assignment, I took up the challenge of replicating photo edits using physical pieces of paper instead of using the software facilities available on the computer for such an assignment.  Though a  tricky & difficult process, it was fun!”

The results of such a  creative effort that he showed me were indeed fascinating.

He told me that the college also emphasizes the importance of doing internships during the summer and making sure students get a long enough break to support that. This vacation Keshav did an internship at the Indian Institute of science, Bangalore where he explored the field of ecology, working on the effect of climate change on birds in India.   He also did a design internship working with the marketing team at Seven Sarees, a business run by one of his cousins. I was impressed with the variety of promotional photos that Keshav had taken as a part of the assignment.

When I asked Keshav what he hopes  to do in the future he gave the following reply;

“My dream has and always will be to never compromise on my passion to explore and learn as much as I can and follow that wherever it takes me. Every step I have taken in life till now has shown that there is an infinite world out there and my goal is to simply experience everything I possibly can while fully investing every part of myself to help me grow”

 Very unusual and mature response. God bless him!

His sister Uthara who did a double graduation in Bsc and BEd in biology from Azim Premji University in Bangalore is doing her post-graduation in `Evolutionary genetics, evolution and systematics ` at the prestigious LMU University in Munich, Germany.  A subject I have never heard of! Azim Premji University is another institution that encourages the all-round development of a student.

Unlike our times,  today`s children, thanks to the internet, are exposed to all kinds of opportunities available to them. Parents are well advised to allow them to pursue what they want instead of forcing them to do what they think is right for them. Very often they try to realize their unfulfilled dreams through their children.

There are good institutions like Shiv Nadar & Azim Premji universities that are helping children realize their full potential. I am sure that there are many more about whom I am not aware of. I also understand that the New Education Policy of the government is trying to rectify the anomalies of the old system and introduce systems and courses that will ensure that children get holistic education which stands them in good stead in the careers they choose. Hope the NEP is effectively implemented by State Governments!

 

 

 

 

Timely aid saves a life

In today`s world, anything can happen to anyone –age no bar. In situations of emergency, like a heart attack, or an accident if help is provided within the first 60 minutes, considered the golden hour, a life can be saved. This is what happened to a good friend and a popular walker Sridhar on the beach Road in Besant Nagar(Bessy) recently. Thanks to the immediate attention he got from Kala Balasundaram, another walker on the beach road who fortunately happened to be the founder of ALERT, an NGO which is  a first responder`s network in case of an emergency. Kala is the wife of Balasundaram , a member of my Rotary club who is also a regular walker on Bessy.

 

On 9^th August, early in the morning, Kala was running on the beach road towards Thalapakatti restaurant with a friend  Hubert, who was about 200 meters behind her doing a slow jog. Past Cozee restaurant, she saw a small group standing around a man in his late  60s who had collapsed and was totally unconscious. Another walker was holding his head. There was blood on the road as he had hurt his head. Herself a trained first responder of ALERT, Kala got into action and stopped a walker from giving water. She put him in a recovery position as he still had a pulse. Thankfully, the ambulance parked nearby reached in time and the paramedic started giving CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resusitation) after checking his pulse with an oxymeter. When he asked if anyone else could administer CPR, Kala offered to help. Meanwhile, the victim`s wife who was also walking with her friends came to see what had happened and was shocked to see that it was her husband. She panicked and called her son staying in the nearby Kalakshetra colony. 

 

Kala could see the victim beginning to gasp for breath as he was being given CPR. She asked her friend Hubert to take over CPR, while she went to hold up the victim`s chin and head to free up his airway. Fortunately, the paramedic had an AED (Defibrillator)which he got from the van and started connecting it to the chest. He also got the ambubag used for pumping oxygen to the lungs. The group managed to carefully lift the victim and place him on the stretcher and then onto the ambulance.  Inside the ambulance, the paramedic connected the oxygen to him. Within a few minutes, the ambulance was on its way to the nearest hospital with Sridhar and his family.

 

After giving the staff and family very anxious moments for nearly a week, Sridhar has fully recovered from a near-death situation and is out of the ICU and expected back home in  a few days. As the doctors in the hospital commented,  "But for the timely aid provided by the good samaritans in the beach and the paramedic it would have been difficult to save the life of Sridhar"

 

A few words about ALERT. It was started sixteen years ago by Kala with just two volunteers. It now has 2000+ registered volunteers with over 50 active volunteers. So far ALERT has trained over 2,50,000 people in First Aid, and has scaled over to 21 out of 28 states, and 4 out of 8 union territories in India.  It has a complete simulation lab, the only one of its kind outside a medical college in India, meant for the common man.  ALERT  volunteers have attended to over 1000 accident victims as the first respondents. Alert is currently active in Chennai, Bangalore, Puduchery, and Coimbatore. As per the direction given by Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the people`s President, ALERT  concentrates on training volunteers – at least one person from every family in emergency care.

Apart from the availability of  ALERT volunteers in Kala and her friend, it was fortunate that Sridhar`s wife was nearby to identify him. Very often we come across accident victims carrying no identity cards on their person. This leads to their family, unaware of the accident,  running from pillar to post to locate their missing family member. It is for this reason I have been advocating the need for everyone (age no bar) to carry an identity card ( not just Aadhar).  This card, part from giving the name and address of the victim should also carry contact details of the victim`s near and dear ones on the reverse of the card who can be contacted in case of an emergency.

 

It is heartening to learn that ALERT is planning to have a big camp in Chennai to create awareness among the public about both these issues on the World First Aid Day in September this year. Kudos to Kala  and her team for the yeomen service they are providing to the society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another honour at a memorable event in my life

3^rd Aug,2023 will go down as  one more memorable day in my life. The day I was honoured as a Founder Trustee of Round Table Foundation(RTF) and for being one of the three architects of the Round Table House housing the Permanent Secretariat of Round Table India (RTI)  located in Nungambakkam. The project was born from a vision of one man R. Jagdish (Bob) Chandran, Chairman of Premier Mills of Coimbatore, and his generous contribution of Rs 20,00,000 in 1981. As one Round Tabler quipped the building was `the vision of Bob, professional input as an architect by Krish Chitale, and R.V. Rajan`s sweat and blood`. While Bob contributed the money, Krish provided his services free as an architect, I did all the running around to get the papers processed in the corridors of power.

Krish was the Chairman of RTF for the first  5 years and I was the  Secretary for the first 8 years. Simultaneously I was also performing the role of the Chairman of the National Secretariat located in my office before it moved to the Round Table House.  My deep involvement with Round Table almost cost me my job as the Senior Vice President of Grant Kenyon Eckardt advertising.

The building was inaugurated in 1984 to coincide with the Round Table India AGM in Madras. Today the building also houses the secretariat of Ladies Circle India  (ladies wing of Round Table India), 41 Clubs of India(ex-Tablers), and Tangent Clubs of India (Ladies wing of 41 Clubs). The Foundation today has a corpus of Rs. 12.5 crores the interest from which is distributed as donations to the clubs of all the four institutions for their deserving projects

The event appropriately titled `Honouring the Knights of the Round Tables` also honoured the second founder trustee Suresh Gokuldas and eight major donors** whose contribution to the Corpus over the years, ranged from Rs 10 lakhs to Rs 50 lakhs. The special honour-  King Arthurs Medal - was reserved for  Bob Chandran who has donated over Rs Two crores so far and still counting. I missed my good friend Krish Chitale at the event. He passed away two years ago.

The Award part of the event was followed by felicitations from Heads of all the national associations connected with RTF. It was a grand & classy event attended by the who`s who of the Round Table Community ( both current and ex-Tablers), meticulously planned and executed by K.Ilango, the current Chairman of RTF, and his team including the ever enthusiastic Ashvin Kumar, Secretary of RTF.

I was very happy to meet a lot of old friends and make a few new friends from the next generation. It felt as if I was attending another RTI AGM. Among the awardees, I was one of the four who was given a few minutes to speak. Though I had already received the Distinguished Service Award ( DSA) in 1984 for my services to RTI, I was pleasantly surprised to be honoured again with a beautifully worded `Certificate of Gratitude` (attached) after almost 4 decades. As I mentioned in my talk,  Round Table opened up a whole new world to me, a boy from the Chawls of Bombay. Whatever I am today I owe a big thanks to the  Round Table community

It was nice to be in the limelight at a Round Table event after almost four decades.

List of major donors:

1. Ganesh Ananthakrishnan - Knight of Round Table

2. V.S.Surendar - Knight of Round Table

3. Sumanth Ramamurthi - Knight of Round Table

4. C.S.Vigneshwar - Knight of Round Table

5. K Premanathan - Silver Knight of Round Table

6. K.Ilango - Silver Knight of Round Table

7. Vagish Dixit - Golden Knight of Round Table

8. B.V.Ramanan - Golden Knight of Round Table

 

 

 

The Kuvikam Twins

Creating Waves in the world of Tamil Literature

What to do post-retirement from a job is a question that starts haunting many people when they are nearing their retirement age.  Many start pursuing their passions for which they had no time while employed. Two ex-bankers, well known as Kuvikam Twins in the Tamil literary world decided to not only follow their passion for writing but decided to provide a forum for other writers – both budding and established, to express their creative talents in Tamil.

Sundarrajan & Kirubanandan, both ex-employees of Bank of Baroda and old friends, are the twins who are creating waves in the world of Tamil literature with a series of activities they have implemented in the last ten years to engage and reward Tamil writers. Both were pursuing writing as a hobby while employed and were interacting with each other sharing many ideas on Tamil literature.

It was In 2013, Sundararajan, who had actively participated in the computerization of branches of his Bank and was tech savvy, initiated an e-magazine called "KU VI KA M," inspired by popular Tamil magazines like KUmudam, VIkatan, KAlki, and kungumaM. KUVIKAM is a newly coined Tamil word that means "FOCUS" (குவி) and "GATHERING TOGETHER" (குவிவோம்). Initially, the entire issue contained articles written by him but with the growing popularity of his idea and a few issues later he started publishing articles/stories from other writers.

In 2015, Kirubanandan joined hands with Sundararajan to establish a new literary platform called "KUVIKAM ILAKKIYAVAASAL" aimed at fostering literary interest among like-minded individuals by organising physical meetings every month with renowned speakers as speakers followed by group discussions.

Sundararajan says, ”Inspiration for this venture came from similar meetings of  Ilakkiya Sinthanai a pioneering Tamil literary forum headed by Shri Paa. Lashmanan and Ilakkiyaveedhi founded by the well-known and dedicated literary stalwart Iniyavan who passed away a few months ago. The third organisation which kindled the idea was Virutcham.

Azhakiyasingar of Virutcham, the Kuvikam twin`smentor, has been involved in the Tamil literary field for over 30 years. He is well known as the editor of Quarterly Magazine Navina Virtcham and  as a  publisher, he has  published over 100 books under his banner, Virutcham Veliyeedu  covering modern poetry and short stories”

 The first Kuvikam Ilakkiyavaasal meeting took place in April 2015 at Srinivasa Gandhi Nilaiyam in Alwarpet featuring speakers Tirupur Krishnan, editor of Amudhasurabhi monthly, Va Ve Subramanian, former Principal of Vivekananda College and the poet  Jayabaskaran. It was attended by 50 people. Subsequent Kuvikam Ilakkiyavaasal meetings were held at various locations across the city until Srinivasa Gandhi Nilaiyam offered a regular slot on the 3rd Saturday of every month where the meetings are held now in association with Ilakkia Siinthanai.

In 2017, a talk by Mr. Sreekumar on ‘Print on demand’ in one of the monthly meetings sowed the idea of publishing books for friends. The publication wing of Kuvikam known as KUVIKAM PATHIPPAKAM came into existence in July 2017. With equally tech-savvy Kirubanandan helming the initiative, Kuvikam Pathipakam offers writers to realize their dreams of seeing their writings in book form at an incredibly low cost.

Once the text matter is sent to him, Kirubanandan converts the text into book format (DTP) and also provides the cover designs required for the book. This service is provided pro bono( Free) by Kirubanandan.  The writer pays only for paper and printing costs. The use of the Print on demand facility makes the cost of publishing affordable to many aspiring authors who have taken to self-publishing their books using this facility offered by Kuvikam Pathippakam. So far around 170 books of over 70 writers/authors have been published. Though Kuvikam does not have a distribution network nor does it offer marketing services, quite a good number of books are sold at book release functions organized by the authors or Kuvikam. The books published by Kuvikam are also sold at the Virtucham Stall in Chennai Book Fair  under a tie-up between the Kuvikam twins and Azhagiasinger

In Feb 2018 when Kirubanandan’s flat at T Nagar fell vacant, it was converted into an Air-Conditioned KUVIKAM ILLAM. It hosted a library, audio-visual room for short films /documentaries, and a meeting room to conduct weekly meetings called KUVIKAM ALAVALAAVAL. This small venue can accommodate only around 25 people. The Sunday literary meetings held here feature group discussions, book reviews, screening of documentaries, etc. A few Drama rehearsals were also held at the  Illam.

The same year another idea- a book Exchange program was also started with the  catchy slogan “ படித்ததைப் போட்டுவிட்டு பிடித்ததை எடுத்துச் செல்லுங்கள்”. (Leave behind read books and take books you have not read). So far more than 500 books have been collected under this scheme. This is being done at the Illam. The scheme is also implemented at Virtucham Stall at Chennai Book Fair, thanks to Azhagiyasingar.

During the pandemic when physical meetings were not possible, Kuvikam switched over its weekly meetings to the Zoom platform calling it Inaiyavazhi Alavalaaval (Internet conversations) every Sunday evening. Kuvikam became a pioneer in conducting literary meetings in Tamil  over ZOOM. The number of this program has crossed 170 and counting. The hallmark of this program is the variety.

This was followed by another informative and interesting program “MAHAKVIYIN MANDHIRA CHORKAL every Wednesday. Prof Va Ve Su enlightens the audience on the literary, spiritual, and nationalistic nuances of the works of Bharathiar. The hundredth episode of this very popular programme was held in the first week of April and it is surely marching towards the 150 mark.

In 2021, Kuvikam started a monthly print magazine namely KUVIKAM KURUM PUDHINAM (Kuvikam Novellas) Each issue has three novellas of which two are selected through a competition process while the third one is chosen by the editors from classic writers, translations, abridged versions of novels, etc. Currently, 150 friends have subscribed to this edition. The money collected (Rs. 1200 per annum) is being spent entirely in the form of Prizes for the top 3 stories and for all other stories published.

In May 2022, Kuvikam started a Podcast of 15 minutes to be released every week along with Sunday Alavalaaval. Chathurbujan, a popular writer with a golden voice was roped in as its anchor and 60 podcasts have been released so far.

All Kuvikam events including ZOOM meetings are properly recorded and the videos are uploaded on YouTube. A huge collection of over 400 videos is available under Kuvikam’s ILAKKIYAVAASAL channel. The information available in these videos can be a single source of literary information in Tamil for researchers and knowledge seekers.

 From July 2022 onwards Kuvikam started identifying the best story of the month among stories published in leading print/web magazines. Kuvikam borrowed this Ilakkia Chinthanai idea and started selecting stories every month. Sponsored by Mrs. Sivasankari, the eminent writer this project has been aptly named ‘SIVASANKARI – KUVIKAM SIRUKATAITH THERVU’

Prabha Rajan Talent Foundation (PRTF) provided an opportunity to conduct a Short Story Competition in 2022. The funding was by the Foundation and the execution was by Kuvikam. Over 300 entries were received for the competition. The prize distribution and the release of a book titled “SOLAKKAATU BOMMAI” containing 30 selected stories was held at the Tenth Anniversary of PRTF on 15th January 2023.

Starting the meetings through Zoom during the pandemic  has helped Kuvikam to have three meetings per week, which is almost impossible if held as physical meetings. Besides zoom meetings offered opportunities for Tamil writers in other parts of the world to participate in Kuvikam activities thereby widening the reach of Kuvikam programmes. These days, physical meetings are held as hybrid meetings (Direct as well as Zoom) for the benefit of people living in various parts of the country and the world. Besides all these activities there is a whats app group called `Kuvikam Ilakkia thahaval` which offers opportunities for the Kuvikam family of 200 writers to exchange their views and also share news of their literary activities and achievements instantly.

Kirubanandan says, “Out of the 200, there is a core group of 30-50 dedicated Kuvikam friends who are very active and others in the outer circle who silently watch programs and videos. Except for Kurumpudhinam, there are no subscriptions for anything else!” I was surprised to learn that Kirubanandan and Sundararajan find joy in meeting the expenses of running Kuvikam from their  personal contributions.

To a question about the division of responsibilities between the two Sundarrajan said, ”There is no watertight compartment. I look after the web Magazine, Zoom Meetings, podcasts, new ideas, and planning.  Krubanandan looks after the Padhippakam, physical meetings, posters, and YouTube Channel”.

Raya Chellappa, an ex-banker and popular writer himself who has been closely associated with the Kuvikam group has this to say about the Kuvikam twins;  “If Kuvikam is a Clock, then it has two hands: one is called Sundararajan and the other,  Kirubanandan. The big hand sometimes acts as a small hand and the small hand becomes the big one.  They always act in unison with military discipline. A really marvelous combo of literary acumen and technical execution!”

People are attracted to Kuvikam through word-of-mouth publicity. The initial programs like கதை கேளு /கதை படித்தல் and programs organized by Kuvikam have attracted a good number of people. Kirubanandan's presence in book exhibitions and Pathippakam (publications) also brings people closer to Kuvikam.

What the Kuvikam Twins have done in the last ten years to bring together Tamil writers and offer them not only a forum to express their views in person but also in writing, is commendable. Considering the fact that many popular Tamil magazines have drastically cut down on the number of short stories they publish creating a big void that  Kuvikam is trying to fill up. Kudos to the Kuvikam twins for their total devotion to promoting Tamil literature through their multifarious activities.

Readers of MM who are interested in joining the Kuvikam group can write to ssrajan_bob.yahoo.com or magazinekuvikam@gmail.com