R Srinivasan TVS Madurai

62 Years of Service at the TVS Group

At 84, unmindful of the broken thigh femur bone, he continues to contribute to TVS Schools, TVS Hospital, the CSR Welfare activities and the development of his favourite city

Wife Kamala has initiated many sets of people into Saivite Saint Poets' Thevaram Verses

Almost five decades ago, Tamil Nadu right arm fast bowler B. Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html), then at India Cements, was injured in his left hand and it was likely he would miss the Buchi Babu match against ACC that week. When the then Chairman of India Cements KS Narayanan saw him at the office and enquired about the upcoming match, Kalli pointed to the injury in the left hand. Reminding Kalli that he was a right arm fast bowler, Narayanan asked him to play the prestigious match as his bowling hand was intact!!! It is this logic that  Octogenarian R Srinivasan of TVS Madurai seems to have applied in the weeks gone by. 

A month ago, R Srinivasan, Director of TVS Schools and one of the two longest serving personnel of the TVS Group slipped on a floor mat on the first floor of his house in Madurai and broke his right thigh femur bone. The 84 year old was in unbearable pain and rushed to the nearby TVS hospital for a surgery. For a man his age, who has lived a majority of his life in the pre technology and internet era, he is surprisingly tech savvy. Soon after the surgery that ran into hours, much to the shock of his family members, sitting on the hospital bed he was seen working on his iPad sending directions to the TVS School colleagues on the action points for the fortnight at a time when there has been so much debate on the reopening of educational institutions. No member of the family has been able to keep him away from work even for a few hours (The injury is in the right leg but his fingers in both his hands are fine and more importantly his mental frame of mind is as sharp as it has always been, seems to have been the message received by his deeply concerned relatives). 

Till the time, Corona Lockdown hit the State in March this year, his daily routine included 3hours of physical presence at the TVS Schools where he has been a sole Director for the last two decades. In the initial period of the complete lockdown and the gradual unlocking thereafter, he has been actively involved in the multiple roles that he has been donning using technology to the core. With the surgery and his inability to walk, his three sons, all alumni of TVS School and now in well settled jobs in three different cities, found it a challenging task to manage their appa 'long distance' and a decision was arrived at amongst them to pack him ‘out of Madurai’. The city has been his love for much of his lifetime having arrived there from Sri Vaikuntam, a town renowned for the Kaisanathar Nava Kailayam Temple(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/09/srivaikuntam-kailasanathar-koil.html), in the summer of 1946 and having lived his life ever since in the proximity of the Meenakshi Amman Temple. 

It took a great deal of cajoling from his family members on the need to be under the care of his sons at such a time of medical emergency and he finally agreed to make the 'temporary' trip to Madras in the middle of September for what is now turning out to be one of his longest hiatus from Madurai over the last 75years.  Here is the story of the man’s love for Madurai, his over six decade long association with the TVS Group and what lies in store for the Octogenarian.

Football Tourney, Azhagar Utsavam -The Love for Madurai and TVS

Srinivasan was born in Sri Vaikuntam, a town on the Northern Banks of Tamaraibarani also known for Kallarpiran Nava Tirupathi Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/05/srivaikuntam-vaikunta-nathan-divya.html), in 1936. His father, Rajagopal was a Government official and moved to Madurai as a commercial tax officer in the second half of the 1940s. By the time he was into his teens, the TVS Group began to have a profound influence on Srinivasan. Two renowned events that he was witness to in that phase led him to an unshakeable early decision in his mind that both his father and uncle were to realize only much later.

In the 1950s, Madurai played host to an All India Football Tournament that saw the participation of the who’s who of Indian football. Srinivasan himself was a footballer during his college days and was greatly influenced by the care shown by TVS in managing the huge crowds at this popular tourney. The other event that sharply influenced the young Srinivasan was the way TVS managed the huge devotee crowd every summer at the renowned Chitrai festival. Srinivasan found the ease with which they transported the devotees to the banks of the Vaigai and back after the festival to be very impressive. It occurred to the young boy that the TVS management saw the entire devotee crowd as part of their own family and they managed both the football crowd as well as the festival crowd as they would their own family. The third most influential aspect in that early phase of Srinivasan’s life was the punctuality of the TVS bus service, the friendly relationship between the crew and the passengers and the way the entire TVS Management conducted itself with the people of Madurai.

And the Consequent Impact 

His father and his uncle (KS Krishnaswamy), both Government officials, were keen for the young Economics Graduate to take up the Service Commission Examination. As directed by the elders, Srinivasan wrote the exam and sailed through. Much to their delight, he was posted in the Revenue department in Perambalur but their joy turned out to be short lived, for just 48 hours after he joined work, Srinivasan knocked on the door to hand his father the news that he had returned to Madurai for good and that he would not be going back to Perambalur, an announcement that left the father speechless. His uncle Krishnaswamy was even more shocked and exclaimed ‘Would anyone quit a Government job after just two days.’ 

With the strong direction to take to a Government job, things had happened far too quickly in that phase for his liking. When he requested for a couple of days leave, his boss in the Revenue Department smelt something ‘fishy’ and warned the young boy that he would be ‘reported’ to higher authorities if he did not return at the appointed time. Srinivasan did not return for his never ending love for Madurai and the TVS Group played an overpowering role in the decision that he took that week. 

The young Srinivasan was adamant that day, much to the disbelief of the seniors at home. It was odd for a young 20 something graduate to take such a strong stand in those days in the 1950s. But Srinivasan stood by his conviction. While his uncle was unwilling and considered him foolish, his father finally relented to the power of youth.

July 58 – The First TVS meeting 

He applied for a job at the TVS and met with the then company secretary of the TVS Group, Sankara Iyer, who too suggested to the youngster that he may be taking a hurried decision on his career and asked him to re-consider the Government job, one that was likely to give him long term security. It seemed that the entire world was conspiring to navigate him away from Madurai and the TVS Group. In fact, his uncle went one step ahead. He called the boss at the revenue department in Perambulur and requested him to hold on to the resignation letter assuring him that he would soon instill some sense into the young boy and ‘dispatch’ him back to Perambalur. Clearly, uncle Krishnaswamy misjudged the strong bondage between the young grad and Madurai. Srinivasan was far too influenced by the value system of the TVS group and had bonded so well with Madurai over the previous ten years that he was unwilling to look beyond TVS.

That same month he had made the transition from a Government job to a role at the Corporate. He joined the TVS Group on July 11, 1958 and 62 years later is one of the two longest serving members in the TVS group outside of the promoter group. 

The Personal Aide of India’s PM 

Within two years of joining TVS, he came under the tutelage of CMD R Ramachandran, who spotted the long term potential in Srinivasan and began involving him in the social activities of the Group. Before he had turned 30, Srinivasan was handed out a prestigious assignment that he still cherishes almost 6 decades later. When the then PM of India Jawaharlal Nehru visited Madurai for a meeting in 1963, Srinivasan was posted as his ‘Aide’ during the period of the conference. And on the morning of the event, the PM of India pinned his favourite Red Rose on the shirt of the young Srinivasan.

On the eve of the high profile event that was also attended by Kamaraj, Bhakthavatsalam and Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, Madurai was flooded after rains lashed the city relentlessly for hours. Srinivasan, who had seen the working of the TVS team during the football tourney and Azhagar Utsavam, now saw the working of the Group for a third time, this one as a staffer who was assigned personally to the PM of India. He remembers the event from that night “TS Krishna brought around 200 foremen from the TVS Group firms and they worked tirelessly, through the night. When the PM reached the venue the next morning, he was delighted at the turnaround time of the TVS and the professional way they had ensured that the venue was ready for the event.”

For his personalised service to the PM of India, Ramachandran presented Srinivasan with a special letter acknowledging his role in taking care of Nehru, one that he has preserved to this day with great happiness.

Public Speaking Course in Madurai

In 1972, TVS & Sons organised a public speaking course in Madurai with Srinivasan playing an active role in the conduct of the event. It was the first time he came into contact with Venu Srinivasan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/venu-srinivasan-historical-temples.html), who participated in the course as a teenaged student. In the six decades of his service at the TVS Group, he worked closely with many of the members of the TVS Family.

Into Welfare Activities 

After serving TVS & Sons and TVS Coach Building for 15years, he moved to TVS Rubber as the Supply Manager. In the phase of his stint there, it was one of the top three rubber companies. During the period, Ramachandran sponsored several academic courses for Srinivasan’s up-skill in business. These included General Management and Export- Import Management courses, among a few others. Very early on, Ramachandran involved him in social service initiatives of the TVS Group. Srinivasan was initiated into the Junior Chamber in Madurai. When Srinivasan turned 40, Ramachandran proposed his name to the Rotary Membership with the words that Srinivasan remembers to this day, well over four decades later “People expect a lot from you. It is your responsibility to live up to their expectations.”  Since 1977, Srinivasan has remained an active Rotarian. He received an award last year from the TN Governor for his contribution to the society as a Rotarian.

When TVS signed a JV with Dupont, Srinivasan donned the role of GM Projects. 

Wife's Contribution to the Society

While Srinivasan had a 12 hour work day through most of his corporate life including his CSR, social services association and his active participation in the Rotary, his wife Kamala took a devotional teaching route. What started off as a rather simple learning of the Thevaram verses of the Saivite Saint Poets (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/12/thiru-vathigai-veerateswarar.html) translated into one of the more serious form. Her devotional acharya Pichammal was so passionate and devoted in the rendering of these verses accompanied by the ragas, that Kamala Srinivasan became completely engrossed in the recital.

Impressed with her absorption skills, her acharya suggested that she begin to take classes herself so the sacred verses could pass on to the next generation.Several batches of students have graduated out of Kamala's teaching of the Thevaram verses (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/01/thiru-vennai-nallur-kripapureeswarar.html) tuned in with the accompanying Ragams. The passing of the sacred renderings of the Saint Poets (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/thiruvathavur-thirumarainathaswamy.html) has given her a gread deal of satisfaction while her husband spent time contributing to the development of Madurai and its neighbouring villages.

APPAR at Thiru Vathigai

An Exclusive Post at TVS Schools 

After his formal retirement from the corporate life (having spent several decades with various TVS firms in Madurai and having grown to the post of Vice President), Srinivasan was leading a team of youngsters at Rotary International to Osaka, Japan for an event. It was just prior to this trip that he was called on by Shobhana, daughter of R Ramachandran who took over charge at the school in 1982. 

She created an exclusive post for him at the TVS Schools that did not exist till then and made him the Director to take care of both the day to day administration as well as laying out the broad policies for the schools. In the two decades of his association in the education space, TVS Schools has expanded dramatically. He was bestowed with the responsibility of formulating policies, preparation of annual budget, identifying new focus areas for all the TVS schools and to provide guidance, support and evaluate all activities of School Heads. With the strong expansion in recent years and increasing need for quality teachers, Srinivasan is also actively involved in the recruitment process of the teaching faculty. Lakshmi Vidya Sangam (named after TVS Iyengar's wife) now governs 10 educational institutions with 15000 students, 800 teachers and over 200 staffers.Till March this year, his daily routine included a visit to the TVS Schools.

In the education space, he was also inducted into the Sath Guru Sangeetha Vidyalaya (an institution for Music and Fine Arts) of which he became the President. He is also an executive committee member of the Sath Guru Sangeetha Samajam. 

TVS Hospital, Arogya Trust and more

In addition to his full time role at the Schools as the Director, he has also been a Lead Trustee at the TVS Hospital. As part of the CSR activities of TVS, he oversees welfare activities in 24 villages around Madurai. The Octogenarian is physically present at all the big events in these villages. He is also associated with community related projects pertaining to Women Empowerment, Education, Health, Environment, Youth and Child development around Madurai. 

Advisor to TVS Srichakra

While engaging actively in  social services activities, Srinivasan has also been continuing to play an advisory role on the corporate front. Currently, he is an advisor to TVS Srichakra.

He will soon be 85 but at the moment has no plans to slowdown his contribution to the TVS Group. His philosophy has been to keep the self busy in constructive activities that are useful for the development of the Society. One thought that was a philosophy that held good in the normal course and not for these extraordinary times when there is a health scare across the world. But Srinivasan has willingly and proactively extended that (philosophy) to even when he is unable to move without the help of a walking stick. Sitting 500kms North of Madurai at his son’s home in Mylapore, Srinivasan’s day this month has begun with his best friend in recent years - The Apple iPad. He is often seen scrolling the official emails. His responses are not short either as he types in detail to his colleagues in the TVS Group. Every morning, he remembers the message of Ramachandran from the pre technology days in 1960 “He would always say that one should respond to everyone as quickly as possible and definitely not later than 24 hours.” Srinivasan receives a reasonably good number of mails each day relating to the schools, hospital, welfare activities and the developmental programmes. He succintly follows that six decades old message of Ramachandran and ensures that he responds to each one of the mails on the same day.

Similar to the 86 year old H Lakshmanan, ED, Sundaram Clayton, Srinivasan too has engaged with the TVS Group for over six decades, quite a significant achievement for a staffer. Commitment to work, Loyalty to the TVS Group and the Will Power to carry out the tasks assigned to him has been long standing virtues of this Octogenarian. At 84, he is still making contribution in  the Education, Hospitality, Community and Tyre space. While his sons seem to be chalking out a different plan for him in the coming months, Srinivasan is itching to go back to Madurai at the earliest and to continue his life in his favourite city and with his favourite organization.

“Till my final breath, I want to contribute to the TVS Group and to the development of Madurai” is his message to his sons and the family members.

For those like Srinivasan, age simply does not matter. Truly a memorable personality, this man.