Thenthiruperai Rahul Bhattar

A 23 year old priest’s LIFE TIME COMMITMENT to his favourite Divya Desam

After a high quality Vedic and Agama Education at the Ahobilam Mutt College, Madurantakam, this youngster refused a lucrative move to the city and headed back to his hereditary location to join the Thenthiruperai Divya Desam as a priest at a Three Digit Salary 

With a Long Term Vision to serve the Lord at Thenthiruperai, he has just reconstructed his dilapidated ancestral home and delighted his parents with his deep sense of responsibility at such a young age 

Surely you cannot find another like Venkata Srinivasan Bhattar (Rahul Bhattar in the temple circles). He had gone through a financially challenging phase in his childhood with his appa serving as an archaka in a remote temple near Thenthiruperai that offered very little financial returns. His interest in temple service began at a very early age. Even as a school boy, he had supported Ananthu Bhattar, the lead priest at the Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kathan temple by carrying the torch during the street processions at the big utsavams. Pleased with the devotional conduct of the young boy, Ananthu Bhattar encouraged and motivated him into temple service through his teenage years.  That constant motivation inspired Rahul and created the devotional spirit in him to serve the Lord of Thenthiruperai. 

Sanskrit, Vedic and Agama Initiation at Madurantakam

After completing his early schooling in Thenthiruperai, he moved to the Oriental School in Madurantakam aged 11 and then did his graduation and Post Graduation in Sanskrit at the Ahobilam Mutt Sanskrit College there. In addition to becoming proficient in Yajur Veda, he also learned the Pancharatra Agamas tutored by Annadhur Rajagopalachariar. During his teenage years, he also showed interest in Divya Prabhandham, the sacred verses of the Azhvaars and learnt those as well. In his late teens, he was initiated into the Sama Veda by Kalpakkam Kannan, who hailed from Thenthiruperai. During a period of 10 years, he also performed kainkaryam at the madapalli in the Patshala. 

Early days at the Madurantakam Patshala

A Life Time Message from Agama Guru

The message from his Patshala Guru Annadhur Rajagopalachariar through this phase was clear “The learning should fructify into developing our Sampradayam, spreading Sanskrit and most importantly taking care of your parents at their old age. Do not succumb to financial temptations and the lures of a city life.”

He has remembered that message each day over the last many years.

The current generation is clearly not bullish on the prospects of an archaka and that too in a remote location and as expected, on completion of his education at Madurantakam, almost all his classmates made their way to the city to pursue a non temple career.  But Rahul was very clear even when he had left Thenthiruperai a decade earlier that he would return to the Divya Desam after his eduaction. 

Follows the Guru's message - Heads back to Thenthiruperai

While all friends pushed him to join them in Madras and get into Vedic related work, one that they said would fetch him big financial returns given the high demand for Vathyars, 20 year old Rahul did not fall prey to the financial lure and took one of the boldest steps seen in recent years in Divya Desams in Tamil Nadu. As one looks around all the remote Divya Desams in the state, there are not too many in the next gen that have chosen the path of becoming a temple priest given the many challenges that priests in the earlier generation had faced and the current turbulent scenario that exists. 

S Ramani Bhattar - Krishnan Garudan Sannidhi

Rahul Bhattar was undeterred for he had been very clear even as a teenager that his future was at the Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kathan Divya Desam and not away from this temple even if other lucrative financial offers came his way. His friends did not appreciate his decision and many warned him early on the challenges that lay ahead of him but Rahul remained firm. His appa, S Ramani, has been an archaka in a Krishnan-Garudan Sannidhi, a temple in a village near Thenthiruperai for the last three decades or so with minimal financial returns and life continued to be financially challenging even as Rahul came out of his teens.

            With his mentor Ananthu Bhattar

Given the first two decades of his life and the way he has seen the fortunes of his appa, it would have been acceptable for him to have taken the Northern direction to Madras from Madurantakam. But aged 20, he headed South to Nava Tirupathi to join his mentor Ananthu Thiruvenkatam Bhattar at Thenthiruperai. Soon after, Ajit, one of the most well respected EOs in the HR & CE, handed him the archaka post, albeit a temporary one at Thenthiruperai. Of course, the salary, that was handed based on voucher signature, was only in the three digits. And not a rupee has increased in the last three years. But that does not matter to the devotionally inclined Rahul Bhattar.

Venu Srinivasan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/venu-srinivasan-historical-temples.html), who restored all the Nava Tirupathi temples in the 1990s and who has been handing monthly Sambhavanai to all the service personnel in these temples, organised a monthly Sambhavanai for Rahul Bhattar that was four times his salary. And that has really helped him sustain this early phase at Thenthiruperai as an archaka.

And as luck would have it, within two years of his joining Thenthiruperai Divya Desam as an archaka, he had to face the wrath of the Pandemic that kept devotees away for a large part of 2020. It was once again Venu Srinivasan who offered multiple rounds of ‘emergency’ Sambhavanai that kept Rahul Bhattar (and others in Nava Tirupathi) afloat last year.

Financial Institutions refuse Home Loan

While the Pandemic hit his finances hard, there was more trouble brewing for Rahul Bhattar, this time on the physical infrastructure front. The close to a century old ancestral home, a few hundred yards from the Divya Desam temple, was in a dilapidated state with the roof falling off. His parents have been a great source of strength in supporting his decision to lead his life in temple service as against leading one in the city. Committed to taking care of his parents, Rahul Bhattar went around banks and home finance companies late last year but the absence of a salary certificate and one with a three digit voucher based salary meant that these institutions refused a home loan. Earlier this year, he sought the help of likeminded devotees who reached out to lend him the necessary finances for the reconstruction. However hard his financial challenges, he was to keen to hand them a decent house to live and hence took it upon himself at such an early age to reconstructe the dilapidated house against all odds.

A house reconstruction is not something that a youngster would do in his early 20s but  just a month ago, Rahul Bhattar completed the entire reconstruction of his house from scratch, an exercise that delighted his parents. He has his eyes set on serving the Lord at this Divya Desam till the end of his life and that devotional conviction gave him a lot of clarity to have a ‘permanent’ roof over his head. 

15 years ago, he was the 'Torch' bearer during utsavams at Thenthiruperai, now he has become an integral part of everyday life at this temple. Over the last three years, he has been initiated into the temple pooja processes by Ananthu Bhattar, from whom he continues to learn the art of alankaram of the Lord and Thayar.

Life Time Commitment to Thenthiruperai

His friends continue to frown on his decision to move to a remote location at such a young age instead of leveraging financially his Vedic learning. One might have thought that the challenges of the Pandemic would have forced him to rethink. But those high on devotion are taken on a different path that is not easy to understand. Financial challenges do not concern this youngster. In a world that is clearly moving towards materialistic pursuits, this youngster has bucked the trend and taken the bold devotional step of moving back to the ancient temple town despite knowing that this may not be financially remunerative, at least in the near term. However, he sees richness in a lifetime service to the Lord of a Divya Desam and not the financial growth.  He is also keen to spread Sanskrit among the villagers over the next decade by educating them during his free time.

It is devotionally inspiring to find a youngster refusing such luring financial opportunities and staying back at his hereditary location as a priest. At 23, he has promised to Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kaathan that he would serve him with devotion for the rest of his life for that has been and continues to be his only motto in life. He has the fullest faith in the Lord that he would take care of his Kainkaryapaka.

Rahul Bhattar can be reached on @ 79048 37116

Thanjai Maa Mani Narasimha Bhattar passes away

The Smiling Face at Narasimha Sannidhi is taken away at 51

He started performing service at the age of 15 and till the very end, serving the Divya Desam Lords at Vennatrankarai had remained his only Love in Life

Narasimha Bhattar, who had served Thanjai Maa Mani Divya Desam for 36 years, passed away recently, aged 51. He had joined the temple as a teenager supporting his appa Srinivas ‘Pichai’ Bhattar at the three temples that together make up this Divya Desam. Pichai Bhattar had joined the temple in the early 1960s and had served for almost 55 years. He had passed away only a few years back, after which Narasimha Bhattar performed aradhanam at the Singa Perumal Koil and Mani Kundram temple all alone. 

Pichai Bhattar had been the vital link between the Lord and the devotees even in the financially tough times in the 1960s and 70s. As a single Bhattar, he would shuttle between the three temples – Singa Perumal Koil, Manikundram Perumal and Neela Megha Perumal - helping devotees with darshan. Till his very end he had remained devotionally committed to the Lords of this Divya Desam.

எம்பிரான் எந்தை என்னுடைச் சுற்றம்

எனக்கு அரசு என்னுடை வாழ்நாள்

அம்பினால் அரக்கர் வெருக்கொள நெருக்கி

அவர் உயிர் செகுத்த எம் அண்ணல்

வம்புலாம் சோலை மா மதில்

தஞ்சை மாமணிக்  கோயிலே வணங்கி

நம்பிகாள் உய்ய நான் கண்டுகொண்டேன்

நாராயணா என்னும் நாமம் - Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

Continues in his appa's footsteps The Fall led to his demise

Following the death of his father, in the middle of last decade, the pressure on Narasimha Bhattar He took on the mantle of performing aradhanam and conducting the utsavams including the Brahmotsavam at this Divya Desam. He was always available to provide darshan to devotees who arrived last minute well after noon on many days. Similarly in the night he was always willing to keep the temple open when the outstation devotees were on the way to the Divya Desam.  It was not the financial lure but the devotional attraction and to be with the Lord all days of the year that made him stick like a glue at this Divya Desam over the last three and a half decades.

In his praise in the Periya Thirumozhi, Thirumangai Azhvaar refers to the Lord (Narasimha) who tore open the chest of Hiranyakashipu as residing in Thanjai Maa Mani Koil. He also refers to the second of the temples in this Divya Desam as Manikundram.

என் செய்கேன் அடியேன் உரையீர் இதற்கு

என்றும் என் மனத்தே இருக்கும் புகழ்

தஞ்சை ஆளியை பொன்பெயரோன் நெஞ்சம்

அன்று இடந்தவனை தழவே புரை

மின் செய் வாள் அரக்கன் நகர் பாழ்பட

சூழ் கடல் சிறை வைத்து  இமையோர் தொழும்

பொன்செய் மால் வரையை மணிகுன்றினை

அன்றி என் மனம் போற்றி என்னாதே

The Fatal Fall

In August this year, Narasimha Bhattar fell down and experienced severe pain in his back. He never recovered from the fall. For someone so committed to serving the Lord in three temples at this Divya Desam, there was no girl who came forward to marry him, the tag of a remote temple Bhattar with weak financial returns was not attractive enough, and thus at 51, Narasimha Bhattar died, unmarried, at the small house opposite the Manikundram Perumal Temple. Till the very end, serving the Thanjai Maa Mani Lords day in day out remained his only Love in Life.

Thippirajapuram Vikrama Choleswarar Temple

Old World Charm - The Thinnai, The Traditional Well and the Vathima Iyers - A LIFE that once was in our historical temple towns 

Thippi Raja Puram continues to be vibrant with Vedic Recital reverberating through the day in the Agraharam

The Venugopalaswamy temple dates back to the period of Thippaya Nayakar while the Vikrama Choleswarar temple is named after the Chozha King Vikrama Chozha

              Vikrama Choleswarar - Abirami

It is not yet 6am on Sunday morning and the young boys on East and South Agraharam streets of Vikrama Chola period Thippi Raja Puram, located between the tributaries of Kudamurutti, Thirumalai and Mudikondan rivers, are already reciting the Vedas in chorus. For these students there is no waking up late on Sunday and a relaxed weekend that city residents are used to these days. The young boys from the Vedic Patshaalas are traditional and respectful and take you back to the historical days of Vedic recitals being an integral part of every temple town. In addition to vedic patshalas, there is also a Shiva Agama Patshala in Thippirajapuram with acharyas and students alike coming from different parts of the country including from UP and Rajasthan.  The tradional agraharam, renowned for Vathima Iyers, is marked by the early morning chirping of Peacocks that are seen in abundance on the South Street and around the Venugopalaswamy temple.

Thippi Raja Puram has been named after Thippi Deva Rayar, the relative of Vijayanagara King Harihara II, who stayed here for sometime. An art lover Thippi Deva Rayar created the beautiful sculptures that one sees in the towering Raja Gopuram at the Sarangapani temple in Thiru Kudanthai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/06/sarangapani-koil-thiru-kudanthai.html). 

Agraharam remains intact

On the South Street Agraharam are several Octogenarians who have all returned to their ancestral homes after retirement and have been here for the last 25 years. 

89year old PR Mahalingam is one such who is just a couple of houses away from the Patshala. He recounts the days from the 1940s when he schooled here staying in this same over a 100years old agraharam traditional type home that also has a well inside having come here from Konerirajapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/konerirajapuram-thiru-nallam.html) and having undertaken Veda Adyayanam at the Patshala in Thiru Ananthapuram. He went on to become a school teacher and later the Head Master. While his three sons went on to take up three different professions, his young grandson took to Veda Adyayanam at a Patshala near Kanchipuram, sports a tuft and is now into Veda Parayanam, a welcome development “With the hereditary priests performing pooja in both the Vishnu and Shiva temples and the residents taking care of the utsavams, the temples have retained the traditional devotional intent all through.  The entire agraharam was vibrant in those decades with early morning kolams dotting the entire South  Street leading to the Perumal temple.”

Long South Agraharam leading to the Perumal Temple

A couple of houses away is 80 year old R Pichumani, whose appa was an agriculturist and his thatha the Panchayat President in the first half of the 20th Century “All the four streets were in the traditional agraharam styled format. Almost all the residents were Vathima Smarthas with just a couple of Iyengar families including the Perumal Koil priest. At one point in the 2nd half of the last century, there were three generations of the family living in the same house in the joint family system that prevailed at that time. Almost all the houses in the agraharam are over a 100 years old and most have stuck to the traditional format except a few in the North street.”

At the far West end of South Street is the Venugopalaswamy Temple. Thippaya Nayakkar undertook renovation of the Varadarajaswamy (Moolavar) temple and presented to the temple the processional idols of Venugopalaswamy, Rukmini and Satyabhama from his palace in Thanjavur and consecrated the idols at this temple.

Pichumani remembers vividly the story narrated by his Thatha during his childhood “The Perumal Koil had sunk beneath the earth at the end of the 19th Century. Residents who used to have darshan of the Deepa Aaradhanai from their homes could no longer have darshan. It was my Thatha who took efforts to build it and bring it to the current structure that one sees now."

The consecration of the rebuilt temple took place in 1928.

Nathan Koil Divya Desam Perumal makes an annual trip here

47 year old Venkatakrishnan Bhattar has lived all his life at the west end of the south Agraharam and is continuing the hereditary archaka service that his forefathers had performed. He has been performing this service for close to two decades now. His appa, Ramamoorthy Bhattachar, had performed arathanam at this temple till the time he was into his 80s from the time he was a teenager. 

This is believed to be the Abhimana Perumal for Jagannathan Perumal of Nandipura Vinnagaram Divya Desam in Nathan Koil (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/02/108-divya-desam-nathan-koil-nandipura.html). “Jagannathan Perumal used to visit this temple on his way to Thillaambur, near Valangaiman on his annual trip. Once upon a time there used to be grand utsavams. We are now trying to revive the Brahmotsavam and the Pavitrotsavam” says Venkatakrishnan Bhattar

Street Processions have continued to be part of this temple’s utsavams with Garuda Sevai on Akshaya Trithi. Punarvasu is celebrated in a grand way each month. The 26th day of Margazhi is the occasion for Thiru Kalyanam.

In the century gone by, 100 Kalam of Paddy was handed to the priest annually “Our forefathers lived a contended life with this income. The residents of the agraharam also took good care of the priests.”

CUB Kamakoti's forefathers' contributions

City Union Bank’s Managing Director N Kamakoti has been the trustee of the Venugopalaswamy temple for over 15years. His Thatha G Vaidhyanathan Iyer, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 95, managed the temple as the trustee for well over five decades.  

A large scale consecration had taken place just under a 100 years ago.  Following this, Kamakodi's  thatha took over as the trustee and managed the temple for over 50years. During the Radha Kalyanam, one of the grandest occasions at the Perumal temple, guests in large numbers stayed at our house in the Agraharam.

Great Unity among the residents

A distinctive feature of Thippi Raja Puram has been the longstanding unity among the residents which is a great positive for this ancient temple town.

The standout feature in the agraharam has been the unity of the residents over a long period of time.  Each resident has taken the mandagapadi for an Utsavam. For each of the nine days of Navarathri, there is a resident who has taken responsibility for the conduct bearing all the expenses of the utsavam. There was and continues to be great unity among the residents in the agraharam. The recent consecration too took place through the individual contributions of the residents of the agraharam in Thippirajapuram.

Kutcheris and Hari Kathas too were an integral part of temple utsavams. Radha Kalyanam, Garuda Sevai and Navarathri have all been celebrated at the Perumal Temple in a grand way with active participation from the residents.

Sticking to tradition

Residents do not eat without darshan of the Lord in one of the two temples. Pichumani's wife Janaki too has seen Thippirajapuram from her young teenage days from the 1950s ‘We have lived here in the South Agraharam for five generations. I am happy that everyone has on the South Street has agreed to stick to the traditional format homes. The traditional look remains intact with a Thinnai at the entrance welcoming every guest. The priests in both the temples too have been hereditary and the next gen continue to perform service to this day.”

Creating Vedic Scholars from Thippi Raja Puram

77 year old S Raman, who lives on the West Agraharam, studied at the Kumbakonam College and has remained here all his life. He recounts the vedic chanting resonating through the day in the agraharams at Thippirajapuram “Seetharama Ganapadigal made a big positive impact at Thippirajapuram. He ran a Yajur Veda Patshala on the South Street and created the next generation of Vedic Scholars each of whom has gone on to carve a name for himself. The joint family system that existed till the time the previous generation moved into cities ensured that for a large part there was great unity within the family members and within the community that lived here in the Agraharam.”

There was a Saama Veda Patshala near the Pillayar Koil with 15 students being initiated at any point of time.

Some changes in the North Agraharam

Unfortunately the North Street sports a different picture. In the last decade, modern houses have come up just behind the several centuries old Vikrama Choleswarar temple. Rajesh Shivachariar, whose forefathers lived once in the traditional agraharam styled house and performed archaka service at the temple, too lives in a modern construction, a far cry from his childhood days when he says there were a couple of traditional families who lived in great contentment.

The story goes that in the 12th Century AD, Vikrama Chola visited the temple and undertook a renovation exercise. He also prayed for the Lord to be referred to in his name as Vikrama Choleswarar, a sculpture is seen of him invoking the blessings of the Lord. The recently found inscription at the Vikrama Choleswarar temple points to this temple having existed prior to the Muslim Invasion.

Committed and Sincere priests

Rajesh Shivachariar's forefathers have been the hereditary priests at the temple. His great grand father Raja Gurukal served at the temple for seven decades, while his thatha Swaminathan Gurukal too performed aradhanam for several decades till his very end. His appa, Nataraja Gurukal, too served till the time he was 75years old.

While Kamakodi's Thatha was the trustee at the Perumal temple, another resident on the South Street, Balu took the responsibility of being the trustee of the Vikrama Choleswarar temple before HR &CE took over the temple from Balu. Interestingly, the Perumal temple administration held strong and Kamakodi's thatha refused to hand over the temple to the HR & CE and continued to manage the temple as the trustee through the second half of the 20th Century.  The Perumal temple is run by Kamakodi as the trustee, the HR &CE has been administrators of the Vikrama Choleswarar temple for the last several decades and that has not been happy news for the priests, like in so many remote temples in Tamil Nadu.

Unfortunately for the Shivachariar's family, the paddy income that came in from the trustee dwindled once the HR & CE took over. For many decades Nataraja Shivachariar did not receive his salary in the form of Paddy "It was a financially challenging childhood. We lived as a joint family of 15members in the old styled agraharam house on the North Street. It was only through the contribution of the residents in the agraharam that we survived that phase" recounts Rajesh Shivachariar from his growing up years in the 1980s.

45 year old Rajesh Shivacharaiar, who brother Manikandan Shivachariar has the official HR &CE archaka posting, studied till class VIII before being initiated in the Vedas and Agamas at Thirupanthurai. Even as a young teenager he had joined the temple service under the guidance of his appa "He would ask me to take care of the abhisekam in other sannidhis in the temple and kept a watchful eye on me to see if I performed the service with devotion."

He says that devotees have had their wedding wishes fulfilled after invoking the blessings of Vikrama Choleswarar and Annai Abirami and performing Manjal archanai here.

"It is through the support of Brahmma Vidya Sabha of CUB's Kamakodi that the temple has managed the conduct of daily poojas and the utsavams 'CUB's MD ensures that there is no shortage in this temple of any pooja items at any point of time' says Rajesh Shivachariar.

Pradosham, Karthigai, Pournami days sees big celebration at this temple with the agraharam residents gathering in good numbers. In the decades gone by, there used to Kutcheris for a week around the Tamil New Year utsavam in Chitrai. There are 10 big street processions annually. In Karthigai, Sangabhisekam is followed by Pancha Moorthy Procession around the four agraharam streets with the Village residents carrying the Lord on their shoulders. Kantha Sashti Utsavam is also a big occasion at Thippi Raja Puram.

Located on the outskirts of Kumbakonam, 7kms on the way to Mannargudi, Thippirajapuram has managed to hold on to the old world charm. The renowned yesteryear Thinnais at the entrance is a feature in every house in the agraharam, the doors of the homes are almost always open to guests and the original inhabitants continue to remain, though in lesser numbers, in this temple town. The Patshalas too have come back in recent years and there are atleast 40 students from different parts of the country learning vedas full time here. While priests in remote locations have moved on to different locations or professions, the hereditary priests in both the temples - Venugopalaswamy and Vikrama Choleswarar- have remained here for a century and continue to perform archaka service keeping the traditions going and the utsavams active and vibrant. 

Venkatakrishnan Bhattar can be reached on 94861 56969 and Rajesh Shivachariar on 97503 87311.

Sarangapani Koil Vedantha Desikar Utsavam

Next Gen Kainkaryapakas provide devotional delight on Satru Murai day of the Vedantha Desikar Utsavam at Thiru Kudanthai

Soundararaja Bhattar’s alankaram of Sarangapani and Komalavalli Thayar and his musical rendition of the archanai followed by the Sthala Puranam leaves Paravakottai Swami pleasantly surprised

Prasanna (Left) carrying Vedantha Desikar after Mangalasasanam

The next gen came to the fore on the Satru Murai day at the 10 day Vedantha Desikar Utsavam at the Sarangapani Divya Desam in Thiru Kudanthai. 35 year old V Prasanna, a staffer at RR Donnelly in Madras, has been very devotionally attached right from his childhood. His patti, Lakshmi, daughter of Desika Patrachar, created a great interest for him in Amudan. Right from his school days, he has been visiting the Divya Desam (during special utsavams of which Adyayana Utsavam is a favourite. The sacred verses of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar are of special interest to him as is the Vaaraai Varuvaai verse of Nam Azhvaar.  He was an integral part of the final day celebrations (at the Sarangapani Temple, the Desikar Utsavam takes place for ten days from Puratasi Shravanam) carrying the Kudai during the inside procession and ringing the bell. He was at his devotional best reciting the sacred verses at different times on this final day. Prasanna, a resident of Saidapet, Madras, is a regular at Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple in Mylapore.

For another next gen, the 27 year old newly appointed archakar at the Vedantha Desikar Sannidhi, K Sudarshan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/09/sarangapani-koil-desikar-sannidhi-new.html), this was his first as the official archakar of the Sannidhi. At the Eastern Entrance of the temple, he was busy organizing things for the morning Thirumanjanam. It is a great experience for him with so many senior service personnel around including Ramanuja Patrachar who is the dominating person of the day direction the course of action. Thirumanjanam was followed by Theerthavari.  Historically, Vedantha Desikar went on a trip to the Cauvery for the Theerthavari Utsavam on this day. With restrictions on street processions, the Theerthavari formalities were performed as a simple event performed at the Desikar Sannidhi.

After alankaram, Vedantha Desikar went to the Komalavalli Thaayar and Sarangapani Koil for Mangalasasanam. Following this, the Prabhandham members presented Thiru Kurunthandagam, Thiru Nedunthandagam as well as Thiru Ezhu Kootrirukkai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/06/thiru-ezhu-kootrirukkai_22.html), Thiru Mangai Azhvaar’s exclusive Prabhandham on Thiru Kudanthai. 

Prasanna leads the devotional Mangalasasanam Recital

While the seniors who are present everyday at the temple for seva kalam were seen in good numbers today, Prasanna made a big difference on this occasion. His devotional high pitched recital of the above verses provided the spark for everyone else in the team. It was close to 1pm when the Thiru Mozhi Satru Murai took place. Prasanna says that the credit for initiating him into Prabhandham and this mode of recital goes to his acharya, Thiruvazhi Kannan Swamy “He is my inspiration in Prabhandham Kainkaryam.”

ஆரா அமுதே அடியேன் உடலம்  நின்பால் அன்பாயே

நீராய்  அலைந்து கரைய உருக்குகின்ற நெடுமாலே

சீர் ஆர் செந்நெல் கவரி வீசும் செழு நீர் திரு குடந்தை

ஏர் ஆர் கோலம் திகழ கிடந்தாய் கண்டேன் எம்மானே  - Thiruvoimozhi ( 5-8-1)

His Patti’s initiation of Amudan’s greatness has been so long standing that for the last many years, Prasanna has made it a devotional process to be part of the Kainkaryam at Pavitrotsavam and Adyayana Utsavam, where Thirumangai Azhvaar’s Thiruvadi Thozhuthal is of special interest to him. “I am devotionally possessive of Aaravamudha Perumal and is my favourite of all the temples I have visited” says Prasanna.

This was followed by mangalasasanam at Andal Sannidhi following which Vedantha Desikar returned to his sannidhi. Komalavalli Thayar and Sarangapani Perumal made their way to the Desikar shortly after 1pm bringing to end the morning events.

Alankaram Specialist displays his devotion

Shortly after, S Soundararaja Bhattachar showcased his alankaram skills with a 2hour decoration exercise. By 5pm, he had transformed Sarangapani and Komalavalli Thayar and the Serthi Sevai on the evening left the devotees stunned. Most of them who entered the Desikar Sannidhi refused to come back as they continued to admire every aspect of the alankaram. It was only the arrival of Paravakottai swami (Poundareekapuram Ashram) that led to the devotees leaving the Sannidhi.

Soundararaja Bhattar is seen with the Kudam to Paravakottai Swami's right

If for over two hours he had shown his alankaram skills, Soundararaja Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/06/sarangapani-koil-thiru-kudanthai.html) now presented his devotion to Amudan and Komalavalli Thaayar that he has come to be renowned for over the last four decades. In almost a 10 minute archanai, he provided a pleasant surprise to Paravakottai Swami with his musical rendition of a long full fledged archanai. He followed this with description of the greatness of Sarangapani and Komalavalli Thaayar that brought in a big smile to the face of the Swami.

Paravakottai Swami had mentioned earlier that during his childhood he had listened to the beautiful archanai presentation of Soundararaja Bhattar’s appa L Srinivasa Bhattachar ( Chellappa) who had performed kainkaryam at this temple for several decades “Chellappa Bhattachar’s musical rendering of the archanai is still fresh in my memory” Paravakottai Swami told Soundararaja Bhattar.

Shortly after 6pm, a large contingent of Prabhandham members began the presentation of the final canto of Tiruvomozhi that was followed by Ramanujam Nootranthathi.

Periya Satru Murai - Pillayanthathi verses

Prasanna was once again at his devotional best during the Satru Murai “A special feature that I have liked for long at this temple is the separate full length Satru Murai of all the 20 verses of Pillayanthathi that you do not find anywhere else.”

Many devotees in Thiru Kudanthai, especially a good number of senior women and long time residents, came in specifically to enjoy the presentation of the Periya Satru Murai of Pillayanthathi. The high pitched presentation that sent positive devotional vibration to those present in the evening was a great culmination to the daylong celebration of the 10th day of the Desikar utasvam. 

Thaligai Presentation - Wide Variety of Sweet, Kaaram and Rice

Madapalli Specialist, another Sudarshan, had the final word on the evening. He led the preparation of the wide range of Thaligai - multiple varieties of sweet, kaaram, Chakkarai Pongal and Puliyotharai- that was presented at the Desikar Sannidhi. 

One could also find a great bit of happiness and satisfaction in the face of the young K Sudarshan Bhattar after his debut presentation of the Utsavam as the official archakar of the Desikar Sannidhi.

Just after 10pm, Sarangapani and Komalavalli Thayar bid goodbye to the Vedantha Desikar and made their way back to their respective abodes bringing to end the ten day Utsavam.

KG Ramesh Coimbatore Tennis National Champion

The First Big Tennis Star from Coimbatore

Selection Disappointments in Cricket led his Sporting family to keep him away from his favourite sport in his childhood

Hailing from the un-fancied district, he made a mark for himself in Tennis staying at the top of the national rankings for over five years

He was the BENCHMARK and ROLE MODEL for all of us from that Gen - Nirupama 

The treatment meted out to two Coimbatore cricketers in the 1960s and 70s led them to keeping their next gen away from cricket. KS Ganapathy and KS Vaidyanathan had been hopeful of more opportunities on the cricket field but their experience over a long period of time gave them a feel that in a team game opportunities depend on a number of external factors outside the control of the players, and a lot of runs and wickets may not necessarily hand them a place in the XI. Added to their own experience was the way another Coimbatorean cricketer, PR Ramakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pr-ramakrishnan-coimbatore-cricketer.html), who succeeded Vaidy into the TN team, was handled in the first half of the 1970s. As seen in the story earlier this week, despite a run of strong scores, Ramki was never given a chance to figure in the playing XI and sat out for four years in the state squad. Ganapathy, who too had good scores at the University level kept his younger son KG Ramesh away from cricket and initiated him very early on into Tennis, a sport that was not necessarily popular in Coimbatore. While Ramesh’s classmates and neighbours grew up playing cricket, he was handed a tennis racquet and let to the clay courts in Coimbatore. By the late 1980s, Ramesh went to the top of the chart in India staying the top National Player for over 5 years, a commendable achievement for someone coming from Coimbatore. In the last decade, he has launched a tennis academy in the outskirts of Coimbatore to try and create the next generation of Tennis Stars. Here is the story of the man who was a mentor to an entire generation of tennis players in Coimbatore.

Cricketing Family

KG Ramesh was born into a cricketing family. His father KS Ganapathy performed well at the University level. His uncle KS Vaidyanathan played Ranji Trophy matches for TN but his career met with a premature end.  Both were frustrated with cricket in the way they were treated and were of the view that their children should play individual sport where they could chalk out their own success path. But like any school boy of that period, Ramesh was a cricket fanatic. While Tennis Ball with his classmates at Mani High School was a regular feature, playing Tennis was not on his wish list. Also, unlike cricket that was promoted at school, tennis was not a sport that educational institutions promoted at that time in the 1970s and 80s.

At the Forest College Tennis Court but not at the Cricket Ground!!!

Ganapathy was a member at the Coimbatore club and he and Vaidy had moved on to playing tennis after their cricketing days. To keep Ramesh away from cricket, Ganapathy would take his son to the club immediately after the school hours. He was also put under the coaching of Ramdas at the Ladies Club. Ilayas Hussain’s appa, who was the Principal of The Forest College, created the tennis courts there in the 1960s. Interestingly while the first division matches would be played at the Forest College cricket ground, Ramesh was quietly taken by his appa to the tennis court at the North end of the ground without him even getting a glance of the cricket match, such had become his appa's aversion to cricket.

At that early stage in his life, he idolized Bjorn Borg. He once played against Ramanathan Krishnan in Coimbatore as a young boy and cannot forget that experience for life “I have never seen anyone like him. His ball control was simply amazing and his strokes would never go out of court.”

Fitness runs around the GCT

 As a young boy, he played for fun. He recalls the strict fitness regime his appa put him through “Fitness was not a big focus in those days but my appa who knew its importance having played cricket and tennis for many years, would ask me to run rounds around the GCT, every morning, to gain stamina and while I did not particularly like it at that time as a young boy, I realised its value when I had to play many hours to win a clay court match.”

Sweeping all the tournaments

By the time he was 14, he had already won the State Tourney, quite a big achievement for a boy coming from this Tier Two City. He swept most of the local tournaments played within TN (U14/U16) in all age groups. Aged 16, he reached the final of the U18 tournament in Madras. And a year later, he won the U18 tournament. 

Tier Two City - Big Early Challenges

In the 1980s, most of the tennis tournaments happened in the big cities – Madras, Bangalore and Bombay and that was a big disadvantage for those like him. “One did not get to play in big tournaments in Coimbatore and to play in competitive league, I had to constantly travel to the bigger cities. There was not a professional structure here. That was an early challenge coming from Coimbatore” recalls Ramesh of his growing up years in Tennis.

Hailing from the sporting family, he had an advantage. His appa did not force him into academics and gave him the freedom to express himself in Tennis. His uncle, Vaidyanathan was a big source of motivation in Tennis. His appa ran a foundries business and was keen on his son taking to Engineering. While Ramesh did not get an Engineering seat soon after his Class XII exams (he did B.Sc Physics for a year), he did join CIT a year later. Interestingly, to be India Cricketer VB Chandrasekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html) was his classmate at CIT for four years.

His personal coach Ramdas was also the Physical Director at CIT and that helped in terms of his pursuing his Tennis interest for the coach motivated him constantly through his late teens. Like PR Ramakrishnan, Ramesh too travelled a lot during his college days and it was his friends who helped him with his academics when he returned to Coimbatore, closer to the exam. 

Asian Games 1986 - Moves into Top 10

In that college phase from 1982-86, he played a lot of tennis across the country. In the All India circuit, he won the Championship held in Kota (Rajasthan). He came to be ranked in the Top 10 in India in U18. In 1985, in the third year of his college, he won a lot of All India tournaments including beating Enrico Piperno in one of them. He also won the TN and SZ championships. A big moment for him was representing India in the Asian Games in Seoul in 1986. 

KG Ramesh was our Role Model

To those like Nirupama Vaidyanathan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/05/nirupama-vaidyanathan.html) growing up as a tennis star in the late 1980s and early 90s, KG Ramesh was a role model. “KG Ramesh was a legend to all of us in Coimbatore. He was the first guy out of a mofussil centre like Coimbatore beating everyone from bigger cities including Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. So he showed us the way. His game style was so solid.  He never missed and was quick and he had power. Overall, it was very tough to play against him on clay. He gave us the pathway and the belief. He was the benchmark and the role model for us”, US based Nirupama told this writer. 

He was doing well in Tennis in that phase and credit to his appa that he gave Ramesh the freedom to purse the sport even after his Engineering degree. His amma travelled him with him for the local tournaments in the early phase of his career and played a stellar role in his development as a sportsman. 

Bags the Railways World Championship

In 1987, the Indian Railways were recruiting players ahead of the World Railway Games. He was ranked in the Top four in India at that time and they handed him an offer as a Mechanical Engineer to work at the S & T Workshop in Podanur. For the very first time, he helped the Indian Railways with a World Championship winning both the individual and the team tournament. 

Soon after, he began to travel to Belgium and other European countries to play in the circuit there. His practice mate from Coimbatore, Elango, was in Europe at that time and Ramesh stayed with him in an effort to reduce the expenses “Playing in the clay courts of Europe helped me with my consistency. It was highly competitive from round 1 and each match would last 2-3 hours. Both physical and mental strength were required to come through those tournaments. It was great learning for me in that phase” says Ramesh of what the European circuit meant to him.

Financial Constraints

While the matches were enjoyable, there were big financial challenges.  Expanding into the global circuit required huge financial investment. "There were no sponsors from India. Even racquets were not sponsored and I had to pay for every racquet in that phase. I won a number of matches but soon I would run out of finances. The money I had could sustain me only for three months and I had to return to India to play in tournaments here. I won win a few tournaments and with that prize money headed back to satellites and challengers in overseas locations including in Malaysia.”

Between 1987 and 93, he was ranked Number 1 in India. He beat an upcoming Leander Paes and Vasudevan and lost to Ramesh Krishnan in the Indian Open. 

Ramesh recalls the words of his appa after his semi final victory “Beating Leander is fine but do not sit on your laurels. I want you to beat Ramesh (Krishnan) the next day. Such was my appa's competitive spirit. He always egged me to give my best in everything I did in life.”

During this period, Ramesh served as the mentor to Nirupama when she was growing up in Tennis. It was he who taught her the importance of consistency in rallies. “I would hit a hundred balls and ask her to miss a single rally. She had a killer instinct and never gave up in match situations.”

Tennis wins him his wife’s hand!!!

His to be father in law, a dermatologist in Coimbatore, was a big Tennis fan and very passionate about the game in those decades.He had tracked the growth of KG Ramesh in Tennis. Interestingly, he was keen on a Tennis star for his daughter. "It was my Tennis success that won me my wife", laughs Ramesh. 

The Davis Cup Dream

Ramesh also managed to get into the Top 500 in the ATP rankings.  He was on the wrong side of the 20s when Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan retired. Having been ranked No. 1 here, he was hopeful of gaining a place in the Davis Cup team, something that had remained his dream after he took to serious Tennis but with an eye on the future, youngsters Gaurav Natekar and Ismail were chosen ahead of him. He won the World Railways Championship once again in 1995 (he had also won in 1991) and with the possibility of a Davis Cup inclusion becoming bleak, he called it quits that year. Two decades later, he got back to Tennis playing for India at Helsinki in the Seniors World Championship.

He counts the World Railways Championship wins as the best of his Tennis life along with reaching the Indian Open Final. He also won the mixed doubles title with Nirupama Vaidyanathan at the SAF Games.

Nicest Guy, A Lifetime without Anger

While he was a role model on the Tennis front, Nirupama also found him to be a great human being all through "Personally, I still remember all the stories he told us from the Asian Games, 1986 that were super motivating for someone like me. We all wanted to be like him. Anybody who knows him will agree. He is also the nicest guy you will meet. I have never seen him get angry and is always ‘chill’. He is also so helpful and supportive to anyone who comes to him.  It is hard to come across people like him these days." 

In 1995, he got into weekend tennis coaching and carried on for 5years. In 1998, he quite the Railways and soon joined his Appa in the family’s Foundry business in Coimbatore. He managed that for well over a dozen years. 

His brother KG Suresh too was into Tennis early on but quit early to focus on academics (M Tech - IIT Madras) and later on his business. Ramesh's son too started out with Tennis and made good progress till the U18 level including being in the Top 4 before he too took to academics and went to Swedan for his Masters.

Inspirational Wife

His wife, Lakshmi, a classical singer, was the inspiration for him to get back into Tennis, this time in the form of Coaching. After 14 years of running the foundries business, he launched his own Tennis Academy (KG Ramesh Academy) in 2016 near the Coimbatore airport. 150 kids were part of the academy till Pandemic struck early last year. In the four years leading to 2020, he had organised several AITA ranking tournaments in Coimbatore as well as one annual tournament in the first week of January in memory of his appa (KS Ganapathy Memorial Tournament). 

While there are six coaches at the academy, Ramesh is personally involved practicing in the courts and playing long rallies with the talented kids. He believes that Tennis can be a sport for life “While you can be aggressive in your youth, later on in life, Tennis can provide a lot of fun. It is also a stress reliever and helps a lot in your fitness. Mentally it can relax you.”

Playing Tennis has taught him big lessons for Life. “Its taught me to take  everything -wins and losses - in my stride.” 

His wife endorses the balance that Tennis has brought into his life “In the last three decades, I have not once seen him angry including with the kids at coaching. He is always considerate including in not collecting fees from the under privileged.”

It was not easy for those from the Districts to make it big in sport as KS Vaidyanathan and PR Ramakrishnan found out in Cricket. It was even more of a challenge in Tennis but KG Ramesh proved to be a benchmark for others from the Districts to emulate for he managed to reach the top of the Indian Tennis Circuit in the late 80s and early 90s. At a time when there were not much exposure in Tier Two cities in Tamil Nadu, Ramesh fought against the odds and managed to carve a niche for himself as a clay court specialist to reach the top of the Indian circuit. With his positive attitude, on and off the court, he also served as a Role Model for the Next Generation of Tennis Stars from Coimbatore. With the Pandemic behind us, Ramesh is now looking to reopen the Tennis Academy in an effort to not just create new Tennis Stars from Coimbatore but also to train them on Character Building so they can face every challenge in life with a SMILE, that has been so symbolic of Ramesh as a personality all through his life. 

Kapaleeswarar College Kolathur Anomalies Galore

Many anomalies in the setting up of Kolathur Arts and Science College using Kapali funds

Sections in the HR & CE Act of 1959 have been bypassed, Several unlawful exemptions granted that could pose a serious threat  - TR Ramesh, President, Temple Worshippers Society

On July 31, this section had featured a story on the large scale demolition that was being planned in the Agraharam around the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/07/kapali-temple-surrounds-large-scale.html). A fortnight later, this section had also featured the suggestions from long time ASI expert Satyamurthi. Subsequent to that, the plans had been put on hold with the HR & CE re working the plans to see how to keep the historical structures intact (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/08/kapali-temple-heritage-zone-asi.html).

Last month, this section had featured a story on the dilapidated temple in Ayyur and the plight of the priest who had not received his monthly salary of Rs. 100 for the last four years (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pinna-vaasal-sowri-rajan-bhattar.html).

A College in Kolathur funded by Kapali Temple

Now this fortnight the Kapaleeswarar temple and the HR &CE are again in the news and once again for the wrong reasons. The Government has recently announced the setting up of a self financing college with the surplus funds from the Kapaleeswarar Temple. Over the last fortnight or so, the writer found a large sized banner stationed prominently inside the Kapali temple, one that called for applications from students for the various courses.

 

The HR & CE Act on the use of Surplus Funds

While Section 36 of the HR & CE Act specifies the use of the surplus funds of a temple, Section 66(1) mentions the dharmic purposes for which the funds can be utilized.  As per the Section, the Joint Commissioner may direct the endowments of the temple to be used for the establishment and maintenance of a university or college in which special provision is made for the study of Hindu religion, philosophy or sastras or for imparting instruction in Hindu temple architecture.

The act states that, “before according the sanction under this section, the Commissioner shall publish the particulars relating to the proposal of the trustee, invite objections and suggestions with respect thereto and consider all objections and suggestions received from persons having interest.” 

President of the Temple Worshippers Society TR Ramesh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/02/tr-ramesh-temple-activist.html) says that the surplus temple funds can only be used for educational purposes involving the teaching of Vedas, Thevaram Verses, Divya Prabhandham and the like and not for courses like BCA, B.Com, BBA that do not have any religious content. Even so, only the Trustees of the temple can start an educational institution and not the Government using the temple funds.

 

Many Anomalies and Violations

There are many anomalies in this process. The Kapali Temple does not have a land in Kolathur, there have been exemptions given in this case like for example Fire Service exemption for structural stability on the premise that this is being built on temple land. 

Ramesh says that the Trustee of the Kapali Temple should have applied to the HR & CE Commissioner regarding the interest/ proposal to start a college, an advertisement in a leading newspaper should have been released asking for objections from the public and only then could they have applied to the University for the affiliation. Even so an application made before October will only be eligible for affiliation for the next academic year “This entire process is being done at break neck speed” Ramesh wonders why.

There are also other educational institutions that the TN Government is in the process of setting up using funds from other HR & CE temples including in Thiruchengode (Namakkal), Thoppampatti (Dindigul) and Vilathikulam ( Tuticorin). 

Ramesh says he is likely to file a case in the Madras High Court on Monday restraining the setting up of the college.

PR Ramakrishnan Coimbatore Cricketer turned Lawyer

TN Cricket's Perpetual 12th Man

With strong performances in the University and first division matches, he was in the TN Ranji and Gopalan Trophy Squad for three years but ended up not playing a single match, probably the only TN cricketer in history with that record 

Ramki put behind the Cricketing disappointments, returned to Coimbatore aged 23, apprenticed under his appa and has over the last four decades carved a name for himself as one of the most well respected lawyers in the city

Despite never playing a single match for the state, Ramki was never vindictive or cynical and has always remained a wonderful human being, exhibiting all the great attributes of his forefathers - Kalli, TN's Hatrick man

He was and has always been one of the most likeable characters on and off the cricket field. For a decade, this writer was witness to that (RK) Steely determination that had become synonymous with this middle order bat. It was his wicket that the opposition most wanted during those big Super league matches. But he would never give his wicket easily and made the opposition fight hard every time he was on the pitch. He was a long format player and made big hundreds. Between 18 and 23, he was as consistent as any and was in the TN squad for 'double digit' number of matches. Shockingly he did not get to play a single game over a 3-4 year period though every the leading players in the opposition who had been colleagues earlier in the University tournaments felt that he should have been automatic choice. He is probably the only TN cricketer to date to have sat out 10 matches for the state and never to have made his debut subsequently. By 23, he decided he had had enough with TN cricket and packed his bags to Coimbatore to apprentice under his appa. Over the last four decades, he has put behind the cricketing disappointments, slogged just hard as he did on the cricket field and built a long standing and credible clientele of his own in the field of Law. The boy from Suburban High School, who began his career by foxing opposition batsmen with his googlies, has earned the reputation as one of the most well respected lawyers in the city. During this period, he has mentored over forty juniors and graduated them into successful lawyers. The Cricketer turned Lawyer, who has just celebrated his 69th birthday is still in big demand with corporates and individuals alike looking up to him for guidance in Civil matters. Here is the story of Puthugramam Ramachandran (Iyer) Ramakrishnan (PRR).

Brings Good Luck

Immediately after Ramakrishnan (Ramki as he is fondly called) was born, the house, diagonally opposite the famous Ramnagar Ramar Kovil in Coimbatore, where his parents were tenants came up for sale and the house where he has lived for most of the last seven decades was purchased. The house house has seen many renovations during this period but Ramki and his wife have ensured that it retained that old world charm including a sacred pooja room where he performs Shiva Pooja as part of his daily ritual every morning.

First Big Moment in Cricket

He had his schooling at Suburban High School in Ramnagar, one that was not necessarily known for cricket promotion. He spent the evenings at Sastri Maidan playing cork ball cricket. A cricketing surprise awaited him when he was all of 13.  S Kunjithapatham, who was to later be the President of Thanjavur District Cricket Association for two decades, spotted him at that ground very near the Suburban High School picking wickets foxing the batsmen with his googlies. He wondered if the young boy knew what he was doing with the ball - referring to the googlies- and his view was that it may have been happening subconsciously. 

When he picked the young boy’s brains on the kind of balls he was delivering, he was astonished with his answer “I told them I was a leggie and bowled the googly quite proactively every over. He quite liked the fact that I could do this at my age without any coaching and that I was able to fox the batsmen with such deliveries” recalls Ramakrishnan of his first big moment in cricket. 

Great Parental Support

The credit for that early insight into cricket goes to his appa, Ramachandran Iyer a lawyer by profession who hailed from Puthugramam near Palghat “While my appa did not play any serious cricket, he was a regular at the Pongal Tests in those decades and tracked the matches closely during the time he was at Loyola College and the Madras Law College. He also wrote for Sport and Pastime. His favourite was Lala Amarnath. During my growing up years, he provided great insights into the game including talking about the cricketers of his time and their achievements and that’s how I picked up the nuances.”

                    Amma Pankajam and Appa Ramachandran Iyer

While he had to focus on academics, his parents were always encouraging in his cricketing endeavour “My amma was a very good carom player in Thanjavur and she was very supportive of my sporting interests. In later years, she would come to the ground at the start of the match and stay till the very end such was the encouragement to my sporting interests.”

Right from his childhood he was cricket crazy and his class teacher would often remark that with more effort he would do well in academics. “I was rather ‘playful’ and chose cricket over academics in that early phase.”

League Cricket at 13

Kunjithapatham played an important role in early development of Ramakrishnan as a cricketer. So impressed was he after spotting him at the Maidan that he immediately met his appa and described Ramki as one with great cricketing potential. He asked the 13 year old to come to the nets of Tatabad CC, the first division league team. The now 79 year old Kunjithapatham told this writer from Thanjavur that "Ramki had a beautiful googly even as a young teenager and very few were able to spot his other one."

It was the first big moment in Ramki's cricketing life.

Kunjithapatham, Talisman Santhanam, a senior cricketer at the club and PR Ragupathi served as his mentors in cricket and handed him the first opportunities in cricket.

Disciplined boy

80 year old Ragupathi, who worked for 25years at LMW, was the manager at Tatabad Cricket Club. He too played the role of mentor in the early cricketing life of Ramakrishnan and groomed him as a cricketer. Ragupathi, who now lives very near the Srinivasa Perumal temple in Paapanaayakkam Palayam, looks back at Ramki in the mid 1960s “Ramki was well behaved. He was totally committed to the game and a disciplined boy. He would always come to the nets on time and practiced hard. He was a keen listener and grasp the nuances rather quickly."

His first Captain

N Ramanujam was in his mid 20s and the captain of the club. He, along with Santhanam, another senior member of the team, went on a bicycle around the city grounds to scout for talented cricketers. The team that year comprised of many young cricketers. It was Ramanujam who provided a lot of bowling opportunities to Ramki in his early teens and gave him the much needed confidence that he could take wickets in league matches. 

Talking from his home in Idayarpalayam, near Saibaba Colony, the 80 year old, who retired as Area Manager at FCI, ruminates those glory days from 1965 “Ramki had a beautiful leg spinner’s action. I could see that he was a natural cricketer. In his very first match he picked up four wickets. He would bowl long spells. While he started off as a leggie, he also had a natural batting ability. I look back with pride that I was his first captain and played some role in his development. He was a gifted player and his performances in the future did not surprise me at all.”

A Transformational Knock

In the city v districts schools match, one in which V Krishnaswamy scored a century for the city schools, Ramakrishnan made 88. While this innings grabbed the attention of the city boys and the selectors, it was his brilliant knock in the second innings that led everyone to believe that this boy was one for the future. After a declaration by City on the final evening in an effort to force an outright win, the districts slumped to 10/2 at tea. In the 90minutes that followed, Ramakrishnan played a blistering knock reaching to his hundred off the last ball of the match. He recounts that moment from well over five decades ago “I was on 96 when Harjinder came into bowl that last ball. There were several hundred school boys at the Little Flower school who were standing on the boundary edge. The association officials too watched that final session. The umpire gave me that extra few seconds to gauge the field. All the nine fielders were on the boundary line. I decided to strike the ball straight over the bowler’s head and stepped out to the medium pacer and hit him over his turban. Both the long off and long on tried their best but the ball beat them to the boundary.”

It signaled the arrival of PR Ramakrishnan on the TN cricketing scene. It was a transformational innings for him.  

Hailing from Tirunelveli, KS Viswanathan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/ks-viswanathan-tnca-bcci-ipl.html), now CEO of CSK was part of the districts team. He recalls the magical innings "The hundred he got against city is still fresh in my memory and that knock earned him a place in the state schools team. He has gone on to become a highly respected lawyer. Along with D. Lakshminarayanaswamy, he has also been responsible for producing quality cricketers from Coimbatore."

State Schools Vice Captain!!!

The revered Pattabhiraman was so impressed that he not only picked him in the state schools squad but also appointed him as the Vice Captain (Suresh was the Captain) of the team that went to Thiru Ananthapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/11/anantha-padmanabhaswamy-temple-in.html). Ramki scored runs against Kerala and Hyderabad, a team that included Abdul Jabbar.

However, when he gained a few inches during this phase, he lost the arc in his leg spin and he began to focus on batting and became more of a ‘break through’ leggie in the years that followed.

First Division Club Captaincy at 16

The Tatabad CC after having seen him for a couple of years were so impressed with his growth that they handed him the captaincy at 16. “There were many seniors in the team who had played for the team for several years and here I was asked to lead them. It was a great honour for me at that age” says Ramki.

A quiet year in cricket

Pre University was a challenging phase for him. On the one side, he had to focus on academics and secure admission in the course that he sought (he was keen on B.Com for pursuing CA was one of the two options in his mind at that time- Law was the other). The districts team was dominated by seniors and he at 16/17 was too young to figure. Thus it turned out to be a quiet year for him.

PRR joined B.Com at PSG in 1969. In the collegiate phase, he moved into practice at the RS Puram Cricket Club. Along with P Mukund, he would cycle his way to the nets session and then finish every evening with a cup of coffee at the Annapoorna. It was the year when he batted well in both the innings of the city v districts (colleges) match and was called in for the University team selection trial at University union ground. 

Helps in run chase to win the SZ Varsity Final

He played four years of University cricket from 1970-71 and performed as well as any other batsman in that phase. In the South Zone final in January 71 against Bangalore University comprising  Vijayakrishna, Sudhakar Rao and leggie Raghavachar, he played a knock of 36 that still brings a delight to his eyes five decades later “Chasing 170 to win, we were struggling at 110/4 when I joined captain Ravichandran. I made a stroke filled 36 and we won the match. It was pleasing particularly because it was against a strong bowling attack and we won the trophy for the first time.”

In 1970, he joined YMA and played 1st division cricket in Madras through that decade including in later years with S Venkataraghavan and K Srikkanth. Very early on, he played what he calls an ‘unforgettable knock’ of 68 against MCC on a wet wicket when the team was bowled out for 120.

Alongside University cricket, he was also inducted into the Junior State team for the inter association matches. At that time, he was still undecided between cricket and his future career. Life during the college days had been hectic. His first aim was to complete B.Com. He was travelling crazy in that phase – 10 league matches each in Coimbatore and Madras, Inter District, City v Districts, inter collegiate, University and Junior State Cricket. It was a maddening pace. Despite the schedule, he did well in academics. It was his two close friends – TS Nagarajan (Union Bank) and Dr. Sundararaman (now CEO Krishna Educational Institutions) who were responsible for this, for they helped him make up the missed classes.

Great Grasping Power, Very attentive

Dr K Sundararaman was Ramki’s classmate at Suburban School right from Class 1. Later they were classmates for three years at PSG. Later on in life, Sundararaman became renowned as an expert in accountancy and served as the Professor at PSG for three decades (he was also the HOD) and then the Principal at Krishna Arts and Science College for a dozen years. Over the last decade, he has been the CEO of the Krishna Educational Institutions that has 23000 students. He recalls the days from the 1960s and early 70s “We were very close friends right through our childhood. Into his late teens, he had developed as a terrific batsman and travelled for a large part of the academic year on cricket tours. In those years, the third year exam also comprised of accountancy portion from the first year and there were no ‘Choice’ Questions. One had to answer all the questions. For him it was a case of ‘Thai Poranthaal Vazhi Porakkum’ in education for he returned to Coimbatore after his cricketing engagements only in January/February. We would start at 9pm in the evening at the office room of his appa on the first floor and do accountancy till 2am. While I did teach him, he was very intelligent, attentive and had a great grasping power. It was a great period in our lives and I still cherish every moment of that phase.”

Sundararaman says that while Ramki may have benefitted from the combined studies, it was a great experience for him personally. “It led me into the teaching profession where I went on to become the HOD and later the Principal.”

"We both were cricket crazy. In our school days, we would run to AG Sundararajan’s (a friend) house to listen to radio commentary. Much later during our college years, we went to Madras and watched the Pongal Tests."

Super Intelligent, Agile and Energetic

TS Nagarajan, the other member of the trio, went on to become a banker and served at Union Bank and Dhanlakshmi Bank and is now well settled near Trissur. He vividly remembers the late night combined studies at Ramki’s Ramnagar home when the exams were nearing!!! “Our studies went up to well past 2am and then we would go out at 3am for a tea at the local shop!!! Ramki was super intelligent. He was one of the few guys in our class who was fluent in English. Even though he missed a lot of the classes because of his cricket trips, he was excelled in academics as he easily made up for his absence with his extreme hard work in the final two months of the academic year. He also had a great interest in music and the two of us listened to MSV, Salil Chaudhary and SD Burman and discussed a lot on music. He was Tall, agile, energetic and athletic and was supremely fit.”

Nagarajan also points out that interestingly, Ramki scored more marks than Sundararaman in the final exam in B.Com, a grievance that the latter still holds!!!

Ramki would often remark later on in life to Sundararaman that the two professions were decided in that combined studies phase. “Thanks to his teaching me, he became a professor. And with me listening to his briefing, it turned out that for life I have been listening to clients’ briefings.”

Strong University Performances 

After having playing a crucial hand in helping Madras secure the Rohintan Baria Trophy, his terrific form continued. He began the new season with a double hundred (several decades later WV Raman, who himself played many a big knock for TN, remarked that Ramki was one of the very few batsmen who made big hundreds in that phase - one of the things held against TN batsmen has been that they did not convert hundreds into big ones). He followed this with a 62 against Hyderabad comprising Jyothi Prasad, Shivlal Yadav and Arshad Ayub. He was clearly in rich vein of form and his confidence was high.

S Srinivasan was Ramki’s junior in University cricket and went on to play Ranji cricket for Bombay and TN.  He recalls the impact of Ramki's big scores. “The double hundred in the Rohington Baria Trophy at the IIT grounds had a big positive impact on me. I can proudly say that I followed his footsteps in scoring an unbeaten double hundred in the same tournament for Madras University some years later in the South Zone finals at Mysore. He was a through gentleman cricketer who had a high appetite for runs."

His Best Innings 

His strong performances at the University level continued. In the match against Kerala, he struck 36 with 8fours (he slipped and fell on his wicket to Mohd Ibrahim). Later that evening, Ibrahim told Krishnaswamy (Ibrahim and Kicha were good friends) that Ramki’s knock was the best of the innings. 

He also played the best knock of his career in that phase. Against a very strong Bangalore bowling attack, Madras University had slipped to 110/6. Along with N Barathan, who Ramakrishnan rates as one of the best spinners he had played with or against, he put on close to a triple century stand with Ramki himself scoring 166 (Barathan made 136). “I consider that my best knock in cricket. It was one with our backs to the wall and against a very good bowling attack and it helped us win the match” says Ramki.

Inter Collegiate Knock

Former opening bat from IOB Rocko Sundar saw a lot of Ramakrishnan from the early 70s when he was at his peak. Just back from the US, Sundar recalls Ramki from that phase “PR Ramki was a lovely middle order batsman. He was a prolific run getter for YMA in the first Division and  the Madras University. One of his memorable innings that stands out in my memory was his 97 not out in the Duncan Trophy semifinals against Vivekananda College at the University Union ground. Being part of the Vivekananda team, I was at the receiving end of that glorious innings but nevertheless enjoyed every bit of it. He finally ran out of partners & couldn’t get his hundred, though it was worth more than that. He has always been friendly, affable & a fun loving person. I consider it a great privilege & honour to have rubbed shoulders with him.”

If this young boy does not play Ranji, I will quit my cricketing activities - RT Parthasarathy

In Junior cricket, he scored 92 against Karnataka. The University performances earned him a place in the South Zone team under Brijesh Patel’s captaincy. In the Vizzy Trophy final, he top scored in both innings against Mohinder’s North Zone including a half century in the second innings. Immediately on his return he was packed off to Salem for the Ramadurai Memorial Tourney where once again at his favourite Little Flower School ground he scored another hundred. At the prize distribution ceremony, RT Parthasarathy declared in public after watching Ramki score his second hundred in that ground "Twice he has played brilliant knocks at this ground. If this boy does not get to play for the state, I will stop all my cricket activities." Such was the confidence RTP had on a young Ramki who was blazing away with big scores at that time. S Sriraman too was present on that occasion.

Former India fast bowler and architech of the MRF Pace Academy TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-architect-behind-worlds-best.html), who played under Ramki’s captaincy for the Madras University, made his mark in Salem in the Ramadurai tournament and saw Ramki make the hundred there “He was technically very sound. Despite scoring lots of runs in TNCA 1st division league for YMA he never got a chance to play Ranji, though he was in the team for a long time. That was an era when TN did not provide opportunities to many performing players.”

One wonders why!!!

Traumatic phase for Ramki

While runs flowed freely from his bat, it was quite a tragic cricketing phase for Ramakrishnan for the state debut remained elusive despite his consistent performances in the first half of the 1970s. He was almost guaranteed a place in the XI against Andhra and all set to make his Ranji debut when on the eve of the match one of the selectors shockingly said that ‘he had not seen this young boy and his inclusion in the XI can be decided later after he has had a look.’ That same selector, a few years earlier, had let down KR Rajagopal in the most important moment of his career!!!

The 1973 Ranji Final - Shattering Feeling

It was symbolic of the way cricket was administered in Tamil Nadu. He was picked for the Gopalan Trophy match in Madras but did not find a place in the XI. He sat out the entire season though he was all set to play the Semi Final (Kicha had missed the knock outs due to his exams) and Final, that was played on a rank turner. He recounts the turn of events on the eve of the final that led to his high hopes ‘Selector AG Kripal Singh himself came to the nets at Chepauk, bowled a few sets and batted for about 5-10minutes. In the presence of a few TN players, he remarked that the best batting of the session came from me ‘you dropped the wrists making the ball dead, which is what is required on the square turner.’

“My hopes of playing in the final rose after a selector of that stature made that kind of a statement about a youngster. But once again, it was crushed on the morning of the match” recalls Ramki of that day in April of 1973.

KR Rajagopal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/03/kr-rajagopal-dashing-opener-brilliant.html), who Ramakrishnan rates as the best batsman he had seen during his time, looks back with sadness that he did not get the opportunities he deserved “He was an important member of the districts team that played under my captaincy at Trichy and also when we beat City at Neyveli. Later when I was the manager of the districts team, he excelled once again at Vellore batting beautifully against VV. It is unfortunate that players from the districts were not given their due in TN cricket. He was treated just as badly as KS Vaidy was in the 1960s.” 

“In cricket, one has to be given chances when the batsmen are at their peak. Else they would be de-motivated. Anyone in his place would have felt crushed at the way he was treated. He scored a lot of runs by the time he was into his early 20s and deserved a chance in the playing XI. It was odd that he continued to be in the squad every year but was not picked in the XI. Despite the lack of chances, he remained a very nice gentleman. He never allowed the frustration to get to him and always displayed character of the highest kind.  All of us in the team liked Ramki.”

Ranji Debut- Another Miss

He was then to set to make his Ranji debut against Karnataka in Bangalore. But the ego of the Physical Director of the Madras Law College led to Ramakrishnan losing out on his Ranji Debut yet again. It was prestigious for a law college student to captain the University and the PD insisted that his student play the University match and not the State match. 

More Shock for Ramki

If he had not already had enough cricketing disappointments, the one in February 1974 was even more shocking to him. For the Gopalan Trophy match in Colombo (Venkat and Kalli did not play that match), Tamil Nadu picked outstation Venkat Sundaram to play in the middle order when Ramki was in good form (Venkat Sundaram had not played for TN in Ranji but came from nowhere to play this match. In that phase, several outstation players had such positive surprises going for them. Edmonds and R Mishra  were a couple).

During this phase, SPIC took the big call to take charge of YMA and promote cricket. Almost all the players were provided employment including Venkataraghavan and University captain R Ravichandran “With me still at the Law College, Ravi and Venkat got exemption to the rule that only SPIC staffers could play and I continued for YMA (SPIC) as a guest player. Venkat was particularly keen to have me in that middle order.”

Tipped for Ranji Debut 

For a captain who was so keen on having him in the league side, it remained a completely different story at the state level. SPIC YMA won the Palayampatti shield with PRR scoring a lot of runs that season.  At the end of the season, noted cricket writer of the time NS Ramaswami in his review of the league season tipped Ramakrishnan to play for TN in the coming year on the back of his performances. Unfortunately Ramki never made his debut for TN.

Blessed with a strong and clear mind

Ravichandran had captained Madras University in 1970-71 and was instrumental along with Ramakrishnan in the fourth innings chase against Bangalore in the final after the team had collapsed to 110/4 in the chase. It is 50years since that victory and he has happy memories of that partnership that helped Madras win its first Rohintan Baria trophy “We were in a bit of trouble but Ramki came in and played some beautiful strokes. I found him to be someone who was never bogged down by the situation. He had no ghost in his mind and was never intimidated. He was blessed with a strong and clear mind. If there was a ball to be hit, he would regardless of the pressure of the occasion. His strokes were pleasing to the eye and he played some crucial knocks for us.”

"While many lesser mortals played for TN in that period, Ramki, despite his track record, did not get to play for the state. He simply did not get the backing in that phase. As his captain, I truly thought that he deserved to be there for Ramki ‘belonged’ at that level."

(Interestingly, while Ravichandran captained YMA in the first half till Venkat came back from his international and county engagements, at the start of the final match of the season, Venkat, the thorough professional that he was, surprised Ravi by asking him to go for the toss. He was of the view that Ravi had led the team well and that in the moment of triumph credit should not be taken away from the leader. Such was his greatness)

Once in a while he also provided the crucial break through with his leg spin, illustrated best by his wickets in successive balls against Bombay in the University match.

Former TN opener V Sivaramakrishnan played together Ramki for the Madras Varsity and later for YMA in the first division league. He sees in Ramki a great friend and a wonderful human being. “Ramki played a very vital role when we won the Rohintan Baria trophy in 1971. Later, I really enjoyed playing with him for YMA. He was an extremely stylish batsman and his cover drives were a delight to watch. He deserved to play higher level of cricket. Despite the disappointments, his sense of humour did not go down.”

(Interestingly, Sivaramakrishnan went away for a year in the middle of that decade to Bihar and came back stronger and became a regular feature in the team!!!)

Scores a lot under Venkat's eyes but still failed to break into the XI

S Kedarnath (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/06/kedarnath-s-opener-from-1970s.html) was in a way handed similar treatment in the second half of the 1970s and followed in Ramki’s footsteps of being in the reserves. “Having played for YMA and performed well under Venkat’s Captaincy, it was a surprise that he was never picked in the XI for the State even though he was in the squad. And that was such a pity. I used to admire his back foot punch through point against the fast bowlers."

Chosen to play and then the name pulled out!!!

In November 1974, Ramakrishnan, along with SM Krishna Kumar and P Ramesh went from TN for the selection trials at Indore for the Combined University team that was to play the visiting West Indians. Jagdale Senior came up to the three TN players and asked as to who was Ramakrishnan ‘Are you the guy who scored 166’, he asked me, recalls Ramki of that big moment.

Krishna Kumar and Ramesh were confident that Ramki would be selected along with Bharath Reddy who was to come there from his Rest of India match. The two of them booked their return ticket to Madras. The next day much to everyone’s surprise, Ramesh was selected and Ramki, as was the case with his cricketing life, was left to wonder as to what more he should do on the cricketing field. Ramki remembers the conversation Krishna Kumar had with Umpire MS Shivsankariah (he officiated in two Pongal tests that decade) on the return journey “Shivsankaraiah told him that I was chosen in the squad that had been finalized. However, at the last moment, his name was pulled out and a player from another Zone came in.”

Badly Overlooked

Former South Zone opening bat P Ramesh has been associated with Ramakrishnan since the University and inter association (Junior State) days and was with him through those moments in Indore at the above selection trial. Now settled in Hyderabad after a long stint with SPIC, Ramesh is of the view that Ramki was badly overlooked by the association for unknown reasons.  “He was a very solid middle order batsmen who put a high price on his wicket and always a handy leg spinner. He was very jovial and easy going. He will be the right candidate for the title of 'Unsung Hero' of TN cricket. He should have clearly played higher levels given his performances at that time.”

A bold query from Mohd Ibrahim to Venkat

Not many spoke boldly to Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) but Kerala’s Mohd Ibrahim (he passed away a decade ago) was known for his blunt remarks. At Trivandrum, after Ramakrishnan was once again dropped for the Ranji match against Kerala, Mohd Ibrahim went up to Venkataraghavan and asked him as to when and if he would (ever) play Ramakrishnan in the XI. When the TN captain asked as to who he could drop to accommodate this middle order bat, pat came the reply from Ibrahim “Anyone could be dropped to play Ramki in the XI. Such has been his performances.” It was possibly the one occasion when someone went up to Venkat and posed a selection query.

Unlucky to miss the cut

The Hindu's K Balaji (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html), who played for the Madras University under Ramakrishnan, scored a half century in the match where Ramki blasted a double hundred. He has always had high regard for Ramki as a cricketer and a person “Ramki was a stylish attacking batsman, a sharp close-in catcher and a useful leg spinner. I played under his captaincy for Madras University in the Rohinton Baria Trophy tournament in 1973-74. His double century at nearly a run a minute against IIT Madras at the IIT ground was great to watch. He is one of the unlucky ones who missed going on to the higher levels of the game. He has always been a very pleasant and engaging person, and a good friend."

The Salem Gopalan Trophy match - From Cricketer to Lawyer

Soon after was the Gopalan Trophy match in Salem, famous for Michael Dalvi’s blistering centur. Interestingly, Balaji, another middle order bat, made his Gopalan Trophy debut in that match when Ramki was dropped from the XI for the nth time. It was then that he took the big call on his career. It was the final nail in his coffin. He could not take this any longer. Aged 22, he returned from Salem to Coimbatore and told his appa about his decision to pursue law as a career and his permanent return to the textile city to practice Law. 

Former Ranji Off Spinner R Chandrasekaran feels that Ramki was another player who fell prey to the TNCA politics "He  was a fine batsman  with many centuries  to his  credit in the TNCA 1st Division and should have played  for the state  but for the usual  TNCA politics. He was a gentleman  to the core."

After India legend Salim Durrani watched Ramakrishnan bat earlier that decade, he asked if the boy was a regular in the Ranji squad “I find his footwork beautiful and he seemed to be a mature batsman”. Brijesh Patel, Narasimha Rao and Shivlal Yadav too were shocked that Ramakrishnan never played a single Ranji match. The South Zone selectors of the time from Hyderabad, Karnataka and Andhra too were impressed with him but not the TN think tank. A similar fate befell S Kedarnath later that decade.

Legendary leg spinner VV Kumar(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/07/cricket-tales-exclusive-with-vv-kumar.html), who Ramki rates as the best bowler he has faced, says that Ramki was a compact batsman who followed the coaching manual. "Ramki was perfect in technique, his selection of strokes was beautiful and could play on all types of wickets. He was unassuming and saw the team members as one from his own family. In the opportunities he got, he cut ice with his performances but in those days district cricketers always got a raw deal. In that decade – 1965 to 75 – both the high performing Coimbatore cricketers KS Vaidyanthan and PR Ramakrishnan did not get the chances that they richly deserved."

Curiously though VV himself did not pick Ramakrishnan in the XI when he captained the TN team (in Venkat's absence) in the Gopalan Trophy match in Sri Lanka!!!

Well informed and Well mannered

For all his disappointments, he remained calm and was someone who brought cheer to his teammates throughout that phase. AG Satvindar Singh, who Ramki sees as one of the two best batsmen from that era, found him to be a very cultured person “He was a well informed, well mannered guy, always jovial with a good sense of humour.” 

In 1975, he moved back to Coimbatore to take up law as a career. For five years, he apprenticed under his appa who was a strict disciplinarian and a tough task master. From the early 1980s, after his appa’s health gave way, he began to serve his appa’s clients while at the same time creating one of his own.

For over a decade, he played for Ramakrishna Steel in the first division league in Coimbatore and captained the districts through that entire phase. He scored three successive centuries for Coimbatore in the SS Rajan Trophy in 1975-76 and a half century in each innings in the final against Chengalpet. In March 1976, he scored a century for Districts against a City bowling line up comprising of Kalli, Natarajan, Mukund and S Vasudevan. 

A Generous Personality

Opening bat S Sukumar came from Salem and joined SVPB in 1976, the same period when Ramakrishnan joined Ramakrishna Steel and played with and against Ramki for a decade. Also, Sukumar opened for YMA with Srikkanth while Ramki came in at No. 3 “We travelled together from Coimbatore by Nilagiri Express. Throughout that phase, he would book the onward and return tickets for me as well and I only had to walk into the train, such was his generosity. He was a high profile cricketer in Coimbatore and captained our district team for a decade. There was never a dull moment when Ramki was around. As a captain he was cool, friendly and encouraged the boys even when the chips were down. Coimbatore emerged as a strong team to reckon with under his captaincy.”

A Mentor to Coimbatore's youngsters

Former off spinner from RBI NS Ramesh started his cricket career in Coimbatore just at the time Ramakrishnan returned to the city from Madras. Bowling for LMW, he came up a lot against Ramki. “He was a stylish batsman with a good temperment. His square drives were a treat to watch. One innings that stands out in my memory is the 80 he got against LMW in the league. We had Kali and Purushothaman, a fast bowler from karnataka. Purush was very quick and dangerous on a matting wicket. There were no helmets those days. Inspite of taking a few blows, Ramki played brilliantly that day. As person, he was a fine human being, unassuming,and always encouraged the younger players. It was a great privilige to play with him.”

Earned the respect of all the players

NP Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html) played for Chengalpet  in the late 1970s before moving to Coimbatore in the early 1980s and played under the captaincy of Ramakrishnan. He found Ramki to be gritty “He was always the guy we found most difficult to get out when we played against each other in the league matches (SVPB v RK Steel). His was the prize wicket that our team wanted.  As the captain of Coimbatore, he always commanded respect from all the players. Even when the going was bad, he was in control and understood the players well.”

In 1983, Coimbatore beat Chengalpet (R Madhavan/ S Balaji) to win the Districts title with Ramki’s 88 complimenting VBC’s century.  A year later was the epic match that led to Coimbatore and Salem sharing the Trophy (S Srinivasan's 175 in response to Ravishankar's double hundred). At the end of it, he wanted to retire but the Coimbatore Secretary Prasad was keen for Ramki to retire with an exclusive win and not a shared trophy. He accepted the challenge, played another year and led Coimbatore to yet another victory.

Peter Fernandez (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/05/peter-fernandez-ica-financial-assistance.html) succeeded Ramakrishnan as the captain of the Coimbatore Districts in the mid 1980s. Last year within 48hours after this writer put out a story on his financial challenges, Ramakrishnan organised Rs. 3Lakhs through the Coimbatore Districts Association players. “He was a prolific scorer for Ramakrishna Steel and the Coimbatore District. He has always been an honest and down to earth person. The way he went out of his way to help me last year is indicative of his kind nature. His contribution lifted my spirits up during the Pandemic.”

Never vindictive or cynical

Former fast bowler B Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html), famous for his hat- trick against Bombay compliments Ramki’s great character in the most challenging of times “He was well suited for multi day matches for he could grind an innings. He was a difficult bat to dislodge and would never give his wicket away easily not just in his prime in the early 70s but also in later years when I came up against him for LMW. He had a good temperament and with the kind of runs he scored at the University level and for YMA should have played for Tamil Nadu. But despite never playing a single match for the state, he was never vindictive or cynical and has always remained a wonderful human being. He hails from a fantastic family and throughout his life has exhibited all the great attributes of his forefathers.”

TN Ranji Trophy winning captain and now Chairman of Selectors S Vasudevan says that Ramki has been one of the sweetest persons he has come across in his life.

Cricket Selector for close to a decade

From the mid 1980s,  Ramakrishnan donned the role of a selector starting with the age group and went on to become a state selector. He takes a lot of pride in recounting his years as a selector and what it meant to him “During my time, not a single player was chosen other than on merit. I did not allow interference or undue influence. Of course I had likeminded selectors at that time like M Sriram, Sampath(Vellore) and M Srinivasan as colleagues." 

Best Bowler he has faced

While he liked N Barathan a lot for the way he bowled, clearly VV Kumar was the best he had faced “VV would pin you down. He would study the batsman, read his mind well and plan the next wicket accordingly.”

Raja was a treat

Among the batsmen, he counts KR Rajagopal as the best from that generation “He was a fearless cricketer. I still remember the way he stepped out to N Barathan and hit a flat six that thudded into the Northern wall in front of the Presidency College at Marina. He was as good a batsman as one could get. From that generation, Satvindar was the other batsman who was a treat to watch. His footwork was outstanding.”

The Sporting Spirit Intact

In recent decades, he has also taken to Golf at the Coimbatore Golf Club and has won many trophies. He also captained the Coimbatore Golf Club for three years. D Lakshminarayanaswamy (DL), the President of Coimbatore District Cricket Association, has known Ramakrishanan for well over five decades. The two of them played against each other at the college level (DL played for PSG Tech), together for Ramakrishna Steel for over a decade and have over the last 10years been mates at the Golf Course. He is saddened that Ramki did not get his due at the state level ‘I have known him from the time he was a beautiful leggie in his early teens. He performed as well as one could in the Collegiate and University matches and deserved to have played for a long time for TN. While he did not get his due, not once did he hold it against anyone. That is reflective of his character. He moved on with life and made a mark for himself in Law.”

"Today, he is top class lawyer and held in high esteem by everyone in the city including the Judicial fraternity. As a personality, he is like a rock. You can count on him in the most testing of times. However, if you are wrong, he would be straight on your face.And he has a terrific memory and can easily roll out episodes that happened four decades ago."

"He continues to be very competitive even though he is touching 70. That shows the competitive sporting spirit in him. He has been a very solid golfer and has won a number of tournaments." 

Despite the traumatic phase in the first half of the 1970s when he sat out repeatedly – TN 12th man had become synonymous with Ramki, he has no ill feelings. He has no clue even today as to why did not get to play a single match despite being in the TN squad for that length of time but has no regrets about not making into the playing XI. Giving up serious cricket in the mid 1970s led him into Law and in the decades since, he has carved a niche for himself  in the profession with a wide ranging corporate clientele including the then cricket supporting SVPB (GVG Group) and Ramakrishna Steel.

He has just celebrated his 69th birthday this fortnight an age for a bit of relaxation but that does not seem to be the case with PRR. His clients are after him through the day on the phone seeking advise on civil matters. There seems to be an even greater demand for him now given his clean track record and his straight talking nature. The man, who is on the committee of the Ramnagar Ramar Kovil, counts it his blessing to have come back to Coimbatore to pursue Law and the success in this profession over the last four decades has given him immense satisfaction and happiness.