Doha Bank R Seetharaman

The ‘Rags to Riches’ story of the man from  Konerirajapuram

Experiencing poverty in the 1960s and early 70s, he converted every challenging episode in his childhood to a life transforming lesson and went on to become the longest serving Indian CEO in the Banking Sector in the Gulf  

This section had earlier featured a story on the impact the political regime of the time had on the agraharam at Therazhundur Aamaruviappan Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html). The now renowned Vasan Bhattar was in the thick of action as a young child feeling the fullest impact of the mass exodus of original inhabitants from Therazhundur. He has gone on to transform the dilapidated temple into one of the most vibrant ones reviving all the utsavams and has come to be a father figure for several priests in the Chozha region (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/09/therazhundur-vasan-bhattar.html). This story is about another such personality who spent a lot of his childhood in those troubled times in Therazhundur sitting inside the sannidhi for hours together but overcame financial poverty to lead a global bank for two decades in the process becoming the highest paid banking CEO in the Gulf. He put every lesson learnt in that painful phase in the 1960s and 70s to great use in his career and is now a role model for CEO aspirants. Here is the story.

Early childhood - Anti Hindi Agitation

Hailing from Konerirajapuram, known for the biggest Nataraja idol at the Uma Maheswarar temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/konerirajapuram-thiru-nallam.html), R Seetharaman felt the full impact of the anti-Hindi agitation in the late 1960s (this section had also featured the  negative impact of this agitation on N Kumar, a prospective tennis player from Madras who later went on to become part of a successful industrial group - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/sanmar-mayura-kumar-swimming-tennis.html).  He was just 10 when his appa Raghavan Sharma, a Sanskrit and Hindi teacher, had to face the repercussions of this big political decision in the state. He quit the teacher’s job in Tharangambadi and moved to Therazhundur where he ran a Sanskrit school for a brief period.

Amma - An inspirational role model

His amma Durgambal was his greatest strength in life and an inspirational role model. Seetharaman, who spent a lot of time sitting inside the Aamaruviappan temple, was not keen to go the Government school in Therazhundur and joined the Dewan Bahadur National High School in Mayiladuthurai, over 10kms from the Thirumangai Azhvaar praised Divya Desam but it soon turned out to be a financial nightmare for him. Seetharaman recalls that phase to this writer from his palatial house in Mylapore “Our financial scenario was so bad that I could not afford the bus ticket of 60paise (to and fro) every day. My amma, who was the biggest strength in my life, turned it around for me. She quietly pledged her jewelry to fund my school fees. When I came to know about this, I made up mind to come back to the Government School in Therazhundur. But she persuaded my appa and convinced him that the Mayiladuthurai School would do me good in the long run though it was financially unsustainable for them in that phase.”

Amma’s unconditional love and care was a standout feature for Seetharaman in his childhood. While his appa provided him with conceptual clarity, he looked up to his amma as his life's role model. “That day when she pitched for my education at Mayiladuthurai, I had decided that I would earn so much in this life to take her all around the world.” 

Hard Work always pays

He recounts another incident that was indicative of the terrible challenges he faced during his school life and one that was to provide him great mental strength and a life lesson on the way to rise from the graveyard to succeed in life. On the final day of the examinations, Bus Number 10 that ran from Komal, home to an ancient Hastham star Parikara temple, to Mayiladuthurai did not arrive in Therazhundur that morning and this delayed his departure to the school. Hiring a cycle from a friend, he began pedaling his way to  Mayiladuthurai but his luck seemed to go from bad to worse that morning. The tyre punctured before he had crossed the now defunct Therazhundur railway station. “For the next half hour, I ran as hard as I could to Mayiladuthurai to be just in time for the exam. The invigilator, S Mahadevan, was shocked to see me in drenched clothes on a hot summer’s day. He was in for more shock when the young boy handed the answer sheet within one hour of the three hour exam. After going through my paper, he had happy tears in his eyes and later took me to the headmaster, who took a proactive step to support me financially.”

This was a great lesson early on in his life - that any hurdle could be overcome if you put in the hard effort to reach your destination. "When the bus did not arrive and the cycle tyre punctured, I did not give up. I ran to the school as if my life depended on that sprint and the result was that the HM, SV Kalyanasundaram supported me financially,” he says with great delight.

Swimming in the Cauvery

Much like another Kalyanasundaram from the Kumbakonam region (the Ranji cricketer from the 1960s and 70s), Seetharaman too learnt swimming as a teenager jumping into the Cauvery (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html). He says that swimming as an exercise continues to this day, five decades later.

After securing state sixth in the SSLC examination, Seetharaman moved to Vivekananda College in Madras for his Pre University. He wanted to become a doctor and his preferred choice was to do medicine but Prof Ganesan (this writer’s principal later) put some practical sense into the teenager “He told me that given the political scenario of the time, the prospects of me getting a medical seat was remote and that I should pursue a degree in Commerce.”

That year, he had been at the RKM hostel on Sivaswami Salai in Mylapore (where he came back decades later with his wife and daughters to give back to the hostel for the joyous one year he had had in the mid 1970s) but when he had to change his mind from medicine to commerce, he decided to go to Thanjavur to his patti’s place in Mela Veethi to pursue his graduation there. By this time, his appa, who passed away in 2006, had moved to Bombay for his livelihood.

Insights into the Lending Business

Right from his school days, Seetharaman had begun teaching fellow students including those senior to him. And this continued into his college years as well. He also played the role of a ‘newspaper boy’ in the morning in Thanjavur to earn some money to help run the family. During that phase, another incident gave him great insights on critical factors in lending that was to hold him in good stead once he entered the Banking sector “I had got a merit scholarship of Rs. 400 and my friend saw me with cash. He came up to me and claimed emergency financial requirement citing his amma’s ill health. When I did not see him for a few days and as I had to pay my college fees, I went to his house while I was distributing the newspapers. That morning his appa handed me another big lesson that has stayed with me all through my banking career. My friend had run away with the four hundred rupees I had given him and his appa questioned me the basis on which I lent him the money."

“The incident taught me a big lesson in lending. Character, Capacity and Capital had to be looked into before handing money to anyone” says Seetharaman narrating how that little event in his teenage years served as a great lesson later on.

Skill Development

The financial challenges in his childhood led him to honing his skills in multiple areas. Though he did his entire schooling in Tamizh medium, he managed to pick up fluency in English by the time he graduated in Commerce with a gold medal. He was also an ardent fan of  Senkalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar and listened to his upanyasams during those collegiate years.He also developed great interest in dramas and Ilakiya Tamizh. As an example, he rolled out dialogues nonstop for a few minutes to this writer from Veerapandiya Kattabomman. He became an artiste with AIR Trichy. In every step of his success, he reminded himself of the great role his amma played through the tough times. With his first month’s honorarium, he bought his amma a mixie “She had been using the grinding stone all her life till then. Having seen her struggles in life, I had decided early on in my life that I would give her all the comforts once I started earning. The mixie was my first gift to her.”

 

To PWC - For the first time outside TN

He did his article-ship in Thanjavur and soon completed his CA. Immediately after, came one of the first big moments in his life. . In the first two decades of his life, he had never crossed the TN border!!! And as his first job, he picked up a prime role at Multinational firm Price Waterhouse Coopers and a posting as an audit manager in Bombay in 1982/83. He then moved into an overseas posting with them in the Gulf. He had arrived in life and his parents were happy for him that the financial uncertainty of his childhood was finally behind him.

Passionate about technology

The late 1980s and early 90s saw the emergence of technology into the corporate world. He was very passionate with technology and like many things in his teenage days, he honed his skills in technology too at a very early age. Into his early 30s, he had become the technology head in a bank. Soon after his entry into the banking sector, he began implementing technology that had been hitherto unknown to banks in the Gulf. 

Making Doha Bank a Global Major

At the turn of the century, Seetharaman joined the Doha Bank in Qatar at a time when it was very small in size with only four branches in Qatar. Soon after he took over, it had become the best bank in Qatar, then the Middle East and awards for best performances rolled in one after another. By the time he submitted his resignation in March last year after two decades as the CEO, he had turned around the fortunes of the bank and made it into a global major scaling it to great heights with a presence in 20 countries including Australia, Canada and India. The Net Profit had zoomed past QAR 750million. He counts among his achievements the huge dividends that had been consistently handed out to the shareholders during his two decades at the helm.

During his schooling years, Seetharaman did not have the money to even pay for his 30 Paise bus ticket but a combination of the tough lessons learned early in life and his amma’s inspirational model to find peace even under the most challenging situations helped him overcome every hurdle to scale to the top of the Banking ladder. Before his arrival, the leadership roles in banks in the Gulf had often vested with the Britishers. Seetharaman broke that trend and ran a bank for two decades in the process becoming the longest serving Indian CEO in the Gulf. He has made Doha Bank a name to reckon with not just within the Gulf region but globally expanding aggressively across continents. Dividends zoomed during his reign delighting the shareholders in a way that they had not experienced previously. 

He saw Goddess in his amma

In recognition of his amma’s role in making a successful man out of him, Seetharaman took her around the world. In the numerous awards he won across continents she was always next to him and he showcased to the world as the one responsible for his success. She remained unchanged in character throughout her life “She managed to find peace even in poverty. And when I became the CEO, she was delighted but reminded me to remain grounded always taking me back to those days in the 1960s and 70s. Till the very end, she was steeped in tradition."

In February last year, he came to Mylapore after two Pandemic years to inform his amma, who had become unwell, that he was coming back permanently to be with her. Unfortunately, within a couple of months she passed away. He recounts her role in taking him to the top of the banking world "An amma’s love is unmatched. She was everything to me. Just looking at her face gave me a lot of positive energy in my childhood, even though we were in financial difficulty. She showed what one could achieve with steely determination. In the midst of all the financial challenges, she was single minded in her endeavor to get the best out of me and make me successful in life.”

“She had studied only till class VIII but that did not come in the way of her being a great counsellor to me. She was always calm and composed. Not even in the worst of times did she allow the anger and the state of life to get the better of her. It was a great lesson that I used each day of my career once I became a CEO. For someone with so little academic education, she was able to ‘sell a goal’ to me. Throughout my childhood, she instilled the importance of having a vision.” 

"Amidst all the challenges, I did not see her worried - not once.  'She would often ask me what I achieved by worrying’. It was yet another great life lesson that I learned from her."

Someday in his life, he is keen to build a temple for his amma!!!

Chairman of City Union Bank N Kamakodi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/n-kamakodi-city-union-bank.html) has known him well over the last few decades. He rates Seetharaman as one of the most accomplished Indian CEOs in the global banking scenario.

His has been a mindboggling ‘rags to riches’ turnaround from financial poverty in the 1960s to a top global banking CEO in the 2000s ending last year with a monthly salary of over 1crore. Having been in the Gulf for over almost four decades, half of which as the CEO of Doha Bank, Seetharaman, now 63, is looking forward to a new phase in his life. Learning and deep research have been an integral part of his life and a big contributory factor in his success. He is hoping to complete his fourth P hD in the near future and has also set his sights on research into spirituality.  He has had a long association with the top Universities globally and expects to continue his guest lecturer role in those.  Having been in the financial services space for decades, it is likely he will get into the Wealth Advisory segment.

Known for his strong views on every aspect of economics, he will also have on offer for the Economic Pundits  'Seetharamanomics' on the digital platform.  

Before all that, he may have one final score to settle with his banking firm!!!

Sudarsan Sowmiyan Temple Archaka Service

Teenager to dedicate himself to a lifetime at the feet of Veera Raghava Perumal 

Just under a decade ago, Sudarsan, son of Sowmiyan Bhattar, the then priest at Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html), was a student at Sivaswamy Kalalaya but his mind was away from academic and one would often see him getting actively involved during the Brahmotsavam. Very soon his appa pulled him out of academics and sent him to Mysore for Patshala education. 

On the Garuda Sevai morning this Thursday, he was at the Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Thiru Evvul on a short ‘medical’ break from Mysore and fanned the Lord at the start of the three hour long procession to Eekkadu.

Soon he will head back to Mysore to continue his Vedic and Agamic education but his devotional attachment to Veera Raghava Perumal at Thiru Evvul has increased further on this trip after he watched the Thai Brahmotsavam engagement at this Divya Desam on the first few days.

                                        Sowmiyan Bhattar

His forefathers had performed service at this temple in the century gone by. His appa, who earlier served at Ahobilam and the Srinivasa Perumal temple in Mylapore, moved to Divya Desam Kainkaryam at Evvul years ago. The moment he arrived here Veera Raghava Perumal bound him devotionally and he has settled down happily in daily service at this temple.  

16 year old Sudarsan, who walked through the procession to Eekkadu (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/01/thiru-evvul-veera-raghava-perumal-thai.html), told this writer that his aim in life is to serve Veera Raghava Perumal “As a child, my mind was always on Srinivasa Perumal in Mylapore. I did not quite enjoy the school life as I wanted to be with the Lord even though I was only in class IV and V. Once I complete my Vedic and Agamic studies, I want to serve Veera Raghava Perumal for the rest of my life, while I am also attached to Mylapore's Srinivasa Perumal and Vedantha Desikar because of my early childhood memories.”

 

                            Sudarsan- Mylapore Days a decade ago

A P hd in Agamas

Sudarsan has completed over five years of Krishna Yajur Veda initiation at the Parasura Gurukulam in Mysore. He is also being initiated into the Pancharatra Agama there. In addition, he has also begun to learn the Prabhandham verses as well as the Bhagavad Gita. He is also taking to academics through the NIOS route. After his Vedic studies, he is looking to do P. hd in Agamas before moving into temple service.

Sowmiyan Bhattar is happy at the devotional attachment of his son "I am happy to see him become so closely engaged with devotional kainkaryam. Our conversations center around service to the Lord and to him mastering the agamas. He has also been inquisitive to know about the specifics of the utsavams here in Thiru Evvul and even at this early age has come to understand the significance of each of the utsavams and the processes at this Divya Desam."

Committing himself to archaka service

Sudarsan is only in his mid-teens now but already he has spent a majority of his time in traditional activities and has his mind solely fixed on Kainkaryam as an archaka. At a time, when many in the next gen are moving away from temple service (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/bhattars-gurukals-move-away-from-temples.html), the clarity of teenager Sudarsan to dedicate himself to a lifetime of archaka service is refreshing and him looking forward to a long devotional engagement with Veera Raghava Perumal augurs well for this historical Divya Desam. 

Thiru Evvul Veera Raghava Perumal Thai Garuda Sevai

'Mapillai' Veera Raghava Perumal provides Garuda Sevai darshan at Eekkadu at the birth place of Kanaka Valli Thayar on the third day of the Thai Brahmotsavam

Several hundreds of devotees gathered in front of the Kalyana Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Eekkadu to welcome the Divya Desam Lord 

It is just past 10.30am on Thursday (Jan 19) morning. After a long three hour trip, seated atop the Garuda Vahana a beautifully decorated Veera Raghava Perumal of Thiru Evvul Divya Desam finally reached the birth place of his beloved Kanaka Valli Thayar at Eekkadu, on the Northern outskirts of Thiruvallur off the Red Hills highway.

Residents around the Mada Streets of the Kalyana Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Eekkadu welcomed the ‘Mapillai’ with colourful kolams. They presented coconuts and fruits in front of their homes and sought his blessings.

At the entrance of the Kalyana Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Eekkadu, several hundreds of devotees gathered to welcome the Divya Desam Lord who arrived led by the loud beating of the drums and accompanied all the way by the Nagaswaram artistes.

Chief Priest PKS Bhattar sports a big smile on arriving at the Eekkadu Village even as scores of old timers exchange greetings with him. 

It was a commendable performance by the Sripatham personnel to carry the Lord on their shoulders for over three hours and their effort including the Voyali on arrival at Eekkadu was much appreciated by the devotee crowd. As is the tradition here, hot Chakkarai Pongal was served to the devotees after they had the Garuda Sevai darshan.

The Brahmotsavam in Thai is dedicated to his consort Kanaka Valli Thayar. It is the one day in the year when Veera Raghava Perumal provides Garuda Sevai darshan at the place of his in-laws.

The Prabhandham members, a few of them who are also regulars at the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore, led the procession from the temple with the presentation of the Moonram Thiruvanthathi. In the decades gone by, the route from the Divya Desam was a small one way path and Veera Raghava Perumal had to wade through rocky stones to reach Eekkadu. However, with the infra development over the last few years, this road has now become a wider two way route with a median in the middle and the police personnel in good numbers played a terrific role in directing the traffic while the Lord made his way out of Thiruvallur on to the Red Hills highway.

Early Morning Gopura Vaasal Darshan

The Gopuram Vaasal darshan has become a popular event on the Garuda Sevai morning and there were devotees who specifically turned up in good numbers to have darshan of Veera Raghava Perumal early on Thursday morning.  Even as the moolavar sannidhi opens at sharp at 6.30am, hundreds of devotees queued up to have darshan of the Lord seen in a Bhujanga Sayana Kolam. 

காசையாடை மூடியோடிக் காதல் செய்தான் அவனூர் 

நாசமாக நம்பவல்ல நம்பி நம்பெருமான் 

வேயினன்ன தோள் மடவார் 

வெண்ணை உண்டான் இவனென்று 

ஏசநின்ற எம்பெருமான் எவ்வுள் கிடந்தானே - Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

Devotees throng Moolavar Sannidhi

Sowmya Bhattar, formerly at the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html), is the priest donning the Moolavar Sannidhi on Thursday and he does not have a minute's rest till 12.30pm as devotees thronged the temple on this Garuda Sevai day.

For well over an hour, the Lord provided darshan at the mandapam in front of the Raja Gopuram with dancers presenting devotional steps in a group. Shortly after 7am, Veera Raghava Perumal, with four priests accompanying him, made his way on to the Sannidhi Street to rising mobile phones that captured the Lord on the Garuda Vahana. 

At the chariot end, the Prabhandham members began their presentation of Pey Azhvaar’s Moonram Thiruvanthathi even as the buses made their way into Thiruvallur!!! This unfortunately is a sore story with the Brahmotsavam procession on this prakaram having now become a bus route, similar to the ones in Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal Divya Desam and Thiru Kudanthai Sarangapani Divya Desam where the procession has to adjust to the bus traffic.

Historically, Veera Raghava Perumal visited the Eekkadu Village on each of the days during this Thai Utsavam. However, in recent times, his trip has been restricted to three days including this Garuda Sevai day. 

In Panguni, the Lord goes on a procession to Puttur Village, about 6 kms from here and into the river for Thiru Ooral Utsavam. There is also a 10 day Brahmotsavam in Chitrai.

Veera Raghava Perumal is believed to liberate one from all kinds of diseases. Hence he is referred to as 'Vaidhya' Veera Raghavan. Over the last decade, the amavasai day each month has attracted huge number of devotees to the temple.

The temple, which is administered by Ahobila Mutt, is open from 630am-12noon and 4pm-8pm.

Veera Raghava Perumal Divya Desam in Thiru Evvalur (now Thiruvallur) is located about 50kms from Chennai on the Arakkonam rail route. Suburban trains every 15minutes from Chennai Central.

Sharath S National Selector

A well deserved elevation to the top 

With his enormous knowledge of domestic cricket, TN 'ATG' S Sharath has all the credentials to make a significant contribution to Indian Cricket as a National Selector

Prolific TN middle order batsman from the 1990s S Sharath( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/sharath-s-tn-crickets-atg.html?m=1) has been named as a national selector. This elevation comes on the back of his strong performance as the Chief of India U19 selectors. During his reign, India had won the U19 World Cup.

In 2007, soon after ‘ATG’ Sharath retired from first class cricket, legendary opener SM Gavaskar sent him a hand written letter comparing him with two other greats of Indian Domestic cricket, Shivalkar and Goel, both of whom performed extraordinarily in first class cricket but did not get to play for India. In that personalised letter Gavaskar wrote about his great skills, his competitive spirit and how he showcased to other cricketers on combating tough situations and said that he was just as great as those two domestic legends.

Unfortunately many of the media reports in the last week have referred to Sharath as being the only non-international in the five member national selection committee almost undermining his credibility. Two other members in the panel Salil Ankola and Subroto Banerjee played just the one test match each and around 50 first class matches, while Sharath played close to 140 first class matches, scored well over 20 centuries many of them resulting in wins for his team. Over the last decade, his stature in domestic cricket has been further enhanced with him being a BCCI match referee in close to fifty matches. He was also Chairman of the TN selection committee (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/01/sharath-on-tn-cricket-selection-policy.html?m=1) last decade and it was during his reign that T Natarajan, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, Jagadeesan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (who is now making waves this season in Ranji cricket) made their Ranji debut.

In several of his long conversations with this writer over the last decade, Sharath has always been clear on the selection policies. Consistently he has held the view that the circumstances under which a batsman scores his runs and the contribution to a team’s winning cause is more important than the quantity of runs. He has pointed out repeatedly as to how in recent years TN batsman have become ‘2nd innings’ specialists scoring big runs and boosting their average when the match has already been lost.

As the Chairman of the Junior Selection committee, he travelled the length and breadth of the country over the last 15months watching the U19 players in action.  The Indian Juniors won the World Cup under his reign as the Chairman. 

Great Insights into Indian Cricket

On Thursday, he was once again vocal with this writer in a telecon from the Alur ground in Bangalore where he was watching the Ranji match between Karnataka and Rajasthan “Look at the top teams around the world and the chief of selectors there. Those heading Australia and England have not had much test experience but have in-depth knowledge of the domestic scene and the emerging players.”

He said that in addition to playing well over a 100 first class matches, he has watched over a century of matches as a Match Referee, TN Selector and the Junior India selector and knows inside out of who’s who in domestic cricket.

When he received the call from BCCI informing him of his elevation to the Senior Selection committee, he, as the Chairman of the Junior Committee, had already prepared the road map for the 2024 U19 World Cup “I have got a specific briefing from our Chairman Chetan Sharma on my immediate role as a selector and his expectations of me. I will work towards fulfilling that. This role is an extension of my contribution as a Junior Selector and I am confident I will be able to ease into this role” he said.

While he has many detractors (for several reasons), Sharath’s contribution to TN and South Zone cricket in the 1990s and early 2000s, having come back from a career threatening injury is unquestionable. Since his retirement he has tracked domestic cricket as closely as any over the last 15years. And the fact that he has a close friendship with both VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid since the early 1990s having played for South Zone alongside them is an added advantage.

In the next couple of years, it is likely Sharath will make significant contribution to Indian cricket especially in terms of identifying and picking the next gen players.

This section wishes Sharath the best in his new assignment.

Barathwajan Araiyar Srirangam GoAir Airbus 320 Pilot

Making Childhood Dream a Reality

After over a decade of persistent hard work, Srirangam's Barathwajan Araiyar will finally be debuting in March as an Airbus 320 Pilot  

Only last month this section had featured a story on the young Natha Muni Araiyar of Srivilliputhur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/12/srivilliputhur-araiyar-natha-muni.html) quitting a banking job to continue the Araiyar Sevai that has been handed to him by his forefather. This one is a story of a 41 year old Araiyar from Srirangam who will be moving away from full-fledged Araiyar Sevai to pursue his childhood dream after having just bagged a financially lucrative offer from a leading airline in the country.

This section had in February 2016 featured a story on Srirangam’s Barathwajan Araiyar and his passion for driving starting from cars even as a young teenager. His childhood dream had always been to become a pilot. While he had been trying hard for several years to secure a job in one of the top airlines, it proved elusive. Finally, after over a decade of unfailing effort, he has managed to land a job as a Pilot at GoAir and has just undergone training. Very soon, he will be flying Airbus 320 for which he had undergone a Type rating exam. It was after clearing this exam that Go Air called for applications for Pilots with this rating. He went through a stringent process and finally got through last year.

He told this writer on Tuesday evening soon after presenting the sacred verses on Thiru Kannapuram on the 9th day of the Era Pathu utsavam at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam that he will soon be relocating to Bangalore with his wife and young son. His appa had struggled financially in his early days with limited facilities and wanted his son to enjoy life. Hence he tried to present everything that his son was interested in and did not stop him from pursuing his other interests. “My appa and uncles have supported me in making this childhood dream a reality. Even when after many years of exploring opportunities in this space I did not get the breakthrough, they backed me and provided the confidence that I would get it one day. They are now very happy that I have been able to achieve my goal. There are four others in our family to continue the Araiyar Sevai for the foreseeable future.”

He has also already started training his four year old son in Araiyar Sevai and he too has been presenting at the Era Pathu utsavam this year. “I brought him this year to remove the stage fear and to build his confidence. Later in life, I would like him to serve in the Indian Army.” 

Barathwajan Araiyar has been part of Araiyar Sevai at Srirangam for the last three decades. He played the role of Prahalada when he was still not into his teens on the 7th day of Era Pathu Utsavam when the Araiyars present the entire episode of Hiranya Vatham. In 1993, as a 12 year old he presented Araiyar Sevai, of the ‘Thodakka Paasurams’ of the Tiruvoimozhi verses.

In this same phase in the 1990s, his interest for driving different vehicles increased. Every Sunday he would go to a mechanic shop in Thiruvanaikaval and help out in the repair of two wheelers and cars. When vehicles broke down in Srirangam at odd hours, people reached out to him. It was during this period that his interest expanded to aircrafts. 

A couple of years after graduating in Computer Science from National College he joined an Aviation course. He had been a pilot with a Chartered Airline and straddled between his role as a Pilot and Araiyar Sevai at the temple.

It will be the biggest moment of his life when he debuts with Airbus 320 in March this year. It is likely he will be flying 40 hours a month. He is hoping that he will be able to accumulate leave and be present for the next Adyayana Utasavam that starts in the second week of December this year. 

His has been a story of how it is possible to get over repeated rejections through persistent hard work and effort. It has not been an easy path for him over the last decade. Its taken a while to get this offer from a private airline. But at 41, Barathwajan Araiyar has finally converted his childhood dream into a reality.

This section wishes him the best as a Pilot.

Tarika Ram Thirukural based abstract Paintings

The teenager showcased her interpretations of 25 couplets of Thiruvalluvar this weekend through her abstract expressionist paintings 

In 2020, this section had featured a story on a ten year old boy from Thiruvallikeni, Prahladh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/05/prahladh-devotional-drawing.html), who dedicated a lot of his early schooling years to sketching pictures of deities, especially of Narasimha. This story is about a 16 year old who has this weekend launched a series of paintings based on Thiruvalluvar’s works. 

Carrying forward her early interest in Tamil Culture, she began exploring the Thirukural reading the translated version of Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Picking up around 25 of the Saint Poet’s sonnets, Tarika Ram, a resident of Prithvi Avenue, Abhiramapuram, spent hundreds of hours understanding the significance of the messages and then went about translating them into abstract expressionist paintings. 

One of her paintings is on the ‘Paths’ in life. She has interpreted Kural 673 and presented it using Acrylic and rope on canvas inspiring the audience to not lose hope in life for this painting depicts finding other routes when one path is blocked. 

In another painting, she has ‘coolly’ presented the importance of controlling anger in life for otherwise it could spread virulently as fire.

On her painting on ‘fortune’ in life, she says that just as a village pond gets filled with rain, fortune blesses the good man’s cellar with grain.

She has picked another sonnet that remains very relevant even today a couple of thousand years after Thiruvallur penned it. Using acrylic on canvas, she expresses the importance of good deeds every day that she says will help one grow as strong as a rock and keep the harms away from us.

Kural 522 in a way endorses how her parents have given her the freedom to choose her own path in life. It has also been her amma who has initiated her indepth into the inner meanings of the Thirukural. 

Spotting her passion for arts, her parents engaged an art teacher, Diana Shatish, when she was just 10 to help her pursue the artistic route. On this sonnet, her presentation provides insights into how having helpful family members is like being in a garden of fragrant flowers. 

If Kural 522 was about her family’s support, Kural 373 is one that seems to have given her the confidence to pursue her interests. Using acrylic and pages from a book collaged on canvas, Tarika has interpreted this song to express the view that book learning can be broken, disjointed and disconnected whereas wisdom involves complete understanding.

In this first phase of expressing Thiruvalluvar’s verses through her abstract paintings, Tarika has presented her thoughts on true friendship (using cardboard and acrylic), the importance of Kind Words and how it spreads joy all around (using buff papers, markers and acrylic) and the transformational power that even small helpful acts can create.

Looking forward to more from the Thirukural

Those that visited the solo exhibition on Sunday morning at the Cholamandalam Artists’ Village in Injambakkam were so touched with this teenager’s presentation that they expressed hope of Tarika continuing to add to her ‘Thiruvalluvar’ portfolio in 2023.  They hoped that sometime into the future she would be able to complete the entire set of 1330 couplets.

No Sale of these for now!!!

The two solo exhibition was inaugurated on Saturday evening by MM Murugappan, Executive Chairman of the Murugappa Group. Soon after the launch, quite a few that were present were keen to pick up these paintings but much to their disappointment, Tarika told them that this series was not for sale at the moment!!!

While ‘Thirukuralin Arivurai’ has been her biggest solo exhibition to date, Tarika has been showcasing her passion for art every Navarathri making elaborate art installations.

In the last few years, one has seen many teenage cricketers dedicating themselves full time to their area of interest. But rarely have we seen a teenager all charged up and pursuing his/her passion for art relegating academics to the side. Tarika is an expressionist and this first weekend of January, her passion for expressing her views on a subject came to the fore in the form of presenting Thiruvalluvar’s messages for life through abstract paintings.

This section will track her artistic delivery in the future.