Kesava Perumal Temple Mylapore Hereditary Priests

Giri Bhattar's forefathers came to Mylapore from Vandavasi in the 1550s and have been performing archaka service at the Kesava Perumal temple for almost 500 years

Srinivasarangan (Giri) Bhattar is 30. Over the last 15 years, he has been carrying on the hereditary archaka service that has been performed by his forefathers at the Kesava Perumal temple in Mylapore from the 1550s. At various points in time, the family have been in serious financial situations but the message that has been passed on through generations has been the same ‘Believe in Mayuravalli Thayar’ and ‘Perform archaka kainkaryam with sincerity’.

A lot in the current generation have moved away from archaka service into the corporate world but for Giri Bhattar, the only thing that he is reminded of everyday is the message from his Thatha Veera Raghava Bhattar  (popularly known as 'Chellapillai') who performed kainkaryam for almost seven decades and who passed away during the Pandemic. “I would sit with Thatha and listen to the stories about his grandparents and the way they lived their lives” Giri Bhattar told this writer at the home opposite the Kesava Perumal temple where several generations of this family have resided.

Kainkaryam as the only way of life

He recalls two unforgettable stories that Veera Raghava Bhattachar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/veera-raghava-bhattar-kesava-perumal.html) narrated to him when he was young “Over 125 years ago, a financially rich businessman from North Madras was handing out 4gm gold coins to the Brahmins in this village (Madras). My Thatha’s thatha – Srinivasa Varada Bhattar -  performed archaka kainkaryam from the 1870s till the 1930s. The family was experiencing financial challenges in that phase and my ellu patti asked him to go to Parry’s and collect the Sambhavanai.”

It would have been reasonable for Srinivasa Varada Bhattar to have gone and collected the gold for it was being donated to the Brahmins performing service but Giri Bhattar’s ellu thatha refused and told his wife that he would not let go of Kainkaryam to Mayuravalli that day. It would have taken a great deal of time to go to Parrys and return back to Mylapore in those days.

Tears roll down Giri Bhattar’s cheeks as he narrates what happened in the second half that day “My ellu thatha was sitting at the Mayuravalli Thayar Sannidhi when a group of devotees from North India visited the temple. They had been to Thiruvallikeni earlier in the day and were now visiting the avathara sthalam of Pey Azhvaar. Pleased with the Kainkaryam of my Thatha, they placed 8gms gold in the Thattu which was double of what the North Madras businessman was handing out that day in Parrys. He came home and told my ellu patti as to how Mayuravalli blesses archakas who perform kainkaryam with complete devotion.”

Giri Bhattar says that his thatha, Veera Raghava Bhattar, constantly reminded him of this story to instill in him the importance of unflinching faith in Mayuravalli Thayar “My Thatha would often say that Kesava Perumal has a 1000eyes and keeps total watch on us every minute of the day. And he would not let go easily those that stray away from the dharmic path but Mayuravalli is full of Karunai and that she is always considerate and hence we should fully surrender to her and perform our service with utmost sincerity.”

Chellapillai Veera Raghava Bhattar

Wouldn't eat without presenting Thaligai to Kesava

On another occasion, just under a century ago, there was a death in the far corner of the Sannidhi street and Thiru Aradhanam could not performed and Thaligai presented to Perumal for almost 36 hours “My Ellu Thatha (Srinivasa Varada Bhattar) did not eat anything in that period because his way of life was such – he would not eat food without presenting the Thaligai to Perumal. They were steadfast in their faith and lived their entire life in the belief that complete devotion to ‘Kesava and Mayuravalli’ was the only way of life and there was no compromise permissible in the way they performed kainkaryam at this temple.”

Giri Bhattar’s forefathers moved from Vandavasi to Madras around the 1550s and came to reside in the Sannidhi Street in front of the Kesava Perumal temple ‘When the financial situation was really bad, my great grandfather Kesava Bhattar went to the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni as a support priest (during his non service days in the month at the Kesava Perumal temple). With the income generated during his Kainkaryam there, he performed the Deepavali utsavam at the Kesava Perumal temple.”

Born to perform Kainkaryam

The thought that this Vaikanasa Bhattar clan has been born only to perform archaka service to Perumal and Thayar had been instilled in Giri Bhattar right from the time he was five years old “Instead of learning the alphabets at Chellammal School, I learned the slokas. When a traditional event was held at Sivaswamy Kalalaya, I donned the Hanuman Thirukolam and won a prize. Similarly, when my teacher at school asked how it rains, I said that Lord Varuna throws water from the sky in a Jug. My early life was almost completely centered around Kesava Perumal and Bhakthi towards him. Hence I related everything in life to the concept of devotion and kainkaryam.” 

He says from being an academically poor student in early school, he managed good marks in Class X and XII and completed his graduation in commerce from the Vivekananda college. He later went on to a degree in law. His thatha and appa had lived through poverty and there were days when there was no money at home to even eat a meal. During the Pandemic, when his thatha passed away due of Covid, there was not enough money to even perform the last rites and the monthly Kaaryams but Giri Bhattar says that Kesava and Mayuravalli have always shown the way and helped them come of all kinds of challenges.

The previous consecration had taken place 20 years ago and the temple is currently seeing a restoration exercise with Thiruppani works having started in the second half of last year. The consecration is expected to take place later this year by when it is hoped that the temple will wear a new and fresh look. 

 

Taking forward the Hereditary Service into the next phase

Given the current scenario in temples, Giri Bhattar will continue to don the role of an advocate in the foreseeable future but as has been way of this family over the last 500 years, Giri Bhattar is clear that his first and foremost duty in this life is to perform Kainkaryam at the Kesava and Mayuravalli Sannidhis at the Kesava Perumal temple in Mylapore. There are challenges for archakas relating to hereditary service in temples but Giri Bhattar is confident that with the blessings of 'Mayuravalli', he will be able to continue this five centuries old tradition during his life time. At this young age, he has been able to captivate the minds of the devotees with his sincerity and committed service. He says that he will endeavour to perform Kainkaryam in  a way to not spoil that regard the devotees seem to currently have for him as a devoted archaka.

Srirangam Brahmotsavam Padippu Sridhar

The historical Padippu event on the final evening of the big utsavams has been revived over the last decade at the Ranganathaswamy temple

Temple staffer Sridhar has been assigned this sacred Kainkaryam of reading out the greatness of the temple near the Dwajasthambam in front of Namperumal

When TVS’ Venu Srinivasan was assigned the task of the restoration exercise of the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam a decade ago, he undertook a Prashnam to understand the violations that had taken place at the temple earlier and the corrective measures that were required to be initiated. The outcome of the Prashnam pointed to a deficiency in the conduct of the big utsavams. The Padippu at the end of the utsavams had been a centuries old historical practice performed as a hereditary service and takes place at the conclusion of the big utsavams such as the four Brahmotsavams, the Adyayana Utsavam and Vasantha Utsavam on the final day.

When there were no descendants of the Thiru Thaazhvarai Dasar clan to continue this service, this sacred event came to a halt around four decades ago.

Venu Srinivasan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/11/venu-srinivasan-srirangam-temple.html), the then Chairman - Board of Trustees, was keen for the historical Padippu event to be revived and in discussion with the temple authorities identified a Vaishnavite to perform this service .

N Sridhar, who has been working in different departments at the Srirangam Temple since 1999, was asked if he would be interested and willing to don the role of reading out the text and the verses on the final evening of the utsavams. While he had no prior knowledge or experience in this recital, he considered this a great blessing to be assigned this Kainkaryam.

He reached out to the Mela Thirumaligai Vishnu Chithan Swami and learned the Santhai from him. Sridhar told this writer that he sourced the historical script relating to the Padippu from Krishnamachari of Sri Sri Press “Only after Mela Thirumaligai Swami was convinced that I was equipped to present the padippu and gave me the nod did I proceed to present the Padippu, the first of which was at the end of the Vasantha Utsavam just under ten years ago.”

“I was very emotional on that Satru Murai occasion. It was well past mid night when Namperumal made his way back from the Vasantha Mandapam. At that debut performance, there was a certain fear within me that I should present this to the best of my ability in front of Namperumal and without mistakes.” 

Padippu at Thayar Utsavams and on Vedu Pari evening

Since then, Sridhar has been the man who has performed this Padippu kainkaryam at all the Raksha Bandhanam utsavams. In addition, he also presents ‘padippu’ during the big utsavams for Thayar. Also, on the evening of the Vedu Pari event in Manal Veli during the Era Pathu Utsavam, he presents the Parimuthal Kanakku reading out the list of jewels of Namperumal.

The Padippu goes into the legend of the temple, the origin of Periya Perumal, reference to Srirangam as Bhoologa Vaikuntam and the greatness of Chandira Pushkarani, among other details. 

His appa, K Narayanan, who worked in the commercial taxes department had been the ‘double lock officer’ at the temple three decades ago.

His thatha, Krishnamachariar, performed Theertha Kainkaryam at the Chakkarathazhvaar Sannidhi in the middle of the 20th century. He credits the sincere kainkaryam of his thatha in those years when there was very little financial returns and the fruits of his service to him being belessed with this Padippu Kainkaryam. 

Now, almost a decade after the Padippu revival, Sridhar is confident and renders the Padippu with great devotion. He did not seek this kainkaryam nor did he expect that one day in his life, he would be the one to present such a sacred recital at the end of the Brahmotsavams. He considers it Ranganatha's blessing that this Kainkaryam has come on its own to him and that he has been reciting without a break for almost a decade.

Following the Bandha Katchi procession on the final evening of the Maasi Utsavam 2024, Sridhar presented the Padippu on Tuesday (Feb 20) evening  in front of Namperumal near the Dwajasthambam at the Ranganathaswamy temple.

Srirangam Maasi Theppam 2024

Prabhandham Ghosti present Thiru Mangai Azhvaar’s Madals in the hot sun, Poor Management lead to chaotic scenes after the Theppam during Mariyathai and a once in a year late night procession of Namperumal through North Adayavalanjan mark Maasi Theppotsavam at Ranganathaswamy temple on Monday

Its just past 3pm on a hot Monday (Feb 19) afternoon. It is a big day in the year in Srirangam – the evening when Namperumal will provide darshan on the float at the sacred tank west of the temple. The Prabhandham Ghosti members are waiting on the South Chitrai Street for Namperumal to arrive on the palanquin on his way to the Theppam.

Back inside the Naazhikettan Vasal, the two EOs of the temple are present ahead of the start of the procession to ensure that everything is on track. Only  last week, the JC of the temple Mariappan had told this writer that the Theppotsavam is a challenging day for the temple authorities and a lot of care has to be taken on this day.  

Prabhandham Ghosti present the Madals

Hot chakkarai Pongal is presented to the Sthalathars and the Sripatham members following which Namperumal leaves for this two-hour procession. As he enters the Chitrai street, the Prabhandham members, who have gathered in good numbers, begin the presentation of the Siriya Thiru Madal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2012/10/thirumangai-azhvaars-madal.html). The Sun is beating down from the West and hence the full screen is on through the procession on the South Chitrai Street with the devotees running towards the West Chitrai Street for darshan of Namperumal.

This is the first time in the Thai and Maasi utsavam that Namperumal makes his way on a procession through the Chitrai streets (through the entire Thai Brahmotsavam and till the day of the Maasi Theppam, the processions are all on the Uthirai Streets).

Like on the Garuda Sevai procession last week, Namperumal makes his way this time too to apartments on Melur Road and a devotee home adjacent to the tank to provide darshan as part of the mandagapadis on this evening. The Prabhandham members have completed the rendering of the Siriya Thiru Madal and have begun the presentation of the Periya Thiru Madal. Its past 5.30pm when Namperumal has made his way around the tank streets and the screen is shut for alankaram of Namperumal ahead of the procession on the float.

Namperumal presents himself with Kili Garland

By 7pm, devotees have gathered in large numbers outside the mandapam waiting for the first glimpse of the alankaram and as the screen opens, they are delighted to see Namperumal adorning a Kili Garland. The devotees count the number of parrots on the garland and engage in conversation on the beauty of the parrots.

The float itself is grandly decorated as well as any float in a TN temple Theppotsavam. The lights are bright. Everything is colourful and grand inside the float. The service personnel and the temple staff get on to the float along with Namperumal.

The devotees positioned themselves at marquee locations around the huge tank for the best view as Namperumal goes around thrice in hour long procession before he makes his way to the mandapam in the middle of the tank for Thaligai presentation.

It is 9.30pm when Namperumal makes his way out of the float for the return trip to the temple. And what followed over the next half hour or do did not make for good viewing. It has been a customary practice for many years now that on the Vedu Pari evening during the Adyayana Utsavam and on this Theppam evening, the ubayadarars and the workers who made the float a success are presented with Mariyathai. While the programme schedule has the return of Namperumal to his abode as 11.15pm, it has been rarely stuck to over the last decade. 

Devotees walk out from the Mariyathai process

It was expected for the shatari mariyathai to go on for at least half an hour. But when a set of devotees weren’t happy at the respect given to them, they protested and staged a walk out in a group. The maniyakarar, (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/srirangam-temple-time-keeper.html) who is the time keeper of the procession and whose responsibility it is for ensuring that all goes as per plan, was away on his phone even as the mariyathai was being accorded and was not aware of what was going on.

It is 10.15pm when the priests and the service personnel call out for him to resolve the challenge ahead of the return procession. A decision is taken that the aggrieved devotees will be presented with the Mariyathai on the east side of the tank and they are consoled.

JC should ensure that the processions are orderly

It was quite badly handled by the temple authorities. The JC, who has been known to straight forward and on the dot on any issues relating to the temple, has to ensure that devotees are not put off and made unhappy for Namperumal makes the procession to provide darshan to the devotees. Even on the Garuda Sevai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/02/srirangam-namperumal-maasi-garuda-sevai.html?m=1) procession, there was a lot of noise and pushing of devotees and was not handled well last Thursday evening. Such unsavoury events take away the charm and the grandness of the utsavam which has grown in scale in recent  years.

MAV joins the Ghosti for Thiru Kurunthandagam

It was back to the sacred events past 10.30pm as Namperumal made his way on to the West Adayavalanjan Street for the start of the night session of the Prabhandham Ghosti. It is the one day in the year when Namperumal makes his way through the North half of West Adayavalanjan and the North Adayavalanjan Street. There was a surprise visitor at the late evening procession. Thiruvallikeni’s MA Venkatakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/05/ma-venkatakrishnan-thiruvallikeni-divya_16.html) joined the Thodakkam of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar’s Thiru Kurungthandagam while his son was with the Vedic members even as hundreds of devotees came out of their homes to have darshan of a beautifully decorated Namperumal.

11pm and Namperumal gets into another apartment - this one the last on the night- at the junction of West and North Adayavalanjan. 

MAV told this writer that he has bought a house in North Adayavalanjan street and as a thanking gesture to Namperumal, he was with his family in front of his house to present his offerings to the Lord.

After Thiruvanthikaappu in front of Thaayar Sannidhi, Namperumal made his way back to the temple via the Chitrai Streets. It was 12.30am when he made his way back via the Naazhikettan Vasal after a nine hour trip. 

Tail Piece: Kudos to Theertha Kudam Singan and the Sripatham Vethal team

Journalist Singan worked with the Press Trust of India (PTI) for several decades before retiring a few years back. During these utsavams, it is he who carries the Theertha Vessel on his shoulder. On this long return trip, it was yet another occasion when he carried on his shoulder the heavy sacred Theertha Kudam all the way from the Tank side to the temple during the procession.

The Sripatham personnel comprising of Vethal volunteers were patient and joyful on this three hour late night return trip. It is their positive spirit that kept everyone going on this long evening for Namperumal. Many of their shoulders are swollen but with their minds firmly on carrying Namperumal, they withstand the pain finding great joy in performing this Kainkaryam as a Sripatham.

P Ramesh TN Opener 1970s

He burst on to the scene with a half century against West Indies and then thrilled the Madras crowd with a century on Ranji debut against Chandra and Prasanna at Chepauk but the cricketing end came sooner than expected much to everyone's disappointment

In the late 1980s, left arm spinner Sunil Subramanian (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/05/sunil-subramanian-tn-left-arm-spinner.html?m=1) was young and bubbling with enthusiasm at the SPIC nets in YMCA Nandanam. S Vasudevan, who captained SPIC in that phase, retired from first class aged 33 soon after winning the Ranji Trophy in 1988 to make way for Sunil. The young spinner would often challenge the best of players at the practice sessions to go after him. Left hander state opener from the 1970s P Ramesh, the great grandson of Buchi Babu, was well past his prime but he repeatedly showed glimpses of the fearless power hitting that he had become famous for  the previous decade. Even as Sunil was about to deliver the ball, he would shout out ‘Six’ and the ball went soaring over the fence at the north end of the ground.  Such was his class. After his half century for Indian Universities against the West Indies and the debut century against Karnataka in Ranji Trophy at Chepauk, expectations went up. His teammates were in awe of the natural ability he possessed and expected him to play for India in the 1970s. But he faded away in the late 70s after some sparkling knocks and it was to be another case of ‘what might have been’. Here’s the story.

Cricket at Baliah Avenue at the Luz House

Most of his early cricket was played at Baliah Avenue in Luz, a property of 4 acres owned by his maternal grandparents. Every evening senior school boys from PS and RKM came there to play cricket with Ramesh being the youngest. The locals in the area also formed a cricket club (Srirama) with a subscription of Rs. 25paise.

LUZ HOUSE - Sundar and Ramesh learned their cricket here

He is now 70 and undergoing some health challenges. At the gated villa in Puppalguda, 15kms West of Hyderabad, he told this writer as to how his uncle MM Kumar, who played for TN, was his first and early inspiration in cricket “My uncle would come and bowl to me on the Marble floor of our house and that helped me develop my stroke play. He also gave me his bat for me to practice and play in school matches.”

There was a lot of encouragement at St. Bedes, where he was coached by the AG Ram Singh. He credits his first coach as being a big positive influence “He was such a disciplinarian and would always be at practice ahead of the boys. He came in simple canvas shoes but shared some great insights on how to play together as a team and inculcated the importance of discipline and a positive attitude.”

Six decades friendship

Former IOB opener M Sundar has lived almost all his life at Luz Avenue and been Ramesh’s closest friend from childhood. The two played gilli thanda, marbles and flew kites from atop the teak tree in addition to playing cricket in the verandah of the palacious Luz House in Baliah Avenue from the time they were five. 

Sundar has great memories of the childhood days of climbing the oak, mango and teak trees and Ramesh’s uncle MM Kumar throwing fast paced balls from 15 yards to help develop their stroke play. He recalls Ramesh from those days from the early 1960s “He hailed from a wealthy family and had a luxurious upbringing. He had cricket in his blood. He was always cheerful and kept all of us in good humour. A lot of the time he would foot the bill at drive in woodlands where we spent the evenings.”

Sundar says he owes a lot of his cricket learnings to Ramesh “He inspired me to play cricket, took me doubles on his cycle to the selection at St. Bedes, allowed me to use his high- quality kit and also helped me learn cycling and later on the motor cycle as well.”

In his first match, the team was bowled out for 36 by Hindu HSS’ Devaraj, who Ramesh refers to as a whippy and a terror of a fast bowler “I top scored with 21 and was immediately noticed as someone with potential.”

The Leggie bags 4 in 4

In that early phase in cricket, Ramesh also bowled leg spin and picked up 4 wickets in 4 balls for Bharathi cc in the lower division league at PS School ground. In his early teens, he also scored a league century that same season. Pretty quickly he moved up the league ladder to playing first division cricket for MCC. 

At Lovedale - Captured on camera for the first time

He went to Lovedale to play for city schools. Ramesh recalls the first photo shots of his cricketing career “The Hindu’s Editor G Kasturi (father of Balaji who too went on to play Ranji cricket in the late 1970s) was present there with a 30mm camera to take pictures of the match. And I was all excited to be photographed as a school boy cricketer.”

By his mid-teens, he had played for South Zone schools. And was then selected to play for the Indian schools against a strong Ceylon side comprising Roy Dias and Wettimuny, among others. 

Hits Mohinder for a six off the first ball

In shivering cold in Jammu, playing for Madras University against Delhi, he hooked the first ball from Mohinder Amarnath for six and made runs both against Delhi and Bombay. Based on these performances, he was picked to for the selection trials in Indore where the Indian Universities was to picked to play against the touring West Indians.

Impresses the Selectors with his technique

PR Ramakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pr-ramakrishnan-coimbatore-cricketer.html), under whose captaincy Ramesh played for the Madras University, was in prime form that season in the inter university matches and was confident of finding a place in the Combined Universities side but was once again overlooked. In the story in 2021, this section had featured as to how SMK and Ramesh had booked the return ticket to Madras and Ramki had not. 

He recalls the innings that Ramesh played in the selection match in Indore “There was stiff competition for the top order slot. He played with aggression in the practice match and captured the attention of the selectors with his fearless display. After watching him bat, one of the selectors, who was mightily impressed, remarked ‘this Ramesh plays so close to the body’. He also had the advantage of having played for the Indian Schools earlier.”

Lot of similarities with  K Srikkanth

SM Krishna Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/01/sm-krishnakumar-madras-university.html) captained the Madras University to a triumph in the Rohinton Baria tournament the next season. He opened with Ramesh for Madras University and also later in the 1970s with K Srikanth in U-22 and U-25 cricket. He found similarities between them “I always found that both of them were quite similar in that they had that bit of extra time to play the ball which comes from a quick eye and good hand-eye coordination. He did not hesitate to play his shots, irrespective of the opposition, as this was his natural style” 

“When playing against him in collegiate and league cricket, it was vital to get him early as otherwise the scoreboard would move quickly against you.”

Krishna Kumar was also in Indore in Nov 1974 for the selection trial. While he and Ramesh had many good partnerships at the top of the order in that phase, he fondly remembers the century opening stand before lunch in that two-day selection game where both scored half centuries before retiring to give opportunities to other batsmen “The bowling attack was spearheaded by medium pacer Amitava Roy of Bengal who was talked of as a Test probable at that time. With everybody vying for a spot in the Combined Universities team, it was a pretty strong attack. I still remember Ramesh’s fluent batting that day. He was duly selected for the team to play the WI. It is likely that the selectors were impressed with his approach and style of play.”

Slams the feared quickies, gets out to Richards

Against a strong attack, Ramesh scored another aggressive half century in the second innings after failing in the first innings. Having survived the fast bowlers, he surprisingly got out to a seemingly innocuous spinner “I was ‘given out’ LBW in IVA Richards’ first over. As I was making my way back dejected at the decision, Alvin Kallicharan came up to me and offered his condolences and said ‘hard luck’ (about the decision).”

(Anshuman Gaekwad scored a century in the first innings and was soon inducted into the Indian team)

Ramki says that it was that innings that transformed his cricket career “Till that time, he was on par with many others his age but this half century gave him a lot of confidence and took him to the next level in cricket.”

A memorable century on Ranji debut

He made his Ranji debut a month later  and played the best innings of his life against two legends “I had only heard of the greatness of Chandra till then. It was a great experience to play him in my first Ranji match. I treated him like a fast bowler and that’s how I managed to survive. When I was 96, I swept Prasanna to the boundary to reach my century and he immediately hugged and said ‘you will do well in cricket’. 

"The great GRV called me aside and said 'the ball is there to be hit and you should continue to play your strokes without fear'.”

These gestures from the cricketing greats boosted my confidence and my aspirations went sky high, says Ramesh on his recollections from that match.

He would have been a 'Standout' performer in the white ball era

TT Srinivasaraghavan (TT Ramesh to friends in his teenage years) played for Vivekananda College in the early 1970s under P. Ramesh’s captaincy and went to head Non Banking Finance company Sundaram Finance for close to two decades. The two along with M Sundar and K Sundar were ‘foursome’ of a kind and met almost every evening at Woodlands during their collegiate years. It was TTS (he owned a 'Royal Enfield' bullet very early in his life) who inspired Ramesh to buy a Java. 

TTS (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/08/tt-srinivasaraghavan-tts-sundaram.html) watched Ramesh make his Ranji debut from the prestigious Pavilion Terrace at Chepauk with M Sundar and other close friends at College. He recalls what he saw of Ramesh as a cricketer in that phase  “Ramesh and I were classmates through the 4 years of college and I was fortunate to play for the college team under his captaincy. He was an extremely positive and fearless cricketer and someone who led from the front. Though he was primarily a gifted opening batsman, he took on the mantle of opening the bowling as well, and did a pretty good job of that as well, because the team needed it. His exploits with the bat are many, but for me, the enduring memory is his century on debut at Chepauk, against a Karnataka attack comprising the two legends, Prasanna and Chandra. I was privileged to watch that match from the pavilion terrace, alongside my Vivekananda college teammates. Had he been part of the white ball era, he would have been a standout performer.”

Buys a Java to ride alongside TT Ramesh's Bullet

His Ranji opening partner V Krishnaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) asked him to join IOB as soon as he completed his graduation. One of the first things he did was to buy a Java, a decision that he says was motivated by his namesake (TT Ramesh) owning a bullet. Both were so close to his heart that P Ramesh still remembers the registration numbers of the Bullet and the Java.

Duleep Trophy Debut - A meeting with another cricketing legend

A year after his Ranji debut, he was picked in the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone. He has great memories of sitting for a couple of hours with another cricketing legend of the time “I had got out to a rash shot in the first innings but scored an unbeaten half century in the second to take our team to victory in the run chase. Legendary Hanumant Singh, who saw me closely in that match,  asked me to meet him at the West End Hotel and took a two hour class about batting. He said that I had the potential to play for India and I should not throw away my wicket.”

“After the gestures from GRV and Prasanna, this was yet another great moment early on in my cricketing life” says Ramesh.

From Indiranagar to Padi with Vasudevan

He quit IOB after just a year to join Lucas TVS at their Padi Plant. “Ratnam was a close friend of appa and he asked me to join. Vasudevan and I took turns on the two wheeler to ride from Indira Nagar every morning at 6am. This long ride as well as my frequent trips to Avadi on work took a toll on my neck. And in the coming season, I had to take multiple pain killers before going into bat.”

Due to the daily two wheeler trips to Padi, Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/vasudevan-tn-ranji-trophy-retirement.html) developed a great understanding of Ramesh in those years “He was a most aggressive and a dashing batsman. He had a great sense of humour and when he was around, we always had a joyful time. We all had great expectations of him at that time.”

Great Gesture from Venkat

In Sept’76, batting in the middle order he scored a century against Andhra at the Forest College grounds in Coimbatore “When I was going into to bat, Venky asked me to score a hundred and I did it with a big partnership with Jabbar. When I returned to Madras, he presented me with an ‘autograph’ bat. It was a terrific gesture from him and I still cherish it as a great gift from a legend.”

A couple of months later, in December, he scored his third and final Ranji century against a strong Hyderabad attack taking TN quite close in its fourth innings run chase.

Fails in the Biggest Match of his life

These performances earned him a place in the South Zone team to play MCC in January 1977 but he scored a duck in both innings. In that phase, the match against visiting teams was considered as the stepping stone to play for India “It was a big match for me but it turned out to be a bad one. Lever (the series is known for his Vaseline incident) was swinging big. I was on the threshold of the selection into the Indian team but was overlooked after this failure. In the first innings, I edged the ball on to my pad and it trickled on to the stumps. They judged me just on this one match!!!”

For about three years, he had on a cricketing high - Century on Ranji debut followed by two more centuries and playing in the Duleep and Deodhar trophy tournaments. But after the twin failures against MCC and two lean years in Ranji cricket, he was dropped from the TN team for the 79-80 season. Ramesh was vocal in those days and went up to the selector Balu Alaganan to enquire the reason “I was told that I did not make runs in the first division league!!!”

A Ranji Revival as a new ball bowler

He came back the next season only to be dropped again after a duck against Hyderabad in the season opener. And then late in January 1981, he says he received a surprise call from Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) on the morning of the Ranji match against Karnataka asking him to come to Chepauk immediately “TA Sekar had injured his ankle and Venky asked me to bowl with the new ball. I picked up 5 wickets and scored a rapid half century batting in the middle order. This comeback gave me a lot of satisfaction and my hopes were once again revived.”

In the quarter final against Haryana, the next month, he scored 60 but his twin failure in the semi-final against Bombay signalled the end of his Ranji career and he was never to play for TN again. 

Ramesh was great fun and had some lovely times together

SPIC was promoted to the first division after he joined in 1981. He went on a hiring spree roping in V Sivaramakrishnan, TA Sekar and S Vasudevan among others. The team went on to win the first division and The Hindu trophies under his reign as captain.  In the mid 80s, he convinced AC Muthiah to send the triumphant team to the UK on a cricket tour. Shiv met his opening partner recently at the 1970s players get together organised by SM Krishna Kumar at MCC and the two recollected some wonderful memories from their playing days.

He says that Ramesh was a stylish left hander with immense talent. “Our first stint together as an opening pair was with Alwarpet. He was a hard striker of the ball and I really enjoyed partnering him. He was also a very useful medium pace bowler. His debut century against Karnataka consisting of Chandra,Pras and Vijayakrishna was a brilliant one. Off the field he was great fun and we had some lovely times together.”

TN middle order batsman from the 1980s and the current Head of the TNCA Academy PC Prakash (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/pc-prakash-tn-ranji-1980s.html?m=1) played for Alwarpet and SPIC alongside Ramesh. He says that Ramesh made batting look easy. “He was stylish and a gifted cricketer and had so much time to play  his shots.”

Technically Sound - did not seem to have any weaknesses while batting

Former India fast bowler TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-architect-behind-worlds-best.html) played for five years at SPIC in the 1980s under Ramesh. He is particularly disappointed that Ramesh did not fulfil his potential “Among the three, Kicha was defensive and did not play rash shots. V Shiv was sedate and good against spinners. Ramesh was stylish, versatile and had great eye hand co-ordination. He was technically sound and did not seem to have any weaknesses. He never flinched against the fast bowlers opening on matting wickets and not once did he get hit. Very quickly, he earned the respect of the opposition. He could suddenly change gears and move into an ultra-aggressive mode. He hit sixers with such ease that it was a treat to watch him bat. His class came to the fore when he played Prasanna and Chandra with such ease. After his century on debut in Ranji, I thought he would go all the way but he disappointed me. Coming from a cricketing family, he had all the facilities. He was easy going and may not have worked hard enough.”

“In the 1970s, the standards were high and competition was stiff. I felt Ramesh gave up his national aspirations far too quickly for my liking.”

A Bowler's Captain

At SPIC, Sekar says Ramesh showed his captaincy mettle “He was a bowler’s captain and was quite demanding of me and KAK (K Arun Kumar). He would needle me in an act of motivation to get me to do better. He himself was quite good at the club level and bowled sharp bouncers and cutters.”

Sixers land up at the Presidency College

IOB’s Rocko’ Sundar was at the receiving end of some of Ramesh’s power hitting “He once hit IOB’s Dayakar off successive balls on to the Presidency College batting for TVS in The Hindu Trophy final when he scored a rapid 75.”

Sense of Humour high like his towering sixers

S Srinivasan, who played Ranji cricket for Bombay and Madras, is now the selector of the TN Ranji team. He too was roped in by Ramesh at SPIC. He says that Ramesh was one of the most technically equipped hard hitting batsman of his time. “He made batting look so simple. His sense of humour was always like his towering SIXERS. There was never a dull moment when he was around.”

Vasudevan succeeded Ramesh as captain at SPIC after having played under him through the first half of the 80s. He says that Ramesh was a great motivator and got the best out of his players. “If he had worked hard, he may have played higher levels of cricket. Unfortunately, his glory was short lived after the highs of a debut century in Ranji.”

TTS too says that it is a pity that he didn't go on to bigger things.

VV belonged to a different space, admired Kalli for his guts

Ramesh counts Bishen Bedi as one of the best spinners he faced. “At the Kotla, I wanted to sweep Bedi and ended up playing a defensive shot outside the off stump. That was testimony to his greatness.”

But like many others of his generation, for Ramesh too VV Kumar was the best “VV belonged to a different space and simply mesmerized batsmen.”

In the 1970s, he says he had great admiration for B. Kalyanasundaram “After just a few overs, Kalli  would be taken off from the attack and despatched to long leg but he rarely showed any dejection. When Venky threw the ball at him late in the innings, he gave him crucial breakthroughs with the old ball. As a fast bowler, you needed a lot of guts to shine in that phase dominated by spinners and Kalli had that in abundance.”

He is delighted with the revival of Buchi Babu tourney that was once upon a time the stepping stone to a budding cricketer in Madras. He was in Coimbatore last year for the finals. He was also recognised by the TNCA during the TNPL for his contribution to TN cricket.

Hitting out at Chandra remains in my everlasting memory

He says he harboured great hopes between 1974 and 77 to play for India but the failure against MCC (England) was a big setback and in the years that followed ‘I lost that aspiration to play at the next level’. Looking back at that phase, he says he could have been given more chances in the Deodhar trophy given his aggressive instincts. 

For this handsome man, not getting right to the top in cricket was a disappointment but he says that the century on debut in Ranji and stepping out to Chandra and hitting him with ease that day will remain in his everlasting memory as will the childhood days of playing marbles, gilli thanda and climbing teak trees to fly kites at the Luz House with 'great friend' M Sundar.”

Srirangam Namperumal Maasi Garuda Sevai 2024

Close to 30 stopovers mark the five-hour morning procession from the Ranganatha Swamy temple to the Thathachariar Thoppu West of Srirangam

Namperumal provides darshan atop Garuda in the evening as he makes his way around the Uthira Veethis

It is just after 11.30am on Thursday (Feb 15) morning and Thathachariar Nandakumar (husband of renowned writer Prema Nandakumar), a long-time resident of South Chitrai Street, is delighted with the presence of Namperumal at his huge Thoppu west of Srirangam.  

The entire area beyond Thiruvadi street was full of mango and coconut trees running into several hundreds. Till the end of the previous century, there were just a few donors for this procession from the Ranganathaswamy temple to the Thathachariar Thoppu. Namperumal, the utsava deity, made his way on a morning procession on this fourth day of the Maasi Theppotsavam in two hours with very minimal stops.

Nandakumar told this writer on Thursday that it was his grandfather, MS Raghunath, who  gave  a piece of this huge grove to the Municipality a century ago for them to create a path for Namperumal to make his way through the coconut and mango trees to the Kasukkadai Chettiar Asthana Mandapam inside the Thathachariar Thoppu. Hence when Namperumal makes his way to this location on the fourth day of the Theppotsavam in Maasi, it is a moment for Nandakumar’s family to reminisce about the glorious days from the past. 

Till four decades ago, there were hardly any mandagapadis on this morning trip on a palanquin but with the development of huge apartments west of Srirangam, the stopovers of Namperumal have increased manifold.

Starting at 6.30am on Thursday, as has been the historical practice during the Thai and Maasi utsavams, Namperumal made his way around the four Uthira Streets before heading towards the Thathachariar Thoppu via the towering Raja Gopuram in the South.

Donors in Large Numbers

Till the 1980s, there were neither apartments on this stretch nor large number of donors for these stopovers. But on this morning, Namperumal went to almost each of the large apartments in Raghavendrapuram and then on the Moolai Thoppu street. It was a challenging time for the large contingent of Sripatham personnel including the Vethal team for they had to shoulder Namperumal for five hours without a break. At each of these apartments, that have come up over the last decade or two, huge number of devotees had darshan of Namperumal presenting fruits and vegetables. 

From couple of mandagapadis to almost 30 now

The manifold increase in the mandagapadis meant that Maniam Sridharan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/srirangam-temple-time-keeper.html) had a list in his hand with details of each of the stopovers on this morning. From a two-hour procession, this has now expanded to five hours and from a couple of mandagapadis, today there are close to 30 stops from the temple to Thathachariar Thoppu.At each mandagapadi, Thaligai from the temple madapalli was presented to Namperumal. He recalls the days from his teenage years when it was a pretty quick procession on the fourth morning of this utsavam “There were no mandagapadis like now in those decades. I myself have carried Thaligai from the Madapalli to the Thoppu and was paid Rs. 5 as Sambhavanai for my service four decades ago.”

The Thoppu Owner arrives

It is just after 3pm and Nandakumar makes his way to the Kasukkadai Chettiar mandapam in the middle of his Thoppu along with his Scientist son Raja (who has been a Scientist in the UK for 15 years) and his relatives for the Ubayadarar darshan and mariyathai. Through the afternoon, scores of devotees from Srirangam made their way to the mandapam to have a once in a year darshan at this thoppu. 

The Silver Garuda Vahana arrives at the Thoppu just before 4pm. While the archakas are decorating Namperumal and Garuda at the mandapam, police personnel gathered in good numbers at the entrance gate. There is not a space for anyone to move around the Kasukkadai Chettiar Mandapam as devotees wait eagerly to find out the colour of the attire of Namperumal and Garuda on this special Maasi evening in Srirangam. Prolific temple writer Prema Nandakumar has had health challenges in recent times but for decades she has always made  her way to this Thoppu for a darshan of Namperumal atop the Silver Garuda Vahana. 

Maasi Velli Garuda Sevai 

Even as the screen opens, video cameras and phone cameras raise for a first shot of the Garuda Sevai of Namperumal. Through the evening, the clicks continue unabated. There are discussions among the devotees of the blue vastram that Garuda is sporting on the evening and the jewels of Namperumal and his decoration. Even as the Sun is setting in the west, Namperumal makes his way out of the Thathachariar Thoppu on to the Moolai Thoppu Veethi that now houses the Srirangam Munsif Court and the office of the Electricity Board. Devotees continued to swarm in large numbers on this street.

It is 7.30pm when Namperumal makes his way on to the South Uthira Street for the Prabhandham Ghosti Thodakkam of Naangam Thiruvanthathi. The Uthira streets are jam packed on the eve of Ratha Sapthami as hundreds of devotees continue to have darshan of Namperumal on Velli Garudan. The Prabhandham Ghosti lead the procession around the Uthira Streets while a few devotees walk along with the Nagaswaram troupe enjoying their traditional presentation. 

It is the one big evening ahead of the Maasi Theppam when devotees throng all along on this three hour evening procession from Thathachariar Thoppu to the Vahana Mandapam inside the Ranganathaswamy temple. A good number of devotees stay back for the pallakku procession to the Gayathri Mandapam and the Padi Etra Sevai just after 9.30pm. There is a certain delight in the faces of the devotees after having had darshan of Namperumal atop the Garuda Vahana and they head back home discussing the attire of Namperumal, the special steps of the Sri Patham, who did a commendable job through the 8 hour processions (5hours in the morning and 3hours in the evening) and also wondering as to how mangoes would turn up this summer at the Thathachariar Thoppu with very little rain in Srirangam in 2023.

Theppam will take place on Monday (Feb 19) evening. 

Abdul Jabbar TN Middle Order Batsman

From Fateh Maidan to Chepauk as a teenager – The Man for a Crisis and the Backbone of the TN Middle Order
Jabbar was associated with cricket for 55 years and counts his ‘Durability’ as his greatest achievement

From the time he began playing Gulli cricket very near the Fateh Maiden, Abdul Jabbar Khan decided that cricket would be his way of life. Impressed with his gutsy approach and the confidence to take on senior bowlers in challenging conditions, Man Singh (later the manager of the World Cup winning Indian team) took a special liking for the young boy and presented him with opportunities and exposure to quality cricket. Into his mid-teens, he had played for South Zone schools. At a time when he was looking to continue to play in Hyderabad, he was offered a job at SBI Madras by the legendary leg spinner VV Kumar. It was a transformational move to Madras one that saw him anchor the TN middle order for 15 years. To all in TN cricket, he was 'Mr. Consistent'. Later, he was a guiding force for youngsters at Jolly Rovers and coached them for a decade and a half. But for all his monumental achievements he remained humble and behind the radar far away from the limelight. After almost a decade of persuasion, Abdul Jabbar, now 72, finally agreed to meet this writer at his palacious farm house in Moinabad in the western outskirts of Hyderabad where he is now settled. Here’s the story.

The early cricketing years – Grateful to Man Singh

Growing up in the heart of Hyderabad, cricket came naturally to Abdul Jabbar. When he began playing street cricket in Saifabad (next to Ravindra Bharathi) alongside boys who were many years his senior, he surprised them with his intensity. He showed fighting qualities right then remaining unfazed and taking on, boldy, these senior bowlers who tried to knock the young boy down. Turning out for Aliya School, the then puny looking left hander played many a match winning knock for the school that earned him the respect of the opposition bowlers.  It was this fighting spirit that impressed Man Singh the most.

Sitting amidst the greenery at the corner of his huge garden on a chilly morning in February, Jabbar told this writer that he is ever indebted to Man Singh for the way he handled him as a teenager “Every youngster needs a mentor like Man Singh. He spotted the potential in me very early on after watching me bat against senior bowlers and felt that I had it in me to make it big. He was instrumental in giving the early exposure that every youngster yearns for. While I was still playing for my school team in the second division league, he included me in the senior Deccan Blues team and gave me opportunities in non-league tournaments where I got to play alongside and against the greats of Hyderabad cricket. I am ever grateful to him for helping with a solid cricketing foundation. It was the opportunities that he provided that helped me showcase my abilities in those early years.”

Batting 'left' came naturally to him though he did everything else right handed!!!

 

By the time he was into his mid-teens, Jabbar had played for Hyderabad and South Zone schools.  His entire focus had turned to cricket and his mind was far away from academics. He skipped classes to go and watch cricket matches at the stadium and it was this experience that helped him understand the nuances and subtleties. He counts that among as great early lessons in cricket “I was still a young boy watching matches at the Fateh Maidan. There were those who believed that they should have played in those matches but were dropped and expressed frustration.  At important moments, catches were dropped much to the bowler’s disappointment. Umpiring decisions went against the batsmen and they showed anger. I realised very early on that a lot of things in cricket was outside one’s control and that one had to simply focus on giving his best. And that’s what I did throughout my entire career. When given a chance, I wanted to give my best. When dropped, I went back to the nets and practiced hard to prove myself again. That philosophy stood with me all through my playing career.”

He played for the Osmania University in the first year of his College (he did B.Com at Nizam College) and also played for South Zone University but the Telangana Agitation meant that he did not get to play Varsity cricket in the next year.

The Africa tour that turned his fortunes

In 1971, Man Singh took the Hyderabad Blues team to East Africa on a cricket tour. Jabbar remembers the trip as the one that probably secured him the opportunity to play in Madras “We had Belliappa, Milkha Singh and VV Kumar as guest players from Madras. I topped the aggregate on that tour and was involved in many good partnerships with Milkha.”

The SBI offer from legendary VV

Soon after that tour came an unexpected offer end of 1971. Man Singh had taken a special liking for him and so too had ML Jaisimha but this call came from outside Hyderabad from a legendary leggie. “I had not focused on academics at all in my school and college days and had spent the previous decade almost entirely at cricket grounds. The offer from VV Kumar presented me with job security and financial stability that was very much needed at that stage in my life, especially given my academic background. In addition, I was excited to play day in day out alongside greats like VV, Milkha, SVS Mani and R Chandru. And I immediately accepted the offer”, Jabbar told this writer with great delight looking back at that transformational moment in his cricketing life.

At 88, VV Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/07/cricket-tales-exclusive-with-vv-kumar.html) is fighting fit and continues to don the coaching hat to this day. Every week, he is off to Hosur to contribute his bit to try and produce the next generation of leg spinners. He is proud to have been the man responsible for bringing Jabbar to Madras. He told this writer as to what prompted him to get the teenager to move to Madras way back in 1971 "At SBI, we were looking to build a team for the long term, one that could compete strongly in all tournaments in addition to the first division league. I was playing in the Moin ud Dowla tourney and watched Jabbar in action in Hyderabad. His defence was impeccable and he seemed to have a great backfoot play. I thought he could handle the best spinners of that era as well as anyone else and believed that he would go a long way in cricket. I was also confident that he would bring stability to both the SBI and the TN middle order with the technique he possessed at that time. It was against this backdrop that I asked if he could move to Madras and join SBI.”

Jabbar recalls MLJ asking him to stay back as he believed that he would get into the Ranji Squad in Hyderabad the next year but by this time he had already accepted the offer from VV.

The first six months at SBI

In those early days, Jabbar lived in a small room in a lodge in Triplicane along with his close friend Rashid Mirza, with whom he had played right from street cricket. Later, Govindaraj’s brother (who joined IOB) and Shabbir Ali (who joined India Cements) also joined them at the lodge.

His earliest memories is of the bank  advertising the arrival of two young cricketers from Hyderabad “In that initial phase, SBI Madras created a lot of buzz internally about hiring two ‘big’ cricketers (Mirza and Jabbar) from Hyderabad. The Chennai circle created an expectation among the crowd even before I played my first match.”

“I joined SBI in the middle of the cricket season in 1971-72 and  hence was not eligible to play in the first division league as I had already played league cricket in Hyderabad that season. But what I saw in the early 1972 was unbelievable. We beat India Cements to win The Hindu trophy in front of a huge crowd at Marina. The support of the Madras crowd and their knowledge of the game took me by great surprise. I had not seen such crowds earlier and it was a great first of its kind experience. Even as I was playing my first set of matches for SBI, they knew my entire cricketing background and began to engage with me in discussions from the boundary line. I was completely taken aback by their support for me, one that remained right till the end of my career.”

He was also surprised at the way TNCA ran cricket “The structured approach and the systematic processes that the TNCA had put in place for cricket in the city also impressed me a lot in that early phase in Madras. It was very different to what I had seen in Hyderabad, which at that time was only a small association.”

In his very first year in league cricket, Jabbar amassed runs and impressed everyone. In the Buchi Babu tournament, he scored a half century in the semi-final against ACC that included Ramakant Desai, Babu Nadkarni and Karsan Ghavri. He followed this up with another half century in the final against Mafatlal.

“At the prize distribution ceremony, Sriraman complimented my batting and predicted that I would soon make my debut for TN. It was one of my first big cricketing moments in Madras” says Jabbar looking back at that final.

First Glimpses at Chepauk of Jabbar's fighting spirit 

Indeed he got into the TN team soon after. In March 73, he scored a double duck in the Gopalan Trophy match batting at No. 3 but a couple of months later, one had the first glimpses of what Abdul Jabbar was made of. In the high profile semi-final where TN carved out a famous comeback victory against Maharashtra, Jabbar top scored for TN in the first innings when the team was bowled out for 160.                          

The 1973 Ranji Final

10 days later, in April 1973, TN prepared a rank square turner for the final against Bombay at Chepauk, a decision that backfired on them. TN Ranji winning captain S Vasudevan was in his final year at school and watched Jabbar’s gritty performance in the final. He remembers Jabbar’s knocks in both the innings when TN was shot out for 80 and 61 “It was his first year for TN and he was yet to cement his place in the team. Although we lost badly in the final, Jabbar played two brilliant knocks on an almost unplayable turner where Shivalkar spun a web around all the TN batsmen. He emerged as the sole batting warrior top scoring for TN in both the innings and I was very impressed with his determination to not give it away against a top spinner of the time.”

Those two knocks set the tone for Jabbar’s future as a batsman as the man for the crisis and he went on to become a rock in the middle order for TN in the decade and a half that followed.

A Glorious Moment- Sardesai calls on him

At the end of that final, Dilip Sardesai, who played his last match, was accorded a farewell. Jabbar recounts what happened at the TN dressing room soon after “Sardesai came to our dressing room and asked for me. He took me aside, spoke to me for ten minutes and said that having watched me play those two knocks, there would be no stopping me if I continued in the same vein and that I was destined for greater glory”

Jabbar says that it was one of his biggest moments of his cricketing life “For a legend like Sardesai to come and talk to me like that was truly inspirational and it spurred me on cricket.”

He says that his experience at SBI in the midst of legends was all positive. "Bedi, Hanumant Singh and Wadekar were a great source of inspiration and encouraged me all the time. Wadekar asked me to move to Bombay so I could play Ranji cricket for them.”

Jabbar believes that every youngster needs to be spoken to “Talking to newcomers and encouraging and guiding them in their early phase in cricket is a very important aspect in a cricketer’s journey. Most time, the simplest of advices could turn around the fortunes of a budding cricketer."

The Double Hundred - His Best Innings in Ranji cricket

In the last match of the 1975-76 Ranji season, Jabbar played a memorable innings. He counts the double hundred against Prasanna and Chandra as his best innings for TN and the knock is still fresh in his memory “We lost three early wickets before Kicha and I helped stablise the innings with a partnership of close to a 100. But we lost three more quick wickets and were struggling at around 200 for six. It was a great recovery from there and my partnership of close to 150 with Venkat was an ‘enterprising’ one. When my friend from the early Hyderabad days Shabbir Ali walked in at No.11, I was well past 150. In Hyderabad, he had opened the innings in school cricket and I knew he could bat. He stayed with me till I got that magical double century. Never did I dream that I would play such a special knock so early on in my career against the spin greats Chandra and Prasanna. The knock gave me a lot of confidence.”

He says that the expectation among the cricket crazy supporters in Madras did go up and ‘everyone thought that I would get the opportunities to move up to the next level’. 

He began the new Ranji season with two half centuries. He particularly remembers with special pride the partnership he put on with Mukund to help TN recover in the Ranji Quarter Finals against Railways in Delhi “We had lost half the side on the first day for around 50 and were in big trouble. Mukund and I put on a good partnership to help TN to 190. I enjoyed that knock of 45 as I thought it was a very gritty knock fighting with our backs to the wall. And we went on to win the match.”

Overlooked for South Zone against MCC

After his double century and the start to the 1976-77 season, he was hopeful of being picked for South Zone against MCC (the infamous Lever Vaseline series) but was overlooked for this match. Sadly even the zonal chances were to elude him for a long time. He was on a cricketing high at that point of time with some solid performances for TN and not being given an opportunity against a visiting team did sadden him for a short while. But as has been his way of life, he continued to focus on the opportunities he got for TN.

A fighting partnership with KB at his childhood stadium

The Hindu’s K Balaji scored his first and only Ranji hundred batting alongside Abdul Jabbar in Jan’79. TN was once again in trouble chasing Hyderabad’s 218 when Jabbar joined Balaji at 130/4. Lal Bahadur Sastri stadium was one where he had grown up as a school boy and it was close to his heart. He was keen to bat well and batted with great determination. The two put on a partnership of close to 150 to help TN gain the lead. 

Balaji (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html) says that Jabbar was a hard-working cricketer, a team man who gave his 100 per cent whether batting, bowling or fielding (he spent a lot of time fielding at forward short-leg). As a batsman he could hit the ball pretty hard. His fastish off-breaks were a good addition to the team’s bowling resources.

Great contribution in the early 1980s

At the turn of the decade, he made some telling contributions in the knock out Ranji matches. Finally he was given the break and a consistent run in the Duleep Trophy where he performed creditably. Against West Zone in October 1982, he once again fought right till the end with a half century batting at No. 7, with an injured knee, putting on 51 with Sekar for the 10th wicket and taking South Zone close to a first innings lead. A couple of months later, he top scored for TN in the Wills Trophy match against Railways and also bowled his full quota of overs conceding just 29 runs. He would have been a good allrounder in one day cricket but there too the big opportunities eluded him. In the Ranji quarters against Delhi in Feb’83, Jabbar top scored with an unbeaten 87, a knock that he considers as one of his best.

The Big Opportunity - Close and Yet so far

In light of these performances, he was confident of being picked for South Zone against the touring West Indians in October 83. He was past 30 but was going through yet another bright phase in domestic cricket. It looked like his time had finally arrived and he would reap the rewards for his decade long contribution. He says he was looking forward to a good knock after his captain told him that would be playing “A day ahead of the match, Brijesh asked me to get a good helmet as he said that I would be batting at No. 3 against Marshall and Roberts. I searched around with my brother Azeem and finally managed to find one late on the eve of the match. But the next morning, just a few minutes before the toss, Brijesh told me that I was not playing. At that time, I felt I had lost yet another opportunity to showcase myself against a visiting team.”

Forty years later, Jabbar still does not know as to what transpired in those 24 hours for him to be moved from No.3 to out of the playing XI.

Puts back the disappointment, begins new season with a century

There was a bit of a disappointment at another missed opportunity but Jabbar was once again unfazed at not being considered for an important match. This made him even stronger to showcase himself better. He began the new domestic season with another century to get TN out of trouble. In December 1983, within minutes of the start, TN was three down against Karnataka on a chilly morning in Bangalore. R Madhavan scored a century to help TN recover before Jabbar took over with a knock of 148 (sharing a double century partnership with LS). "I was looking forward to playing the West Indian greats but it was not to be. And I reconciled myself to quickly get back to giving my best for TN. This century gave me great satisfaction as it had rained hard in Madras and we had not had any practice leading up to this match" says Jabbar looking back at yet another solid performance against a strong opposition and with his team in trouble.

 A fortnight later, he scored a century in the Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone. He followed this good form into the Ranji quarter final against Delhi, where he scored 88 and 62.

Everyone liked him

Vasudevan(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/vasudevan-tn-ranji-trophy-retirement.html) remembers the two partnerships he had with Jabbar in that match including the big century stand in the first innings helping TN recover from a shaky start. “He was one of the sweetest persons I have come across in my cricketing journey. It was a great joy to bat with him in that match at Chepauk.  Despite his great contribution to TN cricket, he showed great humility. Everyone in TN liked him - not just the players and the administrators but also the crowd. He always batted in a crisis for TN and was the one designated by Venkat to steady the ship.”

He was a Role Model for Youngsters- R Madhavan

At the start of the next season, in Nov’84 once again Madhavan and Jabbar scored centuries - this time against Hyderabad with the two putting on close to a double century stand. Yet another time in his career, Jabbar had helped get TN out of a precarious position (this time the team had lost 3/70 on the first morning).

A month later, he played two brilliant knocks in Salem that reminded one of the two he played against Shivalkar in the Ranji final in 1973 “It was a red soil pitch and turned square. Raghuram Bhat was at his best and almost unplayable. I had great satisfaction scoring 38 and 77 on a pitch where most found it difficult to survive.”

Madhavan recalls the role of Jabbar in his cricketing life “I hold him in very high regard. The influence of Jabbar (and Moses) was very helpful especially in the early Varsity years and when I was on the threshold of first class cricket. He was a constant source of encouragement and available anytime you needed advice in those early years of my cricketing journey. For someone who scored a double hundred against Karnataka, it was sad that he did not get opportunities at the next level. He had absolutely no malice and never showed his disappointment in not having played higher levels. To me, he was a role model - brilliant fielder in addition to tremendous batting and bowling skills and carried himself on and off the field with exceptional behaviour. I feel very fortunate in batting with him on a couple of crucial partnerships.”

Four years in a row from 1980/81, he performed extraordinarily in the knock out Ranji games against Bombay and Delhi. After his consistent performances in these matches, in challenging conditions and now in Duleep Trophy as well, his expectations rose ahead of the selection of the South Zone team to play David Gower’s England in Jan’85. He recalls his thought process at that time “In the previous year, I scored a century in Duleep Trophy and began the new season with a 100 against Hyderabad and played really well in both innings on a square turner against Bhat. But once again I was over looked. Even Venkat felt sorry for me that day when the team was announced.”

Venkat asks him to postpone his retirement

In the final of the Duleep Trophy in Feb’85, it was Jabbar’s knock of 68 that helped South Zone recover from 100/6 in the 2nd innings to a respectable total of 236 to help the team lift the trophy. He also scored close to 500 runs in the Ranji season. And yet at the start of the next season, his name was missing from the South Zone squad. “I thought my time was up and wanted to retire but Venkat convinced me that I still had it in me to contribute to TN cricket and asked me to continue for a couple of years. I could not say NO to Venkat and I nodded."

PC Prakash's Debut season - Jabbar’s gracious gesture

And so he continued. It was in December 1985 that PC Prakash, (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/pc-prakash-tn-ranji-1980s.html) now head of TNCA academy, made his Ranji debut after having waited for a few years. He told this writer at his home in April 2022 as to how grateful he was to Abdul Jabbar for the noble gesture from the veteran in his debut season “I was slated to bat only at No. 6 but it was the gracious gesture of Jabbar that helped me move a slot up and it made a big difference. He sacrificed his slot for me and I am ever grateful to him for that. His decision gave me a lot of confidence and I wanted to prove to him that his sacrifice would not go waste.”

Jabbar says that PC had been in the squad for a few years but had not made his debut. "It had been a frustrating period for him and I was sensitive to the feelings of a young cricketer all excited to make his debut. I volunteered to move to No. 6 so he could have more opportunities to showcase his batting skills and seal a permanent place for himself in the TN team.”

And that Prakash did brilliantly with successive centuries in his debut season. In his very second match, he shared a century partnership with Jabbar in the process also scoring a century.

Jabbar is proud that even in his last Ranji match in Jan'87, he top scored for TN with a half century that helped the team secure an outright win against Andhra after having conceded the first innings lead.

Most Loveable Character on and off the field - Kalli

Jabbar had impressed in his first season for TN when he played two gutsy knocks in that Ranji Final at Chepauk. Fast Bowler B Kalyanasundaram, who picked up a hat-trick in that final, says that Jabbar was a very lovable character both on and off the field. "He was popular with every TN cricketer. I was a witness to his magnificent double hundred at the Chinnaswamy Stadium against Karnataka. He was a reliable middle order bat and served TN with distinction over a long period of time. I would say that TN was very fortunate to have had the services of Jabbar." 

A specialist at short leg

Jabbar had great reflexes even as a youngster and enjoyed fielding at short leg, especially to Venkat, VV and Vasudevan. Right from a young age, he took interest in fielding and taking difficult catches gave him a great deal of joy. However, it was always fraught with danger as there were no shin pads and helmet in those days. He recalls a couple of occasions when he received nasty blows “Against Andhra at Chepauk, a full-fledged sweep hit my forehead and the ball raced to the third man boundary!!! In the Duleep Trophy match, a flick of the first ball of the match thudded on to my right knee. Within minutes, the area from my knee to the upper thigh turned ‘red, blue and purple’. I could not field after the first ball.”

All through his career, he received a number of such blows on his shoulder. The positive out of this was that Venkat liked him a lot “Venky liked those who gave their 100% on the field and he was always appreciative of my courageous efforts at short leg.”

PCP himself fielded for many hours for TN as a 12th man before he finally made his Ranji debut. He says that Jabbar stood for long hours at short leg without ever complaining. "He just enjoyed fielding. He had great reflexes which helped him take some outstanding catches. It gave the bowlers a great deal of confidence when Jabbar was at short leg."

While he says Prasanna, Chandra and Shivalkar were outstanding spinners he faced in Ranji cricket, VV Kumar was ‘simply out of the world’ and bamboozled batsmen with his flight and googlies. "It was just a delight to stand to him at short leg. I genuinely felt that there would  be a nick every ball such was the day he made the batsmen dance" says Jabbar looking back at how he enjoyed the discomfiture of the opposition batsmen facing up to VV.

Jabbar – The Breakthrough Bowler

Even as a teenager playing cricket in Hyderabad, Jabbar had begun to bowl. Once again, it was Man Singh who gave him the first opportunity “In a match in the late 1960s, Deccan Blues had taken the first innings lead and there were just a few hours left. Man Singh gave me the new ball and I surprised him picking up four wickets bowling medium pace.  In the next match against a State Bank side comprising of state players, I once again opened the bowling and picked up six wickets. We won the match much against expectations.”

When he moved to Madras, he continued to bowl alongside R Prabhakar for SBI. In his very first over in Ranji cricket, he picked up a wicket.

At the BS nets, after his batting stint, he began to bowl off spin for 2-3 hours as he did not want to spend time doing nothing. He says Venkat (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) was impressed with his spin and began to use him as an off spinner in Ranji Trophy.

The missed catch and what might have been!!!

In the Ranji semi-final in March 77, Jabbar bagged the prize wicket of Gavaskar though by then the Bombay opener had scored a century. The following season, Mukund captained TN in Venkat’s absence. When he handed the ball to Jabbar against Karnataka, he removed Sudhakar Rao and shortly after Imtiaz Ahmed for zero. He recalls that moment “Vijayakrishna was on zero when he drove me to Moses but he put down the catch. Had that catch been held, I may have gone to pick up five wickets as I was on a roll with the ball that day.”

His Best spell in Ranji cricket

He counts his four wickets against Bombay in the Ranji quarters towards the end of his career in Feb’86 as his most memorable spell for TN “Bombay had a terrific start and had gone well past 150 losing just one wicket. When Bharath Reddy gave me the ball, I got him the breakthrough. I also got the wickets of Sandeep Patil and Manjrekar cheaply. It was my best spell for TN bowling over 40 overs.”

In the first division league, he bagged around 40 wickets with his off spin every season for three consecutive years in the early 80s. But in the year that Bharath Reddy moved from SBI to Chemplast, he did not bowl a single over but Jabbar would not go and ask his new captain even once that year. Such was his gentlemanly conduct.

Am proud I secured his services for TN - VVK

It is now just over 50 years since VV Kumar brought Jabbar from Hyderabad to Madras. He says he is proud that he was instrumental in securing for TN a player of Jabbar’s stature who made a solid contribution  over a long period of time "Over the 15 years that he played for TN, he gave a great bit of confidence to those that batted with him. He would pick the gaps beautifully and rotate the strike. I also thought that Venkat handled him really well. He found Jabbar to be an ideal batsman for the team in the late middle order and saw him as one best suited to handle a crisis situation and guide the other batsmen including the lower half.”

VV thinks that Jabbar was under bowled at the state level "If he had been given more opportunities as a bowler for TN, he would have turned out to be an outstanding allrounder for the state but he was used only as one who could provide us the crucial breakthroughs to break partnerships and then the main bowlers would come back."

A bowler that opposition feared and the most economical TN bowler

Much after his Ranji retirement, Jabbar had two 'enlightening' moments about his bowling. Hyderabad cricketer Vijay Paul revealed to Jabbar a piece of information that he said they had kept secret during his playing days  "In all our team meetings, the message from the captain was not to give our wicket away to Jabbar. All of us felt that you were a dangerous bowler and hence wanted to play you safe."

On another occasion, TN left arm spinner Sunil Subramanian (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/05/sunil-subramanian-tn-left-arm-spinner.html?m=1), who played for Jolly Rovers in the 1990s when Jabbar was the coach, came up to him and revealed to him an info that gave him great delight "I thought that I would be the most economical bowler for TN but I found that its you. Congratulations."

 

Jabbar hits a six with GRV's bat

He had played for 15 years at SBI and it had been a memorable stint for him. Long standing opener of SBI S Kedarnath(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/06/kedarnath-s-opener-from-1970s.html) played with Jabbar for a decade. He recounts a memorable innings that Jabbar played against Nirlons in the semi finals of the Moin ud Dowla tournament in Hyderabad “We were chasing and were five down with over 60 to win. There was persistent drizzle but Gavaskar refused to go back to the pavilion forcing us to play. Off the last ball of the penultimate over, I took a single much to the disgust of the crowd. At the start of the last over, Jabbar asked me to get a single of the first ball which I did. And then much to my shock, he came to me to the non-striker’s end and asked me to hand my bat to him.”

“It was a very special bat that legend GRV had given me. I had never given that to anyone else till that moment. He psyched me saying that if I valued SBI and wanted the bank to win, I should give the bat to him. A win for SBI meant everything to us and I handed him ‘GRV’s bat. He lifted the next ball from Ravi Shastri over deep midwicket clearing Fateh Maidan for a six to help us secure the win."

“Rotating the strike, batting with a clear and positive mindset and with no half measures were my differentiators at the crease” says Jabbar on the way he approached batting. 

A Great Time at SBI but it was time to move on

Jabbar counts winning so many first division titles, Hindu Trophy year on year and the Simpson Trophy for three years as great moments in his playing days for SBI. "The seniors there like VV really took care of the youngsters and encouraged us. There was such camaraderie among the players. We enjoyed each other’s success. We were given a lot of freedom to express ourselves in our cricket and it also put a lot of responsibility in each of us to give our best for the Bank. We understood that we were playing for a prestigious team and jelled as a unit that helped us win so many tournaments in the 1970s and early 80s."

Given his academic background and the fact that he had not worked much at the bank in that phase, he wanted to continue to be engaged with cricket. And when Bharath Reddy offered him a cricketing opportunity at Jolly Rovers he gladly accepted it. He played for them till he was into this 40s and then took on the role of a coach. 

Jabbar played some unforgettable knocks for Jolly Rovers. VB Chandrasekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html), who he considers as one of his favourite cricketers, would ask him to bat just for 7 overs in 30 over matches and the direction was for him to hit out (and get out) after giving the team a good start “In that match against SPIC, I hit out at everything and ended up with 130 much to VB’s delight!!!”

His twin hundreds in the Pasadena finals for Chemplast, years after his Ranji retirement stands testimony to his endurance.

His big influence - I was a decent version of Jabbar!!!

S Sharath (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/sharath-s-tn-crickets-atg.html), who played over a 100 Ranji matches for TN, joined Chemplast in the early 1990s at a time when Jabbar began coaching the team. He says that Jabbar was a big influence on his batting “He was at the fag end of his playing days when I joined Jolly Rovers. But even at that time, he looked a different breed and gave us glimpses of both his gutsy side as well as his strong stroke-play. His temperament was at a different level both as a batsman and a coach. I was fortunate to have learned batting from him in those early years at Chemplast. It was Jabbar who was instrumental in shaping my batting. He taught me many things about playing spin and very minute technical aspects about batting." 

"He was a big player but always maintained low profile. He was humility personified. He generated positivity among the players. He was one of the biggest inspirations for me as a cricketer. I can say with a great deal of pride that in later years I turned out to be a decent version of him as a middle order batsman for TN."

His brother - Vocal, Blunt and on your face

While Abdul Jabbar was the silent, non complaining, take it in your stride cricketer in Tamil Nadu, his brother, Abdul Azeem, younger to him by 9 years, was completely the opposite. He was vocal, blunt and on your face. Like Jabbar, Azeem too played a decade and a half of first class cricket. He was a dashing opener who had all the strokes. Of course, he once scored a patient triple hundred against TN. When his elder brother asked him the reason, he said 'he was running temparature that day'.

He too was on the verge of zonal selection. On occasions when dogged openers from another state got picked for the Zone in one day tournaments to which he was most suited, he threatened to take it up with the authorities. Jabbar was the calming influence on his brother and every time Azeem boiled with anger at non selection, it was the elder brother who quietened with the same philosophy that he followed in his own cricketing life.

All his life, Jabbar was very close to Azeem "We discussed cricket for hours together. At his peak, he would often say that I was soft and one had to take genuine issues with the authorities. He gave the impression that he did not agree with my views but inside him he listened to what I said and usually calmed down after expressing his anger."

He is saddened that Azeem did not get the chances at the higher level he may have deserved with the runs that he amassed. Also, the demise, last April, of his brother was a big blow to Jabbar. Like another dashing opener, KR Rajagopal(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/03/kr-rajagopal-dashing-opener-brilliant.html), Abdul Azeem too was on dialysis in the last phase of his life.

No Life outside of Cricket- His wife's new terms and conditions

Right from his childhood he knew nothing other than cricket. After he had moved to Madras, he spent almost his entire time at the nets or matches. If he was not at one of these, he would be discussing cricket for hours together with his team mates much to his wife’s frustration. It was Arifa who managed the household and brought up the children all on her own with Jabbar away at one ground or the other all through his life!! Jabbar credits his wife, who holds a Masters Degree, for taking the entire responsibility and allowing for smooth sailing at home when his mind was solely on cricket.

Arifa told this writer she knew what she was getting into when she married a cricketer like him. He is now into his 70s but she finds him no different even now. And that led her, recently, to lay down a stringent and a bit of an absurd condition. Jabbar let out a big laugh when she shared the details of the new terms and conditions to this writer “When we go to a bank, he has to stay outside and not enter the bank till I complete my work. In the past, when I went out with him, all the staffers and even customers would engage in long cricketing conversations with him for he was that passionate about cricket. The only solution I had was to keep him away at the entrance so I could first finish my work before he entered the bank. This model is now working well for me!!! When he gets into a phone call, it goes on endlessly for hours and hours and he forgets everyone around him - such is his passion for cricket.”

Vasudevan is of the same view "Whenever I am to talk to Jabbar (even on phone), I tell my wife that I will be away for a few hours. He is so passionate about the game and his life has all been about cricket, that when he gets talking, it turns out to be like his playing days - He simply becomes unstoppable."

A Satisfying five decades in cricket

Jabbar looks back with great satisfaction at his TN comebacks “I was dropped thrice in my Ranji career. My early lessons during my school days directed me to go back to the nets and the local matches to prove myself to make my way back into the team. The comebacks gave me a lot of satisfaction and made me stronger, mentally.”

Another aspect that gave him a great bit of happiness was scoring runs in challenging conditions and against strong oppositions. He always made runs against teams like Karnataka, Bombay and Delhi that possessed high quality spinners. He puts his success against these teams to greater concentration levels in those matches “I focused a lot more against the top teams as even one small lapse in concentration could have costed my wicket. It was very satisfying to have got runs against all the top ranked opposition in very challenging conditions and against top spinners of the time.”

At least thrice, those around him and the cricket loving people of Chennai felt that he was on the verge of a call up to play against visiting sides but the big opportunity always seemed to elude him.

Almost close to four decades after he retired from Ranji cricket, Jabbar has no regrets or ill feelings about not playing higher levels and remains philosophical about his cricketing career “Very early on, in my teenage days, I realised that selection was not in my hands. My job was to score runs and contribute to the team. Right till the end of my playing days that is what I focused on and did not worry about the selection. And I take pride in the fact that I scored runs for TN even in my very last innings.”

He counts his durability in the game as his biggest achievement in cricket. "I played Ranji cricket for 15 years, coached Jolly Rovers for 15 years and also ran a coaching academy for several years at CLRI. In my last engagement, I was coaching Pondicherry. From 1965 to 2019, I was involved with top notch cricket without a break of a single year and the longevity of my cricket association gave me a great deal of satisfaction.”

It was finally left to the Global Pandemic to put an end to his five and a half decade association with cricket. His undying passion for the game may get him back though. There have been offers in the recent past which he has not taken up. But don't be surprised if sometime in the near future Jabbar gets into some modern tools and techniques such as video analysis and the like for you cannot keep this TN cricketing legend out of the game for too long.