Srinivasan S Vimal Khumar TNPL Marketing Campaign

Is this the way forward in Cricket and for Cricketers - Former Ranji Cricketer campaigns for a teenager with the Coach and TV Commentators just ahead of a match!!!

S Srinivasan says his Two Day Campaign for Vimal Khumar helped him get a place in the Knock Out Semi Final in the TNPL

Former Ranji Cricketer S Srinivasan has always been an extrovert and with a stylish English accent. He has also been vocal in his communication. He played Ranji Trophy cricket for Bombay in the late 1970s and later for Tamil Nadu in the 1980s including scoring a century along with NP Madhavan in the knock out match against UP. He was a product of YSCA Gurumurthy's team having played a lot of his early cricket at the Somasundaram ground in T. Nagar alongside S Kedarnath (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/06/kedarnath-s-opener-from-1970s.html) and TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-architect-behind-worlds-best.html).  He played for SPIC in the first division in the 1980s. Later in the 1990s, he was a coach at the VB Cricket Academy soon after it was launched.

A First time in TN Cricket -A Promotional Campaign just ahead of a match

This week in August, Srinivasan went on an aggressive and an almost unheard of two day marketing campaign for his mentee Vimal Khumar pitching for a place for him in the XI for the knock out Semi Final in the TNPL on Friday evening. Vimal Khumar had not played in any of the matches in the league phase in this year's TNPL but Srinivasan felt that in such a long tournament, a young cricketer who had performed creditably at age group level deserved at least one opportunity in the TNPL.

Srinivasan had earlier set up a meeting for Vimal Khumar with Alvin Kallicharan during his previous trip to Madras for Vimal to learn the batting tips from the former West Indian batting legend.

A Direct Pitch with Dindigul's Coach

Srinivasan wrote a direct message to Dindigul Dragons’ coach S Badrinath suggesting the inclusion of Vimal Khumar. In his communication to Badri, he asked him to consider left hander Vimal to open alongside another left hander Hari Nishanth (right hander Lokeshwar had been opening through the league phase of the tournament) in the knock out match against Chennai Super Gillies on Friday. 

Srinivasan told Badri that as a fielder, Vimal Khumar could save 25+ runs on the field!!!!

He wrote to Badrinath that he had been advising the youngster the value of 100s & 200s for a long time & that Vimal had come close by scoring some 180 runs plus in a match. 

He told Badri that this was his earnest thought and that if he & the Captain of Dindigul Dragons were also thinking on the same lines, it would be icing on the cake!!!

Pitches with the TV commentators ahead of the match

Interestingly, Srinivasan did not restrict his marketing campaign just with the coach of Dindigul Dragons. He also wrote individual messages to the TV Commentators Naani, S Ramesh and Pattabhi. Srinivasan told Naani that he has been guiding Vimal Khumar and that he deserved a chance in the knock out match against Chennai Super Gillies on Friday. Srinivasan told Ramesh he was doing similar to what they do in Bombay for whatever it is worth at an appropriate time . He told Ramesh he had done a similar act when Sai Sudharshan was not picked in the State Junior side despite big scores and that he had pitched with the selector to consider him on the basis of his runs.

Srinivasan told Pattabhi that he thought it was the right time to name drop like Bombay "I am doing this name dropping like they do in Bombay backed by previous good performances in some junior State level games." 

Interestingly, Srinivasan also sent media reports of Vimal's earlier knocks for TN in the age group tournaments as well as videos of his batting that impressed one of the commentators who told Srinivasan that Vimal looked every bit of a top batsman in the making and that since Chennai Super Gillies had 3 left arm spinners it would be nice if Vimal played the match on Friday evening. The commentator also told Srinivasan that he would mention the credentials of Vimal (in the commentary) if he played the match!!!!

Srinivasan happy at his successful marketing campaign

The moment Vimal was picked on Friday evening after having been continuously dropped for seven matches in the league phase of the tournament, Srinivasan told this writer  "I am happy that my two days campaign for Vimal Khumar to play this knock out game has come true."

Story below written in January 2019

https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/01/vimal-khumar-tn-cricketer.html

Nachimuthu Textiles Srirangam Mylapore Foray

From Bhoologa Vaikuntam Divya Desam to Paadal Petra Sthalam 

Fourth Generation Enterpreneur brings the Srirangam renowned Seven Decades old Textiles Showroom  into Mylapore

P Nachimuthu was a quiet weaver in the Elavanur Village near Karur.  As a young man just out of his teens, he would make a trip in the 1930s to the larger towns in TN with his woven products especially Towels. Over the years, he found that the acceptance for his products to be the highest in the sacred temple town of Srirangam(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/09/108-divya-desams-srirangam-lord.html). 

And thus he moved in with his family to the North corner of West Adayavalanjan Street and began weaving towels and 9x5 veshti from his home in Srirangam. From here, he would make monthly trips to the Godown Street in North Madras to supply to the wholesale market in Parrys.

P Nachimuthu

Just around 70years ago, Nachimuthu moved into retail setting up a textiles showroom in South Gate opposite the Ranga Ranga Gopuram in Srirangam. In the second half of the 1950s, Nachimuthu stood in the local election and was elected Unopposed as the Counsellor in 1959 and then the Vice Chairman of Srirangam Muncipality in 1962.     

His son Rangaswamy too joined him in the business that began selling veshtis, sarees and towels to the residents of Srirangam. Over the last seven decades, the showroom has been operating from the few hundreds square feet shop on South Gate (Therku Vaasal) Srirangam  next to another popular shop - Venkatesa Bhavan ( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/12/srirangam-venkatesa-bhavan.html) and built a strong and loyal customer base. In Srirangam, Nachimuthu and son created a niche brand that offered high quality handloom at competitive prices. Into the 1980s, Rangaswamy's son Dhanampal joined the business but they continue to operate out of the first and only showroom in Srirangam for several decades. Nachimuthu textiles also set up their own production plant in Salem. 

                                N Rangaswamy

Rangaswamy's grandson Vikash accompanied Nachimuthu to the shop as a young Srirangam School boy. Even at that young age, he watched his great grandfather and his grandfather in action and learnt the nuances of the trade from them. In 2002, Nachimuthu passed away at the age of 94.

Readymade Showroom in Srirangam - 2015

After completion of a Visual Communication course, Vikash in his early 20s, led the first big expansion of Nachimuthu Showroom in Srirangam by opening up a readymade garment store on  the same South Gate street in Srirangam in the middle of last decade and had been managing and running that for the last six years. Rangaswamy passed away five years ago.

Just ahead of the lockdown, this fourth generation entrepreneur took the call to make Nachimuthu Textiles' biggest foray "My great grandfather and grandfather always wanted to set up a showroom in Madras but they did not do that in their lifetime." 

In the last decade or two, the next gen of most of the original inhabitants of Srirangam have moved to Madras into the IT space and with them moved their parents as well to the metro. The push to open a showroom in Madras came from these long standing customers of Nachimuthu Textiles in Srirangam who had now settled now in Madras "I found that there was a good demand in Madras from the original  customers of Srirangam and hence we finally decided to set up a shop in Madras."

They explored opportunities between Nanganllur and Mylapore and freezed on South Mada Street a couple of hundred yards from the Kapaleeswarar temple.

Vikash says that the orders have been enouraging within the first fortnight of the launch in Mylapore. "Already during Aadi, we have had long standing customers who were originally from Srirangam placing large orders. We also catered this week to a couple of bulk orders."

Fourth Gen - Bold and Enterprising

Vikash is just 29 but he has taken this bold and enterprising step of making a foray into the city of a household brand in Srirangam. He remembers a piece of advise from his grandfather "Even if the margin is small never reduce the quality of the handloom. That is how this brand was created and that I see as my greatest blessing - to take forward and protect a brand that has stood the test of time over seven decades."

While there is stiff competition with several textile showrooms around the Mada Streets in Mylapore, Vikash is confident that the quality of his products and the price competitiveness will hand the customers in Madras in the long run. They continue to produce products from their production base in Salem. Nachimuthu Textiles sells all types of Veshtis and Sarees including cotton and silk and especially those relating to Weddings and auspicious occasions. 

For several decades, they have been regular suppliers of Vastrams to the Ranganathaswamy Temple as well as to many other Divya Desams in Tamil Nadu.  And now they hope that the vastrams from this showroom on South Mada Street will find its way into the Kapaleeswarar temple to be draped on the Swamy and Ambal.

This section will check the progress made by Srirangam's Nachimuthu Showroom in Mylapore.

Kapali Temple Heritage Zone ASI Satyamurthi

New Modern Construction and Complexes around Kapali Temple will result in permanent and long term damage to the Heritage Zone - Former ASI archeologist T Satyamurthi

If you have to demolish dilapidated buildings, do so but in its place build only Traditional Styled small houses taking into account heritage value and not Multi Storied buildings

Last week this section had featured a story on the grievances expressed by the residents of the Kapaleeswarar Temple zone on the proposed large scale demolition of buildings around the temple and the plan of Temple Activist, TR Ramesh, President, Temple Worshippers Society (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/07/kapali-temple-surrounds-large-scale.html).

This story takes a look at the suggestions made by retired ASI archeologist T Satyamurthi who has been involved in the preservation of temples across the state. He has clear views on what should be done around the heritage zone in Mylapore in light of the new plans announced by the HR & CE recently.

Preserve the Heritage Zone, Don't Construct Complexes

Having worked for long on aspects relating to preservation of temple zones, he says that the rich heritage zone around the Sri Kapaleeswarar temple has to be preserved “The space around Kapaleeswarar temple has got a sacred atmosphere of its own. I would say that there is no need for a demolition. However, if some of the old buildings around the temple are in a dilapidated state and are outdated and if they have to be necessarily brought down, they can demolish the buildings taking the safety aspects into account after recording the current state of each of these buildings but the temple should not construct complexes in that space.” 

Satyamurthi cites the example of action taken in Tirupathi Divya Desam just around a decade ago “When the then CM directed the demolition of buildings around the temple, they ensured that new constructions did not come and kept it open. They provided accommodation to the staff in another place.  In the same way, they could provide alternative accommodation to temple staff in the Mylapore area.”

Also, he wonders as to why the temple authorities did not plan the accomodation for staff in the past especially when they spent so much money on the construction of the Kalyana Mandapam on Greenways Road "During that phase, they could have made arrangements to provide accommodation to the staffers. Even now, given the amount of lands they own in and around Mylapore, they can easily provide accomodation to the staff."

Build only Traditional styled houses for quarters

Specifically on the proposed plan to demolish the entire set of houses on Kumara Gurunathan street, Satyamurthi said that only traditional styled houses should be built and not modern buildings and complexes. "My view is that if the demolition does take place because some of the buildings are very old and in dilapidated condition, they should keep the place open so that devotees can have a better view of the temple as they walk around the zone. If homes are to be provided to the current staffers, they can  build traditional styled small row houses. Construction of multi storied buildings around the temple will result in loss of aesthetics and go against the principles of preservation of historical temples."

Short Sighted Approach

He also said that usually such demolition and construction of new complexes is short sighted in nature and approach. Given that the Kapaleesawarar temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam and several centuries old, one has to take the rich history of the temple into account as well as the next hundreds of years before taking a decision relating to new constructions and complexes. A new and modern construction could result in permanent long term damage to this heritage zone though there may be some short term benefits such as car parking.

Only Restoration, No new Modern Tiled Construction

As one who has worked for long on preservation of temples in Tamil Nadu and been involved in these processes, I would say that if they are interested in the preservation of architecture and the aesthetics of this zone, the area should be restored to open zones without encroachments. Only restoration can place in such sacred zone and not large scale modern construction.

Temple Tourism aspects

Even from a temple tourism point of view, modern complexes and multi storied buildings around the temple will take away the aesthetic beauty of this sacred zone. Preserving the heritage value of the temple surroundings actually contributes to improvement in devotion. In the long run, new big constructions and complexes will result in a big distraction for the devotees, he said.

KR Rajagopal TN Batting Legend Felicitated

TNPL and CSK felicitate four cricket stars from the 1960s and the 'aasthana' groundsman at Chepauk

Rajagopal bursts into tears on meeting N Srinivasan near the Chepauk Pavilion

"If I had been in the BCCI in 1967, you would have been on that flight to Australia" - NS tells KR Rajagopal at Chepauk on Tuesday evening

81 year old KR Rajagopal the TN batting legend from the late 1960s walked into the TNCA after over four decades on Tuesday evening, this time on a wheel chair for a simple felicitation ceremony in front of the Pavilion at Chepauk. In March this year, when this writer met him at his home in Banashankari, he was an unrecognizable frail figure from his hey days in cricket but with the personal care taker who has been with him for the last four months, he has made a dramatic improvement, so much so that he was able to make this trip earlier today from Bangalore along with the care taker.

Just after 4pm, he was welcomed on to the first floor at Chepauk by Hony Secretary RS Ramaswamy who recalled the days of Rajagopal’s belligerent batting. Soon after, Rajagopal was joined in the room by mates from the 1960s SVS Mani(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/svs-mani-cricketer-selector-coach.html) and batting maverick R Prabhakar in TNCA President's room.

The three recalled many a match played at Chepauk and Marina in the 1960s. Prabhakar raised a cheer in the room when he spoke about Rajagopal stepping out to new ball bowlers and struck them with carefree ease. They shared as to how they went to bat without thigh pad, torn gloves and helmetless. The most talked topic of the evening was about how Prabhakar would have walked into any T20 team of today and become a star of the shorter form of the game. Prabhakar said that they learnt the right way to get behind the ball and play the hook and the  pull.

Rajagopal bursts into Tears

At 4.30pm, former TNCA President N Srinivasan arrived and there was KR Rajagopal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/03/kr-rajagopal-dashing-opener-brilliant.html) waiting for him in his wheel chair. As soon as he met NS, he burst into tears recalling the significant life changing contribution made by India Cements in his life, both in cricket and at work and the glorious decade he had in cricket with India Cements and at the factory in Thalaiyathu, Tirunelveli. Following a big long hug, even as the two sat just outside the boundary line at Chepauk, NS reminded Rajagopal of how he would delight fans ( himself included) tearing into the opposition attack right from the first over. 

You would have been on the Australia flight had I been in the BCCI

In the conversation, NS told Rajagopal that had he been in the BCCI in 1967, he would have ensured that Rajagopal boarded the flight to Australia after the prolific and almost unparalled ( at that time) start he had had to that domestic season in India ( Rajagopal scored over 800 runs that season) “Unfortunately I was not in the BCCI then” NS told Rajagopal almost apologetically. On pure cricketing merit, he should have made that trip to Australia, NS said.

Soon after, they were joined by the limping groundsman K Parthsarathy, son of KS Kannan. NS’s first question to Parthasarathy was about the physical challenges he was facing currently. While Rajagopal moved on Wheel Chair, Parthasarathy could barely move with the walking stick.

Bury him @ Chepauk

Parthasarathy’s wife told NS that her husband was to have been with the physio this evening and cancelled that visit only to be at Chepauk. She told NS that her husband  has spoken only about  Chepauk and its pitch all his life and he knew nothing other than Chepauk. She said if he had one final wish in life, it was to be buried in Chepauk, such was his lifelong emotional attachment with Chepauk. 

Rajagopal recalled his great association with KS Kannan who he said was one of the greatest swing bowlers he had seen “he would make the ball talk especially in Marina” Rajagopal told Kannan’s son Parthasarathy.

Rs. 12 Lakhs cheques - TNPL and CSK

At 5pm, in a simple event, N Srinivasan handed out a cheque of Rs. 5lakhs on behalf of TNPL and an additional cheque of Rs. 7lakhs on behalf of CSK and that these players and the groundsman deserved this fully for their contribution to TN cricket.

The fifth beneficiary the Bangalore based Najam Hussain (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/najam-hussain-80th-birthday.html) could not make it due to ill health.

Following this, there was a 'Thank You for your Service' cake cutting event with R Prabhakar feeding KR Rajagopal in memory of his great knocks in the late 1960s.

In late March this year, N Sankar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/jolly-rovers-n-sankar-75.html) sent a personal full time assistant from Madras to Bangalore to take care of Rajagopal and this has dramatically improved the health of the batting legend who is now getting back to reasonably good health.

This writer was at Chepauk  on Tuesday evening on the special invitation of KR Rajagopal.

Rocky Bosskey TNPL Mystery Spinner

The New Cricket Wave - From Traditional to Mystery Spin

Leggie Bosskey quit cricket in his early 20s soon after playing for South Zone University against Ravi Shastri

His 27 year old son Rocky had not played any top match of note till this TNPL season but is on Cricket Mission II  and confident of making a full fledged professional cricket career with his new found spin variations 

30years ago, many cricketers moved on in life away from cricket once they found they had not made much headway into the first division by the time they were 20. Quite a few who had made their way into first division teams gave themselves a few years more to try and play in the prestigious Buchi Babu tournament. And then those who managed to get through to this stage gave themselves a couple of more years to see if they could break through into the Ranji Squad. Those who did not (make it into Buchi Babu or Ranji) got into the corporate work life aged 25-27 and have focused on the work world since. Those who quit cricket at 20 had a heads up of a few years in the corporate world while the latter ones lost out a few years starting out only after 25.

2021 - Cricketing life has taken a dramatic turn that very few from that generation would be ready to believe. Rag Vasisht (who now calls himself as Rocky and has regd his name as so in the Gazette), son of former South Zone University cricketer B Bhaskar (Bosskey) is starting his real cricket at 27, the time when once cricketers quit the sport for corporate life. 

Bosskey himself had suddenly risen to great heights playing against Ravi Shastri and Co. but he fell as quickly as he rose. Into his early 20s, Bosskey picked up a job at IOB and quit cricket before he had turned 25 and did not play for IOB in the first division even through the 1980s. 

How life and attitude has changed in the last few decades!! Rocky graduated in Sociology but has not stepped into the corporate world todate, though he is now into his late 20s. 

Downward spiral after a strong league debut in third division

He had picked up 8 wickets in his debut league match in the third division for Port Trust. Following in his father’s footsteps, he too chose leg spin and the 8 wickets led one to believe that like his father he too may see a dramatic rise in cricket. But the script did not turn out as expected. For a major part of the next decade, it has been a tale of cricketing frustration. While he was signed up by first division clubs, he did not get to play many matches. For five years, he sat on the sidelines in the top division but surprisingly his father, who settled down at IOB when he was just 22 and quit serious cricket very early, gave him a rope so long that the son is not looking to get into a non cricket related job in his life!!!

Is he serious? Bosskey says that he himself could not justify his talent though the expectation was very high during his playing days and when the ball just did not land where he wanted to, he was overcome with frustration and quit too early for anyone's liking. And he does not want a repeat of that with his son and has given him a lifetime to prove himself as a worthy cricketer.

From Traditional Leggie to a Mystery spinner

After failing to get chances in the longer version of the game for several years, a spark lit up suddenly when Rocky was watching Sunil Naraine bowl in the IPL. And all of a sudden he moved away from the traditional leggie to the now talk of the town tag of ‘mystery spinner’!!! He changed the way he gripped the ball and began testing out his skills in the seven star local league where cricket enthusiast Prabhu (not this writer) provided him opportunities with the new ball. And it seemed that a new cricketer was born, one who was completely unrecognizable from the traditional leggie of the previous years. 

The TNPL Selection and Debut

Watching Naraine closely, he began trying out the variations that have now come to be typical of ‘mystery’ spinners. And it was with this mystery spin that he impressed Ranji cricketer KB Arun Karthik at the nets. Impressed with his skills and the variations, Arun Karthik asked him to keep it under wraps and not expose himself publicly with his new style of bowling. When it came to picking up the squad for this year’s TNPL, Arun Karthik picked him for Madurai. It is to date his biggest achievement of his life after his performance in his debut league season  just under a decade ago!!!

He has been working hard for the last many months trying out several variations. He met with the more famous Mystery Spinner of TN, Varun Chakravarthy also of Madurai in the TNPL, to learn a few tricks of mystery spin. 

Setting a New Trend

Varun’s emergence from nowhere to the IPL and India on the wrong side of his 20s has given confidence to those like Rocky to extend their cricket career into the late 20s. It is the new gen and they are seemingly strong enough to take bold calls and now more so with the backing of parents who themselves in their playing days gave up far too quickly to settle down in a stable job.

Rocky played a couple of matches in the TNPL, took a wicket in his first over in his debut match and  was then given the opportunity to bowl within the first powerplay in the next match. At 27, he has just two top matches to showcase but with his new found mystery spin variations, he is hopeful and confident that he can emerge as the next top mystery spinner after Varun. 

With Madurai not qualifying for the knock out, his stint with this year’s TNPL has ended. Over the next fortnight he will look for a team in the first division league that is set to start early next month.

There was a time when bowlers were asked to practice pitching the ball on the same spot over and over again. Today, no two balls should pitch on the same spot. 

Clearly, the new gen cricketer is not interested anymore in bowling 30-40overs in the first division league as was the case till not so long ago. As a mystery spinner, his aim is to bowl 24balls in a T20 match or maybe 60balls in a one day match to spring a web around the batsmen with his variations in the shorter duration game.

Bosskey is clear that his son should be seen as a full time professional cricketer whose future lies in cricket and not in the corporate world. The handsome young man has had offers from the cine world but he has remained focussed on the cricket field and believes that is where his life is.

Rocky is highly spiritual and balanced and has belief in Kanchi Maha Periyava’s preachings. He is clear that his role is to give his best when the opportunities come his way and allow the special mystery spinning skills to speak for itself. He is adding to his variations and with the TNPL confidence behind him, is likely to become better. Time will tell if he will be able to break into the first division team based on his performances in these two TNPL matches. Will the first division clubs find his mystery options and the ability to bowl leg spin with the new ball an exciting option?

It is a big call to almost start a cricket career at his age. But Rocky is on Cricket Mission II. As Varun has proved in the last couple of years and with someone like Natarajan reaching the top in a short space of time, Rocky is hopeful that he too can break the time barrier and catapult to the top with a few match winning performances in the tournaments that come his way over the next 6-12months.

His father made rapid strides in his late teens and early 20s but quit cricket soon after. Rocky has been a late bloomer but sees this year’s TNPL as the big turning point in his career transforming from a traditional leggie to a mystery spinner, one he believes will take him to the pinnacle of the cricket world. 

This section will watch his progress.

PS School Ground Revival

Legendary VV Kumar took to Leg Spin after his experience here

From a 'ball picker' to one of the city’s most dashing openers, Sanku learnt his early cricket at this ground

Bosskey tired out the fielders with over a 100 catches from one end of the ground to the other during the practice sessions in the 1970s

Mylapore MLA is looking to revive the ground - Will the TNCA league matches be played again this year at the PS School Ground?

The historical PS School Ground had been home to TNCA league cricket for well over five decades until it was shut down to external cricket matches just under a decade ago much to the disappointment of cricket fans and players. The ground has been in the news recently after the visit of the Mylapore MLA Velu who is keen to revive the ground to its ancient glory. 

For several decades, TNCA league matches were played every weekend of the league season. The big walls that we see today on the East and West sides were non existent in the past. Cricket Nets and coaching academies functioned round the year at this ground with the late TE Srinivasan having his academy at this ground. Every weekend evening, following the completion of the league matches, local boys from the neighbourhood enjoyed multiple tennis ball matches till the Sun went under the sky, played as passionately as one would at a serious league match. The arrival of October led to a deluge- monsoon rains would flood the ground and most often  it was difficult to differentiate the Kapali temple tank and the PS ground in the October to December period for the ground resembled a huge tank. But unmindful of the rain water, youngsters of the time entered the ground and indulged themselves in a game of cricket.

Rubber ball cricket in neck deep water

Now a popular theatre personality, B Bosskey (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/02/bosskey-leg-spinner-extraordinaire.html) was then a talented leg spinner in the 70s with his sights set on playing for India. He played alongside Ravi Shastri at the U25level. He has great memories of the historic PS Ground. Bosskey first entered the PS School ground in 1967 “In the October to December period, I played rubber ball cricket in neck deep water.”

In the 1970s, Bosskey became popular in the Mylapore cricket circles for handing out fielding practice. From the eastern end of the ground, with the bat in one hand, he would hit at least 100 high catches to the cricketers standing on the edge on the western side. It was also at the PS school ground that he himself sharpened his own fielding and catching. "Following intense practice at the nets here, I went on a TNCA Colts tour with WV Raman and took 33 wickets with my leg spin and that catapulted me into the next level.”

1979 – Venkat Praises the young leggie

Outside of the league matches, there were school matches and some memorable old v new club matches played at the PS school ground. Bosskey remembers a match played in 1979 between BRC Past and Present teams “R Prabhakar was famously known in the city circles for hitting big sixers. And as expected, he hit me out of the ground for a huge six on to the road but the very next ball I got him out. It was a big moment for me as a youngster. I also got the wicket of legendary S Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) in that match. At the end of that day’s game, Venkat came and told me that I was highly talented and had the potential to play at the highest level. That was a morale boosting moment and I was on a high at the Western Pavilion that evening.”

In those years the pavilion was at the west end. Only later did the pavilion move into the eastern side.

Starts as a Ball Picker at PS ground

Alamelumangapuram’s VV Sankapani (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/sankapani-vv_21.html) was the opening partner of India’s K Srikkanth for a decade playing for Alwarpet in the Chennai’s first division league and is famous for breaking the window panes in the nearby flats in the 1980s. He began his sporting life playing tennis ball cricket and football at the PS school ground. “My earliest memory of PS School ground is of me being a ball picker to big time cricketers like TA Sekar, Dhadi Sriram and Nagesh.” 

Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-fastest-indian-bowler-of-1980s.html) was one of the fastest bowlers of the time and watching him bowl of that long run was a great sight for youngsters. Sanku spent his early years in cricket watching Sekar tear into batsmen but his own role was to pick the ball and throw it back to the bowler.

Tennis ball tourneys at PS

Tennis ball craze was at its peak in those years and tennis ball tournaments featured talented upcoming cricketers. 

Sanku recalls how he formed a young tennis ball team at PS “Motivated by this – of watching the best in action - we put together a tennis ball team from Alamelu Mangapuram called ‘Kids XI”. Most of the kids were not yet into their teens. I was one of the two seniors in that team. But we surprised everyone by reaching the final and celebrated at the ground with delicious sweets. For many years, I played in serious tennis ball tournaments during the weekends that would become the driving force for my aggressive cricket later on in my life once I grew up into league cricket. Also, every Saturday evening I would participate in highly competitive football matches.”

Legend TE Srinivasan coaches at PS Ground

Sanku says that it was the coaching by India cricketer TE Srinivasan (he passed away last decade) that produced many good first division cricketers in the city “He made us face fast bowlers with one stump in hand and thats how we developed our cricket strokes. At the small pavilion, my friend Subramaniam bowled fast to me from 15yards and that helped me take on the fastest bowlers of that period without fear.”

Three Brothers captain at PS Ground

State Cricketer from the 1960s R Chandrasekaran, now 85 says his family has a unique record at at the ground. He, along with his elder and younger brothers captained the PS School team way back in the 1950s. “My elder brother captained in 1949 and 50, then under my captaincy we won the championship in 1951. Later that decade my younger brother, R Prabhakar captained the School and played many matches at this ground.” 

The lanky off spinner remembers his first big match at the ground in 1952 “I took five wickets including a hat trick for St Marys Club at this ground in my first season in the TNCA league and thus the ground was instrumental in giving me the early confidence in bowling my off spin.”

Cho’s presence at the ground

Chandrasekaran recalls the presence of theatre artiste and writer Cho Ramaswamy at the ground every weekend till the end of the 1950s. “He would come and watch BRC’s matches at this ground. He had watched me so closely that when I was not selected for the state team, he wrote a strong piece on my non selection.”

It was also this ground that Indian Express’s Ramaswamy visited every weekend to plan and write his feature cricket story of the week.

Physical Director’s contribution

Chandrasekaran has special praise for Ganesh Moorthy, the then physical director of the school “He was the man instrumental in the maintenance and development of the ground. He would take special interest in cricket and we had great nets facilities to practice at this ground in the 1950s.”

Sixers that broke through the roof

Ranji Cricketer R Prabhakar, who will be felicitated by the TNCA this week, was renowned for his six hitting. When students wanted a break from the classroom boredom, they would roar at R Prabhakar to hit one of his favourite towering sixes. And he would answer their wishes with a six that would send the ball through the roof of the class into the class room that led to rain water seeping into the class the next day. The students who got the desired break would join in a rapturous applause of Prabhakar  the next time he was at the ground in a thanking gesture to him.

PS School Ground - Inspiration for taking up Leg Spin

Mylaporean for life the legendary leg spinner VV Kumar was a student of PS School through the 1940s. He had his cricketing foundation playing for the school in the competitive school tournaments “When I was at PS School, I had this habit of collecting different kinds of balls- Golf balls, Hockey balls, Polo balls, Tennis balls and Cork balls. One day, when in the 3rd Form, I threw a golf ball on the wall like an off spin and found that the ball came back with an opposite spin (leg spin). I was quite intrigued with that and felt that if the Golf ball could do this much, why not a cricket ball. And that was when I decided to take up leg spin.”

VV Kumar started playing cricket in 1948 at the age of 13 “In those days, school cricket was very strong and competitive. We competed fiercely with each other - Hindu School, RKM, Doveton Corie and PS Higher Secondary. That set the tone for my competitive spirit.”

Full day cricket matches continued at PS School ground into the first decade of this century. And then all of a sudden entry was denied into the cricket field for non school students and the TNCA matches have not been held at the ground for the last several years. Finally after almost a decade, the Mylapore MLA, Velu, who himself was an active tennis ball cricketer in his childhood and played many a match at this ground, is looking to revive the ground and restore it to its ancient glory.  Will the TNCA league matches be held in the new season at the ground? One will have to wait and watch. For the moment, the news is that the ground owes a lot of rental money to the Kapali temple and the authorities' first step seems to be to recover the dues. The Kapali temple EO told this writer earlier this week that they have had discussions recently with the school board.

The TNCA league season is expected to start in early September. It will be interesting to see if the TNCA officials are able to discuss with the Kapali temple authorities, the school board and particularly the Mylapore MLA regarding the possibility of securing the ground for this new league season. Its in the heart of the city and securing this ground for the new season will be a big boost to the TNCA. Just a few years ago,  the Gandhinagar Club ground was revived through the efforts of VS Sukumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/02/gandhi-nagar-sports-club-cricket-ground.html?m=1) and the TNCA league and school matches have become a regular feature there. With great maintenance and the lush green outfield, it also rates as one of the best grounds in the city for lower division matches.

This section will track the developments at the PS School ground.

Advocate TS Ramaswamy@90

Overcoming abject Poverty, Thinnanur's ‘Mouna Swami’ of the 1930s and 40s became a Talking Giant at the Madras High Court from the 1960s

Starting off as a Union lawyer, he went on to work closely with Moopanar winning the now Popular Satyamurthy Bhavan and Kamaraj Memorial case and appeared for MGR's TN Govt in over 400cases

TSR belonged to a rare breed who promoted cricket and cricketers for the sheer passion of the game without expecting anything in return -India Cricketer S Sriram

The Nonagenarian refuses to be tied down, and in 2021 has adapted to the technological model of fighting court cases over the Zoom

Advocate TS Ramaswamy (TSR) has just celebrated his 90th birthday in a quiet way at his two decades old flat on Car Street in Thiruvallikeni. He has been anything but quiet in the last 60years fighting and winning many prominent cases. Right through his childhood in Tindivanam, he was referred to as ‘Mouna Swami’ for he rarely spoke during the first 15years of his life choosing to be a silent observer of events around him. Paradoxically, a man who was called so went on to become a lawyer successfully talking his way into the court room earning great credibility with the judges at the Madras High Court. He did not allow poverty in his 20s to pull him down and showcased to the world that through sheer hard work and mental strength one could come up in life even from the most severest of financial challenges. While being active in the court room fighting cases for Moopanar and the Congress in the early phase and then for several years for MGR, he emerged as a star off the cricket field launching one of the earliest and the most successful cricket academies in the city in the 1980s. YMCA TSR CC produced top notch cricketers such as S Sriram, R Ashwin and S Badrinath and mentally strong personalities such as entrepreneur Promodh Sharma.

 

His wife of the last 65years has suffered injuries on both her legs and is now recuperating at her daughter’s home in Bangalore. Despite the pleas of his scientist son in law to relax and take rest in the quiet confines of their spacious home in the garden city, he refuses to give away what has been an extremely active life. TSR, who secured a doctorate in Vaishnavism at the age of 72, has written several books on spirituality and religion. Here is the story of the Nonagenarian who last week returned to Thiruvallikeni to take up court cases online for his clients over Zoom (Yes – Tech Savvy at 90) and one who directs almost all his current earnings towards charitable causes.

Early Spiritual Interest 

Hailing from a small village, near the Eri Kaatha Rama Temple in Madurantakam(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/11/madurantakam-eri-kaatha-raamar.html), Thinnalur Satakopan Ramaswamy was the eldest of eight children. Right from a young age, Ramaswamy was deep into spirituality having been initiated into Vishnu Sahasranamam and Divya Prabhandham. Even as a school boy, he had taken a liking to Vaishnavite Saint Poet Nam Azhvaar’s Thiruvoimozhi. During his farming days, his agriculturist grandfather, Thiruvenkatachari, unearthed two historical Moolavar idols that dated back to the period of the Muslim Invasion. Seeking an utsava idol to go along with the Moolavar, he walked 450miles to Sri Vaikuntam to pick the processional idol from the historical Nava Tirupathi Divya Desam on the banks of Tamaraibarani and then walked back with the utsavar idols of Perumal and Thaayar. He then went on to engage himself in physical labout to construct the temple and install these idols in Thinnalur. His grandfather also donated lands for the long term maintenance of the temple. Ramaswamy belonged to the Aasuri Clan (descendents of Saint Ramanuja) and his forefathers were ardent devotees of Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/04/kanchi-varadar-pallava-utsavam.html). This series of events and the presence of a Devanathan temple in the Thinnalur Agraharam played a positive role in the early life of Ramaswamy in making him a devotionally inclined person. 

But outside of these, his childhood was largely uneventful with Ramaswamy focusing on academics at the American Arcot Mission High School school in Tindivanam, where his father was a lawyer.  His favourite subject was Mathematics and he secured a Centum every time he took to an exam through the last few years at school. He played a bit of football at school and continued this into his University days where his team also reached the finals twice.

When it was time for PUC, he went to the Annamalai University in Chidambaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/05/chidambaram-thiruchitrakoodam.html). Through his childhood, his relationship with his amma, Kamalammal  was a great one. "When it was time for me to board the train to Chidambaram she would not let me go and was in deep emotional tears for over a hour at the Tindivanam Railway Station and almost refused to send me off."

Mocked by friends

He recalls the early days at Tindivanam “I was a puny boy and was often mocked at by my classmates at school. Despite being scoffed at, I was mentally strong and did not get pushed away easily. Through the first 15years at school, I was so silent that I came to be referred to as ‘Mouna Swamigal’.” 

It was not easy to get words out of Ramaswamy and he was all to himself.  He got into an early habit of reading books and through the vacations in his childhood sat at the village library to read Tamil books, particularly Devan and Kalki. His other favourite location was by the side of the temple tank in Chidambaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/04/chidambaram-maasi-magam-utsavam_13.html) where he read novels for hours “In that phase in life, I wanted to become a writer.”

At Chidambaram too, he was ridiculed by the Physical Director and classmates for his physical weakness. But he found a quiet way to stay away from these abuses. He began reading English Novels, a habit that he carried on for a major part of his life. Shakespeare and Alexander Dumas were his favourite. A follower of politics, he became a supporter of the Congress. And he found the first experience of politics during his years in Chidambaram. He had become close friends with DK’s Madhi Azhagan, his senior in College. But his support for Congress led him into trouble and one night, he was chased around the college by DK followers who came behind him with dangerous weapons “While I stood my ground bravely, the Police chased them away, but interestingly the DK follower and my friend Madhi took shelter in my hostel room. It was a strong message from God that if you followed the Dharmic path even the opposition will seek refuge in you.”

It was this phase at the University that helped him gather courage and gave him the strength to face all the challenges in life. 

Rejected - For the first time to Madras at 18

After his PUC, he was keen on an Engineering degree but did not secure a seat and was disappointed. His teacher at Annamalai University consoled him and suggested that he try the Engineering degree after he completed his basic graduation. For the first time in his life, he moved to Madras in 1949 and joined the Madras Christian College where he studied his favourite Mathematics for three years. He played a bit of cricket as a leg spinner at MCC under the captaincy of CD Gopinath. But the significant development at the MCC was his joining the NCC and he became an active member through the college days. 

Thrice a week, he would wake up at 4am at his sister’s house in Pallavaram and board the early morning Suburban train to Tambaram for the NCC camp where he would exercise for three hours. He went on four outstation NCC camps during his three year period at the MCC. Much to everyone’s surprise, he won the Rifle 303 inter collegiate competition and was featured on the cover page of the NCC magazine. He finished in the top 3 in the NCC Exam.

Towards the end of his days at MCC, he was selected for training as the second lieutenant and was to be sent for a training programme. Delighted at this news and wanting to convey to his dear mother, he wrote a postal letter to her conveying his selection. This backfired on him for she landed up in Madras in a few days and and there ended his military dreams “She said I would not be permitted to go to Kashmir!!!”

One of the best phases of his life

Ramaswamy considers the three year phase at MCC as one of his best in life. All the professors were Englishmen. Headmaster Boyd was among the best he had seen and TSR’s liking for the English language grew manifold in this phase. He would often be reading Hamlet, Macbeth and the Three Muskateers at the college library. 

It was an eventful phase in his life. Much to his surprise, the handsome young teenager found the girls at the college taking a liking for him and a story like the one from his favourite Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was in the offing but being the eldest child in the family he stayed away from ‘love stories’ that MCC has always been famous for. “I had seven siblings and was keen that I should set an example for them through my conduct.”

Reluctant Entry into the Madras Law College

During the vacations, he would head back to Tindivanam where he narrated stories in Tamizh based on the English Novels he had read through the year ‘By then, I had already read the 18 volumes of Bharatham. Young and old alike began listening to my story telling with great interest and they were even in emotional tears when I would stop for the day at a touching point in the story.’

Rejected a second time, Reluctantly joins Law

After he graduated in Maths, he once again failed to secure the Engineering seat. His father, who had been a practicing advocate all his life, pushed him into law “I just did not like law for all through my childhood I had seen my father fighting cases where there were liquor bottles placed in the court as proof of the wrong doing. And added to that, I was a non talkative ‘Mouna Swami’. Pressurised by my father and uncle, I, most reluctantly, joined law without any idea of what it entailed.”

At the Madras Law College, he played some bit of cricket under the captaincy of N Kannayiram. While he pursued the degree in Law, his mind was not attracted to becoming an advocate and he returned to Tindivanam in 1955.

Financial Deal with Amma

Though his father pushed him to study Law, he now stood his ground and refused to take to it as a profession. When a vacancy arose at the local school in Tindivanam, much to his liking he took to teaching his favourite Maths and English. The school paid him Rs. 95 as monthly salary. He also offered to take tuitions for students in the town. It was a financially challenging phase and his amma, who had to manage 8 children, struck a financial deal with the young 24 year old “She asked me to hand the entire school salary to her to manage the household and said that I could take the tuition fees for my personal expenses. She had hoped that there would be just a couple of students at the tuition.”

Within a few months, Ramaswamy’s teaching had become so popular that there was an overflow of students at home and the space inside was just not enough. He moved to the terrace and soon there were over 50 students paying Rs. 10 a month and learning from him that led to his amma reversing the deal “She came to me and asked if the deal could be reversed – me taking the monthly salary and she the tuition fees. With great delight, I agreed to the new deal with my amma!!!”

One of the tuition students was Dr. S Sundaram, the former Chemistry HOD of Vivekananda College.

In the mid 1950s, he also put together a cricket team in Tindivanam and led them on trips to Villupuram, Cuddalore and Chengalpet for friendly matches. He guided the young boys of the town in cricket and developing mental strength. Three decades, this experience was to stand him in good stead when he launched one of Madras' first cricket academies.

“I was really leading a very happy life as a school teacher.  I also brought sports consciousness among the youth of Tindivanam. But my appa  wanted me to settle down in a profession that would offer long term growth opportunity. He once again came up to me and pressurized me into the legal profession. While I was making good money in Tindivanam and was mentally in a happy state of mind, I could not keep away from this constant follow up and this time I gave in to his call.”

While Ramaswamy had agreed to apprentice with his uncle in Trichy and was planning to make the move his parents threw in a new condition. “They were keen to get me married. I was just going to join as an apprentice and had zero savings.”

Marries Thiruvallikeni’s Lakshmi

A family friend, Narasimhachari, who was a rights holder at the Nam Azhvaar Sannidhi at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchi, for whom TSR had great regard played a trick on him. TSR recalls the days leading up to the wedding “He would come to my parents and tell them that the well off family on TP Koil street in Thiruvallikeni liked me. And then he would go to Thiruvallikeni and position me as a bright prospect, one that they should look to finalise immediately.”

His to be wife was still in her teens but the positioning had been done the right way for the two families to agree and the match was done. And thus he married Lakshmi at Singaperumal Koil in 1957 at a time when he was still an apprentice and had not entered the court even once. 

Ramaswamy, The Writer - Wins the Ananda Vikatan Short Story Contest

Leading Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan had announced a short story contest. When Ramaswamy came to know of this, time was short with only a couple of days left for the entries to close. On one of their first trips in a packed train from Tindivanam to Trichy, Ramaswamy narrated a story through the night to his wife, who scrupulously took notes. The story had turned out well and he posted it to the Vikatan office in Madras. A few weeks later much to his surprise, his investigative story had been picked as a top three winner. And there emerged ‘Ramaswamy the Writer’.

Vikatan’s Publisher SS Vasan had been TSR’s childhood hero and the first time they met in Madras at the Vikatan office, Ramaswamy received a big hug from Vasan “Having read my short story, he imagined me to be an older person and was delighted to see a young man in front of him. He saw the writing potential in me and instantly offered me the post of Asst Editor at a monthly salary of Rs. 380. It was a tempting offer but I had committed to my father to become a lawyer and hence did not join.”

Enters the court as an Apprentice!!!!

While he was still an apprentice in Trichy, popular cine artiste MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar had become his friend “He was stuck in a case where he was unable to repay a loan and wanted an extension of time. I had no right to appear in court for I did not have the advocate band being only an apprentice at that time. However, I mustered the courage and landed up before the judge pleading for some extension of time for repayment. The Judge took to it favourably and directed for the extension.”

It was Ramaswamy’s first client and he had come up trumps in his first argument in Court in 1957. A few months later in August 1957, he enrolled as an advocate and moved to Madras where at the High Court he fought some memorable cases and has been a popular voice fighting for Dharma for the last six decades.

Newly Married but  Years in Poverty

The first few years of his married life turned out to be financially miserable. While he had been earning close to Rs. 600 a month in Tindivanam as a teacher in the mid 1950s, here was Ramaswamy with a monthly salary that did not top Rs. 100, half of which went towards rent of a small house off Usman Road  (T Nagar) that resembled a dungeon. By this time, his first daughter had been born. 

TSR looks back at that phase in the late 1950s “I was earning well in Tindivanam and enjoying the role as a teacher mingling with young students. And here I was thrown into an uncertain world and a life in a metropolitan city where I came for the first time in search of livelihood. It was financially miserable and I had to take care of two others. I was in real poverty and struggled to make both ends meet.”

During this phase, he joined the Club House on Usman Road as a member paying Rs. 7. It was there that he came in close contact with actor Nagesh, who too was in miserable poverty. "While I myself was struggling with my life, God opened my eyes to the fact there were others in this world who were financially worse off. Nagesh would take Rs. 10 from me for his survival, such was his life at that time.”

TSR's FIRST GURU - Gopalaswamy Iyengar

Ramaswamy started off as a junior to Gopalaswamy Iyengar, whom TSR refers to as a genius of a lawyer. He then joined another legend 'Advocate Narayanaswamy' and worked his way through to the court rooms. The decades of 1960s and 70s was marked by an extraordinary amount of hard work with Ramaswamy spending most of his time through the sections in the law “I slogged 14hours a day. I learnt a lot from Gopalaswamy, he was my FIRST GURU. I still have his portrait in my room.  It was Narayanaswamy who led me into the court room and gave me the first big opportunities to present in Court and the self confidence that I could argue and win cases.”

The 1960s – Mounam Swami becomes a Talking Giant

The first few years of his marriage had been hugely challenging financially. But it was in that phase that the ‘Mouna Swami’ was transforming himself into a ‘Talking Giant’. In 1959, he appeared in a prestigious case for Muthuramalinga Devar. At the turn of the decade, he became a Union Lawyer appearing for SRMU and won his first big case, one that gave him name and popularity.

Like Periyazhvaar along the streets of Madurai

Like how Periyazhvaar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/07/periyazhvaar-utsavam-srivilliputhur.html) was taken around the streets of Madurai on the elephant top to the beating of the drums, the Railway Union President too was keen to take Ramaswamy on a Celebratory Procession but he refused such a grandeur announcement. Following the Railway victory, he fought for the Postal Union and secured regular employment for casual workers. He also fought for the Mazdoor Union and the workers of the AIR. By now, Ramaswamy had become famously known as a ‘Worker’s Man’.

During this period, he also became a drama writer and his stories featured in Sabha plays. He also conducted Sports Quiz on AIR and presented speeches in TV.  

The 1960s was transformational for Ramaswamy. In a surprise and unexpected development, Tindivanam Ramamurthy took him one day to Moopanar and introduced him to the senior congress man as one who will fight for justice. With P Chidambaram assisting him, Ramaswamy appeared in the case and won the Satyamurthy Bhavan for the Congress. Soon after, he also secured a stay when Kamaraj’s house on Tirumalai Pillai Road in T. Nagar came up for auction following his death. It was converted into a memorial.

Frames the Bye Laws for the AIADMK

For over a decade, Ramaswamy appeared for the Congress. And then all of a sudden advocate Karpagam Vinayakam took him to MGR. The two of them lived close by, Ramaswamy on South Boag Road and MGR on Arcot Mudali Street in T. Nagar. It was the period when MGR moved away from Karunanidhi and was setting up his own party. “I spent two weeks at MGR's home framing the bye laws for his newly launched party.”

And soon after when MGR became the CM, Ramaswamy was chosen as the Government Counsel. He fought over 400 cases for MGR in that phase “I would be in Govt meetings between 10am and 1pm and then handle my private case in the second half of the day to strengthen my finances.”

By this time, he had also appeared for the State Police and the Chief Secretary.

The Pressure to become a Judge

When CR Pattabhiraman was the President, Ramaswamy served as the Secretary of the Bar Association. In 15years he had gained such credibility at the Madras High Court that he was invited to become a judge “There was serious pressure on me to become a judge twice in the late 1970s. Most of my friends wanted me to accept the offer but by now I had taken a liking for arguing and presenting the facts on behalf of my clients and I had become too passionate and stuck to my profession as a lawyer.”

Foray into Cricket - The 1980s

Ramaswamy was in for a big and unexpected surprise in the 1980s. He had spent a majority of the previous two decades in courtroom battles fighting for his clients ( He has a 90% winning track record!!!). From real poverty, he had risen to a state of financial security. And out of the blue he received an invitation to foray into something that he had loved passionately as a teenager but had stayed away from - CRICKET. His cricket student, Santhanam, from his teaching days in Tindivanam was managing the sporting affairs at YMCA Nandanam and he reached out to his mentor to start a cricket academy within the YMCA campus. And thus Ramaswamy launched the TSR Cricket Club in Madras in the early 1980s when there really was only the Dharmalingam Cricket Academy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/06/pk-dharmalingam.html) and Gurumurthy's YSCA(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/ms-gurumurthy-ysca-somasundaram-ground.html) that was functioning as a successful unit.

Dressed in Whites, TSR would land up at the YMCA nets at 6am every weekend. He roped in Rakesh Kapoor (who passed away a few years ago) as the first coach. There was a steady flow of students especially for the annual summer camp. By the second half of the 1980s, following India’s victory in the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 WCC, cricket was taking off in the country and students came in large numbers to his camp.

While he was not technically sound on cricketing aspects, he infused a great deal of self belief in his wards and unknown names in his team took on the best in the city. He organised matches every weekend against the likes of Lotus Colony (Lottai Ramesh and CA Mohan), Vadapalani Sports Club (Nayaz and Murali Kartik) and Gandhi Nagar Club (Mujibur Rehman). Through Ranji stars of the time S Vasudevan and V Sivaramakrishnan, he organised for some of the bowlers of the TSR club to bowl to the batsmen of the SPIC team at their net practice sessions thus providing them with great exposure at a young age. He also pitched in TVS' R Ratnam as a patron in the late 1980s. 

Strengthen the Mind for Success in Life

He began taking U13, U15 and seniors to week long practice matches in Bangalore against the Bangalore YMCA and Imtiaz Ahmed Cricket Club. The Bangaloreans were so impressed with the performance of these less known boys that Kamath and Imtiaz invited him to participate in the Brijesh Patel CC annual national summer tournament. Very soon, an un-fancied team surprised all the opponents and won the tournament against a Bangalore team comprising of players on the verge of Ranji Selection. 

“My focus was on removing fear in the mind of the cricketers. Usually there was a tendency to get overwhelmed when you came up against the so called big teams. I called for the strengthening of the mind and to take on any opposition without fear. I instilled the belief in the students that they could beat anyone if they developed the self belief. Faith in oneself was most important.”

Left arm spinner S Sriram began his career in the late 1980s at the YMCA TSR club as did S Badrinath and R Ashwin. He ran the club for 15years and churned out many first division players outside of these three players who played for India.

Invaluable Lessons in my Cricket Development - S Sriram

Sriram came to the YMCA just after he had turned 10 with his grandfather accompanying him every weekend and staying back till the end of the practices matches the TSR cricketers played at the YMCA B ground. He recalls his association with TSR “I was very fortunate to be associated with TSR in my formative years. He belonged to a rare breed of people who promoted cricket and cricketers for the sheer passion of the game without expecting anything in return. I used to look forward to going to YMCA on weekends, starting my session at 6am and then staying back to play a match after that. The amount of games and the experience I got out of those, playing with seniors, most of the time, were invaluable lessons that went a long way in my development as a cricketer. I owe a lot to TSR for what I am today and continue to thank him from the bottom of my heart.”

PSBB school cricketer Promodh Sharma(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/05/promodh-sharma-cricketer-turned.html) joined YMCA TSR in the summer of 1987 as a 15year old. He made important contributions in the win in the tournament in Bangalore and went on to play first division cricket in the 1990s. Currently, he is a globally successful businessman running a sourcing firm headquartered out of Hongkong. He looks at the time from the 1980s “TSR has had a remarkable influence on not just cricket but my attitude to life. He was the first person who spoke of ‘mind over matter.’ He constantly used to tell me that its all in the head and that when you believe you can, you most certainly will!!”

“In those days coaches spoke of physical fitness, technical perfection and the like, but to TSR it came down to strength of your mind and the courage of your convictions!!”

It is this belief that he instilled in the club cricketers as youngsters and I recall in Bangalore we went on to beat a much favoured Hyderabad Xl which included VVS Laxman and the likes in the early rounds and went on to win the tournament defeating a powerful and seemingly unbeatable Brijesh Patel Cricket Clinic team which included Sujith Somasundar, Fazal Khaleel, Yere Gowda , Arjun Rajagopal and Rajesh Kamath. He constantly found a way to motivate his players by either getting under their skin and pushing them or by putting an arm around you and telling you that you need to believe in yourself.

He used to tell me “no battle is lost till it’s won and if it’s not won on that day, it’s not the end but the next day is simply a new beginning.” 

"He would ask us to play hard but always fair. He saw me play my first game for the TSR club in 1987 and that same day after I got a hundred called Swaraj CC and asked them to look at me. And I was registered with them to play in the TNCA league."

He built a wonderful team and made sure we played hard but had fun as well. 

BIG LESSONS FOR LIFE FROM TSR

Now an enterpreneur who runs close to a $100m global business, Promodh says says that he was privileged to have spent a lot of time with TSR in the late 1980s and that he has been a Guru who taught life lessons that he has remembered during the most challenging times in his business. Talking from his palacious home in Hongkong, Promodh says that he has taken many life lessons from his cricketing days with TSR - Believe in yourself, If you can see it in your head, you can hold it your hand (power of visualisation), Never give up, Every challenge invariably presents an opportunity, If you cannot go over an obstacle, find a way to go around it. 

The Accidental Coach

RBI offspinner NS Ramesh joined TSR Club as a coach in 1987 by accident (a real road accident). His banking team mate S Ramesh and TSR introduced themselves to each other one summer when Ramesh’s TVS Suzuki banged into TSR’s white ambassador in T. Nagar. And then S Ramesh and NS Ramesh joined as coaches. NS Ramesh recalls the coaching years at the TSR Club “He had a burning desire to contribute to the game and hence opened a coaching camp. He was a friendly though, at times, could fly of the handle when somebody questioned him. However, he was selfless and helped poor cricketers financially too. He was a strict disciplinarian and helped the boys evolve as cricketers and good human beings.

“He gave the coaches a free hand and never questioned their integrity. All the coaches had his support and grew quite close to him. It was a relationship born out of mutual respect.TSR camp has produced many wonderful cricketers. There are quite a few people like TSR, who, remaining in the background, have contributed so much to the game and many cricketers owe their success to these great people."

I owe my cricket ball exposure and league entry to TSR

Now a top 80 BCCI umpire, R Rajesh Kannan was just 16years when TSR spotted him one day in a practice match at the small YMCA B ground. He was a rank outsider in the mid 1980s with absolutely no backing. Very few in the cricketing circles knew him. He did not have a cricket kit of his own. He was not financially strong. He has just returned from a stint in the TNPL in the first phase of the tournament and recounts to this writer on the impact TSR had on his life

"I had no exposure in cricket. I did not know what league cricket was. I came to play a practice match at the YMCA B ground, scored 80runs, he spotted me there and was immediately registered in a lower division league team. He took me to the annual Bangalore tournament for three years without me spending a single pie - I could not financially afford to go on outstation trips but he backed me and my commitment to cricket and funded in full but really no one in the cricket circles knows that he was the one who supported me in those days. It was an unexpected and huge exposure for a 16 year old to be playing against the best in the country in that Bangalore tournament. My cricket ball exposure came through TSR and I also owe my entry into league cricket to TSR."

The 2000s - Into Vaishnavism and Scriptures

In the 1980s, Ramaswamy had invited MA Venkatakrishnan of Thiruvallikeni, now the leader of the Prabhandham Ghosti, to his home in CIT Nagar, T. Nagar to present upanyasams. That decade, at least once a month, he would walk all the way to the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni, such was his devotion. By the turn of the century, he turned his attention to spirituality and moved to Thiruvallikeni, very close to Venkatakrishnan’s home. 

Ramaswamy's first Gnana Acharya was Kumarawadi Ramanujachariar (current Embar Jeer of Sriperambudur). It was the Jeer who taught him the Rahasya Threya Saara.

Into his late 60s, when Venkatakrishnan was the HOD of the Vaishnavism department in the Madras University, Ramaswamy joined to do his Masters inVaishnavism and came up trumps. And past 70, he achieved a Doctorate in Vaishnavism. Mentor MAV recalls those years of Ramaswamy as a 70 year student “I have known him for over three decades. Though he was actively involved in court cases and in cricket, he showed the same commitment as a student of Vaishnavism. When he was keen to pursue the doctorate degree, I suggested to him to take up a topic related to the court cases as his thesis.”

"He took up a very controversial subject – Thenkalai vs Vadakalai and studied it in-depth. It was one of the best thesis I have come across to-date. It was so beautifully written and the quality was so high that judges at the Madras High Court have often showcased his thesis as a point of reference, such was the credibility of his research work.”

MAV also points to Ramaswamy’s extensive work on the philanthropic front “He has done great work as a philanthropist but very quietly and without noise. A number of financially challenged people have been beneficiaries of his philanthropic work.”

Since then, Ramaswamy has presented over 500 lectures and authored many books on spirituality “I earned more than what I would have ever dreamt of. God has been very kind to me in this life. When I came to the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni for the first time in my life in the 1950s when I had not settled down and with poverty lurking, I had tears in my eyes watching him. His blessings meant that I have settled permanently a 100 yards away from him” says TSR.

Aged 89, Ramaswamy last year donned the role of Mark Antony in a drama on Julius Caesar, his continuing love for the English language. He is currently the president of the Brahmma Gnana Sabha and part of active discussions on philosophies in life. He also plays an active role as the President of PROBUS. Over the last decade or so, he has been extensively supporting temple related causes through AV Rangachariar of Chidambaram Divya Desam and the two of them have been closely associated with noble causes (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/08/chidambaram-thillai-thiru-chitrakoodam.html).

Ramaswamy has had a glorious 90 years. After an enjoyable two years as a Maths and English teacher in Tindivanam in the mid 50s, he was keen to continue his teaching life in that remote location. But as fate would have it, life directed him to Madras. For over 60years, he has remained active as a lawyer who fought and won cases for the top personalities of the city as well as for the Workers Unions. He also fought for Kunnakudi Mutt for several years. He came into cricket when he was well past 50 and for about 15years was instrumental in churning out a generation of successful cricketers. And then for the last two decades he has been very active in Vaishnavism including trying his very best to bring the two fighting sects together.

The silent but mega contribution of his wife

While he was not keen to marry at the time he did in the mid 1950s, his wife Lakshmi has turned out to be his greatest source of strength “She had been an ardent devotee of Lord Parthasarathy for the first 15years of her life and has always been upright in her way of life. Never has she spoken the untruth and has remained straight forward all her life. She has been an inspiration all my life in leading a dharmic way of life.”

Her devotion led her to presenting over 500 Divya Prabhandham Kutcheris in Sabhas, TV and Radio. She also audio recorded the sacred verses of the Prabhandham and presented to the temples in TN. “More than all these, she almost single handedly brought up four children and led them on the right path while I was focusing on my cases" says TSR on his wife's contribution during the the decades when he fought his way up to become a credible lawyer.

Into her 80s and with her legs giving up, she is currently with her daughter in Bangalore. Ramaswamy though is not to be tied down. He has always led a simple life but has been high on ideals. Never to swerve from the path of Dharma and never to fear anything or anyone has been his motto all through his life and that has given him all the mental strength required to face life's many different challenges. At 90, he firmly believes in his favourite verses from the final canto of Nam Azhvaar's Tiruvoimozhi “தொண்டே செய்து என்றும் தொழுது வழியொழுக பண்டே பரமன் பணித்த பணிவகையே." And with that in mind,  he continues to argue cases in the Madras High Court over the tech platform directing almost the entire fees from the wins towards charitable causes.

Truly an extraordinary life!!!