TN Sripatham Petition HR & CE Minister

The TN Sripatham Sangam led by Kapaleeswarar’s Sankar present a written petition to the CM and the HR & CE Minister about their plight

"3.60Lakh family members of the TN Sri Patham carriers dependent on this service for their livelihood have been affected by the lockdown"

While they have an informal financial contract with the temples for Brahmotsavam and are paid a fairly large sum for the service, the lockdown over the last 12 months and the consequent cancellation of many of the big utsavams has hit them financially

Sripatham carriers are often a neglected lot. Their round the year selfless service usually goes unnoticed. They have been in for a tough time over the last 12 months with temple restrictions arising out of the pandemic hitting them hard. 

In a first of its kind move, the informal group of TN Sripatham Sangam has presented a written petition to the TN CM Thiru M.K. Stalin and the HR & CE Minister Thiru P Sekar Babu last Friday.  This was signed and presented on behalf of the TN Sripatham Sangam by Sripatham K Sankar, who is a Mestri of the Mylapore Temples Sripatham team.

The petition says that 3.60Lakh family members of the Sri Patham carriers in TN are dependent on this service for their livelihood. In the last 12 months, since the announcement of the first lockdown, the Sripatham families have undergone a lot of stress with many of them not being able to pay the house rent and the fees of their children’s education.  

He says that many of them are in a stage where even finding the finances for the next lunch has become a challenge. They also perform various other services relating to Theppotsavam and Brahmotsavam.

Sankar is a leader of the Mylapore Temples Sripatham and anchors the conduct of the processions in many temples in Mylapore. He has been serving as a Sri Patham carrier in Mylapore temples for the last 25years. His forefathers too had carried the Lords of Mylapore on their shoulders for several decades. He also organizes the ‘Pandal’ and 'Thoranam' in Mylapore temples during the big utsavams. Sankar and the team of 60Sripatham members carry on their shoulder Kapaleeswarar, Madhava Perumal, Kesava Perumal and Venkatesa Perumal of Mari Chetty Street in addition to  the Lord of many other temples in Mylapore. 

Informal Financial Contract with the temple

The Sripatham group have an informal financial contract with the temple for their service. Many of these temples pay them quite a large amount for their service especially during the Brahmotsavam when there are two Vahana Processions each day. In addition to this, the Sripatham also collect money from the residents and shops during the Brahmotsavam processions.

The last day of the Kapali Brahmotsavam 

For years, it is a well known fact around the Mada Streets that on the 11th day of the Panguni Brahmotsavam at the Kapaleeswarar Temple, the Sripatham collect huge amounts of money from the residents of the four streets including from all the shops. This year, the procession on that final day took several hours as the Sripatham were in collection mode from these residents. The Sripatham even decide on the amount of money that they (the residents / shops) should pay for their service during the Brahmotsavam and more often than not it has become a tradition for this amount to be paid to them on the final day of the utsavam. Else, the procession does not move like it stood for almost an hour in front of the Karpagambal mess on that 11th day!!! 

At the Kapaleeswarar Temple too, the Sripatham is chosen based on a tender process similar to the one Parthasarathy temple. 

Feedback from TN Sripatham members

Sankar told this writer that prior to the full lockdown, he and his team went around TN Temples including Thiruvannamalai and Mannargudi to engage in discussions with the Sripatham personnel in many of the temples to understand their issues. It was following the feedback from Sripatham across the state that they decided to present their case to the Government.

He is hoping that the newly elected government will look into the issues relating to the Sripatham and provide an appropriate solution. 

Five Specific Requests

In the written petition, a copy of which is available with this writer,the TN Sripatham members have placed five specific requests before the TN CM and the HR & CE Minister. He has asked them to be included in the list of workers in the unorganised sector, to reopen the temples to processions as soon as possible, to stop the tender process for Sripatham selection every year/periodic intervals, to take proactive steps to prevent accidents during street processions that have many times put the lives of the Sripatham at risk and to consider them for temple service posts when the vacancy arises.

Sripatham Models in TN

Multiple models are in existence in temples across the state. In the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni, the Sripatham is chosen through a tender process and for well over a decade it is the traditionalists who have carried the Lord on the shoulder, while in Srirangam, the Sripatham are HR & CE staffers who double up in other temple work when there are no processions. Over the last 50 years, Srirangam Vethal Service, an informal group of over 300 volunteers based in and around Srirangam, have been providing selfless service of carrying the Lord, especially on long street processions, in addition to the official HR & CE appointed ‘Sri Patham Thangis’. It is with the support of these volunteers that the long trips of Namperumal are managed. At the privately adminstered Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Mylapore, the Sripatham group is completing 75years. 

In many of the temples in Mylapore, it is the Sripatham Sangam members who are involved in all the processions. Sankar told this writer that he is confident that the TN CM and the HR &CE minister will provide a favourable solution in the next few days to help them overcome the current financial stress. He said that opening up the temples will help them with positive energy and a peace of mind that is so lacking currently.  It will also help them financially as they get Sambhavanai from devotees while on a procession.

PSBB LU Arun State Schools South Zone Cricketer

He top scored in the State Schools final and played with Rahul Dravid for South Zone against Sachin Tendulkar in 1986. The next season he created waves with a fighting century in the TNCA final but much like Hemant Srivatsa and Anish Thomas quit serious cricket as a teenager after failing to secure the Engineering seat in Anna University

Arun’s century has been the best knock played against Santhome in the last 40years - Srinivasa Rao, Santhome Coach

It is 5.30pm at the Singaram Street corner in T. Nagar on the eve of the grand TNCA final end of January 1988. This writer was witness to more than half the PSBB team gathering in front of the then popular Sairam Typewriting institute. Unfortunately, even though it was a great entry into the final for what was considered in the TNCA circles as an un-fancied side, the spirit was low. While the PSBBians were high on intellect, the discussion that evening centered around their bowling spearhead the tall and lanky new ball bowler Dinesh Guhan and what his fate was likely to be the next day. It was a surprise even to those boys to have reached the final of such a prestigious tournament that in the previous decades had remained the domain of Don Bosco (K Balaji) and MCC(Bharath Reddy) and which at the start of the 1980s had become almost the exclusive possession of Santhome, for they had begun to dominate city cricket like never before. And this match they saw as one between David and Goliath. The prospect of facing Santhome and especially bowling to Aashish was to be an overwhelming experience. 

They were already beaten in their minds that evening and this reflected in the way they bowled the next morning at the University Union ground. The apprehensions of the previous evening had come true. Aashish continued his scintillating form with another dominating century in the final. Rajiv Shah and KM Suresh too scored centuries as Santhome topped 450 that day and even left a bit of batting that evening for the PSBB openers. It was a target that was unlikely to be chased. But one man played the innings of his life and despite the gloom of the crashing defeat, the evening conversation in the city’s cricket circles centered around the brilliant century against Aashish Kapoor’s unplayable off spin. At 16, one thought he would be in for the long haul but he quit cricket in the next few months and was never heard again in the cricket circles. Last month this section featured a story on a sportswoman, Nirupama Vaidyanathan (Nirupama) who quit academics at 17 to pursue a career in Tennis. Here’s the story of  a story of a South Zone cricket who quit cricket to continue academics and has now been an Infoscian for a couple of decades.

LU Arun and his cousin R Vijayakumar began their cricket at Somasundaram ground in their early teens. Rangarajan Ramabhadran, now CFO, Kalpathi Investments put together three tennis ball teams that went on to play flood light cricket that was starting to take off in the city in the second half of the 1980s.

Rangarajan’s tennis ball team mate at Somasundaram ground and now AGM at IOB, Nitin Parekh was a feared left armer in the 1980s and youngsters in T. Nagar used to look up to him when he practiced at the Somasundaram Ground. Rangarajan and Nitin Parekh were integral early members of this group that met every evening at the Somasundaram ground not far from where Gurumurthy was running his academy.

Elegant and Stroke Filled

Like V Krishnaswamy(Kicha), Nitin too has worked in an overseas branch. Talking to this writer from Bombay, where he is currently heading the Nariman Point Branch, he said that Arun stood out as a cricketer even in those early days “The bespectacled Arun was a young slim boy. I corrected his batting stance at the Somasundaram ground as a young teenager who had just started out on cricket. He was elegant and stroke filled even then. It was a treat to watch him bat.”

As Good as N Gautam

Rangarajan resided on Kuppuswamy Street where RBI’s flamboyant striker Ramdayani too lived, a few hundred yards away the Arun’s iconic home atop Sairam Typewriting Institute on Singaram Street.  He was active in local cricket in the 1980s during the years he was pursuing his CA. He would finish his article-ship, rush to the Somasundaram ground for that un-missable tennis ball cricket and would then speed away to the evening college. It became his routine for three years. Rangarajan recalls the way they used to develop cricketing technique in the 1980s at the Somasundaram Ground “We used to have a goal post and the batsmen had to play their within the two posts. Arun was not yet 15 but showed great temperament and technique to play in the 'V' and within the goal post. He was a good fielder and was mature for his age.”

“Watching him bat there at Soma, my expectations were raised. I really thought he would go places. He had all the requisites of being a top notch batsman. In fact, at that age, he was as good as N Gautam both in talent as well as in Character.”

(Gautam was one of the most hard working and sincere cricketers of that generation)

Most Embarrassing Moment in School Cricket

Into his early teens, along with some tennis ball cricket at Somasundaram ground, he had also begun to practice at his school nets. Clearly, PSBB Nungambakkam was not one of the top cricket schools of the time. Sunny Ramesh had been a star in the first half of the 80s but really there was not much else to write home about. There was not even a full fledged team kit when Arun first played for the school. The PT Master doubled up as the coach. In his class VIII, he remembers the school being shot out for 18 against Don Bosco that during the decade boasted of players such as Siddharth Meddappa, his younger brother Satyajit, Tanvir Jabbar, Vijay Nirmal and Rohit Mahendra. It was one of his most embarrassing days in cricket. May be he had decided that day that he would transform the way cricket was played at school and help build a team that would give the top teams a run for their money.

As the next generation of cricketers took over at PSBB Nungambakkam, the team began to perform better. S Kedarnath, former SBI opener, moved in from KK Nagar to Nungambakkam as the coach. Epic battles were fought between Nungambakkam and KK Nagar (PSBB). LU Arun began to make rapid strides as a middle order batsman. He also bowled out-swingers with the new ball. 

Rarely spoke a word, but a tremendous competitor on the field

Cricketer turned million dollar entrepreneur Promodh Sharma (Promodh) was a star performer for PSBB KK Nagar and had many an encounter with Arun. He looks back at the second half of the 1980s when Arun often proved a thorn in the flesh “I remember LU (Arun) as a kind and soft spoken person, a gentleman so to speak. He was very measured and rarely spoke a word out of place. On the field he was a tremendous competitor!!He was a brilliant batsman who could very quickly take a game away from you. He was very talented and capable of building an innings or scoring quickly all around the ground, as the situation demanded. Getting him out was always special and if you were in the opposition and got LU early, the chances of your success increased manifold.”

K Anand, who has been a banker for over two decades and now an independent consultant played for PSBB KK Nagar in those years in the late 80s. He remembers the APSC final, then a popular tournament for CBSE institutions “We beat them in one of the finals but only after we managed to get LU (Arun) out. He scored a brilliant 93 on a matting wicket which was quite uneven in bounce pacing his innings beautifully and was unlucky to miss his hundred getting out to a ball that kept low. He was one of the most feared batsmen and would come between us and victory.”

Captain PB Anand shown the door

A year later the batting talent came to the fore. Impressive performances for the school led him into the U15 city team that went to Erode for the Districts match. He was selected for the TN State Schools team that was announced in the fourth week of October 1986 with PB Anand as the captain. The team was set to travel to Bangalore in the 2nd week of November. However, just ahead of the tournament, the father of Russel Radhakrishnan (Book Sellers and more recently of CSK fame) threw a bombshell that stunned the TNCA. Picking up the (real) date of birth of several cricketers in that TN squad, he raised objections. Original captain PB Anand was in the list of over aged players and was removed from the squad with the captaincy being handed to districts boy VJE Narasimhan.

Rajan Bala in his story on November 4, 1986 questioned the trophies won by Santhome in the previous years with 5 cricketers from the school being reported for producing false age certificates. All of them were dropped from the originally chosen squad including the captain.  Rajan Bala pointed out that there was pride involved in playing for the State and it was not like playing for the school and hence called for the TNCA to take strong action against these players. Of course, as seen later in the story, this issue resurfaced the next year as well. 

Talking to this writer from Houston, USA, cousin Vijayakumar remembers that tense evening in Madras “Arun was just 14years old and it was his first big tour. It was a big deal to be chosen for Tamil Nadu especially from a school like PSBB which had not been in the cricketing radar. It was quite tense. I accompanied his mother late in the evening that November day to send him off (Bangalore Mail) at the Central Station in Madras”

Tops the Batting Chart for TN 

Arun had a terrific few weeks in Bangalore. Mujibur Rehman was in prime form but Arun matched him run for run. In the semi final against Andhra, while Mujib scored 47, Arun was not far behind with a knock of 32 as TN gained a slender first innings lead. Former IOB man and now a match referee Amit Pathak too was in his first season for Andhra. He remembers running into a rampant Mujib “It was my first match for Andhra. Mujib was at his blistering best even then and he smashed us in the second innings chasing out a target of just under 70 in 8oversand we were thrashed in no time. Arun was quiet and performed unnoticed and usually he was not in the limelight unlike a Mujib. While Mujib and I went to Nagpur the next year, I did not hear again of Arun.” 

                               Amit Pathak

In the final of the Pattabhiraman trophy against Hyderabad that included Vanka Pratap, Arun top scored with a knock of 75 after Mujib and Reuben Paul had failed at the top of the order. The strong performances in these matches earned him a place in South Zone squad that travelled to play West at Cuttack.

Mujibur Rehman was already making waves in the city circles with his blistering knocks at the top of the order. He recalls playing with Arun in the state schools matches in Bangalore and then the South Zone match in December 86 against West Zone, a team that included Sachin Tendulkar “Arun was a quiet guy and did not talk much.”

That was the way Arun was, then, and has always been ever since. It is a typical reference from everyone that has known him. He did not allow the early success to get to his head and remained grounded in that phase of life. Even in the photo of the South Zone, he chose a position that would not disclose his face!!!! (photograph below)

In the final Mujib once again gave a dashing start. Vanka Pratap told this writer from the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad of the two consecutive zonal centuries he scored in his school phase. Batting at No. 6, lower than usual, Arun did not score much but South Zone won the match thanks to Vanka’s century.

                              Vanka Pratap

Rajan Bala makes a difference

It was during this period that Rajan Bala began a summer camp for PSBB boys in the Old Ground near Moopaathamman temple (Krishna Gana Sabha). Arun’s cousin Vijayakumar, who studied at Venkatasubba Rao School too joined the camp. The coach was instantly impressed with Vijayakumar’s talent that he was keen to have him move to PSBB as he felt it would add to the school’s cricketing strength that was on an upsurge that year. But as was the case in those years, even extraordinary sporting talent could not gain entry into that school on sporting grounds alone and the school refused an admission. Had Rajan Bala brought him to the attention of Santhome and St. Bedes, it is likely they would have grabbed him and his cricketing life may have been different.

South Zone team 1986 with Rahul Dravid and Sujit Somasudar

Rajan Bala's Role in Arun's Cricket

By now, Arun had become a star at school with his performances for the state. The Summer Camp of Rajan Bala transformed the lives of the boys. The confidence gained that summer began to reflect in the performance of the school team as they began to win matches more frequently. Promodh Sharma who was also part of that camp says that Rajan Bala had the foresight and vision to see what was coming "The PSBB team had begun to do well and he envisaged a strong performance in the TNCA schools tournament. He organised two day practice matches in the summer that helped build temperament. He was a visionary in cricket."

Arun too believes that Rajan Bala was the biggest influence on his cricket career. It was Rajan Bala who brought in first division stars such as CS Suresh Kumar to play matches against the young boys that summer  "I was a transformed person after being coached by Rajan Bala and the entire team was positively influenced by him. Playing against top first division players gave us a lot of confidence and when we went back to play the school matches, the confidence reflected in our performances. I would go to his house with some of my teammates and he would show us Bodyline videos and the different ways to use the  bowling crease."

Overaged Players in TN School cricket

In the next season, the age related issues once again flared after the City team was announced. Left arm spinner B Balaji who had captained the TN state schools in 1985 recounts the turn of events “Mujib and I were chosen to play U22 in Bangalore. But with the age issues coming up once again, Aashish Kapoor, the original captain had to sit out and I was asked at the last moment to go to Thanjavur to captain the side after which I left for Bangalore for the U22 match.”

Arun was part of the U17 team as well but it was really the last of his association with TN cricket.

Beaten by Arun

The year 87-88 saw the best year for PSBB Nungambakkam in a long time. Under the captaincy of Arun, the team had turned around. B Balaji who was Arun’s captain in the U17 city match after he replaced Aashish Kapoor remembers Arun from a School match “It was a period dominated by Santhome and St. Bedes and hence we (St. Bedes) were confident of a quarter final victory against the unknown PSBB side from Nungambakkam and almost took them for granted. However, we were single handedly beaten by Arun’s brilliant knock. He was that kind of a player who could take the match away from you on his own.”

“Despite the match winning knock, he remained a very quiet guy, did not display much of an emotion even in victory.”

The Best ever knock against Santhome

And then the biggest of it all for Arun. PSBB Nungambakkam reached the final of the TNCA tournament against a strong Santhome side that had won most of the trophies in the preceding years. The PSBB team was not particularly confident in facing Aashish and Co and the pre match talk at the Singaram Street corner pretty much revolved around managing Aashish. As feared, Aashish ravaged the attack at the University Union ground and with centuries from Rajiv Shah and KM Suresh, Santhome declared just under an hour before close of day 1 with the team having topped 450. Arun went into bat on the second morning with very little hopes of a chase. But in the next few hours he gave a glimpse of his attacking stroke play that left everyone stunned. PSBB did collapse after Arun’s dismissal but by then he had given the cricketing circles in the city an indication of where he belonged!!!  

Srinivasa Rao, Santhome coach of over three decades and now Senior Manager at the TNCA recounts the turn of events at the Union Ground “LU Arun played the best knock ever against Santhome that I have seen in the last four decades. Any team would have been demoralized chasing 400 plus but Arun spearheaded a superb fight back and took it to the opposition. He was not intimidated by the strength of the opposition and never gave up that day. Even Aashish was put to the sword. Finally, it was lesser known bowlers of the time, Gokul Subramanian and Elango who got us the breakthroughs. In terms of the quality of the knock, I would rate it right up there as the best against Santhome, especially given the context of the match when he came into bat in that final.”

“Everyone who saw his innings that day was impressed. I rated him very high. He had it in him to make it to the top. But we did not hear much of him in the coming years.”

Tamil Nadu’s All Time Great Sharath, who was a 15year old at that time, recalls meeting Srinivasa Rao outside the St. Bedes ground to enquire about the fate of the match. 30+ years later, Sharath distinctively remembers the feedback from Rao that evening “A guy called LU Arun played one of the best knocks that I have seen and scored a century but we won the trophy.”

Sharath remembers Arun as a solid bat with attractive strokes and wonders why he was not in the news again.

Handling of Aashish Kapoor was stunning

Former IOB wicketkeeper and this writer’s teammate at YMCA (TSR) B Venkatesh watched every ball of that ‘celebrated’ innings in the TNCA final in January 1988 for he was Santhome’s keeper “Aashish was almost unplayable at the school level in that phase but Arun was brilliant that day. The way he played Aashish was stunning.”

“We played together at U17 but he was always aloof and quiet. With the city and state side dominated by a few schools, he was a lone man in the pack from PSBB Nungambakkam.”

I was always referred to as Arun’s cousin

Talking to this writer from Houston, Texas, US, Vijayakumar, an aggressive all rounder who once scored top knock in a Thumps-Up TNCA tourney match and a scorching league century in the 1980s was often referred to even in school circles as Arun’s cousin. While they were the nephews of CB Selvakumar, who was known in the city circles for his swashbuckling knocks including the double hundred in 30overs, Vijaykumar came to be known as Arun’s cousin in those years than Chelli’s nephew “Such was his performance in cricket in those couple of years in the late 80s that wherever I went, people saw me as Arun’s Cousin. His centuries in the tournaments caught the eye not just of the powers that be in cricket but also of school teachers and tuition masters and that gave me a sudden brand name. For a period in my life, I had become 'Arun's Cousin'.”

Aashish Kapoor, the captain who lifted the trophy on the second evening told this writer from his home in Delhi that Arun’s was the shining light that day and the lone bright spot “while just one innings does not help one go up the ladder, he was definitely talented and had the potential.”

Never one abusive word 

Dinesh Guhan, now a finance professional working in Houstan, Texas, was the star fast bowler of the PSBB Nungambakkam team and had been a significant contributor to the team with the new ball. He was the one who had to face the initial fury of Aashish and VS Sriram that January morning at Union. He looks back at his cricketing years with his captain “‘LU’ as we all called him was my first cricket captain in high school.  While he commanded respect initially due to his amazing talent, I saw him develop into a strong leader by the time we moved into our senior year in high school. “

“All of us remember the amazing century that he hit during the 1988 school championship final against Santhome High School, a perennial powerhouse. However, my fondest memories of him was during a coaching session when he pulled me aside and exhorted me to start getting serious about my physical fitness and to get stronger (as an opening new ball bowler) if I wanted to make an impact as part of the team. “

“He had a very calm personality and demeanor and I have never seen him utter one abusive word ever. Also, he was never one to talk about himself and let his bat do most of the talking.”  

Fumma (Sriram) was an off spinner in the late 1980s who modeled his action on the lines of John Emburey. He trained under legendary TE Srinivasan. He refers to Arun as a ‘Silent Bloke’ who was precise with his straight drive “He was a great cricketer of the time and a wonderful stroke filled batsman. Whether on the cricket field or on our very own Singaram street pitch, he had his stance and grip firm and was full of concentration.”

A Geek who could smash the bowling

Vijay Nirmal who runs the Prasad Cricket Club in the TNCA league is now a Vice President at HDFC Bank in Madras where he manages high Networth individuals. He played for TN state at all age group levels in the late 1980s and early 90s. He is the son of Prof Nandakumar, who was part of the selection panel that chose the U15 team in 1986. He recounts the period in the late 1980s when he played with and against Arun “He was very fluent and aggressive. Behind the specs, he was like a geek but could smash the bowling around on his day.”

                          Vijay Nirmal

Quits Cricket @ 17 after having played State Schools and South Zone

For obvious reasons - as the 1989 Class XII Board exams neared, the focus shifted to academics. Following the century of his life, Tuitions and Tests became a way of life for the next 12months. For most PSBBians of that generation, sports had to take a back seat when they moved into Class XII. He had played State Schools and was alongside Rahul Dravid and Sujit Somasundar in the South Zone schools and against Sachin. He had been in the form of his life and showed him to be a class apart.

But alas as things unfolded in the summer of 1989, Arun much like Hemant Srivats (Murrays Auction) earlier that decade and Anish Thomas just after him lost in the race for that coveted seat in Anna University. Having played State Schools and having secured high grade in Class XII, he should have got an automatic sports quota seat but the son of a political bigwig secured that seat. 

It was almost a slap in the face for Arun. His high performance in cricket in the preceding couple of years for the state seemed to count for nothing. It was only in the last minute after he lost that seat to the politico that he went and joined Engineering in Melmaruvathur. And like Hemant Srivats went away from Madras at the peak of his cricketing life and cricket was laid to rest. He spent a major part of the month at the college and only visited his home on select weekends. He never got back into cricket again thought he played lower division league cricket including a match winning knock against this writer at the Dunlop Cricket ground but by this time he had begun to play only the odd match when he was in the city and more for the love of the game.

His cousin Vijayakumar joined VIT (Vellore) in 1989 and quit cricket as a teenager. Just a couple of years prior, he hit the top tier of the PS High School building playing in a league match. In his case, he did not grab the attention in the cricketing circles despite a top knock of 88 against a superior bowling attack in a Thumps up Trophy school match and a top notch league century. 

Promodh Sharma(Promodh Cricket 2021), then of PSBB KK Nagar and now an entrepreneur in Hongkong, remembers that knock “I was fielding against Mujibur’s Gill Adarsh at the St. Bedes Ground. At the next ground was this school boy putting the opposition bowling to the sword. Even though the star personality Mujibur was batting against us, my attention was Vijayakumar. It was easily one of the best knocks I have seen for a teenage cricketer. But despite a knock of  88, he failed to grab the attention in the cricketing circles for he came from an unknown Venkatasubba Rao. He remained ‘unspotted’ and predictably very soon, faded away from cricket.”

PSBB’s All Time Best All Rounder

Kedarnath came into PSBB Nungambakkam after Arun had established himself as a Zonal Player. He had previously been coaching PSBB KK Nagar. He remembers Arun as one the best all rounder PSBB has produced in the last 40years “He was an outstanding out-swing bowler in school cricket and was delightful to watch with a bat in hand. Clearly, TNCA did not have a process in place to groom talented youngsters. Arun should have played higher levels of cricket given the scores he ran up in those years but opportunities were limited. Even with half a mind on academics, he performed very well and was an outstanding achiever in his time.”

Kedarnath points out that the students of PSBB were quick to shift their focus from sports to academics once into Class XII “While he was a hugely talented cricketer, he quit the game early to focus on academics that was typical of the PSBB mindset of those years.”

Downward Spiral of Disappointment and Despair

Hemant Srivatsa(Hemant), owner of Murrays Auction, was a star bowler for Vidya Mandir in the mid 80s and played U19 South Zone and against Australia. He had signed up for Alwarpet while still at school and was developing into a great left armer under the mentorship of PK Dharmalingam. He had done everything to gain a seat in Anna University but he lost out on it and spent four years at his cricketing peak in Coimbatore. He looks back at the challenges of moving away from Madras at 17 “In Madras, we had net practice for Alwarpet CC thrice a week and I learnt a lot bowling to WV Raman, PC Prakash, R Madhavan, Srikkanth etc whereas practice in Coimbatore meant I had to bowl at half pace so that my college mates don't get injured!”

“But most importantly, I think it is the mental thing. The fact that you feel let down by a system you believed in and the blatant abuse of clout gets into your head when you spend those countless hours all alone in the hostel away from home for the first time. And at 16-17, one doesn't have the mental maturity to not get bogged down by it. Without your parents and coach to guide you, you get sucked into the downward spiral of disappointment and despair and your game suffers as a result.”

Over Two Decades at Infosys

Later Arun joined Infosys and has been there for well over two decades in a completely contented and happy state of mind with no complaints about cricket or life. Management Consultant Pradeep Chakravarthy worked in Infosys for a few years. Arun and Pradeep drove together every morning to the Shozhinganallur facility during this period. Pradeep recalls his association with Arun “I found him to be a very considerate, soft spoken and friendly person. He would always listen patiently, find a way to summarise it succinctly in a way that it works for me and the team without compromising his own thought process. The ‘give and take’ was always very powerfully felt in a conversation with him. He was a quiet guy but sincere at everything he did.” 

Kalpathi Investments’ Rangarajan, who reached the final of the flood light tennis ball tournament in his first foray, is saddened at the way things transpired for Arun during the later part of his teenage years “As I look back now 35years later, I am disappointed that he did not go the full distance. He quit cricket too early for my liking to focus on academics. Having played South Zone Schools before he had touched 15, I expected him to get into the top of the TNCA league and graduate to the next level. Instead he quit cricket altogether leaving me with the feeling that he did not reach his potential and ended up an underachiever in cricket.”

Vijayakumar who secured a seat in VIT and quit cricket that year watched Arun very closely in those few months following the Class XII results “A seat in Anna University in 1989 would have led him to continue to stay in Madras and his cricketing career may have taken a positive turn. But the fact that he did not get the sports quota seat despite a strong performance in the State Schools and South Zone and he had to move out of Madras for his collegiate education left him frustrated and he quit serious cricket at 17, which was unfortunate because he would have been a real talent for TN.”

Spotting of rare talent and nurturing them, especially if it came from the not so fancied schools, did not happen in the 1980s. And getting into the TNCA league too did not happen without the right contacts.  Arun and Vijayakumar chose not to pitch their cases with any contacts they may have had and played the game as it should be – by scoring runs on the field.

Arun, who along with his cousin R Vijayakumar- who this writer rates as, as good a batsman T Nagar had seen in the second half of the 1980s - did not find the right mentors despite them being the nephew of CB Selvakumar. Having played cricket for the state schools and the zone, Arun did not find guidance into a higher division (first) league team in that phase. Back then, he was very quiet and all to himself, like he is now 35 years later allowing life to take its course. 

Arun displayed very little emotions as a 17 year old. Hailing from a middle class family, the focus clearly was on academics and in his case an Engineering Seat. The fact that he did not get one in Madras meant his cricket met with a rather premature end. Ever since, he has not once exhibited any sense of regret at not carrying forward his cricketing interests after having played with and against Rahul Dravid and Sujith Somasundar and against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar. He accepted the opportunities that came its way in life, both in cricket and elsewhere. He has been at Infosys for over two decades and leading a normal life. 

Had he secured that coveted seat at Anna University in 1989, this story may well have been one on a cricketer who made it to the top of TN cricket for he was a hugely talented cricketer with attractive strokes and great mental character.  1980s was not a decade for T.Nagarians to venture out full time into cricket and this silent cricketer decided that he had had enough of it by the time he was 17, a lot sooner than two other stars of that period, MS Anand and Sunny Ramesh, who gave it a few more years before making their overseas foray away from cricket.

Arun probably goes back once in a while to the years from the 1980s reflecting within himself the joys cricket had given him in those 2-3years when he was at the top as a school boy. 

This story will leave with the only words Arun had for this story "I did not have the conviction and chose the safer path. The risks were too high in cricket and the fall back options did not seem good enough."

VK Parthasarathy Tennis TNTA VP

After losing the first two sets playing in a canvas shoe, he came back barefoot and won the next three to win the Stanley Cup in 1959. Blood Stains marked the entire path when he came up to receive the trophy – N Sankar, Chairman, Sanmar Group

He was a lovely man, extremely nice, soft and gentle with a good sense of humour – Vijay Amritraj, President, TNTA

A True Gentleman on and off the court – N Kumar, Former President, TNTA

Former Tennis Player and VP of the TNTA VK Parthasarathy passed away on Monday aged 82. In the l950s, he trained under the great TK Ramanathan and was his favourite pupil. During his prime, when he also moved into the top 10 in India, he won the South India Hard Court Junior Singles title won the Stanley Cup on barefoot, Captained the Madras University and the State team.

In 1961, tennis legend R Krishnan picked him as his doubles partner for the tour of Pakistan and won all the matches on tour. Parthasarathy also reached the finals in the singles tournament losing predictably to Krishnan who swept all the titles on that tour. 

In 1989, he was handpicked by N Sankar (now Chairman of the Sanmar Group) to don the role of Honorary Secretary of the TNTA, the year when Sankar took over as the President. It was he who suggested to Sankar that there should be prize money for the City Club Tennis League. The Sanmar Group has been anchoring the league since then with sponsorship of the tournament. He was also involved in the process of laying the first synthetic court in South India at the Madras Club. He later became the Vice-President of TNTA when he also worked with N Kumar, now Vice Chairman of the Sanmar Group.

He began his corporate career at EID Parry and towards the fag end of his career worked with Sankar in the finance group at Sanmar. 

Topspin Backhand – A Beauty

Chairman of the Sanmar Group the 75 year old N Sankar(Jolly Rovers Sankar@ 75), who also runs the famous Jolly Rovers cricket team, had known Pachu as a good close dear friend since 1958. He recounts those early years “Pachu and I went to TK Ramanathan’s courts together. He was Ramanathan’s favourite student. TKR would use him as a demonstration model. Pachu had the perfect tennis strokes. He was an absolute exponent of the net game and would always be at the net for the volley. His topspin backhand was a thing of beauty.” 

Winning the Stanley Cup Bare Foot

Sankar was just 14 when he watched Parthasarathy in action in the final of the Stanley Cup Final played at the Loyola College Tennis Court “The court was one of the best in the city. Pachu played the first two sets against Dr. S Srinivasan Ratnam with Bata Canvas shoes that had thin soles. It looked like he was playing on ice. He often slipped in the canvas shoes and lost the first two sets. Frustrated at this and in an angry gesture, he removed his shoes, played bare foot, won the next three sets and lifted the cup.”

The Vivekananda College Physical Director was so upset after the first two sets that he left the court in a hush, only to be called back a little later by Sankar and his friends when Parthasarthy was making a sensational comeback. Sankar recalls “The PD had to defend himself in front of the boys and said that he was confident of his ward coming back to win. And that was the reason for him leaving the court.”

Sankar remembers to this day the blood stains that marked the entire path when Parthasarthy went to receive the Cup.

A bystander with legendary Krishnan in action in Pakistan

By this time, R Krishnan was already making waves both in India and overseas. He was already seen as the all time great tennis player from India. Repeatedly Parthasarathy would lose to Krishnan. In 1961, when the team was to go to Pakistan to play in tournaments there, Krishnan picked Parthasarathy as his doubles partner. While Parthasarathy did make the finals of one of the tournaments, he was thrashed by Krishnan. In the doubles he had better fortune as he won all the matches on tour. Sankar recalls as to how Parthasarathy saw the funny side of things in those doubles matches “All he had to do was to serve properly and then watch Krishnan take over. When he was to receive the serve, he had to get the ball back into the opponent’s court and Krishnan would manage the rest. ‘Except for these two activities, his role was to watch all the matches almost from the sidelines – such was the domination of the legendary Krishnan.”

Opponent was not ready, you have two more serves!!!

He began his corporate career at EID Parry and then later towards the end of his career, he worked with Sankar in the finance group at Sanmar.

Lovely  Man with a good sense of humour

Former tennis legend Vijay Amritraj remembers playing with Pachu when he was a sub junior. Talking from his home in Los Angeles, he said that Pachu was always generous with his help and comments “He was a lovely man, extremely nice, soft and gentle with a good sense of humour.”

This lighter side of Parthasarathy was seen in full bloom in doubles match when he partnered with Parry's Chairman.  Sankar recounts that funny incident, one that the Chairman of Parry did not find amusing “He was then a young executive at Parry. Chairman of the firm HVR Iyengar took a liking for his tennis and once the two of them played together in a doubles match. When the Chairman served a double fault, Pachu turned around and said ‘Sir, the opponent was not ready, you still have two more serves.’ The Chairman of Parry did not find this funny!!!” 

When Sankar took over as the President of TNTA in 1989 (by this time he had already made a big impact in city cricket with Jolly Rovers, under the managership of Bharath Reddy - Chemplast Bharath Reddy-, winning the Palayampatti Shield thrice in succession in the 1980s), he roped in Parthasarathy as the Secretary “The two of us did a lot of reorganization over a period of 6-7 years. We brought in the Tennis league and he did a lot of the developmental work there in that phase in the 1990s.”

He was in the next rung in Tennis

Sankar’s brother and Vice Chairman of the Sanmar Group N Kumar, whose daughter was a national champion in Swimming (Mayura Kumar), was instrumental as the President of the TNTA in the mid 1990s to bring the ATP tournament to Madras from Delhi. He too knew Parthasarathy for over half a century “Pachu was older than me and I used to look up to him, both at TK Ramanathan’s courts and when he played Regional and National tennis tournaments. He had lovely strokes. As a player, he belonged to the next rung of stars that were good but could not make the grade to greatness.”

"He was a true gentleman both on and off the tennis court.  When I went to the US in the 1960s, he was in Delhi and helped me."

Much later after he settled down, Pachu played regularly with Kumar at the club courts in the city spending the evenings together discussing the development of tennis in the city “As an administrator, Pachu always was perfect and would never do anything wrong and got along very well with people. He would go the extra mile for the game” says Kumar.

Vijay Amritraj says that in his post playing days, Pachu was extremely helpful and supportive of tennis in Tamil Nadu “We will all miss him”.

Sankar saw him as one of the finest human beings “He was warm hearted and never once lost his temper. He was a person I really liked.”

Thiruvahindrapuram Malola Kannan

Back to roots – Covid's Second Wave drives renowned Prabhandham Presenter to his hereditary home at the historical Divya Desam

After 27 long years, Malola Kannan has packed his bags for good and headed back this month to Deiva Nayakan Divya Desam in Thiruvahindrapuram where his forefathers had performed daily service for several centuries

I am looking forward to offering my daily service to Devanatha Perumal and Hayagrivar for the rest of my life - Malola Kannan

In a sudden and unexpected development, the intense second wave and the consequent lockdown in Madras has driven 45 year old Malola Kannan, a world renowned Prabhandham presenter back to his roots at Deiva Nayakan Perumal Divya Desam in Thiruvahindrpuram to perform service to Moovaraagiya Oruvan and Hayagrivar at the historical temple. While reverse migration is currently being spoken about in the corporate world, this one is probably the first in the temple circles of a renowned full time city based Vedic Scholar returning to his hereditary temple town with his entire family. His father, TE Krishna Desikan, now aged 86, was a renowend scholar at this Divya Desam in his hey days and performed service till recently. However, his health has suffered in recent times, is currently immobile and needs personal care. It is great delight to the father that his son has returned to their hereditary home and is now commited to performing daily service at the temple for the rest of his life.

இருந்தண்  மா நிலம்  ஏனம் அது ஆய் 

வளை  மருப்பினில் அகத்து ஒடுக்கி 

கருந்தண் மா கடல்கண் துயின்றவன் இடம் 

கமலநல் மலர்தேறல் அருந்தி 

இன் இசை முரன்றுஎழும் அளிகுலம் 

பொதுளி அம போழிலூட 

செருந்தி நாள்மலர் சென்று அணைந்து உழிதரு 

திருவயிந்திரபுரமே - Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

After early Vedic Initiation from his father, Malola Kannan left the Divya Desam as an eighteen year old to pursue higher Studies in Sanskrit. In the mid 1990s, he studied Mimamsa at the Sanskrit College in Mylapore. Later he pursued MA Sanskrit at the Presidency College and M. Phil at the Madras University. Currently, he is in the final stages of his P. hd at the Tirupathi Vidya Peetam.

                                          TE Krishna Desikan

Talking to this writer from his historical home a few yards from the Devanatha Perumal Temple, Malola Kannan said that till the end of 2020, returning to Thiruvahindrapuram had not been in his plans.

"While I had come to the city to pursue my Sanskrit education, the need for financial stability led me to continue my life in Madras in the 1990s."

However, the intensity of the second wave and the extended lockdown led him to this sudden decision to return ‘HOME’.

“Even in January and February this year, when things were seemingly returning to normal and weddings were back in full swing, I had no plans to return to Thiruvahindrapuram. But finally, the Lord of Thiru Vahindrapuram has used the intense second wave of Covid-19  and the stringent lockdown in Madras to instill the thought in me that it’s time I returned to my roots and performed daily service here.”

He says he is delighted to return to his home town after close to three decades and to now be able to perform every day service to Devanatha Perumal and Hayagrivar.

Hayagrivar

Malola Kannan belongs to the tenth generation of Vedic Service Providers at this Divya Desam. His daily service at the temple includes presenting flowers to the Lord, reciting the Vedas every morning and evening both at the Perumal Sannidhi as well as at the Hayagriva Sannidhi atop the hill and being present at Satru Murai. 

Popular Prabhandham CDs

Just over 15 years ago, it was Malola Kannan who roped in Navalpakkam Ranganathan (Rangappa) for the presentation of the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham and for its launch in CD format at that time. Prior to that, he had already rendered the entire Vedantha Desikar Stotrams in a solo presentation. He has also presented with Rangappa the now globally popular Desikar Prabhandham and launched in CD format.

Over the last couple of decades, he has also been a much sought after 'Brihaspathi' at Weddings and other functions.

While this section has in the past written several stories on original inhabitants leaving their hereditary towns seeking greener pastures in cities, this move of Malola Kannan to his home town to perform daily service at the Deiva Nayakan Divya Desam.                                                            

Interestingly over the last decade, his elder daughter, Chandmaye, has developed great interest in football and is currently pursuing a worldwide course in Football Analytics (Chandomaye Football). For many years now, his son, Kosagan, just into his teens, has been a full time resident at the Karpagambal Veda Gurukalam in Mylapore and is being initiated into the Vedas by Kannan Ganapadigal.

                   Bespectacled Kosagan is second from right

Malola Kannan has a huge clientele in Madras and says will continue to perform wedding ceremonies “I am only three hours away from Madras and will continue to serve those who have used my services over the last couple of decades. But it is a great feeling to be back at the home where I grew up in the late 1970s and 80s. While I had been here for all the big utsavams in the decades gone by, the opportunity to serve every morning and evenings at the Sannidhi is devotionally exciting.”

Thiru Mangai Azhvaar in his Periya Thirumozhi refers to the Lord of Thiru Vahindrapuram as ‘Moovaraagiya Oruvan’ (Thiru Vahindrapuram Divya Desam).

This move of Malola Kannan to Thiru Vahindrapuram is great news for historical temple towns. A few years ago, this section had written about original inhabitants of Therazhundur Divya Desam (Therazhundur) expressing intent to return to their roots. Hopefully, this move of Malola Kannan will lead a wave of traditionalists returning to their home town for good. 

This section will track the developments on that front.

Nirupama Vaidyanathan

A National Women's Champion at 14

At 17,  she took an unprecedented call to skip Collegiate Education and turned PRO on the World Tennis Circuit

The first Indian Woman to play in a Grand Slam was a Trendsetter and led the way for the NextGen of Tennis Players

Nirupama spearheaded the growth of Women's Tennis in India- Tennis Legend Vijay Amritraj

In the early 1980s, Nirupama would come to the Forest College Ground in Coimbatore to watch her father KS Vaidyanathan, a former Ranji cricketer play for LMW against SVPB and Ramakrishna Steels in the first division cricket league. She was an extrovert even as a 5 year old and would join this writer,  the sons of former Ranji fast bowler B Kalyanasundaram (who also played for LMW in the late 70s and early 80s)  and a few other boys for a game of ‘tennis ball’ cricket on the boundary edge near the Pavilion at the West End. While some of the boys graduated from tennis ball to red ball cricket, Nirupama continued her engagement with the tennis ball and took to tennis seriously in the second half of the 1980s under the mentorship of her father who himself had been a district level tennis player. She was a trendsetter for Indian Women in Tennis. Overcoming financial challenges, she went on to become the India Number One and stayed there for a decade, a period when she also became the first Indian woman to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam. She is also a bronze medalist from the Asian Games.  In November last year, this section had featured a story on a sporting father and daughter duo, where the daughter went on to become a national swimming champion (Mayura Kumar Swimming). This one is of another such duo with the daughter from a Tier two town middle class family without any sponsorship support rising to the top in India. Here is the story. 

The Cricketer Father

After taking to law and beginning his practice in Coimbatore in the early 1960s, KS Vaidyanathan (Vaidy to his teammates) moved to Madras to pursue his cricket motivated by extraordinary performances at the University level.  PR Ramakrishnan (Ramki), who was in the TN Ranji squad for nine matches in the 1970s but never got to play for the state, recalls Vaidhy’s century in a University match “Against Asif Iqbal’s Osmania University, Vaidy went in as a night watchman and bravely encountered a barrage of bouncers to survive the evening. The next day he topped 180 and the innings instantly brought him into limelight.” 

“Many a time Vaidy opened the bowling and provided the initial breakthrough for his team and then he would come back later with his left arm orthodox spin and bowl with teasing flight. He was a gritty batsman who at No. 6 or 7 would often provide support to the top order batsman and hang in when the team required him.”

VV Kumar(VVK), the legendary spinner from the late 1950s and 60s, who watched him closely in that phase, says that although he caught the selectors’ eye very early, he could not progress much “He was one competent leftie who dished out excellent performances year after year with the ball. On matting, he twice broke the seven wickets barrier in city vs districts match.”

A Thorought Bred Gentleman

Kalyanasundaram (Kalli), who played for Jolly Rovers and LMW with Vaidyanathan and who as Nirupama recalls later in this story was a regular at his Race Course road home in Coimbatore, remembers the cricketing acumen and the human side of Vaidhya “He was someone we all looked up to. In a match at the Loyola College ground, after he had opened the bowling and the opposition had got off to a brisk start in the first 4-5overs, he had no hesitation in going to the captain on his own and suggesting to him to bring me into the attack. I took seven wickets and the opposition was bowled out for under a 100. He had a strong cricketing acumen and could read the game well. This also showed that he always placed the team interest ahead of himself.”

"He was a thorough bred gentleman."

Ranji Debut and out soon, forever

Vaidyanathan took four wickets for four runs in his second match in Ranji Cricket but a 'selfless' cricketing incident in the next match meant he was never selected again (will keep the specifics out). He took up a job at India Cements and played for a few years for Jolly Rovers in the 1960s.

N Sankar(Sanmar Sankar), who became an integral part of cricket development in the city along with his father KS Narayanan after taking over Jolly Rovers in the second half of the 1960s remembers Vaidy as a pleasant personality who helped the team with his gritty batting “As a bowler, he could swing the ball at the start of the innings and then later bowl spin.”

Ramki, who had a four decades long association with Vaidyanathan in Coimbatore including spending time with him just ahead of his death last year, believes that Vaidy could have fitted into the state team despite the presence of VV Kumar and Venkat “He was a genuine all rounder and a terrific catcher who took many a good catch at slip.”

Kalli and Vaidy - The English Conversations at Forest College

However, once he knew that the prospects of a Ranji recall was out of sights, he returned to Coimbatore to pursue his legal profession. His father had also taken ill and was confined to a wheel chair. It was Vaidhy who took care of him while he continued his legal practice in Coimbatore. He played for LMW as a guest player and was easily the best spinner on view at the end of the 70s and the early 80s in the Coimbatore league. His command over the English language was outstanding as this writer watched him and 'REC Engineer' Kalli engage in conversations on cricket sitting in that old styled pavilion at the Forest College ground.

A Gifted Sportsman

Former RBI off spinner NS Ramesh played the early years of his cricket under the captaincy of Vaidyanathan “I began my cricket in Coimbatore both for LMW and the Districts under the captaincy of Vaidy. He was a natural cricketer and gifted sportsman. In addition to cricket, he was also good at Tennis and Billiards.”

Won many matches for Tirunelveli 

In the early 1970s, he won many matches for Tirunelveli with the ball, recalls dashing opener KR Rajagopal "We played several matches together. Vaidy was instrumental in us winning many matches as he would take important wickets at crucial moments. It was rare in those days for someone to bowl left arm with the new ball and later spin as well. He was a very good Tennis Player and also participated alongside Ramanathan Krishnan and Jaideep Mukherjee in the All India Tennis Tournament organised in Tirunelveli by KS Raman."

Guile even in his 40s

After having played for Bombay in Ranji Trophy Cricket in the late 1970s, S Srinivasan came back to Madras and played for the state. In the early 80s, he joined SVPB, Udumalpet and was involved in a few battles with Vaidyanathan  "Even late in his Cricketing career,  Vaidy was in his 40s by then, he showed his guile as a bowler with the new ball (Swing ) & old ball (Orthodox Spin). As a batsman, he was gritty & never ever gifted his wicket contributing useful runs."

"I found him to be a calm and composed competitor and human being."

Polished in Conduct

State off spinner from the 1960s R Chandrasekaran (SBI RC) who celebrated his 85th birthday this Friday (May 14) had two stints in Coimbatore in the 1980s first as an AGM at the main branch of SBI. It was a period he built a close friendship with Vaidyanathan “We both played together for RS Puram club and went to the Tripanathura tournament. Though he should have played more matches for the state, he never displayed his frustration at the unjust treatment meted out to him. He was always polished in his conduct. He was a disciplinarian and played a great mentoring role when he initiated his daughter Nirupama into Tennis at the clubs in Coimbatore. ”

While he had been a cricketer for over two decades and continued to play for LMW till he was into his 40s, the cricketing experience had probably left a sour taste in him and led him to initiate his son and daughter into tennis, where one could come up through individual performances and not be dependent on selection. 

The Best Allrounder from Coimbatore

Ramakrishnan played for YMA in Madras and later Ramakrishna Steels in Coimbatore and has had many a cricketing battle with Vaidy in both the cities “He was the best all rounder Coimbatore has seen. He was the kingpin of LMW. He was a popular and highly respected cricketer and a HERO to the cricketers growing up in the 1970s. In those years, it was not easy for a districts sportsperson to make a mark in Madras. While he felt the pinch in cricket, his daughter faced issues in Tennis with not too many sponsors forthcoming to support her endeavour.”

Motivational Coach

For a few years, Vaidyanathan conducted summer coaching camps at the Forest College ground. Rajesh, the elder son of Kalyanasundaram was Ganesh’s classmate at Mani’s school and watched many of the matches LMW played in the late 70s and early 80s. He recounts the two years he was at the camp “Vaidy uncle was a great team player and leader.While he was a very good left arm spinner, what stayed in my mind for a long time was the way he encouraged the players. He was motivational.”

"When he started the summer coaching camp, I joined the camp and learned a lot in the two summers that I spent. The lessons he imparted were invaluable." 

It was those motivational abilities and clear communication that led him to tap into the potential in his daughter and create a champion tennis player.

The early 1980s – Tennis ahead of Cricket

The fact that he had been given a raw deal by the state in cricket was always at the back of his mind. Even though her elder brother Ganesh was a diehard cricket fan in his school days, she remembers her father keeping both of them away from any thoughts on playing the game. He was of the belief that in an individual sport, one could slog and achieve success where as in a game of cricket, one had to depend on the mood of the selectors and probably also had to be in their good books. Also, the fact that her elder cousins, KG Ramesh and KG Suresh, were already into Tennis and doing well tilted the scales towards that sport.

Dominating the Tennis Scene in Coimbatore

His has always been a sporting family. Younger brother, KS Natarajan, was a cricketer while elder brother KS Ganapathy too played for the district. The latter’s two sons, KG Suresh and KG Ramesh, were into tennis very early on. Vaidhyanathan himself was also a tennis player and a districts billiards champion in Coimbatore. While Nirupama spent a good deal of the weekend at Coimbatore’s cricket grounds, once it was time for her to take up a sport, her father initiated her into tennis.

Follows Tennis Legend Krishnan's advice

They resided in the Race Course area with easy access to multiple tennis courts. Her father was a member of the Cosmopolitan Club that was just 400 meters from home and he was playing a lot of tennis in Coimbatore. Tennis facilities were also available at City Club and Association Court.

Vaidyanathan was a great fan of Krishnan, the Tennis Legend. He had heard him say that to aspire to be a tennis player, one needed to have a court to play “One of the first things my father did was to identify a court that we could use at all times. While there were many clubs in Coimbatore with tennis courts, there were restrictions on timings and that meant courts were not always available for us to practice and not at our convenience. My father took care of the maintenance of the court for four years at Pierce Leslie and we were allowed to use it all times that we wanted. For the next six years, my father used another individual court (Mandradiar’s home) where we practiced undisturbed” Nirupama told this writer in a conversation from her home in Florida.

Vaidyanathan began coaching Ganesh in the early 1980s and initially his entire focus was on the son. Nirupama accompanied her brother to the club and spent a majority of her time watching him play. She could not be a bystander and very soon pestered her father to allow her to have a few knocks on the tennis court and gained entry into tennis aged 7, in the summer of 1983, one when India won the Cricket World Cup.

The First Motivating Words from her father

While her father’s tennis attention continued to lay with Ganesh, she slowly began to get more court time. More importantly, almost unnoticed, she seemed to be quietly listening to all the coaching tips of her father.  One evening when her father returned home, she heard him tell her mother that the daughter was grasping the nuances of tennis very fast just by watching her brother play and absorbing his conversations with Ganesh “Those encouraging words from my father motivated me a lot and was my first big boost in tennis and spurred my early interest in the game.” 

A Unique Tennis Problem

Within the first year of her entry into Tennis, Nirupama encountered a unique problem. While there were 25 budding tennis enthusiasts at the City Club, not one was a girl (other than her). And thus right from the beginning she began to play with the boys her age. Her pickup in Tennis was so fast that very soon she began to play against the bigger boys as well and even surprised them by picking up a set.

KG Ramesh – Her Tennis Hero 

While her father was number one in her life, her cousin KG Ramesh was her Tennis Hero through her childhood days. Ramesh, who is now a tennis coach in Coimbatore, swept all tournaments on sight in those years and was someone she looked up to in her growing years. She practiced a lot with him in her formative years.

Ind v Swedan 1985 - Watches her first big match

In 1985, her father took her to Bangalore to watch the Davis Cup Quarter Final against Swedan, the best in the world at that time. It was a team that included top ranked Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. She remembers that as the first big international match she saw in Tennis.

Into her early teens, in the second half of the 1980s, she was winning inter club tournaments competing in the U14 boys category travelling to Madurai, Dindigul and Salem among other cities!!! The fact that girls were so far away from tennis that decade was best illustrated in the inter club tournaments in the districts. The announcer would often call out the list of U12 and U14 BOYS and shout out her name in that boys list. 

A Tennis Family

The entire family played tennis and once there was even a joke if this family would leave anything for others after they knocked off all the titles – a unique record- cousin KG Ramesh won the Men’s title, he and Ganesh the doubles, her brother picked up the boys’ singles title, she won the girls’ singles and her appa won the veterans title.

When she visited Madras for the first time for a tournament she beat the highly fancied and top ranked Aarathi Venkatesh and went up to the Semi Finals. In her first ever nationals in Hyderabad, she again reached the Semi Finals aged 12!!! ‘At that point, I knew I was not far behind’ recounts Nirupama of that tournament.

Despite her early success, the plan was not to make Tennis a career “Appa wanted us to play for fun, for the discipline it brought to one’s life and he wanted youthful energy to be channelized towards something that was engaging. At that stage in life, being in a sport helped me in setting goals and also created a daily routine for me in life” recalls Nirupama on how her appa wanted her to look at Tennis.

Don’t forget the role of your amma – Vaidyanathan to his daughter

Through that entire period till the turn of the decade, every morning her amma would have a glass of milk ready for her before the clock turned seven “Appa was intense in everything he did. Every morning we would be at the tennis court for about an hour. In the evening, he would pick me up from the St. Josephs School on Trichy Road and we would directly go to the tennis court. It was real fun and we never felt the pressure. At the end of the tennis sessions, there were lots of people at the club and we would engage in chats.”

“Very early on in my life, appa would often talk about the role of my amma and her silent contribution. She was the source of nutrition for us. When I came back from the morning practice, the breakfast would be ready. And in the evening, the hungry girl would be welcomed by the smiling amma holding a tiffen plate in her hand. It is a contribution that often goes unnoticed. But she played a vital role at home each day of my life in that period.”

Brother Ganesh who had been skinny till his mid teens became a bit more muscular and began winning many tournaments beating every player in Coimbatore. But after he graduated, he took up a job in Income Tax and a life away from Tennis. Once her brother went into college, her father turned his tennis attention on her. At 14, she won the National Women’s title and by 16 she was playing in ITF tournaments and Satellites. She had jumped to 30 in Junior World rankings. 

First Time in India - No College, A Girl turns Pro@17

When she was into Class XII, a debate arose on pursuing academics and a possible collegiate education in the US or turning pro in tennis. KG Ramesh remembers those months ahead of her Class XII exams “As with middle class families, we placed a great deal of importance on academics. While she practiced a lot and participated in many tournaments as a teenager, she continued to do well in studies. Finance was clearly a challenge for Tennis Players. When I won tourneys in India, I used that prize money to fund my overseas trips for my tournaments in Europe. But soon after playing in a few tournaments, I would have exhausted the prize money and had to return to India to compete in local tournaments. Despite these potential financial challenges, her father gave her the freedom to take a shot at Tennis and that was a brave decision from my uncle.”

And for the first time in an Indian middle class family, a decision was taken for a teenage girl to turn ‘Tennis Pro’ at 17.

Nirupama says that they were definitely not financially well off for Tennis when she started playing. "When I competed in the ITF tourneys, there was no prize money. I only got some points for every win. Accommodation was provided but the air fare and all other expenses had to be borne by me.”

One off Financial Support from CDTA

One of the earliest financial help came from the Coimbatore District Tennis Association “They provided Rs 40000 which was a big deal for them but for me even that big money helped cover the expenses of just one trip.”

Prize money in Indian State Ranking Tournaments that were in the order of Rs. 10000 to Rs. 50000 helped cover some of the overseas expenses. In an all India invitation tourney, when she won the women’s tournament (Ramesh Krishnan won the Men’s) and secured Rs. 50000, she immediately went and participated in a tournament in Japan.  

The first and only corporate support

The biggest corporate support came from Indian Bank. The Bank sponsored 10000 dollars for her overseas trip but that was about the only corporate deal she had in that entire phase even though she had been India’s Number One Women’s player since the time she was 14 and had won almost all the tournaments in the country. It seemed to her that being in a Tier two city like Coimbatore was a clear disadvantage. 

As Nirupama looks back almost three decades after she began to dominate the Indian Tennis Scene, she is hugely disappointed that the TNTA did not help her even a wee bit in that entire phase “Indian Bank was the only organization that supported me. The TNTA could have done a lot but failed to do so. Even today I wonder why they did not support me in any way.”

In fact the current TNTA President Vijay Amritraj has been in talks with her to see if she could help girls’ tennis in Tamil Nadu and is hoping that some progress can be made after the Pandemic is out of the way.

It was the then Sports Secretary DV Sundar who pitched with the sports loving Chairman of Indian Bank, M Gopalakrishnan, to offer her a job at 18 that he thought would provide her some financial security. Talking from his home in Thoraippakam, Sundar showers lavish praise on Nirupama on her contribution to Tennis  “She was already the Number One in Tennis in India and had begun to do well on the Pro Tour. I thought a job in the bank would provide her financial security and that she would be able to pursue her tennis career with confidence. When I pitched the idea with our Chairman, he readily agreed.  She was the best player at that time and brought laurels to the country. We just wanted to do our bit for a sportswoman from Tamil Nadu.”

She participated in Junior Wimbledon and French Open but did not have money to go to the US and Australian Open.She remembers her appa writing letters to several corporates for sponsorships but there was no light at the end of the ‘Tennis Tunnel” that seemed dark for women’s players of that era. 

As she looks back at those disappointments in the mid 1990s, she thinks that she was at least 10 years ahead of time. Much later, with the technological developments, communication became a lot easier and sponsorship became better for those who succeeded her in Indian Tennis.

It was during the junior tournament in Wimbledon that a coach handed his visiting card and promised to train her in Luxemburg.  As a teenager she was all excited at this unexpected opportunity to be trained in Europe. Her Appa instantly approved and decided that amma would accompany her on the trip. “Within a week of our reaching Luxemburg, we found the coach missing. He had gone into hiding after a financial mess with his other students and we were left in the lurch.”

When she was in Luxemborg, a story featured in The Hindu that a Sardar in Europe had agreed to sponsor her and take care of her entire expense. It turned out to be a faux pas. “Everyone congratulated me on a non existant sponsorship”!!!

Having left Coimbatore in great excitement, it would have been embarrassing to return home and she stayed back contemplating on the next plan of action. An Indian family in Luxemburg came forward to support her for three months providing accommodation. A Swedish Tennis School came forward to train her free till the time she started earning “The typical fee was Rs. 1000 an hour but they believed in my potential and backed me” says Nirupama. 

All alone on Scary European Nights!!!

To save on the costs, amma returned home. Nirupama was all of 18 and travelling all over Europe, all alone. In this phase she travelled to Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Spain and Italy “Sometimes I would board a train at 4am, other times I would be all alone in a railway platform at 2am. There were no phones, no ATM cards. It was a scary life for a teenage girl and was not something that those back in India could have visualized. Everyone thought that I was leading a glamourous life but tennis on the pro tour is anything but that. You are running from the station to the court and then again back to the station to head to another city. You are always short on money. It is a very rough life. You just get tired and burned out. While the financial aspect was definitely a dampener and the consequent inability to hire a coach and a physio affected my performance and growth, the absence of my parents meant I was all alone for long periods of time. The emotional impact on a young woman is hard to tell.Thankfully I survived that phase.”

Away from the family and without a coach - The psychological impact for a young girl 

For the first 17 years of her life, she was always with her parents and that meant a great psychological support. The biggest challenge for her after turning pro was the amount of time she spent away from the family. International calls were very expensive and her parents would talk for a few minutes once a week, mostly on a Sunday. The typical mode of communication was through a fax message “My appa would send hand written motivational messages in the first half of the page while my amma would write out recipes to cook for that month. Yes, I also had to cook my own food!!! 

By the end of 1995, she had become a top 300 player and a year later had jumped into the top 200 which meant she could enter the qualifying draw for the Grand Slams. By this time, she was also beginning to make some money out of Tennis. Reaching the semi finals of challengers got her $700-$800. Youth travel in Europe got big discounts in those days. But financing the tours continued to remain a big challenge. After she lost in the 2nd round of the qualifier in the French Open, money ran out. She had got into the main draw in Uzbekistan but did not have money and had to return to Coimbatore without playing.

She says Tennis LegendVijay Amritraj did ask her to come to Madras to be coached in his academy but she was in Europe in that phase and hence could not benefit from the coaching at his academy. In the second half of the 1990s, she shifted to the US and found a coach Dave O’Meara of the Brittania Amritraj Tennis Foundation. But he too did not travel often with her for tournaments and only trained her in the US.

The Best Year in Tennis

1998 turned out to be the best year in Tennis. In January, she managed to enter the main draw of the Australian Open through a wild card entry, the first Indian woman to do so. Her coach was there with her for that particular tournament but given the financial constraints she missed her parents at the Grand Slam. She would have loved their presence but the finances simply did not permit. It improved her rankings but it was not enough to propel her into the main draw of the other Grand Slams and she continued to remain in the Qualifiers.

That year, she also bagged the bronze medal at the Asian Games in Bangkok “I was confident of going for the Gold but with Mahesh Bhupathi playing in every single segment, he was completely exhausted by the time he got into the mixed doubles. The playing of the national anthem while she was on the podium was a memorable moment in my life.”

Spearheaded the growth of Women's Tennis in India

Vijay Amritraj had just finished his career as a player in 1990 and had begun his commentary stint in 91. Talking to this writer from his home in Los Angeles, Vijay said that it was exciting to see an Indian woman on the professional tour that decade. "We still had a long way to go in women’s tennis in India. Nirupama spearheaded the growth of women’s tennis in India.  Given the circumstances of Indian Tennis at that time, I think she did as well as one could and came away from the tour as a great professional."

Couple of decades later after she had finished with her playing career, Vijay invited her to do commentary at the Chennai Open “I found her to be a great tennis enthusiast. She enjoys imparting with youngsters the knowledge she has garnered in Tennis over the decades. She has been coaching in the US, which is a good thing. But as the President of the TNTA, I have been keen to bring her to India on a coaching engagement. This pandemic has put everything in a mess and Sport has been affected quite badly. Once we get out of this, I am hoping that she will be able to associate herself with the development of Indian Tennis in some way.”

A return to Tennis after a decade

In 2010, she found that she was working harder than the kids in the academy. And felt the urge to get back on court as a player. She worked hard for several months and played in the commonwealth tournament. Just ahead of the Asian Games match, her daughter had pneumonia. She did not sleep through the night and went to the court the next day. The comeback was a big personal achievement for her and showed to herself that she could still compete on the tennis court.

KG Ramesh who has been running an academy in Coimbatore over the last 8 years says that she was talented as a teenager. She was tenacious, physically strong for her age and had an attitude to win. Her aspirations were also high. Her basics were strong and this resulted in her reaching the top in India by the time she was in her mid teens.

Miraculous to be 130the ranked without a coach and a physio

While I knew she would make it to the top in India, we were not so sure of international success. That was far away in our minds. In fact, I was surprised with the success she achieved on pro tours without a coach and a physio. She could not afford a coach. Her appa even sold lands to fund her tennis. There was very little corporate support or sponsorship. Without any of these, the success she achieved on the pro tour and the top200 ranking was miraculous.

Turns a Commentator

Last decade, she had a short stint as a commentator when Vijay Amritraj invited her for the Chennai Open “It was a great experience to be sitting alongside him and doing commentary at the Chennai Open and the Wimbledon. Vijay was simply amazing. He was supportive and gave me tips through the tournaments. He is a big ambassador for the game and the country.”

Top 100 Goal remained unfulfilled

Her Tennis goal of wanting to be in the Top 100 in the world remained unfulfilled right till the end. She managed to reach 130 in the rankings. One of her biggest professional challenges was that she could not afford a coach or a physical trainer to be with her after she had decided to turn pro. In 8 of the 12 Grand Slam Qualifiers she went into the third set of the final round, that was how close she came each time. She says that in those times, a physio or a coach could have made a big difference.

The Annapoorna Dosai 

She recalls with great delight the fun times with her father in the 1980s. The dosai from Annapoorna and the juice immediately after at Pazha Mudhir Cholai were outstanding. The beautiful weather, the water from Siruvani and the life in the race course and the inspirational drive of my father waking me every morning to take me to the tennis court are unforgettable memories from the decades gone by. Among the regulars for a sporting conversation was former cricketer 'Kalli Uncle'. Her brother Ganesh, with whom she has had a wonderful relationship over the last four decades, runs her Tennis Academy full time “He sacrificed a lot for me and has always been a perfect brother.”

Only my Appa knew my real struggles

Looking back on her career, Nirupama has mixed feelings “My appa was my biggest fan. He knew my struggles that not many others understood.  He was happy with what I had achieved. I had beaten a top 10 ranked player (Magdalena Maleeva) and other top 30 players. But there was a big push that is required in the pro circuit with support staff and 'I simply did not have that'. "

“He was disappointed that he could not give me the monetary push to have a personal coach and a physio that would have made a big difference in my career. In a non technology world, he tried his best to convince sponsors to fund my tennis ambitions but none seemed to be interested. However, both of us were thankful and grateful that I could do what I did. It could have been better but it was a great experience to be the first Indian woman to do what I did – getting into the pro circuit at 17, getting into the Grand Slam and staying there for over a decade.”

CROWNING MOMENT OF HER LIFE

Nirupama counts her appa launching her book in Coimbatore as the Crowning moment of her life "My appa was the architect of my tennis life. Till his final breath, I was a super obedient student. For him to launch my book was the greatest feeling I have had in my tennis life. It remains the Crowning Moment of my Life.”

 

Till 2010 or so, Vaidyanathan had been actively involved in Tennis playing doubles at Coimbatore’s tennis courts. In the last decade, after his son and daughter had settled in the US, he led a rather quiet retired life in Coimbatore “His knee had given way a result of that old injury on Loyola College ground where he twisted his ankle. He did not play tennis in the last five years or so. He would often visit the clubs and read the newspapers but his health deteriorated quite badly. I called on him and visited him in January 2020 a couple of months before he passed away” recalls Ramki of the final months of Vaidhy’s life."

“He devoted almost his entire time to coaching Nirupama and spent his life’s savings on her tennis”. He could not have done anything more for his daughter, says Ramki. 

Vaidhyanathan had a painful final few days of his life, last year. Nirupama was by his bed side in those testing times. She remembers him for his cheerful attitude and says ‘he was never bogged by obstacles”. 

“His smile lasted till the last days of his life. His love for English Literature fascinated me. He would often roll out quotes from Shakespeare.  Those final few days, he was in big pain. I would start a sentence from Hamlet and his passion was so high that even in those painful moments, he would complete the sentence with a smile.”

Those were the memories he passed away with, that of creating a first in India. Hailing from a middle class family in Coimbatore to be able to motivate your daughter to turn PRO at 17 and giving your everything for her - all his financial resources, the physical properties, the psychological motivation through faxed letters, the physical presence around the world when the finances permitted - all in an effort to see her succeed in her tennis career. 

He himself could not reach his potential in Cricket but ensured his daughter reached the top in Tennis and laid a benchmark for the next generation to emulate.