As a teenager, I had nerves of steel, but deep beneath this tough exterior, was the yearning in my heart to become an accomplished writer. Reading was my passion since my childhood and I voraciously read novels and even non-fiction. I considered the noted Tamil author Late Ragavan Thambi (his real name was M N Venugopalan, who was also the story writer of the famous Bollywood film, ‘Gangvaa’, of the 1980s which starred Rajinikanth as the hero) as one of the most outstanding writers and measured him as my competitor.
In those days, that is, when I was barely 19-20 years of age, to be a writer was considered a great honour. Th e society had a special place for creative writers. Those were the times when magazines dominated the reading scene and there were a variety of them to choose from, be it in English or any other regional language.
In those days, that is, when I was barely 19-20 years of age, to be a writer was considered a great honour. Th e society had a special place for creative writers. Those were the times when magazines dominated the reading scene and there were a variety of them to choose from, be it in English or any other regional language
I used to spend most of my leisure time writing poetry, short stories, titbits and so on. I used to then send them to various weeklies and newspapers but 99.9 percent of my contributions used to be rejected outright. Th e rule in those days was that whenever you send your unsolicited contribution by post, you were required to send a self-addressed envelope with adequate postage stamp pasted on the same. I was however, not aware of the protocol to be followed – so, for example, I used to write stories in school note books on both sides of the pages and send them to the editor. After all, I was working as a cleaning boy in a restaurant in Madras and that was the best I could do. I wonder whether my work was rejected because of this, which could have been seen as a casual attitude by the editors. However, I was not dejected and was instead more determined to send the next one, aft er every rejection. My friends, though, (all of them between the ages of 18 to 20 years) used to read the manuscripts and appreciate the same.
On reaching his home, he treated me with dosas and coffee and introduced me to his family members. Within a few minutes, R Soodamani, a very famous lady writer also joined us. She was a disabled lady in her middle age. He glanced through my stories, gave a few of them to R Soodamani to read and asked her to mentor me. Thereafter, meeting her regularly at Mr Kalyanaraman’s residence had become the most exciting part of my life. Soodamani taught me writing skills and encouraged me. I oft en wonder, why should a stalwart like Mr Kalyanaraman care for a small time person? Because he was a great man - the greatness of a man is reflected in such gestures.
Thanks to Soodamani’s guidance, my first story appeared in the monthly, ‘Thanjai Amudham’. Within a short time, I emerged as a star short story writer of that magazine. My first Novel ‘Innoru Ethihasam’ was serialised in the magazine and got a lot of publicity. My stories also began appearing in another popular magazine called ‘Muththaram’ which was owned by M Karunanidhi and edited by Murasoli Maran. Several other magazines also published my stories. The reward money though, was insignificant. It varied between Rs.20 and Rs.50 for each contribution, but seeing my byline in print thrilled me. I wrote many stories and articles even in English magazines.
Nevertheless, the editor in me was not sleeping. When I fractured my right leg, last year, I was recuperating at the Ramachandra Hospital, in Chennai, for a month. Th is break, from my otherwise hectic schedule, made me realise, that I had reached the age of 70 and the time available to me is very less now. So I should start doing all the constructive things I wanted to do. One of them was to bring out a magazine. Th us was conceived the idea of ‘Corporate Citizen’ which is doing so well
In fact, when my parents saw a girl for me and got me engaged she was from a rich family. (By the way, I saw her for the first time in the marriage mandap only). Perhaps it was only because of my status as a writer and the bit of popularity that I had got due to it, that her father happily agreed to give his daughter to me. In order to introduce myself to my would-be wife I had sent the latest edition of Muththaram where my short story, Kallipoo, meaning `Cactus Lily’ was published; that was the name given to the Indo-Pak War. A few lines highlighted and put in the ‘box’ were
“Agree, I am not born as a Napoleon to try and win the world. But, have I not been born at least as a human being to try and win a few hearts?”
Aftfer marriage, my wife used to hate to see our room scattered with bits of paper. I pursued writing and used this skill of mine also as a weapon to attack the DMK in the AIADMK newspaper ‘Sama Needhi’ aft er my father-in-law, a politician, was murdered by DMK men. I wrote regular articles on this issue under a pseudonym name as I was by then serving in the Army. One of the articles was captioned, ‘Th e Smugglers’. Two lines from that powerful article were
‘Karunanidhi, now you are not the Chief Minister but the head of smugglers. Where are they? You may ask. Just stand in the Assembly and look at the treasury benches. They are there.’
As a student of MPM in Symbiosis I wrote an article, ‘Industrial Relations and Industrial Unrest in India’ which was published in the Institute’s magazine ‘Harbinger’. Th at brought me the award of ‘Most Creative Student’
However, after I entered the field of Management Education, the situation changed. Time had become the most precious resource and therefore could not indulge in my passion too oft en. Yet, I took time out to write a few books on Management.
Nevertheless, the editor in me was not sleeping. When I fractured my right leg, last year, I was recuperating at the Ramachandra Hospital, in Chennai, for a month. Th is break, from my otherwise hectic schedule, made me realise, that I had reached the age of 70 and the time available to me is very less now. So I should start doing all the constructive things I wanted to do. One of them was to bring out a magazine. Thus was conceived the idea of ‘Corporate Citizen’ which is doing so well
I have received many awards and have presided over many functions to give awards but was initially reluctant to accept this particular award. Therefore, I tried to avoid this recognition as I felt that I didn’t deserve it. However, Mr Mishra persuaded me and I was taken in by his affection and sincerity. I went to Bhubaneswar recently to receive the award from a Union Minister and in the presence of two more ministers, the National President of the Press Club, many editors, former High Court Judge, and a hall full of journalists.
I feel blessed. I feel Lord Venkateshwara has taken note of my interest in journalism
Dr (Col.) A. BAlASUBRANANIAN
editor-in-chief
